HER GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT

Chapter 16: Everyone dies, good people die early

HER PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS

She knows it's obvious and possible,

To be imperfect and vulnerable,

But she also knows it doesn’t change anything,

She is worthy of Love and Belonging,

That she is enough and glowing,

Glowing with beauty of the body and heart

Sometimes her imperfections may hurt,

She always picks herself up from every setback,

She gets back on her feet not to perfect,

Rather to improve on her imperfect,

Her imperfect self that is so demanding,

Because the need to perfect is misleading,

With bravery she faces all imperfections,

By embracing who she really is,

An imperfect girl with good values.

That’s all she values.

@Colli-nsson

She couldn't hold her joy. Tears cascaded down her eyes as she held him in a tight embrace. Crying on his shoulders. Mixed feelings of joy and anger. Why couldn't be the horny reverend on the death list? She couldn’t have been allocated a three acre piece of land with a magnificent mansion but at least the world could have had a person like Collins a little bit longer. He wiped her tears. It could have been the last time they were hugging so it had to be emotional. But Collins was relieved of the burden that had been lifted from his old shoulders. His family was going to be safe with Anita in the driver's seat. They had to be and she promised it. There was nothing else he wished for. Death was knocking and he was going to die a free man. A death worth living. Good or evil we all are going to die someday but our memories will be preserved in the hearts of those we love and those who loved us.

Whether bad or good memories it all depends on us after all what's life without an impact. When she walked out of the Collins and son enterprises offices that day, the world looked different. She now had or was soon going to have something of hers and the first thing she was going to do was to make change. To create an impact of her own one that was going to be remembered even after her death. Collins had made her realize that father time was not to be joked with and she was running out of him. Anita took out her phone and made the first step.

"Hey it's Anita. I want in", she said and hung up.

Collins personal chauffeur had already turned the car around. Soon to be her driver. The gods of luck were smiling upon her and now the reverend had to seal her marriage whether he liked it or not. But was he going to back out of the chase? She smiled broadly when she thought of Linda. Even the driver could tell she was in happy mood.

"I must say you look happy mum", He commented.

"Yeah am so happy you should be too who knows maybe you'll be getting a payrise", Anita commented.

The Mother Nature had balanced the equation and the wind was blowing on her side. Bringing rain laden clouds full of blessings. But as usual some clouds are dark too. Some darker than she expected. Too bad the man behind her success was going to die. She found herself in the same position like Arya in the billionaire’s baby mama. Her life was like a literary piece.

****

"I can't believe Ben would do that to you", Tania said looking surprised.

They were seated in her dining room having tea that morning. Ruth's absence at the ATHEWI offices had raised some concerns and Tania took a personal effort to visit her. She had tagged along with Linda.

"We can sue him the law is on your side", Linda said confidently.

"He threatened me if I go to court I'd lose something that I love most", Ruth said looking sad.

"He already has your children what else is that important?" Linda asked.

The two didn’t say anything. They looked at her like the challenger had just dropped her on planet earth from Mars.

"Ooh! ATHEWI... What!" Linda asked confused, "Please save me those nasty looks just because am smart doesn’t mean I know everything", She added.

"Yeah we already figured that part out", Ruth said smiling lazily.

"We will think of something girl right now the organization needs you", Tania assured.

"Brief me", Ruth said.

She told her everything. From how ATHEWI was receiving many victims on a daily basis to Lisa's case. Dr. Hunnington had managed to retrieve sperms from Lisa's genitals which was enough evidence to tie her uncle to r**e. He was arrested but got out on a thirty thousand dollar bail sooner than he was brought on. The case was still in court and Lisa's parents were still not accepting their mistake. They blamed their daughter for making herself available and seducing her uncle.

"Where is she now?" Ruth asked, "Don't tell me you took her back to those horrible parents"

"Don’t worry I called in a favor with a friend at Child support they took her in", Linda said.

"And the parents what will happen to them?" Ruth asked concerned.

"Charged with obstruction of Justice", Tania and Linda said in unison before giving each other’s high five.

It was a celebration

"Good job am so proud of you this calls for a celebration", Ruth said walking to the wine cellar.

She took out a bottle of wine and picked three glasses from the sink. It was the latest brand in the market. She was a woman with good taste, part of the reason she worked so hard to meet her expensive lifestyle.

"It has been in there all this time" Linda complained.

"And you made us drink tea", Tania joined in.

"Yes if you stay patient here might be something even better hidden within these walls" teased Ruth with a big smile on her face.

"Not better than this" Tania said.

The three women made a celebratory toast drank to it laughing and making fun. For Tania and Linda it was all meant to cheer up their superwoman. She was the heart and brains behind ATHEWI an attack on her meant an attack on all of them and its entire existence. Either directly or indirectly her decisions and personal problems were going to affect the smooth running of the organization. She needed support. Lots of it.

"Did Anita show up?" Ruth asked.

"Yeah she did and she's been good with the counseling and recovery groups especially with men", Tania commented.

Linda seemed a little off on the mention of Anita. The witch had blocked all her hopes of getting James to be hers and turned him against her. He wasn't even picking up her calls and rarely texted her. The vengeance was subsiding now that they were working together for the something bigger than the egos and messed up love choices of any of them. She was willing to let go. The ball was in James`s court. There was no need of forcing herself on him when he didn't have any feelings for her. Linda was willing to see James happy even if it were not with her. Tania pinched her arm to keep her under control. Put on a smiley face at least for Ruth who was going through a lot than any of the, and didn't have to work on volunteer personal disputes.

"That's good so what are you girls working on right now?"

They hesitated. Looked at each other then they looked down. She knew the look. It was not the "we are doing nothing just walking around" look. It had some hidden meaning. Ruth was hoping they could tell her. Nothing surprised her anymore not after her own husband was taking their children away onto hiding just to force her to go back to a job she didn't want. And on top of it blackmailing her. Throwing some bread crumps in the name of a guaranteed promotion to a Chief operations officer position as bait.

"Come on girls you can tell me", She begged, "FYI If you tell me am going to take a shower right now and we're going back to the office", She made the deal even sweeter. It was what had brought them to her door after all.

"Sure?" Tania asked staring at Linda.

Ruth nodded in agreement keeping her curiosity under control. Nine lives were not enough for the suspense the two were building up on her. Tania gave Linda the okay to go ahead with the sellout card.

"It's similar to yours but the other way round”, She said reluctantly.

"The wife is hiding the children from her husband", Ruth said conclusively.

"Yeah and he doesn't want to take his wife to Court so he came asking for our help", Tania said.

"Has he tried the pastor or their parents...Someone else they can trust?"

"All of them hit a dead end... We can't be sure. We promised to help men and women who come for our help and his case is no difference", Linda said.

"Okay let me take a shower we tag along", she said.

"Girl are you sure you want to work on this?" Tania inquired.

"I'll be fine besides I keep my word don't worry", She said.

It was tough even for the superwoman. Solving other people’s problems when hers were superfluous. She was still in a state of trepidation with Jake and Mary's k********g. Age had no way out of it. On one side there was her dream. A legacy worth building and on the other her dearest children. That she could only see them if she quit the organization and went back to her job was barbaric. Ruth knew what to expect. Leaving ATHEWI at its starting phase only meant killing it before it started. She needed to be there to oversee the little child was beginning to walk at least a step. True to her word she emerged from her room approximately fifteen minutes later well dressed and ready for work. They used Linda's car to save on costs. The drive was quiet and short. The lawyer was a good driver too and the roads were clear in the mid-morning the sun shining brightly they could feel the heat. The smell of fresh air that got mixed with the smell of burnt rubber and smoke from unroadwothy vehicle. It was not enough not allow them to enjoy the drive anyway.

"Welcome back Ruth", Dave said happily as they walked through the small hallway.

"Thank you Dave how're you?" She asked.

"Fine"

The office was happy to get her back. She went straight to the psychiatrist’s office where the gentleman was being interrogated. She pitied him. To show compassion she let him know he was not alone. They were all in it together except for his the wife was willing to talk to them. To reach an amicable solution. She wished Ben was like her. A grown up. The woman defended herself. She did not want her children to grow up like him. He was drinking a lot coming home late. Rumors about his promiscuity were all over their little town and most of the time they found him lying in the trenches drunk beyond recognition. They had tried talking to the parents and even the pastor but he slipped back right into it. He lied to them. Crushed her hopes of Comradeship he ended up being send away by security.

“He played us”, Tania said.

“Yeah some will try to use us for their own ill motives, what next do you have for me?” Asked Ruth relaxing on her chair.

“Let me talk to Dave” she said going out. She found Dave busy on his laptop.

Their relationship at work was different from that at home. At the office he was her colleague and at home he was his boyfriend’s best friend meaning they were not good friends. He probably knew if he was cheating but because of the guy code he was not telling her.

“Hey Dave” she said capturing his attention.

“Hey...how long have you...”

“Don’t worry not long enough to discover you have been watching p**n” She teased.

“No, I don’t do that. I was actually going through the comments on Kyla’s social media”, said Dave looking sad.

“Sorry a bad Joke, you don’t like fame don’t you?”

“No I don’t why are you here?”

“Ooh almost forgot, what do you have for Ruth?”

“A zoom meeting hope she is ready”, Dave said leaving the room.

They all walked into Ruth’s office. Other employees joined in engaging in a humorous banter as Dave set up the meeting. When it was time they all left.