** ** Omniscient narrator ** **
“Never mind,” he finally uttered, clearly hesitant to say what he had in mind. This was both to Anna’s relief and disappointment. She had been eager to hear what he wanted to say but for some reason, she was also scared of hearing it.
“Alright then,” She said with a bit of hesitation and reluctantly walked towards the door. She could feel his eyes on the back of her head as she walked away, she had grabbed the door handle when something crossed her mind.
Anna immediately turned around and like she expected, Mr. Blackwood was staring at her.
“MB… Can I ask you a question?”
He creased his eyebrow. “MB? What is that?” he queried, genuinely confused with what she had just called him.
“Oh, short for Maxwell Blackwood.” Anna replied with an enthusiastic smile. She had been waiting since forever to call him that.
“Well I don’t like it.” He groaned, immediately expressing his disapproval.
“You call me Miss Owl, I have never complained.” Anna bickered, even though she knew that was a lie, she was never accepting of that name at first, she just had no choice on the matter because Blackwood does what Blackwood wants.
“Well, I am your boss,” he reminded her immediately.
“Hey, that is not fair.” Anna grumbled immediately. She couldn’t believe he was going low, but what did she care? She would call him MB anyway until he learns to accept it.
“Just ask your question,” he said, already tired of her annoying presence here.
Anna smiled and walked back to him. “Alright, so it is about work… It is Monday, do you plan to meet the committee and what do you want to do about the locals?”
Maxwell made a low hum and rubbed his forehead. “Well, I had yesterday to think about it, and I think I would rather work with the government agencies than the locals because they are demanding too much. I already have a permit from the government to mine here, all I need is to give them a little more incentive to keep the locals away.”
“What? Why?” Anna didn't hesitate to express her disapproval.
“I already made it clear. The locals are asking too much, protection from the government would cost me less. If the locals want their demands fulfilled, then they should hold their government accountable.”
“MB, this is Africa. I don’t know if you follow up but their government doesn't care about them. It might cost you less to go through the government but you would be stealing from these people. they are poor people, and they are just asking for a better life in exchange for the natural resources found in their land.”
“The Diamond belongs to the government.” Mr. Blackwood replied.
“On paper, yes… but it rightfully belongs to the people whose ancestors toiled these lands. Using force or pushing them away with the government would only lead to a conflict, one that is likely to cost human lives.”
“Conflict? That is something I am not worried about, the government can handle it once a deal is struck and I wouldn’t have to spend as much as with the demands from the locals. Anna, there is a way the world works, the only reason people like me are on the top is because people like those locals exist. They are opportunists and if I were to dance to their tunes, I would be reduced to their level one day, that is never happening.” He stated clearly.
Anna groaned and hit her face. “Come on MB, don’t sound like that. Their demands might be costly but they are not asking anything worldly, they just want you to build the road leading to the mine, employ them for good pay rates and put up street lights, I am sure it wouldn’t affect your balance in the way you are making it seem. They are not asking for a share of the diamond or its profit, they just want infrastructure to make their lives better, those are not material things and they are not demands of greedy people.”
Maxwell growled softly, obviously tired of having this fight. It was the duty of the government to build roads, why should he do it when he has a permit to work on these lands?
“I understand your Point, but that is the work of the government. I already paid them to work on these lands, the government should meet their demands. You are making it look like I am exploiting these people.”
“I didn’t say that,” Anna quickly replied “But we both know if you pay the government to keep off the locals, they would only pocket the money, they are definitely not going to use it to do anything to better the life of these people. it is selfishness to care just about getting what you want, think about the people that would be displaced due to the discovery of precious stones in their lands, at least give them proper compensation by employing them and building their roads.”
Mr. Blackwood turned away from her with a clenched fist. “Fine,” he said with a low voice. “I will meet their demands, and you should have just become a human rights lawyer.”
“Awn,” Anna’s lips broke into a smile and she immediately hugged him from behind. “Thank you.” she said.
Mr. Blackwood stared at her arms around his chest and his heart skipped. Good lord, what was happening with his heart? He didn’t like these fluctuations, he didn’t like these feeling in his chest.
“Just know that I am only doing this for you, not because I am some good person,” he said sarcastically and took her arm off him, turning to face her.
“That is fair enough.”
His heart skipped when he saw her smile, he would pay millions to see that beautiful smile again and again.
“Alright then, tell me if you need me,” she said with a flirtatious smile as she began to walk away and Maxwell chuckled.
The CEO stood at that point as he watched her leave, he wished that he could tell her the truth, but how sure was he about this truth? Was his heart playing games with him? This wasn’t supposed to be happening, it was not part of the plan.
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