Chapter Eighty-Eight – Friend Turned to Foe

Mara was chilling in the room when Lara came by. She rolled her eyes and climbed down from the bed. Of late when Lara came over it was to be obnoxious about the business and she was getting sick of it.

Lara smiled and tried to make small talk before delving into business conversation. “I was hoping we could brainstorm ideas to better position ourselves to deal with this new competition. Last time we tried to talk about it, you lowkey brushed me off.”

Mara threw her hands up in exasperation. “Lara, free me for real. This business thing was never meant to be this serious. It was always meant to be a side hustle that we do for fun. Yet here you are. Let’s do this. Let’s do that. Everything is world cup to you and it’s too much for me. It’s enough. Give me a break.”

Lara snapped. This was the exact lackadaisical attitude that got her having to seemingly choose between friends and family. “Mara you are so lazy about everything in your life. I’ve never seen someone be so purposely useless in my life quite like you. It’s not that I’m doing too much, you’re clearly not doing enough and without my help, your business would have collapsed before it even started. Sit and think how you got here. It’s off the back of others constantly carrying you. since you are tired, then drop out of the business. I’ll pay you your share.”

Mara was offended. Her brain betrayed her by failing to come up with a good comeback and in a way that proved Lara’s point. Every time she had a dispute it was Lara who suggested the best response to give. “You want to cut me out of my own business?” was all Mara could manage.

“Yes.”

“Are you alright in the head?”.  That’s a line that Mara had heard Lara use before.

Lara tried to cool herself down. That’s not how this was supposed to go. She was supposed to nicely broach the subject and let Mara see the pros of this new arrangement. Having tempers rising would not benefit either of them. She took a deep breath.

“Let’s not fight. I don’t think that’s beneficial to either of us. I just think I love this business more than you and so it’s best if you walk away now and we can maintain our friendship.”

Mara was silent for a good minute. She could not believe what Lara was suggesting. Things hadn’t been going so smoothly. She had assumed that even if things came to a head, at the very least Lara would walk away from the business; not ask her to leave. How could she ask that anyway? It was her business idea and she needed the money more than Lara did. That’s what made Lara’s attitude all the more annoying. She didn’t actually need the business profits as much as Mara did and she, Mara was not being so uptight.

Mara studied Lara’s face trying to understand what was happening. Why was she holding on to a business that she didn’t need and wasn’t her idea either? Why would she also think that anyone in their right mind would walk away from their business idea and just hand it over to someone without a fight.

Yes, it was because Lara was nothing but an entitled prick. She expected the world t revolve around her. Otherwise, where was this audacity from? How dare she. No one asked her to get involved in the business in the first place and now she was acting as though someone had held her neck. If there was anyone supposed to sack the other from the business, then it was Mara. Not this imposter who forced herself onto the business when she saw that things were good. Mara should have never agreed to cut her a piece. Suddenly because she helped run a few things, she was acting like she was in charge. The effrontery.

Isn’t it funny how both girls wanted the business for two very different reasons and instead of talking things out, they were now thinking the worst of each other? One thinking the other was lazy while the other thought one was entitled. Also, there’s me somewhere in the middle, thinking to myself how very right I was for saying that them doing a business together was a bad idea. Lara was sharp and forceful and Mara was laidback and laissez-faire. It was a match made in hell. Anyone with eyes and good sense could see that.

“Why don’t you rather leave the business. It was my idea, after all.” Mara made no attempt to wait for a response. She needed to collect her thoughts if she was to make a coherent argument for her business. She slammed the door in Lara’s face leaving her stunned and at a loss on what to next.

This was like their silly feud in level 100 all over again. Except this time, Lara felt like she was fighting for her family and Mara felt like she was fighting for what was rightfully hers. There was no telling how nasty this could get.