Traveling out of the country on business tends to come with its own shares of stress. There is the pressure of having the work done within the constrained time frame. Then there is the desire to get back home and be with family.

On this trip to Malta, I had an insatiable appetite to have some fresh Greek salad, rib eye steak (medium to rare) and then down with a Choice drink. It had been a hard day.   The agenda for the trip only exacerbated things – to fire the Finance Director of this country office. The numbers were not coming in time and as his boss, I was finding it difficult to report month-on-month financials to the executives at the corporate office.

Jansa was such a great and pleasant guy. He would always treat me to a good meal out of the office whenever I visited. On this trip, he could sense all was not well.

Hiring is not fun. The rigor of screening, profiling, long-listing, short-listing and finally interviewing candidates ain’t no fun. Now firing a candidate who was hardly a year in the role was not going to be any better. Which is why I needed a temporal relaxation after doing the undertaker job.

I was telling you about this love thingy.

After dinner at the hotel restaurant, I felt I needed to unwind a bit. You know that feeling of getting into a club to just shake a leg and loosen up a bit.

The hotel restaurant had very pleasant staff. There was this one guy – Morgan – whom I developed rapport with. When I whispered to Morgan that I needed reference of a night club that I could enjoy some Eastern Europe kinda music, he did not disappoint. But there was a catch. The club only opened its doors after 10:00pm. This was not going to be a problem. This was my last night on this trip after all. 3 drinks down, I was “loosened” enough to enjoy the night crawl to dawn.

I was holding tight on my drink when this well built man approached me. Let’s call him Max.

Let me tell you a short story as to holding tight to my drink. In Kenya where I come from, there are predators who scavenge the eateries and clubs For unsuspecting revelers, spike their drinks and later steal from them. Here I was in a strange country, with a company credit card on me, a newly acquired iPhone 7 Limited Edition, Tag Heur watch and I mean, all the glamor of a C-Suite exec. I wasn’t going to play victim and get robbed.

Sorry for the digression.

Max approached me in a huff.

Max: Can I ask you a question?
Me: of course
Max: Are you married?
Me: Yes.
Max: Do you have a daughter?
Me: Yes, 6 years old.
Max: (pointing at a girl across the dance floor, in stilettos and tights) that girl is about 19 years. The man he is with (call him Jim) is a friend of mine and he is 43 years old. My daughter is just about that age. I feel terrible that Jim would be hanging out with a girl who is barely half his age! He is my friend and I am helpless. I cant seem to help the situation.

You should have seen the carousal Jim and the little girl had. The sight of which was sickening. Jim was this 6 Foot frame with a form that could easily be taken for a body builder.

Max was near hysterical. I shuddered. The last words from Max were, “please watch over your girl. Love her and assure her that she is beautiful. Let her realize that she can make LIFE options that do not mean giving into the demands of a man more than twice her age. Pray that by God’s grace, she does not get there”

That statement from a stranger made me have a cold chill on my spine.

Who will watch over our young daughters?