Hard Man

2

Two sharp knocks on the door harshly woke her up the next morning. At first, Desire sat up with a groan, her whole muscles screaming in fatigue. But when the knocks persisted, she made an attempt to climb down the bed.

"Des!" The person at the door shouted, and she recognized the voice as her flatmate's. Ify.
Ify followed her impatient shout with another round of wild knocks.

"Jesus." Des hurriedly padded to the living room and threw the door open.
"Ify, don't bring down this door now." She complained as her flatmate walked in. When she realized the girl was putting on a sexy nurse outfit, she gasped and slammed the door.
"Ify! You came home in your costume?"

When they rented this apartment a year ago, she and Ify had made an agreement to not bring any detail of their work back home. They knew if the neighbors found out where they worked, and what they did, the both of them would be stigmatized.

Here, they were known as Aunty Des, and Aunty Ify, and she wanted it to remain that way. Wearing a sexy nurse outfit back home was going to raise suspicions, and Ify knew it.
"Ify, why? Do you want everyone here to know what we do?"

"Relax," Ify answered, lowering herself onto the two-seater couch. "I took a direct Uber home. No one saw me."

"Still..." Des was still uncomfortable.
They had been living undisturbed in this tiny Abuja apartment for five years without anyone knowing what they did for a living. She didn't want Ify messing it up now.
All their neighbors were self righteous married couples.

"Why didn't you change?" She pressed, and Ify rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, I was so tired. I just finished with my client an hour ago. All I wanted to do was come home and rest."

"An hour ago?" Des finally let up, and sat beside her friend. "Why?" She asked. "And what were you doing last night? I didn't see you in the dressing room?"

"Working," Ify rose to her feet again, and started to walk towards her room. "You know I'm saving money to buy a car." A smile rented her face.

"That's why you want to kill yourself?" Des followed Ify into her room. "Because of a car?"

Ify laughed and flung her bag onto the bed before starting to shed her clothes.
"So because you don't fancy all those things, you think other people don't?" She rolled her eyes.
"I don't know why you haven't bought a car yet? Or why you still stay in this kiosk with me?" Ify swept her arm around the room to encompass the tiny space.
"You're my senior at work, you make more money than me."

As Ify went into the bathroom to bath, Des stretched out on the bed, mulling over what her flatmate had just said.
It wasn't like she didn't want a car, or didn't want to move to a bigger apartment, she just couldn't afford to.
Not right now.

Ify was right, she was doing well at work. She was the most sought after, and one of the most well-paid workers, but she had a huge debt on her head to pay.
Every month she had to remit two million to her late father's creditors else all hell would break loose.
Paying that amount of money had not given her the liberty to do personal things for herself.
The bathroom door opened again and Ify stepped out, forcing her to close the tab on her line of thoughts.

"The water is so cold, why don't we have a heater?" Ify complained, reaching for her towel.

Des laughed at het comment. "Are you hungry or something? I want to go make breakfast."

"I'm hungry," Ify groaned, holding her stomach dramatically. "What do you want to cook?"

"Nothing serious," Des answered, climbing down the bed.
"I'll toast bread, and fry eggs."