Untouched love

Chapter thirteen: lies

Why would he ask her that? Samantha thought. Did he know something? But he shouldn’t, they had tried as much as possible to keep a tight lid on the company’s situation. So, why was he asking?
‘’ Why? Is something wrong?’’ Samantha asked tentatively. She tried to keep the nervousness in her voice from showing. She didn’t know how much he knew or if he even knew anything at all. So, she didn’t want to give anything away. He might have just heard something somewhere and just wanted to confirm or it could be just a normal inquiry. But that was the thing, there should not be a reason why he should be asking her this. They were a respectable company to the world, so most company would be at ease having business with them. She didn’t know what was going on. First, the companies pulling out of business with them and out rightly disrespecting them and now this.
She needed to calm down first and know how much exactly Bolaji knew and why he was asking her this. Please, not again. She pleaded in her head. Things had been going well before, way better than she first expecting.
Bolaji studied her face and said. ‘’ It’s just the scale of this business, I wanted to know if there’s anything I should be aware of, is all. You know, to cover all bases.’’ He smiled.
Phew. Maybe he just heard something and he wanted to confirm it. She wasn’t going to give anything away, after all, if this succeeded, there would be nothing to worry about again. Samantha was hoping he doesn’t extend his decision making in order not to find out anything. So, as much as possible, she was going to keep her voice normal and be careful of things she says as much as possible.
‘’ That is true.’’ She acknowledged. ‘’ Alright, then. All is well in the company. There is nothing going on that you should be of concern, if there is, you will be notified.’’ She tried to give him a silly expression as if he had just asked an unnecessary question. Samantha felt really bad for lying to Bolaji, he seemed like a really great guy. But her company’s fate was riding on this, and no company would like to do business with a company that is almost going bankrupt. No one is going to board a sinking ship. She tried to tell herself that to make herself feel better, but it wasn’t really helping much. Her heart was beating erratically, both in nervousness and guilt.
Bolaji didn’t seem like he wanted to say anything about it any further. ‘’ Uhn, okay that’s good. How about we order some food now?’’ Samantha hoped that was the end of it. She was glad for the shift in conversation or else she feared she might buckle under the intensity of his gaze. The waiter was called and they both ordered food. They ate in silence and it was a little awkward, she couldn’t blame him though. She was the one who got emotional when they were having conversation.
After they were done eating, she decided to bring it back up. ‘’ I’m sorry for abruptly changing the conversation back then.’’ Samantha said apologetically. Bolaji already knew what she was talking about and she didn’t need to elaborate further.
‘’ It’s nothing, we were here to do something and were getting side-tracked. So, there’s nothing to apologize for.’’ Bolaji said. He was keeping his face straight like it didn’t matter.
‘’ No… no.’’ Samantha breathed. ‘’ It’s really not okay… we were having a good conversation… and I, well… ‘’ she was grasping now. She didn’t even know if he cared enough for her explanation. But she wanted to give one either way. This whole thing is so not her. ‘’ look, I remembered some unpleasant memories when we were discussing… Anyways, I’m sorry. ‘’
She saw the corner of his mouth lift up into an amused smile. Something tells her he was enjoying the way she stuttering trying to explain herself. ‘’ It’s okay, really. I understand. But if you feel the need to apologize… then apology accepted.’’ Bolaji said smiling.
Samantha gave him her most genuine smile. She was relieved. Even though this was the second time they would be meeting… third, if she counted their first encounter, she was enjoying her time with him and she didn’t want to ruin that. Bolaji was an easy person to be with, usually she is closed off to people if they were not close to her, but he is different. Now, she was pondering whether to say more to him about her reason or if that would too much information, considering this was just a business date.
Samantha checked her watch and saw it was already noon. She didn’t even realize they had been talking for a long time.  She told him about her schedule and he nodded in understanding. He seemed quite surprised too that they spent that much time talking. When it was time to pay for her food.
‘’ Don’t worry, I got it.’’ Bolaji stopped her. She wanted to argue but he insisted and she had to let it go. He seemed quite stubborn about it, it seemed cute. Still feeling guilty about what had happened before, she let him have his way.
Bolaji walked her up to her car and she looked around trying to find his. ‘’ Where are you parked?’’ she asked curiously.
‘’ Over there.’’ He said pointing to Audi sports car just a little further away from hers.
‘’ You have a good taste in cars.’’ Samantha said impressed.
His face lifted up in a grin. ‘’ Yours is not bad too.’’ He sounded impressed, too. She smirked. Of course she does, she thought with pride. ‘’ Bye.’’ She said as she got into her car.
‘’Bye, see you around later.’’ Bolaji said as he walked towards his own car.

The day was eventful one for Bolaji, as he sat in his office, thoughts of his outing with Samantha came flooding through his head. She looked really drop dead gorgeous in her dress, he almost couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Bolaji thought about how they’d been having a great conversation and she just abruptly changed the conversation and got all serious. He didn’t want to read much to it then, she did eventually give a little explanation. He really was amused by the way she was all flustered and fidgeting trying to explain herself. Something bad must have happened to her in the past.
She had acted somewhat strange when he asked about her company’s situation. Although, she didn’t really give anything away, it seemed normal when she also said nothing was wrong. He was, however, only going to let it go after his own investigation. Other than that, he had a great time with her and he wanted to do that more.
A knock sounded on his door. ‘’Come in.’’ Bolaji said.
Lydia walked in into his office. ‘’ Lydia,’’ Lydia stopped in front of his desk. She was dressed in a simple business suit, she had her hair in a simple braid. She pushed her rimmed glasses that was riding down her face up with her index finger. A habit he had noticed and not uncommon among people who wear glasses, hers, however, never failed to catch his attention because of how slowly and dramatic she always adjusted it, it just made her look funny. He stifled a smile. ‘’ Is there something for me?’’ Bolaji asked.
‘’ Yes, sir.’’ She answered in her tiny but high pitched voice. ‘’Earlier when you were out, Miss Bisi came over to ask for you.’’
His eyes widened in surprise. ‘’ Really?’’
Bisi was a friend he had known for a long time, he met her about the time he started working in the company. She would occasionally drop by his office when she wasn’t busy or come to his house. He hasn’t seen her for quite some time now, though. He just concluded she was busy, she was after all a medical doctor. Bisi was also the daughter of the CEO of the company, which was how they met, through her father. Her father had always wanted Bisi inherit the whole enterprise but she had always wilfully declined. It was something that would sometimes cause friction between her and her father. There have been times when her father would try to get him to convince her. It never went well, something he already knew before he even tried. She would just cease talking to him for little while, that was how much she hated the idea of taking over the company.
‘’ Did she say what she wanted?’’ Bolaji asked.
‘’ No, sir. But she did say you should get back to her when you are around.’’ Lydia answered.
Why didn’t she just call him? He wondered. Shaking his head, he sometimes doesn’t understand what’s going on inside that head of hers.
‘’ Thank you, Lydia. Is that all? Bolaji inquired.
‘’ Yes, sir. That’s all.’’  She pushed her sliding glasses up again and he couldn’t help himself as his face cracked to let a small amused smile in. She gave him a strange look as she was probably wondering what made him smile. She turned and left the room. He didn’t know whether that was on purpose or just a genuine quirk of hers. He shook his head as he took his phone and called Bisi.
‘’ Hey, what’s up?’’ Bisi’s upbeat voice came over the phone. ‘’ I assume you are calling because I came over to your office. Good on you to just abandon me like that and not call me after all this while.’’ She finished flatly.
Bolaji gave a guilty chuckle. ‘’ I am really sorry for that. I meant to call, somethings just came up.’’
‘’ It is okay, you are forgiven. Besides, I was also very busy.’’ She said dismissively. ‘’ Anyways, I came over to ask if you have any plans for the party next week and also just to see you.’’