The Lives We Lived

21: Missed Calls

Osa cleared his desk by 11:00 pm. He placed all the files he had used in their appropriate cabinets then grabbed his phone off the table and swiched it on, watching the screen glow with the manufacturer's icon. There were nineteen missed calls. Seven from mama, eight from Kemi, three from efe and one from Chioma.

He decided to call the person who irritated him the least. He dialled the number and the person answered on the third ring.

"Osa...Osa," The receiver cheered.

"Efe, good evening. Why did you call my number?" He placed the phone between his shoulder and his left cheek while he gathered the files he would need to work at home.

"Somebody cannot just call you again abi?" Efe asked. "Anyways, Mama asked me to call you."

"Mama?"

"Yes, she tried calling your line but it was switched off." Efe explained. Osa zipped his briefcase and strolled out of his office locking the door behind him. As usual, he was the last official to leavee the office. If he had an assistant, the work load would be easier to bare.

"I was working. She knows I don't pick calls while I'm at work."

"Okay oh," Efe answered. "She said you should bring her box to Benin for her."

"Bring her box? But she's here in lagos."

"She came back to Benin this evening and she was complaning about Kemi." Osa cursed under his breath. Mama had left lagos without telling him and he wasn't sure that Kemi had returned home.

"What did she say about Kemi?"

"She called her a mannerless prostitute." Efe repeated mama's words and it hurt Osa to hear it.

"Prostitute? This is my wife we're talking about," Osa growled, runnning down the staircase two steps at a time.

"That's exactly how mama said it. She even said she is giving you two months to give her a child or else she will marry someone for you." Efe said. Over his dead body, Osa mused, nodding at the security guard who lived in the office premises.

"That's no problem." Osa said. He had to have a serious talk with Kemi today. "Is that all you have to say?"

"Ehm....No. About that catering job that I told you about," Efe began in a cautious way.

"What about it?"

"I've opened a small restrurant in Benin and it's going well but I still need some capital to expand it." Efe said in a breath.

"I know you're a good cook but it would be utter stupidity for you to waste your degree. You could be working with one of oil and gas companies in-"

"I know."Efe interrupted. "But this is what I want. Cooking is my passion."

"Then you should have gone to a culinary school. Don't be ungrateful."

"It's fine. Don't worry about me." Efe said.

"We'll talk about this when I come to Benin on Saturday." Osa said.

Efe was hesitant to answer. "Okay."

Osa ended the call, wondering why Efe, a first class graduate of Petroleum Engineering would want to wile away his life over a burning stove. Instead of Efe to focus on getting a steady job, he was working his way into penury rather than out of it.

Osa cut the call as he entered the car. All alone now, his mind replayed all that Chioma had told him last night. The truth was that she needed him more than he needed her. he could always wait for a fresh batch of NYSC corps to finish serving and employ one. He could also demand for one of the junior or senior managers in one of the bank's branches to be promoted but the problem was that he would have to wait for a long time. Now he had chioma but she lacked a record for being diligent or committed. That was what he feared; her perchant to change her mind at the most inapporpriate times.