The Lives We Lived

42: Cross Roads

Kemi shut her system and let her eyes stroll towards the eat next to her cubicle. Ijeoma hunched over the computer, typing away words but Kemi could see that the files containing the data she was supposed to enter into the computer was still untouched.

"Ijeoma," She stared at Kehinde who chewed a fat wrinkled carrot. "It's lunch time."

"Ij?"

She stood behind Ijeoma's chair and leaned over Ijeoma's shoulder. Her eyes caught the beginning of a paragraph on G-Mail. "What are you typing?"

Ijeoma shut down the browser then turned to her with wide eyes. "You shouldn't stare over people's shoulders like that."

"Why?" Kemi straightened up and folded her arms. Now she was sure Ijeoma wasn't doing anything work related.

"Don't you have work to do?" Ijeoma passed her hand over her curly weave.

"It's lunch time."

"Really?" Ijeoma stared at the screen on her android phone and her eyes widened.

"Yes."

"I'm don't want to eat. I still have a work to do." Ijeoma turned back to the screen opened the excel application. She placed an open file before her.

"No. You promised me that you were going to give me the details at lunch."

"What details?" Ijeoma turned back to her.

Kemi made sure she was speaking directly into Ijeoma's ears. "You are going to tell me why you want refuse such a good promotion."

"Oh that...I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm not going to let this go until I get a reasonable answer."

"Fine." Ijeoma locked the computer system. She reached into her bag an dug up a few Naira notes. "Let's be done quickly. I have a lot of work to do."

Ijeoma would have completed the data entry task had she focused on her work instead of Gmail but Kemi held her tongue. Ijeoma was old enough to decide exactly what she wanted to do.

They walked out of their office and into the fast food restaurant located two buildings away. Most tables were filled with white collar workers like themselves. Kemi ordered a plate of Jollof rice and Ijeoma opted for a pack of Chivita and two large doughnuts. They found a table by the window and sat opposite each others.

"So," Kemi dug the metal spoon into the heap of orange rice. "What's the reason?"

"It seems stupid that I'm rejecting this offer, right?"

"Yes. You'll be forfeiting over 300k addition to your salary. Not to mention all the incentives too." Kemi pointed out.

The window beside them over looked the fast food's car park and the street beside their office. She watched people walk to and fro as her spoon tossed the food around the plate. One taste of the food and she decide that she could cook much better than whoever had made this meal. She wished she had ordered the same food as Ijeoma. Just as she wished Ijeoma's promotion had come to her instead.

Ijeoma munched and swallowed the large chunk of doughnut as though she had all day to eat. "I know what I'd be losing but I've thought about this. Taking this job means that I'll spend lesser time with my family. I'll have to be travelling all over the country and I heard the company is about to expand. That means more work. I'm not built for that kind of pressure."

Kemi scoffed. She crossed her legs at her ankles. What would be a better way for her to phrase this argument? If Ijeoma got this job, it meant that she would be friends with one of the movers and shakers of the company. "With that kind of money, you could afford to give your family exactly what they need. No more calling you because they can't fix something. Your sister would be able to start her own business and Ifeanyi can expand his. What more could you ask for? You could afford to buy your own car in a few months time."