Bosom on Fire

IX- The Job and the House

Bassey arranges the lapel of her double-breasted indigo suit as she reels her way through plastic chairs and playing children to the direction of pastor Phil's office. She takes deep breaths as she approaches a white door at the left wing of Love House Ministries' church auditorium.

Facing the solid wood door, Bassey stares at the Arial written 'Pastor Philomena Lanre' sign above before lifting the knocker, allowing it to fall back slowly, the intended knock almost soundless.

She has had her fair share of interviews but the stunning woman in pink who enunciated words of prayer for the tithes and offering with a certain high-browness heightens her phobia of the unnecessary tension-filled affair, especially as pastor Philomena holds a top position in the church.

Oh, God.

Aiming for a louder knock, Bassey moves her hands towards the knocker again. The door swung open before she could reach the gold-plated alloy.

"Are you Bassey?" a woman's voice asks through the open office door.

Bassey's eyes widen as she recognizes the woman—Lawrence's 'sister in Christ.' Under Nkese's golden fascinators, and beneath her long lashes, she retains that tint of judgment Bassey had seen in her eyes a few days ago. Her eyes hold things and don't let go until she finds fault. Holding Bassey's flamboyant outfit, she finds fault in the amount of skin she can see below Bassey's neckline and how high her heels are.

"Yes, I am Bassey," Bassey smiles at Nkese.

"That was a rather late return. We were informed that you had to go home to get your résumé. This is why people should carry these things around. Now we've interviewed a bunch of decorators already.
"Just come in sha," leaving the door open for Bassey, Nkese catwalks her 5'9 frame into the pink office space on her one-inch stilettos, "My name is Nkese Bassey and, I will be handling your interview."

"I am Bassey Inemesit," Bassey introduces herself as she walks in behind Nkese.

     "I know that." Nkese retorts.

     "I thought the pastor's wife..." Bassey begins a protest as she senses the rise in antagonism in Nkese's tone, "I thought pastor Philemina would be in charge of this meeting."

"You didn't expect her to wait around for you did you?"

"No, I..."

"Bassey," Nkese cuts, "is that your surname? Because if it is, we could be sisters."

Wahala.

"No. Bassey is my first name," Bassey replies, holding her tongue. She knows better than to fling word swords with Nkese. The pay Lawrence told her was on the table is too huge to be traded for a few seconds of adrenaline rush from hot clap backs and shades.

"Are you born again," Nkese blots as she slumps into the lavender-colored mesh office chair, dropping her short fingers gingerly on the thulian-colored glass table with a MacBook, candy jar, a marble jar of pens, pencils, and markers, a huge hourglass with a spiral written 'Jesus is coming very soon' tag, and a leather-bound bible concordance—all rose pink?

"Sorry?" Bassey's brows furrowed from trying to recognize the different shades of pink on the table to rationalizing Nkese's question.

"You can take a seat and think about it.
"That's the foundation for us here. It will also be the foundation for getting the job.
     "The last decorator we hired just canceled on us to take on a bigger deal from the local government. I hope you can see why we are being careful about the next person we give access to."