Mrs Mahmud, Mrs Mas'ood

2

1st February, 2021

"Hauwa, I swear to God, I meant everything I said. I love you and I want to marry you. I just had to marry her first."

Hauwa stared at the man in front of her in disgust. Kasim Salau, a colleague of hers, stared back with pitiful eyes and an expression that sat between apologetic and convincing. He took a step forward. "Hauwa, come on. I love you."

The office door went open. "I swear to God, Kasim, if you no comot from dis office ehn..."

Hauwa did not move, neither did Kasim. Kenechukwu "Kaycee" Uwabujo, Hauwa's best friend and fellow Investment Representative, growled and stomped over. She pushed Kasim away and stepped in front of Hauwa.

"Get," She gritted, "out."

Kasim shot her a pained look. "Kaycee, abeg –"

She raised a finger in warning. "Don't dare me. You get mind sha. You were confessing love for Hauwa and I thought you were actually serious. You had a fiancé all along and you thought we wouldn't find out about your wedding abi? Na ment abi wetin!?"

Hauwa put a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Kaycee, relax." She then faced Kasim. "You should leave. I wasn't interested in you before I found out you were getting married and I'm certainly not interested in you now. To be honest, I feel sorry for your wife. She has no idea you're here chasing another woman when your marriage hasn't even lasted a week."

"Hauwa, stop. Let's –"

Kaycee was not having it. "Oga, comot!"

Kasim knew better than to risk a scene because Kaycee never cared about the implications of blowing things out of proportion as long as she and Hauwa did not get hurt. With one last pitiful look thrown in Hauwa's direction, he turned around and walked out, slamming the door behind him. With a relieved sigh, Hauwa walked around her desk and sat in her allocated chair. "Thank you, Kaycee."

Kaycee turned around to look at her. "Did he do anything stupid?"

"He didn't get the chance to. He just came in here and started apologizing for keeping his engagement a secret. He said he loves me more than he loves her and so on." She rolled her eyes. "God forbid sha. He just got married the day before yesterday."

"Exactly!" Kaycee was livid. "His wife is still in the honeymoon phase and he's leaving her at home to come here and lie. Men sha. They will shame you."

"Sit down, Kaycee. Don't let him get to you."

Kaycee rolled her eyes but did as she was told. She walked around the other desk in the office and sat. With a huff, she powered up her sleeping computer.

"I'm tired of men." She quickly faced Hauwa who was powering up her computer when she remembered the matter at hand. "Ehen, how far with Hanan and Zayd?"

Hauwa shrugged, her eyes on the computer screen. "She said she has made her decision. I spoke with her last night. She said she just wants to go out today to have some time for herself and then she'll work up the courage to talk to him."

"But do you know her decision?"

Hauwa shook her head. "Nope. I'll ask her later. I don't want to put pressure on her or anything." She began to type. "The good part is that she's not crying anymore and she no longer thinks she disappointed me. She's just nervous and I can't blame her."

"So does that mean you're going to start hanging out with the big boys?"

Hauwa raised her head to look at Kaycee in amusement. The other woman had a wide smile on her face and her chin rested on her propped up hands. "Kaycee, are you alright?"