Mrs Mahmud, Mrs Mas'ood

48

She had a lunch date with Mahmud and he was to pick her up at any minute.

Almost everyone else was in Niamey and she would have gone had it not been so impromptu. Her phone rang as she finished draping her veil and she frowned at the unknown number. She accepted the call and brought the phone to her ear.

"Hello, Assalam Alaykum."

"Hi!" The voice seemed familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. "Am I speaking with Hauwa Sufyan?"

Her frown deepened. She wondered if it was a new scamming method. "Yes you are. Who am I speaking with?"

The man laughed. "Sorry, I should have introduced myself first. It's Adeola Campbell. Not sure if you remember me."

Hauwa racked her brain but nothing came up. "I'm sorry, I don't."

His tone didn't change; it stayed light and happy. "Oh that's fine. Lemme try and juggle your memory...I was at CBN in the first week of March this year and I got lost. You took me to the right office. I told you I was one of the owners of a travel and tour company named The Gateways. You said it was a classy name. You told me you loved my cornrows too. Do you remember now?"

She gasped, the memory vivid. "Oh my God, yes!" She laughed. "I am so sorry. For someone who left quite an impression that day, I should have remembered your name."

He laughed over the line. "Oh it's alright. It's been months. I'm glad you remember me though, I was already racking my brain to come up with another way to juggle your memory."

She laughed again. "That juggling was enough. How are you, Adeola? I can still call you that, right? You said Mr Campbell sounded too formal that day."

"Of course, Hauwa, you can still call me by my first name. The Adeola you met that day isn't different from the Adeola you're speaking with now."

"That's a relief."

"And in reply to your first question, I'm doing really well. How are you, Hauwa?"

She nodded slowly although he wasn't there. "Well, I'm doing good. I've just been really busy these days with my wedding coming up and all."

He gasped. "You're getting married! Oh my God! This calls for a celebration! Congratulations!"

She easily laughed. "Thank you. You seem so excited."

"Why won't I be? Weddings are happy events and marriages are lovely. I'm really happy for you, Hauwa." Sincerity weighed heavily in his words and it touched her heart. "I'm wishing you and your future husband the very best."

She smiled. "Thank you, Adeola. You have no idea how much those words mean to me."

"You're welcome." His tone changed and became more business-like which made her straighten. "There's a reason I called actually. I've been meaning to reach you since April but for a number of reasons, I hesitated. Two weeks ago, I decided to just fuck it all and reach out. When I got in touch with your office at CBN, I was told you no longer work there. I heard what happened. I'm sorry."

Although months had passed, Hauwa still felt a twinge of hurt whenever the incident was brought up. "It's fine. The important thing is that I was able to clear my name before things blew out of proportion. Do you have something you want to do at the bank? I can link you up with someone."

"Oh no, Hauwa. I don't have much to do with the bank. I have an offer for you. I came personally back to Nigeria from Cardiff to present it to you."

"An offer?"

"Yes, a job offer. We want you to join The Gateways team, as long as you want to. We can never force you. It's solely your choice."

She had no words. She had seen a few ads of the company and she knew it was gaining beautiful momentum thanks to the luxurious services they offered and the institutions they were affiliated with. It was a huge deal even when she had no idea what position they wanted to offer her.