Still Waters

EIGHTEEN

My new team is young, vibrant, and eager to work. I'm so lucky to have them, they make my job so much easier. I have been a team-lead at my new branch for a month now and I am still adjusting to the change. The hardest part is commuting. The branch is farther away from my house and so spend more hours on the road. I am exhausted by the time I get home and too tired to wake up the next morning. Sometimes I sleep through my alarm and mom has to wake me up.

"Amara. Amara" I hear her voice faraway, drawing me out of dreamland. Still my eyes remain closed.

"Amara." She smacks me on the arm and it stings, making me sit up with a groan. "It's 4:30" she says. "Get up and get ready for work." With that she leaves the room, her long black house robe swaying behind her like she is batman.

Murmuring my displeasure, I crawl out of bed and successfully make it to the bathroom. I splash water on my face with eyes open, then sit on the loo to relieve myself. 9-5 sucks. In moments like this, I seriously contemplate resigning. But then, all my victories would have been for nothing. I also contemplate renting a house closer to work. I hinted it to Tonye and he contracted an agent to begin searching for a suitable flat for me. I haven't discussed it with mom yet, but I guess we'd cross that bridge when I find a place.

Speaking of Tonye, I Hardly see him anymore. It's video calls and a few weekends now. I miss him, though I refuse to admit it to him. I'm scared to let him know my true feelings. I still don't know where I stand with him. Are we just playing around? Are we friends with benefits? Are we heading somewhere? I'm slowly beginning to wish that we were. I'm not even sure when I started falling for him. I sigh to the white ceiling above me and inwardly remind myself to move faster if I intend to get to work by 7:00am.

I rush through my hygiene, don my work clothes, and step out of the house by 5:30am. It usually takes me approximately ninety minutes to get to work if there is minimal traffic. I hail a tricycle to take me from within the estate to the main gate. I sigh in despair when I get there and notice the long line of cars already vying for any available space on the highway. It's just 5:45am and the traffic is crazy. Well, what did I expect in the insomniac city of Lagos. I run towards a bus which stopped at the bus stop and hop on. If I went any slower, it would have been filled up before I got on, or the driver would have driven off. Everyone is in a rush; even the drivers are hardly patient to wait for passengers.

I arrive at the office by 7:10am, not bad considering my house is on the other side of town. Still the branch manager, Oga Okey lashes at me for my lateness. I don't think he likes me very much. I don't like him either. He is not as talkative as Mrs Kit, but he is just as evil. I make fun of his bald head in my mind as he delivers his ted talk. It's so shiny I bet I can see my face on it. And that beard of his that looks like that of and ancient he-goat. A chuckle slips through my lips and I quickly hold it back. Luckily no one notices. They are all staring at Oga Okey in rapt attention, hanging on his every word like their lives depends on it. It's normal banking sycophantic behaviour that spreads like a disease. Someone sitting right here in this room is hoping that Oga Okey considers him/her humble enough, agreeable enough, loyal enough to recommend for promotion at the next appraisal. It is utterly disgusting behaviour but I don't blame them. I used to behave that way too. I used to think that way too, until I realised that everything respects success, even difficult bosses.

Oga Okey calls me into his office and has me write down a long list of targets to be achieved by each member of my team before the end of the week. Odiegwu! That is what my mom says when something seems impossible to achieve. To him I say, "Noted sir, we will even surpass these targets".

He nods and dismisses me. I speak to my team quickly letting them know their targets and schedule a marketing drive by 11am. I call my appointments for the day to ensure they will be at their shops at the agreed time. One good thing about working in this new branch was the abundance of customers both for liability and risk assets. There was no struggle to find them at all. Just get out of the branch, cross the street and you are right in the middle of them. So frankly, my job here is not hard especially with a hardworking team. I just wish I did not have to suffer so much getting to it.

Tonye calls and we speak on the phone for a bit before we say our goodbyes and face our duties for the day. I am filled with a deep longing for him now that his deep voice does not fill my ears. I can also confess that I yearn for a certain part of him to fill a certain part of me as well. I resolve in my heart to pay him a surprise visit this weekend looking like a birthday present. I was in the mood for giving gifts.

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Saturday came quickly, maybe because I was expecting it. I feel a flutter in my stomach as I doll myself up to go see the man that has been living rent free in my head all week.

"Amy, abeg give me that your water bottle" says Tobenna as struts into our room like he owns it, trousers sagging and exposing his boxers, two buttons of his shirt undone. I eye him in disgust.

"Why are you looking homeless?"

He sighs. "Abeg, my mother is in the kitchen. Stop impersonating her."

Ebere who is on the bed doing her homework bursts into laughter. I give her a glare but ignore her and continue applying my mascara.

"Where's it?" Tobenna repeats.

I give him my meanest side-eye. "Person wey wan thief dey find who go borrow am gun" He gives me that look that says don't test me. He holds my drinking over my head any chance he gets. Such a blackmailer. "In my wardrobe I tell him. If mommy catches you, you're on your own."

"Why do you guys even drink?" Ebere asks. "It's disgusting"

"Of course, it'll be disgusting for babies" Tobenna says as he retrieves my red water bottle from the wardrobe.

She stops writing and frowns at him. "I am not a baby."

"Oh yes, you are, baby Eby." He says and pulls her scrunchie off her hair making her braids tumble down her shoulders. I gasp inwardly as I remember how she had struggled to perfectly pack up her braids.

"Toby" she screams and runs after him. He is already out the room. I hear their footsteps all the way to the front door followed by Ebere's yelling. "Better stay in papa's mansion because I will pour water on you if you come back here. Skinny bully."

I burst into laughter. It is always like this with my brother and sister...petty alloying fights, lots of noise, days of vendetta. Ebere will have no peace until she gets back at him. But I love them like crazy.

I step back and survey myself in the mirror. My make-up is sweet, my edges are laid and my outfit is the bomb. I throw a jacket on it just so mom can not see all the skin of my back on display. It is a white backless satin top that looks pretty decent when viewed from the front but is scandalous at the back. Only a few strings kept it from falling off. Of course, I am not wearing a bra but no one will notice that with my blazer on. I have on black skinny pants and black strappy sandals with 3-inch stiletto heels. I'm not bothered because I have no intention of walking for long. My phone beeps signalling the arrival of my uber.

I find my mom in the kitchen making one of her smoothie concoctions. "I'm going mom." I yell above the noise of her famous bunchy-mix blender. That thing can blend me if I get her mad enough.

She surveys my outfit from head to toe before putting her attention back on the blender. Looks like she's fine with my dressing today.

"Okay, greet Susan's parents for me oh." She says, then adds as I start to walk away. "And make sure you are back on time. You will be the one to cook dinner today."

I twist my lips in annoyance and even add an eye roll boldly because she can't see my face. "Okay mom." I say sourly as I walk out of the house. She doesn't even hear because the blender is back on. I can't wait to move out already.

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