Shout-Out to my Ex [✓]

Fifteen

"I learnt my lesson, guy. I always use protection, please enjoy your abstinence, I have to go," Uzo had said hurriedly into the phone before hanging up.

A message notification from her phone woke her from her reverie. It was from Ekene. He was waiting for her outside. She picked her purse off the centre table in her living room and stepped out.

Dinner tonight was at a Chinese restaurant in Ikoyi. The pair traded stories about their week as they enjoyed noodles with shredded chicken and beef soup. The conversation soon shifted to Tilewa's business plan; over the past month and with loads of counsel and guidance from Ekene, she had started practising her portion control and was now charging her clients at fixed rates. The business was booming because Ekene had lots of single friends who were ready to pay however much for home-cooked meals. The next step was to finalize her business plans and Tilewa listened intently as Ekene broke down concepts for her.

"At this rate," he said, "You could quit your job by the start of next year and go into catering full-time."

"Quit my job?" Tilewa had never considered the possibility much less given it any thought.

He shrugged. "Your profit margins have risen steadily for the past month since you started charging fixed prices, and your clientele is gradually expanding. To deal with the demands of your customers, you would have to give full attention to this business if you expect it to grow any bigger."

Tilewa's eyes widened at the thought, she had been working for a full decade and had never for once imagined what it would be like to work for herself and she aired her thoughts to Ekene.

"You don't have to quit now, but you need to have it in mind, working for someone else is slavery when you can work for yourself and be a king in your own right."

"But there are times I don't even get any orders in like two weeks. If I quit my job I'm screwed."

"No you are not, what of times you are flooded with orders? Times when you are even struggling to keep up with them."

"But that's not even all the time, like maybe once in like 3 months."

"Then you save for the drought in the rainy season," he deadpanned

"It's not that simple... how can I quit my job?"

"Just calm down."

"I can't. Even the thought scares me. That whole entrepreneur life is not for me."

"Calm down. First off," he took her hands in his from where they sat at the sides of the table. "No one is asking you to quit your job now. I'm just letting you know that your business is booming and that you will soon need to factor in the possibility of full-time staff if you want it to grow without any inhibitions. No stress, no pressure. You don't have to quit your job okay?"

The way his eyes bore into hers just seemed to assail all of her fears and she was calm in a matter of moments. The reality of how well her business was doing had just hit her from a whole new perspective and the first emotion she was able to process after that was fear. Finally, calm, with her palms in Ekene's, she tried to justify that fear only to realize that it was unfounded. She was not scared of anything, yet she had felt a terror so intense in the past few seconds she could not comprehend and could barely explain, but Ekene sat across from her, patiently, listening as she tried to put this strange emotion into words.

He nodded like a wizened old sage as if he had been down this road countless times and she was just another fellow he was going to have to guide through.

"That's called fear of the unknown, and it happens to even the best of us." He continued rubbing soothing circles on her palm with his thumb. "Before I came around, this was not a business venture to you but just a hobby you had with no intent to commercialize. You are still taking your time to adjust to this whole entrepreneur thing. Don't worry, you'll do excellently at it."