“Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride, worthwhile.” – Franklin P. Jones.
•••
“Welcome to my world!” Lani announced in glee to Tari, as they stepped through the glass sliding doors with the rest of her team members trailing behind excitedly. Her mood had taken a detour from a slightly hostile one earlier, to a highly ebullient one as characterized by her face―which was currently a firework of smiles. She seemed invigorated by the atmosphere, and he could sense that her elated mood was constant irrespective of the frequency of visits to the mall. The magic simply didn’t dampen as a result of familiarity.
And it was definitely not going to go sour now.
“Wow,” Tari’s words fell off his lips, with a heavy breath he seemed to have been holding in. His wide eyes toured the entire scene, taking every bit of view in. They were currently in a narrow receptive lounge. The walls were decorated with grey and black exposed bricks, complimentary of the front gargantuan desk, which was coated in brown mahogany―exuding a smooth, glimmering surface that made him want to run his hand through it. The first person in the trio of people behind the desk, a middle aged, fair woman in a grey blazer and oversized glasses―that made him wonder if it was actually hers―beamed at them, her focus on Lani.
“Welcome, Miss Olaere. It’s been a while.” She greeted, and Lani bowed curtly and flashed a polite smile. “We were wondering when next you were going to pay us a visit with your friends.” She gestured towards the others with a brief glance. “Business has been tough lately, hasn’t it?”
“Oh, well you could say that, Toria.” Lani replied. “Contracts aren’t as forthcoming as they were before, but this current one is quite big and equates to like three of what I usually get before―so well, sulking and complaining isn’t exactly a grateful thing to do. I just have to be positive at all times. How’s everyone doing?”
“We’re all hanging in here,” Toria placed both of her hands on the counter, and leaned forward to whisper. “New boss is a piece of work. Always making the rounds, walking up and down with a whistle in her mouth, can you believe that? If she sees something she doesn’t like, she’d blow the whistle. What does she think she is? A vigilante roaming the night Nigerian streets? I just don’t get it. Anyhoo, this is me warning you so you don’t get startled if all of a sudden you hear a very loud whistle inside.”
Tari found the persona of this boss very odd, but then he could say the same thing about a receptionist that was swift to divulge information of such implicative nature to a customer who was accompanied by a stranger. If he was a sadist who was also self righteous, he would go on to find the boss in the analogy and rat out the crime of the receptionist, straight away. It wouldn’t exactly make him a good person, but it didn’t make him a bad one either.
“There is truly nothing new under the sun and even inside the building under it too.” Lani exclaimed, clapping her hands in unbelief. “See, let’s be going jare. We have a lot of work to do. The house we’re modeling is a very big one, with many rooms. That means we’d be buying a lot of stuff.”
“Alrighty then, you go on straight away.” Toria’s gaze shifted to Tari momentarily. “New member of your team?”
“No, actually he isn’t.” Lani shook her head, throwing him a cursory look as if someone else could have replaced him where he stood. “Actually he is the architect of the house in question and he is very particular about every single detail of the house, so we’re carrying him along―which is ironic, because he forced his way into our meeting. One would think he doubts my taste.”
“Impossible,” Toria recoiled with a bewildered expression, as though Lani had announced to her, that it was now possible for rats to birth humans. “Lani is one of the most brilliant modelers that I know. How do I know this?” Her gaze was on him now. “She comes in at least five or six times every year, on a new project. So obviously, you know that she gets a lot of contracts because her work is speaking for her. Because of the nature of my job here, I know the identity of virtually everyone that steps through our doors and I’d tell you most are designers like her and they don’t come in as frequent as she does. So when my girl tells you she has it in control, you better believe her because it’s the damn truth.”
Tari couldn’t help his resulting grin. His action of coming on board their journey wasn’t built on the mentality or reasoning of doubts for Lani’s prowess in her job but was birthed as a result of genuine craving for her company. Nothing else. But of course, there was no way he could tell her that without spurring grounds for debate and conflict as to why he should feel that.
“Let me be the judge of that myself.” He replied in a self absorbed voice, keeping up with his charade.
“Hmm, this one is a piece of work too.” Toria’s expression, which was previously one of admiration and awe, had changed into a daring one as she faced Lani, once again. “Go on ahead and work. I’ve delayed you enough. Do tell me when you’re leaving if I’m not the one by the counter when you’re heading out.”
“You got it,” Lani replied, before signaling that they proceed with their mission. They proceeded to the end of the lounge, until they reached another room, a much wider, spacious one, which he guessed was the first in line of the breathtaking sights that was going to host him today. The setting in place was that of a living room sparsely furnished with plump champagne leather chairs, figurine vases housing flamboyant flowers, a center table home to translucent decorative pitchers, a fire place covered in brown acrylic paint and antiquated golden chandeliers.
“You haven’t started wowing?” Lani asked, striding forward and not affording him a backward glance. “The setting of this mall is quite brilliant and that’s why I love it. Instead of multiple big rooms that contain furniture with labels and all that, there are multiple rooms designed with furniture to fit the room in mind. That is, this is a living room and there are several rooms like it. There are also dining rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms and all sorts really―already simulated out for easy assimilation.”
“Wow,” he said, still entranced by the pathos of the room. “Doesn’t that make your job too easy, though? I mean if they’re arranged like this, doesn’t that stop you from doing all the work in bringing it to mind?”
“Well for some people,” He couldn’t see her face as they paced the length of the room, but he could sense her nose scrunching. “But, I’m not going to be the stylist who uses generic, store designs. This setting is just way too basic. There are way more fun, innovative ways that you could rearrange what’s here and it’d make it more beautiful―but you of course can’t see past these because you’re rigid and so you love rigid, basic stuff.”
He was tempted to start an argument with her on how wrong the basis of her words were in many perspectives but he kept his mouth shut. Rigid and basic were two things he had never implored in going about his work. His motto was built on the grounds of innovation, breaking new ground, breathing life into masterpieces and basically going where no man has gone. But she didn’t need to hear all that. The intention of her words seemed inclined to mockery and not challenge or confrontation.
“Come on, this is not where we’re going. This is too modern.” Lani announced as he ran his hand through the shiny, glossy surface of the center table. He grunted as he hoped he’d get to sit down on one of the plump sofas in the room while her and the team went about their work. For some reason, he felt the pressing need to sit down.
The next room they entered was another living room like the previous one, with an almost similar design. Just that, where glass panels had been dominant in the previous room, polished, polyester brown furniture replaced them. Modern incandescent lighting courtesy of fluorescent lamps lit up the room as the satin draped shutters were close.
“Now this is more like it,” Lani didn’t seem fascinated by the design, only keenly interested in the details as she had retrieved a notepad and a pen from her bag. “You might want to sit down on one of the chairs,” She motioned to the white and black striped sofa. “This might take a while.” Then her gaze rose to that of her colleagues. “Sarah, go scout for a dining room. Michael, do the same for a bedroom. And Kite, you go check out a kitchen. Write down your observations and text me the number of the rooms.”
She looked so professional and firm as she dished out orders and went about her job, and he knew he would be in great denial if he said he didn’t perceive that as a major turn on. He had always been sapiosexual and found an intellectual gifted woman incredibly sexy. He quickly averted his gaze elsewhere before she caught him drooling.
“Another interesting thing is that they change the designs of this room regularly,” She was saying, as she studied the center table and a rectangular shaped cube perched on it. “So every time we come in, we find new stuff in place and can hardly find our way about. One time, Sarah who is one of the two women on the team, got lost here and texted us that she was lost. And in our ploy to ‘unlost’ her and find her, we all got lost too. We had no choice but to call in the administration to take us to a convening point.”
He nodded, quite unsure of the appropriate way to reply. “I can understand how that could happen. It wouldn’t be bad if they gave you a compass or a map at the entrance, though. Why are you studying the center furniture so much like there is a hidden message in it? If you don’t like it, move on.”
She gave him a baleful that made his insides quiver in fear. “You really don’t get it, do you? You think this job is so easy. Just see something, check it out and if you don’t like it―move on and check the next thing. You think this is what this is all about?”
Uh, hell yeah!
His look became more solemn. “Do go on and fill me on what else it entails.”
To his surprise, she hissed and shook her head, rising to her full length. “You’re so condescending. You think you know it all, don’t you? Well, Mr. Asstein, could you please go on and tell me the model of this table?”
Stools had models, now?
“Uh?” He swallowed, his gaze boring holes into the furniture. “Well it’s a very brown, shiny, center table with—dots of deeper shades of brown and―”
Her laughter cut him off, and she held up a staying hand before replying. “Wow, I’ve never heard you sound so stupid in your life, no offence. For your information, this center piece you’re looking at is a unique monumental Louis XVI style giltwood centre table with a breche marble top by Francois Linke.”
“Sorry, hold up.” He did a double take. “You mean that really long name belongs to this center table I’m looking at? The table is even shorter than the name.” Tari scrunched his nose and shrugged, gesturing towards the table with an outstretched arm and continued, “Dude, those kind of sophisticated names should be reserved for machines and higher technology. Furniture is just―furniture. Right?”
“Don’t be silly, Tari.” She admonished him. “And that chair you’re sitting on, do you know what it is? I bet you don’t. ”
“A distinct, capitalized Louis Vutton style foamwood fringy sofa?” He bickered, as her brows creased together and her mouth parted before a deafening laughter ensued. “Yeah, that’s how what you said earlier sounded in my ears.”
“No, smart ass that is simply a Mimi three-seater black customized leather sofa from swoon editions.” She rolled her eyes, and replied almost as if she was stating the obvious and such information should be known to everyone.
“Ah, I see. Very swoon worthy of its swoon name then.” He drew laughter from her again. “I’m sorry for assuming your work is menial or basic. What you’re doing here is work that requires focus and devotion.”
She was silent for a moment, as if she was grading the mark of his appraising statement. “Good, now that’s a start. Since you’re being such a good, well natured boy―let me teach you one or two things then. Look up, at the chandelier up here?” He followed the direction of her index finger motioning to the ceiling where a circular chandelier encrusted in gold pattern, was home to erect bulbs in the oblong shape of lit candles. “Can you tell me why this sort of lighting isn’t good for this sort of room?”
His side pockets swallowed his hands, as he pondered on the matter. “Um, because—I don’t know, the candle ish bulbs look like they could fall any moment and cause a fire hazard in the room, in turn bringing the entire house down in flames?”
“God, no. That isn’t real fire.” She sighed. “The reason is that this room has a very tall ceiling. The distance between floor and ceiling is several meters more than that in the average house. And what does that cause? When you use lighting that isn’t round, and circular,there would be a lot of places that the light wouldn’t reach. A lot of corner and the sorts. So you use a very, round, circular bulb. That would disperse the lighting quite efficiently.”
“Wow,” he said, for what seemed like the hundredth time. The gravity of the situation rammed him in the face. Never for once in his life had he thought that interior décor had such complicated facets that revolved in its orbit. He simply thought the work elementary, simply demanding delectable and sophisticated taste from its workers. Never had he thought technicality related to the mapping out of plan schemes and other preliminary work was involved. It would appear that he was greatly wrong on the matter.
“Wow, there are other difficult things asides construction of buildings―right?” Just like him, her hands were tucked into her pockets and her previous premonition glare of his undermining comport had changed into one of sheer amusement. “That’s definitely what’s going on in your mind. As I was saying earlier round chandeliers are the best for rooms like this, and they should be positioned up to at most three to four meters away from the floor, to achieve the most suitable effect.”
“So in rooms with normal ceilings that aren’t so high, you could place a chandelier like this one currently?” He asked in genuine curiosity.
“Why not?” She shrugged. “The bulb is in your court. But of course that’s not the only thing to consider when you’re planning lighting for rooms.”
He took a seat on the armrest of one of many sofas in the room. “Enlighten me. Did you get that ‘en-lighten’ me?―” He made quotations in the air with his index fingers as he said the word enlighten. “―enlighten with the light, ‘cos we’re talking bulbs and all that—okay, I’m going to shut up now.”
Lani wore a smug expression and shook her head. The mild scowl etched on her face softened as she opened her mouth to speak. “Well in light and unique environments, it’d be best to use a colorful chandelier. Colorful as in, one with a variety of colors. It not only makes the room in question more beautiful, but the chandelier also stands out on its own and can be used as the bedrock of commencing the decoration in any room. But of course, the color scheme should be complimentary. This job requires the mastery of colors anyway. You can’t keep colors that are enemies inside one room, and expect that there would be no war of the sorts.”
“I wonder why they haven’t made a movie like that.” An idea popped into his head. “We’ve seen Disney Pixar movies on cars, planes, even toys that tell the stories of these lifeless things in their own various worlds. Why haven’t we seen one on colors yet? Or perhaps, they’ve made it and I don’t know. It’s not like I’m big on movies anyway, not to talk of cartoons.”
“It’s called animation, and it’s not like you’re big on fun anyway.” She snarled with a sinister smile. “You’re not big on anything that’s not work. Now as I was saying―the mastery of colors are also very important. Another thing asides making sure the colors of the furniture are complimentary and elegant, is to take into consideration the rule of proportion. Proportion as in size of the things in the room. If you don’t do that you could make the space all clustered and make the room in all, much smaller.
“It’s not advisable to go for a very large chandelier in a room that is quite small and vice versa. The size proportion must be worked in a way to ensure the balance in the decoration. In the former room we were in before we came here, everything was pretty much clustered and that goes a long way to remind you, that the person who designed these rooms didn’t do it with a mind of achieving brilliance. They just wanted to make surfing of items much easier.”
“But those chandeliers look a lot more different than this one here and all the ones I’ve seen in my whole life.” Tari said.
“Hmm,” Lani creased her chin with her left palm, with her gaze intent on Tari’s figure. “Good observation. Those chandeliers are coated in carbon filaments and are the latest trends in decoration. But I’m not considering that option for the house we’re working on. It is very male ish and suitable for bachelor apartments and all that―not necessarily a family house. Plus, it’s not usually a good fit for big houses. It’s best for apartments and flats.”
An electro pop, suffused ringtone interrupted the calm silence, and his head jerked to its origin which was Lani’s pocket. He fed his eyes with the remnants of the intricate designs of their surroundings, whilst she surfed her phone. A minute passed before she spoke again.
“Kite just found the kitchen section. Let’s head there and begin work.” She said, before skimming his relaxed posture on the chair. “Or not? Because you look quite exhausted, like you want to sit here for the rest of the day.”
He wouldn’t deny that the offer wasn’t tempting, but he didn’t come all the way here, coercing himself into her schedule to excuse himself from her company later on. That was the point of the entire ruse. To spend time with her. He couldn’t afford to be distracted by beautiful rooms.
“Tired?” He quirked a brow. “You’re talking to an architect, who sometimes runs lapses round large areas of land to supervise manual labor—oops sorry, there goes the condescension again. Let’s just move.”
“It’s a good thing that you’re correcting yourself now at least,” She pointed out as she led the way forward. They passed numerous rooms like the previous one, with similar structures in place. Vintage dining rooms, classic studies, contemporary common rooms—all with fascinating, complexly woven designs that enthralled him. He felt like he was out in the galaxy, and the designs were the glimmering stars and comets.
Finally, they arrived at their destination and as expected, one of the striking beauties working with Lani was awaiting their arrival. The room was a large contemporary kitchen, characterized with a white marble, disco-esque ceiling that overlooked ash and brown carbon coated chandeliers, grey powdered colored steel frame cabinets, a 14-foot long Blizzard Caesarstone counter station that housed flower vases and a synthetic, epoxy-coated floor.
“Wow, Kite I’m impressed.” Lani was saying as she swirled in the center of the room, examining its offerings. Apparently Tari’s state of awe was something they had in common. “This room is almost perfect. Almost perfect, if not for the fact that it’s unnecessarily big. Small, compact kitchens are always the best.”
“Really? I always loved spacious kitchens.” He walked slowly to the counter, facing Lani and Kite on the opposite side.
“Why, if I may ask?” Her tone was challenging.
“Well, I just thought it’d be best if it had a lot of space.” He replied. “Probably because the kitchen of the house that I grew up in was quite small, and it wasn’t really a space I loved to spend time in. Big kitchens like this make it cool for hanging out. You know, drinking coffees by the counters and enjoying the sweet aromas coming from the pots?”
Lani rolled her eyes in disdain, while her colleague laughed well naturedly. What was so funny in what he said?
“The kitchen is not meant for hanging out, mister.” Lani corrected him, her hands on the counter. “It is for work, cooking work. But you wouldn’t know that since you probably don’t know how to cook and in turn, don’t use your kitchen. It’s just there, chilling like a museum of expensive cooking equipments and utensils put on display.”
“Hey, I boil water there every morning to bathe.” He protested and that only initiated another stream of laughter. “I don’t see how that is funny. Could you go on and tell my why small, compact kitchens are the best then?” Tari fought the urge to end his remark with a Mrs. know-it-all, seeing she had the upper hand this very day―and would probably engage him in a verbal combat, stating numerous reasons why the title suits him better. He wouldn’t even indulge, he thought.
Lani nudged Kite gently on the side. “Why don’t you go ahead and school him on my behalf, huh?”
“It’s quite simple, really.” Kite started, clasping her hands in a professional fashion. “You don’t want to have to go from mile one to mile two anytime you need to retrieve something for usage. Let’s say you want to take yam from the store, I don’t think you want to walk for more than ten seconds before you arrive back at the gas cooker, huh? Smaller spaces are always more efficient for working.”
“The organization of kitchens is a very important thing you do not want to get wrong.” Lani chipped in. “In fact, without exaggerating, it’s easily the most important thing in furnishing. Louis Parrish, a popular author and important entity in the world of household kitchens said, ‘if you can organize your kitchen, you can organize your life.’ ”
“That is a matter of debate for another day, but go on.” Tari said.
Kite continued. “The common problems most people face when organizing kitchens are clutter, lack of counter space and a dark kitchen. Clutter is usually a side effect of not having enough storage. Providing storage isn’t exactly the solution, decluttering and simplifying the design of the kitchen is. Redundant, superficial things that aren’t in usage should be discarded. While they may be good for design, if it deters the general brilliance of the kitchen―then it should be removed.”
“Doesn’t matter if the owners of the house spent several thousands of Naira buying it?” He smirked.
“Who send them?” Lani scowled. “But these days they leave the job to us and that’s why we make sure such doesn’t come into place. Moving on to the second common problem which is lack of counter space. Tackling this one requires innovation―like maximizing the usage of kitchen equipment past their basic functions. For example, when you inspect that kitchen sink, you’d see that the excess space is also used as a cutting board.”
“I see,” He folded his arms, moving to the point of reference.
“Yeah, and eliminating utensils on the cabinets like knifes and all sorts, by creating areas for wedging them into the wall.” Kite resumed. “Purchasing racks for pots and pans which frees up space in the cabinets. Additional shelving could be added to suitable idle places and hideaway furniture also. Very useful.”
“Hideaway furniture?” He whirled around to stare at the duo.
“Yeah like backless bar stools that can tuck away or roll-out kitchen cabinet or tables. Drop-down, wall-mounted tables or cutting boards also.” Lani explained.
“Hmm, I didn’t understand seventy-five percent of what you just said now, but I’d pretend like I do anyway.” He mumbled. “So…back to the final problem people face when organizing kitchens? Dark kitchens? Does this have something to do with what we discussed earlier about tall ceilings and round chandeliers?”
“No, this one is more technical.” Lani couldn’t help the grin that smeared her face. “Although, I’m quite happy, that you’re really taking note of these things. Dark rooms feel smaller, so it is advisable to brighten up walls with a fresh coat of paint or a light shade. Some of our past customers were specific about rich, dark coated cabinets. In order to counter that effect, we recommended addition of under-cabinet lighting to brighten up working areas. Good lighting makes a good kitchen look bigger, regardless of the color.”
“You could also add LED strip lights to shelves and under cabinets to illuminate counter space. Application is very simple, if I must say. You simply peel, stick and plug in.” Kite added. “It’s also good to replace superficial lighting with energy efficient versions, like pendant lights that can be clipped into existing track-lighting systems to create layers for the room’s lighting.”
“Oh, those are fabulous.” Lani smiled to Kite. “And glass panels also. Glass panels and mirrors should be placed at strategic places to reflect light about. Although you have to do it right or the end product would be quite ugly. Ah, I could talk décor all day and not get tired. Anyhoo, let’s start jotting down all what we need now. We’ve spent almost an hour here already, and although I know that Sarah and Matthew are making headways into bedrooms and bathrooms, I’d still need to inspect and all.”
Tari became sequestered in a bubble of silence, cooped up on a stool by the counter as the ladies progressed with their work. The world of interior décor which was like a TV channel in the past—plagued with poor transmission and uneven pixels―had become much more clearer as a result of the great analytical heights that Lani had embarked on today. He had gotten much more than what he sought out for initially.
In a matter of moments, they were heading back to the counter at the rendezvous point to convene with the rest of the team members. Once again, he separated himself from the lively chatter of the experts and slumped on a chair in the receptive lounge. He was fiddling with his overly long fingernails, when he felt a familiar presence by his side.
“Hey,” Lani said, as she lowered herself gracefully to the chair by his left. She was obviously exhausted and worn out by the mobile nature of their activity today, and suddenly―an ardent compulsion to snuggle her closer to his shoulders for comfort, materialized in him but he shrugged it off. It was simply not the time or the place for such. Her sensual body fragrance of vanilla, laddered with heady wood notes and tuberose didn’t do much in easing the difficulty of his resistance.
“Hey,” He met her gaze. “So, what’s up?”
“Well we’re done discussing and agreeing on all what we’d be buying,” Her head whipped in the direction of her team members who were on the other end of the hallway, in their own world―chattering away excitedly. “We’re just waiting for our order to be attended to. Then the drivers would come in and do the heavy lifting into the trucks, and we’d be on our way out of here and back to the office.”
“I see, and is it today that you’d commence work on designing the simulation back at Graffity?”
“No, not today.” She shook her head, redirecting her gaze forward to the busy counter of receptionists. “Usually, we’d start today because all we did was buy stuff, you know? But today is technically the last day in office. Next week is Christmas week and we have that week off. We’d most likely resume work on the 2nd which is Wednesday. So, I guess there is no need to be in a hurry. We’d start the simulation next year, in proper.”
“Good, good.” He said.
“Yeah, and you? When would the construction get completed? Do you have an estimate?”
“In about a month’s time,” He smiled. “The men are working overnight and through the midnight, and we also have a large task force of a hundred men so yeah. In the next month or so it should be done.”
“Alright, I’d start planning my schedule for decoration to coincide with that time then.”
“Oh,” His brow rose. “And here I was thinking that you asked because you’re concerned about my work, not because it has anything to do with yours.”
“It’s not like that,” She gave him a warm smile. “I asked for both reasons, okay?” She added, her eyes darting to the counter once again. “It seems like they are done with the orders. Let me go tell the men outside to begin the heavy lifting. You should be leaving also, Tari. There is nothing here left for you anymore.”
There is nothing left for you anymore.
For some reason, that statement seemed to render a quite incapacitating effect on him that he was sure Lani wasn’t opting for. But, it was simply the truth. She might be referring to the present moment, but in all truthfulness, it was valid for the future also. They had now reached the phase of their contract where there was little to nothing binding them together for work anymore. There was still great deal of work to be done on both of their sides, but the counsel of their respective parties wasn’t in play anymore.
This was their end.
But he wasn’t going to relinquish their contact so easily. He didn’t come all the way from the building site to say goodbye. No, it was to enjoy her company―her company that he wasn’t quite ready to part with, and so he decided to do anything―no matter how minute or atomic the effect would be to prolong their dalliance. He had no other choice.
“You want to grab lunch together?” He was sure he sounded vulnerable and desperate. “There should definitely be a place around that we could get something good to eat. I’m quite famished and if the fatigue on your face is anything to go by, then it says you need food in your system also.”
Her head tilted to the side, and her eyes narrowed in a furtive manner, once again to assess his exterior appearance to detect if there was any underling of an ulterior motive somewhere. His intention was no inconspicuous one, as he was sure it was quite clear. He wanted more time with her, nothing more.
“Okay then.” She nodded. “You’re right, I’m hungry too. But give me a moment.”
He watched her sashay away in grace, as a smug smile seeped into his face. Mission accomplished. He had indeed bought more time. More time that he was going to ensure that he maximized to its full utility. This was because, to be candid, after today, he was totally unsure of the path the vehicle of their relationship was going to drift towards.
*****
“How about this one?”
He asked, striding out of the small area of space, barricaded with veils and curtains that was accessed for dressing and undressing purposes. He had lost track of the number of times he had stepped in and out of the cubicle to try on various attires that weren’t in anyway befitting to the taste of Lani. If he didn’t find her company pleasant, he’d be pretty much loathing his decision of agreeing to her request.
It was a bright, Saturday afternoon and while his options for leisure engagement activities might not be numerous—they posed more entertainment than his current stress-inducing one. He couldn’t wait to get out of the squabble that he found himself in. Lani on the other hand, didn’t in anyway seem tired or exhausted from the continuous repetitive nature of their actions. In fact if her current smile was anything to go by, it said that she was invigorated by it.
“Hmm, not bad.” Her gaze rummaged his body frame that was clad in a white button-up shirt, grey khakis and black winter boots. He thought it quite innovative on his part and thought that she’d be undoubtedly impressed but she didn’t look in awe of his outfit in anyway. “You chose a good shirt this time and boots, huh? But nope. Still not what I’m going for. This is more of what my brother would wear on a regular day, save the shirt alone. We’re going for a full corporate, attire okay?”
His shoulders slumped. “Really? Shouldn’t what you choose at least have something in common with what he likes? If he doesn’t like your gift at all, he’d just accept it with a smiley face and then dump it somewhere. And since he is your elder brother, I’m pretty sure he can’t be forced by your mom or some older relative to wear it or something if he doesn’t want to.”
Lani didn’t seem perturbed by his points. “Let me worry about my brother, you just worry about getting into an outfit that is strictly, a hundred percent corporate without any dash of casual or swag―something that people would wear to dinner nights and the sorts, okay? You should change back into your clothes, so we’d leave this section and check out other places. I thought we could find something of a simple kind here that would do the justice but now I have no choice than to go hardcore.”
Hardcore?
He voiced his protest to his conscience, as he went about to do as ordered. After changing back into his clothes, and returning the outfit he had tried on earlier, he and Lani resumed their tour of the large clothe mall. As they explored the length of the tremendous hall, that was the home of various mobile clothe trolleys―affixed with hangers and huge towering shelves that displayed styles ranging from retro trends to contemporary fads, he realized the experience was one that wasn’t of great value that was cherished greatly, judging by the unabashed expressions worn by majority of shoppers like them.
But to him, it was quite new.
He had never experienced such luxury before. Matter of fact, new clothes were like a fairy tale that he had been told stories of but knew such was never going to come to pass as regarding his own life. His wardrobe consisted of a lot of hand downs from older relatives and second hand material. He wasn’t complaining, though. He knew worse conditions were in place for some people who didn’t even have clothes to wear, but at the same time he wasn’t joyous about that fact.
“How frequent do you go for clothes shopping?” Lani’s question jolted him out of his train of thoughts and back to the present. They were walking in a slow, calculated pace, which functioned in the enablement of studying their surroundings carefully. “I hear most people say stuff like at the beginning of every semester and all, but why put a timetable on it? Why can’t it be spontaneous? I visit here anytime I want, though. If I had more money, I’d be here more often. But knowing you, you’re one of those time table people.”
His lips twitched in amusement. She automatically assumed that everyone had the financial wherewithal to pay frequent visits to malls as much as they wished. If only that were the case for him. If only he had inadequate funds to worry about and not lack of funds all together.
“You’re a girl, so obviously you care more about fashion.” He didn’t reply her question, directly. “An average girl cares more about her appearance than the average boy, and the boys who are metrosexual aren’t so many so of course yeah. I put a time table on visits to the mall. Asides from the fact that there is never enough money, time tables are just fun. I really don’t know how I could just wake up today and do something that I didn’t plan on doing the previous day.”
“Oh my God, you’re no fun.” She shoved him playfully by the side and shook her head. “How do people wake up and do stuff that they didn’t plan on doing the previous day? Are you seriously going to tell me that, everything you do in a day is previously planned for? The day you found out that you were going to be working with me for the departmental collaboration ish, did you plan on talking to me the previous night? Or there is one witch you consulted to see the future so you could plan for it?”
“Of course not.” He chuckled. “Okay let me rectify my statement. You have to plan for most of your day and not just live it all as it comes.”
“Everyone plans for most of their day, if that’s the case.” Lani protested. “When I tell you to be more spontaneous, of course I’m not saying that you should be spontaneous in one day or make the entire day spontaneous? You can only afford one spontaneous activity at a time of course and the rest of your day just falls back into the planning category. It’s just that, the spontaneous activity in question has to be something you don’t really do frequently and make you step out of your comfort zone.”
“Now, why would I want to step out of my comfort zone?” He frowned, as she signaled them to a halt. Trailing behind her, his eyes projected to the long trolley of blazers she was inspecting. “It’s called the comfort zone for a reason. Step out of it and there won’t be comfort anymore. So no, thanks. I don’t think I like that offer.”
“There is no danger outside the comfort zone or an ambush waiting for you once you step outside.” He couldn’t see her face, but he could sense her rolling her eyes. “It’s just daring and challenging, that’s all. Don’t you ever get tired of repeating the same thing over and over again for fun? Don’t you feel like trying new stuff? It isn’t exactly about stepping out of your comfort, it’s about expanding your comfort.”
He growled. “Thank you, but I pretty much like my comfort where it is currently. It’s not good to be selfish, you know. If I keep on expanding and expanding, there would be no space for other people to pitch their own comfort zone and also expand if they want to. I just can’t take up the entire space because of expansion. I have to be considerate also.”
Her shoulders bunched together and she let out a guttural chuckle, before spinning around to face him. She was looking as mouthwatering as always in a black laced up tee that had multiple indiscernible words scribbled on it in a cursive watermark and black faded jeans. Her black braids were pinned up into a two twin bun that protruded upwards on her head.
“C’mon, let’s continue forward. We have to explore all options.” Her left hand latched onto his right and she tugged him forward. “So, what type of stuff would you come here to buy and wear, if you didn’t have to think about money? I mean if you have money to the extent that you can afford virtually everything in here. What and what would you buy?”
He exhaled deeply, biting his lower lip. “I—really don’t know. I’ve just been too busy with life, trying to survive that I didn’t even pause to think about how a life of luxury could be like…” He trailed off when he saw the incredulous look on her face. “I mean like, you know school has always been so busy and trying, and I’ve never really sat down to fantasize about what the future could be like.”
“Wow, you have to be one of the weirdest people I know.” She said it in a tone that almost conflicted with the nature of her words. “Everyone dreams about what life would be like if they were a millionaire or billionaire. Not necessarily in a conscious way, but also unconscious. Take boys for example. When they come across a game console they really like but can’t afford, they’d start to nurture dreams of a reality where they can afford and play it. For girls, it’s stuff like expensive fashion accessories, make up, clothes blah blah. While for some of us it’s food. As for me, what I love most in this life thankfully doesn’t come with monetary price.”
“And what’s that? Fresh air?” He asked.
“No, it’s sleep.” Her shoulders fell. “Sleep, guy. I love sleeping so damn much. But it comes with a really expensive price also which is called time. There is never enough time to sleep. But at least it isn’t money. Still, when I think more on it―about which is more expensive in money and time―I realize that it’s actually time and so maybe I don’t really have it good with what I really love most in life. It’s just all very complicated like that.”
“What do I really like?” He diverted his thinking faculties in line with their current conversation. “Wow, I really can’t name one thing. But I like things. I like food, I like books and as much as I would not like to admit―I like school. I also like hanging out with folks, provided that it isn’t so frequent. I don’t think I can name one thing that I love unconditionally though.”
“You need to discover yourself, mister.” She mocked him. “Travel the world, meet people, sit down and peer deep down into your soul.”
“All so I could find something that I really like which might not even be beneficial to my life?”
“Urgh! Is everything about value to you?” She grunted, dissolving their entwined hands. He’d have thought his earlier statement angered her, if he didn’t see her browsing through another set of blazers on a rack. “Don’t you want to do things simply because you just love them and not because they’d add value to you? Don’t you want to do things that would be harmful, dangerous to you but you do them anyway because you love them? Don’t you want to be reckless, like an actual teenager?”
He swallowed.
“Adulthood sucks a lot, Tari. You don’t need to get there before it comes.” She plucked out a double breasted navy blue plaid blazer and held it out to him. “You don’t need to be an adult before you become one. Here, try this one.”
As he accepted the blazer, he couldn’t help but smirk internally at the irony of the situation. Her words were urging him to be more reckless and less logical, while she was handing over an outfit that was in opposition to such characteristics. An outfit that was the embodiment of a true adult. He excused himself to the nearest undressing area and changed into the outfit, fervently hoping it would be the one.
And when he stepped out, he had no doubt within his heart to think otherwise.
“And ladies and gentlemen, I present to you―the young and rich C.E.O. of Alpha Oil and Gas, Nigeria―Mr. Ibiyemi Tari.” She announced in a feigned baritone that send them both into a bout of laughter and drew the attention of other shoppers. “I’m telling you guy, you’re looking really you. Adulthood looks really good on you, though and that’s why it sucks the most. Because adulthood sucks.”
He did his best to appear sympathetic when truly he was only relieved that the shopping activity had come to an end.
“So, that’s all right?” He asked. “This is it? We’ve found the best corporate outfit for your brother and I really recommend it also because it’d fit―”
“I don’t know if I should take your word for that because that’s the same thing you said for every clothe you tried on today. Even before we got in here, you said everything would literally fit him.” She scrunched her nose.
“In my defense, I never knew how big this place would be.” This was technically the truth. “So, is that really all?”
“All that’s left is to find good pair of shoes and trousers to go with it.” She beamed excitedly, totally ignorant of the pain she was causing him within. His head throbbed in exhaustion at the realization that they had just come to the end of one phase of the activity.
“Oh, I see.” He said.
“Or do you want him to wear it barefooted and without pants on?” She eyed him, noting his discomfort.
“No, I just thought we should be leaving that decision to him, you know. But since we aren’t, while we’re at it―why don’t we get him boxers and underwear too.”
She gave him a hard whack on his head, before nudging him forward to continue their walk. The day might be far from being over, but he figured he could hang in there and survive―especially when he had such delighted company like Lani’s. If he was being brutally honest, he’d happily subject himself to a live replay of today’s events as far as it came with Lani’s company.
And that was no overestimation of her status.
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One chapter to the finale of Phase one!!! Who is excited? The first part of this story is coming to an end soon. You should have a lot of things on your mind that you’d love to share, yeah? Don’t hesitate to flood the comments with your thoughts.
Also, did you find this chapter enlightening? Did a truckload of research for the entire book in all, hope it didn’t go in vain. Tap that star and come back for more next week. Have a splendid weekend.