“People who aren’t there can say it was idiotic or shortsighted, but when you’re in a moment when horrible things are happening in front of you—sometimes you just need to act on what’s best.” – Bob Morley.
•••
“Good morning,” Anjola greeted the room, after twisting the door knob and letting herself into the office. She was expecting the usual—Adaure and Ehize at their respective desks tending to their work—but instead, the duo were huddled behind Adaure’s desk, discussing. It wasn’t until she strode over to her desk, to drop her bag that she realized Delano was in their midst and addressing them.
Her brisk pace slowed down a bit, as her brain assimilated the imagery in place and speculated on why exactly Delano was in the room. He had never addressed her team, behind her back and always went through her and so it didn’t make sense, that he’d do such now that they were technically partners as a result of the absence of the department’s head.
The trio turned to face her, or rather—Ehize and Adaure, since Delano didn’t have his back turned to her. She steadied her stance, with her right hand gripping the back of her chair and faced them.
It was a Monday morning, and protocol dictated that every worker was strictly corporate dressed and so everyone in the room was. Ehize in a white starched, Hugo Boss shirt, blue skin tight khakis and brown brogue boots. Adaure in a white chiffon blouse—dotted with miniature pineapples of varying colors—black palazzo pants, and nude wedges. And Delano in a black blazer, draped over a maroon button-down, mud-brown chinos and black Oxfords. There were times, she wondered if her coworkers were the stars of a popular, hippie teen show as regards to how they always looked dashing.
“Hey, Anjola.” Delano returned her greeting with the wave of a hand, and a smile as he pushed himself off Adaure’s desk, where he was previously leaning on. “No need to fret. We weren’t meeting behind your back, and conniving on a way to strip you off your post here in the office. I just came by to ask for the fuel expenditure documents, and got seduced by Adaure’s and Ehize’s gossip about the daughters of the C.E.O.”
“Oh,” Her eyes widened in comprehension, and she nodded. Ehize and Adaure on the other hand, didn’t bother giving her verbal greetings and resumed their conversation with such gusto and enthusiasm, that she knew it was staged. It was an intentional action, to exclude themselves from the conversation. It was a recurring theme, anytime Delano was around. She didn’t know how else to tell them, that a romance between her and him was improbable. “Which daughter is this gossip about, and what exactly is the gossip about?”
“The gossip is actually, about the gossip surrounding the fact that Zoe, the elderly daughter is almost thirty-five and yet to you know…settle down.” Delano replied, closing the space between them and folding his arms. Ever since, his botched effort to clinch her heart—there hadn’t been a lot of talking between them. Matter of fact, she felt only comfortable and relaxed because Ehize and Adaure were in the room also. Not that Delano’s presence was suddenly intoxicating—but it was mostly the guilt, ripping her apart from within.
“Some people find it curious, that a rich, attractive young woman like her is yet to notch a man, so they assume something might be wrong somewhere. Then, the woke females find this annoying, that people assume every woman is interested in getting married.
“Which makes sense, but then the other school of gossip argues again that she isn’t exactly doing anything great, because she isn’t a household name so definitely isn’t pushing career shit. Her Instagram followers also corroborate this fact, that all she does, is mostly party all day and night. So if she isn’t pushing career, might as well take marriage seriously? Then the woke women still go on to argue, what she does is nobody’s business and that it’s her life.”
Anjola shook her head, in disdain. “It would seem like these women don’t know that the essence of gossiping, is violating privacy of people and prying into their personal matters?”
“I know right,” Delano shrugged. “Anyway, it would seem some misguided soul went to spill the news to Zoe herself, on a day she visited. Probably a newbie, who didn’t know she was the one being gossiped about. The newbie in question didn’t show up for work, throughout last week so speculation is that she got sacked. But what do you know, she could be dead in a ditch or something. Everyone knows better than to mess with children of powerful billionaires.”
“What a shame? How does the newbie explain to her friends and family, that she got sacked because of gossiping, anyway? That’s just something anyone would be too embarrassed to tell even their closest friend.” Anjola replied, before stooping lower to retrieve a document from the bottom shelf of her desk. She held out the blue, laminated report to Delano and went on to elucidate, when it left her hands. “That’s the report. Prepared it since Friday, but I had to rush out in the evening, and you weren’t around so I couldn’t get it to you on time.”
“No problem,” Delano said, as he flipped through the report speedily—with his thumb brushing through the edges of the white pages. “How was your evening though? Did it go well?"
Panic gripped her, causing her to stammer. “F—Friday evening?”
“Yes, it was Friday you mentioned, is it not?” Delano’s brows creased, so that they were tightly cinched over the bridge of his nose, when he looked up from studying the document to face her. “How was your night on Friday? How did it go?”
Anjola was rendered bemused and disorientated by Delano’s question. He was going on to inquire on the details of Friday evening, the very time frame in which her date with Lekan took place. It was no mere coincidence that he’d casually ask her about the night in question—especially, since it would make more sense for him to ask about her previous night and not that of Friday, if it was simply out of pleasantry obligation. He knew about what transpired somehow, hence his question. If she had anticipated, she’d find herself in such quandary early in the morning, she wouldn’t have bothered cosseting his trivial banter.
“Well,” She swallowed hard, and swabbed away beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She gave the guys behind Delano, a perfunctory look of help but noticed the mischief glinting in their eyes, as they studied her. Were they responsible for this? Had they gone to rat her on to Delano about her budding romance with Lekan, behind her back? Was that what they had been discussing, when she stepped into the room? “It was good, nothing much…happened really. We talked, went out for a meal and departed to our respective homes afterwards.”
“We?” Delano looked totally dumbfounded, and it wasn’t just him. Adaure and Ehize exchanged curious glances also, and flashed her incongruous looks. What? Didn’t they know what was happening? At the moment, she couldn’t string together lucid thoughts that would form a cohesive narrative, as to what exactly was happening? “So your night was eventful, huh? Who is this we, you’re talking about? New boyfriend?”
Oh, God. What have I gotten myself into?
She figured she was so pale with disquietude, because Delano desisted from his inquisition. “Sorry, I don’t mean to pry, but I was only asking how your night was on Friday, because you said you had to rush out. My brain just interpreted it that you had an emergency or something, and so you had to leave abruptly. Hence, the question. Didn’t know you were on a date or anything.”
Anjola didn’t know if it was her paranoia at work, but enmity seemed to seep into Delano’s voice, towards the ending of his words. Great job Anjola, she scolded herself. The one thing she wanted to keep away from Delano, the ugly truth that she had someone else in her life—she had gone on to tank it, and told him straight up. And now he’d probably hate her, maybe. His laid back posture had even vanished, and was replaced with what seemed to be fury hardening his body.
“Oh, I just thought…yeah that makes sense.” She forced herself to say something, anything before turning to her desk, to seek refuge from the heat of the moment. “Um, I have a lot of work to get to, so…”
“Yeah, sure. I’d leave you to it.” He managed a smile, and waved the document in his hands in the air. “I have work to get to also. Later.”
As expected, Adaure descended on her like a predator—the moment, Delano closed the door behind him. Ehize on the other hand, had decrypted the significance of the moment and simply excused himself, by returning to his desk. Adaure stood motionless by her desk, without uttering a word—obviously waiting for her to address the elephant in the room, and so she used it to buy as much time as she could, by arranging her desk—whilst preparing herself for the daunting, the near insurmountable task at hand.
“So you went out with someone?” Her judgment was poor, because Adaure broke the silence and didn’t seem to have the patience, she thought she was exhibiting. “Let’s set aside the fact that there is someone else in the picture, that you didn’t bother telling me about, despite how many times I asked. Let’s also set aside the fact that you didn’t tell me about the date, despite the glaring convenience for you to.
“On Friday, I literally asked for the plans you have for the weekend and you omitted something as big as that, and walked out to said date, a couple of hours after? Now you just went to tell Delano in the face, that you have someone? Despite the fact that you know, he is definitely still hung up on you? Way to rub it in, Anjola.”
“Okay, so chill out.” She sighed, propping an elbow on her desk and placing her palm over her forehead—as the drum-line of an headache, began to seethe. “First of all, do you really think I’d just go ahead and tell Delano, like that? Of course, I wouldn’t. When we eventually talked last week, during the picnic, I told him there was no one, because I’m indeed considerate of his feelings.
“About today, I just panicked okay? You know how my anxiety could get sometimes. He asked me how my night was on Friday out of the blues, and I looked at you guys, and you were giving me this mean smile, as if you had gone and told him that I was up to something that particular evening—”
“What the hell are you even talking about? I just said, you didn’t tell me that you had someone, talk less of the date in the first place, which you deliberately kept away from me and even lied about your plans? How the hell would I know about it and tell Delano? And let’s even assume, you told me—why the hell, would I tell Delano again?” Adaure countered, throwing her hands into the hair in unbelief.
“Calm down, I just said I panicked okay? I clearly wasn’t thinking.” She groaned, raking a hand through her braids. “I just…what exactly do you want from me? Do you want an apology or what?”
Adaure huffed, and a scowl appeared on her face. “Oh, so I’m just being petty, right? I’m just being a child and everything I’ve said since morning doesn’t make sense. It’s proper for you to lie about the fact that you had someone, and if I’m hurt by that fact and I question you, it makes me a petty bitch, that you have to ask me if it’s an apology, I want. You’re unbelievable.”
“Ada, please don’t blow this out of proportion. You’re just making a big deal out of nothing.” Adaure’s hands fell to her waist, and her mouth opened wide as if she couldn’t believe her ears. “Just chill out and let me finish. Okay, yes I may have lied to you but at the end of the day, it’s still my relationship life, okay? And so maybe, you should pause to wonder if there was a reason I hoarded the information and didn’t tell you. Maybe you should pause and think that the entire thing could be way more complicated than you think, and it’s really not about you.
“My best friend doesn’t even know I’m seeing anybody. Nobody in the world knows yet. If I’m going to tell people, I’m going to tell people on my own time. It’s not right to just expect openness from me, like I signed a contract with you binding me to that, no matter what.”
Adaure’s temper cooled at this, as connoted by her inability to fire back like she had done rapidly before. Although, still cross—she moved closer to Anjola’s desk, and rested on it. “Fine, sorry for overreacting. I just—I don’t really have a lot of friends, so the few ones I have, I could be really…possessive? Plus, it looks like everyone around me has something going on for them, and won’t tell me, maybe because they don’t want to rub it in, that I don’t have anyone or something—”
“Adaure—”
“It’s just an extension of my own insecurities also. It has nothing to do with you.” She shrugged it off quickly, as if she knew there was a ted talk lined up. “So, about this guy? Wanna tell me about him? And the reason, why you didn’t want to tell me about him? It’s okay, if you don’t want to though.”
“Of course it is okay, would you sue me if I don’t?” Anjola jested to kill the tension, and they both shared a laugh. It was then she realized, they weren’t alone in the room and that Ehize had front seat access to their squabble. When she glanced around however, she realized it was empty and that he had left also. The boy was indeed subtle. “Um…well, this person in question is actually Lekan Keye. That is Tiolu’s twin brother.”
“Ouu, if he is Tiolu’s twin and looks anything like her, then he must be a handsome devil.” Adaure cooed, hopping onto her desk and facing her fully. She’d have shoved her friend off the table, in defensive instincts if she wasn’t aware that work hours were yet to commence, and so the CCTV surveillance was yet to be activated.
“A handsome devil he is, I’d give him that one.” Anjola did her best to repress her smile, but it was all to no avail and Adaure went on to taunt her for being extremely smitten by him. “But the whole thing is very complicated with him, though. The thing is that, he has never been in a relationship before and is only trying it out for the first time.”
“At age twenty six? Right? I remember you mentioning Tiolu’s age, sometime ago.” Adaure looked bewildered, and she couldn’t blame her. Not until she had gotten the full gist of the matter. “He is like, one of those good looking geeks then, that’s all about their science stuff and have no interest in women? Is that what is complicated about it?”
“Oh, how I wish.” Anjola chuckled, bitterly. “No, my dear. If anything, it’s the opposite. Lekan lives a very carefree life and has too much interest in women for that matter.”
“So how come he’s never been in a…oh.” She saw the realization dawn on her friend. “I understand now. But that doesn’t make any sense. Why would you date that sort of person in the first place?”
“That’s what is complicated.” Anjola banged her fist on the table, driving the point home with dramatic flair. “I honestly don’t know how my feelings for him, came about to be. It’s been under lock and key for so long, and I assumed it’d fade away with time. I think it actually did fade away at some point, but when the wedding came around and the planning and all, I started finding myself in his company frequently and then we had to do stuff together…it all came crashing back, to the point that I couldn’t handle it anymore.”
“That doesn’t mean you should get into bed with the devil, though.” Adaure interjected. “I mean, many people would but not you.”
“It isn’t solely because of my feelings actually. It was just all very confusing. So here is Delano that’s proper, good looking and a gentleman that I think I’d be attracted to on a normal day, but I’m not but then there is Lekan, who is mostly juvenile and has so many excesses that I should find off-putting, but I don’t. It all didn’t make sense, and so I consulted the internet for advice—”
“Oh my God, you know better than to consult the freaking internet for relationship advice.” Adaure grunted, burying her face in her hands. “The advice is usually so one-dimensional and very inapplicable to complicated stuff in life.”
“Chill out, it wasn’t like I’m not being cautious about it or it wasn’t sensible enough. It was actually legit, I think. It explained that the reason why people have feelings for people, that don’t exactly fall under their type, is because they might want something daring or refreshing, as a result of being suffocated or restrained in their past relationship life. While I haven’t exactly been in a suffocating relationship before, it still makes sense because I’ve not been in one, as a result of being restrained by life vices and my own principles. So it would actually make sense for me to want something daring or adventurous, I think.”
“And you think that justifies dating someone, who has never been committed before?”
“No, it doesn’t. Chill out, I’m not done. The article went on to say, that to test the authenticity of said feelings and determine if it’s not solid, you should date the person for a test run to discover who they truly are. If the feelings remain after realizing the nature of the person, and knowing them deeply—then it is legit and should be acted upon.”
Adaure was quiet for a bit, but still critiqued when she spoke next. “That makes sense, but it still doesn’t answer the question, of what would happen afterwards, if you guys decide to remain devoted, and he is used to gallivanting about? You don’t think he is going to miraculously change, do you? People don’t really change, Anjola.”
“I don’t know, don’t they?” She protested, and earned a skeptic glare from Adaure. “I agree, it’s difficult but I’ve realized that people do change. Tiolu for instance, who is Lekan’s sister was just like him, and now she isn’t like that anymore. So if she changed, why can’t he change?”
“She was sleeping around?”
“Not exactly, don’t make it sound like she’s a whore.” Anjola scoffed. “She just had a very liberal life, like Lekan. She didn’t exactly have sex, but she wasn’t one for devotion also. Now she’s the most devoted person, I know.”
Adaure looked away, worry glued on her face. “This change thing sef, I honestly don’t understand it. Some people have actually changed, but then I don’t really know if it’s possible to just change, or if it’s all an act. But what I do know is that, the willpower of the average woman in sexual matters is greater than the average man, and so it isn’t healthy to make such a direct comparison like that and assume he’d change, just because his sister did.”
“True that.”
“Anyway, just take one thing at a time. Now, I feel like a jerk for exploding earlier on because you have a legit enough reason to keep this private. Test the waters first like you plan to, and whatever happens—you’d know where to go from there. I trust you, Anjola. You’re one of the most logical persons I know.” Adaure reached out to pinch her cheek gently, before they both shared a laugh. “By the way, how was the date though? Was it good?”
Thoughts of the previous night, rolled into her head and it brought along with it a whirlwind of euphoria. “I had a very great time, Ada.”
“Y’all kissed at the end?”
She felt a bit intruded on, but answered anyway since it was quite obvious. “Yup. But a normal kiss, though. I didn’t let it escalate.”
“I shouldn’t worry about this, though.” Adaure climbed off the desk, and straightened the rumpled edges at the back of her gown. “You’ve got it handled.”
With that her friend walked back to her desk, to get ready for the day’s work. A couple of minutes later, Ehize returned also and work commenced in full swing. Her chat with Adaure was mostly calming, but her friend wouldn’t know that a particular set of words she had spoken, made her edgy and jittery.
“…you’re one of the most logical persons, I know.”
She couldn’t help but wonder, if she was still as logical as the whole world thought her to be, when it came to her relationship with Lekan.
***
“That seat is taken,” Lekan said automatically, as he saw a masculine figure halt by the side of the table, to slide into the booth. But unlike everybody else that strutted off, once he spoke those magic words—this new visitor seemed quite resilient and uncaring of his reprimand. He frowned and looked up from his tablet—beside his saucer of hamburger and glass of juice—to chastise this intruder further, but realized it was no other than Kunle, wearing a quite impish smile as if he had caught on to something. “Oh, Dad it’s you.”
“And who is the seat for?” Kunle asked, as he slunk into the seat across him and clasped his hands on the table. In his tenure in the office so far, he had never seen the man dine in the company cafeteria, since royalty didn’t of course mingle with commoners. So if the man was here now, it meant he was on a mission. “Naade, right? She’s the one you’re keeping the seat for?”
The man’s words knocked him off balance for a moment, and he almost choked on the bread that was making its way down his esophagus. Coughing rather violently, he reached out for his glass of juice and downed half of the full pint, in one gulp. After his throat was cleared, and he was sure the liquid had washed the bread down—he straightened up and addressed his father.
“Actually, the seat is for no one. I don’t want anyone to sit with me. I know you’d go on to ask me, why I’m here if I don’t want that, but it’s all a part of the trick. I don’t want to seem out of reach, like you who doesn’t eat with his workers, but at the same time—not familiar to the extent that anyone can just address me, you know. So it’s all about finding the perfect balance.”
“Makes sense, I’d give that one to you.” Kunle nodded slowly, and relaxed into his seat. Lekan felt disconcerted, at the current proximity in place. The man was never one with sentiments or frivolity with him, not since he became an adult at least—and so, he didn’t know how to react to a casual setting involving him. Once again, he knew the man was here for a mission, but he was tarrying and prolonging the crux of the meet and so the unease was authentic. “Still on the Naade topic, though. You like her, right?”
He closed the pouch of his tab, and shifted it to the edge of the table before sitting up. The current topic carried the awkwardness, related with any intimate child-to-parent discussion, alongside the default tension that was constant between him and the old man. “Yes, I do like her…I mean, why would I be partners with someone, I don’t like?”
Kunle smirked. “I think we both know the type of like we’re talking about here. The one that has to do with romance and all that.”
Lekan frowned. “Where is this going to?”
“You of all people shouldn’t act naïve, Lekan especially since you’re involved with more women than you can count on both hands. I’ve seen the way Naade looks at you, and I see the way you look at her also. You’re definitely attracted to her and I don’t know if you know this, but you aren’t a small child anymore. You’re going to turn twenty-seven soon, and you’re also a potential heir also. My heir, for that matter.”
“Yes, I haven’t exactly forgotten that.” Lekan said, with a cynic look on his face.
“Good, and people like you who are taking over big companies, just don’t marry for marrying sake.” Kunle pressed on, with such a laid-back composure as if he were discussing something as trifling as the weather, or sports and not something monumental like marriage.
“You marry for the reason, why everyone else marries. For companionship and support, but you also marry to strengthen your business and forge new alliances. Of course, you know Dele Adeleke, Naade’s dad is one of my many colleagues. He owns his own company, that is the undisputed nationwide, first choice transport service. Naade might not be his heir, but she has a ridiculous high amount of shares in his company and getting married to her, would open doors for you and the company in that venture.”
Lekan cackled, throwing his head back in incredulity. He couldn’t believe his ears. Real life was imitating cliché fiction art at the moment, and backing him into a tight corner. “Are you seriously telling me to get married to Naade, because our resulting marriage would in turn strengthen the company and open more doors for us? Is that really it?”
“I’m not exactly forcing you, just giving you a good suggestion.” Kunle shrugged, with the casualness still draped over him and Lekan couldn’t help but wonder if the man seated across him was an impostor, or a clone of some sort. “I’d never force my kids to get married—”
“Same thing you said about the business, yet here I am—”
“No, this is different because I know you’re no prize for anyone really and so I won’t force you to get married to someone, who wouldn’t benefit in some way other than being your wife.” Kunle retorted, and his words hit home. “Naade is going to benefit from the link, just as much as you would. So even if you’re the worst husband, with numerous affairs outside—you guys can still make it work, based on your business grounds and goals?
“The marriage doesn’t necessarily have to be a conventional one. It could be a convenient one. Once again, just a suggestion. Instead of just sleeping with her for the fun of it, you could get married—get more out of the relationship, and even more out of life that is business. But really, I don’t see why you shouldn’t do this.”
“I don’t think I want to.” He mustered a firm tone, and stood his ground. “It’s a choice, right?”
“Yeah, but then what’s standing in your way of doing it?” Kunle eyes scanned him upwards and then down, as if trying to locate some hidden clue explaining his opposition. “A normal person would refuse because they don’t want to be caged in a marriage, with someone they don’t love. I can’t say the same for you, because you don’t know what love means and you sure don’t aspire to find it. So what else is it?”
“What if I said it was just that?”
“Just what?”
“Your analysis. You know, I don’t want to be caged with someone I don’t love and I that I want to marry someone that I love.”
Kunle’s face went totally blank, and suddenly he went into a bout of a quite boisterous laugh, placing hands over his chest to steady his upright sitting position. Whatever the man found so amusing.
“What would you know about love?” Kunle shook his head at Lekan, as if he had pitched a project dedicated to making pigs fly—to the man. “You’re not a one-woman at a type person, you change them as frequent as you change clothes. You don’t know how to put others first, or go out of your way to inconvenient yourself for anyone or even make any significant sacrifice. What would someone like you know, about love?”
Lekan didn’t bother replying the man because he knew it would be a futile effort. Kunle’s perception about who he was, couldn’t be altered and he didn’t blame the man anyway. Because before Anjola, he had never thought of changing but now it was a motion, that was tabled for discussion and put up for consideration. Perhaps, Kunle too could come around and see him in the new light he was covered in.
“I just know I’m not getting married to her, dad.” He said, and picked up his abandoned glass of orange juice and sipped again. The man seemed to give up at this, since he sighed heavily and rose to his feet.
“Anyway, just have that at the back of your mind. If you can’t marry for love, marry for business. Even if it craps out eventually, it’d profit you heavily in the long run.” Kunle patted him on the back, before turning around and exiting the huge hall. Just as the man vanished out of sight, Naade appeared—waltzing through the doors with grace, before whirling around, obviously in a search for him.
When her gaze honed in on him, she smiled and began to make her way over. Working with her, hadn’t been as…eventful as he thought it’d be. On his second day at work, she had drawn him to a secluded corner to make out and so he had assumed, that would be the status quo for their work days—but ever since then she was yet to make any advance of a sexual sort on him. Matter of fact, she was extremely professional at work and sometimes, he forgot the fact that their bodies had once been entangled in a wide variety of erotic positions, in the act of love making. He didn’t know if he was relieved or saddened by that.
She was looking gorgeous as always, in a black tunic peplum top, faded black jean and pumps. Because of her fair complexion, her all black outfit was prominent and dazzling. And like a magnet, the heads of most men swayed in her direction—pulled by a higher force greater than their resolve. She was holding her phone in her right hand, and when she took up the space his dad occupied earlier—she gave him a wink, before diverting her focus back on her phone, where she seemed to be browsing for something in particular.
“Business?” He asked, after taking the final sip from his glass.
“My business,” She replied, without lifting her face up from the phone. “I just found a website, that is so awesome. It’s like Google, for shoes on online retail shops. All you have to do is go there, search the shoe and it’d bring up the closest online stores that have it on sale? How amazing is that! I’m looking for the bookmark thingy, so I can always reference it and not have to…okay, done.” She finished and dropped her phone on the table before proceeding. “To actual business. We have a situation.”
“A situation?” He echoed.
“Yep, a situation that’s very delicate and shouldn’t be handled by you, but was specifically forwarded to your desk by your dad, to probably see how best you handle it. It’s quite a big deal this one. Without further ado, I’d walk you through what’s at hand. So we were carrying out a resizing on one of our warehouses in Surulere, and well…the laborers got a bit relaxed and sort of dropped a huge portion of the building, on another house right next to it.”
“Fuck!” Lekan sat up abruptly, and his knees collided with the table’s edge in consequence. He wheezed and swallowed the pain, before going on to ask the heavy question. “So what happened? People were in the house and they died? Like that skyscraper building that was being resized and killed some children in school?”
“God, no.” Naade shook her head, with an assuring look. “Luckily for us, nobody was in the building at the moment. Trust me, if it was that—you wouldn’t be hearing this from me. You’d be hearing it from the news, and everyone else who has watched the news.
“Anyway, people not being inside doesn’t negate the fact that it’s still a serious accident that needs to be attended to. The building owner in question, has sworn to cause ruckus and give us headache because of the huge sentimental value the house has. I’ve bargained for a meeting with him already, and he has agreed to sit down and deliberate with us. So, yeah that’s the situation.”
The matter at hand was indeed of an enormous frailty, and that was why he couldn’t help but wonder why his dad had given him something that delicate, to tackle so early. It was like the man was intentionally trying to drive him insane and make him quit the job. Fine, he got that it was no easy work—but he deserved the space to settle down and absorb it all in, before being put in the line of fire.
“We’d handle it then. Have you scheduled an exact date with the building owner?”
Naade shook her head.
“Well, call him then and inform him that we’d be available at his earliest convenience. And that, we’d come to him. If we make him come to us, he’d probably be more aggravated and annoyed. If we go to him, it’d at least help paint an image that we’re indeed that concerned and remorseful. Although that won’t matter, if we can’t later come to a mutual agreement.”
“One thing at a time, boy.” Naade was already on her feet, and tapping off at number panels on the screen of her phone. “I’d contact him now, see you at the office.” She added, before striding away.
As he watched her go, the words of Kunle replayed in his head again. Naade for a wife? While she was diligent and brilliant at her work, he hardly found anything asides her sexuality—attractive, unlike Anjola whose mere thought alone was enough to make a goofy grin appear on his face.
Anjola.
His mind journeyed down memory lane, back to the previous night and how fulfilling it had been. Anjola still seemed unsure about the depth of her feelings for him, but he knew a hundred percent that what he felt for her was bona fide and resolute. For the first time in his life, he felt vulnerable and at the mercy of a woman’s actions. If she decided to call it quits on their experiment, then it would cause him severe trauma and his heart would throb with the pain forever perhaps, because he hadn’t come close to feeling so strongly for any other woman.
They hadn’t spoken since Saturday, since he had called her to ensure she was doing well. Breaks of their respective hectic schedules weren’t in sync, and so it didn’t free up space for bountiful conversations, but right there and then, he decided to call her anyway. He couldn’t think he could go another second, without hearing from her. Her transition to a mind boggling drug, that he couldn’t get enough of—was complete. Now he was being pulverized by withdrawal symptoms.
Lekan cleared his table, and dumped the saucer shaped aluminum foil into the bin on his way out. He boarded the express elevator to the base floor, and walked out of the reception into the large, vast premises where cars were parked in uniform segments. He found an isolated space, in between two saloon space-cars, and placed the call to her number. Her line dialed for a while, but she picked it eventually.
“Hey, Jay.”
“Hey, Lekan.”
Ever since Friday, he had made it officially a thing to use his term of endearment to constantly refer to her. It was his stake of claim over her heart, somewhat. It didn’t belong to him yet, but it was only a matter of time.
“How are you? How you doing?”
She sighed heavily, and confirmed his postulation that her day had been nothing but chaotic so far. “Very, very tired. Today has been really hectic, you know how Mondays are. Hey! I can totally use that ‘you know how Mondays are’ line with you now, because you’re working. How awesome is that.”
“And it’s not a jab at all. Just an innocent statement.” He said, in sarcasm and drew laughter from her. “You should take a breather and rest, though.”
“No, like you don’t get it. I’m pretty much busy on a regular day, but the head of the accounting department is on leave and I’ve been pretty much doing the work of her assistant, alongside mine because her assistant is doing her work. They aren’t overworking me though. I was the one who volunteered in the first place, and now I can’t back out of it. I honestly don’t know who send me message in the first place.”
“Wow, how long till she returns?”
“Two more months, maybe.” She groaned. “But my friends here, help me from time to time so I think I’m good. Plus, they are giving me a bonus for it, so it’s not like it’s charity work. That’s enough about me. What about you?”
“Um, I just got a very delicate case directly from my dad. Matter of fact, it sounds so difficult that I’m wondering, if my dad is actually behind it and set it into place just to test me. So the resizing of a warehouse in ‘Lere was going on, and the guys demolishing the building accidentally dropped a portion of it over the nearest building. Luckily, no one was in it so no casualties, but the owner of the house in question has sworn to be our personal Thanos. Thinking about it is giving me headache, already.”
“Wow, that’s quite heavy though. But come on, how can you seriously think your dad would do that just to get you in a tight spot? This is not television, abeg.”
“Quite ironic, that you’d make such comparison because something funny happened not so long ago.” Lekan was leaning over a car, that seemed to be quite dusty and marred with dirt but he didn’t care about that at the moment. The premises was mostly deserted, as virtually everyone was inside the building—going about their responsibilities. “Earlier today, my dad suggested that I marry someone, who is the daughter of a colleague of his, just so I can strengthen the family company. Sounds cliché right? But it did happen and it’s from television, isn’t it?”
“Wow,” The pitch of her voice lowered. “And what did you say?”
“I said I’m not doing it of course, as I wouldn’t be marrying for such reasons. He laughed at me, when I said I wanted to get married for the normal reasons, anyone would get married. To him, I’m just a conceited selfish person, who never puts others first. I don’t really care though. I just hope he doesn’t return in a couple of days, and say it is compulsory for me to do so. It’s the same thing he did with the company. Years ago, he assured me that I didn’t need to be concerned about taking over as he wouldn’t impose on me, but yet here I am.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that.” Her words weren’t exactly much in portraying her dismay, and distress over the fact that he could be tying the knot with someone else, but he knew there was some longing and want, lodged in there no matter how atomic. And because of that, he promised himself that he’d oppose his dad’s wish in that aspect if it ever arose again. “Anyway, I really have to go now. We’d talk in the evening, probably.”
“Anjola, wait before you go…Friday night, it was great, right?”
“Yeah?”
“So…do you want to do it again? Go out for a second date? Did I earn that?”
The brief pause that followed, was the longest in his life. “Sure, Lekan. I’d check my schedule, and see if I can free up time soon for us to meet again. Bye.”
“Bye, talk to you later.” He tapped the end call panel on the screen, and shoved the phone into his pants pocket. When he looked up, his gaze paused at his reflection before him on the opera window of the car. It was then he saw the blissful grin on his face, and before he knew it—his hands was scribbling on the dust covered surface, of the window and spelling out the alphabets of the word, happy.
As he turned around to leave however, he realized that there was a short, petite woman in a red, shift dress and oversized dorky glasses, that was peering at him in wonder. Lekan swallowed hard, realizing it was indeed her car and he had been caught red-handed. He walked out of the small cubicle of space, and muttered a silent sorry before scurrying off. Whoever the woman was, he hoped she didn’t have reason to cross paths with him in the future.
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