UWA
"Babes, what is happening?" We are currently in my room and Nimi is not getting a hang of the situation she met upon arrival which explains why she is whispering right now.
"What?" I ask, feigning ignorance.
"The hot chunk in your sitting room." For some reason, I do not like the fact that she is calling him that.
"Shut up." I say to her.
"Ow!" This idiot slapped me on my arm.
"What is happening, joor?" She says, tapping my arm repeatedly.
"God help me with this lady." I say, looking upwards and rolling my eyes.
"Amen." She says back.
"Madam, I didn't say it for you to conclude." I say.
"It's your business. What is he doing here?" We are still whispering.
"I will gist you when he leaves." I say to her and she lets out a pout.
"You are hoarding gist from me. No wahala sha." She huffs, followed by a low hiss. I wiggle my tongue in response and she hisses again. Dragging her, we walk back to join him.
"I'll take my leave now. I hope you feel better now." He has really helped me in this situation even though he might not know to what magnitude.
"Yeah. Thank you for coming over." I say in gratitude.
"I am happy I could help. Please don't hesistate to call me if you need anything." He says.
"Hmmm... Okay." I reply him. His head turns to look at Nimi.
"Once more, nice meeting you, Nimi." He lets out a small smile at the corner of his lips, almost like a smirk.
"I can say the same." This Nimi though, funny human being. He nods and places his hands in his pocket before walking towards the door, with me following behind him.
Immediately I shut the door, the gist hungry wolf attacks me.
"Oya, gist hoarder. Offload everything sharp sharp. My ears have been dying to know what happened here before I came." She gives a very sweet smile and is even shaking her shoulders. I wonder how gist makes someone this thrilled.
•••••
By Monday, all thanks to Deji and Nimi, I was feeling better than the way I felt when I just made the discovery on the wedding. In fact, I got to work way earlier than my expected time of resumption today.
"Good morning, Sir." I smile to him as I drop the coffee cup on his table.
"Hi. Good morning, Gift." He smiles back.
"Sorry, excuse me. One minute." I quickly exit his office to my work space and search through the drawers. There! Found it, my jotter. I then reach for the nylon that has the little gift that I brought for him, preparing to head to his office.
"Uwa." I hiss in my head before turning.
"What is it, Kayode?" I ask him, rolling my eyes.
"I am sorry for what I did." It seems there is something wrong with this man. Does he think sorry will solve everything?
"Please, excuse me. I have somewhere important to be at." I glare at him and walk out. To be honest, I don't think there is anything to discuss with him. If he likes, he should not go to his office. Didn't he just get married two days ago? Don't they do honeymoon? Newlyweds, I mean. So, why is this nincompoop at work today? After his wife humiliated me, thankfully we had no audience, he still has the nerve to show his face in front of me. What exactly is the color of his problem?
"I didn't marry her. I could not." I stop in my tracks, turning to take a look at him. Someone that could lie to my face without a single hint. What are the odds that he is not lying? His hands show no sign of marital commitments as there is no ring on his fingers. However, the line has already been drawn. I don't see myself ever getting back with him. The headache that follows will be too much if I am stupid enough to.
"See, just leave me alone, Kayode. I don't want to talk to you or have anything to do with you. Is that too much to ask? What is difficult to understand in that? Please leave...."
"Let's go." Another hand drags me out of the hallway into his office. When did he even come out, talk more of walking to where I stood unnoticed by me?
"What did he want?" Deji asks, seething with anger. Calling him Jimi still feels weird to me. For now, I will stick with the name I am used to. I won't say the same for him, though as he seems to have adjusted well.
"Nothing I can give to him. He says he did not get married again." Annoyance flashes in Deji's eyes as he hits the table.
"And you believe him?" He asks, staring down at me.
"No, I don't and even if he is telling the truth, I don't want to have anything to do with him again." I state.
"Thank God." He says. I hand over the nylon to him.
"What's this?" He asks me.
"A token." I say, smiling.
"For?" He asks with a raise of an eyebrow.
"Of appreciation. Thanks for the weekend." He just smiles and like that, his mood returns to normal.
"Let us see what is in here." He walks back to his seat and sits down then starts opening the bag.
"Toast bread. Thank you." The smile that graces his face is everything. I let out a smile, triumph in me. I am happy he likes it.
"Before we proceed to today's schedule, since we still have time, I want to propose something to you." He states, clearing his throat and gently tapping his pen on the table.
"Okay." What could that be? I silently ask myself.
"If it is okay with you, I know it is not in your job description but I am in need of someone to help prepare meals for me. Not everyday, majorly soups and stews during weekend." He scratches his head, twitching his face in a cute manner. Wait, did I say cute? To be honest, his words blew me off.
"I will pay you, I promise." This man should know that everything does not revolve around money.
"You could get someone to do that. There are all these pages on instagram and twitter whose handlers do that for a living. All you need to do is place an order and they have it delivered to you or you pick it up but I am sure for you, the option would be delivery." I reply.
"Yeah but I would rather eat the one prepared by someone I am familiar with. In this case, you." He states with a serious face.
"But you eat in restaurants and you don't always have to know the person who cooks it there." I say to him, further pushing my argument.
"This is different." He states.
"How?" I ask him.
"Uhhmmm... I don't know, it is just different." He answers back, no doubt short of a reason.
"I will do it but I don't want payment. It is not business for me, besides you pay me so much already. Also, you will get the foodstuffs yourself. That will be a substitute for the payment." I say to him.
"Thanks. So, what are the plans for today?" Thank God he did not elongate the talk with regards payment.
The day went as planned afterwards and at the closure of work, I went home to run myself a hot bathe to relieve myself off the stress that sometimes accompanies working. While in the shower, my mind strayed. The image of one man lingered in my thoughts. The weekend made me see a different part of him; a part he has perfected in hiding from others except maybe his friend, Timi and his immediate family.
Deji was so kind and attentive, he listened to everything I said and allowed me rant out my thoughts when I needed to. I chuckle bitterly as I remember when I burst into tears and how he was quick to tend to me.
I just pray he does not go back to being his previously annoying self. I hope this is not like the last time when he became a better person and suddenly went back to his brooding self.
I like this version that he is slowly unleashing and I hope I don't get too used to it too. I don't know, it confusing. I let out a sigh at that.
His thoughts were the last things on my mind just before I slept. Damn, he did look hot when he hit the table today in anger that was all directed towards Kayode.
I did struggle to keep my eyes open but like we all know, sleep does win the final battles. When it kicks in, even a strong willpower cannot fight it creeping into you and finally consuming your entirety.
My eyes fluttered slowly and like the flapping of a bird's wings did it suddenly become rapid as I struggled to stay awake but sleep won and soon, I caved in.