Written by @dj_fleau
Seyi moved out the next day. The girl didn’t have much to move out anyway. Most of her properties were still at her former house.
“Babe, you go follow me go my house go pack my remaining things after work” Seyi asked
I can’t, I have something to do tonight” I replied
“Okay , see you later” she said as she walked out of the house.
“Madam wait, I am following you to work today.” I said
“What happened to your car?”
Nothing, Andrew is picking me up after work” I replied
“Oh I see, then hurry up with that breakfast” She said as she walked towards the door to the house
I looked at Bola who had been quiet the whole time. She acted like Seyi wasn’t in that room with us, Seyi herself walked past her like she was a piece of furniture.
“You know you guys have to stop this” I whispered to Bola as I stood up from my chair
I felt pity for her even though deep inside of me something was happy that she was been dealt with a bigger measure of the betrayal she dished to me.
As Seyi drove us to work , I tried to imagine how dinner was going to be with Andrew. I imagined something really romantic.
We got to work in time to meet the resumption time. We parted ways at the stairs. I had spent barely 5 minutes in my office when the intercom rang. It was my manager he wanted to see me in his office. I ran into Seyi on the corridor on my way to his office apparently she was heading to my office.
“You won’t believe this but that our friend from Accra is here” she said
I knew she was referring to Isaac even though I acted like I didn’t know who she was talking about. I told her I couldn’t place the face of who she was talking about. She tried to describe him. I cut her short and informed her that the manager wanted to see me hence didn’t have time for the chit chat.
“Okay madam, but I invited him to hang out with us tomorrow at my new apartment for my house warming” Seyi said
I couldn’t believe what my ears just heard. The man had barely spent 24hours in Nigeria yet she had already invited him to hang out with us like old time friends. I didn’t even know she was having a house warming party up until now and why on earth did she have to invite him. I said nothing as I walked away.
I walked into the manager’s office to see Isaac seated in front of the manager. So, Isaac was really in Nigeria and now he was in my office. I was about to have a long day.
Just who I was waiting for, have a seat , I guess I don’t have to re-introduce the both of you anymore seeing that you already met in Accra” That was the manager speaking
“Hi Temi” Isaac said with his smile
“Hi” I replied with a weak smile
“Temi, I guess the company owes you a lot of gratitude for winning this account for us. Thanks to your performance in Ghana we are now partners with Mr Isaac here. Hence we would be working on promoting their brand in Nigeria” The manager said with enthusiasm
“Really” I said. I knew what this meant. This meant I would have to endure Isaac up until their brand is established in Nigeria. I literally felt like strangling myself.
“Yes Temi, Mr Isaac and his team would be working with you for the next 4 month on this” The man confirmed my fears
“Just me, Sir? ” I enquired. I wished someone could just pinch me to wake me up from this nightmare.
Well not really, although the account belongs to you but we all would work with you as a team”
“Sir, not to be rude or anything you know I already have a major account I am working on right now, don’t you think adding this would affect my effectiveness on both accounts”
“Well, Temi I understand what you mean, but like I said we all would be working on this account together. Aside that they specially asked that you be in charge of the account seeing that they already met with you one-on-one before now hence feel a bit warm around you”
I gave Isaac a look that said “really that’s the best excuse you could come up with to be close to me”
He looked away although I saw a smile on his face like one that had just won an impossible conquest. I knew he had come here prepared to win me back but I sure was ready to show him that Nigeria was my zone hence I was going to ensure a terrible time for him here.
“So Temi, the ball is in your court now , kindly show Mr Isaac around to other members of the team” my manager said
He sounded like our firm was a tourist spot, I wanted to slap him for this. I smiled and said “that’s not a problem”
He walked behind me as I took him round the firm. I introduced him to the major guys he probably was going to be spending time with during the project.
Finally the tour was over and I took him back to the manager’s office. I stepped aside for him to walk in before saying “Sir, I have introduced him to everyone he needs to know, I guess I have to run now I have some meetings to attend to”
“Thanks, kindly send a brief to every one who would be involved in this project. Ask them to put together their plans for presentation tomorrow afternoon”
I nodded my head and as I was about to close the door Isaac said “ Thanks Ms. Temi for the tour”
I put on a fake smile before saying ‘you are welcome”
I closed the door after which I cursed both Isaac and the manager. I walked back to my office fuming. Why was he doing this to me? How was I going to endure the next 4 months? I wish I could get another job now? Maybe I could ask Andrew if I can work with him? I thought of so many ways to escape Isaac but none felt realistic enough to be achieved in a short period of time.
I sent a brief to the team, Seyi Inclusive after which she called me on the intercom and said
“For real, he is going to be here for the next 4months, eh see groove and that guy sabi treat person well”
“Is that why you called me ehn” I replied
“Ahn!!! why are you snapping”
“Look, If you don’t have anything better to say just drop the phone” I said angrily
“Na you no why you they vex, anyways my house warming is tomorrow , and since I invited Isaac I’m not sure he knows his way around Lagos”
“So” I replied knowing what she was about to ask next
“I was thinking maybe you and Andrew can pick him up and bring him over”
I was quiet for a minute. I wanted to scream at her and ask if she was still sane. I guess I couldn’t really blame her since I never told her what happened between the both of us.
“No, we can’t pick him up” I replied
“Why now” she asked
“Madam I have a long day ahead and I need to work now, his your guest find how to get him to the party yourself” I said before dropping the phone
I felt like the universe was trying to annoy me or ruin my day. Andrew called in a few minutes later. He wanted to know how my day was going. His voice sought of lifted my spirit a bit. His voice had always done that since we met. I wanted to tell him about Isaac but I felt it was not necessarily. He however noticed the strain in my voice and asked if I was still sad over what Bola did.
I told him I had gotten over it and was fine. He wanted to confirm when to pick me up. We agreed on a time before dropping the call.
I prayed for the day to run fast.
My office door opened and the manager walked in with Isaac
“He wanted to speak to you on some ideas they have in mind for the Nigerian market” the manager said as he ushered him in
“Really” I said sarcastically. What a bloody liar I thought to myself. He was just looking for an opportunity to talk to me privately without raising any suspicions.
He sat in front of me and said “nice office you have here”
The manager asked me to take his brief and attend to him after which he shut the door leaving the both of us in my office
I turned to Isaac and with sarcasm I said “So, what ideas did you have in mind”
“Is that how you jump into business with your clients, you really don’t sound warm, remember I am a client” He said
“So, what if you are a client” I said. I knew he was trying to make me laugh, his attempt at joking did nothing but irritate me the more.
“Well, I just thought to mention it” he said
“Look can you just cut to the chase and get straight to the point , I have other things to attend to” I said
He smiled and said “ you know you look pretty when angry, one of the many things I have missed about you”
I wasn’t sure if that was meant to be a compliment as it did nothing but piss me off.
“Temi why are you trying to be so hard on me, tell me what to do to win you back and I swear to you, I would do it”
“Really” I said
“Yes” he replied
“How about you leave me the hell alone, that really would put you in my good book”
He sat there silent. I looked away and continued working on my system
He stood up and left without saying a word. I couldn’t believe it he really left me alone me, I hoped this would be permanent.
My dinner with Andrew was at a beautiful restaurant on the island where the waiters did not only ask you to order for food but also asked you to order for any music you wanted them to sing to you while waiting for your meals to be served. I found it pretty pleasant and entertaining. The waiter that sang to us had a lovely voice. Andrew even joked about eating her voice with his meal.
As we ate, we spoke about so many things, he told me about his time in America. About how he missed some of his friends back there. He complained about the weather here and how disorganized our system was and how his business was although slow but was gradually picking up. I found everything he said interesting. The way his lips shaped every time he mentioned “Nigeria” in that his funny “forceful Nigerian-American accent”it made me like him the more
He got me laughing with his description of his new life in Nigeria. Then he went silent for a few minutes before saying
“she wants me back” Andrew said
“Who? I asked
“My ex” He replied
Andrew had never spoken about any woman. He had never even spoken about anyone at all. He had always been a bit secretive about his private life unlike me who felt open to share my problems with him. Although I was happy he was finally sharing a part of his life with me but I was also unhappy that there was somebody else.
He told me about her and how they broke up when he was moving back home. He told me how he tried to persuade her to move here with him. He told me how she disagreed and said she couldn’t just move her whole life to a new place. He knew long distance relationship wouldn’t work, as she had always joked about her inability to deal with long distance relationships. She felt it was too much work. And so they had agreed to give each other time apart seeing that they had different priorities.
He moved to Nigeria and she stayed back in the states. Although they tried keeping in touch but it was a bit harder for him to be just friends with her. In the last one month however she had started calling him again saying how much she missed him and how ready she was to put in work to the relationship and move if he wanted.
So I asked him why he was a bit hesitant about taking her back seeing she had finally agreed to his desire
I’m not sure anymore about what I want ” he replied
Atleast now I knew why he hadn’t made a move on me, he wasn’t gay after all. I imagined what she was like and how they met. I asked him about her. He described her with so much details that I could literally picture what she looked like. He described how she said his jokes were lame but still always laughed at them, although I disagreed with her as I found him really hilarious. He told me how scared she was of coming to Nigeria after having malaria following her first visit to the Nigeria with him 2years ago. He narrated how she nearly passed out from eating the peppery egusi soup his mother prepared when she visited them. I could tell it was all love. I felt jealous that somebody else had such a grip on him.
“So, what are you going to do now” i asked
“Seriously, I don’t know”
On one side I wanted to tell him not take her back, but I knew that would only be selfish seeing how selfless he had been for me, so I told him to do exactly what would make him happy.
Then I told him about Isaac. I told him every tiny details of what I went through with him. His expression changed I could tell his mad that someone had treated me that way. I told him about Isaac’s presence in my office after which he got furious and said
“If he tries any stunt with you let me know and I would take care of him myself”
“Okay ooo my commando” I replied jokingly
The rest of the evening went well, I felt like we had just crossed a totally new level of closeness. He had told me his greatest worries and I just told him my greatest pain. I felt closer to him. We shared a connection and I knew for sure that tonight was going to mark a new level in whatever it is we were to each other
He drove me home that day after which he hugged me so tight and said “Temi I would never ever let anything happen to you as long as I breathe”
I smiled and said “ I know Mr commando”
The rest of the week went well. I attended Bola’s house warming the next day. Andrew although couldn’t make it he had to attend to some work stuff outside Lagos, luckily for me Isaac didn’t show up either. The team commenced Isaac’s project. Once or twice he tried to strike up a conversation with me at the office when no one was looking but I ignored him. He sent more messages to me every night none of which I replied.
Andrew came back home a week later and called me up to ask if I could help him make dinner for a long time child hood friend who was going to be visiting him. I joked and told him it was high time he got a chef in the house.
I went over a bit earlier to cook the dinner at Andrew’s place. He was about leaving when I got there with the foodstuffs. He was going to be pick up his friend as the friend wasn’t familiar with Lagos.
I was rounding up when Andrew got back. He came to the kitchen and asked me to come meet his friend. He literally dragged me to the sitting room
Then he said “meet my best and longest friend Isaac”
Low and behold my nightmare was standing in front of me
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