I’ve never really spent Christmas alone, as it is the only opportunity I have to spend time with my family. However, this Christmas was a little different. I had my hands full with work and I was torn between staying to work over the holidays or going home to spend it with the family in the village. After thinking about the unnecessary expenses plus, I needed to really take a full rest, I decided to stay alone and round up for the year.<\/p>\n
On my last day of work, my boss came into my office and said,<\/p>\n
‘Hey Zoe, you look so busy. Don’t you ever take a break?’ \u00a0He asked<\/p>\n
“Well, I’m trying to finish up and clear my desk so I can spend the holidays relaxing since I’m not spending it with my family”, I replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s great. You’re such an asset to this company. Uhm… Here. Have this and have a happy holiday\u201d, he said as he dropped an envelope on my desk & hurriedly left my office.<\/p>\n
I thought I detected a hint of a blush, but I wasn’t so sure. I opened it & saw a cheque for 500 hundred thousand naira. This was asides my salary and bonus which was huge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m indeed going to have a happy holiday\u201d, I thought to myself.<\/p>\n
By the time I was done at the office, all that was on my mind was to drive home and sleep. I politely turned down the invitation by my colleagues for a drink at the bar close by.<\/p>\n
The next morning, just as I was doing my usual daily workouts, my phone rang. I rolled my eyes at the caller I.D.<\/p>\n
\u201cYo!\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey Zoe. I’m coming over to your house in 3 hours. Pack your things. We’re going to Ilashe beach\u201d. What? Is this girl mad? Alex knows how much I hate to be given impromptu news.<\/p>\n
As I was about to rant back to her about the whole impromptu arrangement, I remembered I saw some missed calls from her as I was leaving the office last night but I forgot to return the call.<\/p>\n
Trust Alex not to send a text when you refuse to pick her calls. I doubt her phone can even send SMS.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright \u2018Lex but make it 4 hours. I have to do my hair, pedi & mani. How long are we staying for?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the 24th. We’re staying till the 31st. You know the natives there usually have a carnival of sorts around this time. Plus, it’s by the sea. You need the air\u201d, she replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cAii. See you then\u201d, I said & dropped the phone.<\/p>\n
By 12 noon, Alex had picked me up and we were both on our way to Ikoyi Boat Club where we’d take a boat ride to our destination. As we got there, I noticed some of our friends & acquaintances were already there.<\/p>\n
I chuckled to myself.<\/p>\n
Planning a private affair has never been Alex’s thing. The whole world must be invited. As I said my hellos & how are yous\u2019, I noticed the air around me go still.<\/p>\n
‘Oh God. No. Let him not be here’, I whispered. I felt someone behind me and I knew who it was before I turned. I was swept into his arms, I can recognize him even when blindfolded, with my head barely reaching his stomach.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey Stranger\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTomi\u201d, I murmued.<\/p>\n
We used to be such good friends and more till we got into a relationship and his woman threatened him to break it off.<\/p>\n
I guess he loved her that much to oblige her, I couldn’t blame her. I probably would’ve done the same thing.<\/p>\n
You see, Tomi is your bag of chocolate goodness and more with a great personality to match too. I’ve often times thought about him while I got myself off. Just as I was about to ask where his girlfriend was, I saw her kissing some other friend of ours.<\/p>\n
Tomi saw it too and said, ‘yeah, she’s with Niyi now’.<\/p>\n
I tried to be sympathetic but I’m sure he knew I didn’t mean it. We caught up on old times and soon, we were aboard the boat to Ilashe…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve never really spent Christmas alone, as it is the only opportunity I have to spend time with my family. However, this Christmas was a little different. I had my hands full with work and I was torn between staying to work over the holidays or going home to spend it with the family in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[477],"tags":[1056,1048,1055,1049,169,68,1051,585,80,161,1054,1053,1052,120,1057,1050,480],"class_list":["post-3262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-zoes-scribbles","tag-chocolate-goodness","tag-christmas","tag-crush","tag-end-of-the-year","tag-featured","tag-holidays","tag-ilashe-beach","tag-lagos","tag-love","tag-nigeria","tag-nigerian-blogs","tag-old-friends","tag-relaxation","tag-sex","tag-sex-on-the-island","tag-vacation","tag-zoes-scribbles-2"],"yoast_head":"\n