EPISODE SEVENTY-FOUR

Ruby didn’t need to look at the clock to know that it was only about five minutes to the lunch break. Her years of working had made her accustomed to the passage of time in the office. Like the other employees in the office, once the clock struck twelve, she was already out of her seat. She stretched, clenching the muscles of her buttocks. After sitting for so long, they felt stiff. After putting the computer to sleep, she picked up her phone and sauntered out of the office.

A figure was waiting for her as she came out. She looked at Ama with a frown. “What is wrong?” 

Ama’s usual placid smile was replaced with a downcast expression. 

Ama sighed. “Where are you going to eat?”

Hearing the seriousness in her voice, Ruby knew it was no small matter. “Mama Iyabo.”

They walked in silence. Ruby kept on wondering what the problem was. Ama walked with heavy steps, as though someone was pushing her from the back. Ruby could tell that her mind was miles away.

They both requested jollof rice when they took their seat in the restaurant—Ruby’s with fried fish and Ama’s fried beef. Ruby was hungry so she didn’t hesitate to start eating as soon as the food arrived. Ama, on the other hand, picked at her food. 

It was only when she had eaten a few spoonfuls of rice to hold her hunger that Ruby finally asked, “What happened?”

“It’s Oche.”

Ruby’s heart suddenly felt heavy. Was this another heartbreak story for her friend?

“Not Oche, precisely. It’s his sister.”

Ruby ate slowly. It was still too early to let out a sigh of relief.

“His younger sister is in her third year, she’s schooling in Benin. So, she came to visit him and has been staying at his place for about a week now. The girl just gets on my nerves. She’s so manipulative. It’s just been a few days and I already feel irritated. Imagine if I have to deal with her for much longer.” The bitterness in Ama’s voice was too strong. There was no disguising the feeling she felt for her boyfriend’s younger sister.

“What did she do?” Ruby bit into her fish, loving the crunchy sound that it made.

“Before she even came, I had this feeling that she is just up to no good. She calls him every few days to ask for money. Can you imagine, there was a point she even started calling me. Her brother seems to understand the type of person she is, so he kind of knows how to deal with her. Ever since Oche gave her my number, she would just slide into my WhatsApp with ‘Big sis’. I’ve come to hate that name. Once she sends ‘hey sis’ with that face and heart emoji, I just know she’s up to no good. I’m not even married to her brother and she’s calling me to ask for money? Who does that? When I don’t give her, she’ll start making stupid insinuations.”

“You should tell her brother. I’m sure he wouldn’t like his sister doing something like that.”

Ama rolled her eyes. “You think I didn’t? Anytime I talk to him, he would query her, and then she will go and start posting stupid things on her WhatsApp, about women that make men abandon their families. It was better when she was not here. Since she arrived, I’ve not had one minute of peace. ‘Big sis, can you buy me oranges when you’re coming over?’ ‘Big sis, I like the blouse you posted the other day, can you dash me?’ When I went over to the house yesterday, everywhere was scattered. If you see the parlour.” She hissed. 

“In his house? What did Oche say?” In her mind, Ruby was thanking God that Justin just had an elder sister. Being the firstborn, she imagined that she was quite mature.

“He said I should leave her o. That’s how they brought her up. Baby of the house. What can I say? I just feel tired. If his sister is like this, what of his mother? I assume she must have fed their mother stories about me. I wonder what she says.”

“This kind of wahala. So you will just allow her to oppress you like that? Because she is the baby of the house? On top of your own money?”

Ama rubbed her forehead. “Oche said I shouldn’t have sent her money in the first place. If I hadn’t seemed easy at first, she wouldn’t ride on my shoulders like this. But what was I supposed to do? She's his sister. I just wanted to be nice to his family members.”

Ruby frowned. “I thought they have money. What is his sister doing looking for money up and down?”

“Buying make-up and clothes,” Ama scoffed. “If you see the things she uses, some of the names, I’ve not even heard of them before.”

“Ehya.” Ruby stared at her pitifully. “So what are you going to do now?”

“Stay away,” Ama replied directly. “I’m not going to visit him until she leaves. It’s not even like I go there often. I told him and he didn’t say anything. I just don’t feel comfortable that his sister is like this. It makes me apprehensive about how his other family members can be. This one, any small thing, I will just become one witch that is making their son ignore the family.”

Ruby chuckled. “I’m sure it’s not that serious. You might be surprised that his mother is an understanding person.” Ruby reached over to pat her shoulders. “After all, Oche himself is a nice guy. Is it not the same mother that gave birth to them?”

Ama shrugged. “I hope so. But at this point, it’s giving me doubts.”

“Don’t worry. You guys are still dating. If Oche is serious about you, I’m sure he would find a way to deal with his sister so that she wouldn’t trouble you.”

Ama shook her head and then continued eating. Talking seemed to have given her more appetite for her food. “What about you and Justin? How is it going? Every day, you come to work with this bright smile on your face, so I assume that it’s going well.”

Ruby grinned broadly. “Is it that obvious? It’s going well. Better than I expected. I tried hard not to fall for the guy, but… one smile from him, and my heart is already going crazy.”

“Whoa! That deep?”

“My sister.” Ruby bit her lips. “It makes me scared in many ways. I know I’ve ‘fallen in love’ with other guys before,” she made quotation marks in the air, “but this time, it feels really different. Like I feel that some part of me that has always been asleep is waking up and entwining itself into this enigma that is Justin.”

“Hmm,” Ama said, then started humming the lyrics to Yemi Alade’s True Love “My mama say the feeling must to catch you…And if you see say something don dey happen, omo na gbege.”

“Babe, I’m serious.” Ruby shot her a frigid look. 

“Listen to yourself,” Ama laughed. “You must really be in love this time. Maybe the other ones were just practice.”

Ruby eyed her. “At least you understand what I’m saying. I’m scared that it wouldn’t end well. And I would end up with times three of the heartbreak I faced before.”

“Stop thinking too much about heartbreak. Shebi they said, it’s easy to attract negative things.”

“But I can’t help it. The more I spend time with him, the more I fall for him, and the more scared I feel.”

“Transfer the fear to your work, maybe it would distract you. I heard Mrs Oyena querying you this morning. This would be the fourth time in two weeks. Abi it’s the love that is taking your mind from work?”

Ruby pinched her lips together. The fish suddenly didn't taste so good. “It’s because of this freelance thing. I’m currently thinking of giving it up altogether. I ended up confusing some parts of my main work for the freelance I was doing. The other time, I was working on freelance work in the office and Mrs Oyena caught me.”

“Stop forcing yourself. It’s not easy to do accounting. If you continue this way, it might not end well. It could be a 0-0 ending for you.”

“I know. I’m trying to sort it out. Hopefully, I’d have everything figured out by the end of this month.”

“That reminds me… It’s almost salary time.” Ama did a little dance on her seat. “I’ve been saving up money to buy a new phone. Once I subtract the needed percentage from my salary, I can buy it.”

“iPhone 13?” Ruby looked at the Samsung phone on Ama’s side of the table. The screen already had cracked edges. Ama had already been using the phone for over two years. Ruby wondered why it took her that long to change the phone.

Ama shook her head. “No. Still a Samsung. I love the brand too much to switch.”

Ruby looked at her own iPhone 11. She had bought the phone out of peer pressure and lived under her means for a few weeks, regretting the purchase before she was paid her salary. There were times when her hands itched to upgrade the phone, but the lesson from the past purchase had stayed long enough to keep her from doing so.

They finished their meal talking about office gossip. Apparently, the new GM was currently ‘seeing’ one of the girls from the purchasing department. They hadn’t gone official yet. One of the ladies in Ama’s department was caught cheating on her boyfriend and she was still nursing a swollen lip from the violent break-up. When they were done, they walked back to the company. Ruby felt Ama’s mood was much lighter than it had been when they left the company. While she was glad that she had helped lighten Ama’s mood, she couldn’t help but feel a little depressed—her work, her part-time job and Justin. How was she to manage all three?

Heartstrings:
I can smell something fishy

Share pls

Thanks for the update ma’am

Cynthialinlin:

Share pls

Wait fess. Let me keep my fingers cross

EPISODE SEVENTY-FIVE

It was the smell of burning food that pulled Ruby out of her dreams late in the afternoon. She looked at the time and winced. She’d only wanted to reheat the remaining beans porridge from the previous day, but in the short time that it took, she slept off. This was not the first time it was happening. In the past week, she’d found herself even more sleepy and sleep-deprived. If not that she was certain she hadn’t had any intercourse in the past few months, she might have blamed the sleepiness on pregnancy. She yawned as she walked to the kitchen already contemplating what she would eat. The only food she had at home had been ruined. 

Staring at the blackened pot, she wanted to cry. Her eyes were already teary from the smoke that was circulating the kitchen. She coughed as she took the pot down from the gas cooker and poured water into it. After that, she went on to open up all the windows and doors in the house. When she was done, she retired to her room. It was unaffected by the smoky smell that now clung to her clothes. She wanted to change out of the clothes, but she felt too exhausted. She simply collapsed on the bed. But she was no longer feeling sleepy. She just felt hungry and tired. Soon, she gave in to the tears that had been threatening to escape her eyes, bawling her frustrations out.

It was Saturday, but after the horrible week she had, she wished it would remain Saturday forever. Her work performance during the week had reached an all-time low, inciting a lot of queries from Mrs Oyena, who at one point threatened that she was on a path to losing her job if she didn’t get herself together. She couldn’t blame her. She had made a lot of mistakes in the quarterly report that had been submitted to the board directors. Even the MD had called her in for a proper talk. 

What irked her about it all was that she wasn’t sure what caused it. After the last freelance work that had taken up a huge chunk of her last weekend, she hadn’t taken any other part-time work, preferring to pour all of her focus on her main job. But even that didn’t solve the problem. If anything, her performance became worse. Two days ago, she’d quarrelled with Justin. 

Thinking about it made her cry even harder. She didn’t know how it escalated. She’d just gotten home when he called. One minute he was asking about her day, the next she was pouring all her frustrations on him. She’d said a lot of things, most she didn’t remember and didn’t want to remember. Since that night, Justin hadn’t called her again, and she couldn’t bring herself to make the first move, even though she was the initiator of the misunderstanding.

The quarrel only made the rest of her week worse. At first, she was glad that it was weekend, but when she imagined a weekend without Justin, a weekend thinking about her poor performance at work, she only felt melancholic. And so, since she’d returned home the previous day, she’d been holed up in her room, scrolling through Instagram and admiring clothes she couldn’t buy, and looking at Justin’s number contemplating whether to call him.

She cried loudly, on one hand, grateful for the empty house, on the other, miserable that there was no one to comfort her.

She was hungry and tired. Yet, she could only curl on her bed and cry. What had she done wrong? Where were all her accounting skills? Why did she lash out at Justin when all he did was try to comfort her about the bad day she was having? Why hadn’t he called even after three days? Was it over between them? What about her job? Was she going to lose it? Mrs Oyena was getting impatient with her. How long before she totally lost her patience? 

The questions ran through her mind. She didn’t try to focus on any of them. She just let them flow. She was worried. Worried that she would lose her job, that she might have lost the best relationship that she would ever have, that she was slowly losing herself. She cried. She cried until her stomach hurt from both the hunger and crying. She cried until her eyes became dry, unable to produce tears. She cried until she was tired of crying. When the tears stopped pouring, she just laid on the bed, letting out small hiccups. She was very hungry. Very very hungry. She’d only eaten two slices of bread with milk in the morning. It was evening already. She didn’t have anything at home. Her fridge was empty. She’d exhausted her bag of garri during the week. 

Minutes later, she lay on the bed. Her problems were forgotten for the moment. She wanted to eat. She ran through her options in her mind. All of them required her to stand up from the bed and leave the house. She knew if she ordered something online, it would take longer before it arrived. After weighing her options, she ended up ordering a Domino’s pizza. While she wasn’t a particular fan of pizza, it seemed the fastest option for her state. Now she only had to wait for it to be delivered.

She picked up her phone and started scrolling through it. Since their quarrel, Justin hadn’t posted on his WhatsApp status. Or he’d simply blocked her from viewing it. She typed out a few words, Hey. What's up. Then she deleted it. She typed again. Babe, I’m sorry. But she also deleted it again. She felt a pinch in her nose. She wanted to cry again. She opened up his phone number, her finger hovering over the call button. 

What would it cost? She thought, then feigning oblivion, she quickly clicked on the button before she changed her mind.

He picked up almost as soon as the phone rang. “Hello.” The voice that replied was taut and gruff.

She started regretting the call. She didn’t know what to say. 

She heard him sigh. “Are you still angry?” His voice lost the tension, took on a placid note.

“No,” she said in a small voice. “Are you angry with me?”

“Should I be?” He turned the question at her. “I’m more hurt than angry. It took you this long to call me?”

“I was waiting for you to call,” she said in defence.

A few seconds passed before he spoke, “I was wondering what I did that made you angry. Some of the things you said… it didn’t sit right with me that you have thoughts like that.”

Some of the words she said that day echoed in her mind. Stop acting like you really care. You’re just like them, Boye, Fred, just hiding under your ‘caring’ coat.

And all those places you keep taking me to, how many girls have you taken there? This had come after he offered to take her out so she could relax and take her mind from work.

“I’m sorry, Justin. I didn’t mean any of that. I was just upset and tired-”

“That you could say them meant you’ve been having thoughts like that,” he interrupted in a calm voice. The calmness in his voice was starting to scare her.

“Work has been tiring this week,” she tried to explain. 

“I know. What did I tell you? I understood. I offered to take you out and you just lashed out.”

She’d thought her eyes were tired of producing tears. But they were at work again. The tears flowed down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Justin. I’m a little insecure. I know it’s not an excuse, but, I really didn’t mean any of those things. I once felt that way, but that was before. Not now. I mean it.”

He breathed deeply. “I like you, Ruby. I really do. But at this time, I think we should both take a step back and process our feelings.” With each word he said, Ruby could feel her heartbreaking, little by little. “I’ll be travelling to South Africa tomorrow. I’ll be back next week. When I come back, we can have a proper date and talk things out. Is that okay?”

Ruby couldn’t talk. She felt short of breath. Why did her abdomen hurt so much? Was it the hunger?

“Babe?” Justin’s voice softened. “Are you still there?”

She let out a choked sound. “Hmm.”

“Are you crying?”

She tried to control herself. “N…no. No.”

“I’m just saying we should take time to process our feelings for each other. I didn’t say that it is over between us. You can also try to sort things out at your workplace.”

She sniffed, finally getting her emotions in check. “I understand.”

“Are you at home now?”

She replied in the affirmative.

“I’ll come over later. I’m currently at home. Have you eaten?”

“I ordered pizza online. I’m still waiting for them to deliver it.” She sat up on the bed, slowly feeling strength flow into her weak limbs.

“Alright. I’ll come over. Don’t cry, okay? Just wait for me.” He entreated several times before he ended the call. 

Feeling reinvigorated, she got down from the bed. Almost immediately, her phone rang. It was the delivery. Her pizza had arrived. Now wishing she had ordered some other Nigerian delicacy, she trudged to the door to get her delivery.

EPISODE SEVENTY-SIX

Justin arrived an hour and a half later while she was watching a movie on Netflix. In his hand was a takeaway bag from Tantalizers. Because of how things were between them, she couldn’t bring herself to be overly touchy with him, settling for a side hug. He took off his jacket as he followed her inside.

He looked at the box of pizza on the table, beside it was a half-filled carton of Five Alive. “You’ve eaten?”

She nodded and opened the box of pizza. “I left some slices for you.”

He chuckled and sat down beside her. “I got you something from Tantalizers. If you don’t feel hungry now, you can have it later.”

She collected the bag from him and kept it aside. She would look at it later.

He reached for a slice of pizza and munched on it. Unsure of what to do, she continued watching the movie even though her mind was no longer on it. Justin didn’t seem to be in a rush. He ate slowly, pouring juice into the sole cup and drinking from it without bothering if she had used the cup. She saw this as a good sign.

It was over ten minutes before he spoke. The carton of juice was almost emptied and the pizza slices had all disappeared.

“I didn’t know you were hungry. If it is not enough, we can eat the one you brought.” She looked at the empty pizza box.

He shook his head. “It’s okay. I’m not hungry.”

They sat in silence, both of them staring at the TV. Ruby’s back was stiff against the couch. She wasn’t sure how to break the silence.

“Can we talk now?” he said after some minutes.

She nodded vigorously. “Yes.”

He reached for the remote control and paused the movie. “So what happened?”

Ruby looked at the frozen face on the screen. The woman was sitting down on a bench near the bus stop. She was waiting for someone, but until Justin paused the movie, the man had not arrived.

“I’ve been getting complaints at work.”

“I know. You told me.”

“That day, Mrs Oyena said I would be fired if I didn’t get myself together. Because I didn’t take his job, a client said some pretty hurtful words that same. He was one of my first clients. At first, he was angry when I increased my pricing. But he continued to patronize me. When I said I couldn’t take the job because the deadline was too short and didn’t match the price, he became quite abusive. I had to remain polite with him because even though he is rude, he is one of my loyal clients. So when you called, I just… I just…” she trailed off.

“Innocent me?” he said drily and leaned back on the couch, stretching his legs to fit the small space between the couch and the centre table.

“I’m sorry.”

He sighed. “I said I’m not angry. I mean it. I just wish we can talk calmly each time things like this come up. I’ll listen. You can call me and complain about anything. But don’t turn the anger on me. I was only trying to be supportive, but…” He took a deep breath. “It’s alright. Next time, if you have problems like this, tell me. I cannot interfere with your job, but there are still ways I can help you. For the client, you can ignore him when things get to that extent. I’m sure other people would appreciate your services.”

She nodded, the tension in her spine disappearing. “I promise. Next time, I’m going to talk to you about it.”

He reached over and pulled her into his arms.

She settled into his hold, breathing in his scent, feeling calm as she placed her ears on his chest and felt the beat of his heart. They were like that for a while before she asked another question that had been bothering her. “Why didn’t you call me after that night? I keep wondering what would have happened if I didn’t call today? Are we just going to go our separate ways like that?”

When he didn’t answer immediately, she looked up at his face and caught a shame-filled expression. “I felt I was falling too fast for you, so maybe it was an opportunity for me to… opportunity to think about the relationship.”

“So you probably wouldn’t have called again?” She removed herself from his hold.

He rubbed his face. “I would, I definitely would. I was waiting for you. I felt that you were no longer interested in the relationship. Most of what you said pointed to a break-up. I wasn’t sure if you were even going to pick my call.”

Even though she understood what he meant, she couldn’t bring herself to imagine what would happen if both of them kept waiting for the other to make the first move. She forced a laugh. “And now? What do you think?”

“My feelings about you haven’t changed.”

“But…” she pressed on.

“I feel we should both take a step back and think about what we both want, if we are right for each other. I’m looking for something permanent. And I swear, you have everything I want in a woman. But I also feel your reluctance, you keep holding back. I don’t know what happened to you in the past. But if you cannot trust me enough to make you happy, there’s only so much I can do.”

She bit her lips. Of course, she’d been holding back. She had learned her lesson from Boye and Fred. She didn’t need another man to complete it and make it a trinity of life lessons.

“I know what I want, Ruby and I’ll fight for it. But I also need the green light from you. If you keep me at a distance, I don’t know how the relationship would work. Not you doubting me, making assumptions, and not communicating.”

“That’s why you want a break?”

He shook his head. “Not exactly a break. You’re still my girlfriend. I’m still your boyfriend. I just want us to think about what we want. I believe a break will only worsen the problem between us.”

“There’s no difference,” Ruby muttered, pouting her lips.

Justin laughed and flicked her nose. “Are you looking for an opportunity to run away from me?”

She humphed. “You’re the one that said I think we should take a step back.

He quipped, “I meant a step, I didn’t mean a dozen steps backwards.”

“You and this your mouth.” She shook her head. “So what are you going to S.A to do?” she changed the topic.

Her eyes glittered with amusement as he looked at her, but he didn’t make any remark and instead answered her question. “I’m going to attend a friend’s wedding. And then for some vehicle business. Do you want to come with me? It’s going to be fun.” He winked.

“Maybe next time,” she said without thinking.

She didn’t notice the wide smile on Justin’s face.

“When I get back, we can go to Abuja.” He pinched her cheeks. “You need to take a break.”

She brushed his hands away and shot him an annoyed look. “I cannot take a leave from work now. Especially not this period.”

“What of the weekend? We can go on Friday night and come back on Sunday. You won’t lose a day of work,” he pressed.

“I’ll think about it.” Already filling hungry again, she reached for the take-way bag. “What did you even buy?” She brought out a plate of rice and a carton of Hollandia. “Wow.” She reached over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you so much.”

And he understood that she wasn’t just thanking him for the food.

Thanks for the update

EPISODE SEVENTY-SEVEN

As the days went on after Justin travelled out of the country, Ruby found herself grateful for the step back he had proposed. Or rather, it was their last conversation in her living room that gladdened her mind. On Sunday, after they cleared the air between them, she’d treated herself to a spa. After that, she had a total makeover, making a new hair, fixing her nails and going for a wax treatment, as it felt like ages since she went on one. After the makeover, she went shopping and got herself new clothes and a designer bag that took a chunk out of her savings. But she allowed herself just this time, after all, the last time she got something that expensive was when she was still with Fred. And it seemed like decades since the purchase. The day ended with a fancy dinner for one. While it felt strange eating alone, especially in a fancy restaurant, but she could care less. However, after dinner while she was heading to the car to drive home, a man approached her, introducing himself as Noel. She ended up giving him her number as he kept on following her.

The weekend treatment had left her enough fuel for the work week. Monday, she had arrived at work earlier—thirty minutes—than usual. She gave Mrs Oyena an official apology for her poor performance during the previous week. She faced the rest of the week with the same gusto, though she soon returned to her usual arrival time for work. Her performance picked up, but Ruby was determined to push her performance past its previous levels. She wanted to do better.

Like Justin had said, nothing changed in their relationship. His morning messages didn’t stop, and neither did the calls. It was mostly video calls. They didn’t talk about their relationship, rather they spoke about mundane topics. Justin filled her with details of his trip. And she talked about work and the crazy things she came across during the day. Their relationship seemed to have come to a standstill. There was no visible step back as Justin had proposed, and neither did they show any sign of moving forward. The standstill was not uncomfortable. It allowed her to have the hindsight of how their relationship developed and allowed her to contemplate how far she wanted the relationship to go. And even more, talking about mundane topics ended up being a good way to know Justin deeper, what he thought about certain things, his values.

On her own part, Ruby was trying to bring herself to let go of the past hurts she had incurred from her past relationships. She had come to the realization that it would take more than seven days to suddenly forget them and welcome a new relationship with wide, open hands. Unlike before, it wasn’t Justin's motives towards her that left her worrying. Justin was clear about what he wanted from her, and he had stated it openly. She could no longer hide under the shield of uncertainty. Her relationship with Justin had a future, and she was certain about it. More importantly, she was afraid of losing what might end up being a long-term relationship even before it began. She liked Justin. There was no denying it. She didn’t want to lose a chance at a relationship with him because of fear.

But at the same time…, there was no absolute to what could happen between them. So while she put most of her attention on her work, she also looked forward to Justin’s return. She was willing to work on their relationship. She hoped though, that he would be willing to be patient with her as she worked through her inner doubts.

***

It had been raining all afternoon. As though it sensed that it was the end of the workday for workers all over the Lagos, the rain reduced to a drizzle as the work came to a close. Ruby walked out of the company with Ama, holding up an umbrella over both their heads.

Ama was eating an eggroll, the remnant from her lunch.

“So she has gone back?” Ruby asked as they walked.

Ama nodded and swallowed hard. “Yesterday. Oche drove her to the airport in the afternoon. I really hope she doesn’t come back.”

Ruby laughed and reached out her hand to see how serious the rain was. She hadn’t come to work with an umbrella and the one in her hand belonged to Ama. “Is her brother really ignorant of how she is?”

Ama shrugged. “I don’t know. At this point, I don’t really care. It’s their family wahala.”

Ruby didn’t say much. They switched the topic to work gossip. There was a rumour that the GM had a fiancee that was in the US and would soon be returning to the country.

Ama waited for her to board a keke before waving her goodbye.

Her phone rang as the keke took a right turn into the main road. It was from an unknown number. She picked up the call.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Ruby. It’s Noel.” A deep voice said.

She frowned, trying to recall the person. “Noel?”

“Yes, don’t you remember me? We met on Sunday.”

This time, she remembered him. “Oh, hello.”

She could hear the laughter in his voice. “So you don’t remember me?”

She rolled her eyes even though he couldn’t see it. When she spoke, she wondered if he could hear the mocking tone in her voice. “I don’t go around remembering everyone I meet.”

“Just the special ones?” he quipped.

Slick tongue, she observed. She forced a laugh. “So…”

“I was wondering if I could invite you out for dinner. I’m interested in getting to know you better.”

“I’m not interested,” she said drily.

“Really? Just one dinner. I won’t disturb you after that if you are really not interested.”

Without saying anything, she ended the call.

*
Noel’s messages came in again later that evening, while she was on a call with Justin. The three messages came in almost at the same, merely seconds apart. Without controlling herself, she hissed loudly when she read the cheesy messages. Hearing her, Justin asked, “What happened?”

She heard the apprehension in his voice, so she rushed to explain, “It’s this guy I met the other day. He’s disturbing me with annoying messages.” It was only after she finished explaining that she realized how wrong it felt. Talk about jumping from the hot oil only to land on the bonfire. “Errm…”

“He wants to go on a date with you?” Justin asked after what felt like four hours of silence.

She didn’t want to lie, but she also didn’t want to complicate their relationship. “No. I hung up on him when he called earlier.” It wasn’t entirely a lie, she consoled herself.

But his reply wasn’t convincing. “Oh?”

She bit her lips, cursing her carelessness. “Are you angry?”

“No.” The answer was quick. “I don’t feel comfortable. I know it’s impossible for you not to have admirers. But just allow them to admire from afar.”

She laughed. “Of course. Hotcake like me,” she joked. “You don’t need to worry. I’m not going to do anything that would hurt our relationship.”

She didn’t want the topic to continue, so she started telling him about the client that wanted to contract her, for six months. As they spoke, she typed out a quick reply to Noel. I’m in a serious relationship. And not interested in anything else. Thank you. Polite but straightforward. Immediately after she sent the message, she blocked the number in case he still wanted to be insistent. The action felt familiar like she always did when she was in serious relationships, even with Boye, the action had been natural. Refuse, then block, and forget, well, until her current relationship ended. Rose often commented that she was too loyal, maybe too loyal as her loyalty always ended up with nothing other than heartbreak in the end. In the end, she regretted her loyalty, but when another man came into her life, when she started having an inkling of love for him, the cycle only repeated itself. She had stopped trying to change it, reduce the intensity. It always stopped at refusal. Sometimes she didn’t block the numbers, yet her refusal was always blunt and straightforward, unwavering even, that the men stayed away. This time, she wondered if her excessive loyalty would land her in another pit of misery. However, like always, she consoled herself with the belief that someday her loyalty would be returned with as much energy as she had given out.

EPISODE SEVENTY-EIGHT

Rose talked excitedly on the phone about her new boyfriend, the Ghanaian that had been asking her out for close to two months now.
“He was nice, really sweet,” Rose gushed. “Can you believe it? He has bought me breakfast like six times in a row, like every morning. As I’m stepping into the office, he’s there with it. It’s so sweet.”

Ruby didn’t try to interrupt. Rose had been talking for the past fifteen minutes, and it didn’t feel like she would be stopping anytime soon. She responded in the right places, “Wow, so sweet,” “That’s so cool of him,” “Now I’m beginning to envy you.” Somehow, even though she tried to share her friend’s excitement, she couldn’t force herself to ignore that tilt in Rose’s voice. She didn’t need to see Rose physically to know that the smile on her face, as reflected in her voice, was ugly. It was easy to tell when Rose didn’t like something. While her lips would be turned upwards, the rest of her face would be stiff, as though caked in mud. And her eyes, they were the most telling. What did they say? The eyes don’t lie.

But she could also understand why Rose agreed to the advances of the Ghanaian, even though they had bought laughed on the phone over his croaked teeth, over his lame walking style, over how the short dreads he wore didn’t fit him. And yet, here was the same person that had said, “I wouldn’t date him if he were the last man in Canada” praising his kindness and gushing over how he bought her breakfast, even though she didn’t like the bakery he bought the bread from. She had to admit that Rose had changed. She was still a go-getter, but the carefree side of her seemed to have been tamed. Or was it that the phone calls didn’t give Rose the space to explore her carefreeness?

The little crack that had formed in their relationship when Rose suddenly announced her plan to leave the country was still there. It had grown a little, but not too much to be noticed. Ruby understood that there were parts of her life that Rose would definitely keep away from her. Life abroad was not easy. Even when she complained, she sensed that Rose was playing down how she felt. The small jokes she cracked didn’t hide the weariness that sourced the complaints. Ruby wanted to be a good friend to Rose, especially at this time, but it was difficult to do this when they were separated by more than a thousand miles, of both water and solid land. Even more difficult when she doubted her abilities as a good friend.

It was only when Rose stopped talking, probably unable to keep up the fake excitement that Ruby asked, slowly, in an even tone, “But do you like him?”

Rose cackled, “Of course, if not why would I date him?”

“Rose, I’m serious.” Ruby raised her voice a little this time. “I can sense that you don’t like him. You even said it before.”

“I can grow to like him.” Rose was finally dropping the fake excitement in her voice.

“Really? How long would it take? Three months? One year? Two years or what? Nothing about the guy excites you physically. How are you going to date him?”

“I don’t know. Somehow. I will learn to deal with it. This is not Nigeria, you know.”

Ruby breathed in deeply. “How? Aren’t there other guys there? The other day you mentioned the Mexican guy that bought you coffee. What about him?”

“He has a wife at home, with two kids,” Rose said drily.

Ruby was struck dumb for a while. She didn’t know if she wanted to continue asking. “And the one from Malawi?” she asked tentatively.

“The guy is now dating one of the ladies in the office, with blonde head and green eyes.” It came out mockingly. “How do people even have green eyes?”

Ruby suddenly felt sorry for her friend. Ordinarily, she had men flocking around her and now it was totally different. “I’m sorry,” she muttered.

Rose sighed. “I know. Things are not easy here. I just have to make do with what is available. I don’t know. Maybe something will develop from it.”

But you don’t even like him, Ruby wanted to say instead she said, “Yeah, maybe it would work out. Somehow.” She copied Rose’s words.

Rose changed the subject. “So how is it with Justin? It’s going well, right?”

It felt cruel to flaunt her relationship while her friend was going through a difficult period, so she talked about the quarrel with Justin, emphasizing how close they were to a break-up.

“But you guys are back together now?”

Ruby made a noise of agreement. “He travelled. When he comes back, we’ll talk about him properly.”

“From everything you have told me, he seems like a nice guy. I don’t want you to suffer from another heartbreak, but I also don’t want you to miss out on something great. You should talk it through with him.”

This should be the first time Rose was approving of Justin. During their previous calls, it was always “Hmm, are you sure he feels the same way about you?” or “Aren’t you falling too fast for the guy?” While she didn’t understand what made Rose change her mind about Justin, she was grateful for the support from her friend. “Thank you, Rose.”

For the rest of the call, Ruby filled Rose on the current happenings in the country, though the major part of the call was Ruby complaining about the increasing prices of foodstuffs, which undoubtedly affected the prices of other things. When the call ended, it was almost midnight. There was no missed call from Justin, only a message wishing her good night. She wasn’t surprised. Earlier, she told him that she would be on a call with Rose. He understood that the call might last for an hour or two. After talking so much, Ruby’s throat felt sore and her mouth was dry. She reluctantly got up from the bed even though all she wanted to do was go to bed. It was only after she drank a glass of water that she returned to bed to sleep.
***

Justin came to her house the day he returned. It was a Saturday and even though she had been expecting his return that day, she didn’t expect him to visit. She was about to prepare a simple lunch of concoction rice when he called her to inform her of his impending visit. Grateful that she had not started cooking, she hurriedly rushed out of the house to buy some foodstuffs, deciding on preparing her foolproof jollof rice. She could add too much water to ogbono soup, mistakenly allowed the stew to get burnt, but with this jollof rice, it always turned out great.

When Justin arrived, she was frying the stew for the rice. She apologised for being tardy. Even though she had changed into one of her best-looking house wear, it was difficult to prevent the stew from splattering around. She was already regretting wearing the cute yellow t-shirt.
After dropping the things he came with—quite a lot—on the dining table, Justin joined her in the kitchen.

“Hmm!” He sniffed loudly. “Smells really great.”

She reduced the heat of the gas cooker. “Is it not better to wait in the living room? It’s quite messy here.” A look around the kitchen confirmed what she said. When Rose cooked, the kitchen remained neat, as she cleaned while cooking. But for Ruby, it was one mess here and there. The blender she had used for the tomatoes still sat in one corner of the kitchen with red spots around it. Even looking at the pile of plates on the sink, she wondered when she’d used that many plates. The vegetables she’d bought for the salad were still unpacked on the other side of the kitchen counter. And the mess on the floor?—onion wraps, empty nylon bags. It was all too scattered. She didn’t want to think of how she looked.

He shrugged. “It’ll be lonely sitting alone out there. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Ruby wasn’t going to allow him to join her. Cooking for someone, especially someone she wanted to impress was one thing; cooking with the person she wanted to impress was another. She was certain that if she felt his continued presence in the kitchen, her foolproof jollof rice was going to lose its name.

“Just wait outside. I’ll feel more comfortable doing it myself.” She chose honesty, not doubting that Justin could find a hundred ways to refute if she wasn’t straightforward. “I feel nervous when someone else is watching me cook.”

“Okay.” He sounded disappointed. “Can you help me with a knife? I got some oranges. I’ll peel them outside.”

She smiled in gratitude and rinsed the knife before handing it to him. “Thank you. This won’t take long.”

When he left the kitchen, she released a sigh of relief and returned to her cooking.

It was another forty-five minutes before she finished cooking. While the rice cooked, she joined Justin in the dining where he had finished peeling the oranges and was watching a documentary on animals. Quite conscious that she was cloaked in the smell of spices, she sat a distance from him and reached for an orange. Justin didn’t notice the discomfort in her sitting position as his attention was on the description of arctic bears and how it was difficult for them to find food in the winter. He commented mundanely on how many of them could die from lack of food. When the food was almost ready and the vegetables for the salad prepared, she quickly arranged the kitchen and went to her room to freshen up, changing out of her stained, spice-smelling clothes.

Soon, she set out a colourful meal on the table—a bowl of rich, deep red rice with a mixture of green and yellow, a creamy plate of salad, a bowl of fried, golden brown plantains, and a plate of fried chicken coated in pepper sauce. She brought out a carton of Five Alive from the fridge and poured it into two cups, setting them at different positions on the table.

“Wow! You didn’t need to go all out.” Justin took a seat at the dining table that was made for four people.

“I already planned to prepare something like this, but for tomorrow instead.” She laughed at the lie.

“I know,” Justin coughed slightly. “It seems kind of a waste to have this kind of meal on a Saturday instead of a Sunday.”

Ruby chuckled. “It’s still food. Whether on a Saturday or Sunday.” She reached for his plate to scoop spoonfuls of rice on it and then added the salad, plantains and two chicken drumsticks.

“It might be a little spicy.” She watched gingerly as he took the first spoon of rice.

“Don’t worry. I also like pepper.” He winked at her, then gestured at her empty plate. “Are you not going to eat?” He wanted to reach over to take her plate.

As it was closer to her, she reached it fast and proceeded to serve herself. “It’s okay. You’re the visitor.”

He smiled. “The food tastes really great. What spice did you add? I’ve not tasted something like it before.”

“My secret.” Or not. She had learned to cook this type of jollof rice from Rose. She had been cautious when she saw Rose adding rosemary and oregano to the rice as they were foreign spices, but after she ate the meal, she could hardly prepare jollof rice or tomato stew without sprinkling them into the food.

They spoke as they ate, jumping from one topic to the other. It felt natural, this kind of interaction like they were married and having a casual dinner. She also loved the way this shared meal made her feel, enjoying the way Justin casually added more rice or salad to her plate as though he could read her mind; and how he selected the fleshiest plantains only to place them on her plate. And suddenly, she no longer thought of the stress of having to prepare the sumptuous meal. It was worth it.

Beautiful piece dearie....
I'm a fan!

Weldone Op, thanks for the updates.

Blesstar:
Beautiful piece dearie....
I'm a fan!

Thank you

EPISODE SEVENTY-NINE

They talked at length after eating. Justin told her what he liked about her. The person he described seemed foreign to her as if it wasn’t her he was talking about. She listened. She liked this person he described.

She was determined and committed to her job. She carried herself with a kind of composure. And while he didn’t expect the outburst from her that led to their quarrel, he was willing to try to understand that part of her. The part that flared out at a little thing that would have seemed inconsequential to him. He liked that she was not demanding. Maybe because she also had a demanding job, but he appreciated it. They hadn’t known each other for that long, but his interest in her was not just for a short while. He understood that there were parts of her that he was only going to know as they spent more time with each other. He looked forward to it, getting to know her on a deeper level.
He added, as an afterthought, that he was also interested in her because of her looks. When they met, she wasn’t putting on make-up. He liked her natural; he liked her when she used make-up. Whichever way, she was beautiful.

It sounded strange, someone complimenting her beauty. Did she even have one? From early on, she’d come to understand that she had an average face. She wasn’t ugly, but she wouldn’t use beautiful to describe herself. She never felt inferior because of her looks, instead, she learned to grow comfortable with it, especially knowing how sensitive her skin was. Sometimes, even the make-up she wanted to use to make her more beautiful might end up setting off a reaction.

So even though it felt superficial coming from his lips, she liked it. She wished he would say it more often.

And then he wanted to know about her past relationships. When he said it, whatever pleasant feeling she had over his compliment promptly disappeared. Replacing it was apprehension and angst. When he saw the reluctance on her face, he didn’t mind. Instead, he went ahead to talk about himself.

He’d only dated two ladies. Ruby found this hard to believe. With his background, he could have dated more than that number. He understood the look of incredibility on her face and explained.

He’d been with the first girl for two years and a half. He started dating her in his third year at the university. She broke up with him during his year of service. “There is someone else,” she’d said during the long-distance phone call. It came as a surprise because everything seemed to be going pretty well. He’d even booked a flight from where he was in Kano to visit her during the weekend. It took a while to recover from the break-up.

His second relationship was longer, close to five years. At that time, it seemed they were both heading in the same direction—marriage. He worked hard, putting his effort into his business, so he would be able to cater for her without having to seek help from his parents. Nothing prepared him for the devastation that came when he proposed to her and she replied with a blatant “No.” He tried to understand what went wrong. When he asked, her reply was that she wasn’t ready to settle down. Quite ironic was the fact that, three months after the break-up, she announced the date for her traditional wedding on Facebook. This was a wedding with someone she’d supposedly met after they ended their relationship.

That was it. The whole of his dating history. Just two, with relatively long periods of time. Even her longest relationship didn’t last up till two years.

As if he could read her mind, he said, “You don’t believe me?”

She shook her head and sipped from the glass of juice in her hand. “No, not like that. They’re pretty long-term.”

He leaned back on the couch with laughter cloaked in self-mockery. “I was dating with the purpose of permanence. I had this illusion that I wouldn’t need to go through a string of relationships before I found the one. My father only had one woman all his life, my mother. And he never looked for another woman. Not that his job would allow him,” he added wryly. “So I wanted something like that.”

“Oh.” Ruby got rid of that illusion a long time ago before she got into the university. Even where she grew up, the men had women outside their marital home. Like their neighbour back in Kogi. He was always chasing after one woman or the other. At one time, he wanted to take in another wife. But the parents of his wife stood their ground. Even though they were not wealthy, it was his wife’s family that provided most of the money they used at home, including the one he used in chasing women. Ridiculous, she’d thought at that time. There were the women too. Mama Jo, the owner of the provision store opposite their compound, allegedly bore a child to a man that wasn’t her husband and it resulted in a divorce, a messy one that still left her with the provision store.

She supposed that it was the environment he’d grown up in that allowed his illusion to continue even after the jungle of messy relationships that littered the university environment. And she could tell, he still held that illusion. Maybe he thought he had let it go, wake up to the fact that the world, Nigeria, didn’t work that way. But it was still there, with a faint presence. In a way, she was happy with this part of him. Yet, when she thought about her dating history, she once again felt the difference between them.

“You don’t need to tell me if you’re not ready,” Justin finally said when after a long time, Ruby didn’t say anything.

She looked up at him, debating if she could tell him without ruining what they had between them. In comparison, hers’ suddenly felt like a dirty past.

“It’s not going to be pleasant,” she warned before she started.

She talked until her lips hurt. Once she opened her mouth, everything seemed to come out naturally. She told him about her abusive relationship with Dafe, smiling at him when he pulled her closer, as though trying to protect her from the physical pain she’d endured in the past. She told him about Boye, even though it didn’t count as a relationship. She told him about Fred and how it’d ended with him accusing her of cheating. She briefly mentioned Buike, her first boyfriend, as the relationship had only lasted for the duration of her first semester in school. She didn’t talk about Uti, her boyfriend during the three weeks in the NYSC camp. It seemed too short to add to her already long list of past boyfriends. She wondered if it counted as deception.

“When you said it wasn’t pleasant, I was expecting something worse.” Justin let out a sigh of relief when she finished.

“Like what?” she prodded. Five boyfriends compared to his two girlfriends were on different levels.

He shrugged, evading the question. “That’s why you don’t trust me, eh? It’s more understandable now that I know the root of it all. But first things first, my name is Justin. Do you understand? My name doesn’t start with an ‘F’ or a ‘B’, okay?” The words came out a little stern, as though he were a teacher trying to teach a four-year-old how to recite the alphabets.

She nodded meekly, even though she wanted to laugh at the way he tried to feign a severe expression.

“I’m also scared, Ruby,” he admitted, softening his expression. “I know I treated them well, but they just left me like that, for other men. You know how much it hurt at that time, especially the second time. When I saw that I.V. on Facebook, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Five years, gone. Just like that. I’m also scared the same thing would happen again. You’ll find someone better than me and leave. But you don’t see me leaving or holding back.”

Ruby held his hands in comfort, feeling sympathy for him. She understood the way he felt. Fred had made her feel exactly the same way. And no matter how many times she asked herself, why things had ended that way, there was no reply, there was never going to be a reply.
“We both have our past, both of us have been hurt in the past. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t move on from them. Now that we both understand each other, maybe, we can work things out, work on our relationship. Because, Ruby, I like you so much. And I really don’t want to lose what we already have. So can you give me the chance, the opportunity to show you how much I feel? Can you trust me?” He looked at her, hope glimmering in his watery eyes.

Ruby took his hands in his and without thinking, she said, “I trust you.”

She didn’t need to say anything else. Everything Justin needed to hear was in those three words. Grinning from ear to ear, he reached over to pull her into a deep hug, before covering her mouth with his, kissing her with more passion than he’d ever done.

Nice update

EPISODE EIGHTY

Rose called her later that night again which was quite unusual. But she was calling with good news.

“Rubs, there is this position that came up. You remember Anthony? The tall guy that was always eating fish roll in class?”

It took a while for Ruby to recall him. “Yes.”

“So, he finished his masters in accounting two years ago and started an accounting firm. It took a while for it to kick off and now they’re doing pretty well. He sent me a message on Facebook and I told him I’m no longer in the country. He asked about you. He’s looking for experienced accountants to join the company. I’ll forward the job details immediately to you. Just look through it and see if it is acceptable. I feel it’s much better than your current work and the pay is also higher.”

Excitement coursed through her body. Truth be told, she had been considering looking for a new job for a while now. While her present job was good, it no longer challenged her. That the chances for growth were limited even worsened her apprehension over the job. This came just at the time she needed it. “Thank you, babe. I was also considering changing jobs.”

Rose sent the job details as well as application procedures to her email and forwarded Anthony’s phone number to her before she ended the call. “You have a good portfolio, but I think it’s best to keep communicating with the guy. I’m sure you’ll get it.”

Even though she remembered Anthony, she hadn’t been so close to him until she and Rose became friends. He had been one of the brilliant students in the class, most of his time being spent in the library. Once again, she was grateful Rose came into her life at the time she needed her. Their friendship might not return to how it was before, yet she was still willing to maintain the relationship. And she knew Rose felt the same way.

As she looked at the job descriptions for the different positions available, Ruby only felt disappointed at how her qualities only qualified her for two jobs out of the five jobs listed. She didn’t have any accounting qualifications as she hadn’t gone through with her plans to become a chartered accountant. She wasn’t discouraged though. Maybe this was an opportunity to finally start making the moves she was supposed to take earlier on.

As a burst of motivation rushed through her blood, she took an A5 paper and began to write her plans—apply for the job, start the process of becoming a chartered accountant. She understood that becoming a professional accountant would take a long time, maybe even up to four years, but it was a journey she was willing to undertake.

“Hmm,” a voice came over her head, pulling her out of thinking of her future. She looked up to see Mrs Oyena looking from the paper in front of her to the opened file on the computer.

She cursed in her mind. She had forgotten that she was at work. She stiffened her spine in apprehension as she thought of a viable excuse about why she was looking at another job offer while she was at work.

“Have you finished working on the file I sent you yesterday?” Mrs Oyena asked before she could come up with a good excuse.

Ruby’s mind was jumbled for a while. She fumbled around with the mouse before she closed the window showing the vacancy. “Uhm…y…yes. Yes. I will email it to you right now.” Her heart continued racing.

“Okay.” Mrs Oyena turned and returned to her seat.

It took a while for Ruby to calm down. Even as she tried to control her breathing to get her heartbeat back to its normal pace, she was still a little disconcerted. Why didn’t Mrs Oyena say anything? She kept glancing at Mrs Oyena, judging her expression. Like always, Mrs Oyena's puffy face was locked in that expression that made it seem like she was smiling.

“Stop looking at me and concentrate on your work,” Mrs Oyena’s rough voice startled her.

“Yes ma,” she said meekly and turned to her computer. She folded the paper four times into a neat rectangular shape and put it in her bag. It was better to do things like this at home. She typed a simple message of gratitude to Rose on WhatsApp, the focused her attention on her job.

After work, Ruby found herself walking out of the office side by side with Mrs Oyena. She felt it was done purposely as Mrs Oyena was usually one of the first to leave the office while she left a few minutes later, often taking the time to look at herself in the mirror.

“I’m sorry ma,” she said unable to endure the lengthy silence.

“For what?” Mrs Oyena’s tone was lighter than it had been in the afternoon. “For looking for a better job?”

Ruby didn’t reply.

Mrs Oyena chuckled softly. “It’s normal. You’re still young. No need to prison yourself in one place. God knows, if I was your age, I would have left a long time ago.” There was sadness in her voice when she ended the last sentence.

“Really?” Ruby widened her eyes.

Mrs Oyena shook her head in self-pity. “I have been with the company almost since it started. Close to 12 years now. I missed the best time to leave. That was when I had my last child. I had another job offer, but because I was pregnant, they couldn’t let me start work. I didn’t blame them. After all, if I started working, I’d still go on my maternal leave three months later. So, I lost it. The company was willing to give me my maternal leave and still allow me to come back, even though I would lose my position to someone else. That was seven years ago. With my family and everything in between, I didn’t have any stimulus to go to another company and start from the bottom. So I remained here. Looking back now, I wish I had taken the challenge. Here is good. The pay is well above average and the company policies are also favourable. But there are better places, better offers. It may sound surprising coming from me, but if you find a better offer, take it. I’ve seen people come and go in this company. I know it’s normal. So I’m not going to stop you from taking that step.”

Ruby felt the stone that had been in her chest since Mrs Oyena discovered her in the afternoon slowly disappear. “Thank you, Mrs Oyena.”

“But…” Mrs Oyena cut in. “Give me a heads up early, ten days. I’ll help you with the HR people. They’re always giving people wahala.”

Ruby was already nodding like a puppy, “Yes, ma. I’ll do that.”

They were outside now. A car was waiting for Mrs Oyena outside. Ruby knew it was her husband. He came to pick her up from work almost every day. A businessman, his office was not far off from the company, an arrangement that she guessed was made in consideration of his wife. She watched the car as it drove off. Mrs Oyena might have doubts and regrets about her work life, but it wasn’t so with her marriage. Mrs Oyena never stopped preaching about marrying a good man, especially when she came to work with something new her husband got for her—a new blouse, wig, or necklace. There were times that she came to work with food prepared by her husband. She made sure everyone in the office became witness to it as she munched on it, savouring every spoonful. They were not wealthy, but they had a happy family. That was important.

Ruby craved this kind of life. Thinking about Justin, she hoped that one day, they would live like this; each in support of the other. She took a deep breath in. They still had a long way to go. She only hoped they could keep on walking together.

EPISODE EIGHTY-ONE

Ruby walked out of the company with anxious steps. The overnight bag felt a little too heavy in her hand. She spotted Justin’s car immediately she stepped out. He was parked a few meters away. But before she could begin walking towards it, she noticed the red lights of the car, as it drove backwards. She waited until it stopped in front of her. Always a gentleman, Justin came out of the car and walked toward her. He gave her a light hug and pecked her on the cheek.

“How was work today?” He took the bag from her hand and placed it in the back seat of the car.

“The usual.” She entered the car as he held out the door for her. A feeling of contentment washed over her as she sat down and he closed the door after her.

“What about the application? Have you heard from the company?” he asked when he entered the car. He started the engine and drove off.
She shook her head. “It’ll probably be next week.” She’d sent in her application the previous day. She was looking forward to being called in for an interview.

“We’re going to eat first before going home,” he informed her, taking a right turn.

She nodded nervously. This was the first time she was going to his home; the first time she would be spending the night with him. The feeling of eagerness surpassed that of the anxiety she’d felt when he relayed his invitation. How about spending the weekend with me? At my place?
She understood what he meant. In fact, she’d been looking forward to the invitation. Even though they’d been dating for a while now, she hadn’t felt comfortable enough to extend the invitation first. She wasn’t a saint. It had been almost 6 months since she had sex with someone, Fred. And she had to admit, she felt a physical relationship with Justin was very much delayed. He’d never talked about it or demanded anything from her. In fact, he often pulled away when things got heated as they made out. She was curious, but she didn’t say anything. Most times, she ended up pleasuring herself in the comfort of her bed after they separated. So she was eager to spend the weekend with him, imagining that it would be spent on the bed throughout, after all, she had so much passion pent up within her.

They had dinner at a simple restaurant. They talked at length while they ate. Even though Ruby told him previously about her plans to apply for another job, she didn’t tell him about her other plans—to become a certified accountant. So they talked about it as they ate. Ruby explained the steps she needed to take, estimated how long it would take, calculated what sacrifices she would have to make including precious hours from her sleep time. Justin listened patiently. He asked curious questions about what one step required.

“If you can start taking the courses now, why wait until you get the job?” he asked when she finished.

It was a question she’d not really considered. When she made the decision to become a professional accountant, she’d always put off registering, thinking there was going to better time.

“I say, why not just register first and start taking the courses. If you keep putting it off and waiting for a better time, you might wait until the next century. My understanding is that your new job is going to be demanding enough. And then it would be, I’ll wait until I settle in, then I’ll wait until I get promoted. Things like that. If it takes that long, why not start now. I believe simply registering might push you to do more.”

She started picking at her food. It was easier to put things off for a later time. Justin was right. There really was not going to be a better time. In fact, she had a feeling that she had already missed the ideal time. Postponing things now would only have serious repercussions.

“I’ll think about it then,” she said dismissively, shelving the thought for when she got home.

“No.” Justin reached over the side of the table and took her left hand. “How about next week? On Monday? You can take a leave from work in the afternoon and I’ll take you to register? We will also buy the resources you need to take the exam, books and stuff, and from next week, you can start taking the courses.”

Ruby widened her eyes, blinking at him. “Isn’t that too sudden? I don’t have any study plan yet?”

“How will you create a study plan if you don’t know what you’re studying for?” He breathed in deeply. “Don’t worry. I’ll be by your side all throughout. Next week, we’ll go and register. After that, I’ll help you draft a study schedule. Even if it takes five years, the important thing is to start taking small steps.”

Seeing the earnestness in his eyes, Ruby caved in. No one knew her better than herself. She knew that the part of her that kept on postponing taking the accountancy exams for the past three years would keep on doing so, for probably the next ten years. Even though it seemed she was only doing it because Justin pushed her, she was grateful that there was someone to push her when she was reluctant to take that step.

Once it was settled that she was going to register for the courses the next week, the winds of their conversation turned. Justin started talking about a recent drama of a friend who got his sidepiece pregnant. The gossip part of Ruby pressed for more gist until Justin flicked her lightly on the forehead and said they shouldn’t be dragging other people’s dirty matter into their lovely dinner.

Ruby didn’t say anything, but she shelved the story. In a few days, she would bring it out and ask how the man solved the matter. The rest of the dinner continued talking about lighter topics.

*
After dinner, they headed to Justin’s place. His home in Ikoyi was a three-bedroom flat on the fifth floor of a residential building in Parkview estate. Ruby couldn’t help the thrill that ran through her blood as Justin led her into the building, and they took the elevator up to his flat. She’d known Justin had money, but to what extent? She did not know. Her eagerness to visit his house was slowly doused by rising anxiety. Again, the doubts she always had about the difference in their social levels came back.

“No need to be so stiff.” Justin rubbed her shoulders. It was then that she realised she’d been standing by the door, not entering the house.

“I didn’t know you live here,” she said before she realized how it sounded—as though she were familiar with residents of the area. She wanted to pinch sense back into her head.

He spread his hands out, gesturing towards the house. “Welcome to my humble abode.” He did a slight bow.

I wouldn’t use humble, she thought to herself as she walked in. She felt a little reluctant to step on the tiled floor that reflected the overhead bulbs. “Your place is nice,” she said before she even looked around.

Justin worked with familiarity, reaching for the remote control to switch on the AC and another to switch on the TV. He smiled at her. “Why are you still standing there?” He gestured at the couch. “Let me drop this first.” He pointed at her overnight bag placed on one of the seats, and then went inside.

She sat down, taking in the living room. It was a wide space, wider than hers. The TV in front of her took up a huge space on the wall. Dark blue curtains complemented khaki-painted walls. It was a combination that evoked a sense of guardedness; cool, wanting to keep the residents and visitors at a distance, but still giving off a sense of privacy.

Justin returned with a bottle of wine and two glasses. “Are you watching that?” He placed them on a side table and sat beside her.

It was the advertisement channel. Her attention had been on the decoration of the house that she forgot the background sound. She shook her head. “No.”

He pulled her closer to himself and switched between channels. “You’re being too quiet. Is there any problem?” She was shaking her head before he finished. He didn’t give her an opportunity to talk. “This is my space. You don’t need to feel constrained. Feel at home, babe.” He stopped at a channel showing a documentary on plant life.

“Alright.”

Justin rubbed her shoulders. “You still feel tense. Is there any problem?”

Ruby didn’t know exactly what was wrong. One minute she was excited and the next she was drenched in nerves. “I don’t know,” she admitted, explaining how she felt.

“Excited?” His attention was on the first part of the sentence.

She slapped him lightly. “I’m serious.”

“Well, there’s no need to be nervous. I brought you here to relax, not to write an exam. Here, have a glass of wine. It’ll help calm your nerves.” He poured the wine into the two glasses and handed one to her.

She was about to drink, but he stopped her. “Cheers!” The glasses touched with a sharp clink. Ruby gobbled down the contents without hesitation.

“Whoa! What’s with the rush?” Justin took the glass from her and gave her a stern look. “Where are you rushing to?” he asked then placed the glass on the table. “It’s not good to drink alcohol in a rush. You’ll hurt yourself.”

She too was regretting the rush. Her throat burned a little, her eyes watered. “I didn’t know it was that strong.” When the burning disappeared, her mouth began to feel dry. “Water?” she croaked out.

“Give me a minute.” He went out and returned with a bottle of water. He uncorked it and gave it to her. “Drink slowly.”

She took his advice, taking little sips of the tasteless drink.

“How do you feel now?” he asked when she covered the bottle.

“Much better.”

He shook his head. “Don’t tell me this is how you drink all those wines in your house?”

“No, no,” she refuted immediately. “I just wanted to calm down, that’s why.”

“I don’t know why you’re nervous. Nothing you don’t want to happen will happen.” He tugged at her ears lightly.

She wanted to say “I actually do want something to happen.” Instead, she settled for, “I understand.”

Justin talked about the documentary to ease her nerves. It was a fascinating documentary. In no time, Ruby had forgotten about how she had been feeling and was paying attention to whatever flora and fauna that the narrator was introducing.

EPISODE EIGHTY-TWO

It was Ruby that made the first move. One minute they were watching the mangrove forest and the next, their lips were locked in a kiss. She blamed it on the alcohol. She had ended up taking more glasses than she’d expected.

She deepened the kiss, pulling Justin closer to her. Her roaming hands were not content to remain on his muscular arms. His muscular chest was her goal. She slipped her hands into his shirt, sliding her hands over his skin that felt warm. His hands were not idle too. He cupped her buttocks, bringing her over his legs. She obliged, placing her legs on either side of his thighs. The narrator on the TV was now describing the type of plant life that existed in the mangrove. Ruby wanted to tell him to keep stop talking.

She was also the first to pull away when it became harder to breathe. Gulping in breaths, she looked at him. His shirt had been raised all the way up to his chest. She started tracing lines on his skin. “Let’s go inside?” She had intended it to be a statement, but it ended up as a question.

His hands were on her waist. “You really want to do this?”

Feeling naughty and in the heat of the moment, she wiggled her buttock over him, where she could already feel a bulge. “Why not? Don’t you?”

His reply was pulling her in for another kiss. But a few minutes later, he stood up suddenly still holding her. She squealed in fright and put her legs around him to avoid falling off.

Worried about her weight, she wanted to come down, but the arms around her were as strong as steel.

“Don’t worry.” He walked with her into the bedroom. The way he carried her as though she didn’t weigh about 68kg made her feel excited. She pecked him as he walked; on the cheeks, eyebrows, lips, atop the nose.

She didn’t bother looking or admiring the room. She was more interested in his body. Once he placed her on the bed, she pulled him down, enjoying his warm body weight over hers. When he took her clothes off, she didn’t shy away from his gaze, enjoying the attention as his heated eyes ran over her body. He played with her body, running his mouth over her, expertly pleasuring her with his tongue. When he entered her, she curved her legs around his waist taking him in deeper. Her moans bounced off the walls of the room. He kissed her as he moved, inviting her to join his rhythm, to dance with him.

It was a long night. Ruby felt drained when Justin finally pulled out of her. For a time, she felt she was going to blackout from the waves after the waves of explosion that hit her.

“That was…wow!” Justin collapsed beside her.

Ruby turned to him, breathing hard. “Worth the wait, huh?”

He kissed her on the forehead. “Much more than I expected. How do you feel?”

“Can’t you tell?” She rested her head on his shoulder. “I can’t move.” She wasn’t lying. Her legs still felt a little shaky.

He sat up on the bed, then carried her. “How about a shower together?” Without waiting for her reply, he was already walking into the bathroom.

Because she was so tired, he ended up doing the whole work. She felt a little embarrassed. This was her first time being washed by a man, her first time bathing with someone else. Justin couldn’t resist playing with her as they showered, exciting another orgasm. This time, she was truly spent.

Minutes later, they both lay on the bed, enjoying the heat of each other’s bodies.

“You’re special. You know right?” Justin said.

Too drowsy to even reply, she “hmmed”.

He chuckled lightly over her reply and switched over the bedside lamp. “Goodnight, babe.”

*
Annoying noises and shuffling woke her up hours later. She grumbled.

“Babe?” Justin’s voice came over her head.

She looked up to see him. In the faint morning light, she could see him dressed in a tracksuit.

He kissed her on the forehead. “I’m going down to the gym for my morning exercise. It’s still early. You can continue sleeping.”

She nodded sleepily. “The lights,” she mumbled.

“Alright, babe.” He kissed her again before shutting the curtains tightly and then leaving the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Ruby was back to sleep in no time, burying herself deeper into the sheets that smelled strongly of Justin.

*
When Ruby woke up much later, the sun was high up in the sky. The clock in the room read 9:23 am. She could hear the faint sound of music from the living room. She got up from the bed and went into the toilet to relieve herself. When she was done, she quickly freshened up, brushing her teeth and washing her face.

When she came out of the room, Justin was sitting in front of the TV, looking through his laptop.

“Babe,” she walked over to him and kissed him. “Good morning.” She sat down beside him.

“You’re finally awake.” He closed the lid of the laptop and pulled her into his arms.

“When did you come back?”

“It’s been a while. Are you hungry? I bought some akara. You’ll take it with pap, eh?”

Ruby nodded. She followed him into the kitchen, designed in a way that she was certain Rose would envy. He spoke as he worked, plugging in the electric kettle and mixing the yellow starch with cool water.

“Do you have any plans for today?” he asked.

Ruby was transferring the akara balls into a bowl. “Spend the weekend with you?” she said impishly repeating his words when he invited her.

“You know what I mean.” He rolled his eyes at her. “Any freelance work?”

“Yes.” She couldn’t help reaching for a piece of akara. She was starving. “But I’m almost done with it. Someone sent me another one this morning,” she briefly explained the message she’d seen as soon as she opened her phone. “I’m still considering it. It’s quite demanding, but the pay is good.”

“Don’t finish the akara before the pap is ready,” Justin chided when he saw her reach for another akara.

She pouted, but still ate the akara.

The pap Justin made was thick and milky, the way she liked it. Justin stopped her when she tried to add more sugar. “Too much sugar,” he warned. “I already added enough.”

Ruby shrugged. She lifted the plate of akara and followed him to the living room.

“This evening, there’s this get-together with some of my friends. Can you come with me?”

This would be the first time she would be meeting them. She nodded. “Sure.” She was relieved that she had come with extra clothes.

The rest of the morning was spent leisurely. They made love and then Justin showed her around his house while they talked about irrelevant things. In the afternoon, they prepared lunch together, with Ruby cutting the vegetables and Justin as the main chef. It was a simple lunch, spaghetti with beef sauce. After lunch, Ruby went into the third room in the house, the one Justin had turned into a study room/office and worked on her laptop. Justin remained in the living room making some calls. Sometime later, he went into the room for a nap.

Even though it was her first time in the house, Ruby felt extremely comfortable, like it was also her house. When she felt hungry, she knew where to go and look for snacks. Justin did not eat a lot of sweet things and snacks, so she knew the unopened carton of biscuits and can of Pringles in the kitchen were for her.

Late in the afternoon, Ruby completed her work and forwarded the project to her client. Justin was still sleeping when she went into the room. She joined him as she also felt a little tired.

Beautiful

Thanks for the update.. I really hope this relationship works out for both of them

This relationship must work...

heemah:
Thanks for the update.. I really hope this relationship works out for both of them

like it must oooo, I have started praying for any hindrance in their way.

Graminyte9:
This relationship must work...

it must we go buy aso ebi #RubJus or #JuBy trying to form hashtag but not coming, I will keep trying. Thanks OP

EPISODE EIGHTY-THREE

It was a homely gathering. Later that evening Justin took Ruby with him to the gathering. It was in a mansion, fifteen minutes far from his where he lived. A woman in her mid-thirties welcomed them, giving them warm hugs. She asked Justin about his business and his recent trip. After Justin introduced her to the woman, as his girlfriend, she told him to join the other men inside while she spoke with Ruby. They walked inside together. Ruby could hear the sound from inside the house, men greeting each other with loud, enthusiastic voices.
The woman, Rita, told her to feel at home. Since she was Justin’s partner, she was also one of them.

The house painted light brown and cream was spacious. The ceilings were so high that it was easy to hear the echo of voices. When she went to the wide living room where about five men were seated, she was struck with uneasiness. She recognized two of the men from the group that had come in with Justin the second time they met at the bar. She concealed her discomposure with a smile and returned their greetings. They were curious about her—what she did, where she came from, most especially how they started dating as Justin had been stingy with that information, only telling them that he was in the talking stage with a certain somebody. They made jokes about Justin but in the end, implored Ruby to take care of their guy.

While they talked, three women came into the living room. Of the group, four of the men were married. Rita and her husband Olisa were the hosts. They were married for ten years and had three kids. The others were recently married. Ruby immediately bonded with Lotachi. She was the closest to her age and like her worked an office job.

The last to arrive seemed to be the ‘problem couple’ of the group. From the expressions on their face when they came in, Ruby could tell that they must have had a quarrel. As if on cue, the ladies left the living room to the men and went to the living room upstairs. It was much smaller, much simpler in design but still as exquisite as the other living room. Rita was already asking the woman, Beatrice, what happened before they took their seats.

They had quarrelled again, she said, this time it was over whether she should stop working to take care of their 3-months-old twins. Her husband didn’t trust any nanny and preferred her to stay at home. Beatrice felt she was doing too well to stop working.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to start a supermarket?” Blessing, one of the women asked. “Why doesn’t he just open one for you? Then you can stay at home and still make your money?”

Beatrice rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to stop working, simple. I’m sure he wants to turn me into a housewife.”

They gave her different advice—employ a relative, take care of the children for a few months before returning to work—but Beatrice was adamant.

Lotachi whispered at Ruby, “This one is just looking for wahala. Don’t mind her.” She abandoned the conversation to talk to Ruby about their jobs and the stress that came with having office work.

Bits and pieces of the conversation between the other women passed through Ruby’s ears. A widow who had lost her husband five years ago was getting married to a second husband; Olisa, Rita’s husband was looking to extend his business to Southern Africa; Blessing wanted to travel abroad for a health check-up.

Much later, they went downstairs to join the men. It was a lively atmosphere, conversations flying here and there, laughter echoing through the house. They ate in a wide dining room that must have been built for this purpose.

It was around 10 pm before they started dispersing, especially the ones with kids. Beatrice's mother had come for omugwuo, so they could leave the kids with her, but not for too long.

Justin and Ruby left much later, some minutes past ten.

“How was it?” Justin asked as they drove out of the compound.

“You have really good friends,” Ruby commented. “You seem different around them.”

“Those are my guys,” he said. “Three of them are my classmates from secondary school—Tobechi, Ugo and Abel. You know I went to a boarding school.” He shook his head in reminiscence. “Omo, the things we did together.” He laughed.

“And Olisa? He’s the oldest among you.”

“We became friends along the line. But he was our senior back in school. He helped us all, especially Ugo. He helped him with his business. Joe is also one of the people he helped. Some days like this, we just get together, sometimes we’ll meet different faces. The man has a lot of contacts. Some of them come and go, you know.”

Ruby nodded in understanding. It was difficult to get connections like this.

“They like you,” he said after some seconds of silence passed.

“Really?” Ruby hadn’t felt open among them. Even among the women, she only felt comfortable talking to Lotachi. It wasn’t that they were mean to her or ignored her, she didn’t know how to bring herself into their circle. When they talked, they spoke about things that were different from her reality; they talked about travelling abroad for check-ups. And what could she bring to the conversation? How to sit in an office for more than seven hours without feeling restless?

She would reply when they asked her questions, compliment them when they talked about something they were proud of, but aside from that, there was really little she could talk to them about. Or maybe not. They’d had an intense conversation over the state of things in the country. It was the only topic she felt she could contribute to, after all, it was the one thing they all had in common.

“Don’t worry.” Justin covered her hand with his and rubbed it. “It’ll take a while but you’ll get used to them. They’re really nice set of people.”

“I know.” She smiled at him.

Without thinking about how she felt among his friends, she was delighted that he was bringing her into his circle. Lotachi had told her that when either of the men brought their partners to small gatherings like this, it meant serious business. She didn’t really understand it until after she got married to her husband, Joe.

She smiled again, thinking of how he held her in front of his friends, the possessive arm around her waist. Once or twice, he slipped his hand under her blouse and began tracing circles as he talked to his friends, as though trying to pass a message across. She thought of how he kept his attention on her all through the gathering. When she looked around, thinking of how to ask where the restroom was, he was at her side in no time and showed her where it was.

“Thank you,” she said.

Justin looked at her in surprise. “What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“You have come again! What is the matter?”

“I mean it. I’m just grateful for everything.”

At this time, they had gotten to his apartment. As he waited for the gate to open, he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?”

When they got inside, Ruby took the initiative again, pushing Justin on the bed and riding him. As they made love, she slowly came to the realization that maybe this was it. Maybe this was the romance she’d been looking for. And she was going to cherish it.

EPISODE EIGHTY-FOUR

The next morning when Ruby woke up, Justin was still sleeping. Because she was hungry, she decided to make a simple breakfast, making use of the things available in the house. The house was pretty stocked. There were some vegetables in the fridge—tomatoes, carrots, green peas—as well as containers of soup. She wondered if he cooked the soups by himself or if he ordered them from one of those online caterers.

She was frying eggs when Justin came into the kitchen.

“What are you making?” He wound his hands around her waist and kissed her on her neck.

She shivered and tried to move away from his hold. She scrunched her nose as she said, “Indomie and egg.”

He laughed. He looked at the vegetables she had prepared. Diced onions and carrots. Roughly chopped tomatoes. “You don’t need my help?”

“Just for simple indomie?” she tsked. “I can cook o. Shey you know?”

“Of course, I know. I was just asking.” He poured himself a glass of water from the fridge and gulped it down.

“You didn’t go to the gym today?”

“I don’t go on Sundays. Next time you should come with me. The gym here is well-equipped.”

She shook her head vigorously. “Not me.”

He came towards her again, putting her hands around her. “Come on. You’ll like it. I swear.”

She still shook her head. She took his hands away. He was making it difficult for her to concentrate on the eggs. They were already slightly brown. She took the frying pan down from the stove.

“Even if it is just to watch me,” he grinned, pinching her waist. She glared at him and gently pushed him away.

“I’ll consider it.” She proceeded to fry the already parboiled noodles. “Do you have pepper? I didn’t see it.”

“You want to pack pepper inside this small thing?” Justin widened his eyes, pointing at the parboiled noodles in the colander. He went to the fridge to bring out a can of blended pepper. He gave it to her. “Don’t use a lot of pepper. It’s too early.”

Ruby eyed him. Was indomie still indomie without plenty of pepper? “I thought you liked pepper too?”

“I like pepper, but not this early morning. This is breakfast.” He sighed as though he were communicating with a child that did not understand the dangers of the wider world. He went on to explain. “Pepper is good for the body, but using a lot of pepper to start the day, eating a lot of pepper on an empty stomach is not good.”

“I just ate a little bread before,” she countered.

“And me?” He pouted. “I’ve not eaten anything.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay. I will just use half a spoon.”

“No. Quarter.”

“It’s not going to be enough.”

“This pepper mixture is strong o. I bought it from a Yoruba woman. Even a little amount can be so spicy.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll use a quarter and a tiny amount.”

He laughed. “What do you want to do later?” He leaned on the fridge and watched her as she cooked. If she turned to look at him now, she would see the look of affection and admiration on his face.

“I don’t know. It’s your house. You’re the one that invited me.” She stirred the onion and tomato mixture into the pot with hot oil, stepping back to avoid oil splashes.

“We can go to the cinema later in the evening, after dinner.”

“Okay.” She added the Indomie spices and a quarter spoon of pepper as she’d promised. “See o, just a quarter spoon,” she said in case he had missed it.

“Hmm. Anyhow it comes out, I’ll still eat it, so far as you’re the one that prepared it.”

She threw him a dirty look and went ahead to pour in the carrots and peas. She stirred for a while before she put in the noodles and turned them together.

“Tea or coffee, madame?” Justin plugged in the electric kettle.

“Tea, biko.” She didn’t like coffee. She always ended up with a runny stomach after she drank it. “When you say tea, you mean milk and milo, right?” Some time ago, Rose told her how she’d ordered tea instead of a chocolate drink when she went to a cafe and ended up with a cup of bitter black tea.

As though he knew what she was thinking of, he said, “Lipton.”

“I’ll take milk and milo tea.” She ignored the mischievous look on his face and turned off the stove.

They ate in the dining room, throwing banters at each other. After eating, they relaxed on his balcony. The sun wasn’t too harsh. Ruby worked on her laptop while Justin read a book. The music from the speakers in the living room was just enough to put her in a relaxed mood. When she got tired, she pulled Justin with her into the room. They made love, and talked, and then made love again. When they were exhausted, they fell asleep.

Later in the evening, Ruby packed her overnight bag and placed it in the booth of the car. They went out for dinner, in a nice restaurant by the beach. Because Ruby found the night air more refreshing, they gave up going to the cinema and sat by the beach for a long time, talking.

When she lay on her bed later in the night, she thought about what they talked about. They seemed to have so many things to talk about even though they didn’t have a lot in common. Justin talked about cars; he talked about football and basketball, his favourite sports; he told her stories from his secondary school days—when men were boys— and he talked about his mother.

She listened and laughed at his jokes. And then she told him about her childhood; she told him about her brother and his antics; she told him about the different times she’d spent her money on things that she ended up not using; she talked about accounting.

They made assumptions about their lives before they met each other—what if I didn’t study accounting; what if I went abroad to study as my father wanted me to; what if your ex agreed to marry you when you proposed; what if I was already married when we met.

And then they would cancel the assumptions. Thank God we met when we did. It was the right time. Thank God your ex didn’t agree to marry you. Thank God I was single when we met.

There were the tentative moments too. When they touched on topics about the future. Where do you think you would be in the next ten years? Their answers were similar, both supposed they would be married with kids by then, and had different hopes for their professions.

When they spoke about the future, Justin held her hand as he talked. He didn’t shy about using the pronouns ‘we’, ‘us’. His more daring expressions were all the boost she needed to think of a future, their future together.

And now, as she laid down, about to sleep, she allowed herself to imagine. Imagine a life with Justin, raising their kids together, weathering the storms of married life together, growing old together. When she drifted off to sleep, her dreams were filled with laughter, not just hers and Justin’s, but also those of their future children.

Interesting as always
Well done OP

Thanks for the update..

Thanks for this beautiful update…
More grease to your elbow.

EPISODE EIGHTY-SIX

The invitation from Anthony’s firm for an interview the next morning while she was at work. She forwarded the message to Justin attaching the emojis of the dancing woman and the cheeky smile. Earlier that day, while she was preparing for work, he’d called her to remind her about the registration for accountancy courses. Of course, she wouldn’t forget. He’d reminded her over and over again the previous night when he dropped her at her place. Ruby knew the road to be a chartered accountant, registered under the ICAN was a long, and arduous one. Honestly, she still wasn’t sure about her determination to follow through especially with all the complicated stages that were involved.

She sighed, and then replied to the email carrying details of the interview. She closed down the window immediately to avoid getting into trouble again. She peeked at Mrs Oyena, grateful for having such a superior at work.

As soon as she came to work that morning, she’d taken a trip to HR to request a leave of absence in the afternoon. Registering for an accounting course wouldn’t take the whole afternoon, in fact, an hour was too long. It was also something that could be done online. After all, she was only registering for a course and not the exams. But she like taking the whole afternoon off. She didn’t often take time off from work. The only time was when she was ill and was forced to take time off to take care of her illness. From the look of things, she would have to take time off again two days later, Wednesday, to attend the interview.

When it was time for the lunch break, she went to see Ama.

“I told you before that I wanted to take ICAN exams. I’m going to register for the courses this afternoon.”

“Finally!” Ama drank from her bottle of Fanta.

Ruby eyed her. “What do you mean?”

“Two years since you said you wanted to write it. It’s just now you’re taking action. I’m just glad you finally decided to become serious.”

“Hmm.” She rubbed her nose in shame. “I’m serious this time. Justin is going with me to register. If I take the courses seriously, I should be able to register for ICAN exams next year.” She sighed. “It’s a long process. A lot of exams, a lot of courses.”

Ama patted her on the back. “One step at a time.”

She nodded. “Oh, and I have another news.” She looked around to see if there was anyone around, then went closer to whisper into Ama’s ears. “I’m going for an interview on Wednesday, for a new job.”

Ama widened her eyes. “Wow, really. That’s good. I didn’t know you were looking for a new job.”

Ruby shrugged. “I wasn’t certain yet. A friend sent the job details to me, so I decided to try it out.”

Ama smiled and looked at her, drawing closer to her. “At first, I didn’t want to tell anybody. You know, with all this co-worker and office drama. But since you shared yours, let me tell you too, I also went for another interview on Saturday. The fourth one in three months. I’m waiting for the result.”

Ruby didn’t feel offended. At first, she didn’t want to tell Ama about it, even though they had been close friends for about four years. In a work environment, it was difficult to tell who was a true and loyal friend. But after considering it, she decided she needed someone to talk to, as Rose was not around. She wasn’t one for bottling things in her mind. In telling Ama, she decided to take a chance.

“It’s alright. Me too, I didn’t want to say anything at first. I just thought I should let you know.”

Ama smiled and squeezed Ruby’s hand in confidence. “Don’t’ worry. It’ll work out. Even though this job is good, I don’t want to remain in the same place for too long. And another thing, I really don’t like this new GM.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “My sister. The man is just something else. Pretentious hypocrite.” She thought of the woman that had come to the office on Friday, a pretty woman with a lovely smile. She had been so nice to all the workers she came across, greeting them politely. It was later that news flew around that she was his fiancee, the one that just returned from abroad. Compared to the small girl the GM was seeing in the office, who took advantage of the fact that the GM was sleeping with her to give attitude to her other colleagues, she was left wondering what he saw in the girl that made her better than his fiancee.

“They’ve not gotten married yet. I’m sure if she gets to know what her fiance is doing, she would end the marriage. But for me, I’m not going to put my mouth inside someone’s matter, before they sack me before my time,” Ama said.

Ruby agreed with her. There were times when they needed to mind their business.

Justin’s car was already outside the company by the time they came out. Ama gave Ruby a sneaky smile before waving her goodbye and walking to the opposite restaurant.

“Babe.” Ruby kissed Justin and then got into the car.

“You said you needed a referee for the registration. Have you gotten anyone yet?”

Ruby shook her head. “I’ve not asked yet. Two of my coursemates from the uni are eligible. But right now, I want to take courses for the exam first before registering for the ICAN.”

“If you need someone, I can help you. My father may be in the medical field, but I’m sure he will have contacts that can help.”

Ruby smiled. The importance of connection. “Thank you.”

“So where are we going?” Justin asked.

Ruby gave him a look. “The way you were driving, someone will think you even know where you are going.” She shook her head. “Lekki.” She called out the address. “Even though their fees are quite expensive, they’re quite reputable and have good testimonials.”

He inputted the address into his phone map and began navigating.

“They also provide online courses, so I don’t need to be running there every day,” she continued.

Two hours later, they drove out of the institution, Ruby already registered and was on her way to becoming a chartered accountant. Ruby had prepared the money required to pay for the course, but Justin remained adamant and paid it for her. “I’m your boyfriend,” he said when she continued insisting on paying for it herself. “How can I be here and still watch you spend the money?” He put his hand around her waist and pinched it slightly. She should really get used to his pinches, she thought when she shivered at the small action, attracting a suspicious look from the woman behind the counter.

“Where next?” Justin looked at her as they drove out of the gate. “Are you going back to work?”

“I took the rest of the day off. If I decide to go back now, by the time I get to the office, it would be almost 5 pm. I don’t think it’s necessary.”

“Well, then. I know where next.”

He drove to Shoprite.

Ruby looked at him. “Really?”

He smiled. “Come on.”

Justin took her shopping. He bought her snacks, provisions, fruits, an expensive bag and perfume. This was the first time he was taking her shopping. Ruby was careful not to be too greedy even though she liked the feeling of someone spending money on her. After they put the things they bought in the car's booth, they went to the cinema.

“I feel so naughty being in the cinema on a Monday when my mates are at work,” she whispered into Justin’s ear when they sat down. There were still people in the cinema even though it was a Monday.

Justin pinched her waist. “It’s not as if you didn’t work today.”

Ruby agreed with him. In order to take a guilt-free leave of absence, she had crammed in a lot of work in the morning. She felt it was a well-deserved break.

They didn’t concentrate on the movie, stealing kisses at the back of the cinema where they sat. Ruby was thrilled at this. She’d always wanted to do something like this at a cinema, with someone she was dating. Fred had been too uptight when they went on dates to the cinema, his whole attention on the screen. She hadn’t lasted long enough with her other boyfriends to go to the cinema.

By the time the movie was over, Ruby felt her lips were a little sore. The insides of her legs felt wet. She couldn’t wait to get home.

“Babe.” Justin’s voice seemed to echo what she felt.

“Let’s go home,” she muttered.

***
The drive back to her apartment was quiet, thick with tension. Ruby cursed a thousand times at the traffic jam that signalled the end of another workday. She was certain that whatever passion in her head would have dispersed when they got home.

As she had imagined, by the time they finally got home, almost three hours later, she was exhausted. The only thing on her mind was to lie down and sleep.

“I’m so tired.” She yawned. The shopping bag in her hand felt as though it was loaded with stones. It was only as they were taking the things out of the car that she realized that she’d gotten a lot of things, despite her initial determination to just buy a little.

“You can leave them. I can handle them.” Justin wanted to take the bag out of her hand even though he was already carrying two bags.

She didn’t loosen her hold on the bag. “It’s not that heavy.”

It took two trips to finally offload the contents of the car. Ruby opened a carton of juice from the dozen Justin had bought and poured it into two glasses. They sat down in the living room.

“Aren’t you going to arrange them?” Justin asked, gesturing at the group of yellow bags at one corner of the living room. He finished his glass of juice in a few gulps and helped himself to another glass.

“Later,” she said dismissively. “Or maybe tomorrow.”

Justin massaged her thighs. “Are you that tired?”

“Can’t you tell?” She pouted and leaned her head on his shoulders. “I don’t even want to move from here.”

Justin rubbed her head. “What about me?” he complained in a childish voice.

Ruby snuggled in deeper into him, curling into his chest. “Don’t worry you can sleep here.”

Surrounded by his scent, Ruby slept off within a few minutes. It was hours later that she woke up. Justin was putting on his shoes. “Are you going now?” She rubbed her eyes with a slight yawn.

“Yes.” He leaned over to kiss her on the cheeks. “It’s almost 4 am. I want to hurry home before the morning traffic hits. I have an important client to deal with, so I have to be at the dealership by 9.”

Ruby felt a slight crick in her neck. She looked at the couch on which they had slept for the night. She wondered how Justin would be feeling. Probably worse, because she had been laying on him all throughout.

“Don’t worry. You can still get some more sleep. Send me a message when you get to work, okay?” He kissed her again. She nodded.

He waited until she went into her room to continue sleeping before he left, locking the door behind him as he left.

Ann2012:
Interesting as always
Well done OP

Thank you

yettielicious:
Thanks for this beautiful update…
More grease to your elbow.

Thank you

Thanks for this amazing update… paitiently waiting for more.

Thank you OP. You write so well