It was a surprise there was still power in the neighbourhood. In one of the houses, ear-splitting
howls drove the little girl to a dark corner behind the door. Her feet wobbled as she struggled to
shut out the screaming. She counted backwards, just as her mother had told her. “It is all going to be
alright,” she’d say, “daddy and mommy are just acting a play.”

But, this play appeared to last longer than usual, with her eyes still shut tight, she continued reciting
almost whimpering. A loud cry shook her out of her chivalry. Her heart skipped a beat...” daddy,”
she called.

She sprung up, grabbing a pillow. She was thankful it was just a nightmare, the third one in a week.
She dragged herself to the bathroom and stared with at her reflection with soggy eyes. Using her
finger, she traced the forming eye bags, wishing they could vanish. Then, let out a long hiss, shaking
her head in disapproval, not even the note on her bathroom mirror that said’ I am a phenomenal
woman’ could change her mood.

There were few things Manda conformed to and mindless courtesy was one of them. With
her room inches away from the next room, every morning, she endured the torture of exchanging
unsolicited pleasantries. “...what the hell is good about the morning,” she grumbled to herself after
answering the fourth ‘good morning’.

She spun in disgust when Oma- her closest neighbour- asked her how her night was. Manda had to
tolerate countless hours of moaning coming from Oma’s room. Of course, to Manda, her question
was unreasonable.

Manda’s real words were, “Oh, shut up Oma. You should really tone it down when you Bleep. Why the
hell do you have sex so many times in one night?”
Instead, she smiled saying, “not bad, yours?” and then, walked away, neglecting whatever response
that followed.

Two steps down the stairs and Manda was hit by a pungent odour that smelled like a bag of rotten
tomatoes. The smell ran straight into her belly, leaving her with no option other than hastened her
steps. As she ran through the hallway, her side view caught the drama in the ever-opened
Room225; the woman gripped the man’s shirt as she hassled- it was something about looking at a
neighbour’s butt.

The entire building was a putrid mass, it was a wonder it still stood.




www.jaysmind.com.ng

At work, Manda couldn’t wait for the deal to take off so she could finally move out. Manda worked
as an architect, one of two female architects at The Makers company- one of the five leading
architectural firms in the region- she had been retained after her NYSC.

She had learned and worked her way up the ranks. She knew one of the reasons she had been kept
was because she’d be the only architect who designed the way she did for such meagre pay but, she
had no desire to work for such a pay for long.

There was a project that everyone had lost interest in after the owner of the project had asked that
it be put on hold. Manda decided to redesign the project during most of her spare time. When she
was done, she sent a copy to the client who loved it and rekindled his interest in the project. She was
very thrilled, as it was a high-end job.

And for the first time; she was looked at as a true asset. As she stepped into the office that morning,
the secretary informed her that the MD wanted to see her.
Manda walked in, in her usual upright, nose-in-the-air manner.

“Good morning sir,”

“Good morning Chimamanda, please sit.” He said, pointing to the seat across the table.

“I had the opportunity to go through your work, you did a good job I must say,” he said, raising his
eyes from his pad. His neck was slightly lowered, to enable eye contact through his eye rims hanging
from the cliff of his nostrils.

“But,” he continued, “I think you can do better, the master bedroom, for instance, needs some
adjustments and I’d have William work on this with you.

“Will?” Her surprise escaped.

“Is there a problem?” He demanded

“ehhm… not exactly… I think Will is overloaded already.”

He peered through his glasses, “He’d make time, this is more important. That would be all,”
He shifted his attention to his laptop.

She stood, cast a disgusted look at his smooth, shiny head, then set her eyes on the three enlarged
certificates of excellence that hung at the centre of the wall before making her way out.

To her, this questioned all she knew about architecture. She had never been assigned to someone
else’s project, simply because, they handled a huge project unless of course, they demanded help.

But now, he assigned Will to help her out. It was a blatant misogynistic act.
She was ripe with angst and before she could recover, he blurted.

“I’m sure you’ve heard,” he stopped for a brief second to observe her reaction,” we’re working
together, I advise you make time so...”

“Excuse me…” she interrupted, “make time? First of all, this is my design, I’m yet to understand why
you’ve been assigned to work with me. But if anyone if making any time that would be you.” She
thundered as she flipped her hair.

His nodded and then broke into a boyish smile, lifting up his bearded chin.
“We’re gonna see about that.” He said and then went out.

Manda squeezed her vibrating fingers beneath the desk, she fought hard to calm the tornado that
was stirring up within her.

Will and Manda had a love-hate relationship. Will had been at the firm three years longer than
Manda who was only in her second year. He hated her guts. She hated his maleness.

Nothing was more upsetting than the struggle to commute to and fro work. It was the single thing that made her question if fleeing from home was a wise decision.

“Obalende, obalende… fine geh… you de go?” The scruffy looking, 5ft6 man with a missing front tooth yelled.
She knew should have entered that bus as it could be the last one she would find by 9 pm. Instead, she shook her head, while glancing at her watch as though awaiting a private ride.

Five minutes later, a red corolla pulled over; its lowered glass exposed a dark-skinned, bony man.
“Where are you headed?” he asked.
“Gbagada,”
“Hop in, I’m heading that way.”
The voices in her head went, “Hop in? Like is there no better way of saying that?”
She hopped in.

They spoke about her job… his job, her life…his life. All the while she struggled to remain cordial and conversational. She dreaded it, but she liked the comfort. It was a rough city, she ought to be concerned about her safety and not ride with strange people, yet she didn’t. It had become a routine, she expected lifts.

***
The next morning, Manda was summoned to the MD’s office again. This time she knew what he was going to say.
“I hear you have refused to let William work with you on the project.” His face lacked lustre.

“Not exactly, Sir”
“Explain yourself, go ahead.”
“I don’t think he will understand the concept of my design.”
To which, William grinned as he revealed, “You haven’t even allowed me to look at it.”
“Listen, you both need to find a way to work together. And Chimamanda, let this not repeat itself again.”
They both walked out of his office.

She eventually succumbed. She and Will took extra hours after work to get the job done. Though she denied admitting it, she couldn’t have done gotten the job done by herself within the stipulated time frame.

Her relationship with Will didn’t change very much. However, they both discovered they shared the same thirst for whisky. William was a regular Lagos young man. He didn’t quite care for her or the project, but, he could design luxurious bedrooms. And, he needed the bonus the project could bring.

During one of their extended work hours, he asked her what she would do with her bonus. To which she replied, “I’ll get a new apartment. What would you do with yours?”

“I’ll get myself a car.”

She smiled. He rarely saw her smile.

Two months passed and yet no word from the investor. The MD sent countless emails to no avail. No word, no money. Everyone, particularly Manda, who had given her all, hoped for a miracle.

The MD sent for Manda. Chin raised, eyes above heads, she walked into his office, letting herself slide into a chair.
“Good morning, Sir”

“Good morning Chimamanda, you know why I called you today?”
“No, sir.”

There was a brief pause. She stared into his eyes, he looked away, fidgeted with the file in front of him. Then said, “The project you’ve been working on might not pull through.”

She took a deep breath, adjusted her skirt and then kept her eyes on his head. It looked sweaty.
“But there could be a way around it…” He paused again, watched her, this time through father-like eyes. “Do not take this the wrong way but I think he might change his mind if he sees you… you know, just so he knows the face behind the design… I mean,” he took a deep breath, “just so you can explain the concept of your design and possibly find out why he hasn’t responded yet.”

“You mean to say, you would like me to see him and convince him to commence the project.”
“Exactly… yes.”

“What if he doesn’t change his mind?”
“Listen Chimamanda, it’s a small thing. Just go there and find out what you can, so we can make our next move.” He stood up and walked to the window, looking outside, he said,” things haven’t been so easy on us and we need this project. Whatever you can do, please do. I’ll send his details to your mail. Ask Dayo to take you to his office.”
Dayo was the driver.
“Okay, sir.”

She understood what he meant to say.

By the time she called in, she was told he had gone for a meeting at the Cedes Hotel. She went there instead and waited till it was 7 pm.
She was ushered into a private conference room by a receptionist. A few minutes later, a 5ft10 potbellied man stepped in. His name was Mr Chad. They talked about the project, the design and possible changes. He mentioned how fascinated he was at her tenaciousness, in his words, “It is rare to see a pretty girl with a mind that works.”

She smiled like she ought to every half-baked joke he uttered. The exchanged ideas and he promised to make the first payments very early the next morning. And just when she was about to step out of what could be considered a fabulous negotiation, he invited her for a drink in his suite.

At first, she tried to laugh it off, displaying childlike gimmicks attempting to tell on his paternal side; he ignored her.
“It’s a harmless drink,” he said.

“Is there any such thing as a harmless drink?” she thought.

If there was anything she understood about the men in that town it was that, it was always a tradeoff with a pretty girl especially one in need of a favour. She complied.

It was a quick drink. While he appeared mesmerised by her aura, Manda was quick to state her extra demands before letting him slide into her. It was a simple equation: A man in heat and a girl with a thirst for wealth.

It her first transactional sex, but then again isn’t every sexual act transactional?

Mr Chad kept his word and wired 1/3 of the transactional fees for his first project. He went on to channel three lucrative projects through her, fostered by a non-verbal agreement that required he be touched in all the right places.

Thanks to her newfound source of income and lucrative projects, she was able to out of the dump into a more suitable apartment much closer to work. She was a top-dog at work, “the girl that brought the big projects.” She leveraged her on pristine glory and squeezed it for what it was worth.

Flepiss Corner… a popular lounge in the area. Every night, most of the white collar thralls converged and cooled their brains over liquor and tasty food. Manda was a regular at Flepiss, most times in the company of one or two colleagues.
But this night, she was seated at an unconverted corner by herself; her light skin coupled with the blonde wig screamed, ‘available-woman-seeking-male-attention.’ In reality, she cared little for male attention.

Her head was buried in her phone and failed to notice the young lad walked up to her.
“May I?” he asked gesturing towards the seat placed beside her.

She lifted her eyes to meet a stern yet peaceful face. His neatly folded shirt hugged his muscular upper- arms. Her gaze halted when it got to his Roman nose, there was softness in his eyes. He raised his right eyebrow to indicate he still awaited a response.
She nodded.

They talked about work and alcohol. She loved whisky, he didn’t drink alcohol. He was an investment consultant and worked for a financial investment bank nearby. He recently moved into the city and his name was Josh. It was an interesting conversation, he stroke her as different.
For the first two weeks, she didn’t see or hear from Josh. Then out of the blue, he ringed her up on a Saturday morning and asked for a date. It was impromptu, yet she agreed. He took her to a place famous for its rocky nature called Olumo rock. It was the most thoughtful date she’d ever had. She loved nature.

***
Two months down the row and she became attached to Josh. He crawled into her mind at work and literally every other time her mind wandered.
They had a thing for restaurants; this time, it was a Chinese restaurant. They sat in a secluded section, with a red beam that created the illusion of lightning.
She gazed into his eyes. He moved his hand to hers and gently stroke the tip of her ring finger.

“I wanna be with you,”

She pulled back her hands and still gaping declared, “I’m not ready Josh, I can’t love another person.”
He adored her self-awareness; the confidence she exuded. She had the focus of a drilling machine, but he could sense a missing link. He liked her.

“It doesn’t matter, I didn’t say anything about love” Her brownish eyes glowed in the red gleam, he stared into them. “...not yet”
“I have many plans,” she said taking her eyes off him and looked over her shoulders as she curled forward. “I’m not willing to let love come in the middle of my plans.”

He listened to the silence in between her words. Circling the glass with the tip of his fingers, he leaned backwards and then smiled.
“Are you in love with me?” He asked.

“It doesn’t matter, I don’t wanna see you anymore.”
“Why?”

“You distract me, Josh, I can’t afford to keep this up.”

She stood up and left; her meal was left untouched.