Cool one

I was at the reception of the National oil company by ten thirty in the morning. I had filled the visitor’s book and was told to wait a while. The receptionist called Naomi to inform her that a guy called Ola was around to see her. The lady listened briefly and turned to me.

‘Come and wear the visitor’s tag. Go to floor five, room 007.’

I attached the tag to my well-ironed and smart looking shirt and joined the short queue waiting for the elevator. When I got to the floor, the first thing I noticed was the very cool atmosphere of the place. It was in contrast with the bakery, which was always very warm.

I knocked on the door of room 007, opened the door and stepped in. A secretary asked me to sit down. Few minutes later, sister Naomi came out with another lady.

‘Good morning, madam,’ I greeted zealously.
‘Good morning, Ola. Just a minute.’

She and the woman left the office. About ten minutes later, she was back.

‘O ya, Ola, come,’ she said as she led me to her office. ‘I hope you’re not angry that you were kept waiting.’

‘Oh no, ma’am. I can understand.’

She sat on her seat and motioned me to a chair.

She stretched her hands out. ‘Can I have the credentials?’

I had carefully stapled them and put them in an envelope inside my black folder. I handed them to her.

She put on her glasses and carefully went through the papers. She seemed to be studying them. I studied her in return. The glasses, perched on the tip of her nose fitted her well. Her white shirt was new and crisp. I thought I would see the wedding ring on her finger, but it was not there. Maybe she forgot to wear it. Her hair was stylishly parked to the back. She looked delectable.

‘Okay, Ola,’ she finally said. ‘I’ll talk to my boss and see what can be done on this. I’m not really promising, but let’s be positive about it.’

‘Thank you, ma’am.’

She looked at me critically and smiled.
‘That means you’ll have to be giving me call from time to time to find out how far.’

I smiled too. ‘That will be no problem, ma’am.’

‘If I may ask, how much do you earn now?’

I told her.

‘Hmn, that’s just like allowances,’ she said.

I nodded.

She stood up. ‘Give me one minute.’

I was left alone in the office. It was a very comfortable office. Surely working in an office like this was not a bad idea. But the bakery too was helping me out, I told myself. I thanked God for what I had already.

Five minutes later, sister Naomi was back.

‘Sorry again for keeping you waiting. I guess I’m going to be very busy today.
’
I got the hint and stood up.

‘You must keep on calling me to remind me of this,’ she said.

‘Sure, madam. Thank you.’

I moved to the door. ‘Have a nice day, Ola.’

‘And you too ma’am.’

I left the office and took the elevator to the ground floor. The warmth of the outside hit me as soon as I left the grand building.

Welcome back to the world, I told myself.

good work

good one

Interesting

The following morning, I left the bakery about eight. I had just completed my night duty and I needed to get home and take a well-deserved sleep and rest. I was about to have some sleep when Audu came to tell me that I had a visitor.

‘Who?’ I asked him.

‘He say him name be David.’.

‘David?’ I didn’t have any friend that bore the name. ‘Alright.’ I followed him to the gate to see who the visitor was. A man I had never seen before was there. He had come in a car that had the sticker of national oil company.

‘Good morning,’ I greeted him.

‘Good morning. Are you Ola?’

‘Yes, please.’

‘My oga said I should give you this.’ He handed a letter to me.

‘Sorry, who is your oga?’

‘Madam Naomi.’

I nodded. ‘Thank you.’

The man returned to the car and drove off.

He was probably a driver, I thought. I examined the letter and returned to my room. The handwritten, cursive name and address couldn’t be an official letter; not the kind of letter, national oil company would issue. This must be sister Naomi’s handwriting. What could be her message?

I got to my room and sat on the plastic chair beside a small desk, where I sometimes did my reading. I opened the envelope and brought out a small letter. It read:

Hello, Ola. Happy weekend.
From Naomi

I checked the back of the letter as if there would be more messages there. None. I couldn’t believe this. Would sister Naomi want to wish me a happy weekend and she would send a driver to convey the message? She had my number. Why didn’t she simply call?

And then, she was wishing my happy weekend. Why would she do that? I thought over it for some minutes. This sister was showing interest in me. But she should be married. I knew she should be in her mid or late thirties, what friendship could possibly be between us? I was just twenty-eight. She must have seen that on the c.v I submitted.

Why would she send a message like this? Why would she go through the trouble?

I got up from the chair and lay on my bed, thinking. After some minutes, I decided I should call her and thank her for the note she sent. I would also wish her happy weekend. I dialed her number. She picked it at the fourth ring.

‘Good morning, madam.’

‘Good morning. This is Ella.’

I was surprised. I quickly checked the number I called. It was the number I had stored as ‘Sister Naomi.’

‘Er, can I be on to Mrs. Naomi? I’m Ola.’

I heard something that sounded like a chuckle. ‘She’s taking her bath. You can call back in ten minutes.’

I heaved a sigh. ‘Alright. Thank you.’

The voice I had heard was most likely a mature girl’s own. She was probably a niece or so living with her. I waited for twelve minutes to elapse. Then, I called her number again.

‘She still hasn’t come out.’ The girl I had spoken to said.

‘Please, as soon as you see her, tell her Ola called.’

‘Alright.’

‘Sorry, what’s your name again?’

‘Ella,’ she said. ‘I’m her daughter.’

What? I had not seen Ella physically, but I had no doubt that she must be a grown up girl. That meant Sister Naomi had a grown up daughterl! So, why did she send that note to me? What did she want?

I waited for another thirty minutes before I called her again. This time around, she picked it.

‘Is that you, madam?’ I asked.

‘Yes. Good morning, Ola.’

‘Good morning, ma’am. I saw your note and called to say thank you. Happy weekend too, ma’am.’

‘Thank you.’

‘I really appreciate, ma’am, although I wondered why you should go through all the trouble. Thank you, madam.’

‘Thank you too. Bye for now.’ She disconnected the line.

Interesting update.

Interesting episode

I sighed to myself and did some wondering. Maybe she was having marital challenges and she wanted to ease the tension, my mind told me. Another mind said she might be a divorcee. Well, whichever she was, why pick interest in a young man like me? With her beautiful face and good figure, surely many men would desire her!

I adjusted my pillow. Maybe I should just get some sleep and forget about sister Naomi. I closed my eyes. My phone beeped. A message had come in. It was on my WhatsApp and it was from Sister Naomi.

‘Why is it that our society stigmatizes single mothers?’ she wrote.

My mind was busy. Could she be a single mother?

‘It is because our society is ultra conservative,’ I wrote back.

‘What’s your feeling towards single mothers?’ she asked.

‘I do not have any ill feelings towards them,’ I replied. ‘If I may ask, are you a single mother, ma’am?’

Her reply: ‘Yes. I have an eleven year old daughter. You spoke with her the other time.’

Wow! I paused for several seconds before I wrote my response. ‘I’m twenty eight years old, ma’am. If I may ask, how old are you?’

‘I’m about to clock thirty-three,’ she wrote.

I wasn’t surprised. I had all along suspected that she should be about thirty-five.

‘It’s a pleasure meeting you, ma’am,’ I wrote.

‘Drop the “ma’am”. Call me Naomi.’

I smiled at myself. Ola, be careful.



Full story at https://m.okadabooks.com/book/about/lost_in_lust/24333

Interesting update.

Nice story

'Okay Naomi,’ I replied.

‘I caught you staring at me in my office yesterday,’ she wrote.

My heart beat increased. Oh God, so she saw me while I was staring at her!

‘I’m sorry about that,’ I wrote.

‘It’s alright.’

‘Thank you for your understanding.’

There was no further reply from her again.

This woman was teasing me, I thought. How would I handle this? A single mother. A successful career woman. A woman close to thirty-three. That meant there was about five years age difference between us. Five years!

But then, she was very pretty. She had a very nice figure, and if she hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t believe she had an eleven years old daughter.

I was still thinking about her when I slept off. When I woke up, I felt refreshed. Joyce was back in the house for the weekend. She soon came to my room.

‘I was here earlier but did not want to disturb your sleep,’ she said.

I smiled at her. ‘Joyce, how was school? How was exam, so far?’

‘Fine.’

Thankfully, Steve was in the room, so all we could have was normal conversation. Later, towards evening, Naomi sent another messenger to me.

‘Can you date an older partner?’ she asked.

To me, it was a million dollar question.
Before I answered her, I searched my heart and asked myself the question. The fact was I had asked myself that kind of question before.

My answer then was yes. It would not be because of the money I could make from it. It would not be because of any lucre. It would be because of true and genuine feelings. That was my belief.

‘Yes, I can,’ I wrote.

‘Will it be because she’s comfortable and can offer you something in return?’

‘No. It will be because I really have genuine feelings for her and want her.’

‘Want her for what?’

‘If she’s honest, frank and genuinely gives me affection, I will do the same in good measure.’

‘What about her age? What about the age difference?’

‘If the feelings are genuine, the age does not matter.’

She did not respond again.




Lost in Lust: https://m.okadabooks.com/book/about/lost_in_lust/24333

Thanks for the update.

I would be having some days off from my place of work, so I could relax for the weekend.

Sunday morning, I was in the church with the rest of the family. I realized my mind was barely on what was going on. The odd thing was I was thinking about Naomi and could not get her pretty face from my mind. Oh Lord!

The only thing I really enjoyed in the church that day was the hymn:

There’s not a friend like the lonely Jesus,
No, not one
No, not one…

After the service, we went back home. I relaxed on my bed, trying hard not to think about Naomi. About two o’clock, her WhatsApp messenger came in.

‘How was the service?’ she asked.

‘Great,’ I replied. ‘What about yours?’

‘Wonderful. We sang wonderful story of love.’

I smiled. ‘We sang no friend like the lonely Jesus.’

‘So, how are you?’

‘I’m not sure I’m fine.’

‘Why?’

‘I’m kind of confused.’

‘Over what?’

That was a hard question. My mind was telling me two things. One said I should damn whatever would be the outcome and tell her I had feelings for her. Another one said no, I shouldn’t.

‘I don’t know.’ I wrote.

‘That’s funny. You don’t know why you’re confused?’

‘Something like that. Sometimes, what should be a simple expression becomes very complex.’

‘Perhaps, you made it complex.’

‘I think circumstance made it so.’

‘What circumstance?’

I grinned. ‘There are many odds. One, she is much older. Two, she earns much more than I do.’

‘Do you really have feelings for her? If yes, go ahead.’

‘She might laugh at me.’

‘Try first.’

‘She might insult me and tell me I should look for my mate.’

‘Perhaps, she will not.’

I hesitated. My heart was beating fast. What was wrong with me? Why was I becoming carried away? Maybe she was just teasing me. Why didn’t I just forget about her?
I soon got another message from her.

‘Be a man, Ola,' she wrote.

Nice update

I smiled. Indeed, it was not easy to be a man. Alright, I would be a man. And I would damn whatever was the outcome. But I decided I would be subtle about it. I called her number. She picked it after several ring.

‘How is Ella?’ I asked.

‘She’s fine.’

‘My regards to her.’

‘Okay.’

‘Is she as beautiful as you are?’ I grinned at myself.

‘Am I beautiful?’

‘You’re more than beautiful. You’re a jewel.’

‘Thank you.’

I paused slightly. ‘I wondered why you’ve not got a man before now. You’re so beautiful.’

‘Getting a man is not by expediency. It is by choice.’

I sighed. She was surely picking my brain.

‘That’s philosophical,’ I said.

‘Yeah.’

I sighed again. Maybe I should just end the chats.

‘Thanks for your time,’ I said. ‘It’s a pleasure chatting with you.’

‘You’re welcome.’

I dropped my cell phone and stared at the small flat screen in the room. A Nigerian movie was shown. I tried to do something else and get Naomi off my mind. When Joyce came in, I tried to chat with her engagingly, but believe me, I could not push the image of Naomi into the oblivion. Later in the evening, I decided to call her and chat her up again.

‘I can’t get you off my mind,’ I said.

She laughed over the line. ‘Sorry about that.’
‘Is that all you could say?’

‘I should be the one to ask that question.’

I cleared my throat. ‘Were you ever married before?’

‘No.’

‘Where’s Ella’s father? What happened between the two of you?’

I thought I heard her sigh. ‘It’s a long story, but if you must know, her father is far away in Canada.’

‘Why’re you not with him?’

There was another long pause. ‘The relationship did not work. I was supposed to join him over there with the baby but the American wife he had did not make the plan fall through.’

I didn’t know what else to say. ‘Sorry about that.’

‘It’s okay.’

‘You’ve captured my heart, Naomi,’ I said. She didn’t say a thing. ‘Hello, can you hear me?’

‘Sure.’

‘What can you say to what I’ve said?’

‘Nothing for now,’ she said.

‘Nothing?’

‘Yes. For now.’

‘Alright. Think over it.’ I cut the line.

Could it be that I misread her intentions? Could I be making a mistake? Well, even if it was a mistake, there was no crime in it.

Go on.

ride on.

Go on.

Nice work.

Interesting story.

Next...

Ride on.

.

Nice work.

Ride on.

Go on.