₦airaland Forum

Nice

'Made' should be 'makes' to follow the proper sequence of tenses in the sentence.

How about 'scalding head'? 'Flaming' is ambiguous.

I starred at the ceiling, spent, feeling completely hollowed out. We lay in silence, listening to one another’s slow breathing and reliving the moment of charged ecstasy. We had gone at it like enraged bulls, driven by the crude desire to deflate our turgid selves. Now we just lay on our backs under the sheets, starring at the ceiling, thinking about god-knows-what.


She spoke first. “It’s been hell.” Her voice sounded a bit faint. I had nothing to say, so I merely turned to look at her great body and firm breasts, thinking how lucky I was. It felt like a prize, like a conquest. “What that bastard would give to have a picture of us like this.” There was a hint of triumph in her voice. Only if she knew what I had in mind these past few days and even until some hours ago. When she narrated her little story to me, when I rubbed and then squeezed her shoulders in consolation and pleasure, I decided there must be another way; a second betrayal might be too heavy for her heart.


“I have something to tell you,” I said, picking her hand from between our bodies and rubbing it gently as we both starred at the ceiling, backs on the mattress. I told her everything, from the forged signature in my CV to that meeting with the CEO, but I told it in a way that showed I never considered doing what the CEO said. She was quiet for a while after I finished.


“Udenwa is a small devil,” she said. “After the will was read, I decided I won’t assume the position of the director, let it be vacant for now, but I influenced major decisions in the company. I never like my husband’s friendship with that man. I still feel uncomfortable around him, which was why I decided to move over and head the new branch in Lagos against his wish. He wanted me to stay where he could monitor my movement, but I wasn’t having any of that.” She was quiet for a while, then she said, “I’ve often thought he might have doctored my husband’s will, because I was running a programme at Yale when he was dying in installments.” I dictated a sad tone in her voice and guessed she still missed her husband. A wave of jealousy flowed through me and I chided myself for that. “But that’s not possible,” she said after a moment’s thought. “The lawyer is an old family friend; he was also lawyer to my late father-in-law.”


Everyone has a price, I thought, but kept it to myself. “I’m sorry about the forgery,” I said, more from my curiosity to know what she thinks of it.


“It’s only the work experience part, right?”


“Yes.”


“It’s alright.”


“Thank you.” I wanted to find out what becomes of me, whether the forgery scandal still hung around my neck, but I didn’t know exactly how to go about it. I didn’t want to push my luck, so I decided to leave it for later, maybe before I left.


“Let’s get back to work,” my boss suddenly said, swinging her legs off the bed and as she threw on a t-shirt. I got out of bed and began dressing up. “And stop worrying about getting sacked. That’s not happening.”


“Thank you, ma. Thank you so much.” A heavy weight has been lifted off my heart. I smiled all the way out to my laptop.