The alarm clock kept ringing, but I was too tired to pick it up. I had been tired ever since my last failed relationship, and everyone thought I was crazy for deciding to take myself seriously and not venture into relationships anymore. I scratched my eyes as I shifted to turn off the alarm. I needed to get to work in the next thirty minutes or else Mr. Kolade would give me a query. I hated the idea of working under someone so nonchalant and hot-tempered. “Very soon, I might consider having a business of my own,” I thought.
All pictures gebrated by Gpt Ai.
I dashed into the bathroom, had my bath, brushed my teeth, then turned to my dressing room to dress up and apply subtle makeup. After being convinced I looked good, I collected my bag from the stand and dashed out for work.
"Beauty..." a voice from behind my desk echoed, but I was too tired to turn, so I continued with my work. Then the sound got nearer.
"Beauty, I have been calling your name for the past two minutes. Why weren’t you answering?" A slim, fair-skinned lady with brown eyes, dressed in a blue corporate gown and a mutton-colored wig, leaned towards me. Who doesn’t know this girl is beautiful? “Beautiful” is an understatement. Roseline was a goddess. She had had about ten men waiting to court her, but she decided to choose Jide, a rich guy from a wealthy background. Jide is the son of the prominent Chief Agbako, a man of the people, or so they say, but I have heard about the money he had embezzled.
She is such a gold-digger, I presumed.
I rolled my eyes as I answered back. “Because I knew you were going to ask about my failed relationship.”
"Beauty, I am your close friend. We have been close since secondary school. You shouldn’t shy away from telling me things like this," she said, concerns written all over her face.
"But Rosie, my love, I have been in three failed relationships and have suffered severe heartbreaks. Isn’t that a sign I should just continue doing my thing?"
"Nonsense!" she snapped, almost as if she had been waiting for me to say those words.
"You are getting older, my love, and I wouldn’t want my friend to live a single, lonely, miserable life. You’re almost 28, you know. People are beginning to think something is wrong with you!" she said, rolling her eyes as if tired of me being stubborn.
"You need to hurry to your seat. I can hear Mr. Kolade’s footsteps! Hurry, hurry!" I tapped her knees in urgent succession, forcing her to stand and head back to her desk.
I had to tell her that because it was getting uncomfortable with her prying into my personal life, although I knew she was my close friend. I had to finish this project because I didn’t want Mr. Kolade’s red-hot prying eyes on me, and yes, speaking of the devil, here he was.
"Beauty, where is the project you were supposed to submit on my table this morning around 7:45 am?" Mr. Kolade snapped, speaking as if I owed him a huge sum of money and was deliberately refusing to pay.
"Mr. Kolade sir, this project was sent to me early this morning around 3:36 am, if I am correct," I paused, gauging his eyes to see if he was following along.
"How do you expect me to finish it around 4am when i saw this project and still come to work around 7:30 am?
This is a 6-hour project and you know it, sir" I continued, almost convinced Mr. Kolade was going mad.
"How is that my business? That is why I employed you in the first place. I don’t care about your nonsense stories." His eyes were bloodshot at this stage.
"I want this project on my table in the next thirty minutes, or prepare to be fired," he said more angrily than before, clearly irritated by my reply.
"But s-i-rrr"
"Not another word," he cut in sharply and left my side.
The office grew gravely silent as Mr. Kolade walked to his office. Some of my colleagues stayed still as if shifting or adjusting their seats could get them fired too. People walked on eggshells around Mr. Kolade. I often wondered if this was how he behaved with his so-called wife and children. We rarely saw him in a good mood, except for the time the Minister of Finance awarded him as the best director of the season. He carried that award so proudly, and you could see a beam of happiness on his face as he returned to his seat. He greeted every employee warmly and promised to add incentives to our salaries which, till today, he never did.
"Babeee, you know I’m expecting the 3.5 million naira you promised to send me earlier today, and I haven’t seen it yet," Roseline’s voice echoed from the back of the Uber (a designated taxi popularly booked in Lagos).
That was Roseline, unapologetically herself and always demanding money at the slightest inconvenience. Some people called her a gold-digger, but I believed she was just being herself.
"No... you know your girlfriend has to look beautiful and ready for the evening. You don’t want your friends saying otherwise," she said, talking to her boyfriend on the phone.
I sighed, and she noticed.
"You know, this can be the greatest evening of your life. You might meet your Mr. Charming," she gasped, as if she saw a vision.
"Stop being crazy and isolated. People are already thinking you know...you are crazy," she added, eyes rolling.
"I’m not crazy. I’m just thinking of going solo right now and having my own business," I said, watching her closely.
"I hate being under Mr. Kolade. He is such a pain in the butt!" I snapped, bursting into laughter, and she joined in.
"That man is going mad. We just need clean evidence to prove it," she added. "I told you so," I echoed back, and we both burst into further laughter.
"I am worn out, babeeee. That party was a lot," I gasped, fully exhausted.
"But I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Thank God today is Friday, otherwise we would have had to figure out how to do tomorrow," Roseline said, also tired but a bit livelier than me.
We both stumbled onto the bed and slept off.
The following morning, my phone rang continuously for
two minutes before I decided to pick it up. The caller name flashed Kelvin. I tried to recollect, then suddenly remembered he was Jide’s friend from last night, who had collected my number.
"Hello?" I said in my sleepy voice.
"Morning, Beautiful. Still in bed at this hour? Should a soon-to-be CEO be sleeping like this at this particular time of the day?" His voice was teasing but warm, filling my room with an unusual comforting energy.
"I don’t know… i was worn out from all the party shenanigans and stuff," I yawned.
"Ah, i see. I was also worn out. You truly deserve your beauty sleep," he chuckled. "But I’ve been thinking... about your business idea. You need your own space, your rules. You deserve it."
"Really, do you actually think i should go for it?" I asked, skeptical and weighing my options in between.
"Of course! And don’t worry, I can help oversee the construction, or just be your motivational cheerleader," he said, a laugh bubbling through the line.
"Mostly cheerleader, though. I’m excellent at pom-poms."
I laughed, the sound easing some of my exhaustion.
"And… what about us?" His tone softened, patiently waiting for me to talk.
"Us?" I repeated, my cheeks warming.
"Yes, us," he said, clearly teasing me.
"I’m not in a rush. I just want you to know… Iam here and i am ways rooting for you, both in business and… well, everything else."
I smiled, a little flustered. "I’m not crazy, after all," I teased, and we both laughed, as the call came to an end
