It was just like one of those days. Right from when I stepped into the office, my boss, Mr. Adebayo, was literally breathing down our necks with his commands.
“More reports! Less talking!” he kept shouting like a radio without a battery every time he walked by.
It wasn't late in the afternoon yet, but everyone had been drained of all the energy left within us. But the work didn’t stop.
I looked around, the murmurs were getting intense. The sighs were getting louder. The curses were being amplified by every tap of the computer button. And our clients never, never stopped walking through the door. Our faces wore no happiness, but we managed to smile when attending to a client. We had no option; it was part of our work ethic.
Finally, it was 4pm, the time when we no longer entertained clients. We just had to close our accounts for the day.
The silence was palpable. We were all serious about work. All I could hear was the clicks and clacks of computer keyboards and mice. Apart from Mr. Adebayo, who sat in his office laughing out loud over a phone call.
I stood up, looked around. Making sure that he was not going to be done anytime soon. Then I walked to the middle of the hall and cleared my throat.
Everyone paused for a moment as all eyes rested on me.
Then I proceeded to straighten my shoulders, furrow my brows, and in my best imitation of Mr. Adebayo's gruff voice. Then, I barked.
“More work! Less talking! This is not a marketplace!”
The room froze. They looked from me to Mr. Adebayo's office. We could still hear him. He was still engrossed in his call.
I didn't stop, I started pacing back and forth just like him, with my hands behind my back and pushing my belly forward like I had swallowed a ball.
I pointed to Mimi, my colleague who sat opposite my cubicle.
“You!" I called. "Do you think we run a charity organization here? You're paid to work, not to breathe!” I added, pointing my finger dramatically in the air towards her.
Mimi tried to hold back her laughter. But a snort escaped her nose. Then the whole room burst into laughter with her. Some were hitting their desk. Some covered their mouths, still trying to hold it in.
But they just couldn't. The dam had long been broken loose.
I kept going with my drama. “Madam Bukky, why is your report looking like you typed it in your sleep?" I turned to Bulky, the oldest one amongst us. "It's like your husband didn't allow you to rest at night?" I snapped in fake anger, picking up a sheet of paper from her desk and waving it to her face.
"Sorry, sir. It was a mistake." Bukky jokingly played along.
By now, the laughter had saturated the room like perfume. I could see their faces lit up with happiness. Gradually, the tiredness, the long hours, and the heavy silence were melting away. Others even began to join the party.
We were still lost in our fun and didn't notice when Mr. Adebayo's door creaked open. Then he appeared from his office, phone in hand, eyes staring like he had seen his subjects going against the law. I hurriedly scurried back to my seat like cockroaches running away from the light at 2am in the morning.
Then I pretended to be typing furiously on my work computer.
Mr. Adebayo stood there for a few seconds. Then he walked slowly to my desk. He looked at me suspiciously.
"Zerah." He called.
"Sir?" I answered.
"Zerah." He called again.
"Sir," I answered. This time, my eyes caught Bukky's eye. She was still giggling. I tried hard to hold myself back from laughing.
"It's always you. The leader of the pack."
I looked up to him. If I had said another word, I would have blurted out into laughter.
"What have you done this time?"
"Nothing, sir. We're just working."
He looked around. Tapped my desk and nodded hard. "You were mimicking me, abi? You think I don't know?" Then he smiled
"Haa, sir no o." I smiled back.
"It's alright. I'll still catch you. All of you." He turned around, looking from face to face.
Bukky couldn't help it anymore. She started laughing again. Carefully, slowly, we joined her. Her laughter was way too contagious. I watched our boss, he wasn't laughing yet, just smiling.
Then suddenly he joined the train. "You guys will not kill me. You're mocking your boss. Until I deduct your salaries."
"Sir, I didn't laugh with them o," Mimi yelled.
"You did." Mr. Adebayo replied, still with his mouth wide open.
We laughed for a few seconds. A very unfamiliar scene. It felt like everyone left their worries behind for those few seconds. Throwing tantrums at each other happily and lovingly.
"It's alright, everyone." Mr. Adebayo yelled, raising his hands.
Finally, silence fell in the room.
"Oya, get back to work." He added with a mean face and returned to his office.
Nobody complained or argued. We could see from his face that he was back to business.
We finished the rest of our work that day in silence.
