Tolu stood there watching her. She seemed shocked to see him. Again, he tapped on the door indicating that it was locked.
She jumped up and moved to open it up. ‘Sir? What…’ He held up a bag ‘Pringles? No real food or snack unfortunately. This was all I could find.‘ He walked in and he sat down. It was weird to be sitting in the design room. He almost never left his office and when he did, it was for a brief while. He picked out a chair and made himself comfortable, took out the Pringles and began to crunch on them.
She stood there watching him. He couldn’t interpret the look on her face but there was definitely some confusion ‘You don’t intend to stand till you’re ready to leave do you?‘ She shook her head and walked over to her seat. ‘No, sir… Tolu.’ He laughed ‘Tolu is just fine. I don’t know about you but I’m starved. I missed dinner.‘ She nodded. He took the second bag in his hands, tied it up and tossed it over to her. ‘Have fun‘, he said. ‘Thank you.’ Amaka opened up the bag. It had Pringles, chocolates, cookies and a drink. ‘How sweet’, she thought. ‘God, Amaka don’t mess this up… just act cool.‘
She picked the cookies, tore into it and began to chew. As soon as she took a bite, she realized that she was actually hungry. She looked up at him. She had to ask. She paused for a second and formed it in the most casual way. ‘Why… I thought you were going home to… so, why’d you come back?’ He smiled ‘Go home and leave a pretty lady all by herself? Nah, I wasn’t raised that way.‘ As soon as her heart heard ‘pretty’, it began to do a little dance. She cleared her throat ‘You do realize that you’re implying that you were raised to find yourself in situations where you are left alone with a pretty girl right?’
He laughed out loud. He definitely wasn’t expecting a sense of humor. ‘Nice one‘, he said. She smiled. Tolu said ‘Someone did say she would be sleeping in no time.’ She laughed ‘Well, I was planning to…’ ‘In that gown? Yea, right.‘ ‘What’s wrong with my gown?’, she asked. He smiled. ‘Too sexy.‘ She was shocked, he was flirting with her! She feigned surprise ‘What? Too sexy? How so? There’s no skin showing!’ He leaned forward ‘Those are the worst kinds.‘ She smiled. Oh, he noticed? On and on they went crunching snacks and just talking about everything and about nothing in particular.
Amaka arched her back to stretch her neck for the fourth time in that hour. ‘Your back?‘ ‘Yea’, she nodded. ‘It’s been hurting all day… mostly in my neck though.’ ‘Maybe you just need to massage it out. I could help.’ She shook her head ‘No, it’s fine. I probably just need to lie down on a bed for a while. It’s most likely the stress.’ He nodded.
Few minutes later, she was arching again. Tolu stood up ‘Okay, you know what? Let’s go to my office. The long couch is almost ‘mattress-like’. It might help if you lay down there.‘ She wanted to complain but he insisted ‘No, come on.’ He pulled her up and they walked out of the office together. He didn’t let go of her hand till they got to his and till he had led her to the couch. She noticed the way he held onto her hand and it warmed her insides.
She sat down and she turned to face him. ‘If I lay down, I might fall asleep.’ ‘So?’ ‘So… you’ll be all alone with no one to talk to.’ He held onto his chest ‘Ouch! Poor me.’ She laughed and for the first time, he could see how it transformed her face. She lay down on her side after arranging throw pillows behind her so she could face him. He slouched in his arm chair ‘If you had to tell me three things about yourself. Not as whom I am but as whom you want me to be, what would they be?’ She smiled but there was a little confusion in her face. Tolu laughed ‘Take your time’, he said.
He chuckled within himself. Every girl that he had ever met always reacted to the question like she just did. Well, every girl but Ni. He chuckled again. Ni wasn’t just any girl now, was she? He remembered the first time that he asked her the question. They had known each for just over a month and they were eating lunch together as friends then in school. As soon as she heard the question, she smiled and looked him straight in the eye ‘I’m not as tough as I claim to be, There’s something about you that makes me want to be a better me ; I can’t make up my mind about who I want you to be.’ It was the sheer honesty that touched him.
‘…though I wish I wasn’t’ He could see her lips moving so he brought himself back. ‘I didn’t get that.’ She took a deep breath ‘I am your average good girl though I wish I wasn’t; Sometimes, I get so lonely; I don’t want to like you but…’ He didn’t know what to say ‘But?’ She smiled ‘You said three things. I gave you three.’ He could how vulnerable she had become and he just couldn’t leave her alone in that place. He said ‘Sometimes, I get so lonely too… If you tell anyone I said that, I will deny, deny, deny.’ She laughed and all of a sudden, he heard the sweetest voice singing ‘I won’t tell… your secrets. Your secrets are safe with me/ I won’t tell your secrets… Just look at me as the pages of your diary.’ He laughed ‘What? You sing?’ She laughed. ‘Number 4, I sing! Well, I try. That wasn’t me though. It was Alicia Keys.’ Tolu looked at her smile and he thought to himself ‘I could get used to that smile every day.’
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