‘Hi, Tee. Hope I’m not interrupting anything?’ Anita said it with a straight face as though she couldn’t see Tolu with his arms around the young lady.
She swallowed the hurt, confusion and pain that she felt and she walked forward with her head held high. Thankfully, she looked good really good tonight. She took the seat opposite the obviously embarrassed couple and planted a big smile on her face ‘Come on guys. No need to be alarmed. Office romance is a perfectly normal indulgence okay?’ When she got no reply, she looked right at Tolu ‘Tee, I don’t even get a hug Hello?’
As soon as Tolu saw Ni take her seat, he immediately knew that she was out for him. But why was she so calm? He looked into the big eyes and he found no expression in them. The worst of it all was the cool smile on her face. He gently disentangled himself from a very stiff Amaka and he warmly squeezed her shoulder before turning around to face Anita. ‘Hi, Ni. Forgive my manners.’ He stood up, walked over to where she was sitting and gave her a customary side hug. The first one he had ever given her since he met her. His eyes were still on Amaka so he didn’t see Ni flinch in pain. ‘How’ve you been?’ Tolu asked, not bothering to look at her. ‘Fine, just fine’, Ni said.
In a split second, she moved away from him. ‘That’s okay. You can go back to your companion…’ Before she finished her statement, Tolu immediately got up and walked back to his companion’s side. Her anger level had risen a notch. Anita looked at her. ‘Hi, I’m Anita. What’s your name?’ She was obviously embarrassed and it pleased Anita a little… just a little. ‘Amaka’, she said. For the first time, she was able to look at her face. Hmmn. Pretty, Ni thought. ‘Ibo eh? What state?’ ‘Abia’, Amaka said. Anita laughed. ‘Same here. I always thought that Tolu had a thing for Ibo girls… a particular state perhaps?’ The heavy meaning of her implication hung in the air like a thick black cloud above them.
Tolu laughed calmly. ‘There you go thinking wrong thoughts.’ He moved closed to Amaka as though he could protect her from the obvious spears coming at her. He had never seen like this. The worst part was the fact that he didn’t understand what was going on. He hadn’t missed Amaka’s heavy flinch when Anita had made her implication. He wasn’t sure why he was feeling guilty. It wasn’t like he had done anything wrong, it wasn’t like he was cheating, It wasn’t like he had promised Anita anything or made a commitment to her so he had nothing to feel guilty for. He knew all this yet it didn’t stop the way he was feeling. Just then, Amaka stood up. ‘I should take my leave’ she said to no one in particular. Looking at Anita, she said ‘It was nice meeting you’ and without saying anything else, she walked out of the office with her head bowed.
As soon as she heard the click of the door, Anita turned her smiling face to Tolu ‘A shy one you’ve got there. Not usually your type eh?’ ‘Why’d you do that, Ni?‘ Tolu asked, barely controlling his anger. ‘Do what?’ she asked in her most innocent voice? ‘Don’t give me that, Ni!’ Tolu spat. ‘You practically sent her out with your fake smile and meaner implications. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’, she said.’ Tolu stood up, frustrated. ‘What’s all this about, Ni? Let’s talk about it. Why are you acting like I’ve done something wrong to you?’ Anita said nothing. ‘This wasn’t a commitment, Ni’, Tolu said. ‘From the start, I was clear with you about what it was and you agreed so what’s all this about? I can’t deal with drama and you know that so what’s this about?’ Again, she refrained from answering him.
‘Anita, I need answer. What’s this about?’ Anita picked her bag ‘Maybe, I made a mistake coming here today. We’ll talk some other time.’ As she moved to leave, Tolu stalled her with his hold on her arm ‘You’re not leaving until you answer my question, Ni. I’m not going to made to feel bad when I haven’t done anything wrong.’ Anita turned around ‘Made to feel bad? Did I make you feel bad in any way? Did I come in here crying when I saw you with your lips and arms all over her? That’s on you, Tolu.’ She pulled her arm away from his and moved to leave the office before suddenly turning around ‘Yes, it was supposed to be just s3x… I agree with you. But for an innocent man who was aware that a woman was faithfully having s3x with him for five years after he disvirgined her, you’d think he would give her a heads up that he’s busy making out with employees in the office.’
With that, Anita walked out of his office banging the door in anger and leaving him with that web of guilt. He had barely spent a minute by himself before he remembered a disheartened Amaka walking out of his office. Immediately, Tolu ran out of his office hoping against hope to still catch her in hers.
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