Today again, they were working late. Amaka rested her back on the chair for a few seconds with her eyes closed.
Thankfully, she had managed to take her attention away from Tolu for the entire night. As hard as that was, she needed to continue that way. She couldn’t afford to have anyone else notice that she had feelings for the boss. She shuddered. That would be so embarrassing.
Even with Cyril, she had managed to go through the past week consciously avoiding mentioning anything about the boss and when Cyril tried to talk about it, she answered back in a very professional tone. She already made a big mistake letting him see how much she liked Tolu. Now, she had to take all of that back. She sighed. Why did it always have to be so complicated for her where men were involved?
She felt a tap on her shoulder so she looked up. It was Cyril. ‘Amaka, are you done? It’s getting really late and we’re about to leave.’ She frowned ‘We as in everyone else? I still have a lot to do on my own end and I can’t afford to leave now. Don’t tell me that you guys are done with all that you have to do?’ Cyril smiled ‘At all, mehn. But it looks like we’ll have to come in tomorrow like we did last week to finish up. Wait, Amaka. Is tomorrow not your Mom’s 60th? Can you still come around?’ She shook her head ‘No. Of course not. You know I can’t. See, that means that I have to stay back to finish my part no matter how long it takes.’ Cyril had a weird look on his face. ‘You know I can’t wait for you, right?’
She nodded ‘Yes, Cyril. I know. It’s fine, okay? I’ll just send a mail to Nneka so she’ll be aware that I would be working late.’ ‘Nneka? She’s gone. Don’t even think about HR because there’s no one else in the office apart from our design team and the boss.‘ She couldn’t say anything, She knew he was around and she knew what that meant. Trust Cyril to spell it out for her. ‘You know the rules. You have to inform him being the only other person in the office.’ She nodded. ‘Of course’, she said. ‘In that case, there’s no need for a mail. I’ll just call him up on the intercom. You know what he said about unofficial emails being a waste of time.‘ Cyril smiled and nodded.
Before you know it, Cyril made himself comfortable on the chair beside her. She wondered why he was waiting to hear her call but she knew she couldn’t show any nerves. She picked up the intercom with her heart beating fast while making sure to keep her face normal (if that was possible). She dialled his extension.
‘Good evening. This is Amaka speaking… from the design team. I’m just calling to request to stay back at the office while my colleagues are leaving… because they’ll be coming in tomorrow but I won’t. I have an important family function that I must attend and organize from start to finish. ‘ She paused and he asked ‘How long would you be at the office for?‘ ‘Well, Sir. I can’t say. Anytime from three to four hours away.’ He asked ‘You do know that would be after 12am right?‘ ‘Err… No sir. I didn’t realize.’ ‘Okay‘, he said. ‘You should probably think about that. From my end, stay as long as you need… to get the work done.’ She didn’t know what else to say so she said ‘Good night’ and she ended the call.
All the while, Cyril was sitted right beside her listening. She dropped the call and turned back towards her laptop intentionally. If he wanted the gist, he was going to have to ask for it himself. It didn’t take too long before he said ‘So…‘ She looked at him with feigned confusion. ‘So?’ ‘So, what did the boss say?‘ ‘He said it’s okay by him’ Cyril looked unconvinced ‘Just that?‘ She nodded. He kept quiet for no less than two minutes before asking ‘So, what did you not realize?‘ In her mind, she was laughing at him. He was just too predictable but on the outside, she feigned disinterest. ‘Hmmn?’
Cyril said ‘Amaka, you said you hadn’t realized something before saying good night.’ Oh, so he was listening closely eh? ‘Oh, yea.’ she said. ‘He asked me if I realize that three to four hours will leave me here at 12 am.’ Cyril sat up ‘Hmmn. I didn’t even realize that. Babe, that’s too late. What’ll your family say if you get back home at that time? It’s so dangerous for a young lady to be out by then.‘ She smiled ‘Cyril, I’ll be fine. I stay here on the island remember?’ ‘Yes. 45 mins away too.‘ ‘Mmhmmn? Cyril that’s not far now.’ ‘Amaka! That’s a long time for anything to happen! Babe, I think you should just stay here till 4 or 5 am. I think you should sleep over.’ She shook her head. All she was thinking was she was going to have to spend that much time under the same roof as Tolu.
‘No.’ she said. ‘Why?‘ Cyril asked.’You won’t even get to see boss man.’ She rolled her eyes ‘Of course now. It’s not about that.’ ‘So, what’s it about?‘ ‘Cyril, I don’t have any toiletries here.’ ‘Babe, we can go out and buy some now. There are enough snacks and all in the kitchen so?‘
The more Cyril spoke, the more she knew she had to stay back. It really was her only option but she didn’t want to accept it. ‘You know what? Let me call my Mom. Whatever she says.’ ‘Amaka…’ ‘Cyril, the guys are waiting for you. Go home. I’ll be fine, okay?’ Cyril looked torn but he nodded and said ‘Goodnight.’ He had walked out of the office when he popped his head back in and said ‘You know I’ll be calling you every hour until you choose to stay.‘ She showed him her tongue and shooed him away.
Ten minutes later, she reached over for her cellphone. She scrolled through and dialled ‘Madam.’ She had to inform her mother.
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