Our team had finally finished a particularly long, drawn out transaction with the most stressful client we had ever worked with and the relief was staggering.
‘Having fun?’
How the
fuck did I get here?
Rewind……
***
Our team had finally
finished a particularly long, drawn out transaction with the most stressful
client we had ever worked with and the relief was staggering.
‘I’m so happy. So so happy.
I feel like jumping on the desk and dancing azonto.’ One of my
colleagues, Zahra sighed in relief.
‘Tell me about it. These
people, eh. I hope we never have to work with them again. So unprofessional.’
Another one, Gbemini grumbled.
‘Ah, better keep your voice
down oh. You know the owner is Denise’s friend. If she hears you, you’re on
your own.’ I quickly hushed him.
The three of us had been the
major players in this transaction. The sleepless nights and breaking out in
hives were totally worth it. We had been promised hefty commissions if we
pulled through and we did! We were all so tired, albeit elated.
‘Abeg, I gast drink tonight
oh.’ This was from Zahra.
‘Ah ah, I thought you were
doing holy Muslim. Are you supposed to drink?’ Gbemini mocked her and flinched
with a laugh as Zahra threw a pen at him.
‘Sharrap there jo.
It’s like you don’t enjoy the holiday we have created for you non-Muslims. If
you talk too much, we will start pretending we didn’t see the moon oh.’ Zahra
playfully retorted. I just laughed at the good-natured banter going on, my mind
half with them and half with Adeniyi McCarthy.
Apart from his ‘Okay’, to my
text from a few days ago, I had not heard from him since. Well, his office had
exchanged a few emails with us but they were obviously all work-related. I
shrugged off my hurt almost viciously.
Who was this impostor
occupying my toughened spirit?
I butted into the pointless
conversation by my side, ‘So, you guys. What are we going to do tonight now? We
must party oh. We didn’t slave in vain. Let’s get the rest of the team and do
drinks then go clubbing? Or dinner then clubbing? Whichever is fine.’
‘Ah ah, Amara is ready to
partayyyyyy.’ Zahra said this loudly, causing some other people in our
open-plan space to turn towards us. Soon ideas were flying around until we all
finally settled on Spice Route for dinner and drinks then 1089 for riotous
clubbing.
I was definitely up for it.
***
I was grinding against the
guy dancing behind me without any cares in the world. My fro had shrunk in the
enclosed heat of the packed club and sweat glistened on my forehead and slid
down my back in my backless dress but I did not care. It had been a while since
I let loose. I was straddling that line between tipsy and drunk so I’d switched
to soda water, but the copious amounts of gin and tonic with tequila shots in
between made me feel practically invincible. I didn’t pull away from the hand
that slid from my back to my tummy to press me even closer to what was clearly
an erection behind me. In fact, I relished it. It made me believe that I was
over Adeniyi McCarthy. It made me think I was back to the footloose,
free-spirited Amara I had deemed myself. I grinded even further against this
faceless, nameless random man, ignoring the wince that threatened my body as I
felt his hot, champagne-laced breath against my neck.
As I closed my eyes and
swayed sensuously to “Wild Thoughts”, I heard my name being screamed and opened
my eyes almost irritably. I saw Zahra stretch out her hand then grab mine to
pull me to our reserved area. More shots, it seemed. I looked back almost apologetically
at this man whose erection was straining against his trousers then walked off
with her to our table. Two more shots and several gulps of my soda water to
counteract the sudden drunkenness that hit me, then I was standing on the sofa
with the rest of the team as we screamed, ‘TAHTY BILLION FOR D ACCANT- EE –
OOOOO.’
This was what I had needed.
Oblivion.
Later, we all stumbled
outside the club, laughing to ourselves. Some walked to their cars to begin
their squinty, faux-sober drive home, while some swayed with the freedom that
came with personal drivers to chauffeur them away. I waited with another
colleague of mine for our uber, gisting away happily until I heard an, ‘I’ve
been looking all over for you, pretty girl.’
I whirled round, regretting
it instantly due to the lurch my tummy gave at the sudden movement. It was the
guy I had been dancing with.
‘You just ran off before we
could get to know each other properly.’ He smiled at me before gesturing to a
group of guys standing to the side. ‘Me and my friends are off to Escape. Wanna
come? Your friend can come too.’
I turned to look at my
colleague who shrugged, her glazed eyes suddenly brightening. Before I could
open my mouth, I heard a familiar deep voice say:
‘She’s with me, actually.’
I whirled round again,
drunkenness forgotten.
Adeniyi McCarthy.
He hit the butt of the pack
of cigarette against his palm then slowly pulled one out, his gaze on me
throughout. I didn’t know he smoked, I thought absently. Something in common
then.
As we looked at each other,
everything around us was forgotten. Seemed to fade into non-existence.
I blinked slowly, coming
back to earth and realised my colleague was hugging me then walking off with
the guys. It seemed she knew one of them from the way they exclaimed then
hugged tightly.
‘Having fun?’
I blinked again, then tried
as much as my drunk self could to wipe the stunned look from my face.
‘Yes, I was. Not at the
moment, obviously.’ I said as steady as I could.
‘I saw you with that man in
there. You were definitely having fun.’ He lit the cigarette then inhaled, his
gaze piercing through the smoke as he breathed out.
I stretched out a hand and
watched his lips pull in his signature smirk before he passed a stick to me. He
came forward to light it then watched me drag the much-needed nicotine into my
lungs.
I replied, the smoke leaving
my mouth, ‘Yes. I had fun. I didn’t dispute your assumption.’
‘Hmmmm.’
We smoked in silence, simply
staring at each other.
My phone beeped signalling
my uber was arriving. He arched one eyebrow in question and I shrugged with an,
‘uber.’
‘Cancel it. I’ll drop you
off.’
‘I’m not going to fuck you.
Or kiss you. Or anything you.’
‘I didn’t ask you for any of
that, you forward girl. I just want to make sure you get home safely.’
We stared at each other for
a second. I broke the stare to cancel the uber then looked back up at him.
‘Fine.’
‘I’m going to drop you off
and not touch you at all. When I get home, I will call you. And I will listen
to you touch yourself. Then I will ask you out to dinner which we will go for
tomorrow.’
It was my turn to arch my
eyebrows. ‘How presumptuous. And where will you be calling me from? The living
room? Since you can’t talk in your room. That pesky detail of having a wife and
all.’
He smiled gently at me,
suddenly making me feel foolish for my snide remark. ‘My dear girl. I live in a
mansion. I can call from any of my numerous rooms. Not the living room.’ He
stubbed out his cigarette then came closer to me. Coming so close there was
less than an inch between us. I craned my neck to look at him, our smoky
breaths intertwining. Then he looked down and held out his hand.
I placed mine in his and we
walked off to his car.
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