(…continued…)
Mabel felt pressed so she went to the restroom. On
getting to the door, she heard two people talking in hushed tones. She stood
still and eavesdropped, and heard the gossip of her life.
“After cheating on her
boyfriend and going away on vacation for 3 days, Mabel has the face to come
here smiling,” a voice said.
“Don’t mind her,” the other
voice replied. “It is Madam B who is covering her.”
“Her evil will soon catch up
with her.”
They said some
other terrible things. When Mabel could not listen anymore, she quietly walked
away from the restroom and just stood in the hallway to Mrs Biodun’s office,
waiting for Mrs Biodun to be free. She made sure she had a good view of whoever
comes out of the restroom. Some seconds later, the ladies who were gossiping
walked out. She was shocked to see that they were her colleagues and among the
closest friends she had in the office. They were taken aback when they saw her
there. They didn’t expect her to be standing there. They forced smiles and came
towards her. They told her how much they were glad to see her back to the
office. She just looked from one person to the other with a straight face. When
they noticed that she was not responding as they expected, they excused
themselves. Mabel watched them walk away. One of them whispered something to
the other and the other shrugged. They looked back at her but she quickly
looked away so their eyes will not meet.
“Hmmm people sef,” she said
and clicked her finger.
After waiting for
a while, Mrs Biodun’s door opened and the woman walked out.
“Have a nice day ma,” Mabel
said to her as she walked past her.
“Thank you my daughter,” she
said with a huge smile on her face and stood.
She stood for a
while, admiring Mabel until Mabel got uneasy.
“Ma is there a problem?” Mabel
asked her.
“No. You look so much like my
daughter.”
“Oh. Thanks ma.”
The woman walked
away but kept looking back at Mabel. Mabel shook her head and walked into Mrs
Biodun’s office with a smile on her face.
“Please sit,” Mrs Biodun said
to Mabel.
“Thank you ma,” Mabel replied
and sat.
“You have a new admirer o,”
Mrs Biodun said, smiling.
“Who?” Mabel asked, looking
around.
“The woman that just left.”
“Really? Does she know me
before now?”
“I don’t think so. The first
time you entered and left, she lost focus on what we were discussing before you
entered and started asking about you.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her only the good
things about you. You know you have bad sides of you”
“Aaww, it is not true ma.”
“She really fell in love with
you.”
“Did she tell you why?”
“No. She asked for your number
but I declined because I don’t know what it is all about.”
“Ok ma. Time will tell.”
Mrs Biodun leaned
forward and touched her chin.
“You are looking fresher,” she
said. “I guess you are getting over the heartbreak.”
“I am trying my best o. I will
not kill myself na.”
“Is there any man worth dying
for?”
“No one o. Not even your
husband.”
Mrs Biodun leaned
back on her seat and swiveled for a while.
“I may die for my husband o,”
she said with a grin. “That man is an Angel.”
“If you die, he will marry
another woman. Chikina.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Mabel leaned forward and asked her, “Ma I noticed that
no one has asked me anything about the incident.”
“What is there business?”
“I think you have a hand in
that.”
“Must you know everything?”
Mrs Biodun asked, smiling. “So what has happened since the last time we spoke?”
Mabel told her
everything she could remember.
“You mean Kemi is still
disturbing you?” she asked when Mabel got to the SMS Kemi sent with Segun’s
phone.
“That one is her business.”
“If she tries anything funny
again, let me know.”
“I will.”
Mabel continued
with the narration while Mrs Biodun listened with rapt attention. After a
while, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Mrs Biodun said.
One of the staff
came in and Mrs Biodun asked him to give her some time. He went out.
“Let me leave you to attend to
other matters,” Mabel said.
“No. Finish the story.”
“I have said everything. That
is how things are now.”
“Ok. Like your pastor’s wife
said, let him be and put yourself together.”
“That is what I am doing now.”
“That’s good. Are you ready
for work?”
“Yes ma.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes ma. I am.”
“You know the demands of your
work. It requires utmost concentration.”
“I know ma.”
“Ok. Let me call Ephraim to
brief you on what has been happening so far.”
“Ok ma.”
She used the
intercom to call the staff who was holding brief while Mabel was absent. Some
seconds later, Ephraim came into the office. He greeted Mabel again.
“Please put Mabel up to speed
on what has been happening for the past three days.”
“Ok ma.”
“Mabel please come with me,”
he said.
“No. Tell her here.”
“Ok ma. Let me get some
documents she needs to see.”
“Please hurry,” Mrs Biodun
said.
He left. Almost
immediately, the staff who came earlier, knocked and entered. He told her why
he came, got instructions from her and then he left. Mrs Biodun went back to
working on her computer as they waited for Ephraim to come. Soon after, he came
in with a laptop and some files.
“Keep them here,” Mrs Biodun
said pointing at a free section of her table.
He kept them and
took some time explaining everything to Mabel. He answered questions from them and
cleared their doubts on some issues. When he was done, Mrs Biodun asked Mabel
whether she could take over the work load available.
“It is not an issue ma.”
“Ok. Go to your work station.”
“Ok ma.”
She turned to
Ephraim and asked, “Is anyone occupying her work station?”
“No ma. We just use her table
from time to time. No one is there now.”
“Ok.”
Mabel followed
Ephraim to her work station. She exchanged pleasantries with those who cared. From
the side of her eye, she noticed that some of them were stealing glances at
her. She sat down, kept her bag and booted her computer. She tried to log in
but was told ‘access denied’.
(…to be continued…)
-©2015.Chinedu Isaac
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