Chapter Six

Chapter Six

                              **********

"Do I have to?" I whined when James called me out to give Tunji a tour of the premises. I was a nervous wreck around that guy. James gave me a skeptical look, and I stood up immediately. 

  Mr James Ololade was a man of few words, he's a strict one. His stares were enough to throw you off balance. He didn't entertain tardiness or flops of any kind, especially because the department we worked in was very delicate - any mishaps and we're done for. He had huge responsibilities in his hands, so I wouldn't blame him for being such a killjoy in spite of him being a young bachelor. 

   

"I'll be on my way sir" I walked out of my office, a little bit flustered. I was going to see him again.

   I took the elevator again and headed straight for the CEO's office. Still nervous, I knocked as soon as I got in front of the well sculpted mahogany door and stepped in after being given permission. 

   

  "Sir you sent for me" I said acting oblivious to the reason I was being sent for. The chair was turned back to me and I could tell something was off. From the look of things it wasn't Mr Wole sitting there, my doubts got cleared immediately the swivelling chair was turned in my direction. 

Of course it was Tunji 

I could tell cause there was an unusual calm in the office, unlike his father who was a chatterbox, at least with me though. 

"Lola, right?" He said with a lovely accent, he was obviously a Yankee boy. I was flushed a little. A little bit pissed about the fact that he forgot my name so soon. Why did I even care?

  "Yes sir"I replied professionally. I didn't want to give him any wrong ideas. 

You can over think sha, did he ask you out?

My subconscious spoke and it was right, I was certainly over thinking things. 

"Shall we proceed sir?" I asked. 

"Yeah, but hold up, you're missing something here." He said coolly. 

I was a bit perplexed, but that was cleared almost immediately when he spoke. 

"We're supposed to be on first name basis Lola, you're being so uptight"

"Oh" realization hit me. 

"I apologize Mr Tunji." It felt disrespectful calling my boss by his first name, so putting a title in front made it a little less flippant for me. 

"Lola, it's just two of us here, save the formalities for the outside world" He cooed.

Was he flirting with me? 

Stop thinking nonsense jor, he's just being friendly. 

   I gave a small smile.

"Understood... Shall we?" I nodded a little bit towards the door. I couldn't stand his intense gaze any longer. 

"Yes."he stood up arranging his outfit

I tried to stop myself from staring and I was successful to some extent. We were out the door afterwards, we made some small talk to make the tour a little less boring and awkward. 

As we walked through the halls, the stares and gasps from the ladies were astonishing. I mean who gapes at a guy like that, it was way too obvious. 

  I prided myself in the fact that I was more composed than the rest of them. Some of them even batted their lashes and winked at him in the name of greeting.

Na wa o. Laila and Tana so need to hear this gist. 

I chuckled at the thought. Those two would be so busy with work, I could talk to them till it's weekend.

   

The tour took over an hour and I was exhausted. For once, I hated wearing heels. I was about bidding him a farewell for the rest of the day, as it was lunch time already, when he called me back. 

"Uhmm Lola would you like to have lunch with me?" He asked, his eyes showing a glint of nervousness. 

I hoped he wasn't asking me out already, it was way too early for that. 

As if he read my thoughts he immediately added. 

"No strings attached, just a business lunch. Take it as a form of gratitude for going through the trouble showing me around."

He got that last part right. Heck! It was a lot of trouble. I still wanted to decline and he spoke once again before I could say anything. 

"Lola please don't say no, please." He gave me puppy eyes. Omg he's adorable. 

I almost squealed at his cuteness. But I rolled my eyes instead.

"Okay fine, I'll go get my bag from the office." I said already making a move. 

"Thank you. I'll walk you to your office we'll leave afterwards." He said walking beside me. 

I almost jumped. He's super sweet.

I face palmed my self inwardly

You can't be crushing on him Lola, it's wayyy too soon to start assuming things. 

I listened to the little voice in my head, it was very correct. 

For all I knew, he could be in a relationship whilst I was there drooling over him. 

We stepped out of the building soon afterwards. He led me to his slick ride. 

This guy was definitely living THE life. 

He opened the door for me and shut it after I got in, before walking over to his side. 

What a gentleman! 

I fastened my seatbelt and he drove off afterwards. 

He brought us to a fancy restaurant, not too far from the office. The prices on the menu proved that only wealthy people could afford to be in there. 

I mean who in his right senses would buy a bottle of water for a thousand naira?! 

Haba nau!

Okay forget the fact that my family is quite well to do, but I'm a Nigerian woman after all and we manage the economics of our homes. We know better than to squander money on frivolous desires. I speak for myself though, cause some of the girls here could suck a man dry. But, the prices in this restaurant were just over hyped. 

I ordered for our famous Jollof rice with turkey parts, plus salad. I settled for water seeing that the things I had ordered were nearly ten thousand naira. 

Tunji ordered for a pack of juice with his meal which was the same as mine. 

We ate in silence for a while before Tunji broke the ice.

"So Lola, tell me about yourself." He said with his elbows propped on the table, looking straight at me. Typical question.. 

"Well there's nothing much to tell." I started

"As you know I'm Titilola Gregg, graduate of Business administration. Of course you know my father and mother. I have three older siblings, two brothers and an immediate elder sister. I'm the last child of my family" I paused. 

"Did I give too much personal information?" I asked with furrowed brows. 

He chuckled. "Not at all, I'd actually like to know more about you." He said with a lopsided grin. I smiled. 

"Why don't you tell me about you too?" I asked not wanting to be the only one dispersing information. 

"Well you already know my parents, we're the Oluwoles' after all." He said with a hint of pride in his tone.

"Arrogant much?" I said with raised eyebrows, I could not stand arrogant people. 

"Nah just kidding, I'm Olatunji Oluwole, twenty eight years old, graduated with a degree in business administration, two years ago. My first degree was actually in computer science but my dad would have none of it cause he wanted me to take over the family business, so I went back to school for my second degree"

I was shocked to say the least, I was so impressed with what he had said. 

He continued "Well, I have a younger brother and sister." With that he ended his speech. 

"That's really nice Tunji, I know you're going to do great with the company" I said with the sweetest smile I could muster. 

"Yeah... Right." He had a forlorn look and I couldn't help but worry about him. 

"What's wrong?" I asked,with concern lacing my tone. 

"Running the company ain't my passion Lola, that's not what I want to do. I want to do something that makes me happy and fulfilled at the end of the day but my dad doesn't understand that."

I sighed. It felt good knowing someone that I could relate to. To think that someone in Tunji's position could feel the same way. The fulfillment that comes with doing something you love could never be replaced even by large paychecks. If only our indignant parents could see that and let us be happy. 

"I can totally understand you, cause I'm stuck in the same situation as you." I also had a far away look.

Tunji looked up abruptly. "Really?" He said with his voice showing genuine concern. I nodded with a small smile that didn't reach my eyes. 

"I've always wanted to be a designer, but I couldn't bring myself to tell my parents as the usual routine for us was to study the course of their choice and get jobs, they didn't actually care about our choices." I explained my plight.

I went ahead to tell him about how I got the job and how I felt about it . 

He smiled patting my palm on the table, I'm sure, I felt goosebumps on my skin. 

"Everything will be just fine Lola, I'm not in a position to advice you but I think you should open up to your parents and chase your dreams." 

I laughed. 

"I'll follow my dreams, just not now, there's so much going on at the moment." I said as I thought about Laila's wedding. 

"It's alright" He looked at the time on his Rolex watch and his mouth formed an "O" 

It looked adorable. 

"Time's far spent, we should be on our way" He said. 

"Yeah you're right, thanks for the lunch." I said with a smile while standing up. 

"You're welcome, I actually enjoyed the company and I'd certainly want more of this." He said with a small smile. I almost blushed. 

He settled the bills and we walked out of the restaurant side by side. 

In his gentlemanly nature, he opened the door for me again as I stepped in. He drove off before I knew it. 

******

   I got home from the office before Laila, that's not exactly usual but I was glad dinner was ready before I got home. Martha, our new cook was the best. I could not imagine myself cooking after such a long day. 

I got to my room, went on my knees and prayed before slipping out of my clothes and taking a thorough shower. 

Dad was probably still at work while mum traveled out of town for a new project. To be honest I was glad they weren't home. Their presence always came with some drama. 

I checked my phone and saw a few messages. 

Tana:You just forget me Abi. 😕

Me: Honey 😘, you know I can't do that, its just work. 

Tana:🙄 Issa lie, go away jor. 

Me:No vex nau, Oya girls day out on Saturday, you in? 🙏😢

Tana:  💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻 you know it, catch ya later bunny 😏

Me:Lots of gist to catch up on. TTYL I love you ❤😍🙈

Tana: I love you too ❤😘, but go get a boyfriend 😏😝

Me: 😅😂😂 you're crazy. 

Tana:Offline.

I sighed, after a bout of laughter. I'd missed her a lot. I looked forward to the weekend, we had lots of things to catch up on. 

  I went down stairs to have dinner and just then Laila walked in. 

"Hey sis." I hollered, she walked up to me with a smile playing on her lips. 

"Hmm, someone looks very happy today." I teased with a smirk while wiggling my brows. She laughed. 

"Are you going to tell me what's up or not?" I said, digging into my meal. 

It was spaghetti and beef sauce and I savoured the taste. 

"Lola chill jor, lemme freshen up and have dinner, I'll tell you all about my day" She said with a blush. 

She was hiding her fingers underneath her laptop bag and I wondered what she held there. Well she promised to tell me, so I shrugged, giving her the go ahead. She walked up the stairs and before I knew it she was having dinner with me after her shower. 

I know I'm a slow eater. 

We finished up and I washed the dishes afterwards, then we went on to her room. It truly seemed like she had exciting news and I wondered if I should tell her about Tunji just yet, or wait till our outing on Saturday with Tana. 

"Oya spill, no time." I said jocularly 

She picked up something, turning away from me. 

She smiled again and showed me her left hand, it had a beautiful engagement ring on. My eyes widened in anticipation and she squealed. 

"Okay okay." Laila said after taking a deep breath. 

"I went out with Yemi today and we talked for a while, that's personal you don't need to know what we talked about." she spluttered cheerfully and I rolled my eyes. 

"Continue jor, wetin concern me?" I was still eager to hear the news. 

"He said he felt attracted to me and wants us to give the relationship a try before tying the knot and then he said he never proposed properly, so he went on his knees and asked me to marry him, like I had a choice anyway, so I said yes" She finally paused and I squealed while hugging her. 

I was so happy for her and I prayed he continued to treat her well after their marriage. 

"Tolani I'm so excited, I'm happy for you!" I screeched, giddy with joy. 

Just as I was about saying something else, her phone rang, it was her boo. 

No... She literally saved it as boo, that's quick. 

I quickly said "awww" before she picked the call while she glared at me, and smiled into the phone when she heard his voice from the other end. 

She kicked me out of the room when I kept batting my lashes and giving funny faces while she talked on the phone. 

Their call lasted for over an hour. 

I go love o. 

I laid on my bed, thankful to God for a blissful day, and hoping for the best of what life has to offer.