New beginnings

Ahana

I refresh the Bankit website for what might just be the hundredth time that day. Scratch that. Thousandth. It is Monday, the day the results of the scholarship exam are to be published. I click my tongue with my rising impatience. It is already 2pm. Would publishing the results earlier in the day have been so hard?. It has taken forever because their process involves not just scoring candidates on their exam but also running paperwork with their partner universities, we have already had a two-month wait to get to this point.

“What’s up Ahana?” Valerie, a friend who also wrote the exam, calls me on the phone yet again.

“Have you seen yours?” I retort.

“But why's it taking forever?” Valerie

grumbles.

I sigh as I refresh the page yet again. Nothing. It starts to dawn on me that this might just be a precursor to the real bad news. What if neither of us is successful?

“I will check on you later, don't stop checking!” Valerie pleads. “I’ll be doing the same here. If you get the first beep, call me. I’ll also call if I do.”

She is off the phone before I can even answer, probably to harass someone else who wrote the exam.

Realising I might be setting myself up for the biggest disappointment of my life, I close the page. I’ve already wasted enough of the day on it.

Rising to my feet, I decide to go to the cafeteria for lunch. There’s no need starving myself. If I’m going to get my heart broken, it might as well be on a full stomach.

Walking into the bustling lunchroom, I buy a plate of bacon, cake and orange juice, I walk over to a table where three of my colleagues already sit; Priscilla, Amanda and Ama.

If the word frenemy were a person, it would be each one of them. Even though we are cordial, I know there is no love lost and that they talk about me behind my back. And truth be told, I do the same. But I’d rather not eat alone, so I place my tray on their table, with an overenthusiastic “Hello!”

“Hello” Amanda answers, not looking up from the phone they are all huddled over. “Y’all see Pankit?, are you sure she hasn’t had surgery. Was her waist always this small?”

“When you have the kind of money she does, would having enhancement be an issue?” a wistful Priscilla says, her eyes so wide I know she wishes she could hop right into phone to join Pankit in her exotic holiday location.

“Oh my. ! Just see how she's have so much fun while I'm having churros.”

“Wasn't she just a starter when she was here? Now she’s a Senior Vice President! This shit is craz !” Ama whines.

I am consoled I am not the only one eaten up with envy over our former colleague’s success.

“Aput even left a comment on the post,” Ama laughs.

“Oh wow.” Priscilla scoffs. “What is he even up to in London?”

Amanda finally spares me a look, her smile mocking. “His girlfriend is here. Ask her.”

All three pairs of eyes turn to me, and I can’t tell if they are really curious or just want to make fun of me. For all the time Aput and I were together before he left, they weren’t the only ones who constantly teased our unlikely pairing; him, tall, strapping and charming, and me, well, none of the above.

But I’ll be damned if they make me cower like I used to.

“He’s fine,” I answer, forcing a bright smile. “He’s doing very well.”

Ama raises a brow, her gaze disbelieving. “Doing very well with what? That’s not what I heard.”

“He just got a good job with a building firm just outside London,” I hear myself saying, referring to the interview he told me has today and praying with all my heart he gets the job. “He’s doing great.”

“That’s good to know,” Amanda says, shrugging. “After he threw his job here away, I was afraid he would end up working as a bus driver there or something.”

“Or the mart” Ama guffaws, and the other girls laugh along with her. I have to fight off the temptation to claw out their eyes, all six of them.

“And you waiting for him?” Ama taunts. “You think he hasn't found himself a London bird by now?”

This hits the very mark she intended, but I will not give them the satisfaction of seeing how affected I am hearing that. Instead, I’m determined to stake my claim.

“Of course, we’re still together,” I laugh. “As a matter of fact, I’ll be joining him there soon.”Thankfully, they are distracted by something else on Priscilla’s I*******m feed, and I return my attention to my plate. But my appetite has since fled, not just the room but the entire building.

Back at my desk, I let out a deep sigh. A part of me wants to return to the Bankit website but another part of me wants to manage my expectations. I might just have to tow Aput’s line and join him in London on a tourist visa.

I am about to continue working on a report my boss has asked for, when the notification of an email to my private account flashes at the top of my screen. My breath catches in my breath when I see it is from Bankit and my heart starts to race as I wonder if it is a rejection letter. I look around to be sure nobody is standing around; the fewer people to witness my shame, the better.

But when I click open the email, a rejection letter it is not.

Dear Ahana

Congratulations. You have been selected for our prestigious Bankit Scholarship Program…

I don’t even finish reading it as I let out a loud yelp, goose bumps forming all over my body. I shoot to my feet and squeal, not caring about the several curious glances thrown my way in the open plan office. Finally, London and Aput here I come.