twenty-three

It was just some invite to an album launch party. “This Daniel sha! He just came back oh. And he’s already sending out invites” “What party?” Kiki asked walking over to my side of the desk. “Oh! Tha kidd! that guy that sang that ‘Me and my baby’ song”. Raising my eyebrows, I’m like “What? Which one is that again?” “Delores! I will so fucking slap you if you tell me you don’t know that song!” “Chill. Is it the one that has Banky W on it?” “Duh! I swear you’re getting old oh. How come you’re getting invited to his album launch sef? I heard he’s like a teenager or something”. I shrugged, “Daniel probably knows the boy’s label executives or something”.
“So what were we saying bout IK now? You gonna call him?” I pestered. I knew I was nagging her but she’s my best friend and I wasn’t going to sit and watch her throw something good away. “Ok fine! Ah! I’ll call him, Delores” Kiki said throwing her hands up in despair as she walked back to her seat across the table from me. “You are? Oya call him now” I picked up her phone from the table and tossed it to her. She rolled her eyes as she caught it. “Don’t worry, I’ll ex as soon as I’m sure he’s picked up” I assured her grinning like a Cheshire cat. I stood behind her and watched her dial the number. He picked up on the fourth ring. She dangled the phone in front of my eyes then mouthed, “See?”. I nodded and mouthed, “I’m ouddie!”. She smiled as I quickly exited my office. I knew Kiki wouldn’t have had a problem with me being there but I just liked to give people their space.
“Bols, what’s crackin’? I said slipping into the visitors’ chair opposite Bola, my assistant. Smiling, she held up a list of names I’d told her to research on and said, “Just this”. Nodding, I said, “Good girl. Carry on!”
I liked Bola a lot. She was the kind of assistant who didn’t make you feel as if you were too demanding even if you were. She was also really efficient at her job. She kinda reminded me of Betty in ‘Ugly betty’ except she was anything but ugly. She was a petite pretty young thing. Though Bola was barely twenty, she had all the experience I needed her to have. Her dad her passed away just before she finished secondary school so her and her sibling had to pick up a few jobs to assist their mom with the bills and all.
“Is that a new bracelet? It’s rather hot oh. Where did you get it?” I asked holding up her wrist for a proper look. From the way she was smiling, I knew someone had given it to her even before she said it. “Oh.This? Thank you! It was a gift.” She stared at her desk bashfully. “Ohhhh. No need to be embarrassed now. At least he has taste” I said with a wink.
I decided to go snoop around the office building and let her get back to her researching. I headed to the beauty department first. Those whores never got tired of drama. I walked to the elevator hoping not to run into any of those chatty colleagues of mine. I couldn’t stand office chit-chat that went further than “Hello. How are you doing? How’s the family? See you around.” But noooo. Some people just had to tell you how their day sucked, how their sister’s boyfriend’s uncle is running for Governor and stuff like that.
Thankfully I made it the elevator without anyone stopping me. I got in and hit the 3rd floor button which was where the beauty department was. I hummed along with the elevator music before it abruptly stopped on the 5th floor. Before I knew it, the doors opened and Dafe Martins walked in. For about five seconds I just stood and stared with my mouth hanging. Like seriously. What were the chances of running into someone you’d expertly managed to avoid for months?!

twenty-two

Maybe I should have cancelled with Chris instead. “You’re leaving work now? I’m

almost leaving too sha” Layefa said. Maybe there was no need to panic sef. Since it

was jus Layefa, Daniel and I, we could probably have dinner anytime. “Baby, I’m

meeting Chris again this evening oh. I’ll have to put a rain check on dinner with

you guys.” “Oh. Ah ahn. Why cant you guys meet tomorrow?” I felt rather silly that I

didn’t know the answer to that question. Why hadn’t I just suggested we meet

tomorrow? “Uh…I don’t know for the guy oh. I think he has a really busy itinerary.”

“Alright. No wahala. I just hope that guy isn’t having any ideas about you” Layefa

said casually. “Layefa!” I cried. He chuckled, “What? It’s true now. In fact if he

wasn’t having any ideas about you, I’d say he was gay”. I couldn’t believe he was

taking things so easy. I felt so guilty remembering how I’d totally let Chris flirt

with me. I forced a low laugh. “Well, you’ve got nothing to worry about cuz I’d

choose caramel-skinned high-class lawyers over chocolate-skinned high-class

photographers. Any day.” We exchanged mushy, lovey-dovey words for a while before I

caught Kiki rolling her eyes. “See you at home then?” I said as I hung up.

“Y’all are jus funny” Kiki said followed by a sigh. She was probably missing IK.

“How far with IK now?” I asked. “Oh him. He called me yesterday but I was at church

so I couldn’t pick up.” “Call him back now” I said. Shaking her head, “He can like

to call me again if he really wants to talk to me”. Why was Kiki acting so childish?

“Babe, are you trying to really push him away?”. I really couldn’t understand why

girls made a big deal about calling guys back. “Moving on jare. I’m meeting Tobi for

lunch tomorrow again”. She was actually grinning. Kiki was vexing me oh. IK was a

catch! Just because he went through a phase doesn’t mean she had to cut him loose.

If I didn’t have Layefa I’d probably be jealous of what they had. They’d been

together for only a year but I already felt like I knew IK almost as well as I knew

Kiki herself.

“Kiki! Snap out of it! This thing you’re doing with Tobi. Whatever it is, just stop!

It’s obvious IK’s missing you already. Don’t you miss him too?” Even I missed IK. I

couldn’t understand why she didn’t freaking run out of the church building to answer

his call! “Delores, it’s not that easy!” Kiki cried. I hoped she wouldn’t start

tearing up. Just as I rose to comfort her, a window popped up on the corner of my

computer screen: new e-mail from Daniel O. Kiki must have noticed my surprised

expression, “What is it now?” “Just Layefa’s friend e-mailing me”. I clicked on the

link immediately.

***Sorry this one is kinda short guys!****

Twenty-one

We spent the next hour and a half stuck in traffic that should normally have taken

us twenty minutes. We took the time to get to know each other more though. I found

out a lot more things about Chris that I hadn’t thought to ask during the interview.

“So you were like all these crazy-stalker-paparazzi types?” I chuckled as he

explained to me how he really got started in photography. During the interview he

just casually said he stumbled upon a couple of wonderful pictures and knew

immediately that that was what he wanted to do. But that wasn’t what really happened!

What happened was: some wanna-be opera star just moved into the apartment building

he was staying during his med. school days. One day he gave her a lift to the opera

house and had to punch some guy who was forcefully trying to take pictures of her.

Later that night when he and his roommate where gisting, he learned that pictures of

the wanna-be would be extremely valuable at a later date when she was some big

Hollywood star. Then came his light bulb moment! Why take pictures of wanna-bes when

you can pictures of actual stars?!

“At first I tried stuff like-” he was saying just before his cell phone rang.

Holding up a finger he said, “One second”. I nodded while he hit the answer key.

“Yeah?”. After a couple of ‘Uh huh’s and ‘yeah’s, he finally ended with “Tonight’s

no good, I’ve got a date”. My eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Could he be

referring to dinner with me as a date? Or did he have some other girl in mind? So he

has female contacts in Lagos already? A gazillion thoughts sped through my mind.

After he hung up, he turned then smiled at me, “So where were we?. “Huh?!” I jerked

back to reality. It was at that exact moment that I remembered what Layefa had said

about dinner. Something about him, me and Daniel. Dang! I thought. How could I have

forgotten that I made plans with Chris already. I made a mental note to call Layefa

once I got back to the office.

“You ok, Delores?” Chris touched my arm. Jumping, I said, “Huh? Oh. Sure. No

problem. Yeah, you were telling me about your stalker days.” He looked at me for

about a minute as if to make sure I was really alright then continued with his story.


“Ay bay bay!” Kiki said coming into my office. I was so glad to see her. I had been

going over the articles I received from the style department. There were about

twenty different articles and none of them were appealing to me.

“Kiki! U tey oh! Ah ahn! Since morning!” I cried as she slumped into one of my

visitor chairs. She had left since 8 in the morning to meet with a representative of

Tiffany Amber. They were to clothe our models for our October issue.

“So how was it?” we asked at the same time. Chuckling, she said” You go first joh”.

So I told her all about Chris Laire. Ok not all. I kinda skipped the parts where he

was flirting with me. “The funniest part was when he stood every time I stood” I

concluded. “Awww. He’s such a sweerie!” Kiki cooed. “ I know! So how far with the

Tiffany Amber rep now?”. She hissed. “Those ones are just on their own. Na so so

terms and conditions den dey give me.” She explained how they kept her waiting for

over two hours before she was finally ushered into the rep’s office. Then how the

rep made her wait for about another hour while they had an office meeting.

“The bitch finally showed oh. She now started blowing phoneh for me. Me sef I showed

her that I did my masters at Sheffield. The fool!” Kiki was really pissed. She

narrated how the lady gave her a not so brief intro on Tiffany Amber general style

and all. “Ah ahn. Why didn’t you tell her we’ve worked with them before?” I

interjected. “I told her oh. She was like a lot of things have changed in their

designs blah blah blah”. Hmmmn, I thought, I hope those people didn’t mix up our

appointment with some other random magazine. “She gave me these sha” Kiki shoved a

portfolio filled with pictures of T.A’s most recent line across the table to me. I

placed it on top of the pile of style articles then picked up my phone. “They’re

probably correct stuff but I’m still gonna call Folake.

See how her people are treating us like amateurs. Rubbish. Why didn’t they set up

the meeting with one of those people we’ve dealt with before?”. Kiki just shrugged

and slumped further into her chair.

Folake’s number wasn’t going. (yes oh, I’m on first name basis with Folake of

Tiffany Amber). I dropped my phone and slumped in my chair. “I’m so effin tired

mehn”. “It’s not only you oh. How’s uncle?” kiki said. “He’s good oh. I’m supposed

to call him sef!” I sat up and picked up my phone again. “Oh shit” I muttered

glancing at my watch. It was already 5:30! How time flies when you’re working hard,

I was thinking just as Layefa picked up. “Hey Dee” he answered. “Baby…” I started.

Gosh, I hadn’t even thought of what I was going to say.

****~Twenty~***

Fisrt things first, Happy new year guys!!!
***************************************************************************

He rose to his feet and stretched forth his hand. “Daniel Olotu”, he said with his

famous cocky grin. Taking his hand as slowly as possible, she replied wetting her

lips with her tongue, “Saida Ibrahim”.” “Pleasure.” He replied touching his lips to

the back of her hand.

She flashed him a huge smile as Layefa pulled out a chair for her.

When they had all taken their seats: “So, uh...i’m working with Saida on that

Fashola case I told you about, She’s one of the top executives at the Lagos

Development Bank”. “Wow! Beauty and brains! How do you concentrate, bro?” Daniel

cried. Saida placed a hand on her chest and feigned a blush. Layefa just shrugged

and waved his left hand with his wedding ring on it. (How cuuute). Daniel rolled his

eyes then turned back to Saida. “So where did you go to uni at?” he asked as his

eyes danced around her voluptuous form. “Uh…First degree at Oxford, Second degree at

Harvard” she answered like it was nothing”. Well, for people like Layefa and Daniel who paroled Ivy-Leagues anyhow, it was probably nothing.

“Are you serious? Sweet. I’m a Harvard man myself; first and second degree. You

know, Layefa here did at his Masters at Harvard too”. Daniel said. She nodded then

asked “Are you a lawyer too?”. “Well, yeah. But not right now. At the mo, I’m jus

freelancing. You know, testing the waters” Daniel replied. “Ode”, Layefa muttered.

“Oh. That sounds fun. Testing the waters? So where were you before?”, Saida said

tossing her hair then moving closer to Daniel. “Just some firm in the heart of

Chicago. You know the kind with dreary old partner dudes and over-ambitious young

lawyer types”. Saida nodded then smiled. “So Saida, you got the paperwork?” Layefa

interrupted. Turning towards him, Saida said, “Yeah, of course sweetie”. She reached

into her case and got out a stack of legal documents.



Back at The Meridian Hotel rooftop café:

“Okay. That’s a wrap!” I announced. We had just concluded his interview. “Wow,

you’re pretty good at your job!” Chris said, taking my hand. “Thanks” I said

grinning. “So you wanna head back to the office and discuss the shoot?” I added. “Uh…

not really. We could meet back here later this evening to discuss it if you’d like

but right now I gotta catch some z’s” Chris replied stretching his arms. Stealing a

glance at my watch, I felt so silly suggesting that we head back to the office after

I’d taken almost two hours of his time already. I nodded and said, “No problem.

What time is good for you?”. He thought for a few seconds then said “I guess seven

is alright for me. How bout you? You think seven would be cool for you?”. Without

even thinking about it twice I just said, “Yeah, Sure”.

“I’ll just be a minute” I said rising from my seat. Being the perfect gentlemen that

he is, he stood while I rose. I walked briskly to the washroom hoisting my purse on my arm.

I ran a brush through my hair and touched up my make-up quickly. As I was about to

leave, I thought to call Layefa. He’d been trying to reach me all day.


“Hey Baby!” he picked up on the first ring. “Hey boo!” I replied. “I’m guessing you

just got outta your meeting?” he asked, “I’ve been trying to reach you all day!”.

“Yeah, baby. I know” I replied, “I wanted to call you back but I didn’t want to

keep him waiting”. “No wahala, Dee”, Layefa said, “So what’s the guy like?”.

I told him how Chris was really modest and gentlemanly, how he studied photography

at Paris, how he could speak four languages and was about to tell him bout his

exotic ethnicity when he was like, “Baby chill! It’s like you’re really excited oh.

You’ll tell me the rest at home, k?”. Even though I said “Alright then”, I secretly

hoped I wasn’t over-hyping Chris. “Daniel came by the office today oh. He even met

Saida” Layefa said. “Are you serious? How is he?” I replied deliberately ignoring

his last statement. “He’s good. He was even like we should all go out tonight. You

know, dinner”. Just then I glanced at my watch and I’d been gone from the table for

eighteen minutes. Eighteen whole minutes! “Okay baby. I’ll talk to you later, k?” I

said hurriedly cutting the line just as he said “Love you!”. I texted “Love you

more” to Layefa as I hurried back to join Chris.

“I’m terribly sorry for keeping you waiting” I gushed as I reached the table. “No

problem, no problem” he replied rising from his seat. “I was on the phone…I kinda

lost-” I tried to explain when he shushed me, “Its okay, Delores”. Smiling, I

hoisted up my purse on my arm then said, “So are you ready to leave?”.

nineteen

After the waiter came and took our orders, we just sorta started talking.

We discussed about food, the weather (cliché? I know!), the view and even music.

“So you like Jay-z a lot, huh?” Chris was saying as our food arrived. I had ordered

the crème brulee while he ordered Oysters. “Thanks” I called to the waiter then,

“Yup!” to Chris. “Yeah? So what else do you like Miss Thompson?” he asked folding

his napkin in his lap. Just as I was about to reply: “Many things”, Layefa pinged

me. I muttered “Excuse me” then hurriedly switched on the Silent mode on my

Blackberry. Seeing Layefa’s bbm picture made me feel terribly guilty. I had

completely forgotten about him once Chris walked into my office. I didn’t even reply

his last message (that I didn’t even know he sent!):

Is the dude there yet? Don’t worry now, hez probly stuck in traffic. Let me know

when he arrives sha so I won’t bother u guys. K?

I slipped my blackberry back into my bag, took a deep breath then said, “Well…um…you

know, it’s actually Mrs.Thompson”. I felt two feet tall immediately those words left

my mouth. I caught his eyes checking out my left hand just before he cried, “Oh, my

bad! I wonder how I missed that!”, “So what else do you like Mrs.Thompson?” He

really emphasized the ‘Mrs’. I smiled. “I like a lot of things”, I smoothened the

tablecloth with my hands, “You should call me Delores, though”.


At Layefa’s office…


“Mr.Olaoye is here, sir” Claire said over the intercom. “Are you serious?! Let him

in fast!” Layefa replied jumping from his seat. He hadn’t seen Daniel in a while and

he was pretty excited to see one of his best buddies.

“Bad guy!!! Warrit doooo?!! Ah ahn! Who dash you suit?” Layefa cried as Daniel

entered his office. They did that handshake with a slap on the back thing that guys

do before they finally broke into a hug (fronting too plenty!)

“Fuck you man! You know you’re digging it” Daniel joked straightening his suit.

He had never really been the suit-wearing guy so Layefa was pretty shocked to see

him all decked in a Gucci suit and T.M. shirt.

“Sit down, man” Layefa said, “On the real though, what’s with the suit? Where’re you

headed?”. “Wetin? Shey person no fit dress up again?”, Daniel replied pulling out a
chair.

“I’m meeting some hottie I met yesterday for lunch”. Nodding, Layefa rose to make

drinks for them. “You still drink Campari with iced tea abi?” he asked squatting to

open his mini fridge at the corner of the wall. “Yes oh. But dawg, seriously man,

you’re ballin’! corner office and all. Mr. T must be real proud” Daniel said. “Na so

we see am oh” Layefa replied mixing the drinks.


“Mr.Thompson? Miss.Ibrahim’s here” Claire said over the intercom. “Oh? Let her in

please” Layefa replied. Then to Daniel, “Brace yourself, homie”. Sitting up in his

chair, Daniel straightened his jacket and crossed his legs in a total George Clooney

fashion.

“Layefa dear!” Saida cried bursting into the room. She was wearing a grey pin-

striped low-cut pencil dress. “Saida! Hey!!” Layefa replied rising from his seat and

walking towards her. “C’mon gimme a hug” she said pulling him into an embrace. After

about ten long seconds, she finally let Layefa go.

“Oh hello” she said shoving Layefa aside once she glimpsed Daniel

eighteen

Its not like I didn’t know any chic outdoor restaurants in Lagos, it’s just that I

was so desperate to make an excellent impression. I could easily have suggested the

Lagoon restaurant or the Sky lounge but then I thought if me and Layefa eat there

often and we’re not even celebs, why should an international award-winning

photographer eat there?

I hurriedly googled ‘Classiest outdoor restaurants on the Lagos Island’. At the top

of the list were: The Oyster Lounge, Yellow Chilli Bar and Lounge and The Meridian

Hotel rooftop Café. The closest to us was the Meridian Hotel rooftop Café.

“Well, let’s get on our way!” I announced after I had saved their telephone number

on my cell phone. He got up, picked up his bag and headed for the door. I quickly

slipped my laptop into my case, grabbed my purse and cell phone and headed for the

door too.( and yeah, Chris took my case from me and held the door for me! charming much?)

“We’ll be at this address” I said to Bola scribbling the address of the Meridian

Hotel rooftop Café on a notepad. She nodded and called, “Bye!” as we headed for the

elevator.

“So you ever been to this restaurant we’re going?” Chris asked as the driver pulled

into the turning where the restaurant was. I shook my head and said, “There’s

nothing to worry about though, it has one of the best reviews ever written”. He

nodded and turned back to the window. About six minutes later, we drove into the

hotel premises.

“Impressive” Chris said. I smiled and nodded. He got out of the car quickly and held

my door open while I got out. I smiled “Thanks”. He bowed his head as we walked

towards the entrance. For a world-class photographer, Chris was rather modest (if I

do say so myself). The concierge ushered us to the executive elevator after I

flashed my card and introduced myself with a flawless British accent. Grinning to

myself, I squeezed a N500 note into his hands as he left us. Chris remained quiet

all through the ride to the roof.

After we had settled in at our table, I unpacked my laptop while Chris marvelled at

the wonderful scenery. Even I had no idea how beautiful and green Lagos was from up

high. You could hardly see any razz looking parts of the city from up there.

“The view of your city from up here is quite exquisite, Miss Thompson” Chris said

turning back to me. “You know, I was just gonna ask you what you thought”, I

replied, “But I didn’t want to interrupt you thoughts, you looked really engulfed by

the view”. “I did? I guess I was imagining how lovely pictures taken from here would

be”. He said sipping his wine. I nodded then said, “Well, thanks on behalf of all

Lagos indigenes”. I pushed my laptop as far away from me as possible then took my

first sip of my drink.

“You like the wine?” Chris asked looking deep into my eyes. I almost felt like he

could see through to my soul. I held his gaze for half a second then shrugged, “I

guess its okay”. Smirking, he took another sip and leaned in closer to the table

(never once taking his eyes off me). That was when I thought, Okay, he’s definitely

flirting with me.

seventeen

“Good morning, Mr.Laire”, I said in my most professional voice, “Please sit”. I

gestured towards the visitor’s chair. “Morning. Ms.Thompson is it? Thank you.” He

said taking his seat. I could have corrected him but I just didn’t think it was

relevant. I took my seat opposite him.

“Is that an Alexander McQueen?” He asked gesturing towards my skirt suit. The guy

was good oh. It was an Alexander McQueen. The only one I had. “This?” I asked

stroking my lapel, “Oh.Yes, it is. Fall collection 08” I said confidently. Don’t

try me mehn. Big babe like me. He nodded impressively as he set his laptop bag on

the floor beside him.

“I hope your trip wasn’t too stressful” I said. “Well, I’m not one to complain.

Lagos is quite refreshing compared to what I expected so…” he replied. “Oh, it’s

your first time? Forgive my manners! Welcome!” I said with a toothpaste commercial

smile. He smiled and said, “Why, thank you”. His mouth was so heavenly. He had

perfectly shaped white teeth and lips like Trey Songz (I swear!). I was so engulfed

in his face that I sorta just stared at him for about a minute. “So Mr.Laire…” I

began. “It’s Chris” he interjected. “Okay. So Chris, how do you like your coffee? Or

perhaps tea?” I said. Mrs.Obie would be sooo proud. “Oh. I’m good. Thank you. I’m

not much of a tea or coffee person”, he replied. My mouth shaped into an ‘O’. I made

a mental note to berate Bola for not finding that out. We had researched all we

could about him; his favourite food, how he liked to relax, his pet peeves, his

numerous ex-girlfriends, his clients. But we didn’t find anything about how he liked

his tea or coffee.

“I guess we should begin then” I said switching back to my professional voice.

“Sure” he said sitting up. I handed him all the legal papers. After he had gone over

them, he nodded and slipped them into his bag. “So what do you want to do first?

The interview? The briefing?” I asked. The goal was to make him feel at ease.

I noticed he wasn’t listening anymore. He was just staring straight at me. “Mr.

Laire?” I called. I knew he said to call him Chris but I didn’t want to seem

familiar too quickly.

“Oh forgive me”, he said, “You have such lovely eyes, I guess I was carried away”.

Mehn I blushed tire then said, “Thank you”. “So you were saying?” he asked. I

repeated my question. “I was thinking maybe we could have lunch, somewhere open, you

know look around. We could even have the interview over lunch.” He replied.

I felt so stupid that I hadn’t thought of that. For crying out loud, he was a

freaking photographer! Why on earth would I think he’d like an interview in the

privacy of my office?! Smiling I said, “Sure! I was thinking that but then I thought

you might prefer the cozy indoors”. He said, “I’m an outdoors man any day! So do

you have any places in mind?”. “One second” I said quickly turning to my laptop.