Chapter 6: We meet again.

Adebayo

  "Bunmi, please send the land acquisition documents to the law firm. Tell them to confirm if the documents can still be used as evidence in court," I instructed my assistant, who also happens to be my younger brother. 

"Bayo, I still think we should change firms now that you and that lawyer lady don't get along. I know Mr Tunji is a reputable lawyer but the reason we approached the firm in the first place was to get that lady on our case but you just had to ruin it because you could not ignore a situation as simple as bumping into someone," Arinola, my best friend hissed, repeating the same line he has been chorusing for the last two days. 

  "Can't you just come off that topic? I'm not changing firms. You and I know that the firm's reputation in Lagos is almost unbeatable, so why should I change it because of one woman?" I retorted irritatedly. 

"It seems you don't get my point. I'm not saying it's a must that you switch firms but if you're going to put an important case like this in their hands, at least hand it over to the best hands. Put your personal hate for her aside and work with her," he advised again. 

   "If I don't get my well deserved apology, you can forget it. I'd rather lose the land than lose my pride," I replied to him sharply, hoping he was smart enough to sense my disinterest on this same issue.  

"Okay o, whatever you say. I need to get back to work anyways. See you at lunch time," he said and quickly walked out of my office, making me wonder why he came here in the first place instead of focusing on his work. 

*** 

"Bro, are your parents still pestering you to get married?" Arin asked randomly and I could not help the laugh that escaped my lips.  

"They've even introduced someone to me," I replied to him and now it was his turn to laugh. 

  "Sometimes I wonder what parents think. Do they still think arranged marriages can actually work? Anyways, tell me about the girl. Is she pretty? Is she shorter than you? How about her front side? Is it worth looking at? I'm asking because I know you like busty girls and all of your girlfriends have to have full breasts," he joked and I momentarily picture her in my mind. Saying she isn't pretty would be a huge lie on my part but if there's something I've learnt in life, it's to avoid beautiful women. They're dangerous. 

 "She's very pretty but her bosom is far from impressive. She's skinny, too tall and she's the type that easily falls in love. Definitely not my style," I replied and he rolled his eyes. 

 "What's so wrong with the last part? Don't you want a woman who loves you?" he asked and I took time to think of a perfect response to his question. 

"Every man wants a woman who loves him but I don't want a boring type of love, like the typical boy meets girl and in the blink of an eye, they fall in love. I'll prefer it if we start off by fighting, bickering and almost pulling each other's head down rather than just be like the typical boring, I love you, I love you too couples. The idea of driving her crazy to the point of loving me is something that gives me immense joy," I replied to him and he broke into guffaws, attracting unwanted attention. 

"Bayo the k****u lover!" He mocked loudly, still laughing but I ignored him and focused my attention on my food and at the same time, looking out the window. A familiar face quickly caught my attention and part of me started to boil with anger while the other part felt curious to know why she looked like she had seen a ghost.

An unfamiliar woman stood in front of her and I would have concluded they were just friends having a conversation if her face didn't look like she was about to have a panic attack. 

"Arin, I'll be back." I informed him and he immediately stared at me with confusion but decided against asking any questions. 

Omotayo 

  Have you ever felt so furious and at the same time blank, speechless and dumbfounded? Well, that's exactly how I felt this minute. Every inch of my body felt frozen, I had so much to say but at the same time, I had nothing to say. 

 "Are you surprised to see me?" her forever squeal like voice asks and it tormented me like nothing else in this world. How can she be happy after betraying me? How can she smile at me like that without any remorse? How dare she? 

  "Just walk away," I finally managed to whisper and thankfully she heard me. 

"Aren't you going to ask me how I am? Aren't you the least bit curious to know about how well my life is going? If you're not curious about mine, I'm curious about yours so how about we do a little sharing. Oh wait, I just remembered that you probably have nothing to share!" she exclaimed with a wicked laugh that made my blood boil. 

  "What do you want Sewa? Haven't you done enough? Just walk away and we'll both pretend we don't know each other!" I yelled at her, not minding the attention I might have brought to myself.  

  "You want me to just walk away from such a God given opportunity? You completely ruined my wedding you stupid wench! I had to leave the country for almost two years to let the shame you put me through wash away and thankfully that little stunt you pulled at the wedding only made Daniel love me more and as much as I'd like to thank you, I don't think you deserve it," she said, obviously trying to hurt me. 

"I don't need your thank you. Excuse me," I replied, trying my best to ignore and walk away but her next words hit me harder than I wished it had. 

 "The stench of loneliness is still all over you. Tsk tsk tsk, I doubt you're ever overcoming that cloud of bitterness that hovers over you and it's such a pity because it's the reason you're still single and rejected," she taunted and I could feel a tear drop roll down my cheeks. 

Normally I would have ignored her and walked away because her words were only a repetition of things I've heard on several occasions but this time, it genuinely stung since it's coming from my very own childhood friend. A person I've known for more than twenty years. I trusted her with everything, even more than I trust Ini. 

 "Omotayo?" an unfamiliar voice called out my name and I turned around to see the client I had fought with a few days ago. "I was wondering what took you so long to come in so I decided to check on you myself. Is there a problem? Why are you crying?" he asked calmly and quickly brushed his hand on my face to wipe my tears. 

"Who are you?" Sewa's voice asked with a scowl on her face and I frowned but decided against answering on his behalf since I was still confused as to why he was here and more importantly, why he was acting so friendly towards me. 

  "I'm someone who loves Tayo. Any problem?" he replied and I could have sworn my heart did a somersault. 

"You love her? You love this one?" she asked and immediately burst out laughing. "Can you stop lying to her? I'm sure no perfectly sane person can love this useless psychopath," she replied harshly and I did something I've been itching to do for more than two years. I slapped her so hard she almost lost her balance.  

  "I'm lonely, agreed. I'm bitter, no problem, agreed but at least I'm not a second hand woman like you. And let me correct that thought in your head, Daniel didn't leave me for you because you're better than me in any way, he left me because you were much easier to control. He knew who the dog was and he chose her so keep serving your master quietly and leave me in peace and before I forget, say hello to your son and your step daughter. Bitch!" I spat out furiously and walked away pulling the unnamed guy with me. 

As soon as I was out of Sewa's sight I broke down and let the tears I was holding in pour out. Her words constantly rang in my ears and as much as I'd like to say it wasn't true, it was. I was lonely, bitter and depressed. I buried my sadness in work but lately, the sadness just clouds my thoughts and working no longer helps to suppress it. 

  "Need a hug?" the unnamed guy asked and on a good day, I would have happily told him off completely but today, I needed to cry a lot of things out and the idea of getting hugged didn't seem like too bad. 

I voluntarily wrapped my hands around him as tears streamed down my face furiously. I mentally thanked my stars that I wasn't wearing any makeup cause I can't even imagine the damage it would have caused to his shirt. 

After what felt like hours of comfort, I let go of him and he offered a tight lipped smile, making me slightly embarrassed. "Tell me your address so I can drive you home," he offered and I politely declined knowing I didn't deserve his niceness. 

  "No, you've already done so much. I'm very thankful and also very sorry. I'm apologising for the other day and also for making you lie today. I'm also sorry you had to see me like this, I'm not usually a crybaby," I tell him, trying hard to feel less embarrassed around him but his amused smile just wasn't helping. 

"You don't need to feel embarrassed. Everyone has their moments and I'm happy I could be of help to you. Since you don't need a ride, I'll be off. Take care of yourself," He walked off smiling at me and I watched him walk away before remembering that I don't actually know his name. 

"Hey! Hold on a second!" I called out and he momentarily stopped and turned around to look at me. 

"Sorry for stopping you but I just wanted to know your name," I said. 

"I'm Bayo and I'm sorry but I have to go now. See you soon," he yelled a reply and walked off very quickly leaving his name to linger on my mind.