CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

Tuesday, 1st March 2016.

On Tuesday morning, I woke up bright and early for work. I was new in the area and had to figure out a way to arrive at work as early as possible. As Mr Jacobs’s assistant, I had to be at work preferably before he arrived. Luckily, Lekki Phase 1 wasn’t far from Victoria Island so the new location was an advantage.

I was in front of the building, in the process of bargaining the transport fare with a taxi I hailed when I noticed another car parked nearby. Bode stepped out and walked towards me.

"Oh, good morning, Bode."

I hadn’t seen the car before. Maybe it was a recent addition to Mr Jacobs’s fleet of cars.

"Good morning.” He stopped and looked between me and the taxi. “What are you doing?"

"Don't mind all these taxi drivers nowadays. I've been here begging him to reduce the fare to a reasonable price but he won't agree."

"The boss already instructed me to pick you up this morning since you just moved into this area."

I blinked and squinted at the car. The windows were tinted.

“Is Mr Jacobs… in there?” I nodded towards the car.

Bode nodded.

I mentally weighed the pros and cons.

Pro, I wouldn't have to spend a dime on transport and I would be early. Con, I realised the more time I spent with Mr Jacobs, the more I saw him as more than my boss.

I decided to just go with it. I could handle it. It was just a car ride and we won’t even be alone together.

I followed Bode to the car, got into the passenger.

“Good morning, Mr Jacobs and thank you for the ride.”

He nodded and smiled briefly but his eyes were troubled. It seemed his mind was elsewhere.

I faced forward and sighed silently in relief.

I had nothing to worry about after all but the sight of his troubled eyes bothered me more than I cared to admit.

When I walked into the office, I was accosted with a bear hug from Melody.

"Eniola! Gosh, it feels like ages since I last saw you. How are you?" She asked as she squeezed the life out of me.

"I'm… great… you?" I choked out.

"Oh, sorry. I’ve missed you." She laughed and released me.

Once I was out of her death grip, I whistled lowly.

“Your hair looks amazing.”

“Don’t I know it?” She flashed a cheeky grin at me and flipped her passion twist braids to the side. “We are definitely catching up on all the latest gist over lunch, got it?”

"I'll definitely be there, ma’am." I smiled as we headed to our different offices.

I exchanged greetings with several other employees as I made my way up to the office. Once I sat behind my desk, I stretched my fingers and set about work for the day. When lunchtime came around, I left to join Melody at the restaurant. I filled her in on my trip to Abuja but decided to leave out the bits where our boss was concerned.

"Before I forget, I got you something while I was away." I handed her the carrier bag.

"Aw, thank you." She grinned widely. "Can I peek?"

"Like you need permission." I rolled my eyes.

"Oh my gosh, it’s beautiful.”

"I'm glad you like it."

We placed our orders and the food was served.

Later, my attention was distracted when I noticed two people walk into the restaurant. Vincent and Favour with their arms wrapped around each other. Melody glanced toward the door to see what caught my attention. Her eyes widened slightly and she turned back to me.

“There is something I just don’t get.” I turned to her. “I thought you said office relationships were against the company rules.”

She scratched behind her ear and looked away.

“Mel, is there something you are not telling me?”

“The first thing I want you to know is that I did it for your good.”

“Explain please.” I raised an expectant eyebrow.

“They’re not against the company rules at Legacy as long as you inform HR department about your relationship. I mean Cynthia, the boss’s former assistant even met her husband at Legacy but then he started his own company and left so…”

“So, get to the point,” I said.

“Anyway, I said that to discourage you from getting your hopes up about Vincent.”

“Are you kidding me? It’s not like he is the only man at Legacy.”

Footsteps approached us and when I looked up I stared right into Favour’s smug face.

“Funny seeing you two here. This restaurant is more popular among couples. You know, those with a significant other in their lives.”

I glanced at Vincent who didn’t say a word. Honestly, he seemed like he couldn’t even be bothered to contribute to the conversation. He looked at me with smug satisfaction written all over his face.

I felt like such a fool. I couldn’t it believe at some point, I thought he was pleasant and even charming.

“Come on babe. Let’s eat.” He turned to Favour and wrapped an arm around her waist.

I was glad when they went to another table that wasn’t directly in our line of view.

“You have some explaining to do,” I raised an expectant eyebrow at Melody.

She slowly lowered her gaze and avoided my eyes.