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Chapter 5

“So, this wraps up the accounts for the week…”

The room was quiet, and except for the light that came from the projector, everywhere was dark, and shadows were cast across the faces of the people seated around the table. Jane took long strides as the slides changed and the white screen lit up with charts. She had to go through the presentations every Monday and this was no exception. Her delivery was good, her command of the English language was impeccable as expertise had come with many years on the job. As Jane veered towards the end of her presentation, a satisfactory smile rested on her face when she saw the grinning looks on the faces of the other managers.

“Miss Nwobodo, emergency call for you…”

Emergency? Jane’s smile froze and she was propelled into another time with the though of her sister Amaka lying on a hospital bed. The phone was normally place by the extreme corner of the conference room and Jane excused herself, walked quickly to it and lifted it up. “Hello…”

“I found him.”

The voice sounded nothing like Amaka, Uju or any of her family. It was Marina. “Marina, are you felling okay?”

“I’m perfect. I found him.”

“Found who?” Jane wondered if she had been looking for anyone.

“Your man.”

“What?” Jane could not believe this was the emergency call she had rushed out of her meeting for. “Marina, I am no longer interested in any schemes, I am fed up, okay?”

“This man is perfect!” Marina insisted, “he is nothing like any of the guys you met from Mature and Single.”

“Marina, I am not interested in meeting anyone, okay…” she turned and met the other managers, and met some of their worried gazes on her, and she turned back to the phone, trying to put up a serious expression to make it look as serious as it was meant to be. “Marina, now I’ll have to make up a good excuse to explain this emergency, half of these managers think someone is having a heart attack.”

“It’s not so bad, and besides, I am not the only one…” Jane began.

“He’s on page seven of the Times,” Marina started. “He is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Nigeria…”

“Marina, I have had it with you and your ideas,”

“No,” Marina began. “His name is Steve Markins.”

“Marina, I am not having this conversation with you…”

“He works with Jojo.”

“And?”

“He’s your type – he is cute, really cute, and he is single and most importantly, he is a Christian… he won’t jump you when you’re not looking,” she started.

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Jane, I talked it over with Jojo…”

“Marina, I told you not to talk about me with Jojo anymore,” Jane began.

“It’s not so bad, really, Steven works for Jojo so I talked to him and he thinks you will stand a good chance with him…”

“I am not interested…” Jane looked at the members of the board, they were looking sideward. “I can’t believe you called me out of my meeting…”

“There is a singles programme in his church and he happens to be the leader of the group…”

“Since when did you know anything about what happened in church?”

“Since I started hunting for a Christian man for my best friend,” Marina started. “The tickets are with me, I’ll send them over with my driver.”

“I am not going – you know I hate all those Christian single programs… it’s always filled with a bunch of little kids…”

“Hey, Jane, that is not the attitude to put up when you’re hunting for a man.”

Jane groaned on the phone.

“You came to me looking like a disaster itself and I decided to put you out of your misery, so please co-operate.” Marina started.

Jane was beginning to regret the day she cried over Marina’s shoulder and asked for her friends to help her.

“All you have to do is appear – show up, okay? Jojo and I have arranged a meeting for you.”

“Whatever Marina, I’ll do whatever you want, I have to get back to my meeting…”

”Alright,” Marina was ecstatic. “Make sure you have loads of fun.”

**

Jane looked at the ticket on the dashboard as she turned out of the car park. The meeting was slated for 5 o’clock, which meant she wouldn’t have time to get back home and change. She would have to leave from work.

She had driven for about forty-five minutes and after all the traffic, she was heading towards the venue, when her phone rang.

“Are you there yet?”

“No, I am not yet,” Jane replied Marina’s worried question. “I will soon be there.”

“Don’t forget what I said – introduce yourself to him, and tell him that you’re Jojo’s friend – he’s expecting you.”

The phone clicked as Marian hung up and Jane navigated her way off the expressway and into a smaller more quiet estate. She arrived at the venue and saw the sign post that made her know she was not lost.

The whole place was packed full to the brim and Jane wondered where she would park. An attendant ushered her into a parking slot and she had pocketed her car into the space and was winding up and about to leave the car when she heard a tap on her window. As he bent over, she saw him. He was the parking attendant, was of average height and build and his eyes were straight and comic. Now, what did he want?

“Excuse me, you are not properly parked,” he started.

She sighed. This was not the day for the manoeuvring of her car, she had dealt with too much already. The look on his face was commanding and she was in church, this was the last place she wanted to let loose her fury. She started the car again and pulled out then reversed again. She had pulled the keys from the ignition and was slipping on her shoes when he appeared again. Now, what did he want?

“Madame, It’s still not right.” He began. “Just move forward, then turn just before you get to the bend.”

Still not right? How did he expect her to get her car into the little hole meant for a can of sardines? Resisting the urge to yell at him, she paused, then started the car. Pull forward and turn over the bend, that sounded easy. Not a likely reason to loose her cool. She re-parked and her eyes were on him, looking for some form of satisfaction, but she saw the slow shaking of his head. This man had real problems coming for him because there was no way she was moving her car again. She got out of the car and was about to lock it when he walked up to her.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience…” he started.

“Well, I don’t know what you want me to do because I have done the best I can!” Jane was furious. How easy did he think it was to drive? “I have been driving for ten years, and I have had no problems since then…”

“Let me help you then…” he extended his hand towards her for the keys.

She would never give her keys to anyone, a stranger was ruled out, but he was not going to run away with the car and this was church. What was the worst thing that could happen?

She watched him as he got into her seat. He had to adjust it because he was a head taller than she was. He started the car, pulled out, and turned the steering wheel with expertise. Jane was impressed as he slotted the car neatly by the side of the other one.

by Yvonne Oshiobugie (email: yoshiobugie@yahoo.com)




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