Pelumi's Memoirs - 9

Silent readers, I see you :-) Dropping comments in the comments section would be nice.

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"Have you figured out what you'll be wearing to the office party?”  Zainab asked Pelumi the next morning at the office while she was munching on her home made sandwich and enjoying a cup of decaffeinated coffee. 

"No, But I have this dress my tailor made the other day. It's a net lace gown. I wore it to a wedding not too long ago and everyone loved it.”

"Uhm.” Zainab was skeptical. "How much does your tailor sew dresses?” "Two thousand naira.” Pelumi answered her.

"And she sews it well?”

Pelumi frowned. What was Zainab getting at? "Of course! If she didn't, would I patronize her"?  Pelumi was clearly angry now.

Zainab shrugged. "No vex. But you know the current Lagos in which we live. All the fashion designers have stepped up. We both know how much it costs to have dresses made in this day and age."

"My tailor is cheap? Is that the problem?" Pelumi felt the anger rising on the inside of her.  "Well, two thousand is cheap o". Zainab insisted. 

"Okay, next time, I'll tell you that she sews for twenty thousand naira. Would my lie make it better?” She rolled her eyes. 

Zainab laughed. "I'm sure your tailor sews well but for this party, I think you should get a readymade cocktail dress. You know the people in this office and how they dress up to the nines right? You don't want to show up and look like one 'Mgbeke'! "

Pelumi shook her head. She wanted to say something but she kept her mouth shut after remembering that the Bible said a soft answer turns away wrath and anger lay in the bosom of a fool.

Remi Kuku walked in. "Good Morning Ladies, how are we doing this beautiful morning?”

"Fine", Pelumi answered. "Doing okay.”  Zainab chipped in. Remi sensed the mood in the room and wondered what was up with the ladies. He chose his next words carefully.

"Pelumi, can you please run the exceptions report for the Badia account? Send it to Dale and cc me on the email.” "Okay, Remi. What about the operational risk report for the past month? Do you want me to send that as well?”

"Send it to me for review first.” Remi answered walking over to his desk. Their office was an open floor layout. She heard it had been designed that way to aid collaboration and face-to-face interactions. The senior people like Dale and Shirley had an office to themselves. The managers of the various divisions and directors also had their own offices.

The C-Level folks had an entire floor in the building. That was the sixth floor and you didn't go loitering about there unless you had serious business.

Pelumi adjusted her seat and proceeded with working on the reports. She was still a little shaky from her encounter with the CEO the night before. A million possibilities crossed her mind. Would he have her fired? Give a bad report of her to Dale and Shirley? She was overthinking it. He was the one who had been in the wrong hitting their car. She crossed out thoughts of being fired and focused on the work before her.

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"Nkoyo, are you almost ready?” Tare yelled loudly so her sister could hear her voice. Nkoyo was a darling but she spent hours and hours dressing up and trying to look good. "I'm sure whatever you have on is beautiful.” Tare yelled again, walking into Nkoyo's room. Their parents were already in the car and heading to Chateau hotel.

"Tare, please help me pull up my zip.” "Wow, such a beautiful dress you have here, Nkoyo!” “Thanks, sis.” "But look at you also killing this fuchsia dress. My sister, my sister! Lead fashionista. The original slayer.” Nkoyo laughed and attempted swaying her hips the way Tare did. Tare couldn't hold her laughter in. "Nkoyo, please don't kill me with laughter.”

"Oya, please help me with my bracelet too.” Tare shook her head. I just knew you would still be dressing up. “Nkoyo, you can't change o".  Nkoyo chuckled. "Let me put on my shoes and get my clutch purse and I'll be ready."

"Meet me in the car.” Tare turned and walked out of Nkoyo's room. If you didn't act like you were ready to leave, Nkoyo had a tendency to keep putting finishing touches here and there especially on the makeup on her face.

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Chateau hotel was abuzz with good music, laughter and good food. Cars pulled into the parking lot at the hotel.

Pelumi and Itoro stepped out of the Uber and smoothed down their dresses. Everyone was entitled to bring one person along so she had opted to attend the party with Itoro. She wasn't dating and there was no sugar boy to bring along at the moment.

"This hotel looks amazing." Itoro exclaimed.  "Ah, one needs to come and be spending weekends here sometimes o.”

"Do you know how much they charge per night"? Pelumi asked her friend. “An arm and a leg!”

"I can just imagine. Hmmm, let me stay in my lane.” Itoro tittered.

"It's not like we can't afford a night or two. It's just very expensive.” Pelumi explained.

People were taking pictures at the hotel lobby when they walked inside it. "Beautiful place." Itoro couldn't help gushing over the splendor all around her. She was in for a swell time.

Pelumi’s colleagues saw her and remarked on the olive green dress she had on. "You look amazing", one of them said to her. "Thank you". She wasn't light skinned else they would have seen her blushing. Zainab winked at her and she smiled back. She had her to thank for her choice of clothing tonight. While she wasn’t one to get rattled over someone’s comments, she knew she wanted to look her best that night. She and Itoro had gone shopping for cocktail dresses.

Ivan watched one of the groups who were chatting. They seemed to be having a great time.

He saw the lady from the other night at the office chatting away. She didn't look a day older than twenty three. Okay, she was probably twenty four. Well, maybe twenty five. The olive green color suited her perfectly. It was funny how he hadn’t caught her name on the two occasions he’d met her. He made a mental note to find out what her name was.

He shifted his gaze off her and focused his attention on Celeste who was whispering in his ear. He raised his head to see Liyel walking towards them.

Liyel frowned upon seeing Celeste. No, it was more like glared at her.

"Hi". Liyel's voiced sounded heated. "I didn't realize you were back in town." He gave Ivan a questioning look but his brother avoided his gaze. "I invited her."

"I can see that.” Liyel's gaze swept over Celeste. She hadn't changed. She was still as gorgeous as he remembered.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's a pleasure seeing your beautiful and handsome faces tonight. Why don't we all get seated?” The MC's voice jolted Liyel from his reverie.

A lot of people had been standing around, talking and networking in the process.

"May I sit with you ladies?" Pelumi raised her head to see Remi Kuku taking a seat beside her. The sound of good music filtered into the atmosphere. “Who is this beautiful friend of yours?”

Itoro shifted in her seat and smiled slightly. The guy was fine like fine wine. She was curious to know who he was. “Remi, this is my friend and flat mate, Itoro Osagie.” “Remi Kuku”, he stretched his hand to shake Itoro.” “I am one of Pelumi's boss's.”

“I hear ya. Itoro don't mind him o. He's just my senior colleague.”

“Senior colleague doesn’t equal boss?” Remi asked mockingly.

“You didn't tell me you were working with a sugar boy.” Itoro muttered. Pelumi gave her a stern look which meant she wanted her to be quiet.

She looked up then to see the CEO with a very beautiful lady. No, exquisite was the word!  'Mammy water', Pelumi uttered inwardly. The lady was very tall and stood two inches taller than him. She had the body of Nollywood actress, Stephanie Linus Idahosa. She didn't know much about the Akenzuas but she was curious to find out more about the family that owned such a great company.

“Hi, hi people.” Zainab looked radiant and excited as she approached their table. She was closely followed by a guy Pelumi figured was her boyfriend. They exchanged greetings and Pelumi introduced Itoro. “Such a pleasure meeting you Itoro. Pelumi talks about you all the time.” Zainab reached forward and hugged her.

Dinner was buffet styled and Pelumi almost moaned when she bit on the crab cakes on her plate. “Such good food.”  “I couldn't agree more.” Her friend commented. The MC was a comedian and he cracked these jokes that made everyone laugh and want to fall out of their chairs.

“Pelumi, please you need to get me inside this your work place. The company obviously has money. We have never had something like this at my job. Stingy management.” Itoro ranted. “Count your blessings and name them one by one.” That was the only thing Pelumi could tell her. She’d look for opportunities around for Itoro.

“There goes madam HR”. Remi remarked as Tare walked to the middle of the hall for her speech. “Earlier this week, we added a new account to our customer base; the prestigious Tryon Corporation.” “Whoop whoop!” Someone yelled while others clapped.

“Who is she?” Itoro said to no one in particular at the table. “She’s one of the Akenzuas. She heads the Human Resource department.” Zainab elucidated.

Ndifreke put his hands in his wife’s and rubbed it. They shared a smile. One that showed they were proud of their children and the direction in which they were steering the company.

“And now ladies and gentlemen, let us welcome Omawumi Megbele.”  The MC announced. People shrieked excitedly.

Kokoma

I stand by

Adebisi Konga

Omawumi’s baby

Ehn ehn, wonder

Liyel watched Ivan dance with Celeste. A muscle worked in his jaw. Celeste had some real nerve being here tonight.

When a random guy came over to pull Itoro where they were standing on the dance floor just swinging their bodies to the music being played after Omawunmi had left the stage, Pelumi winked at her.

"May I have this dance"? "Sure, Remi". His ‘shaku shaku’ was out of this world. “How and where did you learn to dance this well?” Pelumi couldn’t help asking her dance partner. “Well, let’s just say it’s innate. When I was a child, I won the prize for best dancer at every party I attended.” He shouted so she could hear him clearly. The music was quite loud.

Pelumi felt a pair of eyes on her. When she turned her head to the right, she saw Ivan looking at her with a serious look on his face. Her heart skipped a beat as the memory of their first encounter flashed into her memory. She really did pray she wasn’t in some big trouble where he was concerned.

Remi volunteered dropping them off at home since he lived around Anthony village which wasn’t far from Mende where they lived.

Pelumi took a hot shower and switched on the air conditioner in her room. Itoro walked into the room with a bowl of ice-cream in her hand. “You know, I could have sworn Remi has a thing for you.”

“What? No, please. I work closely with him. You were probably just imagining things.” Pelumi said frowning. She didn’t want to be in an awkward situation. She was sure Itoro with her wild imagination was only imagining things.

She replayed the events of the day in her mind. Who said life wasn’t beautiful? As long as there was life, there was hope for a brighter tomorrow.

‘No matter condition, put a smile on your face. Feyin e.’ The words of a great Nigerian musician.