Zaky 5

Zaky had the most charming eyes. He smiled and walked in my direction. I slowed my pace. "Spidy." He called and smiled. I laughed and all my nerves calmed down instantly. We spoke for a while. After a few minutes we saw the company bus take off. "Shit! I missed it again. I made you miss the bus too. I guess we will have to share a cab again. Did you know my new apartment is close to your place?" He said. My heart started racing again. "Wow, so we are neighbours." I said smiling like a sheep. Naturally I gave Zaky the good news, I had a car! His face lit up and he hopped into the front seat. I could not believe my second string of luck. Zaky and I were neighbours? Wow!

Immediately we got to Zaky's apartment Dede called. I answered the call. "Hey sorry about the lunch thing oh. Aha you remember the girl you told me who snubbed Zaky right? What's her name? I sent you a text but didn't get an answer." She asked. I turned to look at Zaky who was still in the car. "Oh you mean the host of Who Wants To Be Rich? I think it's Kafui.. Kafui Dei." I said, trying to sound convincing. Dede clearly didn't get it. "Huh? What are you talking about?" She said. I hung up on her and quickly sent her a text. I explained to her that I was with Zaky and if I mentioned her name he would find it weird. Just when I thought my lucky was too good Zaky invited me in!

"Make yourself at home. There's only water in my fridge though." Zaky said when we got into his apartment. The place was nice and spacious. The decor was very modern and expensive. "Nice place." I said taking a seat. The walls were painted grey except one that was black and white striped. There were paintings on the walls too. "Don't be deceived, I didn't do this myself. This place belongs to my cousin. He's out of town for a year so I'm sort of a caretaker. I don't have this kind of stylish flare at all." Zaky said grabbing the TV remote and sitting next to me. I smiled. What was he talking about? He had style! Then I realised how sadly dressed I was and I kept quiet.

We spent about an hour watching TV and then I left. It was nice hanging out with him but I didn't want to outstay my visit. On my way home I stopped by a clothing shop and got myself something nice for work the next day. When I got home I checked my phone and saw a message from Dede. It said, "I spoke to the Kafui girl. She said some pretty strange things about Zaky but I'm guessing she's just jealous." I replied and asked what strange things. "She said she wanted to talk to you so I gave her your number. If she threatens you we will know for sure that she is jealous." Dede replied. I waited for Kafui to call but she didn't.

To be continued... 

Zaky 4

We left the party in about an hour. Everybody was still there when we left. "I hope you had fun." He said. I nodded and smiled. "I'm glad you did." He replied as we walked down the street to catch a cab. He hadn't asked for my number this whole time. I wanted to take his but I felt it was a bit pushy. When he said "I think this taxi is empty, we can take it." I calmed my nerves. He said WE! He opened the door for me and joined me at the back seat. He looked at his watch and asked me to tell the taxi driver where I was going. He probably had more plans for his night. There was no traffic at all sadly, so we got to my house in no time.

When the taxi stopped I put my hand in my bag to bring out my purse but Zaky stopped me. He insisted on paying. "We could split it." I offered but he would have none of that. "Ah is there a bank down this road?" He asked pointing. I nodded and he asked if there was a restaurant right opposite it. I nodded again and he smiled. "I think I know this area." He added. I giggled and told him our office wasn't far from my house. "Thanks for coming with me Spider Woman." He teased. I laughed and nodded. "Alright see you around." He said and the taxi left.

"His number." I said to myself when I realised I had forgotten to ask him but it was too late. I turned around and walked to my house. I noticed my car was back. I smiled as I went past it. If I had driven it to work I wouldn't have met him. I still had what Kafui said on my mind. It was a bit confusing but I thought about how interesting Zaky was and smiled. Maybe a visit to our Head Office would do the trick.

Dede couldn't wait to see me the next day. She came over to my desk immediately I settled down. "I did some snooping around and guess what?" she asked. I smiled and asked her to continue but I noticed she was staring at me in a funny way. "Really? This is the best you could wear today?" She asked with her hands on her hips. I shrugged and explained to her that I really wanted to wear something interesting but I didn't own any such clothes. "How about that white top with the ruffles?" Dede asked. "It was dirty." I said hiding my face in my palms. She gave me a sympathetic look and continued what she was saying before she was rudely interrupted by my fashion flaws!

Dede told me the person Zaky was covering for had extended their leave so he was going to be around at least for 2 more weeks. That was amazing news! That was why Dede wanted me to look good. Now I had to just plan how to bump into him. The bus would have been a good plan but I brought my car to work this time. "Tomorrow I'll leave my car at home and use the bus. He'll take it too." I said. Dede giggled. She thought it was a good plan but didn't understand why I needed to go that far. "You guys are friends now. You can just walk up to him and talk." She said. I stared at her. She had a point but I wasn't sure what I would say. The only thing I really wanted to ask him was what the girl at the party meant by what she said. But I honestly didn't know how to ask without it sounding weird. Just then Dede's boss walked into his office. "We will talk about this at lunch time." She said quickly and rushed off.

Unfortunately for me Dede wasn't able to meet up with me during lunch time. She had to attend a meeting at the head office that took longer than she imagined. After work I walked to my car and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Zaky coming out of the building too. He was with a bunch of his colleagues. Before I could turn away our eyes met.


To be continued... 

Zaky 3

"I hope you have fun. I'm not really a party person but I had to be here. If I'm boring pinch me ok?" He said and smiled. I smiled and nodded. If had asked me to do anything at all at that very moment my answer would have been yes. No matter what it was. As we entered he held my hand again. I probably needed pinching too because I felt like I was dreaming. Maybe I dozed off on the bus?

There were people all over. Everyone was in work clothes but some of the ladies had thrown on some extra jewellery and unbuttoned their shirts a bit lower. Dede was right, the women who worked here looked much more daring. Their heels were higher, clothes were tighter and their make up was something else. I felt so odd in my flats. "Zak how's the new branch?" A tall guy said, smiling and shaking his hand. They had a brief conversation and we walked to the table that was serving drinks.

Zaky kept very close to me. He would chat a bit, introduce me to people and walk around. Then we met the operations manager. She was tall and commended a lot of presence. What in modern terms people call a boss chick. Even in a colourful party hat I could sense it. "Zaky! Have you missed Head Office already?" She said and we all giggled. She shook my hand and I wished her a happy birthday. Zaky was right about being bad company. He would chat for a while and when he noticed it quickly rush back to me. It was perfectly fine for me, I mean I was just excited to be his date. I spent a good deal of the time texting Dede and telling her all about him.

When I felt someone close to me I took my eyes off my phone and turned to them. It was a lady. She had a perm cut and the most modest clothes in the room, well besides mine. She smiled at me and I smiled back. She looked at Zaky was was busy laughing with some guys and turned back to me. "You are from his new branch right?" She asked. I nodded. Then her smile faded. "Are you two going out?" She asked bluntly. I wasn't expecting such a question at all. "No, me and him? No we are not." I said, fumbling all over the place. "Well then, lucky you." She added. At this point Zaky had seen us and was walking briskly towards us. Before I could ask her what she meant he had reached us. "Kafui, how are you doing?" He asked her. She gave a very dull reply and just walked off. "Have you tried the spring rolls? They are amazing." Zaky said immediately she left. He grabbed my hand and we walked to the food table like that awkward conversation never happened.


To be continued.... 

Zaky 2

"Are you OK? " I heard someone ask. I looked up, parting my braids to see who it was. It was him, Zaky! He was looking down at me. "Me? I'm fine. Just moving to some music " I lied with a smile wider than I would have liked. He smiled too. "ok." He said and sat down. "Were you going to tap my shoulder earlier?" He asked and I noticed I had forgotten what I was going to say to him. Yikes! "No" I lied again. "Yea? Because I could have sworn I saw ur palm on my shoulder." He said looking straight at me. His brown eyes looked even more attractive up close. "Ermm yea it was this, spider thing there." I said.

This was not going as I planned it at all. Surprisingly Zaky laughed. Then the bus stopped. This was his stop. I had blown my second chance! "Did you see where the spider went?" He teased. I nodded. "It dropped." I replied. "Ei where,  at the stop before this one?" He asked. I giggled too. I realised he was preparing to leave the bus. "Yes didn't you see it?" I played along. I smiled when the bus started moving again. Someway God had saved my incredible mess up. And almost instantly I felt comfortable around him.

"Anyways I'm Zaky." He said. "I'm Spider woman." I said pretending to be shooting webs. He laughed out really hard. He got up and sat next to me. "Zaky sounds like a nice name for a psychic doesn't it?" He said and we both laughed. We goofed around some more and he asked me why we had never met. "You are really funny. That's rare around here." He confessed. We talked and joked some more. "I'm going to this party at the Head office. Do you want to come?" He asked. I couldn't believe it. Wow that was fast. All because of my silly, sloppy humour. I nodded without a second thought. I could hardly believe what was happening.

When the bus stopped at our company's head office Zaky and I got off and walked into the building. It seemed too good to be true. I mean in all technicalities we spoke for barely an hour and we were already on a date? Well it wasn't exactly a romantic date but he asked me to go somewhere with him so he obviously enjoyed my company. I wanted to ask him why he brought me along. Why he picked me instead of all the ladies at work. I was honestly the least fancy one, with glasses and all but I didn't want to jinx it. Maybe he did ask them and they were all busy.

The party wasn't anything big. It was held in one office. The Operations Manager was celebrating her 50th birthday.
Just before we walked into the party place Zaky grabbed my hand and pulled me to the side of the door away from everybody's sight. He looked me straight in the eye. His face was so close to mine my heart skipped a beat.


To be continued...