Rift 4

The fresh air was also very refreshing. In a distance I saw a guy smoking on one of the lazy chairs. He looked very much like my ex boyfriend's cousin, Julian. I walked closer to investigate and found out it was him! I realized the last time I saw him was a very long time ago. "Afua, what are you doing here?" He asked when he saw me. I smiled and said, "I'm hunting animals. What kind of question is that?" Julian laughed and put out his cigarette.

I wasn't surprised to see Julian at the party. We were so close at a point he also got to know Nina. He was one of those guys everyone loved to have around. His jokes especially were gold but behind all the comedy he gave very sound advice. When his cousin, Fiifi broke my heart things got a little weird. Then he left to do his Masters abroad and that was the last time I saw him. That was about 2 years ago so I guessed he was done. I sat down next to him and we chat like 2 years was just 2 days ago.

"Have you seen Fii?" Julian asked. I almost choked on my drink. "He's here? What's he doing here?" I asked. Julian looked at me with a blank expression on his face. Before he could say anything else we heard some noise coming from the main party room. People were moving there too. Julian said we should stop being antisocial and join the party. When I told him I was there with a friend from work he teased me. "Aww office romance, how cute," he said with a silly voice. I giggled as we walked into the party room and shook my head.

When we got inside what I saw hit me really hard. I wasn't in anyway ready for it. Nina was cutting her birthday cake and standing next to her was Fii my ex boyfriend. He had his arm around her waist as she cut the cake. I turned to look at Julian. "Afua you didn't know?" He asked. I couldn't even answer him. Just then Fii and I made eye contact. His smile faded when he saw me. I turned around immediately and walked out. Julian came after me calling my name.

I stood outside the venue and took out my phone. Julian walked up to me. "I should have told you before you saw them together. I'm sorry, I thought you knew," He said. I shook my head. "There's nothing to be sorry about. He's not my boyfriend anymore. It's no big deal really. I just came out to make a call," I lied. Just then I noticed my phone ring. It was Fii. I turned to look at Julian. "Ah, the person is calling me. Can you give me a second?" I added and Julian took a few steps back. I cut the line but pretended to talk on the phone for a few seconds. After a brief moment of self calmness I turned back to Julian. "We better go back in before the birthday cake finishes," I said faking a smile. He nodded and we went back. I walked straight to the bar and ordered something strong. I really needed something to take the urge off.

I realized I may have had too many drinks when I felt like going to the bathroom. "Hey, I'm going to the bathroom. Will be back in a minute," I said and Julian nodded. I looked around for the washroom and finally spotted on across the venue. I was halfway through when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and it was Fii. He looked at me like he was expecting me to react in a strange way. "Hey, Fii, what's up?" I said trying to smile. I shook his head and his light brown eyes twinkled in the light like they always did. "Can we talk outside?" He said over the loud music. "Look if this is about Nina there's no need to talk, it's cool. I have to go," I replied bluntly. I was never really good at pretending when he was around. "Well ok then. I guess we will talk later, " He said. I managed to smile more convincingly and nodded. The honest truth was that I really needed to pee. I turned around and dashed as fast as I could to the washroom!

It was when I was washing my hands in the washroom that many thoughts came rushing into my head. I looked at my reflection in the huge mirror. Fii and I seemed perfect together when we dated. Surely he was a wild card and I was much more subtle but didn't opposites attract? Why Nina of all the women in the world? I wasn't sure which hurt me more, the fact that Nina never liked him when we were dating or the fact that none of them had the guts to tell me what was going on.

"Is everything ok?" I heard someone ask. I snapped back into reality and turned to a lady standing next to me. "Yea, why?" I asked. She pointed to my hands which were covered in soap. "You've been rubbing your hands with soap for a while now," She explained. I noticed and quickly run water over my hands. "Sorry, I drifted away," I said with a smile. The lady nodded and took something out of her bag. "You don't look like you are having a good time at all. I'm Gina," she said and smiled back. Was it that obvious. "I just got bad news. The funny thing is that I'm mad at myself that I'm allowing it to get to me," I replied. She walked to me and handed me a little plastic bag. "You know what you need? Something to clear your head," she whispered. I took the bag and saw a little tablet inside. She smiled one more time and gave me her card. I don't know why but the drug actually looked like something I needed. I reached for my purse but she stopped me."This one is on me. I'm just helping a sister out," she added with a wink as she left the washroom. I looked at the tablet one more time and swallowed it.

To be continued...

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Rift 3

The next couple of days at work was a bit busier but still mostly introducing me to projects that have been completed and or were pending. I made a few more friends from my department. Steven was still my main buddy though. He brought up Nina's party again to make plans one day and I confessed everything to him. "Huh? You and Nina aren't talking?" he asked. I shrugged and he stared at me. "What happened, did she do something?" he finally said. I tried to remember why Nina and I grew apart but nothing was coming to me. "I don't even know, I think we both seemed to like different things at some point," I said. I remembered a few times when Nina invited me to hang out with some new friends of hers. I wasn't comfortable around them at all. They smoked weed like it was water and had some kind of free spirited recklessness I couldn't relate to. Nina had always been wilder than me but this was a bit extreme even for her.
"Look, that was in the past. I have a plus one invitation and Selina is out of town so we should definitely go together," Steven said. It was really thoughtful of him but I must confess I was a little disappointed to hear that he had a girlfriend. A party really sounded fun but I was just not sure if it was a good idea. "Text her if you don't want it to look like you are gate crashing. Just rekindle your friendship and let's chill. She's having the party at The Havana. Have you heard of that place? It's awesome!" Steven said with a big smile. At this point it was impossible to say no so I agreed.

When I got home that night Alex was fast asleep. I joined Kuukua and Ben in the hall to watch some TV after my dinner. I took out my phone during a commercial break and texted Nina. "Hey, hope you are good," I typed and sent it. There was no reply for some minutes so I decided to go on. "I'm in Accra now, got a job here. I heard from a little bird that you are having a party tomorrow," I sent that too. Then I noticed my messages had been read but still no reply. I sighed and put my phone away. A few minutes later my phone beeped. I picked it up and she had replied. "Hey Afua, you are in Accra now? That's so cool. Yes I am. I'm so busy with the party planning. Since you are in town are you coming?" She said. I gave a half smile. "Who's making you smile like that? It better not be Fii." Kuukua asked, looking straight at me. She never liked my ex. I just shrugged and replied the text. "Sure, I met Steven for uni and he said he's coming so I will probably be there with him," I texted. The next reply came quickly. "Awesome! See you tomorrow. I'm really tired now so goodnight." I said goodnight and then I realized I had to pick an outfit to wear, yikes!

Steven and I got to The Havana around 9:30pm the next night. He made me feel so underdressed in his black and gold kaftan. He had a neat haircut which was also amazing. I remembered why I had a crush on him back in school. "Next time give me tips on what to wear ok?" I said when we entered the party. He giggled as we walked to the cocktail bar and said I looked beautiful. The place was really something else with huge chandeliers, expensive lounge furniture in various corners and a beautifully lit dance floor. The music was great too and people seemed to be having a good time. We spotted a few mutual friends and had some chit chats.

The food and drinks at the party were amazing! I expected nothing less from Nina. She had always loved the extravagant life. "Steven!" Someone called from behind us. We turned around recognizing that familiar voice immediately. It was Nina. She looked even more sophisticated than Steven. She had long expensive hair flowing all the way to her butt and her makeup made her look like a runway model. She smiled at us and hugged both of us together. "Oh my goodness Afua, it's been forever!" She exclaimed. I smiled and nodded. "I'm so glad you could make it. How's the party, you guys having fun?" Nina asked. Before we could reply a lady walked up to Nina and whispered on her ear. She nodded at her and turned to us. "My personal assistant just informed me of something I need to take care of. I'll be right back." She said and walked away. I stared at her as she left and realized how different she had become. Her smile didn't seem genuine at all. For some reason I didn't feel like she wanted me around. Even though I wanted to leave, I could tell Steven was having a good time.

I noticed there was a pool at the back of the party venue. It looked like a quiet place with just a few people sitting there chatting. I grabbed a cocktail from one of the waiters and went to the pool. It was quieter there. The fresh air was also very refreshing. In a distance I saw a guy smoking on one of the lazy chairs.


To be continued... 

Rift 2

My new room was smaller than the room at my parents place but I had less stuff so it was just fine. Alex insisted on helping me unpack. When we got to my cosmetics he had so many questions. "Why do you have so many pomades?" He asked. "This is hand cream, this is body cream and this is to drive away mosquitoes, " I explained as I put them on my table. "Isn't your hand part of your body? Why do you need cream for just your hands?" He asked again. I giggled. This boy was getting smarter by the day! I had to think for a while before answering. Before I could tell him what I had come up with my phone rang. I stretched for it and smiled when I saw who it was. It was my mother doing her usual, "have you arrived safely" courtesy call. I told her we were home and I was even unpacking with Alex. Immediately Alex heard his name he asked who it was. Immediately I told him that ended my conversation. He took over my phone and chat with his grandmother. I'm sure she had forgotten about me too.

The next day I got ready for my new job as early as I could. Kuukua decided to drive me to work so I didn't get lost or anything. Luckily for me the location had easy public transportation routes back home. "Should I come and get you after work or you will find your way back?" She asked when she dropped me off. I told her I'd come back on my own so she nodded and waved as  she drove off. I looked at the huge building, took a deep breath and walked inside.

The company was much bigger than where I used to work. Just by looking at the staff I knew this new experience was going to be something else. I was directed to the office of my boss, Mr. Obeng and he greeted with a smile and asked me to take a seat. He was a fashionable middle aged man who seemed to like smiling. This really calmed me down as he spoke to me giving me a brief description of what he expected from me. He told me the product development team used to have a brilliant graphic designer but she left the country to further her studies so I had a lot of pressure on my hands. "I'll do my very best to be as good as her and hopefully with time even better, " I said in the most convincing voice I could master. He smiled and said he expected nothing less.

The rest of the day at work was basically full of introductions and some kind of orientation. I met the team I would be working with and recognized one of the guys immediately. Steven was a mate from university. I smiled at him and he smiled back. When it was lunch time I rushed over to him and we had a long fun chat as we ate at the cafeteria. "This is such an upgrade from where I used to work." I confessed looking around at the cafeteria. Steven just smiled and said I hadn't seen anything yet. It was nice to have a familiar face there. Especially one I used to have a crush on back in school. A lot of my anxiety at the new place went away after our chat.

Somewhere in the conversation Nina's name came up. Steven said she was having her birthday party the next weekend and wanted to know if I wanted us to go together. I thought it was sweet of him to want to go with me but I wasn't sure how to tell him I didn't know about the party and I hadn't spoken to Nina in over a year. Luckily for me someone approached our table and the subject instantly changed.

That day after work Steven nicely showed me how to take a car back home. We walked together to the bus stop, took one taxi to the main station and from there he showed me the trotro I needed to take me to where Kuukua's house was. He had visited me there on one of my trips to Accra so he knew exactly where it was. "See you tomorrow," He said when I was seated. He waved and he walked to his own trotro. I smiled as Steven left, glad to have him at my new office. This wasn't going to be bad at all. The expectations for me at the job were high but a good challenge was what I needed right now, besides the pay was good.

To be continued... 

Rift 1

I picked up a photo of Nina and I at a festival and instantly smiled. The memories of that day flooded my brain. It was 5 years ago when we were in university. I remembered how much fun it was. Nina had spent all her money at the festival and had to sit in my lap on a bus back to school. It was hilarious. Nina was so wreckless sometimes. I shook my head and contemplated taking the photo along or putting it back into my cupboard. Nina and I were best friends for almost a decade but we were barely acquaintances now. How we drifted off, I wasn't exactly sure.

"Afua, are you ready to go?" My sister said walking into my room. I nodded taking the photo along. I had got a new job in Accra and was moving in with my sister and her family. It was just temporary, until I could afford a place of my own. My parents understood and gave me their full support. I looked around my room to make sure I wasn't leaving anything and carried my last bag out. "Don't worry, if you leave anything behind that you need I will send it to you by bus," My mother reassured. I nodded and left with Kuukua, my sister. We hopped into a taxi with the rest of my things and we headed straight to the bus station.

In no time at all Kuukua and I were well on our way to Accra in a big VIP bus. Going to Accra wasn't new to me but this time it was different. I wasn't going to stay for a couple of weeks with Kuukua or to a friend's wedding. This time I was going for the long term. I remembered all my friends in Accra and how cool it would be to hang out with them on a regular basis. My heart skipped a beat when I thought about my ex boyfriend Fiifi. I wondered how odd it would be to bump into him. We checked up on each other every birthday, holiday, you know, that type of thing. I shook him out of my mind quickly. Maybe Nina and I could be cool again. I smiled and slowly slipped off into sleep.

When I woke up we were at a rest stop. The bus had just stopped and people were getting out. "Do you want to get a snack?" I asked Kuukua who was busy reading a book. She looked up at me and nodded. We both got out of the bus and walked to the snack stand. There was a lot to choose from. I could smell some freshly baked cakes and bread but it was the kebab that drew most of my attention. Kuukua got a cup of coffee and some crackers. I shook my head, disapprovingly and opted for fried yam and beef kebab. We rushed back to the bus and started eating as it took off.

Kuukua's husband, Ben and their four year old son Alex were at the bus station to pick us up when we arrived. Alex rushed to hug both of us when he saw us. "Auntie Afua I have missed you." He said to me. I lifted him up and told him the feeling was mutual. Alex was the happiest kid I had ever met. Ever since he was a baby he always had a way of putting a smile on my face. Kuukua hugged Ben and I could tell they had also missed each other. They were my definition of couple goals. When Kuukua met Ben many years ago I knew she would marry him. Kuukua was very picky and uptight about almost everything but with Ben everything was different. He had a magical way of making her relax. My mother even mentioned it at their wedding. I was glad to be staying with them as I embarked on my new journey.

To be continued...