Closure 7

Mawuli was right. Eddie was sitting next to his manager and the branch manager had some documents in front of them which I realised was a contract. "Oh Vanessa you are here. I guess I will leave you to handle the contract signing now." He said. He excused himself and walked out. My heart was pounding with anger but I couldn't let it show. When Eddie and my eyes met I instantly looked away.

"Vanessa long time no see. How are you doing?" Stanley, Eddie's manager said. I faked a smile and told him I was fine. I picked up a copy of the contract and marked the important areas with my pen. The contract wasn't very long so I was done in no time. My heart was pounding so hard my vision was a bit impaired. "So how are you, how is everything?" Eddie finally said. I stopped what I doing and was going to answer him when my phone rung. It was Frank. "One minute." I said picking up my phone and walked out.

"Hello, you called me at the right time." I said when I answered Frank's call. He giggled and asked why I said that. I explained the 'situation' in the office to him. "I really don't want to talk to him. I don't even want to see him." I complained. "This is what I tell my employees. If you don't like a situation at work tell yourself, this is purely business and the day will eventually end." Frank said. I must admit it was very good advice. I told him I was only in the meeting because my boss dropped it on me. Before I could fully explain everything I saw my boss staring at me. I rushed off the phone with Frank and walked back into the room.

"Sorry about that. Do you have any questions?" I said and sat down. Eddie smiled and nodded. He turned to Stanley and asked if he could excuse us. He claimed he wanted to discuss a few things with me in private. I wanted to object but remembered what Frank said and nodded. When Stanley was gone Eddie took off his shades. He hadn't changed much. He took a deep breath. "These past few months have made me believe in karma. I was a fool. You didn't deserve anything I did to you. You may never forgive me and I understand that but I just want you to know that no day goes by without me thinking about you." He said. I wasn't ready for what he was saying because I could feel tears about to form in my eyes.

"Eddie that's all in the past. I really don't want to talk about it." I managed to say. He nodded. "I know. I just want to let you know. I knew you wouldn't agree to see me that's why I set up this job. I told Stanley to propose to perform at this banks event just to talk to you. Nessy I'm sorry." He said. My heart started to race. If he had told me these words some months ago maybe just maybe I could have forgiven him. I put the files together and stood up. "I have heard you. Please sign the documents then. I think we are done here." I said. My eyes were teary as I walked out.

That evening Frank came to pick me up from work. He heard how gloomy I sounded over the phone and refused to let me go home alone. He took me to the beach. The same beach we went to the other time. When we sat down on the sand I told him very bluntly that I wasn't interested in playing his pebble game. He smiled and agreed we wouldn't play it. He put his arm around me and whispered. "We'll just sit here and watch the waves. If there's anything you want to say you can tell me or else we'll both just sit here and relax."

The sound of the waves was very calming. The breeze was chilly but Frank was nice and warm. After a brief moment a tear drop fell out of my eye and another followed. I could feel Frank hold me closer. I felt safe with him.

Just then I felt a sea shell hit my foot. I looked in the direction it came from and saw a man dressed in tattered clothes throwing shells at us. "Eii maame water! Papa water!" He screamed when he saw us looking at him. He looked mad. Without any warning he started throwing more than shells at us. He threw empty plastic bottles and and whole of of junk at us. "This guy is mad, let's get out of here." Frank said and  grabbed my hand to leave. As we were walking away the man noticed and started running towards us still yelling and screaming. Frank and I instantly broke into a run towards the car.

We entered Frank's car and locked the doors. Then the mad man turned around and walked away. When he was gone we looked at each other and instantly started laughing. We laughed for so long my sides hurt. When we were done laughing Frank leaned in and kissed me. His lips were a bit salty from the sea but the kiss was still amazing. "I'm sorry I just wanted to kiss you again before a mad man comes to stone me to death at the beach." Frank said and triggered our laughter again. Just like that I had forgotten all about Eddie.


To be continued... 

Zaky 10

Zaky turned and picked the ID card. "Wait, I gave you classified information. When they read the report I'll be fired won't I?" I asked, getting worried again. "I'm going to figure out a way to keep you out of the report. The information will be there but I will find another source." He said. "You never told her. You never told Kafui the truth." I said. Zaky turned to look at me sharply. "How do you know her? Did she tell you anything?" He asked. I narrated to him all she said to me. He told me that they never dated and that he just worked with her for the report. He added that she threw herself on him and that created a lot of friction.

Immediately Zaky or Derrick or whatever heard his phone ring be looked at me and muted it. Usually he would take the call and excuse himself to talk. He just waited it out. There was an awkward silence for a moment and the phone rung again. "Can I have your phone?" He asked. I hesitated a little because of the look on his face. It's like he was deep in thought. "It's someone from work. I need to give him some quotes and need a calculator." He said. I gave him the phone but somehow I felt what he said was a lie. He went out of the room to answer the call. When he came back I asked if he was able to calculate the quotes. He nodded. That was when I knew something was really up. My phone was locked and he didn't know my password. There was no way he used it!

"So what do I call you now? Derrick?" I asked getting up. He shook his head. "If anyone hears you call me that it could blow my cover. Let's stick with Zaky." He said. He still looked far in thought. "Yea true. Anyways I think I will be going home now. Can I have my phone?" I asked. Zaky stood up. He said nothing. He just looked at me. That was when my heart started racing. I turned around and walked briskly to the bedroom door but when I tried to open it I noticed it was locked. "What are you doing?" I turned around to ask him. He walked to me and before I could do anything he forcefully covered my mouth and nose with a handkerchief. "I'm sorry." I heard him say and I blacked out.

I opened my eyes slowly. I had a splitting headache. It took me about a minute to figure out where I was. I was in Zaky's bedroom, on his bed. This time around the door was wide open. Unfortunately I was tied to the bed so it was useless. I closed my eyes and prayed that it was all a dream. I could hear voices from the living room. I looked out the window and saw that it was dark outside. Very slowly the voices got clearer. The voices were three Zaky's and two others. "Everything is under control. We need her alive. Tell Rex to get ready to go with the same plan tonight." Zaky said and the second person left. This was not good.

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.... 

Just like Adel 2

"Henry?" I asked. He looked up at me, clearly surprised. "Hi, what are you doing here?" He asked, taking off his glasses. He signalled for me to have a seat and I told him my mission. I realised now why Dean conveniently wanted me to come instead of him. He must have known. Henry answered all my questions sharply. It almost felt like he was in a hurry for me to leave. I told myself he was doing that because I told him my time was limited. I left immediately I got what I needed ignoring the temptation to take his number, for work purposes of cause.

After we presented our documented ideas to the boss Dean and I came back to our desks. We were so late we hadn't talked about Henry yet. Dean brought him up the minute I sat down. I told him in all honesty that if there was any proof that he wasn't interested in me it was our meeting. Dean shrugged and ended his probing by saying I was exaggerating. When he grabbed his phone I knew he was going to give his girlfriend the report. I couldn't wait till the next day when she finally arrived so I could tell her how annoying her boyfriend was.

I noticed as my taxi pulled over in front of a really big restaurant that I was probably under dressed. Looking at the type of cars around my black trousers and blue sleeveless top may not have been very appropriate. I remembered I had a necklace in my bag and put it on to add some style to my plain look. I got out carefully in order not to damage the cake I was holding. Dean tasked me with delivering the cake he had ordered for Adel at her welcome dinner. She had finally come back!

I rushed into the restaurant after paying the taxi driver. Dean had called me a thousand times because I was late. He said Adel was a bit jet lagged so he didn't want her staying up so late. I smiled when I saw Dean waving at me. He and about 5 other people where sitting at one table. I walked to them and put the cake on the table with a smile. "Everybody this is Doris, my coworker who loves being late." Dean teased and I heard some giggles. "Finally I get to meet Doris." I heard a familiar female voice say. I knew it was Adel. I turned to look at her and froze. I thought I was looking in a mirror. She looked just like me!


To be continued... 

Grace of Fear 3

Baaba froze. Her heart started pounding like the night before. Then a few pieces came together. The bikers must have been the robbers and they may have accidentally dropped the money.  She grabbed her phone and with her shaky hands and called Ralph but he didn't answer. He was the only one she could talk to. She rushed out of the room with the money in her bag and headed for his workshop.

   When she got to Ralph's workshop she was directed to go into the store room. "Ralph, something bad has happened. Some man got robbed and..." she blurt out as she entered but stopped when she realized he was not alone. There was a tall guy standing in front of Ralph. He turned to look at her. "A man got robbed? Where?" the tall guy asked. Baaba looked at Ralph and back to him. "Somewhere around Kaneshi School Junction, in my area." Baaba replied. "What's his name? I know some people who live there." The tall guy added. "I don't know his name but he has a daughter called Nasara. They say the robbers used a special key to open all his doors." Baaba added. The tall guy said wow and smiled. "Bikers are just strange." Baaba said grabbing Ralph's hand and sending him outside. "You heard they were bikers?" the tall guy asked. Baaba froze. She realized she had said too much. It happened a lot when she got nervous. "Ei, did I say bikers? I meant robbers." She said and faked a laugh. Ralph excused himself and went outside with Baaba.

   "Baaba what is this all about?" Ralph asked when they were alone. She hesitated for a while and finally said "it's about the armed robbery I was talking about." Ralph looked scared all of a sudden. She told him the whole story of how she picked the money. Ralph looked a little excited and scared at the same time. Just then the tall guy walked passed them. Baaba turned and watched him. He kept stealing glances at her too. It was when another guy on a bike came to him that things became clearer to her. 

 Then she saw it, the snake tattoo on the other biker's leg. Her heart missed a beat then she heard Relph's voice. "Baaba, stop looking at them. Look here." he said. She managed to do as he said. "Yo, ma guy. We dey go come." The tall biker yelled and hopped onto the back of his friend's bike. Ralph nodded and waved as they left. "Were you part of them? Ralph what is going on?" Baaba asked almost in tears. "I needed the money so we could leave this place. I had nothing to do with the shooting. The man brought his car here and his key holder had his house keys so I just made a copy. That was all. They said they'll give me 500 cedis if they got the money. The man is very rich so it's not so bad. I swear I didn't know they would shoot him." Ralph explained. He had to get her to trust him.

Baaba listened in shock with her mouth slightly open. "I think we should send the money back. I can give it to the Police." she said. "Are you mad?!" Ralph yelled. He looked around to see if anyone heard him. If the Police find out, I'll go to jail or the biker boys will kill me. Those guys are hard. Let's just take the money and go." He suggested. Baaba felt guilty. "What if the man dies? What will happen to the girl? If we tell the Police about the bikers we won't go to jail. Just say they forced you." She said. Ralph considered it for a moment and shook his head. "Look, these guys are untouchable. Even the Police are afraid. Where's the money?" He asked, looking around. When he saw that Baaba wasn't convinced he held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "If you go to the Police both of us will die." He said.



 To be continued  ...

I love a man

I love a man who looks straight at me when we talk
A man who listens to what I say and gives it some thought A man who is not afraid to show me his weakness
I love a man who knows I love him and loves me too.    

I love a man who understands my dry jokes
A man who can make me smile when I'm a mess
A man who holds my hand in public and flirts like we just met
I love a man who proudly tells everyone I am his girl  

I love a man who can finish my sentences any day I love a man who just knows the right things to say A man who believes in me as much as I do him I love a man most importantly who knows he can't be all these but never gives up trying.

Never again

"This is stupid." I said to myself as I tied my shoe lace. I yawned loudly and turned to look at my bed. It was so inviting. I looked away almost immediately and stood up. I stretched like a cat that had been sleeping all day and picked up my ipod. "Time for some motivation." I said to myself as I walked to the door. I found my Sarkodie album and plugged my earphones in. I locked the door behind me. I stepped outside and inhaled the fresh early morning air. It was still fairly dark. Yes, I was going jogging and no it wasn't my idea. My doctor recommended it. It felt stupid but it was either this or the gym and I wasn't ready to pay 200 cedis a month!

I started off with a brisk walk. It wasn't bad at all. I guess the music helped too. Before I knew it I was jogging. It was actually fun, well at least for a while. I looked around and saw a suit shop. The suits looked really good and it looked like the shop was having a sale. "Wow! How come I have never seen this before?" I asked myself as I passed it by. I always drove fast to work. Never checking my surroundings out. There was also a bookshop across the street. I stopped and looked through the glass. I saw tons of novels. The type my wife liked. I decided to come to the shop on my way to work when they would be open. I could get her some books as a present when she got back. I smiled faintly and started jogging again.

I was so carried away by the things I was seeing around that I run much further than I intended to. This was my first day so I planned to take it slow. I got to the bridge and almost screamed when I imagined how long the journey back was. I stopped and learned against a tree. I was breathing so hard. "Ah this doctor has worried me. Now I am going to be dozing at work." I said to myself. Just then I heard a sound. It was coming from the side of the bridge. It sounded like someone crying. I could see a figure. It looked like a girl. She had long black hair in a pony tail. It was still pretty dark and I wondered if this was a trick to have me robbed. I didn't know her anyways. It was none of my business. I turned around but still heard her. Her cry just sounded so genuine and then all of a sudden it stopped.

 I turned around and looked at her. She was standing up now. She put one leg over the rails. I run towards her and yelled, "stop!". She heard me and stopped she looked at me with fear in her eyes. "Don't come near me! No one is supposed to know!" She cried. I wasn't sure what to do so I stopped. "Why are you doing this?" I asked to buy me some time to think. "Why should I tell you? You don't care." She shot at me. Hmmm I wasn't sure what to say. "I just want to know why you are going this far?" I said. It seemed to work. She was silent for a while. "God took him away from me. I loved him so much." She said with tears forming in her eyes. "I'm sorry but this isn't the best thing to do." I added. "Why not? This was where I saw him. I knew he was perfect. He was cute you...it has to be here." She said, getting really emotional. She had a black bag around her hand. Probably some weight so her body won't float. I had thought long and hard enough. I had a plan.

 "My goodness what is that?!" I yelled, pointing behind her. This was the decoy. I run fast and pulled her away from the edge of the bridge. We both fell and I held her back. "You may not want me to but I will save your life. I can't let a young girl like you kill herself." I said. "What? What are you talking about?!" She said trying to break free. "Weren't you trying to jump off the bridge?" I asked, rather uncomfortable. "No you dimwit! I just wanted to throw my dead dog into the river." She replied pointing to the black bag. I turned and saw the tail of the dead dog sticking out. How embarrassing  I stood up and she managed to do that too. "You are strange." She said. I screamed, "I am strange?!" inside my head. "Sorry." I said and turned around and left. I was too shocked to tell her my piece of mind.

The next day I bought a treadmill and never went out jogging again. Forget the gym, I was going to stay home and workout. This world is full of strange people!

His muse 4

"Hey. Akua let me call you back alright?" She said looking directly at Edem. He and his friend both froze. "How are you?"  She said again. Edem's friend kicked him and he said, "I'm fine. You look great." He said. She giggled and looked at the plain tank top and jeans she was wearing. "Thank you. I didn't know you were a student here too." She said smiling. Edem just smiled back. "Hi I'm sandra." She introduced herself to his friend. "Hi, I'm Moses." He replied. Edem turned to look at him. "Seriously? Your parents named you Moses?" He asked. Sandra started laughing. "Oh shut up." Moses replied. "Anyways, I have to go. My roommate has been calling me. See you around." Sandra said, taking her car keys from her pocket. "Ok. Ermm...Sandra." Edem managed to say. "I have a performance next week Friday. Would you like to come and watch?" She paused and smiled. "I could buy the ticket for you. Its at the Fairline hotel at 7pm." He added. She smiled. "Ok, that sounds cool. How much is the ticket. I would prefer to buy it myself because I doubt I will come alone." She said. "10 cedis." Edem replied. She smiled. "Ok. That's cool but I have to run so will see you there, ok?" She said and hopped into her car. At that moment Moses was singing praises to him.

Dean was so impressed when he heard Edem’s story. “It’s just annoying that she will come with her boyfriend.” Edem said. Dean turned to look at him. “Chale, are you sure you want a girl like Sandra?” He asked putting more clothes in his bucket. Edem paused for a while and smiled. “Why, you don’t think I’m good enough for her?” He asked, almost offended. “No, that’s not it at all. She is a beauty queen. I know Sandra is cool and all that but she has so many boys after her. The competition is tight.” Dean explained. 

“Deanie!” His girlfriend called. “Sally I’m in the bathroom.” He called out to her. She turned around and walked to them. “Edem I was asking Dean if I could get an extra ticket for a friend for the fashion show.” She said when she got there. Edem nodded. “Yea sure. The organizers gave me 4 tickets. The person I wanted to invite said she would buy her own ticket so you can have it.” He replied. Sally smiled and took out her phone to send a text. “Thank you! Oh were you going to invite Sandra Osei?” She blurt out. Dean turned and gave her a furious look. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She whispered. Edem shook his head. “It’s ok. You guys talk about everything. I kind of knew Dean will tell you.” Edem said, looking down. Dean felt bad. He stopped washing. He told Sally to excuse them. “Look, you know what? After this show you will see more beautiful girls. You will have so many muses it would be hard which one to choose.” He said. Edem looked at him and nodded. “That’s what’s up!” He yelled and they both laughed.

The night for the show came and the organizers gave Dean the program lineup when they got there. They were seated with Sally and her friend. “Look, all we have to do is make these people laugh for just 15 minutes. In actual fact you have no need to be nervous, you know why?” Dean asked. Edem shook his head. “It’s simple. You have nothing to lose. If you go up there and no one laughs, big deal, we are still getting paid. If you go there and it’s a big hit, you also win with a bag of chips.” He explained. Edem smiled at that. He was a little less nervous now. 

All through the show he was looking out for Sandra. The event was not so big so he could see she wasn’t around. Dean put his hand on his shoulder. “Yo, you need to go backstage. Don’t worry about Sandra.” Dean said. Edem stood up. “Why, with her do I also have nothing to lose?” He asked sarcastically. “Actually yes. Hear this. If she shows up, you can watch her laugh and if she doesn’t you have something to talk to her about when you meet her again. Technically she will owe you one.” Dean said. Edem’s face shot up into a massive smile. One of the organizers was signaling at him to come backstage. “Dean, you be guy. You just made my day.” Edem said turning to leave. Dean smiled, made his voice feminine and said, “So am I your new muse?” He teased. Edem hit him and rushed off. 

To be continued...