My Birthday break

So yesterday, 14th September was my birthday! I had such an awesome time I couldn't write today's episode of Closure. My husband, Tim planned a very awesome celebration for me. It was so much fun that I practically spent the whole day today sleeping.

Good news is that I'm going to make Sunday's edition a bit longer. 😊 Abi that's fair? So next episode of Closure drops this Sunday knorr. Follow my blog for notifications whenever there's a new post if you haven't done that already and thanks for reading 😊

Warm Regards,
Julz

Closure 5

"So how long till you start dating? From the sound of that kiss we are looking at minutes right?" Mawuli said. He was leaning over my desk at work. I told him about Frank and he had been smiling ever since. "I'm not sure that will happen. He said he doesn't trust women remember? Plus I'm not sure I'm ready for a relationship again." I confessed. His smile faded. "Vanessa you are too young and good looking to be saying such foolish things. You are very ready." He said. He tried to convince me to forget about Eddie and move on. I knew he was right but it didn't sound as easy as he was saying it. Just then the phone on my desk rang and our little chat was over.

Frank and I chat and talked for a couple of days after the kiss. None of us brought it up though. We just acted like nothing happened. I honestly didn't have a problem with it at all. The calls got more frequent and so was the texting. They say when you start climbing the hill of happiness a rock or two fall your way and try to destroy it. That's what happened to me one day at a meeting at work.

The bank was going to have its annual awards ceremony and as usual the planning committee meet to discuss the details. When I was called to this meeting I wondered why. I was never part of that group. "Vanessa we have a task for you. Can you speak to the singer Eddie to perform at the awards night?" The manager of the bank asked. I wasn't in anyway prepared for that question.

"Sir, I'm sorry I don't understand." I managed to say. He put his pen down, sat back in his chair and looked at me. "You know him personally right? Find out what his quote is and his availability but more importantly ask him for a discount. I think we are done" He said. Then he smiled and walked out. I wondered whether I was day dreaming or it was real. "He wants it by tomorrow oh." One of my workmates said as she left the meeting room and my heart skipped a beat.

"Did you call him? What did he say?" Mawuli whispered leading me to the kitchen, the next day. I just submitted Eddie's quotes the boss requested. I shook my head and Mawuli almost went crazy. "Nessa I hope you didn't send some fake exorbitant quotes you conjured." He said. "No!" I scolded. I explained to Mawuli that the quotes were real. I called his manager instead. "Smart move." Mawuli said smiling. I smiled back.

Mawuli knew I decided not to talk to Eddie and since he knew our history he understood. "What are you going to do at the awards night when he's there? You really need to get over him." Mawuli said. I knew he was right but I had decided to avoid him and so far it had sort of helped.

That night I wanted company. Wendy was out with her friends doing her usual Friday ritual. Mawuli was also out of town. I thought hard about Frank. I could almost be certain we would kiss again if we were alone together. Not that it was a bad thing but I wasn't sure it was healthy either. I shrugged and grabbed my phone to call him but just then my phone rung and it was none other than Frank calling. I giggled and answered the call.

To be continued... 

Closure 4

One weekday during lunch time I went to Frank's office as planned. The office space was modern and very cozy. It was really as awesome as he described it. There were 4 rooms; a salon, boutique, gym and his personal office. There was a very smart secretary there as well as an accountant and a manager who generally made sure everything was handled smoothly. Frank's own office was very interesting. It was very clean and professional even though there was a playstation and TV in it. He already had food in his office by the time I got there. We ate and chat. I must admit he was very good company.

"So word on the street is that you used to date Eddie T. I didn't know you were a celebrity type of girl." Frank said. I lost my appetite immediately. "Ah yes. Oh look at the time.  I should get going." I said putting my paper plate aside. "I thought you had an hour and half?" Frank asked. I nodded and got up to leave. "My boss is a pain. I should go. Thanks for lunch." I said and rushed out. Frank wanted to drop me off but I lied about bringing a car and left. It was like Eddie just kept coming back to haunt me.

I knew Frank didn't mean any harm but I wasn't ready to explain why I walked out on lunch so I ignored his messages. One evening I was reading a magazine in my room when my sister walked in. "Guess who is outside looking for you?" Wendy, my sister asked. I stared at her with a blank face. "Frank Ayarik. He's in the hall." She said. I dropped my magazine, looked at myself in the mirror and walked to the hall.

Wendy was telling the truth, he was sitting on the couch and quickly turned to look at me when he heard me walk in. "Hey, sorry about coming over unannounced. I had a strong feeling you wouldn't answer my call." He said with a smile. He had a very warm smile. It was just too contagious so I smiled back. I sat down on the chair next to him. We talked for a while and Frank asked if I wanted to go out for fresh air. I nodded and we went to the beach.

When we got to the beach there was practically no one there. "Who comes to the beach at 9pm?" I asked. Frank looked at me and giggled. "You weren't very frisky when you were a teenager eh?" He teased. We took a walk like we did the other day. "I'm sorry I mentioned Eddie to you. I found out you two broke up." He said out of the blue and I shrugged.

Frank picked up a pebble from the sea sand. "My last girlfriend left me because she wanted to get married and I wasn't ready. A month later she got married." He said. Then he threw the pebble into the sea as far as he could. He picked up another pebble and gave to to me. "Your turn." He said. I looked at him, not sure what to say both about his breakup and the pebble. "Tell me something about your past and throw it into the sea." He said. I giggled but the idea did sound like fun. I looked at the small brown pebble and the pain from the thoughts of Eddie flooded my mind. "One of the work experiences on my CV is fake. My cousin owns that company so I just added it." I said and threw my pebble. Frank rolled his eyes. I knew this was not the type of secret he was looking for.

After playing the pebble game a few times I really loosened up. Frank and I always tried to throw the pebble further each time. One time I threw it so far he said "this burden dierr it's gone forever and 100meters more". I laughed so hard I almost fell. I knew he was doing this to get me to talk about Eddie. I sat down on the sand and he sat next to me.

"Eddie and I dated for 5 years. I really thought he was the one." I started, doodling in the sand. "You knew him before he started singing?" Frank asked and I nodded. "Sometimes I wonder if we would have been married with kids if he hadn't gone into music but you never know." I continued. I was fighting the tears when Frank asked why we broke up. "His career was more important." I said. That was the furtherest I could go without crying so I changed the subject. Frank understood and told me about his work instead.

When Frank brought me back home he walked me to the door for the first time. "Thanks for today, I feel a lot lighter. We should do this again." I said. Frank smiled and nodded. "Calm down, you will fill the sea with all your numerous pebbles if we continue, Vanessa." He teased. I laughed and was just about to leave. "Hey Nessa." Frank said. I turned around and without a second to spare he kissed me. I hadn't kissed anyone in 9 months and his kiss reminded me of what I was missing. He finally pulled back slowly and said goodnight. "I wasn't expecting that." I said. "Neither was I but I'm glad it happened." He said. We both giggled and he walked back to his car without saying another word. I just stood there till he was gone with a smile locked on my face.


To be continued... 

Closure 3

When I got to the bar I saw Frank and his cute friend sitting in corner. I realised Mawuli was so right. If Frank wanted it to be a date he wouldn't have brought his buddy along. They waved at me and I walked to them. I sat down and ordered a drink. Frank introduced his friend, Kofi to me.

We all chat about a lot of random things. Kofi seemed younger than Frank and I but he was very funny. He was also very charming. I enjoyed their company so much I didn't notice how fast the time flew. "Eish it's late! I need to be heading home now." I exclaimed when I saw the time. Frank gave me a ride home but Kofi stayed.

"Thanks for coming out tonight. At least we got some time to catch up." Frank said when we got to my house. I nodded." It was fun. I rarely do this anymore." I confessed. Frank laughed. He didn't believe me. The Vanessa he knew back in the day was a party girl. Things had obviously changed. We agreed to hang out again in the near future. I smiled as I entered my house.

The next time I met Frank was at a party at the beach organised by the bank I worked at. It was extremely random. He was with a lady when we met. I recognised her from another branch. I waved when I saw him and he smiled as he walked to me. "What are you doing here?" We both said at the same time. I rolled my eyes and told him I worked at the bank. He told me he was invited by one of my coworkers. Apparently he banked with us as well. This world is just too small. When the event was nearing it's completion Frank suggested we take a walk. He thought the music was too loud for me when I frowned a lot but it was rather the fact that the dj was playing a lot of Eddie's songs that I didn't like. I agreed to the walk. I took off my shoes and walked barefooted with the water passing over my feet everytime the waves got to us.

"Now you know what I do. Tell me what you do." I said as we walked. "Do you want to know what I really do or what I tell people?" He said. "Do you sell drugs?" I asked and Frank laughed. He shook his head. "Tell me what you really do." I demanded. He stopped walking and sat on a rock. I stood in front of him. "I run an agency." He finally said. "Your own business. Nice, what kind of agency is it?" I asked. He stared at me. As if he was wondering whether to tell me the truth or lie. "It's an image boosting agency." He finally said. "Right, so you run a salon with a gym in it." I teased and we both laughed. "We do have a gym and a salon but it's a little more complex that that." He added. I stared at him and wondered if he was hiding something.

I asked Frank to break down his agency to me. "People come to us for various reasons and we sort them out especially with how they look from physical, online information to escort services. Most of the times it's to impress people, personal fulfilment and so many other weird reasons." Frank explained. I realised he was serious. "Wow really? As in you can glam me up and get me an escort for an event?" I asked. He laughed and gave me a rough idea of the amount he charges. My jaw dropped.

He told me Kofi was one of his employees and everything made sense. "Where do you find these good looking guys from kwraa?" I asked. Frank took me through his selection process and I was extremely impressed. The night ended with me planning a visit to his office. A bit of me still believed he was messing with me.



To be continued... 

Closure 2

Wendy, my sister was watching TV on the couch when I got home. I handed her the food and she gobbled it down like she hadn't eaten in a month. "Why did it take you so long?" She asked. I sat down by her. "I met Frank Ayarik. He even brought me home." I replied. My sister thought for a while and recognized who I was talking about. I told her about how the evening went and she asked why I didn't take the cute guy's number. I threw a pillow at her and she laughed. I noticed the more satisfied she got the sillier she became so I went to my room. My younger sister is a proper goofball. Somehow I guess that's why I asked her to live with me.

I didn't hear from Frank till about 4 days later. He texted me asking the time I would get home from work and if I wanted to have drinks. It sounded like a date and even though Frank was pretty nice I wasn't ready for that. I needed to heal from my last relationship. I texted Frank back telling him I would be too tired to have drinks after work. He seemed to understand because he said ok.

Throughout the day I felt a bit bad. Maybe I was thinking too much into it. He could have just wanted to talk like the other night. I decided to ask a coworker and close friend what he thought. "Ah Vanessa paa. Going out for drinks is normal. I ask my guy friends sef to go out for drinks." Mawuli, my coworker said. Just then his boss came out of his office. Mawuli grabbed the file he dropped on my desk. "Go and have drinks la." He whispered and walked away briskly. I giggled and went back to work.

When we closed from work that night I decided to take the office bus home. I took a seat by the window and just as I was going to plug some music into my ears Mawuli appeared from nowhere and sat beside me. "Herr Efo, don't be scaring me like that." I teased. Mawuli giggled. He asked if I had agreed to have drinks with Frank and I shook my head. He wouldn't stop bugging me about it so I sent Frank a text. I told him I closed a bit early so he should tell me where he wanted to meet and I'd meet his there. Mawuli clapped for me when he saw me send the message.

I got off the bus at my junction and walked home. I pulled out my phone from my bag to see if Frank had replied my message but he hadn't. When I got home my sister was not on the couch watching TV as usual and I remembered it was Friday night. She always had a ritual of going out with her friends on Fridays. I remembered doing the same myself some years back. Things had changed.

I dropped my bag on the center table and turned on the TV. A music video came on and I changed the channel immediately. I remembered why I hadn't sat down to watch TV in a while. My ex boyfriend, Eddie was always on and I didn't want to see his face again. Just like magic he appeared on the new channel too? I picked up the remote and turned off the TV. Just as I was getting up to leave the hall Frank called. "Vanessa what's up? I just saw your message oh. Is it too late to do the drinks?" He asked. I thought for a while and told him it was fine. We planned to meet at a bar not far away.


To be continued... 

Closure 1

"Two burgers with regular size chips." I said. I took out money from my purse and paid for my fast food order. It had been a very long day at work and I couldn't wait to get home and jump into my bed. I sent a text to my sister to let her know I had bought her food. It was when I raised my head up that I saw him, Frank Ayarik. I hesitated a bit and just called him. He recognized me immediately and came to sit next to me. "Hi, how are you doing?" He asked. I smiled and we did the usual small talk. Frank was my mate back in secondary school. We used to be pretty close but went to different Universities so we drifted apart.

Frank was a bit different from how I remembered him. Obviously he looked more matured and good looking but he wasn't as bubbly and full of stories as he used to be but talking to him was still pretty interesting. I remembered back in school there was a time I heard he liked me. Funny enough I liked him then too. He was meeting someone at the restaurant but just before my order was ready they called to change the venue. "I should meet you at Creamland? Ok I will be there in 10 minutes." Frank said. I told him Creamland was just a few minutes from my house so he offered to give me a ride home and I gladly accepted. When I saw his car I was wowed. I never imagined a class clown like Frank would turn out like this.

We got to Creamland in less than 10 minutes. He told me he was just giving something to his friend and would take me home after. When I nodded he picked up his phone and called his friend. He told him where we were so he come to the car. As we waited I asked Frank if he was married or seeing someone. He laughed and said he wasn't. His laughter took so long I wondered what it really meant. "Why what's so funny?" I asked with a little giggle. Before he could say anything his friend appeared.

A tall slender guy with neatly cut hair walked to the car. He was very good looking and showed his neatly arranged white teeth when he said hi and smiled at me. Frank rolled down the window glass when he noticed him. He pulled out a brown envelope with what looked like a bundle of 1000 cedis from the glove compartment and handed it over to him. I could guess the amount because I work at the bank. When you work with money long enough you could get such skills. "Make I count am?" The cute guy said. "Sia, commot for there. I dey go." Frank replied and they both laughed. Frank put his seat belt on and I waved at the cute guy as we left.

I asked who the cute guy was but Frank smoothly changed the subject so I asked him why he laughed when I asked if he was married or seeing someone. He shrugged but I didn't back down. "No offense but I don't trust women." He said. His words hurt a little but I smiled and nodded. "Fair enough. I don't trust men either so I guess we have a lot in common." I teased. As much as it was meant to be a joke it triggered a sad memory from my past. Surprisingly Frank smiles. "Exactly! I'm glad someone agrees with me. You are so cool Vanessa." He said. I giggled. "Ah I just said I don't trust you." I said. He nodded. "You shouldn't. Same way I shouldn't trust you so everyone stays happy." He explained. We had gotten to my house at this point.

"Give me your number. I'll call you the next time I come to see my stupid friend again. Then we can talk more." Frank said. I giggled and gave him my number. We said goodnight and I got out of his car. I waved as he left and walked inside my house.


To be continued... 
Photo credit : howafrica.com

Time no dey

Time wasting is like kente in Ghana, it's part of our culture. Ghanaians find all sorts of creative ways to waste each other's time. Sometimes it almost feels like a sport. One that has no ending time. Then again it could be a game to the death. We waste each other's time ahhh till we die. You go to the bank they waste your time, you go to the restaurant they waste your time, you die and are ready to be buried sef they will waste your time. No one is safe at any stage!
I'm sure you are reading this and going like "I know right? Ghana dier so so time wasting" but you naa you are part of the problem. That doesn't mean you should stop reading oh. I beg. But let's be honest we are either equally a time waster or you are helping this very bad habit. I'm not excuded oh. In fact far from it. I'm also one of the Dj Time Wasters but let's look at this on a whole shall we?

To be honest I'm tired of waiting. I'm not saying making someone wait is a crime but at least people need to know it's not good. One day I was asked to come for a meeting at 2pm. The person told me not to be late so I got there just before 2 and had to wait for an hour because the person was out on his lunch break. What the hell?! I was not amused at all so when he finally came back I asked him why he asked me to meet him at his lunch time and guess what he said "Oh I didn't want you to come late so I'll have to wait." If it wasn't for the fear of God and good training my parents have given me I would have done something jail warranting to him. How is it ok for ME to wait?! People need to stop this thing.

Most people don't see anything wrong with asking people to wait. In their heads it's like "oh but will sitting down for 2 hours kill you?". Well it probably won't but will attending to me on time kill you too? We all know the answer to that. These days, you are actually tricked into waiting by your own loved ones. Who has ever been to a wedding where the starting time was a lie? That thing can pain eh? Some ladies have a limited time span their make up can last and you trick them into coming early, how wicked! I don't know about you but I don't want to start my marriage on lies. At least use words or phrases like 'prompt' or 'kindly be there early' or 'refreshment will be served just before the bride enters' or something just don't make me come and wait.

It's simple, let's just try to consider our fellow men and women. Let's put ourselves in each others shoes and act accordingly. There's the general perception in Ghana that if you require something from someone you should be prepared to wait no matter how long they ask you to and it's bad. Ei especially at Ministries. That place dierr it's just a place you go to wait. Let's change our habit because it's not fresh. It's time we showed some respect for each other because the honest truth is that you never know the amount of harm you are doing to someone when you make them wait for hours. So my dear Ghanaians unless you are ready to pay people, don't make them waiters *drops mic*.

Gifts

I woke up immediately I heard the door bell ring. I slowly closed my eyes again when I remembered I wasn't the only one at home. Surely my little brother, Elorm would be awake. That video game playing boy was always awake. Unlike him I preferred to sleep till mid morning because I was on vacation.

When I heard him open his door I pulled my covers closer and tried to go back to sleep. I was almost successful when my brother barged into my room. "Eyram there's a package for you!" He said, excitedly. I looked at him suspiciously, wondering if he was up to any of his usual pranks. "Elorm, if I go downstairs and it's not true I'm putting your X box, Y box or whatever it is called in a bucket of water." I threatened. He just giggled and asked me to hurry up. I got out of bed and made my way to the living room. Our parents had left for work.

Elorm was not joking. There was a delivery man on a bike with a box. I walked over to him. He asked me to sign in a notebook and handed over the box to me. Then he left. I wasn't sure what to say because I was not expecting anything from anyone. I looked around the box to see if there was a sender's address but I saw nothing. "Open the thing la." Elorm said. I giggled and opened it. My eyes gleamed when I saw what it was. It was a tablet pc. It wasn't brand new but it was an awesome tablet I had been wanting about for some time. I was very eager to find out who gave me this amazing gift.

There was a little note that read "hi Eyram, a friend of mine was selling this at a really good price. Immediately I saw it I thought of you. I hope you like it. Anna." I held the note staring at it for a few more minutes. I knew the handwriting, there was no mistake it was from my cousin. "What did the note say?" Elorm asked when he noticed my change in mood. The truth is that I felt very bad. Just a year ago she left the country because she got a scholarship to study abroad. I promised to keep in contact with her but I didn't. I remember her calling me often but I rarely returned her calls. Even after such a long silence she still thought about me. I smiled and realised I had a lot of calling to do.

Doesn't this feel like something we all go through? Well not all of us get tablets from our cousins, for sure! But just like Anna God showers us with gifts in many forms even though we  sometimes ignore him. Like Eyram we give ourselves so many excuses; calling abroad is too expensive, I will text her tomorrow, she's probably busy with her new friends but the truth is that Anna still loved her and that love brought her to the right place. It's time for all of us to be at the right place with God. If nothing at all we should pray to say thank you :)