‘Oh, no, ma’am. Don’t worry.’

‘Oh, come on. It’s just a token.’

I shook my head. ‘No, ma’am. Thank you.’

She seemed a bit surprised. ‘Alright.’ She returned the money inside her purse and brought something else out. ‘Here, this is my complimentary card. Can you have this?’

I paused only briefly. ‘Okay, ma’am.’

‘Make sure you call me,’ she said and closed the door of her car.

I thanked her, put the card in my breast pocket and moved on. I crossed the main road to the side where I would take a bus going to Ikorodu. From there, I would take another bus to Ibeshe, where I lived.

As soon as I got to the house, I went to the kitchen so I could take a bottle of cold water from the fridge.

There was a pot on the gas cooker. Cooking was already going on. I was about to pick a glass cup when Joyce entered.

‘Hello, there,’ she said.

‘Hello, Joyce.’

‘How was work?’

‘Fine. How was school?’

‘Not bad.’

I opened the bottle and poured some water inside the glass cup. She was staring at me.

‘What did you bring for me?’ she asked.

I pointed at the nylon bag I placed on the kitchen table. ‘A loaf of bread for the family.’

‘That one is for the family. I’m talking about what you brought for me.’ She had emphasized the word, ‘me.’

‘Oh, well…maybe some other time.’

‘Ola, you don’t think much about me,’ she pointed out.

The house maid entered the kitchen. That ended any further intimate conversation. I left the kitchen for my room.

Later, the house maid brought my meal. I took it, decided to relax for a while and then took my laptop to the reading room. The room was next to my room and I usually went there to read and study.

I was browsing the internet that evening when Joyce brought some books and came to join me.     

It was in that same room I had taught her in the past, so there was nothing unusual about her coming. She pulled a chair close to me and sat down.

‘How’re you?’ she asked.

I smiled briefly. ‘Fine.’

She moved closer to have a peep at the computer screen. I could smell her skin. ‘What’re you doing?’

‘Just browsing,’ I replied.

She placed her hands on my lap.

‘Joyce, I think we’ve made a terrible mistake.’

She frowned slightly. ‘What mistake?’

‘We shouldn’t have done what we did the other time.’

‘What did we do?’ She liked to be cheeky and she was at it again.

I chuckled. ‘That thing we did in the toilet.’

A teasing smile took over her face. ‘What did we do in the toilet?’

I shook my head but said nothing. She continued to stare at me.

‘Does that mean you don’t even like me?’ she asked.

‘It’s not like that,’ I quickly said. ’But, I feel it’s not right. We’re supposed to be related by marriage.’

‘Maria just called me now. She advised that you should resign from your current place of work with immediate effect.’

Just like that? I sighed. ‘Okay, mummy.’

‘She also advises that you’ll get set and follow her to Lagos on Sunday.’

‘So fast?’

‘Yes. She wants you to be on ground, familiarize yourself with the place and be part of the team that will kick off the operations of the place.’

I sighed. ‘Okay, mum.’

As I soon as I got to my office, I wrote a short letter to notify the management that I had resigned my appointment with immediate effect. I thanked them for the opportunity they had given me to work there. Moji, my colleague and good friend was shocked by my sudden decision. I explained to her why I had to do what I did.

I packed my few personal belongings, bade them farewell and left. I was back home before mid-day. Mum advised that I should get some books and read about hospitality business. I went on Google to do so.

I called my friends to inform them about my imminent relocation to Lagos. I also called Deola, my sister to intimate her. She was a Medical student at the University of Ibadan and she stayed on campus.

‘Are you going to be working at NAFDAC in Lagos, or what?’ Deola asked.

‘Mrs. Shitta is opening a hotel. I’ll be working there.’

‘What? Hotel? Do they prescribe and dispense drugs in hotel?’

I chuckled. ‘Don’t be cheeky, Deola. I’ll be working as Business Manager.’

‘Business what? What d’you know about business?’

‘Don’t under estimate my potentials, sister.’

She laughed over the line. ‘Well, best of luck, Simi.’

‘Yeah. And best of luck to you too.’

Last but not the least, I called Daniel.

‘I’ll be going to Lagos,’ I said. ‘There’s a job waiting for me there.’

‘What!’ he sounded astonished. ‘How could you do that?’

‘The job is better than what I have now and mum advises that I should take it.’

‘And you didn’t discuss it with me before you decided,’ he accused. ‘What if I say no?’

Now, that was Daniel for you. How could he say no?