Finding Grace - Part 5

Lagos, Nigeria

Grace looked at the papers strewn all over her desk without really seeing them. She had been working on the bid proposal the whole week and was frustrated at her lack of progress. I thought I would have finished this by now. She knew why her work wasn’t moving as fast as usual. She was distracted because she hadn’t heard from Azuka since she sent him the text, asking…no, practically begging him to ask her out again. It had been three days…three whole days! She had thought he was serious about taking their relationship further and she had finally decided to put her fears behind her and take a chance with him.

I guess I thought wrong. She remembered the last time she saw him…it had felt so natural to sit together and have dinner, laughing and chatting just like family. Sonia had kept the conversation flowing with her sharp wit and funny stories. Sometimes she wished she was more like her sister. Sonia didn’t seem to have any hang-ups. She said what she thought, did what she wanted and breezed through life with confidence.

Grace wished she had her sister’s confidence. Sonia wouldn’t have spent months mourning a dead relationship. She would have brushed it off as one of those things and gone on her merry way. Grace sighed. She had really thought Azuka was different. After waiting for two days, she had finally swallowed her hurt pride and called his phone a couple of times yesterday. It had rung several times, but he hadn’t answered. The second time she called, it had gone straight to voice mail. She was puzzled. Was he avoiding her calls for some reason? Had he changed his mind so radically that he didn’t even want to hear her voice on the phone? The thought hurt more than she cared to admit and she was happy when the intercom on her desk rang, interrupting her reverie.

It was her secretary. “Madam, somebody is here to see you.”

Grace wasn’t expecting anyone, but sometimes her friends dropped by unannounced especially around lunchtime. She checked her watch. Yeah, right about now.

“Who is the person?” she asked.

“I don’t know, ma. He didn’t tell me his name and I’ve never seen him before. He’s waiting for you in the conference room.”

Grace was curious. She wondered who it could be. Most of her friends would have come straight to her office after getting past security. It’s probably someone from a bank trying to get our account or something.

Grace sighed. She wasn’t really in the mood to see any one, least of all a desperate marketing officer trying to meet their quota. “All right, please send him in.”

Tarila cleared her throat. “I tried Madam, but he said he would rather wait in the conference room. He said he wanted to surprise you.”

Hmm….that sounded personal. Who would want to surprise her by coming to her office? She suddenly perked up. Azuka. Maybe he had come to Lagos for business and decided to respond to her text in person. She remembered him talking about a business deal he was trying to close – something about a shopping mall in Lagos. Her mood brightened and she perked up. It had to be Azuka. She smiled dreamily. It would be just like him to pull something like this. She hadn’t known him for too long, but she sensed that he had a playful and romantic streak.

“Okay, thanks Tarila. Please make him comfortable and get him something to drink. I’ll be right there.”

She rushed out of her office and practically ran down the hallway to the ladies’ room. She checked her makeup, brushed her hair, and popped a breath mint into her mouth. She scrutinized her outfit. She was glad she had decided to wear a skirt today. The dark grey skirt was snug without being tight and it hugged her in all the right places. She had paired it with a pale pink silk blouse with a ruffled lapel, which she belted at the waist. She paused for a moment to catch her breath. She couldn’t believe she was so nervous about seeing Azuka again. She took a couple of deep breaths and walked with measured steps towards the conference room.

She opened the door with a smile and froze. She could hear Tarila’s voice...”he said he wanted to surprise you.” He had succeeded. Grace was surprised. Surprised and shocked. Stupefied. Rocked…..her mind frantically searched for more adjectives to describe how she felt. Anything to keep from dealing with the person that stood smiling at her. What is he doing here? Her breath caught and memories flooded her mind...the smile that she had adored flashed at her and something stirred within her. Her excitement at seeing Azuka now forgotten, she stared at the man standing in front of her.

"Hi, Alex."

Onyih Odunze

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