Bill's story - part 3

I wrote this sometime last week,,,don't know why I'm now posting it!

I managed to make it to the office in one piece, and it wasn’t until I got there that I was reminded of the existence of a being called Amy. I caught a whiff of the perfume she’d been wearing yesterday immediately I entered the building. By the time I made it upstairs, it was as if the whole hallway had been sprinkled with a bottle of her fragrance. I pictured her getting into the building before anyone else to sprinkle the fragrance there just to torment me. I laughed at the mental picture I created of her doing it - Just like in the local movies where juju concoctions are sprinkled in the corners of a room using some sort of broom. I was still laughing when I stepped into my work station.

“Looks like someone had a goodnight!” Kwadwo observed as he made his way towards me. “Fill me in, man” He was already perched at the edge of my desk with an expectant look in his eyes. I noticed Amy from the corner of my eyes, and there was a battle going on in my mind as to the approach I was going to use to handle her. She showed no signs that she had seen me come in, but I swear I saw her ears perk up when Kwadwo asked me to fill him in.

 “I brought breakfast, are you interested?”, I lured him out to the kitchen.

“Where’s the breakfast?” he asked when he noticed I had nothing for him.

“Berth is moving out”, I announced. He forgot all about the breakfast.

“You must be kidding me! Did you cheat on her?” He dragged out a chair and sat down, his eyes fixed on me all the while.

“My guy, I did not say she broke up with me! I said she’s moving out.”

“But what’s the difference? Trust me, the probability of her moving back in is non-existent”, he sounded so sure of himself.

“Well, she promised to move back on condition that I marry her.”

“That is blackmail! She never came across to me as one capable of that.” He said this with a twinkle in his eyes. The earlier despondency in his eyes, which I believe was borne out of pity for me, was now turned into one of fascination. He was clearly fascinated with Berth’s move.

“It is not blackmail. She is just holding me up to my own words.”, I jumped to her defence even though I was angry with her. “I just have to put things in place and ask her to marry me.”

Our privacy was invaded by other colleagues who had to use the kitchen. On our way back to the office, I flippantly asked Kwadwo to remind me to tell him something later. Back at my desk, I figured an email to Amy will be in order.

“Hello Amy, I had wanted us to make time to talk about the happenings of last night, but on second thought, we’re better off not talking about it in person. As I told you yesterday, I’m going out with the woman I intend to marry, and no one can come between us - not even you. Don’t get me wrong, you’re hot and all that, but I’m sorry, I’m committed to someone else. The most I can offer you, is nothing more than true friendship.”

A few minutes after I had hit the send button, she walked up to my desk. I hadn’t read through the message before sending it, I had just been typing whatever came to my mind. The sight of her walking towards me caused my heart to beat faster. This surprised me because I could not tell if this was because of the message I had just sent, or because of something else I could feel but not explain. Maybe, this inexplicable feeling had more to do with my notoriety with being drawn to danger.

She offered herself a seat. “Goodmorning Mr. Mensah. Forgive my bad manners, I should have called to say thank you for yesterday. My supervisor looked through the designs, and he was very impressed with my input.” If she read my message before walking up to me, she showed no signs up until this point that she had. The perfume in which she had doused herself was too much for me. I let out a loud sneeze.

“I’m glad I was of help.” That was all I said back to her while reaching for my handkerchief to stop the next sneeze.

She made a show of walking back to her desk with her heels loudly clicking against the tiles, before returning to add, “I forgot to let you know I got your email. I didn’t reply because emails are not my thing. I just use them for official stuff – I like to discuss personal issues in person.” Her voice dropped to barely a whisper and then she said with a wink, “I’m willing to take you up on that true friendship offer though.”  She offered her hands, and our true friendship was sealed with a handshake.

I felt a sense of relief and trepidation wash over me when I let go of her hands. Relief from the fact that the encounter I had been dreading was over. The feeling of trepidation had more to do with the inexplicable feeling her presence and that handshake had caused. I knew for a fact it wasn't love. Heck!, it wasn't even like! It was one of those things you could never quite place a finger on no matter how hard you tried.