Chapter Nine

The office should have felt a little cramped, with the addition of two new people, but it didn’t. A new desk had been added to the outer office for Clive and Fadeke to share, while Oliver, now Sophie’s assistant, retained his old desk. Lola Balogun, the new receptionist, sat at the desk by the door, the severity of her dark blue suit and smoothly braided hair belied by the good humored smile that never seemed to leave her face.

The space had been rearranged somewhat, so that Ada’s desk now occupied pride of place in a corner, confirming that she was the boss of the outer office. It was a jovial atmosphere that Monday morning, as everybody got to know each other. Lola had been a receptionist at a big multinational, before she resigned to have her kids, now that her last child was five years old she had decided to get a job again. The position Living Lagos had offered had been ideal for her.


Clive was just excited. Fresh from university, it was his first real job. He already had ideas for subsequent covers that Ada found interesting. In the few hours he had spent in the office, he had already become best friends with Oliver and Fadeke.

Ada forced herself to take part in the friendliness and the bonding, especially when Sophie was doing the formal introductions. Later, when Sophie had returned to her office, Ada went to her desk to sit quietly and think. She knew she ought to prepare her itinerary for the week, set tasks for Clive to do, do something herself to get her mind off the one thing that had been troubling her all weekend. Eddie Bakare!

But it was hard. She just wanted to lay down somewhere and close her eyes for as long as it too for her to completely forget that Eddie had ever existed. That he had ever kissed her, and made her want things that she didn’t want to want.

Her body still shuddered with pleasure whenever she thought of that kiss in his car. She had tried to convince herself that it was just physical, but the ache in her chest that came from the realization that it was probably really over with him, made it hard to believe. .... Read More

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