5:30 am. Monday 20th August 2014
Nkechi’s eyes fluttered open at the sound of her alarm clock, chiming that it was time for work, again. Groaning, and rolling over to turn off her alarm clock, she grudgingly got out of bed. Her mornings were beginning to drag, without her husband by her side, she definitely felt she could use a little boosting. Being a fan of Lara George, Hallelujah was soon playing from her iPhone docked to her speaker. Swaying and dancing to the upbeat, Gospel music, she was loving her morning. An hour and half later, she was soon ready to walk out of her bedroom door. With a pause, she looked at the little frame containing the charming smile of her late husband who had died in a horrendous car crash barely three months ago. I love you, Dele. She blew him a kiss before marching out the door with a smile on her face.
She was ready to face today at the office, what with being her own boss and all, thanks to Dele. She picked up the lunch her 14-year-old daughter had packed up for her. She, Chidi, was becoming quite responsible just after turning 13 the previous year; feeling the need to take care of mummy, rather than having it the other way around. At first Nkechi couldn’t understand the sudden change in her daughter’s character, but she began to understand her daughter’s love for her, and she was alright with being taken care of for a change.
“Chi-baby, where are you? I’m about to leave for work.” Nkechi looked into her lunch bag to find hot, steaming Jollof rice, with a very large piece of chicken to top it off.
“Here, mummy. Good morning. I can see you are happy today. Thank God” She cleans her hands on her apron as she rushes to give her mum a kiss on the cheek. Chi was as tall as her mother, already at 5 feet 6 inches. She had grown so fast like most kids her age. Times were changing as Nkechi looked at the happy face of her beautiful daughter.
Nkechi laughed at her cheeky daughter, pated her head and proceeded to the door with her lunch bag. “I’ll see you at six yes? Don’t worry, I’ll make dinner, I promise. Bye!”
The driver, Yusuf, was already at the car, holding the door open as Nkechi walked towards the black SUV.
“Good morning Mada… I mean, Good morning.” Nkechi shot him a deathly look as he almost made the grave mistake of calling her Madam.
“I would have killed you this morning Yusuf. And Good morning to you too. Isn’t today a lovely day?” Nkechi was already smiling at the bewildered Yusuf.
“Yes, today is a good day.” Yusuf went for the wheels, honking at the gate man to open the big heavy gate.
*Bleep Bleep* Nkechi’s phone began to ring, playing her all-time favorite Lagbaja’s Never Far Away. She had programmed that song for one person in particular – her best friend Sandra.
“Sweetie, what’s up?” Nkechi recited the moment she picked.
“Where are you?” was Sandra’s typical response.
Nkechi couldn’t help rolling her eyes at her best friend’s question. Ever since Dele, Nkechi’s husband had died, she and Sandra had devised this game of who would arrive at work before the other. They both worked at Dele’s company, a Consultancy Firm that was set up by Dele’s still-living father, Dr. Adekunle. The man had become extremely rich 10 years after his business was set-up and running, landing him a major contract for Lagos state’s transportation system. He and his employees worked tirelessly with the present Governor of the State, ensuring the launching of the well-known “Keke-napep” (the vehicle on three wheels). Dr. Adekunle was a huge fan of Nkechi. He loved her like he would love any daughter of his. And while Dele was his only son, he had 8 other girls, all of whom were married, safe but one who thought “I need no husband” and remained single till date. Dr. Adekunle’s wife was dead and gone some 10 years ago after she had been involved in an assassination plan, targeted at the couple. They were traveling out of Lagos to visit their home town in Osun state. Adekunle was shot once, with the bullet just missing his heart by an inch – but he survived. While his wife wasn’t so lucky. She was hit right in the eye, the right one that always twitched when she was highly irritated with any of her children. She was gone now, not the best way to die, but she had blessed Adekunle with 9 beautiful children, and that was no understatement. After being married for 35 years, Adekunle couldn’t see himself getting married again, so he did the best he could by loving his children, their partners, and his children’s children. He was a wonderful man, clocking into his 60s in a week. Everyone called him Papa Ade, filthy rich, retired Papa Ade.
Since Dele left his entire wealth to his wife, Nkechi, Papa Ade shrugged his shoulders and gave his only daughter-in-law a loving hug, reassuring her he would be with her every step of the way. The entire Adekunle family cheered as they welcomed the new owner of Ade’s Consultancy Firm.
God. She was blessed.
Before Nkechi could respond to her friend’s question, Yusuf honked at a car that had driven into the lane directly beside him. The car was immediately recognized as Sandra’s car – a blue sleek, BMW, the latest model that year.
“Ah, you trick” Nkechi replied over the phone, laughing at the very thought that they would be racing to work that morning.
“Yusuf! Step on that throttle! If they win us ehn, your salary will reduce by 5 Naira!” she laughed hard, throwing her head back, while Yusuf changed gears, overtaking and swerving past so many cars. Nkechi was enjoying her morning.
“Ki lo n se Nkechi. What is it now? You want to kill somebody? And that Yusuf, making me want to sack my driver who can’t even match up to Yusuf. And he’s my 5thdriver in two freaking months!”
“Move faster!” Sandra yelled playfully at her new driver, Deji
Sandra and Nkechi could hardly worry about getting into any accidents as their side of the road to work was as free as a racing track. Nkechi could barely breathe from all that laughter. She looked over to her right, out the window, only to see Sandra’s driver had somehow crawled his way two cars ahead of hers.
“Sandra! Let me just tell you. I AM YOUR BOSS. If you even dare reaching the gate before me, I will fire your ass!”
“Ah! Madam the madam. You have forgotten that you are nothing without your sidekick. Where there is no Sandra, there is no Nkechi! Bwahahahahaaa! I’m evil like that” Sandra burst out laughing so hard that she didn’t realize that she had finished the race in first position.
“I made it! Hallelujah! First in history! And in record time Deji. Congratulations, your salary has been increased!” she tapped her driver on his shoulder, while he was beaming from ear to ear, too proud of himself not to let it show.
Both Sandra and Nkechi scrambled out of their cars, almost running to the front of the building. Nkechi was taller than Sandra, so she was taking longer strides than her short, curvy friend. But Sandra couldn’t accept defeat so she tugged her skirt up a little and ran for the door. Nkechi was so shocked to see her friend breeze past her that she stopped just for a second, before she too was racing for that gigantic office door.
Everyone who had just made it to work was watching their bosses racing for the door. They all exchanged very amused looks with each other, with some unable to hold in their laughter. Everyone was cheering their favorite boss on.
“Go Sandra!”
“Go Nkechi!!”
It was such an exciting morning for both women as Sandra managed to reach for the handle of the door with Nkechi right on her heels. Sandra had won! She was so elated that she started doing the Kukere dance. At the sight of her friend’s excitement, Nkechi was in tears, hugging herself, while trying not to drop to the ground in laughter. She was so happy for her friend that she wouldn’t change a thing about that moment. The entire staff had been watching them, with everyone praising Sandra for her success.
Nkechi reached out to hug her best friend Sandra who had turned around, congratulating herself with the rest of her employees. Everyone was just happy to be alive that day. Sandra was so sure that some of her employees must have recorded the whole ordeal. And she was going to hunt that person down, and then steal the video for her personal amusement.
Everyone had walked into the building, congratulating Sandra, while the two friends stayed behind to compose themselves. They looked at each other with so much love in their eyes and even shed a few tears as they hugged once again
“Oh Sandra, you are the best kind of sister anyone could ever ask for. I love how you just make my day so ALIVE!”
“My dear, you are my blessing from God. I have really had so much fun this morning. Please let’s go inside before we become the late-comers.” Sandra was wiping away her tears of pure joy from her streaming eyes. She held out the door for Nkechi who walked in majestically, truly looking like the luckiest gal in the world.
