IMADE AND JAMAL

Natasha.

"Kemi, at this point, it's no longer funny. I feel like Jamal is slowly slipping from my fingers and I don't like the thought of losing him one bit." I complain angrily to my best friend, Olakemi, feeling the need to vent out my frustration.

"But you said it yourself that there's nothing going on between them now, so why are you so stressed out? Is it until this guy finally leaves you before you stop being an irritant? Will you be satisfied when that happens?" She replied and I'm shocked.

"Kemi, you're supposed to support me. I'm your friend and you're supposed to understand me. That girl and Jamal had something and I'm sure about it although Jamal has stylishly tried to deny it but I'm not buying any bullshit that comes out from his mouth. The way she looks at him Kemi and the way he looks at her, it's crazy! I can practically see the crazy emotions that flashes through his eyes and it's sickening Kemi. It's very sickening!" I reply snappily and she sighs.

"So what do you want to do? You already said he denied it so confronting him again will only worsen things with him. I don't know this girl you're talking about but the Jamal I know is too selfish to fall in love, pardon my bluntness but you know it's true. He's very mean and love doesn't seem to be on his to do list. I'll never understand why you still stick with him sef." She tells me, shaking her head.

"I stick with him cause I love him Kemi and I've spent seven years by his side so trust me I'm not willing to let one stupid skank take him away from me just like that. That man is mine and I don't plan on losing him anytime soon!" I tell her sharply and she scoffs.

"You've wasted your life for seven years standing by a man who has refused to fall in love with you. He repeatedly disrespects you by sleeping with every whore that crosses his path and barely a month after returning to Nigeria, he's already in another entanglement. You better start thinking with your head and not your heart. That stupid jerk does not deserve you at all." She says harshly but I refuse to admit that she's actually right.

"It doesn't matter anymore Kemi. I already have him on my mind and in my heart and there's no going back for me. It's either gonna be me or it's no one else. I won't allow it!" I snap back at her and she simply shakes her head before turning her attention back to her phone briefly.

"So what are you going to do to separate them? She works at the company so they could run into each other anytime, how do you plan on avoiding that situation? Well, can't you just fire her?" She asks and I sigh.

"If only it was that easy Kemi. If I do that, he'll get mad at me and also firing her will make me look petty in front of her and I don't want that. I want her to be intimidated by me but if I fire her, she'll probably think I'm insecure and I definitely don't want that imagery in her head at all." I tell her quickly and she chuckles.

"I'm happy you know you're insecure, at least, you can admit that obvious fact." She mocks and I scowl.

"Fall in love first before you attack me for being in love and about that silly girl, I think I have a way to get her out of the picture. I'm not sure if it will work but if she's as weak as she looks, then definitely, she'll break down by the time I'm done with her." I tell her with a sly smile playing on my lips.

"So what's the plan and how may I be of help?" She asks.

"Well for now, you don't have to do anything. I'll just focus on frustrating her for the time being and hopefully, if I apply pressure, she'll quit her job and my hands will be clean." I respond and she smirks. "I hope it works out well for you. My only advice for you is; don't let your feelings for this guy turn you into something that you're not. That Jamal guy is not worth two cents of your energy. He's selfish, stubborn and he's cold. He won't hesitate to kick you to the curb once he feels you're no longer useful. As your people would say, Otu okwu ezigo onye mara ihe. So my dear, be very careful." She warns calmly before picking her bag and getting ready to leave.

(A word is enough for the wise)

"Don't worry Kemi, I'll be fine." I assured her confidently, earning a light shrug and a quick hug from her before walking her out of my apartment.

Imade.

Today has to be one of the worst working days of my life. Simply stating that I was in a bad mood would be a grave understatement to describe how horribly my day was going. Mrs Momodu Hamzat had made it a mission to make my stay in this company as hellish as she possibly could and unfortunately for me, Mrs Brown wasn't available to help me although I'm not sure if I had the courage to ask her for help especially after finding out she's Jamal's aunt and I didn't recognize her.

Just in case you're wondering, yes, we're acquainted. She sometimes used to tutor Jamal and I when we were in primary school and that was almost twenty years ago. So it's no surprise I didn't recognise her. Back to my horrible day, Mrs Momodu had definitely earned a well deserved spot on my list of people I believe should not be alive because of how inhumane they are. She had adamantly insisted that I did all the work that was supposed to be split between Joseph, Temi and I, forgetting that I wasn't even a week old in the company.

I have actually lost count of the number of times I've had a telephone stuck to my ear, reminding several clients of their appointments, setting new appointments, setting up clients with agents that were appropriate for their choices and also constantly informing the agents and brokers of their new set appointments, the new houses that were available and so many duties that an intern should not be in charge

of.

As much as I love working hard, I knew perfectly well that if I dared to continue this way, I'll end up having a heart attack and I'll probably start to grow gray hair overnight.

"Imade, do you need any help?" Joseph's voice asks worriedly and I almost wanted to be selfish by accepting his offer to help but after hearing Mrs Momodu threaten them with their jobs earlier, I couldn't bring myself to say it out.

"Thanks but there's no need, I'm almost done." I refuse politely.

"Are you sure?" He insists and I nod quickly to assure him before paying attention back to the list of clients I was looking over and fixing with agents.

"Okay, goodluck." He replied faintly but I was so engrossed in my workload, I couldn't even reply him.

It was almost 6pm and time for me to leave but first I head over to Mrs Momodu's office as she instructed to give her the number of new appointments I was able to set and also she planned on contacting a good number of them later to enquire about my communication skills. Madness, am I right?

I knock lightly on the door, waiting patiently for her permission to come in which came almost immediately. I walk in hurriedly and I'm immediately surprised to see a familiar face sitting right opposite of Mrs Momodu.

"Good evening ma, good evening miss." I greet calmly, whispering out the last part on purpose.

"Good evening Imade. Oh, and meet Miss Opara Natasha, she's the assistant CEO of this prestigious company." Mrs Momodu gushes dramatically and I struggle to avoid rolling my eyes. "There's no need to introduce us. We've already met." Miss assistant CEO quickly tells her and she immediately stares back at me surprised.

"Ma'am, this is the compilation of the clients and agents that you requested for and I already completed every other thing you asked me to do." I quickly tell her, hoping she would hasten her typical speech and let me leave this uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Okay, drop it on my table, I'll review it later. You may leave." She replies sharply and I couldn't be more thankful.

"Have a good evening." I politely say to both she and miss Natasha, getting ready to walk out peacefully until someone decided to call out my name and she didn't even attempt to pronounce it the right way. "Emade, let's talk briefly before you leave." She says and I frown.

"It's Imade miss, not Emade." I correct quickly but she simply turns back to Mrs Momodu, whispers some incoherent words to her before getting up and urging me to follow behind her.

"I apologise for delaying you but I can assure you, I won't take up much of your time. I know it's surprising that I would want to talk to you since I barely know you and we have no real reason to have any kind of conversation but I just thought it would be really nice if I could clarify something with you." She starts and judging by her last sentence, I immediately guessed she only wanted to mark territories and throw subtle warnings. Pfft, how childish.

"I know that yourself and Jamal have some unresolved issues and I also know that you're both not on the best terms right now. As expected, you may be wondering how it's any of my business cause it actually isn't but I just wanted to apologise on his behalf for any inappropriate or rude comment he might have made. I know sometimes, Jamal says things without thinking so I'm apologising on his behalf cause I know that deep down, he doesn't mean a word he says." She says and I deadpan. Was she being serious right now?

"Errm... I don't know what he may have told you but Jamal doesn't owe me an apology. He and I are old friends and it's as simple as that. They are no attachments between us and I doubt we'll have any reason to interact. I honestly appreciate your concern but your boyfriend and I are not friends so there's no reason to apologise to me on his behalf. So please, if you don't mind, I'd like to leave now. I have somewhere else to be and it's important." I reply her as calmly as I could, trying my very best to hide any form of irritation in my tone.

No matter how irritated I was by her false facade of an apology, I still had it at the back on my mind that she is my boss and that she would most probably be happy if I gave her a good reason to fire me.

"Okay then I guess I really shouldn't be wasting your time. Thank you for your patience and have a good evening." She responds back with a small smile before walking away almost immediately. I stare back at her retreating figure and as much as I hate to admit, she was alluring.

There was this domineering aura she had and I most definitely envied that about her but right now, I had to focus on my mom and try as much as I can to delete Jamal and anything that had to do with him away from my memory so that I can finally find peace and break away from this ten year old curse that has weighed me down over the years and maybe the first step is, getting a new job.☐☐☐