LOST BUT FOUND: CHAPTER 2

Wow! It had been a long day.

She thought as she walked briskly to where she parked her car. Her pink Gucci sunshades doing a great job at shielding her sore eyes from the hot sun and concealing her already concealed dark circles and eye bags. All combined.

They obviously envied her because she was young and doing well. I mean, how many 29-year-old ladies had achieved what she had achieved. Most of them were in their early 40s and we’re not earning close to what she earned. Some of them felt she was proud. She was of the opinion that they were intimidated by her.

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She had spent reasonable time applying make up to ensure she didn’t look like what she was going through at the moment in her life. And it worked. No one noticed. Or did they?  They all said she looked gorgeous. As usual, of course. Men, old enough to be her father’s elder brothers would hit on her and flirt with her suggestively. If the case had been different today, then, she would have been worried. But nobody said anything. Even the busy bodies, those ladies and women who obviously envied and hated her all commended how gorgeous she looked. Eye service.

The occasion was the third Annual Conference of Firestorm Bank and this was day two which involved the seminar for workers. She had made a presentation on THE FUTURE OF INVESTMENT. Investment was her core.  She worked on the presentation for over 3 weeks and had a lot of sleepless nights.  She had done this intentionally to avoid the nightmares, although she must confess that the man appeared even during short naps at least that was better than his full-day harassment.

Just a little distance from her car, she heard someone call her name. Resolving not to look back, she moved faster and got to her car.

‘Miss Ade’. she heard again. It was a masculine voice she didn’t recognize. She put her hands in her snake leather Michael Kors bag to look for her car key. The bag was one of her favorite and one of her most expensive bags.

Her driver had taken permission to be absent from work today. He called her yesterday evening. It was something about his daughter being sick.  She heard her name again. This time she turned and squinted to see who it was. She had exchanged pleasantries with the top staff she recognized. Even those she had not met but knew, she had networked with just before she sneaked out. Who then, was this? Maybe a secret admirer.

She did not recognise his voice or his physique.  It definitely was not one of the staff working at her branch.

“Good afternoon, Miss Ade”. Whoever he was said as he motioned his hand towards her. It was for a handshake. She ignored the handshake and turned slowly towards the door of her car.

“Yes! Good morning. Sorry.. afternoon.” She said with a stutter.

How may I be of help to you? She said fiddling with the door hoping the guy would just leave her alone. This was not the kind of admirers she was looking for.

“Well, I enjoyed your presentation and I learnt a lot from it.” He said looking around to see if anyone was watching them.  He was embarrassed because she ignored his handshake. He could see a cluster of ladies at the entrance of the conference center looking towards their direction. Obviously, they gossiped about her.

“I’m glad you did.”  She said. “Thank you”. She said forcing a fake smile. She expected everyone at the conference to enjoy the presentation. She was Mojirade Benson. She didn’t give mediocre presentations. She knew the presentation had gone well. She has done a good job of trying to conceal her black eye from everyone and she forced a great smile. She tried to hide the fact that she had not slept for weeks. Her words covered any traces of tiredness. Her accent was impeccable.

‘Yes. It was a great presentation. You are greatly admired by me. Eight years with this great institution and risen up the ranks. I think I understand why now.’ He said boldly as he tried to scan her face as though he was looking for some kind of evidence.

‘Hmm. Well, the job has to be done.’ She said already turned towards him realizing he wasn’t just stopping by.

‘Along the line, during your presentation, I realised you were lost. I noticed a distant look on your face.  He continued. “You were not paying any more attention.” She turned her full attention towards him. “Well, I guess it’s one of those moments.” Who are you? Some kind of stalker?  Why would you be watching me? She thought of saying but she kept calm. She was appreciative in a bittersweet fearful way that someone truly noticed her demeanor. Even her close friends didn’t notice that she wasn’t herself.  “Well, how could you tell for sure?” She answered. “I just noticed. Sorry, I am Akin Olanipekun from the mainland branch of firestorm bank. This is my ID, so you don’t think I’m a scam or fraud.” He let out a gentle laugh.

He pulled out his card from his wallet and showed it to her as if he was being interrogated by police man. “This is my third time of attending the annual conference”.

‘Wow! Young blood! You haven’t been working long with us then. She said.  ‘No this is my fourth year with the bank.’ He responded. He scratched his head like a young school boy that forgot his poem lines.

She looked briefly at the ID. It was genuine. ‘I trust Firestorm. Fraudsters can’t find their way into that conference Hall”. She said and gave a wry laughter. The sun was punishing her. It was punishing her skin.

It was then she noticed that he had a lovely smile. He was a breath of fresh air actually. He looked gentle and struck her to be a decent guy. She tried to assess his age. But this was not the time for all these. She had to go. She was sleep starved.

  “Okay. So it was nice meeting you Ade. I have to go.”

‘It’s Akin.’ He responded.  Miss Ade.   Please can I have your contact? He asked. What guts he had. She had never met an ordinary guy who had so much guts. She loved his guts.

She gave him her complimentary card. He took it gratefully. She didn’t wait to hear the rest of the thank you he said.

Like Cinderella, the next few minutes must not meet her here. She had to run for her life that the world may not see her rags. She threw her bag into the car on the passenger seat and closed the door.   She pressed her one-touch ignition and she could see him wave and mouth some words which she didn’t hear. ‘Good riddance!’ she thought. ‘What effrontery!’ She drove off. Her bed was calling.

Written by Opeyeoluwa Lawal.
OPEYEOLUWA is a Christian writer who has been called to write to encourage people in times of weariness according to Isaiah 50:4. Ope, as she is fondly called loves God and His works. She loves to teach and she researches during her spare time. She is married to Olawale Perfect.

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It’s Day 6 of 14 days of #StoriesOfGrace by Opeyeoluwa Lawal. I really hope it helps during this lockdown.

Enjoy and leave your feedback and lessons. God bless you.