Thirty - Chapter 7

Read Chapter 6 here and Chapter 8 here

“Hey,” Bola called, drawing my attention away from my phone.

“Hey! I was wondering when you would come out and give me a piece of your mind,” I said grimacing.

“That was cold,” she said taking a seat beside me. “Now, I’m not supporting Omololu at all, he messed up big time, but you could have at least talked to him”

“But I did talk to him” I protested.

“Yeah right,” Bola scoffed, rolling her eyes “You made the poor guy feel worse than he already does. He came here with his tail in between his legs to explain and apologise. That should count for something”

“Tail between his legs? Really?” I commented, laughing at the image.

“Teniola, why didn’t you just talk it out with him? Are you trying to push him away?” She asked ignoring my attempt to lighten the mood.

“He let me down Bola,” I said in a small voice. I could already feel my eyes welling up with tears.

“That party was important to me. It represented the reward of all my years of hard work, and maybe a chance to stick it to all those haters who have made it a point to harass me every day since the promotion was announced. And he took that way from me!”

I knew how unreasonable I sound to Bola, but it’s exactly how I felt.

“I didn’t get to enjoy that party, Bola.” I continued, tears already flowing from my eyes. “I was worried and scared for him. I checked my phone every minute, throughout the night, I dialed his number multiple times, and my speech… the speech you helped me with? I couldn’t even focus enough to say it. I just said a thank you, probably managed a weak smiled and walked off the stage,”

I sighed, “I was distracted throughout the night, worried about his safety. And for what? For a man who was at his office, working, totally forgetting that he made a promise to pick me up by 6 pm. I was present, yet I missed that party. And I blame him for it”

Bola held my hands in hers, rubbing it gently as if to assure me it was okay to be angry. “What else happened yesterday Teni? I know this is not just about Lolu standing you up”

I rubbed my eyes angrily, willing myself to stop crying. I’ve always hated crying around other people, but Bola is one of my safe havens.

“I spent the entire party imagining many scenarios of what could have happened to him. Never did it cross my mind that he simply forgot about me. And to make my already shitty mood worse, those idiots, Sharon and Cara spent the night making side remarks and taunting me for lying to Lizzy about coming with a date. Their comments hurt, but I didn’t respond because I was more preoccupied. I just wanted him to be alright. They said many vile things to me, how I was married to my job and has no life outside of work. They said I didn’t have a family to go home to, yet, I just kept dialing his number,”

“Empty words of haters!” Bola scoffed.

“Look at me, Teni. You know those airheads girls are just jealous right?” Bola asked softly

“I know…I know,” I responded sighing. “But it doesn’t make their words less hurtful. I was leaving when I got Lolu’s text. I was so relieved, but it was quickly replaced by anger,” I ended dropping my head in my hands.

“Teniola, look at me,” Bola said peeling off my fingers from my head. Looking me in the eyes, she said “You have every right to be angry with him, believe me, I will be livid too. But you have to talk to him. Let him know how you feel,”

“Bola, I think I placed him on a pedestal, without even knowing it,” I said shaking my head sadly. “He has always been there for me since we met, and to have him disappoint me like this, and on such an important day upset me greatly. Maybe more than it should have.”

“Just talk to him,” Bola said again, handing me my phone to call him.

“Can’t I just have today to be angry?” I groaned. “He made me miss out on the buffet last night by the way,”

“No, you can’t have today to be angry, and I’m sure Mr. W is so sorry that he will take you out for a buffet wherever you choose.” She winked.

“Now, call him,” she commanded.

“Okay, stop being such a tyrant,” I said pushing her shoulders lightly.

“Here is the deal, I’m not ready to have this conversation with him…”

“But…” Bola started

“But…” I continued raising my hand to stop her. “I will send him a text now, and then we can have our talk when I get back from my mother’s deliverance prayer meeting,”

“Oh, that’s this weekend” Bola chuckled, probably imagining what my prayerful mother has in stock for me.

“I’m glad one of us is amused by this,” I said rolling my eyes.

*Originally published 13 October 2020