GIVE ME A HEART
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CHAPTER 1??2??
We had coffee on the balcony under the shed as the rain still dropped in showers. It was 9:30 pm. With Ronnie, it felt okay and magical. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
” Ronnie,” I asked. ” Do you have a boyfriend?”
She sipped her coffee without making any reaction. ” Yes. You might know him. He ordered pizza from the pizza villa sometime ago.”
Now I remembered, it was then the story became clearer. The handsome young man I’ve gone to deliver his ten thousand naira worth of pizza that rainy night. It was Ronnie that was in that Prado Jeep that left the gate when I arrived.
” He must be a lucky guy,” I said, avoiding her eyes.
She shooked her head. ” Luck has nothing to do with it. I was the one stupid to have dated him.”
I felt a little hint of bitterness in her voice. This startled me as I wasn’t expecting any sign of sadness. ” What happened?” I asked curiously.
Ronnie stared longingly at the rain. ” He was actually my fiance. We were supposed to get married by next month. I believed in marriage and family, he believes in living the free life. The night you delivered those pizzas, I found him with another woman.”
This came as a surprise to me but I didn’t say anything.
” He wasn’t even broken about it. He said he was tired of me. He called me a sick woman,” Ronnie paused as she sipped her coffee one more time. ” Can’t say I blame him. I’m always unlucky in relationships.”
” Maybe you two weren’t meant to be together after all,” I said absentmindedly.
” Maybe,” she spoke. ” I’ve gotten over him though. I’m starting my life afresh.”
After a while I spoke. ” Ronnie,” she turned to look at me. ” Thank you.”
” For what?” She asked.
” For everything,” I said. ” I wouldn’t have gotten where I am now without your help and support.”
” Time for bed,” she said sharply and rose to her feet. ” We have a big day tomorrow so we better get more than enough sleep.”
” You can use the bed,” I said instantly. ” I’ll sleep on the couch.”
” Not happening,” she snapped. ” There’s no way you’re using the couch when there’s a bed.”
I was surprised. ” Don’t you have a guest room or something.”
Veronica fidgeted with her fingers. ” There’s no guestroom. I’m usually lonely without anyone to spend the night with. Moreover I….I…I get nightmares. So it’d mean so much to me if you’d stay with me for the night.”
I looked at her for sometime. We really did have something in common. I do get nightmares most of the time and I’ve never been more lonely than I’ve been since the last time I left home.
Minutes later I was on the bed with Ronnie. She was sleeping peacefully in my arms.
I felt her heart beating evening against my ribs. It was as if I was cuddling a child to sleep. Ronnie might be matured looking and cute but she was more of a kid than an adult. We had watched the news together and just when we were getting sleepy, we retired to bed and slept in our cloths. It was my first time sleeping with someone at my side and Ronnie of all the girls in the world. Now don’t think anything dirty. We slept without doing anything. I guess I was too frightened to become intimate with her and I bet she was simply just content to have someone warm by her side. To my surprise, for the first time in ten years, I slept peacefully and without a nightmare.
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Ronnie parked in the parking lot and got out. I came down from the passenger seat and followed my new boss.
Today was going to be my first day at High Bonds Incorporated. I was happy, I was fulfilled. Today was my day and nothing was going to spoil it. Before heading to work, Ronnie took me to the boutique and bought me a new suit.
” Don’t get too cocky about it,” she said. ” I’ll deduct it from your salary.”
I laughed, hoping she was just joking.
Ronnie led me to an elevator that took up five floors to her office. From nowhere, a tall lady in pinky heels and heavy makeup rushed up to her and started giving her some business updates.
” You have an appointment at twelve….the board of directors are expecting your report on the next stock exchange program…. you’ll be having a lunch date with the business tycoon, Mr Anderson…..” Said the secretary.
It made me feel how big Ronnie’s hierarchy was in the company. When we arrived at a French door marked with gold letters: DEPUTY MANAGER, I was more than correct about Ronnie. She was the deputy manager of high Bonds Incorporated. I couldn’t believe my eyes and she never mentioned it to me.
The office was big and lavishly furnished with the best of everything. If you’ve ever seen Don jazzy’s office then you’d get the tip of what I’m talking about. Someone was sitting on the chair in front of Ronnie’s desk. It was that lady at the interview; my co-partner.
She stood up and embraced Ronnie just like old friends do. When she turned to me, her eyes became like ice chips.
” Congratulations, Mr Andrew,” she said. ” I guess you and I will become partners from now on.”
I extended a hand. ” I suppose so. It’d be a pleasure to be working with you.”
She didn’t shake my hand, instead she went back to Ronnie and they began gossiping about other things. I began to hate this lady. I didn’t even know her name. I wasn’t sure if we were really going to get along with each other.
I waited as these two ladies spent ten prescious minutes on gossips then after that, Ronnie came up to me and ushered me to the other office which was my partner and I office.
” This is where Victoria and you will work,” Ronnie explained. ” And don’t get intimidated by her. She’s a nice person if you get to know her better.”
Victoria, so that was her name. It was a little closer to Veronica. Still I was relief she wasn’t the Veronica. Still I was still wondering how she sensed about my bullying saga.
” Andrew,” Ronnie called. I looked at her. ” Thanks for keeping me company last night. I had no nightmare last night.”
” Same here,” I grinned.
I thought today was going to be my best day ever but it was not. That morning before I began work, Ronnie introduced me to some of my co-workers. I forgot to mention this but I’m not Soo good with socializing with people. I’ve always kept to myself without making friends and this earned me a shy habit that seemed not only annoying but also not helping.
As a result of my shy attitude, this earned me some few haters within my colleagues. Instead of making friends I was only creating enemies simply because I was too reserved and quiet. Ronnie sensed this but she said nothing. On my first day at work I was given a brief orientation by Victoria and then I was bombarded by all sides with work.
Being a business administrator wasn’t an easy job. Just when you think you’ve cleared things up, another work blows up in your face. Victoria kept dropping piles upon piles of documentary files for me to sort and go through while she walks in and out of the office the way she likes. She’s shout at me, telling me I wasn’t fast enough and that I was doing the job wrongly. I’ll just be quiet while she rant because despite us being partners, she was higher in rank than I was. After Ronnie, she was my second boss. I had to nod my head like a lizard and just flow along with her every whim and command. Because of her, I spent eight hours on my chair, staring into my computer and answering phone calls till I thought I might go crazy.
Finally I was done. I laid my head on the desk and breath like I’d just ran a marathon race. If I was going to be doing this for the next five years of my life, I’d instantly grow grey hairs. My stomach rumbled telling me I haven’t gone for lunch.
Just then, Victoria came in with two cups of hot steaming chocolate coffee. She came over to my side.
” That’s impressive,” she spoke as she glanced at my finished work. ” You’re done.”
I nodded, trying not to meet her eyes. ” It was a piece of cake. Where’s Miss Ronnie.”
” She’s at the board meeting,” Victoria said offerings me one of the cups. ” You’ve earned your keep. Coffee?”
I accepted, wondering why she’d become soo nice all of a sudden. ” Thank you.”
She didn’t say anything. She returned to her desk and began pressing her phone.
I drank my coffee thinking what I’d like to do in the evening. I might stay at Ronnie’s house tonight. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind but I was too way beyond that. Maybe I’d go to a bar and have some beer and maybe watch tonight’s wrestling match.
Suddenly, I felt pains in my stomach. My intestines began getting heavy and my anus started getting hot. I got up slowly and held my tummy tight. Victoria noticed this and she got up too.
” Is something wrong?”
Yes something was wrong. If I didn’t get to the toilet soon enough, I might shit in my pants. I nodded to her. ” I need to get to the bathroom. Where’s the bathroom?”
Victoria pointed. ” Towards your left, there’s a corner leading to the basement at the down floor. You can’t miss it.”
Thank you. I said and ran like a mad man out of the office. I followed her directions carefully. I didn’t miss the basement nor did I miss the toilet. I noticed the basement was deserted with not a single soul to be found around but I didn’t care. I ran into one of the stalls and shut myself in.
” Ahhhhhhhh,” I said with relief as I settled down on a toilet.
Whatever I might’ve eaten, it really destroyed my stomach. I spent close to an hour in the toilet. Just when I was done, I got up and buckled my belt. I turned the handle and tried to open the door.
Locked.
That’s strange. I tried again.
Still locked.
I became alarmed. Had someone locked me from outside the stall? Who could it be and why? I tried again, and again and again and again and again until I became like a frightened rabbit. I started shouting at the bottom of my voice.
” Help, somebody help me!!!” I screamed.
But nobody came. And that’s when it hit me. This was the basement. The toilet here was probably under construction that’s why no body ever came here. No matter how hard I shout no one would hear me from here. I was trapped in this stall and it was getting dark outside.
I had a phobia for darkness since I was a child and this frightened me. I yelled at the top of my voice. ” Help. Please help me. I’m stuck, I’m stuck.”
I began crying like a baby. I reared back to the wall and sat at the edge. ” Please, please,” I whispered between my sobs and tears. ” Please… please…. Ronnie….help me….”
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