THE ROMANTIC OFFICE SAGA: PART 46

THE ROMANTIC OFFICE SAGA: PART 46

“You see, haha, I just said so, Tony…you are in trouble.” Carol said jokingly.

“Hmm, stop it, Carol” Zuhura said shyly hiding her face.

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“It must be so hard living away from your spouse, personally I cannot manage such kind of life.” I told Carol once we settled in our office.

“But you are also far from your lover…” Carol told me.

“Oh! Yes. But at least within same country so we can easily meet. Imagine someone all the way in Kuwait.” I told Carol.

“I guess I cannot too. I did rather be near my lover.” Carol said settling to prepare some lessons that we were planning to teach the following Friday in power point slides.

“I really need money, and very soon.” I told Carol almost talking to myself.

“I wish I could help you, but let us see if Regina will be able to able to get our money back.

Never in my life have I ever felt so hopeless and I really wanted to make a follow up with Regina to know how our case was progressing. Derrick too was on my neck and I could not think how to get myself out of the situation. I was between a rock and a hard place. I was even thinking of resigning and running away but that would be a double blow for me and besides I did not want to let Sally down. I also never wanted her to know that the business deal had anything to do with Irene, in fact, I had made her believe there was nothing between me and Irene.

When I called Regina, she reassured me she was on top of the case and was making good progress of the case. She just told us she was closing in on them and would soon call us to the station to give us her feedback. But time was really running out between me and Derrick. Sally was even suggesting I run away from town but I did not want to show her I can be a coward. 

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When Friday came, the group of companies that were to attend the seminar to our place arrived and in total there were 30 of them completely filling our boardroom which was arranged as a conference hall. I was the main speaker, Irene was also a speaker in it and finally our boss since she was the host. We all arrived on time to the venue except Zuhura was nowhere to be found. All calls to her personal number were not going through and she had not given any notice of absence. She had not even informed our boss that she won’t be available on Friday.

My boss called me to her office.

“Tony, you were also the main organizer of today’s event. Could you perhaps have an idea where Zuhura is? Did she inform anyone she would not come? What came of her?” My boss seemed composed but I was sure she was very disappointed. 

“Madam, I have no idea where she is. She never informed anyone and no one seems to know where she is.” I told my boss.

“Does anyone know where she lives perhaps? This is serious.” My boss asked sounding worried.

It is when it dawned on me that Zuhura mostly kept to herself and suddenly she had gotten sociable to us before she practically disappeared from our company. I remembered some few days ago, she sounded so lonely and perhaps sexually starved. I wondered whether she had decided to go to Kuwait to join her husband, but why just go without even telling anyone, without resigning formally, without at least giving some notice?

We had more questions than answers.

“This is why I loved Sally. She was so dedicated to her work, ever punctual and loyal to her duties. I miss her.” My boss told me, that being the first time she mentioned Sally since Sally left the company. I did not know what to tell my boss. But she pressed further and asked me a question that surprised me.

“Tony, I know you were great friends with Sally, could you know if she got a job and if it is possible for her to come and serve our company temporarily. Zuhura has totally disappointed me. Today being such a major event with no one to even offer us catering services.” My boss said.

“I have a suggestion. Why not approach Carol and perhaps she can try to cook some beverages for us today?” I suggested to my boss. She looked at me for a while and told me to call her.

When Carol came, I told her to sit so that we can discuss the issue. Carol agreed not only to act as our tea girl for that particular day but for a few more days or a week until we got another person for the job. That was so kind of her and my boss was so grateful she told her, “Don’t do everything Zuhura used to do, just the major things. Do not over work yourself and I will also be paying you Kshs 1,000 per day for the extra work that you are going to do. But make sure to perform to your level best as come up with a solution.”

With that, the boss dismissed us to go and continue with the seminar. Carol did fantastic in that role for that day such that no one even got to know someone was missing from our company but by the end of the day she was extremely tired. We waited the entire day to hear from Zuhura, but no communication came from her.

“These Muslims are secretive. Or maybe she joined Al-Shabaab?” Irene wondered when we sat to have some tea after the seminar was over.

“I think she just went to her husband’s place. Zuhura was almost getting into temptations around here and perhaps she chose to run away. But just disappearing is not right at all.” Carol said suggestively. 

“Hmm, who said she was limited to just one man? She could have gotten a man to satisfy her temporarily as she waited for her husband.” Irene said.

“Muslims are very strict. If she would do that and she got caught, they can kill her.” Carol said.

“Even the man caught with her would as well get killed.” I said.

“But that is so cruel. Why kill people for what they agreed to do? Besides, it is not like you will be raping her, she will have agreed to let you into her thighs.” Irene said smiling.

“Muslims’ laws are so strict. They discourage adultery by all means and death is the penalty for adultery. Zuhura could have felt she is almost getting into temptations and instead of risking death, she chose to just escape and follow her husband abroad.” Carol said throwing her hands into the air.

“Phew! No wonder I hate religion. Denying people freedom with their lives. It is your damn life do with it what you want and I won’t care.” I said taking turn to study each of the girl’s expression. Silence followed and finally Carol broke the silence with a question.

“Tony, you have never talked about religion since I came here. What is your religion?” She asked the question with a lot of eagerness making both of them look at me.

“Personally, I consider myself a Christian but I really do not care about religions. So, I can say, am not religious.” I said with a finality.

“So, were I to invite you to our church, would you come?” Irene asked looking at me.

“Well, may be. But that means nothing. I can even go to mosque, temple or any other place. Association is more important to me than believes.” I said not looking at any of the two in particular.

“What is your life’s guiding principle?” Carol asked me. The question sounded simple but I realized it was too broad to summarize in one statement. After weighing my answer, I finally said, “Love. Love is my guiding principle in life. We should love one another. Love someone as you love yourself, love nature and take care of it, love animals and respect them. Love people and give them equal rights. Love to me means being kind, considerate, sympathetic, supportive, empathetic, among others. Where there is true love, peace, unity and harmony comes naturally.”

I could tell both ladies were awed by my answer by their looks as they seemed lost in thoughts digesting my answer. 

“Honestly, you sound philosophical.” Carol said looking at me.

Irene breathed in, looked at me and asked, “Tony, with respect to your answer, do you love me?”

“Yes, I love you.” I answered without hesitating. My answer seemed to have caught Irene by surprise as if she did not expect it since all over sudden her face brightened with a smile and expression of joy.

Carol laughed a little and asked Irene, “Did you mean romantic love or agape love?”

Irene did not seem to have an answer to it, as if she did not expect the answer.

She looked at me and asked, “Tony, what kind of love do you have for me?” 

“The feeling that someone’s actions provoke in you is what can judge whether that individual has romantic love or agape love for you. The principle of love is same as action and reaction. An action brings about a reaction. For example, if I bought you lunch to day it would provoke a different feeling as compared with if I gave you a hug and kissed you.” I said that and the moment I finished that statement, Carol winked at me quickly such that my heart skipped a bit; Irene did not see it. I guess the fact that I had Kissed Carol, she somehow had other feelings for me and I must confess I felt something for her but I was struggling to suppress it. But sexual desire was mostly what I felt.

It was getting late and we went to the restaurant and assisted Carol clean up. 

“I think Sally can come back. At this time, I know our boss will be desperate for someone to fill this position and we cannot be sure if Zuhura will ever come back. In fact, we should file a missing person report.” Irene said but I sensed sarcasm from her voice. 

“It is upon their family to file a missing person report, not us.” Carol said as a matter of fact and I fully agreed with her. But nothing made sense to me at that time since at the back of my mind was my looming deadline to deliver Sally’s documents.

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The weekend came and went so fast. My anxiety for the following week was overwhelming. Two things coincided in that week; Derrick expected me to deliver original certificates for Sally, Regina was expected to crack our case. Both issues weighed so heavily upon me and whichever way it would go that would mean a major significant step in my life whether positive or negative. But Monday came and I had no certificate to produce. 

What was I to do? I had to try something. I resolved to approach Derrick and try to persuade him to add me some more time, perhaps a month if possible. I took 3 Days off and my boss granted me. I lied to her that I needed to travel urgently up country. The only person I told the truth was Carol.

When I went to Derrick’s office, I found him in a meeting and his secretary told me to wait for a while. She even offered me a cup of tea but I politely declined.

“Hello young man, have you brought the certificates?” Derrick asked me after greeting me.

“Sir, we were unable to redeem the certificate within the right time. We however paid Kshs 200,000 and I have the receipts as a proof for it. I had come to request you to add me some more time so that we can get more money to top up the rest of the remaining amount.” I told Derrick.

He looked at me, very composed and told me.

“I have dealt with a lot of rookies like you who try to play smart with me. Just hold on there.” Derrick said and made a call.

In came his gateman, a tall Sudanese guy.

“Lead this young man to your special place as I call the necessary people to take care of him. He need to be taught a lesson. These young men of late think they can always do everything their way and escape justice.” As soon as Derrick finished saying that, the Sudanese motioned me to follow him without any question. I tried to plead with Derrick but he would hear none of it. He did not even look at the receipts. 

The Sudanese guy locked me at a small room close to the gate of the main building where I stayed. A lot of thoughts came into my mind but all terminated with the fact that I was getting myself into serious trouble. I imagined a jail term. I tried to even figure out how many years I would be locked. What will become of Sally? Will she get married to someone else? What will my boss think of me? A criminal? She might even think I had a fake certificate!

Besides, with the realization that the money Kurd took from us might now be lost forever, I felt hopeless. Here was chasing a supposed criminal case and facing a criminal case of my own?

I remembered Sally had warned me of trying to fake the certificates but I never heeded her warning. How I wished I would go back into time! 

It got to a point I was thinking I could kill myself inside the police cell or jail to escape the agony. Life was turning to be so cruel. But clearly, Derrick was acting like a total asshole in my opinion.

Chills of fear ran down my spine as soon as I saw a police land cruiser get into the compound. They came straight to where I was and handcuffed me. Reality sank in me so hard that I was being arrested, all because of my love for Sally and I did not want Sally to even know. Perhaps she would even abandon me since who would wish to be associated with a criminal anyway?

I was driven to an unfamiliar police station where I was booked in. They took all my finger prints, all my details and confiscated my phone. As I was being led into the cell, the police man told me, “Boy, you are going to rot in jail. Forgery is a serious crime you would rather have killed someone than commit forgery. That is fraud. I hope you will learn a lesson.”

I was thrown into a cell with 5 other men who looked like hardcore criminals. It was around 5 PM and I was feeling so hungry, angry and dejected. I tried to greet them but none responded in fact one showed me his middle finger and laughed maniacally. 

The room smelt worse than a public toilet. It was also dark with only one source of light about 7 feet above the ground. There were boxes scattered all over and one bucket full of human waste. It was a terrible scene to behold. I looked for a place to sit at one corner as far as possible from my cell mates despite the room being around 2 by 2 meters.

For the first time since I was initiated into manhood through a circumcision rite, I cried like a baby. A part of me was slowly dying and it was apparent that if I stayed in this cell for just a week, I would probably die on my own.

“Who the hell are you crying to?! Do you have your mother here?” One of the cell mates asked me walking to tower where I was seated. I knew better than to answer him. But he insisted and was persistent.

I tried talking to him but he grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me so hard to my feet. I felt scared. I avoid eye contacts with any of them.

“Boss, let us check his bonnet whether it is nice and sweet.” One said. I did not understand what he meant. But immediately he said that, the man who had lifted me from my sitting position lifted me, grabbed my right hand and twisted it so hard such that I literally twisted and turned to face the wall. I tried to resist but he gave me a mighty blow in my ribs that made me begin coughing. I immediately sensed they were up to no good when one of them began unbuckling my belt. The realization that I was about to be sodomized awoke the devil in me and I gathered all the force I could manage and turned myself hard until I faced the man who was pinning me to the wall. He slapped me but immediately the slap landed on my head, I directed my left kick to his balls and it landed squarely in between his legs such that he moaned with pain. The next man who tried to hold me, I aimed my elbow towards his chest and it landed right at the center of his bony chest and his ribs gave a cracking sound, seeing that he wanted to recollect himself and attack, I held him by his head and directed my knee towards his head as I pulled him with so much force such that his head met my left knee so hard he literally flew away from me staggering backwards until he landed on his back and his head hit the wall hard enough to make a sound. I thought to myself, “I would rather die than be sodomized!”

I think the commotion alerted the policemen since within no time, 10 policemen opened the cell and got inside.

“Afande, where have you picked this stupid trouble maker. Is he one of these university kids giving us headache all the time? He seems smart but he is deadly.” One policeman said.

I did not hear anything else after that since we got clobbered senseless by the policemen then one of them threw something which emitted some toxic smoke in the cell and I guess I must have passed out since by the time I regained my consciousness, the room was very dark I could virtually see no one. I could hardly stand up since all my body was aching. I had such a terrible headache I could literally hear bells ringing in my head.

The realization that I was about to spend a night inside a police cell, perhaps with some other criminals made me shudder.

>>To be continued>>

As narrated by Dr. Love.