by Umari Ayim

Flirty Pictures, Pay back Lunch And The Shadows In The Nursery

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Send him a flirty picture.

I look away from my phone and down at myself. I send a text back to Sarah.

Define flirty picture.

Anything that makes him eager to return home later.

I look down at myself again and at the door.

I am at work. What if someone walks in on me taking a ‘flirty’ picture?

Lock the door.

Haha, very funny. Richard says he operates an open door policy here. I am not about to change that.

Okay dear, you asked for ways to keep him focused on you throughout the day and I told you. You know what they say about horses and rivers.

Fine. I will come up with that picture soon.

Whoop! Whoop!!

Very funny.

Hehe. Talk to you later hun.

Yeah, bye.

I drop my phone back to the table and release a few buttons of my smocked lace print top to peep inside. My choice of lingerie for today is a black lace number. My hand hovers over the phone for a few minutes and I finally summon courage to pick it up. Holding the phone before my exposed cleavage, I take the first snapshot, examine it and then decide to take another. I am not satisfied with that one too and keep pressing down the button of my phone until the tenth snapshot that shows a satisfying angle of my cleavage. I admire the picture for some seconds and then send it to Richard’s phone. I am still smiling at the picture on my phone when the door opens. I drop the phone on the desk in a hurry and reach for the buttons of my shirt. I am fumbling at the last button when I hear Jude’s quiet,

“Good morning.”

I raise embarrassed eyes to him, my hands still working on my shirt. “Hi…” I look away from his eyes to push the recalcitrant button in the buttonhole with a loud sigh and remember to sound official. “Good morning.”

Pushing my chair closer to the desk, I wait for Jude to walk to meet me. He sits down opposite me, crosses his legs and asks me how my day is going.

“So far, so good.”

“I just finished a meeting with Richard.”

I nod and wonder how it went. Jude seems to read my mind and tells me that he is making progress with the account books. He talks about a small argument with Tokunbo that morning before his meeting with Richard.

“I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that she is upset with my presence here.”

I am tempted to share my fears about Tokunbo with Jude, but I decide against it. There is a pause in conversation as I struggle to continue the conversation.

“Don’t worry yourself too much about it.”

Jude asks me if I have had lunch. I look at the timer on my phone and tell him that twelve noon is too early for lunch.

“I skipped breakfast,” Jude tells me, moving his hand over his stomach with a smile. “I think I will be having an early lunch.”

The hand moving over his stomach flattens the cotton material against him so that his toned stomach muscles are hard to miss.

I look away from that movement and nod at him, “Oh…you should.”

There is another short silence and Jude casually undresses me with his eyes as he appraises me. I link my fingers together on my lap and look away at the window. Jude clears his throat and I look back to him.

“Will you do me the honour of joining me for lunch?”

My first thought is to turn down his request and he seems to know this.

“Please?”

I relent at the pleading look in his eyes.

“Okay.”

“Great.”

I tell Jude about the restaurant where I usually have lunch and he tells me he is happy to eat anywhere as long as I am with him. I am uncomfortable with his words, but I let my mind drift to Richard as I reach for my black blazer jacket. Why has he not sent a response to my message?

On our way out of the office, I tell my secretary that I am leaving for lunch. She nods and gives Jude a long look. I spy a hint of disapproval in her eyes before she asks if she should inform Richard of my whereabouts. I tell her it is okay to do so.

 

****************************

 

The restaurant is quite full today and we have to wait for a couple to vacate their seats before Jude places an order for a plate of white rice and fish stew. While we wait for one of the bow tie wearing waiters to bring his lunch over, Jude wants to know a lot about me.

“You got married pretty early.”

I tell him I was in my early twenties and wise beyond my years.

“Still young,” Jude says with a shrug and a playful raise of eyebrow.

“Not exactly.”

“How old is your son?”

I smile as a picture of a grinning Toju flashes before my eyes. “Three months and three weeks.”

“So how do you find the experience of working with Richard?”

“Great.”

Jude tells me that me and Richard are an unconventional couple and adds, “but not in a bad way though.”

“Care to explain what that means?”

Jude is working on an explanation when his food arrives. We wait for the waiter to arrange the flat ceramic plates before Jude. When he leaves, Jude picks a spoon and wipes it clean with the serviette on his tray.

“What part?” Jude says, digging into the plate of stew and spreading stew on a portion of his rice, “the unconventional couple part or the not in a bad way part.”

“You can start with the first.”

Jude picks up a fork, performs another clean up with a serviette and begins to eat. As he chews his food, his eyes bore into my own. I smile politely and look away at the small queue of customers lining behind the heated display glass holding different pans of food. After a few minutes, I get bored and look back to our table. Jude is reaching for the glass of water beside his plates of food and emptying it down his throat until it is half empty.

“I don’t really see much affection between you two.”

I remember the encounter with Richard in the office and wonder how much Jude had seen to reach his conclusion.

“We are just like any normal couple.”

Jude concentrates on eating for a few minutes and then looks at the simple wedding band sitting on my ring finger.

“So…” he says, dropping his fork to the plate of rice and reaching for the glass of water again. “Are you guys happy together?”

I shift in my seat, beginning to find Jude’s questions intrusive. “Yes.”

Jude does not look entirely convinced with my answer. “Are you sure?”

I narrow my eyes as I search Jude’s mind for the reason behind his probing.

They don’t look too close…..I am going to find out at the end of the day anyway.

“Yes I am sure,” I tell Jude with a nod, dropping the polite smile on my face.

Jude plays with his food while I consult my wristwatch for the time. One hour gone.

“I am sorry,” Jude says, giving me a remorseful look. “I probably should rush…” he stops and points the fork in his hand towards his food, “this.”

I give him my own look of regret, “if you can manage it.”

Jude nods slowly and tries to eat what is left of his food. He only manages through five spoons before giving up.

“I am done now.”’

Jude pays his bill and we walk back to the office. In the elevator to the floor where the company is, we make small talk about his progress with work and he tells me he is still in the planning stage and has several documents to go through in the conference room where he has set up office for the few weeks he will be with us. When the elevator doors open, we part ways but not before Jude asks if I will be free to hang out with him for lunch again tomorrow. I give him a vague answer about my schedule determining my lunch hours. With a nod and a wave, he walks back to the conference room where he will spend most of the day.

I am shrugging out of my jacket when my door opens to admit Richard.

“How was lunch?” Richard asks, pulling out a chair, sitting down and linking his fingers together. I am surprised he knows that I went for lunch.

“I tried to call you as soon as I got out of a meeting but you were hard to reach on your mobile phone.”

I look for my phone and check the signal strength. I find it pretty strong and show the phone to Richard.

“I don’t know why you could not reach me.”

Richard slips off the reading glasses he is wearing and rubs the bridge of his nose. “I called your office after that and your secretary told me you had gone for lunch with the auditor.”

“Yes,” I tell Richard, feeling guilty.

“I wanted to take you out for lunch,” Richard says, slipping back his glasses. “But I guess that is no longer necessary.”

All I hear is the fact that Richard wanted to take me out for lunch, the second part of his statement does not settle in until the intercom begins to ring and I pick it up to hear my secretary tell me that Tokunbo is on her way to my office. I am just replacing the phone back to the cradle when the door opens after a quiet knock.

Tokunbo walks into the office, making a bold, bright fashion statement with her short patterned black, pink and orange dress. She plays the brightness of her ensemble down with plain black pumps, but her red nails and red lipstick bring out the colours of her dress. Richard and I watch her catwalk towards us.

“Hello Tamisho,” Tokunbo says, giving me a perfunctory nod and looking at Richard immediately. “I went to your office but did not find you there.”

Richard nods and asks Tokunbo if she is ready.

“Yes I am.”

“Okay, I will be with you in a few minutes.”

Another perfunctory nod at me and Tokunbo resumes her catwalk to the door. I ask Richard in the most normal tone I can manage whether they are both heading out of the office and he nods.

“Lunch.”

I ignore the small stab of jealousy and smile at Richard. “Great.”

“Yeah,” Richard says, standing up with a smile. “See you soon.”

When Richard closes the door, I lower my head to my desk and allow myself to feel sick.

 

***************************

 

I wake up from my short sleep and stumble into the bathroom to wash my face. After cleaning off the make up on my face with facial wipes, I walk to the shower stall and return with a small dollop of facial wash in my hand. I use the hot water first and then twist the cold water faucet open to finish the cleansing process. I wince from the shock of another extreme temperature but I feel my pores tighten from the pressure. I am rubbing my soft towel against my face when Richard walks in. I look at him briefly and continue to massage my face with my towel until I feel the blood return to it.

Richard takes in my disheveled state and asks, “Did you just wake up?”

I lower the towel to the counter top and lean towards the mirror to check a suspicious looking bump on my chin.

“Yes,” I tell Richard, leaning away from the mirror and pulling down the skirt that is bunched around my hips.

Richard moves closer until he is standing beside me. “Are you upset?”

I fake a baffled look and turn to Richard, “upset about what?”

“I don’t know,” Richard says with a shrug. “You just don’t look too happy.”

“You are reading me wrong Richard,” I tell Richard with a shake of my head. “I just woke up from bed, so excuse me if I am not all smiles and sunshine.”

Richard takes my arm and turns me towards him. “I really wanted to take you out for lunch but you went with someone else.”

I look into Richard’s eyes and see an apology there. I breathe out some of the jealousy that has been eating me up all evening.

“Okay.”

“And if it makes you feel better,” Richard says, his thumbs stroking the place where his hand is settled on my elbow. “I wished you came along.”

“I find that hard to believe,” I tell Richard, reaching at the same time for the buttons of his shirt and going to work. Richard shrugs out his shirt and reaches for the hem of my top. I raise my hands and let him pull the top over my head.

“I have no control over what you believe,” Richard says, bending down to kiss me. I respond with wild abandon and nip gently on his lower lip before he pulls away in surprise.

“That was an angry kiss.”

I shrug and reach for the buckle of his belt but Richard stops me before I can go further.

“Wait,” he pulls my hands away from his belt and takes them in his own. “We need to talk about the lunch thing.”

I pull my hands away from his hold and fold my arms under my breasts.

“I don’t want to talk about the lunch…thing.”

“I want to talk about it.”

I turn back to the mirror and tug my hair free from the clasp holding it at the back of my neck.

“Fine, go ahead.”

Richard watches my wavy hair cascade past my shoulders and reaches to thread long fingers through the hair. I give in to delicious shivers as his fingers graze the fine hairs at the back of my neck. Richard pauses, smiles at me in the mirror and then drops his hand away from my neck.

“So why did you go out on a lunch date with Jude?”

“It wasn’t a date.”

“What was it?”

I try to find a name to tag with the word date and find none.

“It was just lunch.”

“I am not sure I appreciate the thought of you hanging out with my employees.”

“Jude is my friend.”

“And how well do you know this…friend?”

“We are casual friends, Richard.”

“Okay,” Richard says nodding thoughtfully. “I don’t mind having this friend of yours work for me, but I take issues with you hanging out with him.”

“Why?”

“Because you are my wife.”

“You went to lunch with Tokunbo,” I point out helpfully.

“She asked me to, and since I already planned to go out for lunch with my wife and she allowed another man take her out,” Richard pauses and then shrugs. “I thought, why not?”

I sigh and sweep my hair to the side. “It was payback then,” I say, parting the tresses in my hand and twisting it into a braid.

“Well, not deliberately.”

“Okay.”

“I liked the picture.”

I stop my braiding at the memory of my provocative picture earlier in the day. I purse my lips to stop myself from smiling.

“Great.”

Richard pulls me against his chest and wraps his arms around me. I enjoy his warmth for a few minutes before he steps away and leads me away from the sink to another section of the counter top. Placing strong hands on my waist, he heaves me off my feet and settles me on the counter top. He is slipping hands under my skirt when I stop him.

“No more lunch dates with Tokunbo.”

Richard smiles, leans over and kisses me, “only if you don’t go on lunch dates with my male employees.”

I extend my right hand for a handshake, “deal.”

Richard takes the hand, the smile still on his face and says, “Deal.”

We laugh together at the absurdity of reaching a deal in the middle of getting undressed, but the humour passes the second Richard goes back to feeling his way up my skirt.

 

****************************

 

My eyelids flutter open and I immediately set to the task of pulling away from Richard’s embrace. I am careful to keep my movement slow so as not to rouse him from sleep. As soon as I am free and Richard still asleep, I move to the edge of the bed and throw my legs to the floor. I switch on the bathroom light and release my reflection. The worried frown on her face matches my own.

“There is a presence here,” she whispers, looking around her bathroom.

“I feel it too,” I tell her with a nod.

“I think you should summon Shadda.”

I shake my head. “I don’t think so.”

“This is a combination of forces,” my reflection tells me, the frown on her face deepening. “Are you sure you can handle it all by yourself?”

I close my eyes for some minutes and search for the position of the forces in the house. I open them after a few seconds. The nursery!

Rushing from the bathroom, I head to the nursery. I am pushing the door open when I see the shadows around my baby’s cot. There are about a dozen. They are human without being human. A few of them begin to float towards me. I see beyond the faces of a middle aged woman with long braids, an old man with tribal marks on his face, a surprisingly young girl of eight years old, a teenager and an old woman to peer at pure evil. I gather my wits around me and try to focus on the light and not on the remaining shadows reaching into the cot for my son.

I open my mouth to chant the words of the invocation but I can feel a scream of terror make its way past my throat as my eyes refuse to move from the cot. Just as the other shadows reach me, there is a strong burst of light in the middle of the room. I watch in relief as the smiles on the faces of the beings disappear and are replaced with fear and uncertainty. Shadda appears in the middle of the light as it continues to burn brighter until I shield my eyes from it. My ears are assailed with loud shrieks of despair and when I open my eyes again, the light is gone and Shadda is leaning over the cot. I pick myself off the ground and rush towards her.

“He slept all through it,” Shadda notes with a smile, stroking Toju’s feet.

I am still numb with shock and can only wonder about my inability to protect my son.

“You allowed fear win over faith,” Shadda tells me, turning to me with a stern look. “You must learn to overcome your fear next time.” She turns back to Toju. “It was a good thing I was in the neighbourhood.”

I am reluctant to leave the nursery in spite of Shadda’s presence but she urges me to get more sleep.

“It is still a few minutes after three. You need to rest before work.”

I walk back to my bedroom, still thinking of the spirits. Who sent them….And why did they want my son?

 

To be continued

 

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Umari Ayim is the author of ‘Twilight at Terracotta Indigo’ and ‘Inside my Head’ both winners of the 2011 ANA NDDC Flora Nwapa prize and 2012 Poetry prize respectively.

Umari blogs at www.umariayim.com and tweets from @umariayim