Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle)

The 11th Hour

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JECINCTA

By the time I got to the hotel by 6:30pm,  cumulonimbus clouds were making quick work of the remaining daylight and a cool breeze carried the damp scent of incoming rain.
The doorman greeted me affectionately as he opened the door for me. I hadn't been to the hotel in almost a year cause Mr. D preferred to drop by my apartment instead and as a result our weekly penthouse rendezvous had been put on indefinite hold. The clerk was a strange face, probably a new staff and obviously didn't know me. Usually I was handed a key card immediately and told Mr D was waiting for me in the private suite but the sassy lady chewing gum and staring rudely at me obviously didn't get the memo.

"Pent house 1C. Mr. Doing's is expecting me"

"Hold on" she instructed and I struggled to stay still

She brought out the intercom and dialed a room number.

She kept me waiting for minutes before she finally put the phone down and announced, "he's not answering"

I was baffled, "So? look he called me okay? he's expecting me...this is not my first day here," I turned and made to walk down the hall but the bitch began to cause a scene. "hello, excuse me you can't go up without confirmation. I'll send security after you, hey excuse me sister?"

I whirled around, "I'm not your sister okay and what do you expect me to do? you said he's not answering"

"Ehn that means you'll have a seat, I'll go up and confirm myself, new hotel policy okay?" She flushed her eyes at me, in the rude way that was usually accompanied with a venomous hiss. But she smiled thinly, and I saw how much she detested me cause she probably had a crush on Mr. D

I was used to such attitude from waitresses, stewardesses, female clerks both at hotels and banks. They all wanted to be the girl with the rich man. I could be extremely sassy when I needed to be and usually handed them double of their attitude. Right now I had a scathing rebuke on my tongue that would make even her ancestors roll in their graves but instead I did as she asked. I was a little worried about Mr. D, what if he already checked out of the hotel when I took too long to show up? I sat down in one of the waiting chairs in the lobby and leafed through a vogue magazine while she took her time, strolling lazily to the elevator. I rolled my eyes at her retreating back and focused on the bold designs the beautiful women brought to life on the pages. A couple minutes later, a loud thunder rumbled, interrupting the rather quiet night and I glanced up from the magazine.

Outside was as dark as midnight already, Grey clowds constantly lit up with flashes of lightening as if announcing that the imminent downpour would be very heavy.

Two men hurried into the hotel lobby and I noticed their clothes were a little wet which meant it was already drizzling. There was something odd about the partnership and I found myself wondering what business they had together.

The guy in front looked as angry as the Devil and had such a hard face, I suspected his features no longer softened when he smiled. He was dressed in one of those popular annoying shirts with the inscription, 'my money grows like grass' and a grey joggers that hinted to have once been navy blue in colour. The second man was a lot more easy to look at, he was as tall as his partner and thankfully a whole less muscular, in fact he was more on the lanky side. He had better dress sense and although I could only see his side profile cause unlike his friend, he stared straight ahead I thought he was rather cute. For every confident step the first guy took, there was an unsure and hesitant shuffle visible with his every step. They got to the check-in counter which was still unmanned and they looked around. The muscular one had an air of impatience about him and pushed the button repeatedly, renting the air with the shrill sound of the mechanical bell.