Subdued (18+)✔️ [A Nigerian Romance]

24~The bud

Her cab pulled up in front of Infinite few minutes before her shift. She rolled her suitcase behind her and prayed to find Odogwu in a good mood. He was the first person she saw immediately she got in.

He stared at her for a few seconds before waving at her to follow him. She did as he wanted and he waited until she'd shut the door behind her before he spoke.

"Aunty well done. You missed work yesterday and I expressly told you if you did you'd be out of a job."

"The situation was out my control sir," Aria pleaded.

Odogwu let out a low laugh. "Out of your control," he said under his breath. He reached into his drawer and pulled out a white envelope. "Open it." He pushed it towards her.

She hesitantly reached for it and took an even longer time to open it. When she did, she saw crisp one thousand naira notes. "I don't understand sir."

"Count it," he said with his arms folded on the table.

She picked out the notes and stared counting. "it's fifty thousand naira sir."

"Good. At least you are not totally bad at everything. That's exactly your salary for this month. Go and empty your locker, we're done."

Aria fell to her knees immediately. "Odogwu don't do this please. You have a mother too."

"Why are you bringing my mother into this?" His eyes bulged as he leaned forward.

"She had an accident and I was so worried that it didn't cross my mind to think about anything else. Yesterday when you called I couldn't enter road."

"That shows the job is not as important if it didn't cross your mind. You're just making it worse for yourself," he shrugged.

"Please. I entered the first bus that moved. I haven't even gotten home yet because I came straight here."

"Aria, go and empty your locker. I'm sure that by the end of the week I'd find a replacement."

"Odogwu deduct those days I missed but please don't fire me, I need this job."

His eyes lightened at the mention of deduction and she saw a small smile tug on his lips. He mastered himself immediately and his lips tightened in a frown. "You have no off days for the rest of this month and I'm deducting five thousand naira for each day you missed, that's ten thousand."

"Thank you sir!" Odogwu was cruel but at least she still had her job. She nimbly picked herself up from the floor and dusted her clothes. "it will never happen again."

She dragged her suitcase and made for the door. The clearing of his throat stopped her in her tracks.

"Your mother," he mumbled. "Hope she's fine?"

"She's fine, thanks for asking."

***

Usman knocked at the door of Miss Zariah for the fourth time and he wondered if Mr. Onyekachi had gotten the address wrong. Deciding it was better to call and ask him, he whipped out his phone. After all it was better to be yelled out for asking stupid questions than going to pick her late. He knew how impatient his employer was.

Kachi picked on the first ring as if he'd been waiting for the call to come through. "Yes?"

"Sir there's no one answering the door. I think I got the address wrong. Is it room thirteen?"

"Yes that's her room number," he replied tersely.

"I've knocked for like ten minutes, I'm not sure anyone's home."

"Call her." He ended the call and Usman wondered why he hadn't done that in the first place.

She answered on the third dial and he could hear loud, thumping music from the background. It was enough for him to guess that she was at the club where he'd seen her the first time.

"Hello?" Her voice sounded strained.

"It's past nine ma'am. I was asked to pick you up by nine sharp."

"Can I call you later? I'm very busy at the moment." She hung up, leaving Usman to wonder just how he would explain that to Mr. Onyekachi.

***

Kachi worked the treadmill at neck-breaking speed. He already knew that this would happen. He'd specifically said nine pm which was just an hour after her shift at the club started to see what she'd do. He'd expected she'd choose her measly paying job over him and he was pissed now that she did.

He hit the stop button and then grabbed a towel, waiting for Usman to call and say he couldn't reach her. His breath pushed out of him in short, choppy rasps as he reached for a water bottle. His phone rang just then and true to his expectations, it was Usman.

"She's at the club, right?"

"Yes sir. I can go there and pick her up."

"Don't worry, Usman. Bring the car back home, I'll handle it."

"Okay sir." He could hear the man's relieved exhale.

"After you drop the car you can go. I won't need you till tomorrow afternoon so take the morning off."

"Thanks sir!"

He plucked the ear buds out of his ears and flung them at the wall. The fact that the tiny female could push him this way was pissing him off and he also felt confused. Should he show up at the club? Should he call?

Today had been stressful for him and tomorrow would be worse. Although he refused to admit it, he'd been looking forward to tonight to relieve the stress and calm him for the next day. What annoyed him the most was that since the hot incident in his car few days back, he'd not been able to stop thinking about her. He knew himself enough to know that no one else would do until he'd had her and enjoyed her to his fill.

"Fuck," he growled before he strode towards the door. There was only one way to fix this and that was to nip it at the bud. If her job was the reason she was standing him up, then he'd make sure it wouldn't be a problem anymore.

***

Predictions anyone?

What do you think he'd do? And how do you think Aria would react?

My heart goes to Usman. It must be tough being caught in the middle of these two stubborn people.

Thank you so much for reading ❤️ You're the reason I find time to pen things down. Please vote if you enjoyed this chapter, it would help me a whole lot!