When Love Lasts.

I

I huff as I look out the window.

This is my third job this week and I'm exhausted, a lot.

I've been zoning out a lot lately, it's just that things are becoming tougher. At least thanks to Uncle Sani, Noor and Nura don't need to worry about tuition fees until they graduate.

We lost our parents 16months back in a car accident. It was so sudden and my father had a lot of debt but thanks to close friends to the family that is not a problem anymore.

Now the only issue is keeping up with our day to day needs. Food, electricity, water and all that. Things are becoming tougher and tougher with each day that goes by.

I'm a supposed chef.
I went to three different culinary schools while my parents were still alive and my mom hooked me up with jobs, like when her friend's daughter was getting married, I catered for them.

But now that they're gone and with no money to hire help I can't cater anymore. Instead I do different miniature jobs. From serving at parties to helping in any kitchen and even helping event planners. It's never a job, just a gig. I get payed immediately I'm done and it's never a lot sometimes it's an insulting amount but I make do.

She clears her throat.
I raise my head and look at the head chef.
A restaurant was looking for an extra pair of hands because they had a bachelorette party.

She hands me an envelope "Here"
"Thank you" I accept it "Maybe I can give you my contact incase you need an extra pair of hands".

She shakes her head looking at me disgustedly "No, sorry. I mean you could barely do a proper job today"

Well, it's true.
I need to get a grip on how much I zone out.
I huff.

Now, for a gig you need to check your money no matter what. Don't trust anyone with your cash so I got out the money and counted. At this point the woman was already making her way out.

I rush over "Excuse me?"
"What now?" She asks annoyed.

"You gave me 10k, it's supposed to be 15"
She nods "I know, you didn't do your job well. What makes you think you deserve 15?"

I shake my head.
"Because I worked for it"
"When you didn't do your job right? People complained"

I shake my head "And that does not concern me, at all. The point is if they complained and you knew you wouldn't pay me my money in full then you should have fired me at that moment. Not after I finished my time in full, so pay me my money"

She looks at me surprised.
"Who do you think you are?"
I shake my head "I'm nobody but I'm sure you wouldn't want me to cause a commotion infront of your restaurant"

The woman looked very pissed but all I wanted was my money and I'll leave.
She hisses "So ungrateful"

She brings out the money and throws it at me.
"I hope it's complete" I shout as she stormed off.

I packed my money and made my way to my car.

::

A lot of my uncles tried to get me to sell the house after our parents died. What were we going to do with a 4bedroom house especially because my siblings stay in a hostel in school.

But isn't it better to stay in my home than rent a smaller house? At least even when things get tough I know that no one is going to take it from us.

Thanks to our father's step younger brother we kept it. He stood with us when they all wanted to suck us dry.

But I'll admit the house feels so lonely.
I enter the kitchen and warmed up my jollof rice, ate and washed the plate before picking up a sachet of pure water and head upstairs.

I know you're thinking it's probably not advisable for a young woman my age to be alone but Uncle Hadi also got us a security guard, he pays him.

I huff as I fall on my bed.
It's hectic, it really is but what do I do tomorrow? I don't have a stable job and the agency hasn't called, I'm officially screwed.

And at that moment my phone starts ringing.
It's Fayza, the owner of the agency. Her agency helps women get jobs. You tell her your qualifications and when a company or restaurant or whatever is in need of a worker with your qualifications they contact her agency and she contacts you, she's the one who helps me with the gigs.

"Hello, Fayza" I answer excitedly.
"I heard what happened? Why did you do that?"

I groan "That stupid woman wanted to dupe me off my money. I worked full time but she says I didn't do it well so she gave me 10".

She bursts out laughing "I've had a few similar cases with her. I'm glad you did that"
I nod "Me too, she can't mess with my money"

"Anyway, I have a baby shower gig for you"
"What is it exactly?"

"Just serving cocktails"
I shake my head "Nope, you know I don't like baby showers. Work for hours and they bring up 5k? Nope"
"Okay, I'll get Esther on it"

"Thanks. Good night"
"You too" she ends the call.

I huff and get up to take my bath.

::

Noor and Nura always come by during the weekends, except during tests and exams. If it was their choice they would but I told them if they did I wouldn't open the gate for them.

"It's so hectic" Nura says as he ate his food hungrily "Damn, you're a great cook" he compliments me.

I smile "Just eat".
They're 23years and in their second year. They couldn't start the university early because our dad didn't have the means but they started few months before we lost our parents.

Nura is studying architecture while Noor is studying Mass communication, she wanted law but the school fees is alot more and law school is expensive plus I don't think Noor is smart enough to handle Law, she doesn't really like studying.

She crosses her leg eating.
"So? What have you been up to?"
I shake my head "Nothing much"

"And how's your business going?" Nura asks.
Yes, I might have lied to him that my catering business is existent.
Noor looks at me.

"It's going well" I lie.
I kept it from Nura because he'd insist on getting work and helping me out if he knew how I scourge for work and he doesn't need distractions.

As soon as they were done eating Noor pulled me to her room and opened her suitcase.
The girl literally got out a shopping bag and hands it to me.
"What is it?"

"It's from my boo" she says smiling from ear to ear.
I open it and freeze, completely.
It was a brand new IPhone 13pro, with a brand new nude silicon case and AirPods.

Did I mention I use an IPhone 6?
Yup, for the past three years.

Noor is currently using a 14, her boyfriend updates her phone every single year, I don't like that she collects it but I know if I stop her she'd still collect it and hide it from me.

I hand them back to her "That's insane Noor, I can't collect this. Give it back to him"
She shakes her head "No, Ya Safina please use it. You work so hard to keep things going and you never buy yourself anything nice so please use it".

I shake my head "I'm not going to collect anything from your boyfriend, that doesn't make any sense"
"Please"

"No, I'm not going to"
She stands "And I'm not taking it back. Please Ya Safina, just accept it"

"Nope"
She clasps my hands "Look, being completely honest, even the people who hire you won't rate you. You go around using a beat up IPhone 6. Please just accept it, this once"

She actually made a lot of sense maybe it's because I've been thinking about changing my phone for a while.

I huff "Fine, thank him for me"
She smiles "You don't need to".

I nod.
I still felt odd accepting it, he's my little sister's boyfriend, I wonder what he'll think about me.

::