APART

Chapter 11: FIRST DAY AT WORK 2

           Oh goodness, i need to concentrate. But how can my dad lie to me about being in the hospital when his phone is at home? Or, did he change his phone? Something is wrong somewhere and i can't find out the truth. Oh i feel helpless.

           In order to make myself happy, i pushed the button on my desk to call Theo. Within a few minutes he arrived my office.

          "Yes miss Iris." Said Theo.

          " Uhm...please call Cecilia for me."

          "Okay miss." He exited my office. I remembered i needed to go to a boutique or else i won't have any clothes to wear. All my clothes were dirty and i've not gotten time to wash them. I really love Cecilia fashion style. Hopefully she'll help me find my way around it in this country. And also, a chocolate cake is sitting in front of me. I forget my upbringing when it comes to chocolate. After a few minutes, Cecilia came in.

           "Yes miss Iris."

          "Do we have any customers yet?"

          "Not really. Only those indebted to us came to complete their payments. No one has come to purchase anything."

          "Oh, alright. Please get a knife and come and cut the cake. I love anything chocolate flavored."

         "Okay miss Iris. I'll be back." Said Cecilia as she chuckled. She left my office and came back with a small table knife. She cut out a slice for me and served it on a small paper plate with a plastic fork. After doing that she remained standing.

           "What about yours. Won't you have some?"

          "Oh don't worry miss. I'm fine."

           "Okay. If you say so. Seat down i want to have a word with you." I said  gesturing for her to seat. She dragged the seat and sat down.

           "Uhm..." I said trying to swallow the chunk of cake in my mouth. That was how much i loved chocolate. "I would like you to take me to a boutique...." I paused and looked at her to see her smiling. "Why are you smiling like that?" I said with furrowed eyebrows.

         "Oh, nothing miss Iris. I just love shopping, that's all." She said still smiling. Hail thee, i was right.

          "Uhm...okay." I said, pretending not to be impressed. "Later today, around two, we'll be off to the boutique."

           "Okay miss Ir....."
    
          "And..." I interrupted. "I'll be needing a tailor to sow an attire for me. I'll be wearing it to Jasmine's wedding. I don't want to dress corporate or casual and stick out like a sore thumb. I want to show them. I want to drop jaws." We both laughed.

          "Okay miss Iris." Said Cecilia as she tryed to stop herself from laughing weirdly. "You'll be using a material form this store right?"

         "Of course. Have you ever seen McDonald's advertising KFC?." I asked  Cecilia.

           "No miss."

          "Good. Once it's two pm, i want to see you in my office."

           "Okay miss."

         "Bye." She responded and walked out of my office. To be honest, i didn't want to do anything although i had things to do. I was so lazy to get up from my chair. Now what would i be doing till 2pm? I checked the time on my phone and it was 9:45 am. I still have a lot of time. So i pushed myself out of the seat and walked out of my office into the store.

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         "Good afternoon miss Iris. I'm right on time." Said Cecilia.

        "That's good. Let's be on our way." I picked up my handbag and walked out of the office with Cecilia. My first day of work was so weird and long. Hopefully, i get use to this.

           I and Cecilia walked out of the store into the road and stood on the pedestrian side of the road to get a tricycle. Fortunately, we didn't stand too long when a tricycle gave a break in front of us. We did a little bargain and hopped into the tricycle. Cecilia told him our destination and we were on the move. As we drove, we came to a traffic. I checked the time, 2:06 pm. After sometime i checked my phone again, it was now 2:16 pm.

        "Why is traffic so bad here? Like we've literally been here for ten minutes."

        "I'm really sad for your discomfort. I'm use to it. That's Lagos for you. This traffic isn't that bad. Have you been caught up in a 7am traffic or 6pm traffic. You'll be really frustrated. Those traffic last for upto thirty minutes or an hour."

         "I really can't wait to leave this place. I'm really uncomfortable." I said as i was now sweating profusely. I turned to my right and saw Cecilia smiling. "And what's funny?"

        "Oh, it's nothing. I just loved the way your Italian accent came out when you said 'uncomfortable'."

        "Oh...i see. I didn't even notice. I guess my tongue too is uncomfortable." I said as i wiped my face with a white handkerchief i got from my bag.

        "Maybe, if had your own car, the traffic wouldn't be that bad. I mean, you could be stuck in a bad traffic, but still have your air conditioner turned on."

        "Your right. I'm barely a month old in Nigeria to be thinking of buying a car. I need to know my way around Lagos first. After that, I'll think of getting one."

        "Yeah." Said Cecilia as she nodded her head in support of what i said. I checked the time on my phone again, it was now 2:26pm. We were still sitting patiently in the tricycle when the traffic started moving.

         "Oh, thank goodness." I exclaimed as i gave out a sigh of relief. After a few minutes, we arrived at our destination. We got down and paid the tricycle man.

       We got into the the boutique and started shopping. When we were done, i told Cecilia to pick some few things as a reward. She threw her hands in the air and rejoiced before she started picking what she wanted. When we were done paying for all we bought, i was shocked to see the total price.

300k!!!

     How did i reach there? I was so confused. Oh well. Our things were packed into bags and handed to us. Now i would need to enter a taxi. This bags were a lot. From shoes, to bags, clothes, underwears, jewelries, wigs e.t.c We got a taxi that took us back to the store. When we got there, Theo ran out of the store and helped me carry some bags to my office. I paid the taxi man and he was off.

      The day came to an end as it was now time to close the store. My uncle pulled up to the store and picked me. He gasped at the amount of things i bought. Anyway, i'm an adult. So he has no rights to question my decisions.

   Oh ma gaaad!!! I've been patiently waiting to start this book for a fat minute now. I couldn't just jump straight into the book. It's a gradual process. I'm so happy the best part is coming!!!!!

    Anyways, ladies and gentlemen,  grab your popcorn for the show is about to get started.😂

                            Byeeeeee💋