Ex Gratia (#1 EX TRILOGY)

Chapter 3

"So how long have you been in this wedding planning business? It's pretty lucrative to me," Rich said from the other end of the line. Akoma was driving to Kumasi City Mall the next morning in her white 2016 Honda Accord while talking to Rich on loudspeaker. She slowly joined a traffic jam at Kaase and turned off the engine.

"The way the last sentence sounds," Akoma said and scratched her chin. "Am I sensing sarcasm?"

Rich laughed. "You shouldn't have to. You know the business better than I do. Don't sense sarcasm."

"OK. That's fine. I've been doing it since I graduated. That's four years now."

"OK. And how much do you make in a month?"

Akoma smiled. "Eeerm. Tread cautiously, Rich. Tread cautiously."

"I'm not doing anything wrong. It's a simple question. Trust me, Akoma."

"Me - trust you? That's like asking me to stick my hand into a milling machine. No way."

Rich became silent for some seconds, and Akoma listened carefully. Finally he spoke again. "Can I be offended for just thirty seconds? I promise you that I'll apologize when I am done." He chuckled.

Akoma shook her head. "Was that supposed to be funny? It didn't even tickle. Trust me."

"Me? Trust you? It'll be like sticking my 'thing' into a -"

Akoma frowned. "Rich, Rich. Please. Breakfast is still fresh in my stomach. Don't bring it all out, OK? Please."

"Aaaaaah. That's hypocrisy. I know you."

"Do you? Liar. You like 'the thing' too much. What's that?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's a man thing. We are naturally inclined to 'the thing'. I'm surprised you're behaving like you despise it."

"I'm actually surprised you're rather talking about it a lot today."

"Just few times. Not a lot. I beg."

"Whatever you say, Rich".

The traffic started to move, and Akoma woke the engine up again. Few minutes later, she drove into the parking lot at the mall and rolled up the windows.

"Are you there yet?" Rich asked.

"Yep. Do you want to stay with me or do you think we should talk later when I come back?"
Before Rich could reply, Akoma shook her head added, "Forget about it. I'll talk to you when I come back."

"All right. If you say so."

Akoma ended the call and sighed. She stared dreamily at the rearview mirror for a moment and reminded herself that she had not really met Rich yet. The consultation for his sister's wedding was all done on Facebook Messenger until they met on WhatsApp prior to their long phone chats. Interestingly, both of them had not used photos of themselves as profile pictures throughout the period they talked. It was going to be very impractical to be so fond of him this way.

She blinked few times and stepped out of the car. As she walked towards the entrance, she could not help but feel strongly that she was being followed. She stopped in her tracks and turned around quickly to check. People were just randomly walking past her without making eye contact. Akoma sighed and walked quickly to the entrance.

The gentleman with the camera leaned over from his hiding place behind the ice cream vendor's kiosk and took a shot of Akoma. He flexed his fingers and walked after her.