Second chances

Chapter fourteen:Strange

So many thoughts ran in my mind as he drew close
"Was this what Charles had faced? My dreams made some intuition that he did cheat on me.
This was totally wrong, I won't let anything happen between my boss and I"

Few inches to my face, he stopped and observed my facial features well. He reached out and wiped off something from my brows.

"You look very ridiculous, Mrs
Victoria"

he chuckled and began to wipe off whatever remaining particles of the powder from my brows. After he was done with that he proceeded in dusting off my hair as well.

I only sat still, not knowing if I should take his handkerchief from him or just allow him do the cleaning.

When he was satisfied with his work, he opened my hand and placed piece of cloth in my hands. He took two steps backwards, then walked to his chair.

I exhaled slowly, not believing I had held my breath for that long. There was something about my boss, that I didn't quite understand. His care was genuine, but at the same time I felt there was more to it.

"You did very well today, a lot of people were pleased with your contribution. The board members would decide on the idea which would be more productive. I do hope we begin to make more profits "

I hope so too, sir? " I wanted to be sure about using his first name.

"If you find Jude too difficult to use, Rude might just do well Victoria "He said winking

Is there anything else, you'd like for me to do for you Jude? "

Yes, Victoria " he stood up and faced the city.
"How often do young female teenagers get cranky during menstruation? "

I wanted to ask why he was asking, but I felt that if he had wanted me to know, he surely would have told me.

"Quite often, a lot of girls feel irritated during menstruation, my daughter says it's like being in a Loo you want to escape badly from"

He nodded and gave me a smile

"That makes much sense, that would be all Mrs Victoria. Please be careful in the rest room from now on. Too many accidents happen there, I do intend to put a stop to it, inugo"

His words made me understand that he knew a lot about my extremely welcoming and accommodating coworkers even though I chose to hide it. It was the first time he had ever spoken igbo to me, so I guess he must have meant his words.

I stood up and left his office.

Walking through the corridors, I could hear side talks from employees who had waited for long, because they wanted to see the boss.

" just because she made a reasonable point today, she decides to flaunt it, I hu kwa nu m,"a lady spoke

"Who knows what she has been doing there with him? "She eyed me making sure to give me a glance of her contempt towards me.

I ignored them as usual, better to waste my words on birds, than jobless beings.

Onyi's mood was still sour and I noticed that her conversations were forced.

"O gini mere(what happened?, you've been like this all day and it's killing me"

She moved her chair closer to mine, whatever it was that she had to say, it was meant for my ear alone.

"It's just that ndubuisi has changed a lot, he's always making remarks about my weight and has refused to touch me"

Ndubuisi happens to be her husband

"After I had my third child, my body system changed. I'm not saying I don't want to slim but you have to understand, bearing children ruins the body"

Did charles ever make me feel unwanted at a point in my life, was that what drove me to shoot my self"I thought

"Your husband is very wrong, instead of treating you that way, he should be helping you out. I do hope he's not ch... "
I stopped myself from finishing the word, it occurred to me that it would make her sad.

She lowered her gaze and spoke
"He is, he is cheating on me. I've known for a while, he feels it's his right to bed as many women as possible "

I reached out for her hands and held them.
" You'll be fine, we'll find a way to get your weight down. Your motivation should be making your husband beg for what he rejected"

My words comforted her and my admiration for her grew. She was going through so much and yet she was stable.

Whereas there might be a possibility that I shot myself for the same reasons.

We had so much work to do after that, I made sure that the portion of food onyi got for break was divided into two.

"Gbu Zie m, isi m erizi na nri(kill me, so I should no longer eat)

Asides the stupid remarks from some people, the day went very well.

The driver picked me up at closing hours and when I got home I was told that Charles was home. He was having his bath and Christy was on her computer. She was writing an essay, I decided to have a peek at while she went down stairs to get snacks.

I sat down and started reading, noting grammatical errors, her essay was interesting. It had been about juvenile delinquency and how to tackle it.

I found it amusing that their teacher would give them such topics to handle, weren't all teenagers juvenile delinquents.

Christy came up with the snacks, and when I questioned her about the time she wasted, she told me a guest had arrived.

" o bu onye? Who is it? "

"It's aunty grace!!! "

My heart skipped a beat, "Grace "

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A/N:I sense imminent danger, our Grace came knocking. Please do read, comment and vote.

I'm very much appreciative of how far we've gone.