Career or Family ties

Chapter Two

"It is always a struggle driving in Lagos traffic" Lola muttered to herself while turning off the ignition of her Toyota corolla salon car.

Loud music blared from a nearby hangout close to her house.

Surulere is one the liveliest parts of Lagos and full of fun spots like bars, clubs, fashion outlets, eateries and shopping mall.

There are places where you can buy street foods like suya or traditional meat kebabs at odds hours.

Her favorite place is Adeniran Ogunsaya where the leisure mall is located.

There you can buy almost everything you need especially at shoprite which sell at discount rate and the cinema where she watch movies at rare times when she is free.

Surulere never really sleeps, one of the reasons she had decided to move here three years ago when she could no longer bear her mother's constant matchmaking.

Lola knew she meant well but after telling her severally that she wasn't ready to settle down in a long while which of course fell on deaf ears, she had decided on getting a place of her own.

As if on cue, her phone light came on indicating an incoming call from none other than her mom.

She took one final look, checking to confirm if she parked properly, turned towards her apartment and swiped to receive the call.

"Hello maami" she said and heard some noise in the background, probably Junior her younger brother, he is the only one in the house these days as the twins "shade and shola " hardly come home.

They prefer to stay over at their off-campus lodge in Tanke, a town always bustling with student activities probably due to its proximity to the University of Ilorin's main campus.

"Bawo ni Lola" her mom replied asking how she is.

She could sense the tiredness in her tone.

Her mother owns a provision store at Alaba, an area not too far from mile 2, along Badagry expressway.

She had single-handedly brought them up, haven lost her husband in a ghastly motor accident just after giving birth to Junior.

Although she doesn't say it but she had never fully recovered from the loss and the fact that she suddenly had to work extra hard to cater for them had taken its toll on her.

"Don't tell me you just got back from work " she said bringing her back to the present.

"How's preparation for Aunt Debola's party" Lola said instead self-consciously changing the topic.

But her mom caught on. "Do you remember Tade, "and don't think I don't know that you deliberately ignored my question just now" she added.

Her stomach rumbled again and she remembered she still had not eaten since breakfast.

"Maami, I remember Tade, your friend's son that moved to the states some years back.

Her mother decided to back of from her first question in favor of this one thankfully and said "He will be at your Aunt's party on Saturday" "He asked after you and I mentioned the party so make sure you're there on time"

Lola rolled her eyes, knowing what her mom is up-to as she never misses any opportunity to matchmaker her with would be suitors.
Well, Tade is a childhood friend and she had fun memories from growing up together but they've not been in touch in a long while.

"Maami, I need to go, I've got a lot to sort out and I need to eat before my stomach detaches itself from my body in protest "

Her mom was getting ready for more lectures and she knows it will take a while if she doesn't end the call now.

"We will see and talk about this on Saturday, please extend my regards to Junior " and she ended the call.

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An hour later, an exhausted Lola lay sprawled on her bed. Beside the bed on the stool was a tray filled with remnants of what she had for dinner; white rice and fish sauce from her fridge which she had microwaved.

She hardly have time to cook, most times she just eats out except when she has leftovers from rare days when she had spare time to cook during the weekend.

She was almost closing her eyes when her phone beeped once again.

"Hello Miss Victoria" she said with a yawn haven checked the called identity from a brief glance at the screen.

"I'm so sorry, hope I didn't wake you Lola" she said in response to the yawn.

"I totally forgot to let you know you'll be in charge of staff meeting" she added.

"Oh, the staff appraisal reports right?" Lola said and instantly jerked off the bed.

"Thanks, i'll just need to tidy up a few loose ends, see you at work tommorrow" she said and the line went off.

She got off the bed. switched on the light and picked her laptop from where she had dropped it on her reading table.

It will be a long night indeed, she noted.

***NEXT DAY AT WORK***

Everyone was busy getting ready for the day's work, there were so many unsmiling faces and a few whispered voices could be heard recounting the what transpired at the just concluded staff meeting held at the company's mini hall.

Lola's heels made clicking sounds against the tiled floor as she passed through the corridor close to the main administrative unit where her office was situated.

One of the office doors was slightly ajar and she could hear Mrs Adisa's muffled voice as she tried to stop her cries from getting louder.

"Surely, Miss Victoria was a bit hard on you" Dolapo said with a slightly raised voice, apparently too annoyed to care who was within earshot.

"Although, i could understand her attempt to impose company policies and all that, but she could have been more understanding of your plight"

"How do they expect you to be at the office when they're aware your husband is lying in the husband for the past two days" she finished.

They must have sensed someone was passing by because they suddenly lowered their voices and she couldn't follow the conversation anymore.

Lola continued walking to her office and thought back to the conversation she just heard.

"Was i too harsh with the staff appraisal" she said to no one in particular and made a mental note to discuss with the rest of the management team later in the day .

By then she had gotten to her office, she went in and proceeded to sort out files she needed to work on for the day.