Beyond Surface

Chapter 3 (II)_ BWMCL

Fun Fact- Banging your head against a wall for one hour burns 150 calories

(crazy stupid fact!)

Unknown's Point Of View (P.O.V)

Jireh took a careful look at the very familiar building, smiled, dipped his hands into his little back pack which he kept closely beside him in the back seat of the taxi to bring out a black leather wallet. In the wallet were new, neatly arranged Naira notes. He paid the taxi driver, and even tipped him. The elderly man thanked him, and Jireh returned the gesture, gave him a small, weak smile and dropped down from the taxi to walk into the company.

Walking into the all familiar company building had never been like this. Everyone wore either a heavy face, or a long one. They gave him pitiful looks and weird greetings. He wasn't surprised, for by now, they all must have heard about the death of his little sister, that's why they gave him those looks. He was deep in thought and then suddenly halted almost in front of the board room where general meetings were held. And once again, Joyce's memories came back to him making tears well up in his eyes.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by his best friend, Yomi, who was also a colleague at work. Yomi came out of the board room and saw Jireh lost in thought.

"Hi gee?", Yomi greeted.

"I'm good", Jireh replied dryly in a voice as low as a whisper while brushing his hand through his hair and blinking his eyes continuously to prevent his tears from flowing out.

"We were just about to close the office", Yomi said to him calmly.

"Close the office? But why?" Jireh inquired. Yomi was about to begin talking when he interrupted him.

" Look, guy, I know I just lost my little sister, but that doesn't mean business should come to a stop. She wasn't even a member of the company, and besides, I spoke with my dad last night and he said I should make sure I'm present at the annual general meeting. We can't dissolve the yearly meeting without a resolution and you know it. We can't take that risk", Jireh explained to Yomi.

'Jireh, have you spoken with your parents today?' Yomi asked curiously, looking straight into Jireh's eyes.

"No. I haven't been able to get through to them since last night when they told me about Joyce's demise. I've tried calling them both for God knows how many times", Jireh mumbled.

'Okay, let's take you home', Yomi said placing a hand on Jireh's shoulder, and tried as much as possible to pretend to be normal. Since it was obvious that Jireh hadn't heard about his parents yet.

'But the mee..."

'The meeting is postponed. Everyone has agreed to the postponement of the meeting', Yomi interrupted him sharply, and began pushing him towards the receptionist position that led to the exit of the building.

They got into Yomi's fancy, red 2018 modelled beetle car, and the tyres screeched all the way towards the Kolawoles residence. The drive home was cold, silent, and painfully killing. The only sounds heard were of the car engines, and the sniffings the guys made to hide their tears.

Yomi, soon drove into the street where the Kolawoles residence was situated. He decided to park the car two houses away, so they could walk to the house.

'Why are you parking here? There's a parking lot right outside our house and you know it. Yomi, please, just drive me home', Jireh pleaded.

'I know, but your house's parking lot must be filled. I'm sure of it. And besides, we're only two houses away from home. We can leg it man. Let's go", Yomi said.