HEAR ME TOO!

PART TWENTY-SEVEN

Ben got to work at 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning and walked into the empty office. His secretary and other workers wouldn't arrive until 7:30 and he needed the solitude to get started on some proposals. Since Monday, he had been coming to work very early in the morning and leaving very late at night, just to escape his thoughts. His father had once told him that work doesn't help one escape thoughts or loneliness but Ben disagreed. For him, work was the only way he could stop himself from slipping into depression from too much thinking. He had switched off his phone the previous day because it kept ringing and he didn't want to talk to anyone. He turned it on reluctantly and after just a few seconds, the notifications came pouring in.

There were messages from his parents on the family group chat saying they had good news and asking him to come to the house that evening. His father had added that he wouldn't be coming to work at all for a few days. There were also a bunch of texts from Uche who was having a meltdown over his upcoming date with Winnie. This made him laugh a little. Uche was normally very composed and this was the first time Ben had seen him flustered about anything. He sent a quick reply asking his friend to calm down and that everything would be fine, then he moved on to the next set of messages which were from Isabel. The smile slowly faded from his face as he saw them.

The texts were mostly about how her kiss with her ex didn't mean anything and how she wanted him to answer her calls or return them so she could explain. Ben sighed deeply. They were not dating. They were just friends so there was no need for her to explain. Her kiss with Ken was not a big deal so it shouldn't bother him.

But why then did he feel a deep sense of loss? Why had he refused to pick her calls? Why was he acting like a spoiled teenager? What did all of this mean? He did not want a complicated relationship with Isabel and they both had to figure out this situation. One thing was certain however. He did not want her to get back with Ken. Realizing his mind had deviated far too much from work, he snapped back into focus and made a mental note to call Isabel after work. They'd discuss and maybe things would go back to normal.

If only he knew it won't be that easy...

*****

Uche emptied his closet, looking for something to wear but he couldn't find any outfit that appealed to him. All his clothes suddenly appeared ugly and he felt the urge to just burn all of them. He looked at the time and it was past 1 p.m. He wondered if he would be able to shop for a suitable outfit before it was time for the date but his mental calculations told him it would not be possible. He never spent anything less than four hours shopping and most times, he would shop for even longer. Ben went along with him once and had sworn never to do it again. In his words, shopping with Uche was "torture". He thought of asking Ben to help out but calling his friend for fashion advice was like bringing a knife to a gun fight. Ben had everything except the flair for fashion, He could dress well but just enough to be seen as "okay" and that was a word Uche did not like. When it came to his sense of style, he liked to hear the words 'phenomenal' and 'ground-breaking'. Half the time, he picked Ben's outfits for the week and so far, his friend had picked up a few fashion tricks but that wasn't enough for Uche.

After a few minutes of thinking, he stood up, took a deep breath and gave himself a brief pep talk.

"Uche, you can do this. Come on, you're a fashion icon! Think!!"

He was taking her somewhere fancy for dinner so he needed to dress according to the occasion. He had to appear formal yet casual, cool yet sophisticated. After going through possible combinations in his head, he picked up a pair of dark wash jeans, white button down shirt and a dark green tailored dinner jacket. He lay the clothes on the bed and nodded in satisfaction. He then headed to his shoe storage and picked out a pair of brown brogues. Glad that he finally made a good choice, he put on some music and started to dance, filled with bliss and anticipation for his date.

After almost thirty minutes of dancing in several styles including something that vaguely resembled twerking, he texted Ben to let him know the issue had been fixed and that he was done having a meltdown. He then sent another text to Winnie to confirm their plans were still in order and when she replied that they were, he whooped. Anyone who saw him right now would think he had never been on a date. He had been on quite a number of them since his break up a few years back but he hadn't anticipated any as much as this one. Winnie was smart, funny polite, and to top it all, she was really beautiful. He was lucky to have run into her again. So lucky in fact, that he thought it was a sign. Perhaps, The Lord had taken pity on him and finally brought his happily ever after.

"Well, fingers crossed," he muttered to himself and then looked up before adding,

"Hey Big Guy, I don't ask for much so please, let her be the one."

For some reason, he had a really good feeling about tonight and hoped things would go really well.

A/N

I am so excited for Uche and I will be watching their date from the sidelines. Then I'll bring you guys all the details. I do pray everything would go well and no surprises would come up. Let's all keep our fingers crossed though.

As for Ben, who's going to tell him? 😫