Different Worlds

Chapter Thirty-eight

A/N: I apologise for missing my regular updates. I would be dropping another chapter today to make up for the delay.
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Kachi’s POV

“Mm hmm… Of course, we’ll get back to you as soon as possible” I said into the phone.

As I dropped the receiver back in its place, a knock was heard at the door. The door was cracked open and Ijeoma’s head popped in before she fully walked into the office.

I don’t think she expected me to be in the office this early. Normally, she arrived at the office before I did and made sure that all the lights, fans and air conditioners were turned on before settling down in her corner.

My uncle made a quick trip to Lagos early this morning and I had to come into the office to collect some documents from him before he left.

“Good morning, sir” Ijeoma said

“Morning” I replied

The room became thick with awkward tension, not as bad as the day of the almost kiss but quite similar. After she walked out of the office that day, I had some time to myself to think about the repercussions of my action.

Not only had I been unethical by trying to kiss her but I had completely ignored the fact that we still had to work closely together and the ‘almost kiss’ would completely affect our work relationship. I also thought about how her said boyfriend would react to the news that was if she told him about it.

I knew how some men could be and I didn’t want Ijeoma to stop working here just because of an action that I made. She was an asset to the company and I could tell she loved working here.

“I truly apolo—“

“I want to addre—“

We both said at the same time.

“You go first” I waved my hand in the air as if to say ‘the floor is yours’.

“Thank you, SIR” she laid emphasis on the ‘sir’.

She cleared her throat. “I just wanted to address what happened the other day… the whole kiss thing. I don’t really know why that happened or almost happened but like I said the other time… I have a boyfriend and a beautiful daughter… things are really wonderful with me and I don’t want anything to mess up what I have going on right now--“

A daughter? She has a daughter?

Looking at Ijeoma, I would never have guessed that she had birthed a child. She didn’t look like it, in fact she looked really young. I let my eyes roam over her body, she didn’t have the usual protruding belly that most Nigerian women developed after birthing children.

A lot of questions circled around in my head like ‘was it her boyfriend’s child?’, ‘how old is her daughter?’ and more along those lines. I was really surprised by that information but I didn’t let it show on my face.

“—with that said, I would kindly suggest that we keep the relationship between us strictly professional” she concluded in a firm tone.
Huh?

I must have zoned out after she said she had a daughter, so I missed out half of what she said.

“I completely understand” I nodded as I sat upright in my chair. “I sincerely apologize for that… I crossed a line”
She nodded.

An awkward silence followed next and her eyes roamed around the room avoiding me. The whirling sound of the fan and the low hum of the air conditioner were the only sounds that filled the room.