Life had been rinse and repeat for the past three months for Ìrètí. She would wake up early in the morning around four a.m. to Coco making biscuits on her chest and then make breakfast for her. Then she would perform a lymphatic massage on her stomach and drink a shot of ginger powder and lemon juice before her ten-minute Pilates workout.

After that, she would bathe, do her skin and body care routine, then drive to work. It would be the same as usual, but being the COO of a construction company meant her days were far from mundane.

As soon as Ìrètí stepped into the office, she would review the daily project reports and meet with her management team to discuss ongoing projects. She usually hated whenever she had to discuss this with the M.D and other executives which would mean sitting in the same room as Toba whose presence infuriated her.

He rarely did anything to get on her nerves but she was just annoyed by him; most times he agreed with her views which infuriated her for some odd reason, but not as much as the other male executives who did not like seeing her ideas and policies accepted. And definitely not as much as the few times he disagreed with her opinions.

Apart from then, it was quite easy to avoid him at work because by mid-morning, she would be on-site which could be up to four construction sites in a day, ensuring that resource allocation was optimal. She closely monitored the allocation of labor, materials, and equipment, ensuring everything was in place to maximize productivity and efficiency.

Her afternoons were often spent working with Lewis, the CFO, managing budgets, monitoring financial performance, and ensuring profitability. Overseeing cost management and financial planning for projects was a constant challenge, but one she handled with expertise.

Client relations took up a significant portion of her time. Building and maintaining relationships with clients, stakeholders, and partners were vital but it was her worst part of the job. Some clients could be very difficult, especially the elderly male ones who were not quite comfortable with a woman handling their projects.

In the evenings, usually around six thirty, she would be home and unwind by making a comfort meal or ordering food, take a bath and snuggle up in bed with Coco while watching a movie until she eventually fell asleep.

It was one of those mornings again, she waved her cat goodbye and then opened the door, surprised to see her boss; Toba, with his hands raised to the knocker.

"Good morning," he said slowly, assessing her outfit. She looked stunning as usual and it slightly affected him. He muttered a quick prayer of forgiveness for his lustful thoughts and focused on her face instead of the way her cleavage was slightly peeking through her dress that hugged her hips tightly.

She tilted her head to the right and raised her brows. He had been staring at her for a long time now without saying anything. "How may I help you?"

"Um," he cleared his throat. "Can you give me a ride to work? My car broke down this morning and the other one is still at the mechanic."

"What happened to bolt?" She waved her phone at him.

"Just didn't think there was a point... I mean we are neighbors and... Work in the same place."

"It doesn't speak well," she replied curtly. "You are the M.D, my boss. Arriving to work together?"

"I didn't think you were someone who cared about what people thought," he shrugged. "You don't give off that vibe at work."

"Because I don't care what people think."

"Then?"

"Your reputation. That's damaging to your ego, is it not? If people start spreading rumors."

"I don't care," he chuckled lightly. "And I don't think you care about what happens to my ego. I'd like to think you enjoy seeing it bruised."

"Too bad it's never happened," she rolled her eyes and sashayed away towards the elevator. He followed behind her and stepped in.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"Only this once."

He smiled. "Thank you."

The drive was silent for a while, if you excluded the radio playing in the background. Her car's AC was freezing but Toba liked, especially with the way it smelled. It didn't have the typical car smell but of something different.

"Haew God," he muttered, rubbing his head as they became stuck in traffic.

Ireti seemed unaffected. She simply relaxed in her seat and connected her phone to the car's speakers to play some music. Toba's eyes lifted in surprise at the soulful chant.

"I didn't expect that from you," he smiled.

"Expect what?" Her countenance was marred with genuine confusion.

"Christian music. Nigerian Christian music."

"I like it," she said. "Gives me a sense of peace. As long as it's not having unnecessary beats and shouting." She mumbled the last part and sighed. The traffic was not moving at all, they were in a stand still.

"What church do you attend?"

"CCI, why?" She asked with a slight yawn and then a subtle his. "God have mercy."

"The traffic Abi?"

She nodded. "You didn't answer my question..."

"Just asking o. But which CCI? Do you know I go there as well?"

"The one at Eleganza side."

"I've never seen you though. I've been going there for three months now so we would have run into each other at some point— I was at Ikeja branch before."

"I've not been to church in a while," she answered. "I've been doing it online."

"Oh," he mused. "But for three months, haba. Make a change."

"Who will watch the pastor online?" She smiled at him, genuinely for the first time since he has met her. The few times he had seen her smile, it was never at him.

"People that cannot go to church na," he grinned, feeling pleased with himself for at least being able to get her to talk to him in a friendly way. "The sick, those hospitalized... "
"Wo, whenever the spirit leads me to go to church," she smiled.

"Okay sha," he shrugged. "You're not going on site today, right?" He asked, glancing at her outfit one more time.

"No, why?"

"You're not exactly dressed for site work, and I don't see an extra bag for clothes."

"Oh."

"You look beautiful. Gorgeous. I was going to tell you that." Those words had been on the tip of his tongue since he saw her in the morning. He did not want to say anything that would make her feel uncomfortable but then again, the silence that began to grow was getting uncomfortable.

She whipped her head around too fast, making Toba to swallow hard, wondering if had made a mistake. He hadn't, instead he managed to leave her short of words. She was used to hearing compliments from men but Toba had managed to say it in the most genuine way possible. He wasn't trying to push his luck or anything of the sorts. "Th-thank you." She had no idea why she adjusted her hair away from her face or why she even stammered.

"You have good taste in jewelry," he said, looking at the pendant that conveniently sat between her cleavage. Toba took his eyes away as quickly as they had settled there and moved to her hand where she wore a matching bracelet and then, her ears — there were no ear rings.

"It didn't come with ear rings?" He asked.

"It did, but they were not clip ear rings."

"You didn't have your ears pierced as a child," he mumbled.

"I was a deeper life member," she responded. The standstill would have gotten on her nerves but toba's conversation was distracting her from it so she did not notice.

"Makes sense," he looked at his watch and gave a sigh. "Why didn't you pierce them after though? I mean you don't follow their doctrine anymore... You wear jewelery."

"There's really no point in getting them pierced," she shrugged. "When I have time, I'll take the ear rings to the market and turn them to clip earrings."

"Or you're scared of needles?" He teased, smiling at her.

"You're getting too comfortable," she laughed while giving him a side eye and wagging her index finger at him. "And I'm not scared of needles!"

"Sure you aren't."

"Your sarcasm isn't lost on me," she was still laughing, throwing her head bag. "I do have a dermal piercing so that's enough proof I'm not scared of them."

She was putting images in his head now. Images he fought hard to keep out when he saw her this morning. But now he could not help but think of her back without her dress, having jewelery sitting on her lower back. She probably had venus dimples.

"God help me." He did not even realize he had said the words out loud.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh-i... We are getting late, that's all," he lied hastily, feeling as though if he did not come up with something quick enough, she would be able to see his mind and judge him.

"Oh," she glanced at hee watch and sighed. "Ọmọ, na wà o. The traffic isn't usually like this now. Not this early morning."

"Who's this one now," she hissed lightly as the speaker began to chant incoming call. Then she smiled when she saw the caller ID.

"Chi chi," she grinned. "How far?"

"Ọmọ, things go far o," the feminine voice but through the car's speakers. "I called you earlier but you didn't pick. I wanted to tell you to call your workplace and say you cannot come to work. Abi you don go work?"

"No, traffic," she sighed. "Been here for more than thirty minutes I think?"

"Find way and turn back abeg," the other voice laughed. "I've been here for an hour now just looking at what's happening. There was an accident, two trailers, with one car in the middle. Another car that was involved tumbled. Ọmọ, it's bloody o! And the car has caught fire."

"Blood of Jesus!" Ireti gasped, her eyes wide with shock. "Are you okay? Chioma?"

"I am, thank God," she laughed. "It would have been my car do you know? One of the cars that had the accident over took me on the road and even hit my car. The man was still cursing at me. Look at what happened now..."

"Ọmọ..."

"I left my car and I'm by the road. Before fire will get to my side," Sha laughed. "I can always buy a new car. Thank God it was not tanker sha. But this place is a river of blood. I sent a video to your WhatsApp... Babs abeg, let me call you back?"

"Sure." She ended the call and then opened her WhatsApp to check chioma's video. She knew she should ignore the video, her hands were shaking already and she felt her breath hitching, but then again her curiosity got the better of her. She tapped on the video, watching the blood and smashed bodies. She could not hold her phone anymore, it clattered to the floor of her car.

Toba looked over at her and picked the phone, dropping it on the dashboard. "Are you okay?" He asked, holding her hands. He knew she was not but what else could he say.

He turned off the ignition and then held her face slowly. "You'll be fine, look at me."

She was looking at him, but her eyes seemed lost in a distant past.