“The fibers of all things, have their tension—and are strained like the strings of an instrument.” – Henry Thoreau.

•••

The last time Lekan was here, he was camping out in Kunle’s shadow like a new, nervous transfer kid at school—terrified at the prospect of treading unfamiliar grounds and forging alliances with strangers, but now as he sat at the right hand-side of his father’s pioneer space and watched the board of directors file in, he wasn’t that panicky person anymore. Granted, his anxiety hadn’t evaporated, but he could feel courage coursing through his veins like lightning—if he were the god of thunder. As usual, the bulk of directors wore jaded, wry expressions on their faces, but he had come around to getting accustomed to that. Business people generally weren’t smiley faced people.

When everyone was well settled, he rose to his feet to address the room. The meeting wasn’t the annual board of directors’ conference, rather it was an impromptu one he had called, in order to table something of a prodigious scale to them. It was too big of a decision, to be taken or executed without their blessing—as it was almost as significant as the passing of bill, in a house of senate if the current setting were to be likened to a political one.

When he was sure, all eyes in the room were on him, he began.

“For years, we’ve been contending with a particular problem that we’ve failed to find a solution to. You could call it our Achilles heel or kryptonite, whichever. This problem is of course, transportation speed. As a distribution and courier company, our transportation is the bed rock that our business lies on. Now, our transportation is stellar but it’s not pitch perfect. We still get complaints from customers now and then that their goods don’t arrive on schedule. It’s hard enough to deliver in a country, where every street isn’t on the Google map. That slows our drivers down already, as they have to use their intuition from time to time, to navigate their path.

“We’ve tried purchasing more buildings for warehouses, so there would be closer proximity to residential areas, but of course this is Lagos, a megacity and there isn’t much we could do from that end, as many lands aren’t available for sales as regards that usage. The places that are available are usually apartments, that would cost too much to be rejuvenated into what we need them to be. And don’t let me get started on traffic, and it’s many impositions. Everything is practically constraining. Now the complaints we get aren’t over the top, that they threaten our existence as every local courier company is plagued with the same problems, but I figured if we find a solution in a place, where others can then we’d easily catapult ourselves to the top.”

“Mr. Keye,” It was Katherine, who sat across him on the table—that voiced her opposition first. She looked imposing as always, with her black rimmed glasses and her daunting gaze. “We do appreciate your optimism, as all the facts you’ve laid out can’t be disputed, but the reason why there is no solution in that area, is practically because there is really no solution in that area. We’ve exhausted virtually all our options, and have failed to come up with something…groundbreaking. But if you do have, one we’d be gladdened to hear it. However, if this meeting was called merely to bring this to our notice, then it’s all a waste of our respective time.”

“Of course, I didn’t just call you out here to inform you of this. If that was my motive, a simple text message would have sufficed.” Lekan pressed on, refusing to be undermined by the general contrition. “I have thought of something, a solution that has the potential to be revolutionary if implemented well. We already know we can’t increase our transport speed, because…traffic and difficulty to locate places. We also know it’s almost a dead-end, getting warehouses that are close to residential areas. But there is another means of land transportation we’re yet to look into. That is the railway.”

“Trains?” Another board member, with an overtly flooded moustache—seated by his right—quirked his brow, as if Lekan had suggested that they hire fairies and pixies to aide their transportation.

“Yes, trains.” Lekan nodded, and increased the volume of his voice to keep up with the pace of the soaring murmurs. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s pretty much the fastest means of land transport that is smooth and seamless. I don’t know if we know this, but about a year back—a group of philanthropists, tried to commission a project of luxury trains that would encourage people to patronize the mode of transportation more. We know the reason why high profile people and everyone else in general, don’t use said means in Lagos here. It’s because the state of trains are…well, horrible. If the quality got kicked up a notch however, things would change.

“The project however got sidetracked by the government’s ridiculously high commission demand, and it was put on hold because the people who championed the mission didn’t feel it was worth the fuss, as it wasn’t a profit based venture but simply something done out of goodwill. However, we can contend with the government’s high rate, since it would be a business venture and we intend to make money out of it. If we put in enough resources, we could have well functional trains working at high speed, transporting goods from one place to another, with absolutely nothing stopping them. They’d have schedules of course, but it’s pretty much warp speed compared with actual road journeys.

“If after some time it becomes reliable, we could liquidate our resources on trucks, lorries and all that and put our full transportation scheme through the railway. It’s a capital project, and it would cost a lot—but in the long run, it’s going to rake in back its cost and make our transportation more seamless, faster and unstoppable. What do we all think?”

As anticipated, there was further opposition, but along with it, came favorable agreement. Technicalities went on to be discussed, and proportion of resources to be dispensed were also negotiated on. Fairly, he could declare he came out triumphant and even the dour look on most of their faces, couldn’t nullify that. Matter of fact, his success prompted Kunle into waiting behind to commend him on a job well done, but he knew better than to read sentiment into his father’s words. It was just a night ago, when he was ripping him apart with his offensive remarks.

“Someone is really making an impression, huh.” Naade said, as she rose to her feet also—sliding the strap of her bag through her right shoulder. She was beaming all over as always, genuinely happy and enthusiastic of the great strides he was making.

She was wearing a black flowing cape, over a white and black striped shift gown that accentuated her shape. In her free hand was a clipboard, she always had on her person. “If you weren’t up to take over the company, and was just a regular director, I’d be worried for Kunle, that you’re planning an hostile takeover by warming up to the hearts of the board, gradually to strike at an unexpected moment and that he better watch his six.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle, as he studied her. Naade had become somewhat of a pillar to him on this business grounds, and was virtually the only person he could trust. “The idea just hit me over the head, really as I thought back to the failed train project. My dad is actually one of those philanthropists, I didn’t see the need to rat him out, though. So it’d be easy gaining strides in that area. I just need to go through his connections.”

“You’ve really thought it all out, though.” She replied, as he shuffled out of his chair and set course to exit the conference room and head to their office. “Anyhoo, before you sign anything with the government, make sure you have a reputable attorney in the room with you, so you don’t sign off the rights to make profit from the venture. Government officials are the worst type of vultures. They’d eat your skin while you’re alive, without waiting for you to die.”

“Trust me, I know of their antics.” He replied, as they walked down the scanty hallway to board the elevator. “Are you doing okay, though? You’ve been looking sort-off pale lately, like you need a break or something. I know you’re a workaholic and all, but you should indeed slow it down. Take a leave or something.”

“To do what?” Naade’s facial expression was grim, and her voice dry. “Work keeps me busy, and makes me forget that I rank incredibly high on the rank of world’s most lonely people. I mean, I’m not bitter or cold or anything. I used to have a pretty bubbly social life, before I got married to Daniel. His impositions drove all my friends away, and even though I did try to explain to them that it was out of my control, and I didn’t become distant on purpose…the damage was already done. They just don’t see me as an integral part of their life anymore. And it’s not like I’m in a relationship or anything, so…”

Lekan felt awful for her, and a searing pain tore through his chest. Here was someone that had been misjudged by people in his life, contending and battling with her own demons—overwhelmed by the pressure said battle was mounting on her. He wished he could be her solace, her fortress of solitude, her castle on the hill that she could retreat to and rest, in times of distress, but he couldn’t. He was in a relationship with someone else, and he would be courting nothing but disaster by trying to save someone, he was sexually drawn to.

“I’m sorry, Naade. I never knew you were that lonely.” He swallowed, with genuine bitterness in his voice. “If you want, we could hang out more after work. Just talk?”

She shook her head, and faced him with a grateful smile smeared on her face. “That’s thoughtful of you, Lekan and while I’m incredibly tempted to take you up on that offer, because it’s tempting, we shouldn’t do that. You’re in a real relationship, and I can see that you’re actually trying your best to be the person Anjola needs you to be. I also met Anjola the other day, she’s a really pleasant person. I wouldn’t want to be the person she hates, because I fractured your relationship, which is what will inevitably happen if you try and hang out more with me, because I like you, Lekan.”

Her words took him by surprise, and he guessed his face reflected his shock, because she went on to clarify further.

“It was nothing but sex from the onset, but I’m not that type of person who does casual sex, anyway. I’ve had sex with only three people in my life. With my college boyfriend, which was practically an accidental incident. Daniel, my ex husband and then you. I just thought that having casual sex was the perfect way to blow off steam, you know? It was fun, but then sex is like…not casual at all to me, so my feelings got vested in it and I grew to like you. And it doesn’t help that you also turned out to be this brilliant and diligent businessman also. So yeah, I like you a lot, Lekan.”

“Wow,” Was all he could manage, as he nodded and bit his lower lip. “Well, I totally didn’t see that coming.”

“Me too,” Naade continued. “So please, don’t make that sort of offer to me. It’s difficult not being with you, and having to be around you, every single day. I don’t have that kind of restraint, but I’m trying my best because I wouldn’t want another woman putting the moves on my boyfriend, if I were in Anjola’s shoes. I’d be able to keep myself in check, as long as you maintain the professionalism we’ve had for the past few weeks. With time, I believe my feelings for you will fade and maybe then, we could hang out some more.”

Lekan resigned, with a nod and tried to get in some words, but the elevator doors parted and Naade walked out in haste. Although, they had the same destination—the speed in her strides said she didn’t want to dwell on the topic, and didn’t appreciate his sympathy either. So he resolved to remaining mute on the topic, and complying with her request of maintaining his professional comport at all times, till a time when her feelings for him would long gone.

***

Anjola’s ringing phone, pulled her attention away from her computer which she was operating. As expected, Tiolu had arrived finally and was giving her a call to inform her that she was in the premises. Before she could swipe and pick the call, the ringing ceased and she sighed—realizing her friend was only flashing her.

For someone that had been rich all her life, Tiolu was quite prudent when it came to managing funds for airtime. Her notifications bar was already flooded, with tons of texts from her best friend, updating her on the progress of her journey. It would seem, her friend had arrived a bit over fifteen minutes ago but because she had been too immersed in her work, the multiple dings and vibration her phone had given off wasn’t sufficient in grabbing her attention.

She scrolled to the bottom of the message feed, and fired back a text acknowledging that she had read the texts and was on her way down to meet her. Their meeting hadn’t been set into motion, until the morning when Tiolu gave her a call, while she was riding the BRT bus to the office—suggesting that they spend the evening, catching up on old times in a bid to renew their once resilient and impregnable bond.

Ever since Tiolu returned, they had met a couple of times but none of those meetings had the ample time they needed to resuscitate their once stellar friendship. It was going to be difficult, as her friend was still adjusting to the arduous rigor of juggling her new marital life, in the cutthroat reality that honeymoon hadn’t prepared her for. But Anjola had no reason to doubt, she’d crumble under the weight of it all. Tiolu was one of the fiercest willed persons, she knew.

After shutting down her Imac Pro, she rose from her feet and retrieved her bag from the edge of her desk. As she went about straightening the edges of her short Kinley braids in disarray, she could see Adaure studying her from her peripheral vision and so wasn’t surprised, when the girl wheeled her swivel chair in her direction, with a look of query plastered on her face.

She gritted her teeth, at the thought of the pending confrontation. She had forgotten to tell Adaure, she’d be closing early so as to hang out with her friend, and while that wasn’t exactly a crime on its own, her coworker was most likely to interpret it as another act of apathy, on her part towards their relationship, which she took unconscientiously.

“You’re closing quite early, heading somewhere?” Adaure’s much expected inquiry came in a gentle voice, although Anjola knew it was a conscious act by her, not to blow things out of proportion and further revivify her image as a drama queen.

“Yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you but Tiolu is picking me up, today.” She replied, turning to face her friend—her hands still busied with organizing her braids into a more condensed bun. “We want to hang out and stuff. No big deal, it’s just we’ve not exactly had a lot of time since she returned back from U.A.E. So we’re going to spend the evening talking and catching up. Were you afraid, that I was going to a date or something?” She added that last bit, with a playful glimmer in her eyes.

Adaure rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know Tiolu was back, though. Anyhoo, I guess that’s cool. She was going to return anytime soon, and you guys were always going to go back to being pals. Just this past month while she was away, I got carried away and forgot all about her and the fact that I’m the side chick, best friend, ya know. I swear this is just being me silly, don’t read too much meaning into my words. Y’all have fun.”

There was a very audible emptiness that echoed in Adaure’s words, and Anjola wanted so much to pacify her and give her the assurance in the world, that their friendship was precious to her and that she occupied a huge domicile, in her heart, but she didn’t have the time. Tiolu had been waiting for quite some time nowpppp, and she knew better than anyone how that could make her cranky. So she closed the gap between her and Adaure, gave her cheek a heartfelt squeeze and a warm farewell before departing.

When she arrived in the reception, it wasn’t difficult to make out Tiolu—as she easily stood out with her untainted, fair skin tone, and chic composure. She was wearing a cream, faux fur double breasted cape on fitted pantaloons and brown nude wedges. She sat cross legged on the front row of chairs, reading a tabloid—effortlessly oozing class and swagger, while doing something ordinary as reading. Anjola knew that sort of polished exterior was ingrained naturally, as a blessing from the most high, in a select few and was a commodity that couldn’t be purchased with money.

The atmosphere in the reception was so serene, that the padding of her feet on the floor had been loud enough to pull the gazes of the few people in the room, including her friend. Tiolu’s face broke into a grin, and she rose to her feet immediately and snaked a hand through Anjola’s shoulder, before dumping the tabloid magazine back into the columns of organized stash, she had picked it up from the newsstand. None of them said a word to the other, until they were out of the reception.

“I thought you hated tabloids for prying into other people business, in the rudest of ways?” Anjola asked. As they walked on the interlocked ground, heading to the parking segment where Tiolu’s car was situated, she couldn’t help but ask the question and not dismiss it as something irrelevant or inconsequential.

She used to read tabloids and magazines before, but Tiolu’s constant critiquing of their intrusive and odious take on the personal lives of celebrities, had made her do away with the habit. Now she was the one reading one? What else had changed since the past year? The voice at the back of her head, resurfaced once again to torture her that their friendship wasn’t what it was anymore.

“Yeah, but I think that’s okay if I’m reading only the section that’s talking about me.” Tiolu clarified, giving her a inquiring look, in obvious wonder of why her action was scrutinized. “You made me wait for a really long time, Anjola and it’s not like there is a video game arcade in the reception that I could chill in, while I waited for you. 

“So I just kept looking around, and my eyes landed on the tabloids and my name and Dayo’s on the front page. The article was a bit entertaining at first, and I was beginning to think maybe I judged these people too hard, until I saw this photo of Dayo and I at the Burj Khalifa.

“I was wondering how they even got the photo, I mean I know people are crazy and all, but Dayo is a novelist, not a musician or an actor so why would anyone care that much? Anyway, in the picture Dayo was frowning for some reason, as we walked around the building’s turf. There was a mild sandstorm that day, and I remember him complaining about some sand getting into his eyes, hence his frown. But of course the idiots, wrote that he was probably complaining about my skimpy dress.”

“Whoa,” Anjola’s lower jaw dropped.

“Yeah, the maggots.” Tiolu continued. “I admit the dress was quite short, but almost everyone there dresses like that. The weather in Dubai, is so fucking hot. I contemplated walking over to the receptionist and giving them a scathing speech, on promoting nonsense like that by including it in their newsstand but I decided not to. It’s not their fault, and some of them have probably not even picked up a magazine there. They just want to keep their visitors engaged, so…totally not their fault.”

“What I don’t get is the subliminal patriarchy nonsense in the article, which I’m pretty sure is written by a woman.” Anjola pointed out, when they finally arrived at the car. She waited for Tiolu to walk to the other side, and unlock the security before getting in. With a mere push of a button, the engine burst to life.

Tiolu was still riding her white Mercedes Benz G-Class—from the wedding, and the vehicle was quite iconic in the country. Anjola admitted to herself, that its sophistication lived up to its hype, after taking in its interior that was so pristine, that she feared a touch from her would probably stain it and damage its function.

“Why are they quick to assume that you’re the one at fault for whatever unpleasant thing happening?” She pressed on, in her investigation.

Tiolu however was taking her accusation quite lightly, as she pulled the car into reverse and set course for the company’s entrance. “I won’t exactly say its patriarchy or something. You know me Anjola, I’m usually the fastest in the room to catch up to nonsense like that. It’s more about the fact that Dayo is the celebrity, and I’m just the person getting married to him.” Her lips twitched into a smile, before she faced Anjola and continued. “Sounds quite ironic, because all my life I’ve been the celebrity and the popular one. Back in high school, queen bee and all that. Anyone associated with me, is usually the person popularity rubs off on and now it’s the other way round? It’s refreshing, I must say.”

“If the end justifies the means, then yeah refreshing it is.” Anjola replied, and relaxed into her seat—that had such a soft cushion, that one wouldn’t expect to find in a car. In an antique living room probably, but definitely not a contemporary car, but then what did she know of exorbitant products. “So how was work today? Did you meet a big surprise party, when you returned? I’m not saying they love you that much to such extent, but you’re the wife of a celebrity now, right? And Nigerians farmz really hard.

“Don’t be melodramatic,” Tiolu said, coyly and rolled her eyes—her gaze transfixed to the road ahead. “All I got was these big, overbearing smiles that you can’t help but wonder if it doesn’t hurt to stretch your lips that far apart, for whoever is giving you the smile. There was no home coming party, or the sorts and ‘how was work’ isn’t even the appropriate question to ask, because that would mean I went to work, to work which isn’t the case. I went to work to resign.”

“What?” Her surprise was a bit unwarranted for, but that was mostly due to the sudden way Tiolu had broken the news to her, like it was something insignificant as stopping by the roadside, to purchase a bottle of soda, while driving. “You quit your job at the museum?”

“Yeah, I did.” Tiolu gave her a cursory stare, loaded with haughtiness, as if to tag her shock as ridiculous but it wasn’t only the shock that factored into reaction. It was the overarching logic, that spawned all of Tiolu’s actions of late, which did nothing but emphasize the fact that she was becoming more distant and transforming into someone unrecognizable.

The Tiolu of the pre-Dayo era, would have definitely discussed and sought out her opinion on such crucial matter, before taking a drastic step, but then she wondered if it could be termed drastic? She had probably discussed it with Dayo, who was the closest person to her heart—of late, and so the opining of anyone else was secondary and not detrimental to her cause, in any form.

“Why are you looking at me, like I just said I’m moving to some remote village with Dayo and this is the last time we’d be seeing each other?” Tiolu asked, when the silence lapsed into the next minute. It stung even further, that she had to make such derogatory remark with Dayo in the picture, further endorsing the fact that he was top most priority, now. Some weeks ago, Anjola harangued Adaure for blowing things out of proportion, and now she was starting to fear she was becoming a hypocrite.

“No, it’s just…” She struggled to keep her tone casual, so as not to pile on the already building tension. “I don’t know, resigning feels like a big thing. I just thought, well you couldn’t have woken up one day and just done it—”

Tiolu didn’t turn to face her again, lest she risked them getting into an accident, but Anjola could see the thinning of her brows. “I don’t get you, A.J. Am I not supposed to take the decision in one day? Am I supposed to wake up, and resign in installments then? Go to work on Monday, scope out the office of my boss, and not talk to him? Return on Tuesday, to talk to him and not mention the resigning, before eventually returning on Wednesday, for the main event?”

“No, of course not. That’s not what I meant. Could you please tone it down with the cynicism?” She sighed, mustering courage to tear her gaze from the window by her side to the side of Tiolu’s face. “I just—it’s just something I thought you’d have mentioned to me, before going on to do it. I mean, it’s not like you’re checking with me or asking for permission or anything. Or it’s not like you need my opinion on every single thing you do, but this is resigning after all. It’s sort of a huge decision, isn’t it? And if we don’t consult each other before making huge decisions, then where does that leave us? I’ve been wondering a lot about that lately.”

Tiolu’s shoulders relaxed at that, and her throat bobbed. “Okay, I get where you’re coming from but then it’s really not like you’ve said. This job…is just something I picked up on impulse, okay? It was never really something serious.

“Last two years, when Dayo broke up with me and hightailed to US, it left me in a really bad place. And then I started to evaluate a lot of stuff, and decided to make do with things I really didn’t love doing. Which number one, was my job as a doctor. I studied medicine because my parents thought me up to the task, and me myself had done a very lazy job of discovering myself. Not like I was given space, since I was literally shipped overseas after I graduated high school, but I didn’t make any effort either. I just went on board their idea without opposing.

“It was then I started exploring to see if I could really find what I want, and I picked up the job as museum curator because it makes me interact and give a lot of insight to people, on things—which was the stuff I loved most about being a doctor, interacting with people. But lately, I realized that although I love the interactions being a curator comes with, I don’t exactly love what I’m giving insight about. Which is ancient artifacts and what not. They bore the hell out of me, and it’s hard to present something as interesting to people, when you don’t find it interesting in the first place. I know you’re probably wondering, how this relates to us…but I’m coming around to that.”

“Okay,” Anjola said, to show that her friend had her full attention.  “I’m all ears.”

Tiolu pulled into the road on a left, before adjusting the brake and proceeding. “I know you don’t want to hear more of this, because now you think…Oh, now Dayo is in the picture, he’s all she ever talks about, but I need to drive home my point. It was the honeymoon that opened my mind to the fact that asides interacting with people, there is nothing I love more than travelling, meeting foreigners, learning new cultures, visiting tourism sites and what not. And it hit me when I finally arrived home. What occupation merges interacting and all the goodies that comes along with travelling?”

“Tourism?” She suggested.

“Being a tourist guide? Yes. And guess what? How many big tourism guide companies do you know exist in Nigeria? Your brain would probably not be able to come up with anything, because they are practically inexistent. Fine, Nigeria doesn’t have a lot of historical sites and stuff but we do have a lot of cool places, and asides that—our culture and way of life, could be difficult to grasp for any foreigner, if they aren’t given some sort of insight to what it could be. Meaning, if I venture into it, it’d be a big hit!

“Now let’s track back to point. Yeah, resigning is a huge thing but the job was never something that important to me, in the first place so I didn’t even see it as this big thing that I had to inform you about before going ahead to do it. But now that I think of it, I should have, because I’d have definitely been hurt if you were in my shoes and you had done what I did, but you have to see things from things from my perspective okay? I’m sorry, if what I did made you feel like this…friendship isn’t legit anymore. We’re going through a rough patch already, me hopping off to do stuff like that doesn’t help our stance at all.”

And that was the Tiolu she knew.

The Tiolu that once cancelled on a date, with a person she had pinned on for ages—when Anjola was in severe trauma upon finding out her dad had been diagnosed with Coronary Heart Disease. The Tiolu that had once gotten out of her bed at 2:00.A.M.—during the brief time they lived apart—to drive all the way to her dad’s mansion in Ikoyi, so he could alert his security detail to head over to Anjola’s apartment, when it was being raided by armed robbers. The Tiolu that had stayed up with her, several nights to help out with Sigma work—that she could hardly comprehend a figment of. The Tiolu that never undermined her pain or thought her anxiety as unsolicited or overboard. And most of all, the Tiolu that understood her.

That Tiolu was her best friend.

“I know you’d have a logical reason for not telling me, I never doubted that.” Anjola replied, finally and gave her an affectionate smile. “It’s just this constant recurring thought in my head, that I’m not needed like before, you know? And I really do get it. You’re married now, after all and as much as we’d want to think nothing is going to change, things will change. It’s inevitable. But I guess the best we could do is—do our best to be the best of friends we can be to each other, factoring in the circumstances. We both know that things can’t exactly go back to the way they were.”

Anjola knew Tiolu would do what was best, and face the reality head on—and not go into some speech to try and debunk her recent claim. The words had been heavy to utter, but she decided to be the one to make the hard call, so as to ease the burden on Tiolu, who already felt guilty enough, being the person caught between both worlds, trying to find balance and trying not to do disservice, or favor one over the other. And she knew she made the right call, because Tiolu’s resulting grin held gratitude.

“Speaking of careers, by the way.” She saved her friend the hassle of finding an appropriate reply to her earlier statement. “Guess who just got a promotion to assistant departmental head of the account?”

“What!” Tiolu froze, and her head jerked to face Anjola so suddenly—that she feared they were going to ram into something ahead of them, and go skidding into the air, with the car somersaulting, a couple of times, before it crashed them to their death. Luckily, Tiolu sensed her negligence on safety and quickly directed her focus back to her driving. After she had aligned their vehicle, uniformly into the lane, they were treading—she asked again. “What?”

“Remember I told you a while back that the ex department head was on maternity leave?” She paused, and continued when Tiolu nodded to affirm her memory. “Well, turns out she went on to have a fall out with the company. Something about the work being too demanding for her. Sha, the assistant head of the department, Delano who I’ve told you about before…I think?”

Tiolu’s nose scrunched and she could infer her friend was straining her memory to remember if such information exchange had occurred in the past, and then her eyes widened. “Yup, I remember. I met him on the wedding reception, and then you mentioned him on Saturday again, when you were trying to analyze the entire relationship thing with Lekan.”

“Aha,” Anjola’s spirits were buoyed, because of the fact that Tiolu remembered a detail that wasn’t so vital. It portrayed that she still cared for her life, very much. “So Delano is of course the assistant head, and because he has this tight relationship with the C.E.O., which I don’t exactly know the origin of, he got promoted instantly to department head, and me that has been acting in the assisting capacitance, got promoted also just like that. It’s like a dream come true. Except that I didn’t have that sort of dream, because never in my wildest dreams, would I have dreamt that a promotion of that magnitude would come that fast.”

Tiolu was every bit as ecstatic as she was, as indicated by her smile that she couldn’t inhibit. “That’s so great, A.J. I’m so proud of you. Wow, that’s just…wow. Seven figure salary?”

“Seven zeros salary actually,” She clarified with glee. “It’s like triple of my previous salary! Gah, I can’t even say it out loud. It feels like it’s a crime, and a police car would order us to pull up and they’d whisk me away to prison for charges on an incredibly fast promotion.”

Tiolu chuckled, drunk with happiness for her friend. “This…deserves a celebration. Before we head over to my place, we should stop somewhere and grab something to eat. We’re having dinner with Dayo, because I need you guys to really bond and all. You’re like the dearest people in my life, but I feel Dayo shouldn’t share in this moment with us. It’s something personal.”

“Oh, you didn’t say we were having dinner with Dayo.” She couldn’t keep the hurt out of her voice. Despite their earlier conversation that had solidified the fact, that Tiolu wasn’t necessarily drifting away, she couldn’t help the disappointment choking her. She had assumed it’d be just them for the whole of the day.

“Yeah, I…” Tiolu trailed off, realizing the implication also. “Oh, I’m sorry. We should’ve…I should’ve checked with you first, and not assume you wanted to hang out with Dayo also. You were probably hoping for some alone time—”

“No, it’s nothing actually. It’s just like I said earlier. You’re a married woman now, Tiolu and I can’t take that away from you. I can’t separate our friendship from that reality. So it’s best I get adjusted to it, and what better way than to hang with Dayo also? Plus, you’re right. I feel Dayo and I should make more effort to get to know each other better.”

“Good, thank you, A.J.” Tiolu sounded relieved. “For not making this entire thing, complicated and stuff. But we should definitely stop somewhere to eat something light and celebrate a bit, before continuing on the journey home. Help me pull up Google maps on my phone, and check if there are any restaurants around this place.”

Anjola did as she was ordered, and fortuitously she did find a nearby Pizza Hut several meters, northbound of their direction. Tiolu reduced the speed of the car, so they wouldn’t miss the building since the Google maps service wasn’t exactly accurate in the country but they found the building, without much difficulty.

Fortunately, it had an outdoor patio adjoined to its entrance, and they settled into one of the tables, grateful they didn’t have to go inside. They ordered for the premium size of pizza and got complimentary bottles of Coke. After they delved into their meal, Anjola went on to unburden more of her worries.

“I’m sort off worried that Delano and I working together, could bring about some sort of friction and awkwardness though.” Tiolu looked up from her saucer of pizza, and gave her a curious look at this.

The weather was relatively friendly, and it serenaded them with its cool breeze, which was a good break from her air conditioned flogged skin. The street they were on was also the ideal balance of alive and dormant—as it brimmed with life, but not to the point that it was immense.

“I don’t know if you remember this, but Delano and I briefly had a thing. Not a thing thing, but a thing nonetheless. I thought I liked him, because I admired him in a role model­ish way, but turns out it wasn’t a romantically inclined feeling.

“Anyhoo, he did lay out his feelings and I had no choice than to reject his advance, and I mistakenly let it slip to him that I’m seeing someone else. So, you get the type of picture that I’m trying to paint here. Although, we talked yesterday and everything seemed pretty cool and okay, and he even made an expensive joke out of me rejecting him. But you know how my anxiety is. It just won’t stop thinking up instances of how stuff could go sideways.”

Tiolu took a swig directly from her bottle of Coke, without bothering about etiquette mannerism of using her disposable cup. She had that indifference and detachment, of people’s opinion of her and even managed to make something crude like sipping directly from a bottle—when a cup was provided—look posh and stylish.

“I understand you,” She said, and then set down her bottle to pick up another slice of pizza. “But I believe things would all work out, eventually. Just ease into it and don’t make it too much of a conscious effort to not make things awkward. I trust you’d handle it. Who I don’t trust however is Lekan, who is working closely with someone he’s been with before.”

Anjola shifted in her chair, taken aback at the sudden swerve the direction of their conversation had taken, but decided not to read too much into it. She knew her best friend wasn’t exactly all for the idea, despite her meticulous analysis, the other day. She couldn’t blame her, because she’d be every bit as skeptical and even more, if she were in her shoes. Heck, she wasn’t in her shoes and was still skeptical herself.

“He has told me all about it,,” She understood where Tiolu was coming from, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to take Lekan’s side. “It was in the past, while Naade was broken from her disappointing marriage, and it’s all over. I also met her the other day, and I know you can’t exactly tell from someone’s appearance if they are a scheming bitch or not, but she does seem like a nice person.

“But that’s not the point anyway. I trust Lekan and I’m saying this, because I need to. Not that I want you to automatically trust him, because I do. I understand if you don’t trust him, because you’re only watching out for me so…but you have to understand, that I trust him.”

Tiolu was quiet for a while, and she didn’t know if her friend was divided on the matter and didn’t exactly know how best to frame her words, without sounding offensive and probing or if she was just that hungry, and was more concerned with finishing up the slices of pizza in her saucer, than replying. When she finally spoke, Anjola deduced that it was a bit of both.

“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation, though.” Tiolu huffed, before reclining in her chair. “It still feels like some nightmare. You dating Lekan…I’m sorry, I don’t want to give off negative energy. I mean, this is your first actual relationship and I should be going nuts happy for you, and trust me I’ve been anticipating you being in a relationship, but Lekan…I’m just worried, really worried. I don’t want it to be that you get hurt, and I could have stopped it because in a way this is my fault. If the wedding preparations hadn’t brought you guys together—”

“How could you even carry such blame on your head, heh?” Anjola asked, amazed at her friend’s words. “I’m my own person. I make my own decisions, okay? Whatever that happens eventually won’t be your fault in anyway. We’ve talked about this, I really don’t want to revisit this, but I need you to trust me. Even if you won’t trust Lekan, trust me, okay? It also doesn’t help that you and Lekan don’t exactly have a good relationship. You guys don’t need to be the best of buddies, but if you understood each other to some extent, it would definitely help.”

Tiolu’s eyes narrowed. “Are you suggesting something?”

“Maybe, maybe I am.” And it hit her over the head. “You did sort of hint at the fact that both of us should go on a honeymoon, after your honeymoon to catch up on old times. What if we actually went on one, and Lekan tagged along? It could help you get comfortable with the idea of both of us being together, and also make you guys reason to some extent—”

Her friend grimaced. “I really don’t know—”

“Come on, it’s a great idea. We don’t have to like, travel out. We could just take the weekend off and go to some place, where no one else is and just hang out. Dayo could even tag along, it’d be great. You mentioned that you want Dayo and I to be friends, and we both know one conversation over lunch isn’t going to cut it. Plus, Dayo is Lekan’s brother-in-law too. It could also help their relationship. Please, Tiolu don’t talk your way out of this.”

When Tiolu’s shoulder slumped, she knew she had won. “Fine, let’s do it then. I doubt if Lekan is going to agree to something like that in the first place. All these family bonding stuff is something, he hates. He doesn’t care. If he does, he definitely likes to act like he doesn’t.”

“Leave that to me,” She had pulled out her phone already, and was firing a text to Lekan, presenting her request and pleading that he get on board with the idea, while emphasizing its importance. There was initial hesitation and scrutiny, but with more beckoning—he caved in, while iterating that he was doing it only for her as he didn’t care for a relationship status upgrade, with his sister or brother-in-law. “Told you to leave it to me, he agreed.”

She waved the phone in her friend’s face, like a trophy—satisfied with her success. Tiolu only shook her head, and picked up her bottle of Coke, to finally empty out its content. As she busied herself with composing a text of gratitude to Lekan, for not bailing out on her—Tiolu went on to make a comment on her thrilled state, and like many comments of late, from people regarding her relationship with Lekan—it boggled her mind.

“Look at the way, you’re trembling all over in joy because you’re happy he didn’t decline. I just hope you’re not deep in love with him or something. That’d unnecessarily complicate things.”

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The story isn’t just about Lekan and Anjola's relationship. That takes center stage, but it’s also about all other relationships, like Tiolu and Anjola’s and how the former is worried, that their bond is disintegrating. Once again, its only under romance for classification sake. Its a relationship book.

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