Thrills of a Lagos Babe (Episode 4)

'Good morning, madam,' she greeted.

'Good morning, Tina. Sit down.'

'Thank you, ma'am.'

She sat down and regarded me briefly.

'Yes, Tina,' madam said. 'This is Miss Simi Akolade, the lady I told you will be your assistant as Deputy Business Manager. Simi, meet Miss Augustina Kadiri, the Business Manager. The two of you will be working together. I want maximum cooperation and high productivity.'

I nodded.

'Hello, Simi,' Tina said.

'Good morning, madam,' I replied.

'Yes,' Mrs. Shitta went on, turning to Tina. 'You will show Simi her office. You will also put her through our operations here. Explain everything to her.' Mrs. Shitta extended her right hand to me for a hand shake.

'Thank you, ma'am,' I said.

'You will get your letter of employment later today.'

Again, I nodded. 'Thank you, ma. I’m grateful.'

Tina and I stood up and left the office. Down the corridor, about three rooms from Mrs. Shitta's office, was Tina's own. Her office was small but cool, neat and well-arranged.

'Sit down,' she said.

'Thank you, madam.'

'Hey, just Tina is okay,' she protested.

I smiled. 'Okay, Tina. Thank you.'

She stared at me briefly and studied me. I studied her too. She couldn't be less than thirty-two. Almost the same height with me, but she was a bit plump and busty. She looked pretty and confident. She certainly looked like a lady who was not a push-over.

'I've seen your c.v, and I'm impressed,’ she said. ‘Having a Second Class Upper in Pharmacy is no joke. But this is a complete different terrain. This place is not about being erudite. It's about smartness and astuteness. Baby, you're in Lagos now, and you've got to be smart. Some guys will want to take you for a ride, and some ladies too. But that’s if you allow them.’

She paused to gauge my attentiveness. I was all ears.

‘In hotel business, you meet all sorts of characters. You’ll meet the educated, the illiterate, the successful business people, and those that that are still struggling.’

I was in for a pep lecture. I waited.

‘You’ll meet honest ones and those that are unscrupulous and fraudulent. Hey, you must always be on your guard. People always want to take advantage of weak or soft ones.’

I nodded in agreement.

‘Simi, I don’t just want to be your boss or colleague. I want to be your friend. Do you accept my offer?’

I smiled. ‘Sure. It’s better we’re friends than we’re rivals.’

She nodded and smiled too. ‘Good. That will make this our job much easier. This hotel will be opened to the public and business after its commissioning on Wednesday. Now, let me tell you how the place will operate.’

I nodded. ‘Okay, Tina.’

She told me how she had and Mrs. Shitta had mapped out how to make things work. I listened to her carefully. I must say Tina was brilliant. She combined beauty with brain and it was not difficult to see why Mrs. Shitta had picked her for the job. I definitely had a lot to learn from her, but I would learn fast.

After the talks, she took me round the hotel. From the offices, we went to the lobby, the club, the restaurant and the rooms. We also went to the kitchen and the store house. Expectedly, the staffers would all start work on Wednesday. She also took me to the special rooms upstairs regarded as suites. I was impressed with everything. Mrs. Shitta had done well.   

Within such a short time, Tina and I were chatting as if we had been friends for years. After taking me round the hotel complex, I was shown (last, but not the least) the small office I would be using. It was the next room to hers, except that it was smaller and had only a chair for visitor. It was cozy, sort of, and i liked the place as it was. She sat on the visitor's seat while I sat on my leather, swivel chair.

'It means you can only receive a visitor at a time,' Tina said and smiled.

Later, towards evening, I decided to call Daniel.

'Hello, Daniel,' I said. 'You did not even call to ask after me or about my trip.'

'What trip?' he asked, almost in a snappy tone. 

'My trip to Lagos, of course.'

'Wait a minute. Are you saying you left Ibadan, despite asking you not to do so?'

I breathed in deeply. 'Daniel, since yesterday evening, I've been in Lagos.'

'So, you decided to please yourself, right?'

'It's not about pleasing myself,' I told hm. 'It's about doing something that is exigent.'

There was no response from him again. Seconds later he disconnected the line.  I sighed in exasperation. Going by the sign he had been giving me in the last few weeks, he was most likely fed up with the relationship.

We didn't do much at the hotel the next day other than to prepare for the commissioning. On Wednesday, by nine in the morning, guests had started arriving for the occasion which was billed to commence by ten o'clock. The Chairman of the occasion, a serving female senator, was there. There were short speeches and the place was declared open. Work started in earnest.

My work was not just to sit in the office. I had to always go round and see that things were working the ways they should. I soon got to understand the pattern of patronage from customers. There was usually a lull in business in the morning till late afternoon. Apart from taking care of the needs of lodgers, much was not done in the morning time.

But by early evening, business boomed. The bar was usually filled to capacity by seven-thirty p.m., till it closed at ten o'clock. Tina would stay late before she would leave for her. It was a good thing that she lived at Ojodu, not far away.

On Friday, business was so good there was no lull until about eleven. It was our first weekend. Tina decided she would sleep in her office. I usually stayed around till about that time before going to my one-room apartment in the adjunct building.

'You can sleep in my room, Tina,' I offered.

She looked at me briefly. 'Are you sure about that?'

'Of course. The bed is quite small, but we can manage it.'

She smiled and brightened up. 'Well, thanks a lot, Simi.'

After ensuring that everything was in order, we left for my place. As usual, I had a shower and changed into a night wear. Tina too went for a shower. I gave her one of my shorts and t-shirts to wear. It was few minutes to midnight when we lay on the bed to sleep.

'Tell me about your boyfriend,' Tina said.

I smiled and told her about Daniel. I also added how Daniel threatened to give me the red card if I should come to Lagos.

'He's just like so many other guys - self-opinionated and selfish. From what you said he said, he has given you the red card already. Start looking for another lover.'

I smiled sadly. 'Well, I believe there's always another opportunity.'

'Don't waste your time on him,' she said in a tone that looked like she was counseling.

'What're about you? You've not told me about your lover,' I pressed.

She laughed shortly. 'I have boyfriends,' she said.

'Boyfriends? You keep more than a lover at a time?'

Again she laughed shortly. 'They're boyfriends, not lovers. I allowed them to be friends because of what I can get from them.'

'What?' She was so down-to-earth, and I was taken aback by her candor. 'It's not safe to have multiple partners.'

'Yeah, I know. I can take care of myself.'

I went back to the issue of having a boyfriend. 'A boyfriend is supposed to be a lover,' I pointed out.

'Not in my case,' she answered.

I wondered what she meant, but I kept quiet on that.

'The weave-on you're wearing is fine,' she said. 'It's amazing they could fix something as beautiful as this in Ibadan.'

I chuckled. 'Come on,' I said. 'Ibadan is neither a village nor a town.'

She laughed too and touched the hair.

'It's so good and looks so beautiful on you.'

I grinned. 'Thanks for the compliments.'

Her right hand went to my neck. 'You're beautiful, Simi.'

I would have said another 'thank you' to her, but there was something in her tone that made me catch my breath. I lay still. To confirm my suspicion, her hand went to my shoulder and my chest. I quickly sat up.

'Tina, what're you doing?'

She sat up too and smiled. 'Alright, let me confess.'

I looked at her curiously. 'Confess what?'

She smiled again and sighed. 'I have a crush on you, Simi.'

'What!?'

'Ever since I first saw you, I've had the crush.'

I stood up from the bed and moved away.

GET FULL E-BOOK  FROM:  https://publish.okadabooks.com/search?term=thrills