Craving for normalcy

I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion – Jack Kerouac

Dear Di,

A week has passed and Dapo and I are just being civil to one another. The situation wasn’t helped when Gaby and I ran into each other at the lobby of the office. He had come to see a friend of his that works at the IT section (I got to find that out later). I was coming down the stairs to buy some time to quickly go through the files in my hand and he was just being directed towards the door to go through when we both raised our heads and stared at each other for all but three seconds before he shook his head as if waking up from a dream and went on his way. I was shocked and at the same time baffled. Even though we didn’t talk much when we met at the supermarket, at least we exchanged a few words, but this time I didn’t know if it was the shock of seeing him or there was something else. I’ve tried to wave it off, but I keep replaying it over and over in my mind. The conclusion I came to was that we both thought the other was going to say hello first and when nobody did, we just went continued on our way. I was rushing for a meeting in the board room with some of our clients and I was already late, so I went with the thought that I was going to encounter him again. It could also be the shock of the impromptu meeting.

When I got to the board room, I saw Dapo standing at the door and from the pained look on his face; I guessed he had witnessed what had transpired between Gaby and I. The meeting went on as usual with him looking at me for confirmation or otherwise, as he usually does during such meetings. After we had seen our clients out, I saw Gaby coming out of the IT section. I didn’t want it to seem as if I was waiting for him so instead of taking the stairs, I headed for the lift upstairs and Dapo decided to join me. I primed myself for an outburst of some sort but he didn’t say a word. When we got to our floor, he allowed me precede him and he went to his office without so much as by your leave.

When I narrated these things to the clan (as we have started regarding ourselves), they didn’t offer me any advice, instead they began to analyse.

“So what do you know about this Gaby guy really?” Dera asked.

“She doesn’t even know his real name,” Abike answered her.

“Hmm…na wa o! Odikwa complex,”

“Is that all you ladies will say?” I asked, surprised.

“Who do you like best?” Abike asked.

Before I could answer, Dera replied.

“I thinik she’s trying not to get her heart broken with Dapo, while she’s attracted to ‘Gaby’ and sees him as an enigma. I think you like both of them both haven’t spent considerable time with any of them to know which is the man of your dreams.”

“I think you’re right,” Abike agreed. “She initially liked Dapo but she’s scared he might be a playboy. And Gaby seems like the kind of guy that every lady wants.

“Are you ladies through with the analysis?” I managed to ask quickly, because they were discussing as if I wasn’t present.

“We were only trying to help,” Dera protested and looked at Abike who nodded in confirmation.

“Well, you’re not helping. You’re getting me more confused. I think I’ll just pray about it and sleep over it.” They both nodded in agreement.

As we were heading towards the kitchen to look for what we would eat (none of us had the strength to cook after work so we decided it was going to be a joint venture), we heard the doorbell ring. I went to answer via the intercom so I would know who it was. To my greatest amazement, it was Eda.

Filed Under: Diary of a single lady