It went without saying that when Nonso returned from his unauthorized outing, he was roundly rebuked. Despite the fact that he protested, saying he had only stepped out to buy some things he needed in a nearby store, Chidinma was too angry to care. Her instructions had been explicit, and leaving the house was disobeying them. She seized his game console, changed the password of the house Wi-Fi, withheld his weekly allowance and banned him from leaving the house without her permission for two weeks, except for school or church.
The rest of the day was understandably tense, but Chidinma was past caring. And the next day wasn’t much better. She dropped off her surly son at school the next day, waited till he entered the school premises, then zoomed off to work in a foul mood.
She grunted her way through the morning greetings of the nurses on duty, and had just settled down in her office and begun going over some new patient files, when a loud and energetic knock on her door interrupted her. She looked up, annoyed, hoping it wasn’t her boss, Professor Paul Etim. The cheerful doctor was the managing director and owner of the private clinic. He was friendly and intelligent, but he was notorious for his bad jokes and inappropriate sexual innuendos. Chidinma did not think she would have the patience to tactfully laugh at a few terrible punch lines and tasteless jokes.
Fate was not smiling on her however; when the door opened at her summons, Professor Etim walked in, grinning. But the icing on the cake was the person who entered behind him. Chidinma cursed beneath her breath as she recognized the youthful grin of the young auditor, Onyeka Michael, aimed in her direction as well. Seeing him brought back painful memories of their embarrassing encounter the day before. She had hoped to avoid him as much as possible till he was finished with whatever had brought him to the clinic.
Great, she groaned inwardly. Of course the day is starting off on a terrible note. Kuku kill me.
“Ah, my good Doctor Chidinma!” Professor Etim exclaimed, pumping her hand enthusiastically. “I don’t have to ask if you’re fine, I’m sure your mirror already told you that this morning Hahahahaha! I wonder why ants don’t follow you around- you’re always looking sweet and good enough to eat. You get it? Sweet? Ants? Hahahahaha!”
Chidinma extricated her hand from his grasp and laughed along nicely, wincing at the inappropriateness of the joke. Nigerian workplaces seemed not to have gotten the memo about avoiding sexually-themed inferences when dealing with employees. But she knew the professor meant no harm.
The face of the young man behind the professor mirrored her feelings, but he also chuckled. Chidinma examined him surreptitiously. He was dressed less informally than he had been the day before, during their first encounter. The jeans and backpack was gone, replaced by crisply ironed black trousers, a well-starched beige shirt, perfectly knotted tie and a leather briefcase. But his handsome face was still as arresting as ever, thick eyebrow fanning over thickly-lashed eyes, a pointed nose, and Cupid’s bow lips. His skin seemed to glow in the light falling down from the ceiling fixtures- creamy skin, flawless as far as her eyes could see. Her gaze wandered downwards over wide shoulders and a flat abdomen before she tore her eyes away.
Onyeka Michael grinned. He had noticed the beautiful doctor’s quick appraisal. He was used to being ogled by women; it was part of the cross he had to bear for being good-looking.
“This is Mr Michael.” The Professor was saying. “He’s here for the clinical audit I mentioned earlier this month…?”
“Er…yes sir, I remember.” Chidinma said with a tight smile. “We’ve er….we met yesterday.”
The professor looked surprised. “Oh really?” he grinned and winked at Onyeka. “You work fast, don’t you? Stay away from this one please. I’m still trying to convince her to be my second wife.”
Chidinma’s lips twitched. “Sir, I doubt your wife would be open to the idea.”
“I’m an African man who paid her bride-price.” The professor winked. “She has to be open to anything I want. Very open. Day or night. Hahahahaha!”
There was a general chorus of strained laughs and even the professor seemed to realize he had joked enough. “Well,” he cleared his throat. “I’ve been showing our young auditor here around, and he has met everyone. I brought Mr Michael here to meet you. Mr Michael, this is Doctor Chidinma Ude.”
Chidinma stepped out from behind her desk and proffered a hand. When Onyeka gripped her palm, she had to hold back her surprise. His palms felt tough; a lot tougher than he looked. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Again,” she lied. She couldn’t wait for her boss to leave with the young man.
Onyeka smiled as though he could hear the insincerity in her voice. “Oh the pleasure is all mine, Dr Ude.” He tightened his grasp as she began to end the handshake. “And I think we will get to know each other very well considering how much time we’ll be spending together.”
Chidinma cocked her head inquiringly to one side, simultaneously using a little more force to free her fingers. Her palm tingled from where he had touched her. “Excuse me? We’ll be spending time together?”
“Oh yes.” the professor boomed. “Did I forget to mention it, Dr Chidinma? I have decided Mr Michael will be going over the clinic management with you…”
Chidinma’s eyes widened in horror. She had been trying to avoid the young man, but now she would have to babysit him throughout his stay at the hospital? “Well sir, why can’t someone from the accounts department work with him? That sounds better…”
“Actually, I requested to work with a doctor.” Onyeka cut in, teeth gleaming. “The audit isn’t just about finances. I will be covering lot of other data, observe practice and compare performance. The professor here assured me you were more than capable when I asked if I could work with you.”
“You asked..?” Chidinma spluttered.
“Well, since that’s all settled, I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone. Time for a little morning tea.” The professor cut in, rubbing his stomach as he turned to leave. He paused at the door and winked. “Don’t bite him, Dr Chidinma. Except he asks, of course. Hahahahaha!”
The sound of the door closing behind the professor sounded like a death knell to Chidinma, and she stared at this handsome young man she had hoped not to run into again. The same young man her boss had just unceremoniously dumped into her lap.
Could her luck get any worse?
Check back Tomorrow for more episodes.
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