The next two days after Chidinma and Onyeka’s impromptu kiss were strained ones.
Chidinma had to sit through two conversations with Nurse Yetunde; counselling and advising the young lady on her next move, even as guilt surged within her. What if Onyeka mentioned her lack of discretion to the nurse? It didn’t matter if he was responsible for the pregnancy or not- he and the nurse seemed to be fairly close, so he could feel compelled to tell her. The nurse had adamantly refused to reveal the identity of the man she had cheated with, and Chidinma refused to press for a name, despite her curiousity.
The truth might have been reassuring, but maybe it was better to remain in the dark about Onyeka’s full involvement with the nurse. Ignorance was bliss after all.
After a second working day without Onyeka showing up at her office for their usual data analysis, Chidinma examined her emotions and decided she was better off without the young, handsome auditor in her life. Her physical reaction to the kiss had disturbed her- she could not afford to be romantically entangled with him, anyway.
Onyeka took that decision away from her on the morning of the third day.
Two sharp knocks and a ‘come in’ brought him back into her life.
Good morning, Doctor Chidinma.” The auditor said briskly as he breezed into her office. He seemed oblivious to Chidinma’s surprise and confusion. “Hope you enjoyed the break from crunching numbers. We need to continue where we stopped.”
Startled, Chidinma had responded to his greeting, but as he prattled on, she stared at him with growing confusion and then incredulity.
“I showed the MD how much progress we’ve made and he was satisfied, but we do need to increase the pace of work a bit. If we work beyond the agreed-upon time between the clinic and my firm, the extra man-hours will solely be mine to bear, plus it could be a red mark on my work efficiency…”
“Excuse me, Mr Michael.” Chidinma cut in, letting her amazement show in her voice. “Are you actually going to just pretend like nothing happened?”
Onyeka paused and took a deep breath. Actually, yes, he had hoped the entire kissing incident could be swept under the table and totally forgotten.
The young man’s silence was enough answer for Chidinma. She leaned back in her seat and shook her head. “Oh no no Mr Michael, unlike you, I don’t believe in the ostrich method of burying one’s head in the sand and ignoring problems. We have to face them and we have to deal with them.”
Onyeka was surprised and a bit amused at the ostrich analogy, and yet he could not deny that was usually how he solved his problems. Chidinma probably had a degree or two in psychology; it was no surprise she could read him so accurately. Still, he had hoped she would behave like the average Nigerian woman he had been romantically entangled with, and just avoid confrontation. Chidinma, however, seemed nothing like those women. He found it appealing; the honesty and fortitude was refreshing and new to him.
He raised his hands up in mock surrender. “Alright. I admit I was hoping we could just forget the whole thing happened, but you’re probably right, we should address it.”
Chidinma gathered her thoughts, her eyes instinctively accessing him as she did. His tall, lean frame was crisply attired in a starched white shirt and gleaming black trousers, and his legs were crossed at the knees, deep blue socks -to match his tie- peeking each time he flicked the hanging foot. The tie at his throat was slightly loose, just like his posture; he seemed physically relaxed, but she had not failed to notice the small frown on his face and the way he gripped the armrests of the seat tightly. She could see that he seemed to really have an issue with facing emotionally charged situations, and she was intrigued. Had his past relationships been that turbulent?
“So, what’s on your mind, Onyeka? I’m listening.”
Onyeka paused, surprised that Chidinma had used his first name. She sounded like she had slipped into therapy mode and he wondered if it was a deliberate attempt to make him more relaxed, or if she was decreasing the professional distance between them. Whatever it was, he liked it because his name seemed to roll off her tongue smoothly.
“I guess I need to start off with an apology, Doctor.” Onyeka said, after a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have kissed you that impulsively. It was unprofessional and thoughtless of me.”
“Yes it was.” Chidinma agreed, then she sighed. “I also have to apologise. I came at you with my theories about you and Nurse Yetunde like a bat out of hell, and that was wrong.”
“Nurse Yetunde and i…” Onyeka began to say.
“…are not my business.” Chidinma finished firmly. “You are both consenting adults and as long as your work is not affected, I will keep my nose out of it.” She interrupted another protest from Onyeka. “Really. I don’t care either way.”
Onyeka stared at the doctor. He wasn’t sure how to respond to her words. Irrationally, he wanted her to care.
“Also, I have to apologize for even bringing the issue up at all. You were right; Yetunde told me about her pregnancy in confidence and I should have respected that. So, can we just forget about the whole incident?”
Onyeka smiled. “Alright, on the condition that we reconcile over lunch. My treat.”
Chidinma paused, her brow furrowing. She had hoped to avoid getting any closer to Onyeka, so a shared lunch sounded like a bad idea.
“You’ve been really selfless at this audit thing and I want to make up for my bad behaviour. I promise to keep my hands to myself, Doctor.”
The look of innocence on Onyeka’s face only increased Chidinma’s unease, but she mulled over his offer. Maybe this was the fresh start their professional relationship needed. Keeping an extreme distance from him had led to the extreme and opposite reaction.
So she shrugged, opened her mouth and spoke the words that precipitated an unstoppable roll down the mountainside of a tumultuous set of drama and tension-filled weeks to come.
“Sure. Why not?”
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