Memoirs of a playa (The Novel)

CHAPTER ONE

I walked briskly into the ground floor lobby of the 10-storey building and headed towards the elevators. I was already 15 minutes late for work. Traffic had been crazy that morning. I had woken up at 5am as usual and by 5.35am I was already at the bus stop waiting to board a bus. Took 30 minutes before I got a bus, after having to shove and elbow my way in because of the large number of people rushing to enter the few buses that came through that route. By the time we got to 3rd mainland bridge vehicles were moving at a snail’s pace, and for the next one hour the bus I was in crawled, as everybody tried to outsmart each other.
“Morning Wale, seems you woke up late today”, said Samuel , as he stepped out of the opposite elevator onto the 6th floor lobby. We shook hands.
We both work in the same unit of the loans and advances department in the head office of one of the biggest financial institution in Nigeria. He had resumed a month earlier than me in the department from a different company, while I had been transferred from one of the branches in Lagos and resumed at the Head office just a week ago. We had hit it off right from the day I resumed and was introduced round the department.
“Me late? See black pot calling electric kettle black”, I threw back, as we shook hands.
“Nope, was here much earlier, but I had to get to drop a document on 4th floor”, he replied, so how was your weekend?”
“Too short, but cool,” I stated.
He laughed, “too short?, you could have taken today off too.”
“Nah, can’t afford to do so for now, I never get job for oil company yet,” I joked, as we laughed together. “How was yours?”
“Was alright, spent most of it in my MBA class, you?.”
“Had a friend over for the weekend, so I was indoors most of the time.”
“A friend, hmm, female friend, abi?”
“Na you know o, friend na friend.”
“No wonder you said it was too short,” Samuel said, “so who was she? Your babe?”
“My babe? Nah, she is just a friend who needed a good time.”
“And you gave her a good time, huh?”
“Well,” I stated, spreading my hands out front, “what could I do? I had to try.”
We laughed as we walked towards the general office, which is a very large office, the size of one half of a football pitch. It had more than 50 different work stations, each with a computer system on the desk and partitioned from the table beside it and the one opposite it. The general office was sandwiched between the offices of the different unit heads of department, which was on the right , while the restroom was on the other side. From the lobby, two doors led to the corridors on both sides of the general office which had a side door each on both side. We went through the door leading to the left corridor and entered through general office via the side door. Samuel went over to his workstation, while I went to sign the attendance register. As I bent over to sign, I felt somebody behind me, I signed and looked around to see a very lovely lady standing behind me. She stood at 5ft 5inches, ebony in complexion, slim yet full breasted with well molded hips, clear intelligent eyes, petite nose, along with a small mouth which had a sensuous red lips look. She wore a black skirt suit with a white camisole underneath the unbuttoned jacket. Her breasts were clearly outlined against the camisole and even with the bra, her nipples were still visible to a discerning eye.
“Good morning”, she said, smiling sweetly as she looked me over too.
I was not sure what I replied, the words just refused to come out normally, I just stammered something and walked past her, looking behind to see her bent over signing the register. I slowed my pace to admire her behind, her skirt was a little above the knees, and with the way she was bent over, her skirt was straining to contain a well rounded behind.
“Hmm, nice butt”, I thought to myself.
I walked over to my work station, sat down and looked over to where the attendance register was, she had signed and had stopped over to talk with Samuel. Moments later, she left for her work station which was at the other side of the room.
I picked up my intercom and called Samuel.
“Guy, who is the chic?”, I asked. “She new? I didn’t see her throughout last week.”
Samuel laughed, “she was on a week training, she just got back. She is in business support services department”.
“So what is her 411?”
“Well, she has plenty toasters, that much I know.”
“You part of the toasters?”
“Nope, I didn’t want to stress myself and end up wasting my time, so I stayed neutral.”
“Hmm, you? neutral? That’s hard to believe, you definitely would have tried, I know say you like woman pass that one.”
“I didn’t try at all, too many guys, so why bother,” he said.
“Ok, so how do I get to her, you have her intercom?”
“Her name is Adaeze Obi , you can chat her on the office online chat box and her number is 30089”.
“Correct, thanks man, I’ll holla you later”, I said cheerfully.
I could hear the smile in his voice, “good luck”, he replied.
I dropped the phone and took a deep breath. I was not bad looking too, as a matter of fact many girls had said I looked cute, with innocent baby eyes and a disarming smile. I stood at 5ft 10inches, slender with a wiry athletic body.
My intercom rang and I picked it up.
“Hello, Adewale?”, said a voice which sounded like my head of unit.
“Sir,”.
“You just coming in? I called your line earlier”, my boss said.
“Sorry about that sir, I was not on seat,” I explained.
“Ok, please come to my office.”
“On my way sir,” I said, thoughts of Adaeze was instantly pushed to the back of my mind.
“And bring the two files I gave you to look through over the weekend with you, let me see your comments and observations,” he said.
“Ok sir,” I said, rising up from my seat with the two files in my hands.
I glanced towards her section as I walked to my unit head’s office. Our eyes met as she looked up briefly. I even thought I noticed a smile as she looked away.
The rest of the day was quite hectic, being new in the department, I was still adjusting to the work load. My department dealt with marketing and packaging loan applications and there seemed to be plenty people in need of one loan facility or the other.
I did not get to see much of Adaeze during the course of the day, just the top of her head anytime I stood up from my seat. Though I had a feeling she was looking my way too.
“Guy, you sleeping in the office?”, Samuel asked, as he came to stand near I was seated.
“Well, the thought crossed my mind, but I think my bed would miss me if I did,” I replied glancing at the wall clock, it was 10 minutes to 7pm.
“Well, I’m off, going with a friend of mine, he stays close to my area”, Samuel said.
“Ok, I will soon be leaving too, I’m already rounding up.”
“Alright then, good night, stay safe”.
“You too.”
We shook hands and he walked away.
Some 30 minutes later, I gathered the files on my table, placed and locked them in the drawer. I stood up to wear my jacket, looking over to Adaeze’s side. She was seated talking to a guy who leaned on the wall close to her table. They were deep in conversation, though it seems the guy was doing more of the talking.
“One of her many toasters,” I thought to myself.
I got home quite late, traffic was still crazy. Cooked and ate 2 packs of indomie noodles before going to bed.







 
CHAPTER 2

“Guy, how far?”
I looked up at Kayode from the file I was reading. “Am good.”
“Am on my way to eat breakfast, you coming?”.
“What’s the time?”
“Almost 10am, like some 9 minutes to spare,” he replied.
“Ok, give me like 5 minutes, will join up with you”, I said. “We taking the stairs?’
“Yep, I could do with some exercise.”
“Same here.”
I quickly noted some points down about the file I was treating. Kayode had also been transferred to the department from another branch the same week with me, though different units. We had gone to the same University and joined the company the same year, having met in the company’s training school.
Being a Wednesday, the work load was gradually easing up and I was now getting accustomed to it. Monday and Tuesday had been very hectic, I didn’t get to leave the office earlier than 7 pm. I did not eat the previous night, having gotten home 10pm, so I was very famished.
We were in the canteen some 20 minutes later. The canteen is located on the 1st floor, it was a room the size of a basketball court, had a counter where we buy our meal and round the room where 2 chairs each on opposite sides of a table. As we looked for where to sit and eat after being served, I saw her again, Adaeze. She was seated with her back to where we stood, there was a guy seated opposite her, a different guy from the one I saw with her on Monday. I saw there was a vacant seat adjacent to hers.
“Hey Kayode,” I said, “let’s go sit down there”, inclining to the place with my head,.
“Ok,” he said.
We walked past where Adaeze was seated and sat down. I sat facing in her direction and for the next 15 minutes, in between taking spoonful of rice, I stared at her, wanting to catch her eye, but she didn’t for one minute look in my direction, she kept staring intently at the guy.
“You alright?”, Kayode asked.
“Yeah, why you asking?”, I answered, looking back at him.
“You have been staring at the chick all through the meal.”
“She is so fine, I just got to get her,” I said, my eyes going back to her, as she and the guy got up from their seats.
I hit the spoon loudly against the plate and then sneezed loudly, she turned and walked away, with the guy following closely behind her.
Kayode smiled, “you be kolo boy o, you know she is on the same floor with us.”
“Yep, Samuel told me.”
“So you making a move for her?”, Kayode asked.
“Thinking of it,” I added, “ you interested too?”
Kayode smiled and leaned into the chair, folding his arms. I arch my eyebrows at him.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I said to him.
“Maybe.” He stated. “You?”
“Definitely.”
We smiled at each other.
Kayode is 6ft one, light skinned, broad shoulders and chest. He kept in shape by doing weight lifting and playing football every weekend. He had a reputation with the ladies. We used to be a good tag team way back in school. Though most times I manage to edge him out when we end up going after the same lady.
“If you through lets head back up,” Kayode said, touching the tissue to his mouth.
I finished my meal, cleaned my mouth with a tissue and we both got up and headed for the exit.
When we got upstairs, we separated and went to our different workstations. I looked over at Adaeze’s side, she was seated behind her computer system typing.
I sat down on my seat, trying to gather my thoughts.
“So how do i go about it?” I asked my myself.
I clicked on the company’s internal instant chat icon on my computer and searched for the name Adaeze. It gave me 5 different options, I scroll down to Adaeze Obi, clicked and added the name to my list of friends. She was not online, so I closed the chat window.
The rest of the day passed without any major incidents. I attended a meeting my unit had with some of the company’s marketers. Then came back to work on some more files.
I went for lunch and came across Adaeze at the canteen. She was in front of me on the queue. I guessed she came alone this time. I didn’t see her by the time I bought my food.
The canteen was crowded so I had to walk round a little to get a table to sit. I finally had to share a table with two ladies. The ladies were both good looking and they kept glancing at me as we ate in silence. Was done with eating and back in the office with 10 minutes.
Left the office earlier than usual, branched to eat at a fast food joint on my way home. Got home, watched the TV for a while before sleeping off.







CHAPTER 3

“Wish today was Friday,” I said to myself as I got up from bed and glanced at the my wall clock, it was 5.05am. I took my time getting ready for work, left home by 6.30am and was in the office before 7.30am. I met people gathered discussing next week’s UEFA champions league matches and I joined them. By 7.50am, we all dispersed and settled down for the day’s work.
I was about to sit, when I looked up to see Adaeze walk in, stopped by Samuel’s table to say hi then went to sign the attendance register. I was mesmerized by the rolling movement of her behind, the way she moved slowly and confidently, just helped accentuate her sexy body, I could feel myself getting a hard on.
“Guy, you go wound o,” said Kayode, coming to stop beside me.
I glanced briefly at him, and looked back at Adaeze, as we watch her walk to sit at her desk.
“I don’t mind, in as much as she is the one doing the wounding,” I replied, turning sideways to look at him.
“You make your move yet?”, he asked.
“Hmm, why would I want to tell you that?”
“Why not? We are friends, right?”
“You sound more like a predator to me.”
He smiled, “but you aren’t my prey.”
“Yeah, I know, but that’s still scary, cos you after what I want.”
“You scared of a little competition boy?”
I laughed. “Scared? Of who? You? You wish.”
“Don’t worry, if you act nice, I just might have mercy on you and walk on by.”
I looked him in the eye and smiled. “Thanks, but no thanks. I would stay naughty and unserious than be nice.”
“You know, that ass is so sexy, it should be placed in a temple and worshipped,” Kayode said.
“Halleluyah, we have a believer, never knew you bowed down to asses.” I teased.
“Well, I could make this an exception, cos it’s one of a kind.”
“What about your girlfriend? You stopped worshipping her own ass?” I asked smiling.
“Nope, still in active service, though I render special worship service to other willing ass, especially special ass like Ada.”
I laughed. “Nonsense boy, you too like woman.”
“What about you? You worse than me,” he stated.
“Get a move on boy, I got work to do,” I said, pushing him away.
“Watch your back,” he said, as he walked away.
“My back Or my ass? I thought that was your specialty,” I called after him.
He turned to make a face at me.
I clicked on the company’s internal instant chat icon on my computer, Adaeze’s name was shown to be online. I clicked on instant messenger, a chat box came up, I breathed in and then typed…………..

ADEWALE O SMITH... hi

(after 2 minutes)

ADAEZE O OBI... hello
ADEWALE O SMITH... do you know if there is a beauty contest in this organisation, and you are not declared the winner, there will be riot.
ADAEZE O OBI... are you serious?
ADEWALE O SMITH...definitely, i don't joke on Mondays
ADAEZE O OBI... ok
ADAEZE O OBI... so this is a big joke
ADEWALE O SMITH...nay
ADEWALE O SMITH...for real
ADAEZE O OBI... cos guess what?
ADEWALE O SMITH...yep?
ADAEZE O OBI...today is Thursday
ADEWALE O SMITH...lol
ADEWALE O SMITH...well, it’s not a joke, maybe the riot part
ADEWALE O SMITH...but i will protest
ADAEZE O OBI... good for you
ADAEZE O OBI... and you will be shown the door on the ground floor
ADAEZE O OBI... when you do that
ADEWALE O SMITH...hmm
ADEWALE O SMITH...I will analyse the risk and manage it
ADEWALE O SMITH...
ADAEZE O OBI... ok o
ADEWALE O SMITH...but seriously, you are the most beautiful lady in this organisation, and beautiful people like you are rare and far between here. When i saw you, i thought i was in world bank
ADAEZE O OBI... hmm
ADAEZE O OBI... the funny thing is that i don’t even know who i am chatting with
ADAEZE O OBI... so if my head blows from this flattery i can’t hold anyone
ADEWALE O SMITH...lol
ADEWALE O SMITH...don’t worry, it’s not flattery, they are facts which i know you are aware of, cos you probably have like 1001 toasters and admirers per day that say all this and more,
ADAEZE O OBI... tell me about it
ADEWALE O SMITH...i kind of noticed your smile, from where am seated, and you've a lovely smile, can i have just 1 more
ADAEZE O OBI... and where are you sitting
ADAEZE O OBI... ?
ADEWALE O SMITH.. Thanks for the smile
ADAEZE O OBI... k
ADEWALE O SMITH...hope i am not disturbing you
ADEWALE O SMITH...just say the word, and i will flee
ADAEZE O OBI... no
ADAEZE O OBI... just wish i knew who i was talking to though
ADEWALE O SMITH...am not a mystery man, it’s easy to know who i am
ADAEZE O OBI... ok
ADAEZE O OBI... so?
ADEWALE O SMITH...so, what? Who am i???
ADAEZE O OBI... yes
ADEWALE O SMITH...good question, here is the answer
ADAEZE O OBI...
ADAEZE O OBI... ?
ADEWALE O SMITH...an African man, of average height, slim, dark in complexion, and works in the same office with the most beautiful lady in this organisation
ADEWALE O SMITH...now you know me
ADAEZE O OBI... noooooooooooooooooooooooo
ADEWALE O SMITH...what’s that?
ADEWALE O SMITH...anyway, tell me, what does your name mean?
ADAEZE O OBI... God's voice
ADEWALE O SMITH...hmmm
ADEWALE O SMITH...no wonder
ADEWALE O SMITH...u are definitely a customised product of God, built to specification, with a perfectly sculptured face and heaven's factory fitted body structure
ADAEZE O OBI...
ADAEZE O OBI... hey
ADAEZE O OBI... please
ADEWALE O SMITH...not forgetting, your lovely smile
ADAEZE O OBI... i beg you
ADEWALE O SMITH...beg me? For what?
ADAEZE O OBI... itsssssssssssssss ok
ADEWALE O SMITH...ok, nice chatting with u, take care

I minimized the chat box and leaned back into my seat. I looked over at her side, she didn’t look up. “Well, game on,” I said to myself.

(2hours 15 minutes later)

I clicked on the chat box.

ADEWALE O SMITH...so tell me, what are u?
ADEWALE O SMITH...that's on the inside
ADEWALE O SMITH...what are you like? I mean
ADAEZE O OBI... dunno
ADAEZE O OBI... what do i look like?
ADEWALE O SMITH...well my teacher always told me not to judge a book by its cover,
ADEWALE O SMITH...and when i look at myself in the mirror, i know my teacher was right
ADAEZE O OBI... ok
ADEWALE O SMITH...so what are you like?
ADAEZE O OBI... i am like me
ADAEZE O OBI... i really can’t answer that
ADAEZE O OBI... cos i don’t know what i am like
ADEWALE O SMITH...hmm
ADEWALE O SMITH...that’s hard to believe
ADEWALE O SMITH...cos nobody can know you like you
ADEWALE O SMITH...you know, attitude and behaviour wise
ADEWALE O SMITH...
ADEWALE O SMITH...
ADEWALE O SMITH...

I looked up to see her leaving the office. I closed the chat box, and got back to work.
There was not that much to do, so I just read up some old files and was on the lookout for Adaeze. My unit head called to say he would be going early. He left the office by 5pm, I left 30 minutes later.