by Kiru Taye
“Can we do that now, or should I come back later?” he enquired uncertainly.
“No, we can do it now. Grab a seat.” She moved her chair so that Femi could pull up a spare chair from the next empty desk.
They walked through the report, Femi pointing out the key figures Lara should keep an eye on. When they finished, he looked reluctant to get up.
“Eh…Lara. Are you coming out with us next week Friday?” He sounded hesitant.
She frowned and hoped he wasn’t asking her out on a date as she didn’t want to ruin their friendship by refusing him. “Friday? What’s going on?”
“It’s the project team social night. Once a month, we go out for a meal and drinks after work. Sometimes, the directors and sponsor join us when a major milestone has been completed successfully.”
“Oh, yes. Jane told me about that. I’m not sure yet if I’ll be there, though.”
“You have to be. You are the newest member of the team and this Friday, we’ll be celebrating you joining the team. You can’t miss your own party, can you?” he joked, breaking into laughter, and she joined him.
“Of course I can’t. Looks like I’ll have to be there.” She shrugged in acceptance.
Just at that moment, Ike walked out of the lifts across the hall and looked straight at her and the laughter died in her throat when she saw his expression. It looked murderous.
The next thing she noted, he was striding towards her desk. Apprehension gripped her and she stopped breathing and didn’t hear the next thing Femi said to her, her full focus on Ike looking so formidable in his dark suit and scowling expression.
By the time he arrived at her desk, his expression was guarded and she couldn’t read him.
“Good afternoon, Ike,” Femi said when he saw their employer.
“’Afternoon, Femi.” Ike gave him a cursory nod, barely acknowledging Femi, his icy eyes focused on Lara as butterflies fluttered in her belly. “Lara, see me in my office in five minutes.”
“Sure,” she muttered, her voice sounding strained.
He nodded and walked off without another word or a backward glance, and her eyes followed his retreating back.
Femi stood up, reminding her there was someone else next to her.
“I’ll see you later and I look forward to Friday night,” he said before walking back to his desk.
“Me, too,” Lara replied distractedly, her mind already on inscrutable Ike and the reason he wanted to see her.
***
Ike was pacing his office floor, running the risk of wearing a hole in the carpet. His blood was boiling with rage and he felt like smashing a hole through the wall.
The minute he had walked out of the lifts into the office space and seen Lara and Femi laughing intimately like lovers and sitting so closely, he had seen red. It was like someone had taken a sledgehammer and bludgeoned him with it for the pain that ran through his body.
Was Lara dating Femi? The thought that she could have someone else as a lover was cutting through him like a knife.
He scrubbed a hand over his head.
Why was he getting agitated because he’d seen Lara with another man? He was engaged to Gloria and their wedding day was less than six months away.
He couldn’t possibly want anything to do with Lara more than they’d already had. There was no going back.
So why did his heart wrench at the thought of her being with someone else? Why had he felt like grabbing Lara and kissing her in front of the whole floor full of staff so that everyone would know that she belonged to him and was out of bounds?
“Fuck!” He was so screwed up.
He stopped pacing and gripped the edge of his desk tightly, his knuckles cracking in protest. He needed to calm down before she got here; she’d be here in any minute from now. The last time he’d been angry with her, he’d done something he’d regretted. Strange that she seemed to be the only one who drove him to this level of rage, who brought out the beast in him. And always for the same reason, too—seeing her with someone else.
He took a deep, refreshing breath and exhaled. He wasn’t a love-struck young adult anymore. He was a grown man, the head of a company that employed thousands of men and women. He had a better control of his emotions and actions; his actions had consequences that affected other people.
He couldn’t allow anyone to control the way he behaved. Not even Lara. So he sat down on his chair and stared blankly at his laptop screen.
There was a brief knock on his door.
“Come.”
The door opened and the subject of his current headache walked in, looking elegant and smart in her mink-coloured skirt suit and high-heeled shoes, sending all his newly acquired good intentions out of the window. His blood started fizzing again and he decided to stay seated behind his desk to avoid giving himself away.
She stood by the closed door looking balefully at him, obviously not happy to be summoned into his office.
“Sit down.”
He indicated the chair in front of his desk and turned back to his laptop screen. He’d let her stew for a while. However, when she didn’t move immediately, he looked up and frowned at the chair then up at her. She took a few begrudging steps towards his desk.
“Is this going to be long, because I have another meeting to attend?” She wavered by his desk, glancing at the watch on her wrist impatiently.
Guts. She had loads of it. He’d give her that. His brave, rebellious Lara. She was challenging him, daring him to cross the invisibly thin line separating them. Again.
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips and his fizzing blood settled low in his belly. She needed to know who was in charge here. A lesson was called for; there were still a few things he hadn’t tutored her in yet. He pressed the intercom on his desk.
“Jane, can you contact the attendees to Lara’s next meeting and reschedule for another time? She is currently in conference with me. Thank you,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone like he was rearranging one of his own appointments.
“Sure.” Jane’s cheerful voice came across on the intercom and he switched it off.
“How dare you cancel my meeting?” Lara snapped at him, her eyes flashing furiously as she stood in front of his desk.
If looks could kill, he’d probably be mortally injured by now. The blood in his veins flared his need again primitively.
***
Lara glared at Ike as he strode casually round his desk like he had all the time in the world. Like he owned the world and could do as he pleased with it. Like he hadn’t just cancelled her meeting with project stakeholders.
Stopping right in front of her, he smiled lazily at her, his dark eyes challenging her. She stood her ground but he was so near she could see his pupils dilate and his nose flare with amusement. She clenched her hands to her side to stop herself wiping the arrogant grin off his face.
“What is your relationship with Femi Spiff?” he asked, ignoring her rant, the muscle on his cheek ticking.
“He is a work colleague and a friend, not that it’s any of your business,” she retorted, glad her voice was cool, though her heart was pounding in her ears, his intense masculine cologne assaulting her senses, and she had to grip the edge of his desk to stop her knees from buckling.
Trying to keep her mind away from Ike, she focused instead on his office. It was a huge room probably the size of her whole flat. There was a round board table and chairs at one end, sofas and low tables at another corner, and a massive desk at the other end. The view was stunning—an unobstructed scene of the blue-green rolling waves of the Atlantic Ocean under a clear sunny sky as far as the eye could see on one side, and the sprawling and bustling magnificence of Victoria Island on the other. It must be quite exhilarating to work in an office with such views.
Ike leaned closer, his breath fanning her cheek and neck, causing them to tingle, bringing her full attention to focus back on him.
“Anything that goes on in TI is my business,” he whispered hoarsel
y before straightening up. “Of course, he could be reassigned to another project. I think we need an accountant for our Ouagadougou venture.”
He grinned wickedly.
Gasping, Lara had to pick her mouth up from the floor before she could speak. “You can’t do that. You can’t just relocate employees at your whim.”
“You will find that I can. Travel and relocation is a mandatory part of all employee contracts. We are an international company, after all. Femi is a young man looking to grow his career, and that kind of project will be good for his resume.”
She realised Ike was right. He could send Femi off to any project anywhere whether he wanted to go or not, just because of her.
“What’s the matter with you?” She glared at him. “Why are you doing this?”
He paced away and came back to face her. “I can’t stand the thought of you being with someone else.”
Her mouth dropped open. For several seconds, they both stared at each other as the gravity of his words seemed to settle heavily in the room.
Finally, she found her voice. “Let me get this straight. You told me we can’t be together. Yet, you don’t want me to get involved with someone else?”
He grimaced and averted his gaze. “I...” His voice cracked.
She placed her hands on her hips. “Well, you’re out of your mind if you think I’m not going to date other people, especially since you have a fiancée.”
His eyes widened.
“Yes, I know. Your busybody PA told me about it.”
“Jane told you? I didn’t know the two of you were that close.”
“I don’t know about being close. She was suspicious about what we did in your office the other day and confronted me about it. She said her ex cheated on her and she didn’t want you cheating on your fiancée.”
Ike frowned. “You didn’t tell her anything, did you?”
“Of course not. I told her nothing was going on.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Good. I’m going to talk to her.”
“I don’t want it to seem as if I’m reporting her. But you should know that perhaps, she isn’t very discreet about things she hears and sees. This doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me you were engaged.” She went back to glaring at him.
He strode across the room towards her and she backed up ’til her back hit the wall.
“I didn’t see the point of telling you. As you said, I owed you and I wanted the moment with you that was denied us years ago.”
He stood so close she could smell his aftershave. He stared down at her with such intensity.
“You were my girl and I wanted to recapture what we had if only for an hour. It felt so good and I don’t regret it. Would it have made a difference to you if you’d known I was engaged?”
She swallowed the lump in her throat and shook her head. “No. I have no regrets about what we shared.”
His face hovered above hers and her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes locked onto his as intense heat danced in his gaze. He lifted her chin, rubbing her lower lip lightly with his thumb. While she stood rooted to the spot, desire bubbled within her, stopping all lucid thoughts. Her heart raced in anticipation as his sumptuous lips descended and she closed her eyes, expecting his lips on hers any second. Ike was going to kiss her; right here, right now. Whilst her mind rejected the idea, her body welcomed it. All her nerve endings seemed ripened, waiting. She wanted a taste of him.
Still, nothing happened. She opened her eyes as Ike dropped his hands. He sighed and settled his forehead against her.
“I wish things were different. I wish I was free to be with you.”
Lara felt so choked up, she was going to cry. She closed her eyes. “It’s okay, Ike. I won’t hold it against you if you stay with your fiancée.”
He leaned back and she opened her eyes.
“It was crazy of me to think that after five years, you would still be single. I really do hope she makes you happy. I won’t ever mention the other day to anyone. It will remain our secret.”
He smiled sadly. “I told her about it.”
“You did?”
“Yes, I felt shitty enough about cheating on her. I couldn’t lie to her, as well. She forgave me.”
“You really are a good man. You do deserve to be happy. I could never have made you happy. I’m just too damaged.” Tears slid down her face.
“Oh, Lara.” He pulled her into a hug and stroked her back. “You deserve to be happy, too.”
She wept silently at everything she’d lost. Her innocence. The chance of a happy life. The love of a good man.
She sniffed and pulled back, wiping her eyes. He gave her a handkerchief and she thanked him.
“I don’t know what happened to you, Lara, but there’s help available.”
She stiffened and pulled out of his grip.
“Please hear me out.” He raised his hands in a placating gesture. “You don’t have to talk to me about it. But Jocelyn is great at what she does. She can really help you heal, if you let her. You could live a happy life one day.”
She shrugged. “Maybe. Anyway, are you going to promise not to send every male employee off to Kafanchan or Korhogo or some other obscure African town?”
He chuckled. “Yes, I promise. I admit that was a moment of weakness for me. Am I forgiven?”
She smiled at him. “You’re forgiven. So tell me about this lovely, soon-to-be wife of yours.”
“You remember Gloria, don’t you?”
Dizziness made her sway on her feet. “Gloria?”
He caught her shoulders and held her steady. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “You’re engaged to Gloria Rawlins?”
“Yes. What’s wrong?” He appeared confused.
She stared at him in horror. Didn’t he know the woman he was engaged to? She was the worst possible person he could marry.
“I’ve come to realise that there are very few certainties in this life, but one certainty I can swear by is the fact that Gloria Rawlins hates me.”
Ike flinched and stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “You’re kidding me.”
“I’ve never been more serious. Gloria hates me. In fact, I’ll go as far as describing her as a mortal enemy. She’ll kill me if she can get away with it.”
“You’re imagining things. What reason does Gloria have to hate you?”
She paced away. “From the first day I started at Hillcrest, she hated me. Don’t ask me why because I don’t know. But she used any opportunity she could get to make my life a misery. Most of the times, I could brush it off until she spread the rumour about me having sex with Malcolm.”
“That rumour was started by Malcolm Ibeh.”
“Malcolm may have said it. But Gloria is the one who made sure the rumours spread. She was the queen of the playground. Everything she said was repeated readily across the school students.”
He frowned as if thinking on her words.
“So why did you never tell me about what she did?”
“Because I didn’t know you were involved with her until I came to your house the day you broke off with me. After that, you weren’t talking to me, anyway.”
“I just find it so difficult to believe that Gloria would do that.”
“Okay. What did she say when you told her you cheated on her? I bet she was furious.”
“Yes, she was. But that’s understandable.”
“I bet she went livid when she found out it was me. I bet she called me nasty names.”
Ike’s eyes went wide. “How do you know that?”
“It’s not the first time she’s called me names. She used to do that when we were in school.”
Ike sighed. “It does seem like she doesn’t like you.”
“Do you love her?”
He met her gaze. “We have a good relationship and she’s been in my life for so long. I love her in my own way. But we’re getting married because of my obligations to her family and mine. Her fa
ther came to my rescue when I needed help and I made my father a promise on his death bed that I would unite our families.”
The back of Lara’s throat hurt and she found it difficult swallowing. He had to uphold his family obligations. There was no way around that. She nodded. At least, she had the consolation that he wasn’t in love with Gloria.
Chapter Sixteen
“There’s someone at the door,” Ada shouted out. “I’ll get it.”
“Okay,” Lara called back as she pulled out the stiff card Jocelyn had given her from her bag. The one with her personal phone number on it.
“Jocelyn is great at what she does. She can really help you heal, if you let her.” Ike’s words to her yesterday played in her mind.
She flipped the card around in her fingers. She hadn’t slept much last night after his revelation that he was engaged to Gloria. Her mind had been all over the place. When she’d gotten home, she hadn’t been able to eat, and sleep certainly hadn’t come.
She needed to do something. She didn’t know what kind of help Jocelyn would offer her. She didn’t think talking about what had happened alone would be any good. She just didn’t want to relive that night.
But what other option did she have? If there was a chance she would recover and live a normal life like Jocelyn seemed to be doing, then she would have to take it.
“Lara, can you come here a minute?” Ada called out. She sounded annoyed.
“I’m coming,” she said and tucked the card in the back pocket of her jeans and took her phone. She would call Jocelyn after she checked out what Ada wanted. Although it was a Saturday, Jocelyn had said she was available any time, any day.
She strode out of her room into the corridor and stopped. She could see the front door from where she stood.
Gloria Rawlins stood outside the door and Ada stood on the inside, blocking her from coming in.
“I’m not letting you into my house unless Lara wants you here,” Ada said, one hand on her hip, the other on the door.
“What are you doing here?” Lara asked in a shocked voice.
Gloria looked up and saw her. “I came to see you. We need to talk but your guard dog here won’t let me in,” she said with a sneer.