Imani's Dilemma (Drumbeats Romance)

by Kalinga, Kiki

“Imani, I can’t play such games with you. I don’t think we should see each other anymore. Sorry. Bye.”

  Imani looked at the text in blank shock. So it was true. Kevin had no intention of being with her. And that line about not playing games, was just his way of brushing her off without too much drama. With a howl of anguish Imani flung her cell phone down. She couldn’t believe this. Against her better judgment, she had trusted him. Given herself to him once again. Only for him to throw her away as easily.

  Imani felt her chest constrict as tears streamed down her face. This evening had been a nightmare. What more could go wrong? On top of Mike backstabbing her and the prospect of losing her job becoming a reality, she was now being dumped again by the love of her life.

  The taxi finally pulled up to her house. As Imani shut the car door she heard something fall on to the ground. Her cell phone, which she had so carelessly flung down. She banged on the window of the taxi but the driver didn’t hear her as he sped off. There was a sickening crunching sound from under the car’s wheels.

  As Imani looked down at her cell phone, which had been smashed into smithereens on the road, she couldn’t help but think that was how her broken heart also looked.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Thank goodness today is a Saturday!

  This was Imani’s first thought as she woke up the next morning. She could not face her lying boss and colleague so soon. Would Mr Shutu expect her to leave immediately or would he wait until the end of the month to fire her? Knowing him, he would choose the most painful, humiliating way of sacking her.

  Imani pondered the situation. Amidst the detritus, one thing was clear: She needed to start earning an income soon! But first, she needed to talk. Taking a deep breath, she picked up Grace’s phone and dialled the only person that she knew she could trust;

  “I need you to come over,” she said.

  “I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Fawzia replied.

  “So,” Fawzia said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at Imani when she had told her the whole story, once they were ensconced in Imani’s bedroom, “Mike is a lowlife who stole all your clients and your job and Kevin has broken up with you because he is engaged to someone else?”

  Imani nodded miserably.

  “Well, it sounds like a blessing that you have got rid of both of them.”

  “But I thought that things would be different this time round with Kevin. I really thought that we would end up together. How come things never work out for me?”

  Fawzia gave a derisive laugh. “You have to grow up, Imani. And face the facts.” Her voice softened as she saw how dejected Imani looked. “Life is not a fairy tale. What do you think my life is really like? Yes, I get everything I want and I don’t have to work or to worry about money, but Ahmed is always busy and travelling. He has no time for me.” Fawzia wiped her eyes with a corner of her headscarf.

  Imani went over to hug her friend, feeling ashamed for being so self-absorbed.

  “It’s all right. I knew this when I married him. And though it’s sometimes lonely, I keep myself busy. And he’s a good man.” Fawzia tried to smile but Imani could see the deep sadness in her eyes.

  The two friends talked for hours, with Fawzia reminding Imani how smart and experienced she was and that she soon would land a better job – and a good man. Imani reminded Fawzia that she was a kind person and that Ahmed would soon tire of his travelling and find time for her.”

  Once Fawzia had left, Imani remembered that she had to drop off her gown from the previous evening. She packed away Emma’s dress with mixed feelings. She had felt like a princess when wearing it, but it had turned out to be one of the worst nights in her entire life.

  After returning the dress, she found the house deathly quiet. Her mother and Grace had gone to visit a relative and wouldn’t be back until later that evening. Imani picked up her bag and walked out the door. She needed to get away from her surroundings for a while; she felt as though the walls were closing in on her.

  As soon as Imani reached the bus stop, she realised that she had absolutely no idea where she wanted to go. She hopped into a matatu to the city centre. She got off at the first stop and walked down the street. She spent the afternoon walking around the streets of Nairobi’s city centre. It had been a long time since she had done that; after all, she was usually in a raging hurry, dashing from one appointment to another.

  It was pleasant to be an anonymous part of the crowd that thronged the streets, jostling to get closer to the assorted items for sale. The hawkers, emboldened by the scarcity of city council askaris on a Saturday afternoon, had spread their items all over the pavements. She bought some revision guides for Grace and made her way to a café for a cup of hot tea. As she sipped the freshly brewed spiced tea, she took out a note book and jotted down her thoughts. She needed to get her life on track. First, she would confront Mike and Mr Shutu. She would lose her job if it came to that, but not her dignity, and her hard work had to be recognised.

  As for Kevin, Imani steeled her heart and decided to throw him out of her life once and for all! She regretted their one night of passion, now, but this time, she wouldn’t waste her life mourning about it. It had not been a causal encounter for her; she had loved and trusted Kevin, but she decided to forget the mistake. It was an error in judgement. So I’m human. I loved Kevin, and gave into my feelings because I thought he felt the same. Now that I know otherwise, I’ll just move on.

  As she sipped her tea, Imani pulled out Big Al’s card from her purse and gazed at it. She decided on her next move and pulling out Grace’s cell phone, dialled the number on the card.

  Imani spent the rest of the weekend sprucing up her CV and sticking firm on her resolve to move forward in life. She lined up an interview with Big Al on Monday afternoon.

  ***

  Imani walked into the office on Monday morning feeling very self-conscious. She was sure that the story of the launch had already made the rounds, and that everyone was laughing at her ‘failure’. But things seemed normal. Linda sneered at her, but that too was business as usual.

  Imani spent the next couple of hours clearing up her personal information from her computer and desk drawers; she didn’t want to be caught unawares when she was given her marching orders. She also prepared a file with her evidence, ready to confront Mr Shutu. Leo, nikusema yote, she said to herself firmly.

  It was almost a relief when, mid-morning, Linda came bustling up to Imani’s desk. “Mr Shutu wants to see you,” she said, looking smug. “Right now,” she added, walking to their boss’s office, obviously hoping to be invited to the discussion. It was a real pleasure for Imani to close the door in Linda’s curious face.

  “Imani, have a seat,” Mr Shutu gestured to one of his visitor’s chairs, “As you are aware your performance on Acacia Park was terrible! Mike made over eighty percent of the sales.” He looked at her over the top of his spectacles. “I had made it very clear that I could not afford to carry any ‘dead wood’ on my staff.” He cleared his throat, “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Imani knew just what she was going to do. Enough of letting things go and trying to be the nice girl! She opened the file she had carried with her.

  “Mr Shutu, I don’t think I need to say anything. In fact, I think it is you who owes me an explanation.”

  Mr Shutu, raised his eyebrows as he removed his glasses, and looked at Imani condescendingly. “What are you saying Imani?” His expression implied ‘stop making excuses and own up’.

  Imani placed the open file in front of Mr Shutu. “Here is a copy of my email to you. This was where I shared my database of clients with you.”

  “Go on,” Mr Shutu said, giving the file a cursory glance.

  “Now, here is a list of the sales Mike made on Friday.” She pointed to a second document.


  He gave it a brief glance before saying dismissively, “So, what exactly is your point, Imani?”

  “My point, Mr Shutu, is that if you look closely, you will see that the sales Mike made are identical to the list of names on my client database,” she paused, waiting to see the guilt dawn on his face.

  “I don’t understand, Imani. What are you saying?” He looked genuinely interested as he compared the two lists. Imani was caught off-guard by his reaction; either he was a very good actor or there was something she was missing here.

  “I am saying that Mike somehow had access to my client database, and poached these clients. I only shared this database with you. No one else had access to it. So, Mr Shutu, what do you have to say for yourself?”

  Imani let her anger spill out, “If you wanted me to leave, you could have simply sacked me. Instead of going through this long-winded charade.”

  Mr Shutu stared at her, his expression inscrutable. Imani held her breath. Had she gone too far?

  Finally, he pressed a button on the intercom.

  “Linda, please send Mike in,” he commanded.

  Mike gave her a greasy smile as he slid into the chair next to her. She ignored him and pulled out two more documents.

  “I achieved twenty percent of the sales. And they were all based on this list of new customers. These customers were not on the original list that I emailed you. I added them later.” She pointed at the updated database. “Of course, Mike had no access to this list. Otherwise he would have poached them too.”

  Mike laughed a dismissive laugh that irked Imani even more, before jumping in.

  “Imani, just accept that you lost! It’s the same kind of market, so we know the same people.”

  “Really, Mike? In that case, did you make any other sales, apart from those clients on my list? And also, why didn’t you bring me in when a client specifically requested for me?”

  “I have no obligation to let you know who I am meeting and what they say!”

  “Hold on …” Mr Shutu raised his hand before Imani could respond, “Do you mean to tell me that Mike had access to this database but you did not email it to him?”

  “Of course! I only shared it with you,” Imani said, looking directly at Mike. “So, Mr Shutu, either you shared it with him, or he somehow got hold of it.”

  “Did you at any time have a printout of this database?” Mr Shutu asked.

  “Of course not,” she replied, ignoring Mike’s glare, “Incidentally, the same thing happened with the preliminary presentation to Acacia Park. I had shared my presentation only with you, yet somehow Mike had replica points.”

  “Stop making baseless accusations!” Mike shouted.

  Mr Shutu raised his hand again, then dialled the intercom again.

  Linda walked in, shooting a triumphant look at Imani, “Yes, Mr Shutu?”

  “Linda, you recently accessed my computer to create a backup of my files.”

  “Yes sir, I did.”

  “Did you share any of my files whilst doing so? With anyone at all?”

  Linda’s expression suddenly changed and her confidence faltered. “Only those that you authorised me to, or those that were public.”

  “Who did you share with, and which files were those?”

  Linda fidgeted nervously, while Mike tensed up, like he wanted to escape from the room. “Linda, please answer truthfully. Did you share any of the files Imani had sent me?”

  “Yes, sir. But only the sales-related ones. Nothing confidential.”

  Mr Shutu looked furious, “What?”

  “Mike asked me to, sir,” Linda said defensively, “he said it was general sales data he needed urgently, but Imani was not around to share it.”

  There was a loaded silence, which Imani broke.

  “So as you see sir, Mike sweet-talked Linda into sharing my confidential files with him. And then he poached each and every one of my clients.”

  Mr Shutu looked at Linda, who looked shattered. “Linda, I’ll talk to you later, please leave now.”

  Mike’s bravado had vanished. But she wasn’t done with him yet. She pulled out her trump card. “And here is an interesting email I received this morning from my friend and client, Samantha.” She glanced over at Mike. He looked stricken, and his face was contorted. “She wants to know why Mike has been quoting a different price from the sale agreement, and asking her to play along.”

  Mr Shutu looked shell-shocked and opened and closed his mouth without saying a word.

  “I think you need to open your eyes and see what is really going on in your company,” Imani continued, “You set us up against each other in an unfair competition and you don’t see the dirty tricks that are going on under your nose.”

  Mr Shutu straightened up in surprise as she continued with her diatribe.

  “If you think that you can run a successful business with staff who steal ideas and poach clients from other people, then good luck to you.”

  Mr Shutu looked at Mike, who was staring at the floor. “Please explain yourself,” he said, barely concealing the anger in his voice. Mike gave him a sullen look but had nothing to say. Instead, he stood up and walked out the door. Through the glass panels, they could see him pick up his jacket from his chair and walk out of the office.

  Mr Shutu turned to her with a nervous smile. “Ummm. So I suppose that leaves you, Imani.”

  Imani heaved a sigh of relief. She had proven herself.

  “Imani, I guess you will be the one staying. I need honest people around here. Congratulations.”

  Instead of the elation she should have felt at exposing Mike’s fraud, Imani felt hollow. Did she really want to work in a place that promoted underhand tactics and did not appreciate genuine work? Mr Shutu had been ready to fire her without a word about the success of the launch and all the other hard work she had put in.

  “I don’t think I can work here anymore,” she stated, standing up.

  Mr Shutu also rose in alarm. “But you can’t leave!” he protested, “How will I manage with Acacia Park?”

  Despite the butterflies in her stomach, Imani shook her head. She was tired of being taken for granted and the last thing she wanted to do was to have to face Kevin again, which was inevitable if she stayed.

  “Please don’t go Imani, you must stay. Mr Donde specifically wanted to work with you on the Acacia Park Project.”

  Imani was a little taken back at his pleading tone, but she had made up her mind. This man had used her as a pawn in his business. It was time she stood up for herself. She turned and walked over to her desk and picked up her handbag and headed out of the main door.

  Mr Shutu shouted after her, “We will lose the commission!”

  Everyone looked up at the commotion. Linda scrupulously avoided Imani’s eyes. Imani couldn’t help the smile on her face as she picked up her things and walked out of the office for good.

  ***

  A few hours later, she found herself sitting across a huge desk from Big Al. Framed pictures of fancy buildings and houses covered the walls.

  “So I need someone to do the sales and marketing for Coral Palms at the actual site,” he said, “Do you think you are up to it?”

  “Would that mean that I would have to stay at the coast?” she asked. She felt a pang of uncertainty, what would her mother say?

  Big Al’s belly wobbled as he chuckled, “Well it would be a very long commute to travel to Nairobi every evening.”

  Imani could have kicked herself for coming up with such an asinine comment. This was a God sent opportunity, she’d better not mess it up. She squared her shoulders. “I would love to do it and I am sure you will be very happy with me.”

  “Good,” Big Al shook her hand, “You can start tomorrow.”

  “
Tomorrow?”

  “Yes of course. Didn’t you say that you were available immediately?

  She nodded mutely, her stomach clenching at the thought of things moving so swiftly. Oblivious to her panic, big Al continued, “I need you to spend a couple of days with us here so we can brief you on the project. My PA will give you all the details regarding your accommodation and travel. You will leave for the coast in a few days’ time.”

  This was all happening really fast. This time next week she would be in a different city! Her life was changing. It was scary but she needed a fresh start, away from Kevin and away from all the negativity of her old job.

  It was time to go home and break the news to her mother and Grace. She looked for a special treat for Grace on the way back and stopped and picked up a large slice of gooey chocolate cake from a bakery and, armed with the sweet smelling white box, she geared herself to face her family. She wasn’t looking forward to telling them that she would be leaving them

  But they were both more accepting of the situation than she had hoped. “Can I come and visit you Imani?” Grace asked through a mouthful of cake.

  “I hope that you will be careful there,” her mother warned, holding Imani close to her, “But I’m so glad you have such a good job opportunity.”

  Imani hugged her sister and mother tightly, her heart beating faster at the thought of the adventure that lay ahead of her.

  When Imani called Fawzia to tell her the news, Fawzia couldn’t hide her sadness at having her best friend move to another city but was happy that Imani had landed on her feet.

  The next day was a whirlwind of instructions from Nkirote, Big Al’s PA. She was super-efficient and walked around the office with an iPad, barking into a blue tooth.

  “You must make sure the clients appreciate that you are selling them a lifestyle, not just a beach apartment,” she informed Imani, after going through all the details of the property with her. “You need to dress simply but look sophisticated, no tacky jewellery or makeup. We prefer it if you wear black trousers and a top with sleeves.” She scanned her from head to toe. “And no flirting with the clients, Big Al won’t tolerate it.”