by Kiru Taye
“Which one?”
“The nut line. The engineer is looking at it but he doesn’t think it can be fixed immediately.”
“The nut line. We have an order to ship next week.” Ijay detected urgency in Paul’s calm voice.
“I know, sir. That’s why I’m concerned.”
“Right. I have to see.” Paul turned to her. “Ijay, go up to the office. I’ll be up later.”
“Do you mind if I come with you? I’d like to help if I can,” Ijay said, her heart thudding with worry. She’d only been here a day. Yet she felt like she had a stake in seeing the factory do well.
“Okay.” He nodded.
Mr. Obi led them down to the production line that had been damaged.
“Oh no,” Ijay gasped when she saw the damage. It looked like someone had taken a wrench and mallet to the machinery, the rubber mat surface ripped out of the conveyor belt, nuts and bolt all over the floor along with some twisted metal.
She glanced at Paul thinking he’d be angry and raging at whoever had done the damage. To her surprise he looked calm. She only realised he was perturbed by the vein ticking in his clenched jaw.
A man came out from behind the machinery. He was dressed in overalls and wiped his greasy hands on a small towel in his pocket.
“Engineer, can you fix this?” Paul asked the man.
“I think we have most of the spare parts but it will take a long time, probably a few days instead of a few hours.”
“Okay, keep working. I’ll be down later.”
Paul turned around and walked back toward the office.
“Do you know who did this?” Ijay asked. She couldn’t believe that anyone would be that mean and calculated.
“No one seems to know,” Mr. Obi answered.
“I’ll need this investigated. If we have a saboteur in our midst, I want to know,” Paul said, his tone hardened.
“Are you going to call the police?” Ijay asked. Whoever had done the damage should be arrested.
Paul shook his head. “This is a private matter. I don’t want to involve the police. At least not yet.”
In the office, Paul didn’t sit down. “How much of the Bide order have we processed?”
“We were scheduled to complete it tomorrow. But now?” Mr. Obi waved both hands.
“We’re going to have to go to manual mode. It’ll take longer but it’s still doable since we’re halfway through the order already. Get as many people as possible working on this. I’m going to help Engineer work on repairing as much damage as possible.”
Mr. Obi nodded and left the office. Paul unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off. Ijay gasped out softly at the sight of the hard muscles on his back. He glanced back with a lopsided grin and brow raised mockingly.
“I’m just changing my shirt, not about to jump your bones.” He took an old grey t-shirt out of a drawer beneath the desk to buttress this point.
“Of course,” Ijay replied with outrage, her face flaming with heat. How could he think she thought any differently? Even if she’d done so!
Paul chuckled as if not believing her and pulled the t-shirt on. She nearly threw her pen at him. She clenched her palm around it instead.
“Sorry to have to leave you on your own. I really have to get that machine sorted out as soon as possible. We can’t afford not to complete that order on time.”
“Have you considered that whoever damaged the machine might be trying to stop you completing your order?” she asked the question that just popped in her mind. The damage must have a purpose.
“If they are then I can’t let them win,” Paul said harshly. His chest rose as he inhaled deeply. When he spoke again his voice was calmer. “Actually, I’m going to ask Amaechi to take you back to Enugu now. I don’t know how long this is going to take. I may have to spend the night down here at the village.”
“In that case, I’m not going to Enugu. I want to help.” She wasn’t about to leave him to cope of his own. Moreover, there must be something she could do here.
“You do? How? Seriously I think you are better off returning to Enugu. You’re not an employee. You don’t have to help.”
“Paul, please. Let me help. I’ll do whatever it takes. I don’t mind helping the guys with the packaging or sorting through. I’m doing this not as an employee of Havers & Child. We are friends. At least, I hope we are.”
He stared at her for a moment, his expression unreadable. Eventually he let out a deep sigh and nodded.
“Okay. I’ll speak to John.”
Chapter Eighteen
Paul’s back ached when he finally headed back up to the office that night. The day had gone in a quick blur. He hadn’t even stopped for lunch except when Ijay had brought him a bottle of water.
True to her words, she’d stayed on, helping to manually pack the processed cashew nuts with the rest of the staff. She’d kept working until he’d sent everyone else home late this evening. She’d still refused to be dropped off by Amaechi and was now up in the office.
He walked up the stairs. Before he walked into the office, he saw her. She was sitting on the chair with her head laid on the table against her arms. Her hair tied back in a ponytail hung down her shoulder. She was asleep, her chest rising and falling gently. She looked vulnerable and beautiful. Exquisite.
The clamp in his chest tightened with protectiveness, his body suffused with warm tenderness. She must’ve been exhausted to have fallen asleep on the desk. He knew she’d worked as hard as anyone else today.
The thing that got to him was that she didn’t have to. It wasn’t her job. It wasn’t her business. And despite the fact that she’d said she wanted them to be friends, he knew that once she married his brother, they couldn’t be friends. His brother would never allow it. And Paul wouldn’t blame him.
The kind of feeling Paul had for Ijay had less to do with friendship and more to do with...love?
A wave of dizziness passed over him at the thought. He swallowed the hard lump in his throat and leaned on the door post as he watched her prone body.
Love? It couldn’t be. He didn’t know how to love the way other people did. He wasn’t taught to love.
Yes, you do. You don’t want her to marry your brother. You want her to wear your ring.
His gaze moved to her hand with the sparkling engagement ring. His heart rammed in his chest at the sudden realisation.
Yes, he wished it was his ring she was wearing.
Still, he was also scared of hurting her. Just like his father had hurt his mother, he’d surely hurt Ijay. He didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to be the source of any pain to her. He’d hate himself. He needed to stay away from her. If he didn’t make promises of forever to her, then there would be no chance of him breaking them.
Maybe Vincent will do a better job.
Bullshit!
Vincent was as good as a fox in a hen’s coop—cunning and deadly. Leaving Ijay to marry him would be setting her up for a life of misery. While Paul knew he wasn’t good enough for Ijay in the long run, he also knew that Vincent was worse.
He could never let Ijay marry Vincent no matter how much she protested. He just had to figure out a way to convince her to give him a chance. First he had to survive another night of having her close by and not touching her. Two nights of her under his roof in Enugu had been torture. That he’d managed to get any sleep was a surprise to him. When all he’d wanted to do in the middle of the night was take the short walk across from his room to hers and join her in her bed.
He’d stayed up listening to her movements as she’d walked around in her room. Every sound she’d made augmented his desire until it had been swollen and throbbing. Only a cold shower had helped him get to sleep eventually.
Now just watching her sleep, he knew it was going to be another tough night. Gritting his teeth, he quickly stripped off the t-shirt and replaced it with the clean shirt he’d worn that morning. He leaned over and shook her shoulders.
“Ijay,” he
spoke her name hoarsely, his throat clogged up with emotion.
She roused, lifted her head and looked at him blankly for a moment.
“Come on. It’s time to go.”
She blinked a few times before her brown eyes cleared. She rubbed her head. “Sorry. I didn’t realise I was so tired,” she said, her soft voice husky with sleep.
“I’m the one who’s sorry for keeping you out here for so long.” He grabbed his leather briefcase with one hand and pulled Ijay up with the other. She picked up her bag and he let her lean into him as they both left the office.
Her sweet scent assaulted his senses adding to his body’s growing need. Perhaps the weariness of his body made his mind susceptible too. He let out a soft groan as desire kicked into his blood.
Ijay stilled in his arm and glanced up at him, her chocolate eyes wide with concerned. “Did I hurt you?” She moved to step away.
Not wanting to lose the contact, he held her soft body to him and shook his head. “No.”
He didn’t want to look away but he did. Otherwise they wouldn’t make it out of the front door.
“What time is it? It’s so dark outside,” she asked, looking confused.
“It’s past eight,” he said as they walked outside. Thankfully, Amaechi had the car close to the entrance so they didn’t have far to walk. The night air was warm and humid. He really needed a cold shower for more than one reason.
“Gosh. That’s late. Are we heading back to Enugu now?” Ijay said as she got into the car. Paul missed her softness as soon as she stepped away.
You’ll miss her even more when she marries your brother.
He ignored the voice in his head and got into the car. “No. We’ll stay the night at my villa,” he replied.
“Oh, you mean your family home.” She turned to look at him, now more alert.
“No. It’s just a little place I built two years ago,” he said nonchalantly.
He didn’t want to get into the details and was glad when she replied with “Oh, okay.”
Paul waved to the night watch-men standing guard as they drove out of the premises.
“Do you normally have so many security men on duty?” Ijay asked.
“Not usually. After today’s incident, we can’t afford any more mishaps. So I made a request to the local youth vigilante group for more men to patrol, at least for the next few days.”
“I think that’s a good idea. Hopefully there won’t be any more break-ins and it’ll give you time to find the culprit.”
“That’s the idea.” He leaned back into his seat, letting hot tired muscles sink into the cool leather. As usual, Ijay’s scent surrounded him with intoxicating musk. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes.
“I want to thank you for all your help today. I really appreciate it.” He opened his eyes and looked at her. In the dimness of the night, her face was in shadow. He saw her white teeth gleam as she smiled widely.
“You’re welcome,” she said and leaned back into her seat.
The drive to his villa was a short one. It was a small bungalow set in a small fenced plot of land surrounded by dense trees. The whole place was in darkness when they arrived.
“Ijay, stay in the car until I turn the generator on,” he said to Ijay as he got out of the car. Amaechi left the headlights on so he could see to open the front door.
Paul found the large torchlight he kept by the table in the hallway and turned it on. He walked round to the back of the building to the little generator housing and unlocked the door. Luckily the generator started quickly. He turned on the switch on the fuse box and the outside security lights came on.
When Paul walked round to the front, Ijay and Amaechi were taking the bags inside the house.
“Thank you,” Paul said to Amaechi. “Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.” Though, Amaechi was his driver and stayed in the other half of his guest house in Enugu, his main family home was in Amori. So he was always glad when they had to spend time here.
“Good night,” Amaechi said before leaving them.
Paul turned to Ijay who was looking around the living room. “Sorry the place is sparsely decorated. I don’t use it often except for emergencies like today. I’ll definitely make sure Amaechi takes you back to Enugu tomorrow early enough.”
She turned to him, her lips pulled up in a wide smile, her eyes gleaming. “I love your place.”
Stunned, he reared back thinking she was joking. There wasn’t much in the place. Just a couple of worn leather sofas and a coffee table. She must have seen the doubt in his eyes because she came closer.
“Really, I love it. I love that it isn’t ostentatious. I mean I know how other people’s villas are. Believe me I’ve seen a few in my village. They are grand buildings decorated to impress. This...this is just a bungalow and simple but it feels homely. Like a place I’d want to escape to on the weekends when I need some downtime from the bustle of city life.” She waved her hand around. “Can you show me the rest of it, please?”
Paul’s heart leapt and a smile crept onto his face. The admiration and joy on Ijay’s face was unavoidable. She really did like the place. He wanted to go to her and lift her high up in the air to match how high his own heart had leapt with joy. He wanted to kiss her lips for speaking such blissful words.
Finally, something of his that she liked. Some common ground. He always enjoyed coming back here. Always enjoyed the quiet time away from everyone.
Without thinking, he reached out and took her hand. “Come; let me show you the rest of the place.”
Eagerly, she followed him. He opened the door to the kitchen. It wasn’t as large as his kitchen in Enugu. It had an aluminium sink/tap by the window, tall white fridge-freezer, cooker/oven and wooden kitchen wall units.
“It’s basic and functional,” he said.
“It’s got everything you need. That’s what’s important,” Ijay said as she followed him down the hallway.
“Unfortunately, there are no en-suite bathrooms in the bedrooms but this is the main bathroom.” Paul opened the door. The bathroom had white units and wall tiles with the shower head over the bath.
“Is there hot water in here?” Ijay asked.
“There’s an electric heater, if you need a warm shower.” He pointed to the white panel on the wall. “Just adjust the dial from blue to red when you’re in the shower.”
He led her out and stopped in front of his bedroom door.
“There are two bedrooms but only this one is functional.” He opened the door revealed the white walled bedroom and his large wooden frame bed in the middle. His acacia wood wardrobe stood in the corner. “You can take the bed and I’ll sleep on the sofa tonight.”
“That seems unfair, Paul. You’ve been working hard all day. I think you should take the bed and I can stay on the sofa.”
He ignored her for a moment as the thoughts of her in his bed swirled in his head. He walked to the wardrobe and opened it, taking out fresh bed linen as a distraction.
“Ijay, take the bed. No arguments. Unless you want me to join you in it?” He raised his eyebrows quizzically.
He saw her throat dilate as she swallowed hard. He suppressed a smile. At least she was still as affected as he was by the sexual tension between them.
“I’m afraid I don’t have any female clothing you can wear. If you need to borrow a shirt or t-shirt, then help yourself to mine,” he said when she didn’t reply. “I’m going to see if there’s anything edible in the kitchen to make for dinner. I’ll leave you to freshen up.”
That he managed to walk to the door when he wanted to stay with Ijay was a minor miracle. Having her in his bedroom did all sorts of crazy things to his libido.
Before he got to the kitchen, there was a knock at the front door. He opened it. Amaechi stood there was a large food flask and a big wide grin.
“Uju said I should bring this to you,” Amaechi said, holding out the flask.
Paul smiled and took the flask. “You should have to
ld her not to bother.”
“As if I can argue with her. You know what she’s like when her mind is made up,” Amaechi laughed.
Paul joined him, his ribs hurting as he laughed. Amaechi’s wife never took "no" for an answer. She took it upon herself to clean Paul’s villa and stock up his cupboards before his visit every week. He’d told her several times not to bother but she persisted. In the end, Paul had given up. He’d simply increased Amaechi’s salary to compensate for the woman’s time and expense.
“Tell her thank you for her work this week. The place looks great.”
“No worries. See you in the morning,” Amaechi said and turned to leave. Paul closed the door and took the flask into the kitchen.
He was glad he didn’t have to cook anything tonight. He opened the flask. It was filled to the brim with jollof rice and grilled goat meat. He covered it back up and waited for Ijay. While waiting, he walked to the living room and called Peter. They were supposed to meet tonight for their usual catch-up.
“Old boy, are you on your way?” Peter said as soon as the line connected.
“No. I’m in Amori. We had an incident this morning.”
“What happened?” Peter asked, his voice losing its cheeriness and turning worried.
“One of the machines was damaged, deliberately. I found out when I got in there this morning,” Paul replied.
“That’s nasty. Do you know who did it?”
“Not yet. I mean to find out soon.” Paul’s grip tightened on the phone. “Anyway, we have an order due and I was there late with the Engineer. I’m going to spend the night here so I can get in there early tomorrow.”
“Do you need me to help with anything? Do you need another mechanical Engineer to look at it?”
“We could do with extra help. So if you have someone available, then that’ll be great.”
“No problem. I’ll send one of the spare Engineers from the airline. He’ll be there in the morning,” Peter said.
“Thank you,” Paul said. He really was grateful for his friends. They were a lifeline he didn’t get anywhere else.