***Hey guys, thanks for the encouraging comments, hope you like this chapter. Happy New Year***
The sound of the alarm sent Kachi flying off her bed. She groaned when she turned to her phone which was kept on the bed-side cupboard, maybe using Davido's 'Dami Duro' as the alarm tone wasn't as smart an idea as she had thought...knowing the kind of deep sleeper she was though, it was the most appropriate song she could get in terms of loudness, either that or metallic rock, and she would rather hit her head on the wall repeatedly than wake up to that.
She drug herself to the bathroom and stared into the mirror as her mind replayed the events of two nights ago, even now she couldn't believe all that had happened, it seemed like some sort of weird dream... she could bet when she got to work, she'd discover that 'Thor' neither worked in the office nor even existed to begin with...yes, by the end of today she'd be flipping through another GQ or Cosmopolitan Men magazine and wishing she had someone who looked like any of the men that graced the covers or the pages of those magazines fawning over her....okay, so maybe he wasn't exactly fawning, but still, it was nice to think he was.
She had barely stepped out of the bathroom when she heard her phone ringing, she rushed to it and picked it up to see the caller ID, it was Phumi, her closest friend after Donald, she clicked the answer button, "Hey Phi, how are you?"
"I'm okay, so how did the party go?"
Kachi shook her head, she should have known Phumi would be calling for that, it was a wonder she hadn't called much earlier, "Really Phi? Over the phone? On a Monday morning? Don't you have a certain work place to be?"
"Ooh, something happened, didn't it?" the mischief in Phi's voice was pronounced over her yet to be lost South African accent, Kachi was glad Phi had no problems speaking in her accent, one she swore never to get rid of, that was something they both had in common. Though she had to admit, hers wasn't as pronounced as she would like it to be.
"What are you? Sherlock Phi searching for clues in a mystery?"
"Sweetie, there's no mystery here, I KNOW something happened, else you'd have been rambling on about how much the party sucked by now, so spill it"
Kachi smiled, she always knew, "When did you say you were travelling to SA?"
"Changing the subject? Really Kachi?" she asked, using the exact tone Kachi had used on her minutes ago.
"How about lunch this afternoon at that café....what's the name?"
"The one close to your office or mine?" Phi joked, they both worked in offices located on the same street and there was only one café in that vicinity
"Haha, very funny Phi"
"I love to make you laugh. So, I'm guessing Donny isn't invited"
"Of course he is" she put the phone on speaker and went about preparing for work knowing if she didn't begin now, she would never get off the phone with Phi
"Are you sure about that? We are going to talk about the guy you met at the office party right?"
Kachi paused at that comment as her eyes flew to the phone which was sitting on her dresser, "Guy? What guy?" She asked after two minutes of silence
She heard Phi scoff over the phone, "I was hoping to hear more about him from you" she replied, "Donny will freak if he hears you met someone" Phi laughed.
Kachi snorted, "He would do no such thing, Donny and I are cool" she said, but even she didn't believe that. She had been friends with Donald since she touched down on American soil, literally. He was the first person she had met at the airport who was her mate- technically, that had been friendly towards her, it had helped that they were both immigrants, though his family came from Monaco. She considered what they had a platonic friendship, but Phi constantly made it clear to her that Donald wanted more- she disagreed, but sometimes she couldn't stop that feeling....
Phi scoffed again, "Yeah right, even you don't believe that"
Eager to speak no further about whatever it was she and Donny had, she decided to bring an end to the call generally, "Phi, we'll talk later. I have to prepare for work, and you too. Can't believe I have to go back to that place, if not for this rent..."
"I know, I know, you would've been a gypsy" Phi finished.
Kachi laughed, "I wasn't going to say that Phi, later abeg" she said and immediately disconnected the phone to avoid any more attempts to continue the conversation
She was thankfully through in twenty minutes, a quick look at her wrist watch as she slipped it on revealed that she had about ten minutes until Donny came by to pick her up. They had a working agreement, that had him take her to work thrice a week, and social events on the weekends. He ran his father's supermarket and a carwash, it afforded him some time to himself, especially as he had a few employees to look after the place in his absence. It was one of those things she had always wished she had, but no, little Kachi would rather be someone's employee just to show her big brothers that she could do fine by herself, God! she really needed to think through some of the decisions she took before jumping right into them blindfolded.
As she walked out of her apartment, she spotted Donny's car on the driveway, and her best friend waving to her, his million dollar smile on display and coal dark, wavy hair with more hair products in them than she could say for hers, he was a sight alright. She had always wondered why he didn't have any girlfriends after Matilda, a girl he had dated for a few months in their freshman year in college, he definitely wasn't short of admirers. Her thoughts briefly touched on Phi's comment, could there be some truth in it? As she exchanged greetings and a customary hug with Donny and she took her place in the passengers' seat of his car, she dismissed the thought; Donny had no ulterior motives towards her, they were just really cool with each other.
*****
Jeremy stared absent-mindedly at his computer screen. He was supposed to be going through the end-of-the year financial records of the company, but his thoughts were far from that, he was committing a crime he absolutely loathed- cheating on the job.
All because of her.
He licked his lips unconsciously as he thought of that mind-blowing kiss they had shared for what had to be the thousandth time since it occurred. He shook his head to clear it of thoughts of his little vixen, but that had no effect whatsoever, bringing him to question how possible it was for one's thoughts to be held hostage so by a mere woman, a small one at that, was that normal or was he coming down with some illness?
Kachi.
Jeez! Even her name awoke his sleeping cock...that hadn't felt warmth in a while, but still, his lack of some action couldn't possibly be the reason of his infatuation with the woman.
He picked up the slip he had printed out that contained her full name, basic information like her date of birth, and place of origin, and the position she held in the office. She had only begun working here last month, why he hadn't noticed her...okay, maybe he would've taken a year to notice her if it wasn't for the party, he was more than a little detached with the staff of this establishment, only dealing with those he absolutely had to deal with; he would never have had to deal with the position she currently occupied, except she was promoted, even then, he doubted he would have noticed how good a company she made. He was sure he would have dismissed her as just another pretty face- much prettier than he was used to though.
He looked at the intercom which was just a few inches within his reach, he had refrained from asking that she report to his office for the past 3 hours, postponing the inevitable mostly because he didn't want to seem too eager, but the urge to see her was eating so deeply into him, he felt like in a couple of minutes, his life would depend on her presence.