IMADE AND JAMAL

JAMAL.

"So she's an intern?" I ask, failing woefully at masking my surprise.

"Yes dear, but she seems very intelligent and trustworthy so I'll do as you asked and keep her under my wings." My aunt Lydia, assures me and I sigh in relief. At least she was impressed by her.

"Thanks a lot auntie. I owe you one but please do me another favour, take care of her and don't let her get anywhere near Natasha. I don't want her involved in Tasha's jealous fits and I'd also prefer if this stays between us. You know how Tasha gets when she feels threatened." I tell her and she stares back at me with a bored expression on her face.

"I think it's high time you put a name on this weird relationship you have with Natasha. Like I've always pointed out, I don't like her attitude but she has being a part of your life for seven years now, following you everywhere like a housefly and yet you only tag her as just a friend."

"I know for sure that you're sexually involved with her and I know it's none of my business as well but I'm your aunt and I wish the best for you. The relationship you have with that young lady needs a proper name before her obsession with you gets out of hand." She blurts out sternly and I bow my head slightly in embarrassment.

"I'm not looking for anything serious with anybody auntie and as for Natasha, she and I are as you said lovers but it's nothing too serious, at least to me. I genuinely care about her and would do anything for her but I'm not interested in putting a name on anything."

"I like where we are and I already told her where I stand and we're both cool with it. I don't need to tell her I love her before she gets the memo, she already knows she's my irreplaceable gem." I explain to her and she's sighs defeatedly.

"I will never understand that relationship but if it makes you happy, then I have no problem. I'd just advice you to keep that rude girl on a leash. She needs to know her place and stop going around throwing jealous fits and embarrassing herself. Talk to her." She advises and I nod in agreement.

"I'll do as you say ma but please don't forget to help me with Imade and also keep this a secret from her, I don't want her to get the wrong idea." I remind her and she furrows her brows. "You're starting to confuse me o, young man. What's your deal with this young lady? Are you a secret admirer?" She inquires and I roll eyes.

"She's just someone I feel guilty towards and I feel the best way I can make it up to her is to protect her from the shadows. I don't like her and I want nothing to do with her personally." I reply her and she shrugs.

"Whatever you say my boy. Just make sure I see you at work tomorrow or else you'll hear it from me." She warns and I chuckle quietly, engulfing her a quick hug before watching her get in her car and drive

off.

***

The next day...

"Have you had lunch?" I ask Natasha, who simply ignores me and continues to admire her newly polished finger nails.

"Are you for real Tasha? Are you really going to act like this?" I ask boredly, hoping she'd snap out of it but she didn't and that partly infuriated me. She knew how much I hated the silent treatment and for whatever reason, she's doing things I hate to taunt me.

Firstly, she wore a yellow coloured dress, knowing how much I hated that colour and now she's paying zero attention to me and focusing more on her stupid nails.

"Fine, I'm leaving." I say in frustration, hoping to get a reaction from her but I got nothing. Absolutely nothing! Her eyes remained fixed on her nails and she didn't even spare me a glance.

"If you're mad at me, you need to speak up and tell me what I did wrong. You can't keep ignoring me like I'm some talkative parrot!" I yell at her in frustration and bam! That got her attention as expected. Knowing her like I did, I knew one thing she didn't like was getting yelled at. It completely infuriated her.

"Do I have to be mad at you Jamal? Did you do something that you think might annoy me? Do I look angry? Or is your guilty conscience catching up with you?" She retorted and I deadpanned. Is she joking with me?

"I have being in your office for the last hour and you've said absolutely nothing to me. What exactly am I supposed to make of that?" I reply confusedly and she laughs, her laughter irritating me beyond words. "You know what, I think you're a little unwell. How about you take a break today to clear your head and when you're much better upstairs, we'll talk." I say to her angrily and turn to leave.

"Wait Jamal!" She calls out but I ignore her and I leave. She can't take out her anger on me and expect me to just ignore and comply, I'm not her puppet.

"Jamal!" A voice calls out and I turn around expecting to see Tasha but I'm beyond surprised when I see Imade instead walking towards me with an unreadable expression on her face. "You again?" I ask, attempting to sound upset and irritated.

"Sorry for disturbing you Jamal but we need to talk and I know you supposedly don't know me and you have no reason to actually talk to me but I promise I'll make it quick." She says confidently and I'm stunned and at lost for words.

"Jamal?" Another voice calls out my name again and this time, the voice belongs to Natasha and the stone cold expression on her face screams deadly jealousy.

"Who are you?" Tasha asks as soon as she stood face to face with Imade who was noticeably shorter than Tasha.

My eyes scan back and forth both women thinking of how best I could handle the situation without Imade getting hurt in anyway. I knew how Tasha got whenever her insecurities got the best of her and if I don't interfere quickly, she might lose it.

"Good afternoon Miss. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting but I need to speak with Mr Jamal for a few minutes." Imade replies her, still sounding as confident as she did earlier.

"And what business do you have with him?" Tasha asks and that was my cue to chime in.

"She's a friend Tasha. I'll let her say what she has to say and you and I can talk later." I tell her calmly and hurriedly try to drag Imade away.

"No, I won't allow that Jamal. She's nothing but a mere employee and she needs to know her place. I don't care if she's a friend or whatever but whatever she has to say, she can say it outside the company but as long as she's in here, she's obligated to focus on work and work only. So as your boss and your employer, I'm demanding that you get back to work." She persists and I mentally roll my eyes at her flimsy

excuse.

Can she be any less annoying? I wonder to myself, thinking of a way to get out of here without drawing unwanted attention.

"I'm on my lunch break miss, so I have the right to talk to an old friend. I promise I won't take up much of his time." Imade tells her straight and I struggle to hold back a laugh when Tasha's brows twitched in a funny looking way.

"So Jamal, do you want to go with her?" Tasha asks, turning back to me and I shrug nonchalantly.

"Yeah sure. I'd like to hear what she has to say." I reply and she sighs calmly before turning back to an expressionless Imade.

"Okay fine, but please make it quick cause he and I have some unfinished business. By the way, I'm Natasha Opara, his assistant CEO." She says directly to Imade and I was certain, that introduction was more like a warning in advance. It wasn't exactly a new tactic from her.

"I'm Imade Adeleye, and I'm new here. Hopefully, you can guide me through how things work." Imade replies with a small smile and I unconsciously smile a little at how relaxed she looked. She was still as cool headed as I remembered. My forever patient and relaxed Imade.

"I would normally say, it's nice to meet you but there's nothing nice about this meeting. So if you'll excuse me, I'll see around. See you later babe." Tasha replied, planting a quick kiss on my lips before strutting away elegantly.

For the first time ever, I wished she hadn't kissed me so openly, especially not in front of Imade who still wore an unreadable expression on her face.

"Did going abroad turn you into a coward? Or did I just never notice you were one?" She asks, and I'm immediately taken aback by her tone.

"Let's talk somewhere more private Imade. Follow me." I reply her through gritted teeth and I'm partly relieved when she obediently follows behind me.

I walk her to the elevator and we head to my office, which was located on the last floor. The minute I step into my office, I offer her a seat and she quietly agrees and sits opposite me on the sofa. "What is it you want to say?" I ask her, trying to contain my anger from the previous remark she'd made earlier.

"I know you don't owe me any explanations Jamal and I'm not expecting anything from you but I need to find peace with this situation and to get that peace, I need to understand why in the world you'd deny knowing me. I even thought you had amnesia or something but it turned you were denying me on purpose. Why?" She asks and I'm only partly surprised that she figured out I lied. Although I knew she'd eventually find out, I didn't want it to happen so soon.

"If you are expecting an apology from me, then you're wasting your time Imade. I have nothing to be sorry about. I didn't acknowledge you because I didn't want to and I'm not apologetic about it." I tell her straight and she lets out a bitter laugh.

"I don't need you to apologise to me because you don't owe me anything. I just wanted to see for myself, how the new you works and now I get it. You don't want me in your life and I completely understand tha but for the sake of our old friendship, I didn't deserve to be denied and I just came here to end things on a proper note."

"Thank you very much for making me worry about you for ten good years of my life. Thank you for denying me without any form of remorse and lastly, thank you for finally showing me how much you don't worth a second of my time. That is all I wanted to say, excuse me please." She says calmly with a curt nod before getting up to leave.

"How did you find out? I ask the first question that popped in my head and she halts her steps temporarily.

"That is, absolutely none of your business." She replies me and walks out of the office, leaving me to process everything that just went down in a matter of minutes.

"What the hell just happened?" I wonder out loud, still trying to figure out how she found out I recognised her. I would have suspected my aunt but she was on her way to a business trip earlier and I doubt she would have had the time to chit chat with a mere employee. Well, I should be thankful to whoever it was cause I finally felt free and less guilty towards her.

A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can only hope our paths never have to cross again.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐