Never Matter is the true love story of a thirty-five-year-old lady who found love in the least expected place …. with her boss. Doubts, distance and difference in social and family status set in, but love they say always prevails.
Let me officially welcome you to a new inspiring weekly penvoice blog series of ‘Never Matter’ which is a partnership content with Life of a Woman Naija TV.
Welcome!
Blog Series: Never Matter – EP 7
“The whole office is buzzing with the news of the hottest of all hotties in the building.” Hauwa stated immediately she busted into her friend’s office for the fifth time that day.
“What are you talking about?” Betty inquired.
“So you don’t know that the CEO is around?”
If Betty’s heart skipped a beat, she definitely tried so hard to not show it. “I have been extremely busy with this report I’m working on.”
“Well, he is. And everybody has been talking about his cuteness. In Fact, my boss, the marketing manager, Ms Ekong, who has never worn makeup before because of the church she attends, decided to rub lip gloss today….Imagine.” Both friends started laughing. “Grandma too wants to show that she’s still in the market.”
Betty laughed some more. “Hauwa please leave my office. Don’t you have some important things to do?”
Hauwa ignored her questions, “I’ve told Keira the receptionist to call me when he’s going so I can also catch a glimpse of him.”
“I seriously don’t know what to say about you. Is that…..”, she was interrupted with the sound of her intercom. “hello”, she said nonchalantly as she picked the receiver. When she heard the voice, she didn’t need anyone else to explain to her who it was. If her heart had skipped a bit earlier and she had been able to hide it, this time, it had jumped a hurdle. “He wants to see me in his office”. Betty told Hauwa immediately she dropped the phone.
Hauwa rushed towards her friend and started dressing her hair. Betty stepped back to avoid it. “Move back all you want. But just ensure you don’t disappoint me.”
Betty climbed the stairs to the floor that had Demilade’s office. She didn’t know why her knees suddenly began to shake. She thought she had agreed to let her body and brain be in control of situations. Why then was she shaky and her heart couldn’t stop pounding? If she was going to recite the speech she had written and kept in the corner of her mind, she needed her composure. She stopped in front of the massive door that was the entrance to Demilade’s office. She breathed in and out in order to gain her confidence. When she knew she was ready, she gently tapped the and almost immediately, she heard a “come in” before entering.
Blog Series: Never Matter – EP 7
Why did he ask her to come to his office? What was he going to discuss with her again? She was the head of the customer care department and obviously, he was going to see her as he had with other department managers. At least, that was business and he wasn’t going to let anything stand between that. Maybe,,,,just maybe after that, he might just ask her if she could have dinner with him.
Betty walked into his office. She was still in the dress she had worn the previous day. This time, she had no makeup on. My oh my, did she look more radiant to him more than before? Yes. He thought. He started clearing his table of several documents in order to create space for her own files. She sat down across Demilade’s table and in no time, she went straight to business without giving any clue that she still remembered what happened the previous night.
Demilade was really and truly impressed after Betty had shared several ideas and plans to move her department further. He had also gone through a series of documents showing huge success of her achievement and the techniques she was going to use in managing their newly signed partners. With all that she had said, he now understood why his COO, James had insisted she should be put on the project. The woman was brilliant. That alone was like a cord pulling him towards her the more.
“This is impressive. When did you have time to draft this out? Since we just signed our contract yesterday.” He asked.
“I worked on it most of last night and this morning sir.” She responded as she started arranging her documents to return them into the folder.
“Please ensure you share this plan with me via mail so I can monitor from Port Harcourt.” He said. There was a moment of silence as his employee got up to leave, “Betty, about last night, I ……”, he started before he was interrupted.
“Please can I say something about it sir?” she didn’t wait for a response before she continued. “You are a very good looking and also a very powerful man. I work for you. And I love what I do here in GlodiTech. Please sir, can we strictly keep our relationship professional. So I can keep doing my job. I will truly appreciate this sir.”
Demilade Martin wasn’t expecting that in any way. All he wanted to do was apologize for kissing her like that and asked if he could have proper dinner with her that night. Take whatever was happening between them slowly. Was he disappointed to hear her say this? Obviously yes. But did he want to push her and see if she could change her mind? No. She was right. He was the boss and he should have known better. Now that she had been the smarter person to want to do what was right, he would follow suit. “I’m sorry I did what I did. And you are absolutely correct.” He said.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for sir. I participated in it as much as you did. So when will you be leaving for Port Harcourt?” She asked abruptly in a way to change the subject.
“I wish I could now. But there’s this…this thing I have to do tomorrow. Then I can leave on Sunday.”
“Alright sir. Have a safe trip back when you do. And thank you for being …great.” She said and she immediately walked out of the office without waiting for a response.
Demilade sat behind his desk staring into thin air. If he said he wasn’t feeling a little pang of hurt, he was definitely lying. He didn’t even know what he was feeling. Was it an attraction? Infatuation? Or what? It was normal to feel attracted to the opposite sex that caught one’s fancy. But this one was more than mere attraction. He had been attracted to several women in the past. But this…this was more. It felt like a serious magnetic pull that wouldn’t let him be.
Blog Series: Never Matter – EP 7
But now, he had to take over. Be in control so that this particular force wouldn’t break him. He picked his backpack and headed out of the office. It was time he went searching for that native outfit for his mum’s party. And maybe….just maybe he might go clubbing tonight. It was Friday night and anything to make him in control of his mind again was definitely welcomed.
Ironing had never been Betty’s best chore. Not even when she had to iron a Nigerian native outfit with lots of detail. Attending Owambe events wasn’t one of her strong suit either. But one thing she knew was that Hauwa was going to literally kill her if she refused to attend as her friend’s plus one and wing-man. She knew she wasn’t one of Hauwa’s best person at the moment. Not with the feedback she gave her of what she told their CEO. Her friend was furious but yet had to accept what Betty wanted.
Now she had to pay dearly for it by ensuring she attended a wedding party of some socialites that Hauwa had been bullied to attend as well by her late father’s best friend. Just incase she could meet a prospective Mr Right. Betty thought she would turn it down at the last minute by claiming she was down with some flu but ensuring her friend was cool with her again was paramount.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t want to live life and enjoy having a good time with her boss just the way Hauwa termed it but she needed to protect her job. One question kept crippling up her mind though. Was it only her job she cared about? Demilade was good looking, smart, powerful and above all, wealthy. Definitely a prayer point of many women. Getting closer to such a man could be dangerous……for her heart. She wasn’t going to end up falling in love with someone that she obviously had no chance with. She had no influential family name to her credit. The truth was, she had so much to lose if she supposedly no good thing came out of their ‘kiss’. Her dignity. Her job and above all, her heart would take the fall.
The exquisite and luxuriously decorated event hall in Chester Royal, One of the most elegant hotels in the city of Lagos was to accommodate over a thousand people of affluence and importance from all walks of life. Mrs Ajoke Martin definitely didn’t spare any expenses putting together her outfit. She portrayed a look some people would tag ‘dripping in gold’. As she already knew, she found her name on the table number four which also had a former president of the nation whom she had wanted to connect her son to for a while.
Speaking of her son, had he arrived yet? She wondered.
She knew he would be sitting on the table number 15. Then he couldn’t call because of the noise from the live band playing a popular Sunny Ade tune. All she wanted to know when he arrived so she could introduce him to people she needed him to meet. And most importantly, bond with Chantelle whom she had already sited.
Never Matter – EP 7
Joining her son with this socialite beauty should better work as it would mean killing two birds with one stone. Giving his son a bride and joining two strong families together to make it even stronger. She planned.
Demilade always had mixed feelings about Owambe parties. The fact that he could meet several influential people and make business connections. The part he didn’t like was the chat itself that he would have with different people at different times which might end up giving him a headache at the end of the day. But this day, he had prepared himself for this. It wasn’t as if he did that everyday. Some things mothers have the power to arm twist their children over.
He received his mother’s text earlier asking to find her on table number four when he arrived. He would. Later when he was done with honorable Kashi before he would take his own seat. That was one thing he wasn’t looking forward to because he had seen Chantelle sitting on the same table. He just hoped his mother would understand that going on a date with Chantelle wasn’t a road he was willing to venture into anymore.
Demilade and Honorable Kashi walked outside of the hall to enable them hear themselves as the young CEO filled him in on the big opportunity in his company partnering with GlodiTech on virtualization and cloud infrastructure. At some point he noticed the honorable whose attention he held had been diverted.
He turned back around towards where the other man’s gaze shifted. And he saw her. She was talking to another lady. She looked like nothing he had ever seen before. Her gold lace was a long dress that had a detailed trail. Her accessories were not too much but at the same time not very simple.
Blog Series: Never Matter – EP 7
The detailed plots in her gele were exquisitely wonderful. If he thought he liked her so much without makeup, he realized her well made up face was too wonderful. Her steps towards where they were standing looked as if it was carried in slow motion. He had to swallow several saliva that gushed into his mouth from nowhere. A lot of women drip in expensive attires and accessories to achieve their elegant looks. But this….this woman did little, yet achieved an extraordinary look.
He noticed that she had seen him too, with a smile on her face, Betty and her friend walked towards him.
Hauwa and Betty arrived at Chester Royal at around 4:34pm. Going to parties wasn’t what she really liked but arriving late was not what she fancied either. Thanks to Hauwa, she didn’t show up to pick her up till 2pm and they had to stop along the way to do both their makeup at a studio.
When Betty had harassed her friend for coming late, her excuse was that she had to look extra good cause she didn’t know who she might meet. At least, that was the reason her father’s friend told her she had to attend. The good thing was that there would still be an after party way into the night as it was stated in the IV that Hauwa showed her.
They could recognize different notable faces from those in past and present positions of power, industrialists to many socialites. Both friends also noticed that few admiring glances came their way here and there. “You better wake up and find who you fit to capture here o. And don’t give me any ‘I-need-a-special-man’ speech”, Hauwa stated as she adjusted her bogus neck jewelry. “God know say today na die because my husband might be amongst these notable people and I shall find him.”
Never Matter – EP 7
“Hauwa!!!!” Betty exclaimed gently.
“Yes now. You think I slow like you? Letting go of a gold mine. I won’t forgive you for that.” She said
“Nah you sabi o. I just want to do what’s good for me. Just focus on searching for your Mr Right amongst these people,” she said as her eyes Swift through lots of people socializing in front of the major entrance into the event area. Then in their midst, she thought she sighted him. Had she started hallucinating? Then she looked very closely. It was him. She confirmed. He had seen her even before she did him. He was standing in front of a plump, dark in complexioned man with a big tummy wearing an Agbada. “He’s here Hauwa.” She whispered to her friend.
“Who?”
“Our boss. Mr Martin. Look at him ahead standing beside that fat man in wine over there.” She described.
Hauwa smiled a little before saying, “God works in mysterious ways.” They started walking towards their boss.
