Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Miriam lingered on Jonny’s mind as he stared at the wall gecko on the wall of his room. It was almost a habit now. Still he was sure he did not love her. He had not loved a woman before, and he was certainly not the kind of man that made space for such embellished feelings. So Miriam would not be the first. He had met her because he had gone to the Mandarin Hotel to troll. Besides to him there was no such thing as love; it was just a delusion of the mind. It was a figment of the imagination. If he was constantly thinking of Miriam it was only because of what he stood to gain from her. It was about business. It wasn’t about emotions. Emotions are deceiving. Miriam was beautiful and opulent, and he still did not know what he really wanted from her. Maybe, he would have sex with her. But that was not going to be easy. However, Miriam was like every other woman he had met. He had a great experience with women to know that there was always a flicker of emotion in their hearts waiting to be lit. All that was needed was to say the right words and do the right things and everything would fall into pleasant places. A woman would always be a woman; it was their nature and innocence.

The clipper was humming when Jonny took it from the table. He was trimming his beards. The plan of how to warm his way into Miriam’s heart was still in the works. And as he shaved, he remembered the card Miriam gave him at the lobby. How silly of him to have forgotten it. He rushed inside the inner room and fumbled his pockets. It was still there, crumpled and stashed in a corner. He grinned. Miriam was in her office when her phone rang. She stretched her hand and took the phone from the table. Jonny was calling.

‘Hello, sunshine. It’s Jonny on the line,’ he said, grinning.

‘Jonny, how are you?’ Miriam asked him.

‘I am all right,’ Jonny replied. ‘I called to know if anything has come up for me.’ Miriam looked at her wristwatch. ‘I shall be at the Mandarin Hotel by 2:30 p.m. can we meet then?’ she asked him.

‘Of course, I’ll be there.’

At 2:30 p.m. Miriam left her office and went to meet with Jonny. When she entered the lobby, Jonny was already drinking a bottle of beer and shooing away the flies on the rim of his glass. He was smoking. The white smoke was puffing from his mouth, forming a light, silver ring in the air. Miriam stared at him with a grimace. She hates smokers. Jonny, with all his handsomeness seemed too decent to be a smoker. He was sitting on the same table they sat the day they met, with the whiff of the cigarette wafting in the air. Jonny snuffed out the wan gleam of the cigarette, the white ash sprawling on the crisp tablecloth. He placed the stub in the ashtray and smiled at Miriam.

‘I hope you’ve not waited for too long?’ Miriam asked him. Jonny shrugged.

‘You’re the one with the knife and yam. I really don’t mind waiting for you,’ he said, gesturing Miriam to a chair.

‘You sound like a salesman,’ Miriam replied, as she settled on the chair. Jonny was tall, dandy and handsome; he was just the same as the day they met.

‘I almost sent you a text last night. But I thought it would be intrusive,’ he lied, as his eyes darted over Miriam’s body. He loved the color of her glowing skin and hazel eyes.

‘It’s good you saw it that way,’ Miriam said, ‘I am a married woman. You should always remember that.’ Jonny stared at her intently, and he could feel the part of Miriam’s heart that was gutted at not receiving the text. Instinctively, he could see beneath Miriam’s serious exterior that her heart was not as firm as her words.

‘I understand completely,’ he said, rubbing his hands together. ‘I’ll try and stay calm.’

‘That would be fine. We barely know each other. It’s important we maintain the distance. So please don’t flirt with me.’ Jonny smiled at Miriam’s brusqueness.

A smart-looking waitress arrived and placed a glass of orange squash on the table. Jonny thanked her and gave her a crisp naira note.

‘That’s your favorite drink, isn’t it?’ he asked her. Miriam stared at him intently, and nodded her head slowly.

‘I easily get tipsy when I take alcohol. So I take the natural and healthful drinks instead,’ she replied, looking at the glass as droplets of water trickled from it.

‘So you’re a teetotaler then?’ Jonny asked her. ‘It’s a good choice, but I sometimes wonder how interesting the life of a teetotaler is. I ordered it for you.’ Miriam thanked him and raised the glass to her mouth. She sipped a handful of the chilled orange squash, her lipstick smearing the glass and forming the shape of an O on the glass. Jonny watched her as she drank and wondered why women, like men, did not have Adam’s apple.

‘How did you come to love the orange squash so much?’ he asked her.

‘Actually, it’s an acquired taste. I didn’t always love it. My older daughter taught me how,’ Miriam replied. ‘There’s an opening in my office. I sacked an assistant last week. He was lazy and uninventive. You appear a lot smarter to me, so you can have the job.’ Miriam placed the glass on the table and stared at Jonny.

‘You’re offering me the job?’ Jonny asked her. ‘I want to believe that working for you’ll be exciting, and that the pay will be handsome.’ Miriam smiled and shook her head.

‘You’ve to accept the job first. Then will you know if the pay is handsome or not.’ Jonny sat pensively and silent for awhile. He would take the job not because he really wanted it, but because it would allow him the chance to stay close to Miriam. The job was only a pretext that would allow him to work his plans to perfection. Miriam watched him suspiciously.

‘I’m taking the job,’ Jonny said finally. ‘I think it would be great working with such a gorgeous woman as you.’

‘In that case, you can start as soon as possible,’ Miriam said. ‘One more thing, please don’t thank me. I am not paying you for nothing. You’ll be working very hard for me. I am very demanding.’ Jonny smiled and waved his hand at Miriam.

‘Thank you for telling me that I would be slaving for you,’ he said, as he watched Miriam smile. ‘We should celebrate this.’ Jonny rose from the chair and beckoned at a waitress.

‘Please bring a chicken and another glass of orange squash. The bill is on me.’ Miriam looked at him and continued to smile. Jonny was peeking at Miriam’s breasts that pushed out in her undersized bra as they talked. The chicken they ate was crisp, and crusted with a red-like sauce. It tasted really scrumptious and Miriam loved it. She dug her teeth in it and chewed slowly. Night was coming fast, but Miriam was having a nice time with Jonny. Still she knew she was not the kind of woman that was accustomed to staying out late. She rose from the chair and began to gather her effects on the table.

‘Don’t they say that time flies when you’re happy?’ she said as she took the key on the table.

‘Please stay a little longer. I don’t think it’s late,’ Jonny said with a grimace.

‘Not a minute more will I spend here.’ Miriam stood up and began to make towards the door. Jonny rose reluctantly from the chair and followed her, escorting her to her car. When Miriam reached home, she thought about the meeting with Jonny and it was a really nice time she had with him. But she was glad she did not let him see any sign of affection on her part. Jonny would be working for her henceforth, and it was important she maintained that bossy and officious air that was peculiar to employers. When she lay on the bed and remembered the twinkle in Jonny’s eyes and the ring of his laughter; she closed her eyes and began to smile.