“Joseph, I am pregnant.”
Those were the words that welcomed me after we had hugged in our usual manner and my hands had lingered on her waist for a little while longer.
I was transfixed to the spot.
I had decided to spend lunch time with her. I carried a parcel in hand, she obviously had been working much and I planned a office romance sort of.
She always lived a stone throwaway. At home, it was two streets away. At work; it was the same. A 20 minutes drive was all it took.
But for the past two weeks, she had been returning late. Working more night than day shifts. I wasn’t CEO yet, maybe I would never know how it felt. Many times her fog lights were the way we greeted when she was returning in the morning.
So you can see the reason why this news was a shock. We hadn’t touched in a couple of weeks now.
I took my seat and I pondered for a bit.
“When did the doctors confirm this?” I asked.
“6 weeks ago.”
“And you couldn’t tell me until now?”
“Because of reasons like this. I knew you would ask questions. And examine it. It is yours, you and I know it.”
“But I deserve a right to know,” I added. “Is that the reason you haven’t dropped by, even at weekends?”
She smiled. She took off her signature jacket to reveal the white body-con fitting gown that amplified her whole feature.
She stood and walked over to the other side of the desk and sat on the desk, so close to me that our legs touched each other.
“Honey, this is not an argument. This is our child we are talking about here, and me. I want to keep him, I don’t know if that is okay with you. I just want to know if you will support me.” Sara surmised with a note of finality.
Argument over. We were not the couple to argue but Sara was perfectly honest with me.
“But Sara…”
“Shhh…” She placed a hand to my lips and dropped a light kiss on mine.
“What do you have there? I am starving.”
I opened the package with her favourite order. She was always a fan of jollof rice and small chops, so I brought her an assorted variety from her favourite restaurant. We had lunch together, and flirted but I wasn’t convinced.
***
I wasn’t. And after spending more than an hour at her office, I didn’t want her to keep it. I had to do something.
I pulled up at Nonye stores in the evening. My double honk alerted the guard who was obviously sleeping on duty.
The gate was open and I just drove in. Straight to the main complex.
I wasn’t ready for pleasantries.
“Is Uzor in?” I asked the smiling receptionist.
“Yes…but he’s busy,” she responded.
“Tell him I’m here,” I proceeded for the secret elevator. “This is not a stairs matter, it is quite serious,” I said to myself.
Uzor was attending to some patients when I pushed open the door. It seemed like a counselling session. He had learnt quite a lot from Dr Mbabara, the doctor that trained us in drugs and apothecaries.
I was Uzor’s valuable intern and the more I look at what he has done with Nonye Stores; the company named after his wife, I smiled at our humble beginnings. And all the intrigues associated with Mine Pharmacy, where we all began.
“What are you smiling at?” Uzor asked as he closed the door behind him, entering the office where I was passing time.
“You remember Mine Pharmacy and Dr Mbabara?” I asked with a smile.
Uzor chuckled and then smiled.
“That is a long time ago, my friend.”
“What brings you here?”
“I need to stop a foetus of 6 weeks old. What do you recommend?”
“Who is the girl?”
“Sara.”
And then the silence came. It engulfed our heads. Uzor was silent, uneasy, he shuffled in his chair, speechless.