Amaka (Part 5)

I call this painting "Amaka".

On a second thought, is it even fair that a man remarries almost immediately he looses his wife and the Igbo tradition justifies him by saying "he is a man", what does that even mean? I asked. "Nnem biko", you have tried to have kept yourself all these years with your level of beauty and class. Doesn't this tradition know that a woman becomes an easy prey to other men as soon as her husband is gone? I asked. Nnenna, if I tell you how many men ask me out almost on a daily bases you will know that this life is not easy, said Amaka. Even my late husband's relatives, "rapu okwu" Nnenna, said Amaka.

Please catch some sleep and let's pray Shola is single and available otherwise another one will come, I said.

The next morning I helped Amaka pick out a dress for the meeting with Shola while I embarked on the assignment of sniffing out every little detail about Shola with the help of a reliable spy.

Martha had booked room "Compass" for their meeting at 10:00am. At Pherms, all the meeting rooms had unique names reflecting what their business was about. Room "Compass" could sit at most 8 persons, it had a projector and a rectangular table with chairs, an external speaker and mic for participants joining over the internet. The room is also decorated with some beautiful paintings on the wall and life flowers.

Shola, a fine gentleman in a nice suite, stepped into the reception. He greeted with a charming smile. He was very friendly and polite. He had an American accent.

Martha led him to the meeting room. Amaka and Andrew stood up as they gave Shola a handshake and Amaka offered him a seat.

The quick squeeze of a handshake felt special to Amaka. Amaka usually gave a firm handshake indicating that she was in charge but with Shola she could hardly squeeze his palm. His palm was soft, Amaka didn't want to let go but she did as Shola let her hands go. Amaka quickly noticed that Shola had no ring on, this kept her infatuation more active.

They discussed the World-class Ultramodern shopping mall that Shola intends to build. Andrew and Amaka were leaders in their unique areas with many more Architects and Engineers working under them. Andrew was a trained Architect with a good project management skill. Shola wanted every detail of the plan ready in one month. This is too short notice, Amaka managed to say finally making an eye contact with Shola. As Shola got talking, Amaka's attention was moved to Shola's pointed nose, thin lips and brown eyes. By the time Shola finished Amaka did not hear a thing of what Shola said. But Andrew helped keep the discussion moving. Shola got the land accidently at a good price as the original owner was in debt and needed money fast. So Shola must start building by the second month as stated in the initial agreement of the property else he may loose the property. Pherms could manage short deadlines but you would pay good money for it.

Andrew noticed that Amaka could hardly talk during the meeting so he filled in for her, driving the meeting. After lunch they had agreed to review the initial sketch Andrew put up and develop it further with Shola's input. Martha had booked a table for them at Maples, a new Intercontinental restaurant, a few blocks away from Pherms.

Amaka was glad that the first part of the meeting was over as she needed a break to get her brain together. She rushed to the bathroom, gave herself some soft slaps on the cheek reminding herself that she was still Amaka the CEO of Pherms. She freshened up, applied a little lipstick, fixed her eye brow a bit more and applied a dash of cologne.

Andrew sensed that something was wrong with Amaka but he was not sure what. As they rode in Amaka's car to Maples, Shola sat in the front with Amaka and she suddenly got the feeling that Nduka, her late husband, was on the spot where Shola sat, it was a strange feeling but she knocked it off as they talked about the state of Nigeria under the present administration. Shola and Amaka were on the same side insisting that re-structuring was the way forward for Nigeria. Andrew argued that poorer states would be marginalized if re-structuring was implemented. As the discussion heated up, they soon arrived at Maples. They continued talking as they walked in.

Shola grabbed a seat opposite Amaka. Oh no, Amaka said to herself, now she has to eat facing her crush? This would not be easy, but there was something about Shola that made Amaka relaxed on this first official lunch. It felt like they had known each other for a long time and it was easy to talk, thanks to the political discussion in the car that helped loosen Amaka up.

They rushed back to Pherms to continue with their meeting since Shola would be billed for every hour of their time including his lunch.

To be Continued...........