As the speaker walked away from the podium after the seminar, Joshua felt it was a good time to return some of the calls that had come in earlier for him. He made eye contact with his friend, Tise, who was Ignite’s president, and indicated that he would be back shortly. Tise nodded and gave him a thumbs-up before he beginning the introductions for the next speaker.
He scanned the room quickly again but still did not see the lady who had bumped into him earlier on. For some reason, he not been able to get her out of his mind since their encounter. A smile curved his lips as he remembered the way she had scowled at him. She reminded him of a riled kitten—a very cute one.
He glanced at his wristwatch as he made his way out from the entrance by the section the organisers were sitting. He walked along the cobbled stone path that led to the back of the building. He was glad the sun had relented from the ferocity with which it had started the day. The weather, from the forecast, was going to be mild over the next few days, too, and he was looking forward to the beach activities planned for the next day.
“Thanks for returning my call, Joshua,” Sandra, his secretary picked on the first dial. “I’ve sent you an email already but I may as well run you through it now.”
She told him that there was a slight change to his schedule because the potential business partner he was meeting with in London in a few days had had to take a detour through New York and would be a day late for the meeting.
“His daughter is at Wharton and he said she had to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency apendixectomy this morning. She’s fine from what he said but he wants to check on her before heading to London.”
“I can understand that.” Joshua replied. Family was important to him and he’d have done the same if the situation was reversed. “Please extend my best wishes for her speedy recovery. Is Pete aware of the change to my plans?” He knew the head of security would need to alter the plans he had made for his trip too.
“Yes. I’ve informed him and he called back ten minutes ago to say the necessary adjustments have been made. The pilot and crew are on standby, too.” Sandra replied. “The CEO of Metcomm called earlier today too. He would like to schedule a meeting with you at your earliest convenience.”
“I’m taking over Aleena’s portfolio when I return from England and dealing directly with him is not going to be possible anymore. I’m going to have to assign Charles to him.” He said, referring to the director of operations at KH. The CEO was simply riding on the privilege of being an old school mate to demand audience with him. Normally, he didn’t conduct business directly with companies of Metcomm’s size and now that his schedule had become tighter, he had no choice but to delegate. “I’ll speak with him at some point, but please go ahead and schedule a meeting with him and Charles.”
Charles was more than capable of handling the project. KH only employed the best and by the time an employee attained director status, then they were very equipped to handle whole companies on their own.
“Okay, Joshua.”
Sandra ran him through a few more things before they ended the call.
Next, he called his sister. Aleena’d had a near fainting experience in the office a days earlier. His sister was a certified workaholic and the doctor had initially thought it was a case of exhaustion until tests had revealed she was expecting her second child.
“Hey sis, are you home?” He asked when she connected the call.
“Like you don’t already know Jayden has put me under house arrest!” Aleena wailed. “Can you guys please tell my husband that I’m made of much stronger stuff that cotton wool!”
“Hmmm, I think it’s best not to,” he deliberately made his voice very solemn. “Because when his wife goes fainting in the office….”
“I didn’t faint! I just felt mildly dizzy!”
He curbed the desire to laugh; that was just going to wind her up some more. “I’m no expert on this subject, Alee, but as mum always says, we’ve got to follow the doctor’s orders.”
“The doctor said I should rest up for a few days but Jayden has taken it to a whole new level.” Aleena sounded morose. “And I’ve got so much to do, too. Ka-Tell is about to launch that app, and I can’t afford any of this laying about.”
“It’s all for a good cause, sis.” His voice gentled. Even he couldn’t imagine his sister not being at work for three months which was what her husband was pushing for. “Your health and that of the baby comes first at this period. Jayden is only trying to safeguard that. By the way, I’m sure dad’s told you I’ll be handling your portfolio for now?”
“Yeah, but you need to promise to keep me abreast of what’s going on.”
And I’ve promised your hubby I’ll keep business talk from you as much as possible. “I’ll definitely let you know what’s necessary, and I promise to seek your advise if I need to.”
“Yeah, right.” He could hear the sarcasm in her voice and knew she had read between the lines. “I know you guys have all ganged up on me. But it’s okay, I may as well enjoy it. Maybe I’ll even sign up as an extra designer in mum’s office.”
He could not help chuckling. His mum owned Matrix Kreations, a fashion house, and she had always bemoaned the fact that neither of her kids were interested in fashion designing.
“By the way, you heard that Kayode had an accident, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I did. From what mum described, it was a miracle he survived.” Kayode was one his mum’s lead designers and they were all relieved that he had walked our of the near fatal accident with just a broken arm and leg.
They discussed the accident for a bit. Matrix was paying Kayode’s hospital bills which the guy was very grateful about. But Kayode not being able to work for a while had thrown a spanner in his mum’s plans. His mum was very particular about who she employed on that level. Another trusted designer of hers was about to go on maternity leave and another one she relied on was getting married. Most of the regular free lancers she used also had one ongoing commitment or the other and were not available.
“Mum is considering rescheduling the fashion show she had planned for November.” Aleena said. “You know how she is, if it’s not perfect, then she’s not going ahead. But sometimes I wish she’d relax her rules. She’s even more stringent than KH in her employment criteria.”
“But I understand, though; she’s got a name to protect. Hopefully, something comes up soon. She’s got some interviews to conduct this week. Maybe she’d find some amazing designers.”
“I hope so too.”
As he tucked his phone in his blazer pocket after the call, he saw his family friend, Oyinkan, walking towards him. The beige jump suit she had teamed with a pair of black wedges suited her perfectly. She had a new hairstyle on, and it framed her beautiful oval face. Oyinkan always looked good, and today was no exception.
Aleena was only fashionable as far as she could get away with it, otherwise, she’d dress in denims all day. It was a standing joke in their family that Oyinkan was more of his mum’s daughter in terms of fashion than Aleena.
“Hey, beautiful.” Joshua pretended to do a double take as she got closer to where he was. “Have I seen you somewhere before?”
She giggled. “You need to sharpen your pick-up lines, Josh. That one has worn old.”
He shot her a mock frown. “Trust me, I’ve still got the moves, girl—watch this.” He put on a lovesick expression. “Hey, girl, I hope you know CPR, because you just took my breath away.”
Oyinkan giggled. “Like seriously! How corny is that?”
“I’m not done yet,” Joshua winked at her. “Sweetie, if you were a vegetable, you’d definitely be a ‘cute-cumber.’ You know what, I really ought to complain to Spotify for you not being named this week’s hottest single.”
Oyinkan’s mouth popped open, but Joshua was not done.
“It says in the Bible to only think about what’s pure and lovely…” Joshua continued. “So I’ve been thinking about you all day and night.”
“Joshua Akeem-Kadiri!”
He pretended to shake his head in wonder. “By the way, I would never play hide and seek with you because someone like you is impossible to find.” He placed a hand on his chest.
He was still churning out one cheesy line after the other when Tise joined them. It was almost time for lunch and he could see some delegates walking out from the seminar room.
“What’s going on here?” Tise asked Oyinkan who was still giggling helplessly.
“Don’t mind Oyinkan, she was testing my ability to pull so I had to show her I’ve still got skills.” He reeled off a couple more pick-up lines and Tise shook his head at him.
“Pathetic. Who would fall for such?”
“They are rather sweet, though.” Oyinkan said. “What was that one about the earthquake again?”
Joshua put a hand to his chest and pretended to stagger. “I can’t tell if that was an earthquake that just happened, or if it’s just you seriously rocking my world.”
“Yep, that’s the one!” Oyinkan giggled. “So, so cheesy, but also so sweet.”
A familiar figure caught his attention and as he turned to get a clearer look, he saw that it was the lady who had bumped into him in the corridor. She was talking animatedly with another lady and there was no evidence of the scowl she had directed his way earlier on. A couple of minutes later, she turned towards the direction where he was. As their eyes collided, he felt his heart rate gallop and for a moment, he struggled to regroup.
“I’ve pencilled you down to lead the surfing instructors tomorrow, Josh.” Tise’s voice brought him back to the present. “You’ll still be around, won’t you?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” He tried unsuccessfully to stop his eyes from following the lady as she continued walking towards the direction of the restaurant.
Was that what an emotional earthquake felt like or did he just imagine all of that?
His still rather fast heart rate convinced him he hadn’t imagined it. Had she also felt the electric-like bolts that had shot through him? Her posture had given nothing away.
This can’t just be only me.
He knew she had deliberately not taken the hint to to introduce herself but he was going to get it. She intrigued him like no one had ever done before and he was going to make sure they met again. He felt his heart rate hiking up again with excitement at the thought of spending time with the girl.
Yep, we’re definitely going to meet again.
He focused back on his conversation with Oyinkan and Tise as he saw the lady and her friend disappear through the automatic doors that led to the restaurant.
