Baskadia

I was seated in one of the chairs in the office when a knock sounded. The once noisy office room was suddenly as quiet as a graveyard, one could literally hear a pin drop and the sound of beating hearts. The green Chinese door opened and our director's personal assistant stepped in. He had a weird look on his face as he scanned the room for a while before his eyes landed on me, and he smirked.

“Is anything the problem, Sir?” I asked.

“Do I look like someone who has a problem? The director wants to see you in his office now”. He said and smirked again. I stood up from the chair and picked up my phone from the desk. My colleagues stared at me with so much pity, I felt sick to my stomach. “Chill guys, he’s not going to kill me or anything” I told them. I wasn’t exactly bothered about being summoned by my director for the third time this week because I knew I did nothing wrong. My only concern, however, was the fact that today my hair was pulled flat against my skull, leaving my ears devoid of any sort of protection from my director’s yelling. The director could out-shout the best street vendors in Lagos. One would think that for someone who gets into so much trouble with him, I’ll always be prepared, but I’m never prepared. “I’d hurry if I were you because shit is about to go down” the personal assistant said and laughed wryly Everyone in the company knew he was a jerk who’s always licking ass to get favors from the people above him and I truly wished a day would come when I’ll get to tell him exactly how I feel about him to his face. I felt a bit dizzy as I got closer to my director’s office, we were all scared of him, but he was just a man with one head like the rest of us and I didn't understand why we often quivered at the sight of him. After counting from one to ten to regain composure, I knocked and waited, there was no answer after a few seconds, so I knocked again “knock one more time Marcella and I will make sure those fingers go numb”. I heard the director say. Well, that was my cue I guess, so I entered, grabbed a pillow and sat on the couch beside him. He was seated in his favorite pink couch with one leg casually draped across the other. After what seemed like an eternity he finally tore his eyes away from the newspaper he was reading and looked at me“ I would have asked you to sit Marcella, but I see you already did” he said dryly

“I’m sorry Sir” I said, but made no effort to stand up and wait for his permission to sit. He gave up after a few seconds and narrowed his eyes at me, “I heard you’re strongly of the opinion that I’m not running this company the way I should, I also heard you want to become the director. You think you can do better if you were in my position, right?”. He asked. I didn’t try to defend myself or deny what he said, the director was fond of exaggerating. “ You think I’m making a big mistake by deciding to give those men a tour outside Nigeria, right? I gave simple instructions, instructions you were supposed to obey you’re so disobedient and at this point I don’t think any man would want to have you as a wife” he continued. I wasn’t surprised, and I kept calm, I knew he was going to drag marriage into this discussion, the same way he has dragged it into every other discussion we’ve ever had. “ Take a good look at yourself, you are still single at this age and yet, your energy is mostly directed into affairs that do not concern you” “Sir, all I said was that we should give these men a tour in our country Nigeria” “How about you find your lane and stay in it, woman!” he shouted. “ Listen to me, you will take them to Italy and tell them all about Zeus’s temple, show them that Rocky Mound behind the city and tell them the story behind the ruins of each temple in Delphi. You’ll be professional, I want you to make them curious, excited, happy and hungry for more tours from us” he said. The director was also well known for mixing up places, I guess back in school he was one of those students with gigantic glasses who liked to make people believe they knew everything when they can’t even seem to get their facts right. “ It’s Greece, sir” I said lowly “I can’t hear you, what did you say?” “I said Zeus’s temple is in Greece not Italy and the Rocky Mound you’re referring to is called the acropolis, and it’s located in the heart of modern Athens not behind it” “shut up Marcella!” he yelled I flinched and buried my hands underneath the pillow I had grabbed. I knew he wasn’t going to hit me, but I still haven’t gotten used to the fact that he was more comfortable yelling than talking, but then again if yelling his lungs out will put him in a better mood, hence making him reconsider spending the money we don’t have on a tour outside Nigeria then so be it. The director's expression tightened “you will assist your senior staff, take these men to Ukraine Greece or Italy to see and discover whatever they want and you better make sure they agree to partner-" “ support, sir” I said lowly “ Can you speak up, Marcella? You act like you don’t say much, but when you open that mouth of yours, the words that come out of it can slay an entire army”. “ I said they want to support not partner Sir which is why I think we should give them a tour here they intend to support a tourist center in Nigeria, why then should we take them outside Nigeria? Let’s show them why they should support us we can show them the Obudu mountain resort, it’s above sea level on the ocean Ridge and it’s in Obudu, see? Obudu mountain resort in Obudu” “I know exactly where Obudu mountain resort is, Marcella, why do you keep repeating it? “ he asked “Nothing Sir, I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. We can also take them to the ngwo pine forest, awhum waterfall, Arochukwu long juju slave route and even – “ “ first, we will never be on the same page, if I’m on the first page, you’ll be a dot on the last page and if I was on the last page, you wouldn’t even be in the book at all. I’ve just decided that you won’t even be the tour guide, you’ll be assisting the assistant of the assistant tour guide”. “Why not throw in mopping the Atlantic Ocean and climbing Mount Everest too” I murmured. “You can leave my office now Marcela and I hope your ass doesn’t come anywhere near my couch again this week!” he yelled I walked out of the office as fast as my legs could carry me, I think I would have to bribe the masseuse with ice cream, just so she can massage my ears. We were already in debt and most of us haven’t been paid for months, so I still couldn’t understand why he was so comfortable with the idea of covering an expensive tour outside Nigeria for four men who haven’t even agreed to support us yet. *****