Chapter 3: SETTLING IN
The next morning I left my hotel room for the office. It was a monday and I was resuming as the new receptionist. I boarded a taxi that took me to MANDY COFE CHAMBERS. It was a prestigious Law firm located in one of the best part of Lagos. It was my first day and I couldn't afford to be late. The lady I now had her job had been promoted to a paralegal. After the necessary handover and detailed explanations, I resumed. It was pretty much an uneventful day. I welcomed and entertained clients in the waiting room, took calls and forwarded them to the required offices,ushered clients to the attorneys they sought,booked appointments among other things. Most of the employees were nice but as expected some of them were evil and believed the help ought to be treated as trash. I was sent on errands by a few loud mouthed legal secretaries which was clearly outside my job description but I didn't mind and I never complained. I went about my job in an orderly and organized way. By the end of the day I had virtually been to all the offices in the building except four. The managing partner's office,which was unoccupied currently, and three of the senior partners' offices,which were occupied but they all had their personal legal secretaries.
Office hours came to an end, I gathered my things and left. I had a few things on my to do list and I couldn't do them alone so I called Mandy to meet me at a Restaurant close to my office. We got there at almost the same time. We embraced each and took our seats. A waitress took our orders. Then as we sat down to wait for our meals
"Sophie I'm glad you called. I was meaning to call the moment I was done cleaning the apartment I had today. I need to talk to you about something "she looked worried and for a minute I was worried too
"What is the matter? Is everything ok with you?"
"Relax,I'm fine. Actually I wanted to talk about you. Ever since you returned you've not said anything to me. Before you left you didn't want to tell me what actually happened, and I didn't mind. I was more concerned with you not killing yourself. Since you came back you've been doing the same thing and I'm not the least happy about it" I could tell she was really not happy but I didn't understand what she was talking about. I gave her a smile
"Mandy slow down. Take a deep breath. Now calmly explain to me what you mean,ok. I promise I'll make clear whatever you don't understand "
"Alright. I'll start from the beginning. When you informed me you'd be coming back,knowing you didn't have a place yet,I offered you stay with me for the meantime while we start by looking for a job for you. You declined my offer. All you said was that you'd be fine. I don't know where you're staying"She paused like a bulb just lighted in her mind
" Waait! Soph are you staying with a man?"Her eyes wide in horror
I laughed until my ribs hurt. She always had a wild imagination
"No Mandy,I'm not staying with a man"She was about to speak again but the waitress brought our orders so she kept quiet. She dropped the food and left. Mandy continued with her voice reduced to a whisper
"Then where are you staying? With who? And what are you even doing here? First it was Sheraton, now Lekki. These are obviously just for the people of influence and affluent and you my friend are not one. At least not yet. So why do we keep meeting in places like this? Do you have a Sugar Daddy? Be honest with me.I promise I won't jugde."
As I opened my mouth to answer her"Mandy I..."
"I knew it. You're dating an Older married man. Why Soph? I know I don't have much but you could have just managed with me? Why would you be involved with another woman's husband just because of money? We're better than this na Soph!"
I took one look at her face and burst into another round of laughter. I love Mandy but her patience level is zero
"Girl you just said you wouldn't judge! Are you done? Can I talk now?"
She looked at me like she wanted to punch me in the face. Then she started eating
"What I wanted to say was that I'm not dating anyone. Neither older nor younger, neither single nor married. I'm currently logded at Sheraton and before you say anything more,I paid for the room myself"
"You paid for what room yourself? Are you delusional or you've suddenly gone crazy? What are you talking about?"
Her eyeballs grew rounder as she went on
"Yes you heard me right. I promise I'll explain everything when the time is right. All I ask is that you be patient. Can you do that for me"She didn't reply but kept looking at me like I had snakes on my head so I continued
"I can't continue staying in a hotel"
"Eh! Don't call Sheraton a hotel o. It's THE hotel. You can't keep staying there? Noo stay and be wasting money. Money you would have given me to put to good use now that my rent wants to expire "she looked close to tears. Kai,my friend was funny.
"Mandy calm down,haba! I want to get my own place here on the island and not renting please,buying.MmMm,before you say anything else,I can afford it. I've spoken to a realtor,we will be going together to see the house since we'll both be living there"
Silence. She kept staring at me like she was in a kind of trance or something. I waved my hand over her face
"Did you hear what I just said?"
She still didn't say anything. My phone rang and it was the realtor. She was at the address. We finished our meal,at least I did,my friend suddenly lost appetite, then we headed to the place. It was close to the restaurant so it took us just 20minutes to get there. The moment I saw the place I fell in love with it. Calm environment, secluded, everyone minding their business. Just what I wanted. We signed the necessary papers, I did the transfer of 105million Naira and she handed over three pairs of the set of keys to me. I turned around and handed over a pair of the set to Amanda who had been standing beside me like a dumb with widened eyes. She took the keys but her actions were like she was being controlled with a remote.
"I'm going to take an Uber back to the hotel to gather the few things I have there,I suggest you do the same. You don't need to take much since the house comes fully furnished. Just your clothes and personal belongings ok?"
This time I got a response. It was just a small nod but I'll take it. "We both have our keys so whoever comes back first should just settle in and wait for the other "
With that we went our separate ways.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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