The Lady From the 7th Floor

Last updated on April 1st, 2024 at 03:11 pm

Bukola:

Just as the elevator was about to close, I started running. I made it in time, nodded at the person inside, and pressed 7. While I waited for my floor, I adjusted my dress. I was tired of working. Whoever came up with the idea of five days of work and two days of rest, which weren’t even used for the actual rest, deserved serious beating. Violence wasn’t the answer—but I had a pounding headache this morning and I really wished I could stay home to rest. Mission impossible. 

I stepped out of the elevator car and cut right, straight to my department. If I had looked forward, I’d have had to greet my colleagues who were already settling down for the day. I dropped in my chair and sighed wondering just how long I could do this without breaking down completely.

“Bukola, good morning.” My colleague came in. I raised my head and smiled.

“Good morning, Linda.”

The struggle continues.

Daniel:

Work wasn’t my thing but making money was my absolute thing, so, though I felt like crap almost every day I went to work, you could never tell. I was trying to float my business as a creative designer but I wasn’t delusional enough to quit my job to face my passion. Kudos to those who had the courage. 

I looked forward to a rather short time at work daily and it was when the tall slim beautiful lady from the 7th floor joined the lift. I noticed that by 7:40 am without fail, she appeared. I had tried to fix my time to coincide with hers. We never spoke to each other, but we had our style of greeting—she nodded at me and I smiled back at her. It was a mood boost for me. We stayed in comfortable silence until she got off the lift and I resumed the miserable ride to my floor.

I wasn’t sure what exactly the company on the 7th floor did but ours was a Real Estate company. The space was mainly for the support staff and the managers as most of our sales team were almost always on the field. When all the managers came we were about twelve and that was the highest number we had recorded since I joined about a year ago. Our quarterly meetings were a different ball game though; the office was always full with barely any walking space.

Considering that we didn’t take up too much space, we shared the cafeteria with the floor beneath us. That made it two times that I looked forward to daily; the lady from the elevator usually came for lunch, although it wasn’t fixed like our elevator ride.

Bukola:

I sighed and grabbed my bottle from the desk. It was an hour past my usual lunchtime and my stomach grumbled. I could joke with everything but my stomach. I was beyond hangry, I was ‘mungry’—murderously hungry. As a relationship manager in a network company, I was always busy. I had more than ten clients that I managed and there was always one issue or the other. Mondays and Fridays were the worst. Thankfully, my weekends were mine.

I stepped into the eighth floor and headed for the cafeteria. The workers here always appeared to be chilling. I requested my usual order and sat down to eat. I was so hungry that I couldn’t scroll through Instagram as usual. I was almost done when my phone rang. My aunt. I silenced it and took a gulp of water. I avoided my paternal aunt as much as possible; she didn’t understand boundaries or proper timing. I also had an idea of what she was calling for. My phone soon started ringing again. I pushed the empty plate aside and slid the green button.

“Hello, ma.”

“Bukola, good afternoon. How’s work?”

“Fine, ma,” I answered. After some seconds of silence, I looked at my phone’s screen to be sure that she hadn’t ended the call.

“Ma, are you there?” I asked. She finally replied after what seemed like ages.

“I’m here, Bukola. Have you even considered what we discussed?”

“Which of them, ma?” I wasn’t going to make it easy for her.

“If you want to act like you don’t remember, I’ll remind you. When are you bringing home a husband? You are now thirty.” I sighed as quietly as I could so my aunt didn’t hear. I wasn’t going to be thirty until about ten months from now. As usual, she exaggerated everything so she could drive home her point.

“Bukky, did you end the call on me?”

“Ma, no. I’m working on it. It’s not that easy.”

“What’s not easy? I told you that your fancy job was an issue. I was still advising you about the job, and you went and got a car. And your mother was aware!” I itched my right ear and dropped my hand on the table.

“I am working on it, ma.”

“My brother’s health is failing him. Your brothers are too young to give him grandchildren. Yet your mother is discouraging you. Anything that will make him happy, she hates it. I don’t know what my brother did to her.” My parents had been divorced for over twenty years now and had both remarried, yet my aunt found it hard to accept. It wasn’t that I didn’t want a relationship or marriage, but I hadn’t found a man. I also wasn’t going to rush into it because of my jobless aunt.

“Aunty, I’m working on it. Just pray for me.”

“Even if I pray for you, is your mother praying for you? If she could leave my brother’s house for a small reason like cheating, what is she trying to tell you?”

Daniel:

I sighted the lady from the 7th floor in the cafeteria and smiled to myself. She looked agitated though. Then I saw that she was on a call. Must be bad. I liked to have my break about an hour towards the closing time because that way I could resume to my desk and it would be just thirty minutes to the end of the workday. I ordered my usual and sat to eat.

Every now and then, I’d see the lady whose name I should try to get, sighing and trying to reply to the other person on the line. I opened my email and started attending to my recent client.

“Guy, you and this your phone.” My friend’s voice boomed. I was so engrossed in typing a response to the client that I had stopped eating.

“How far?”

“I dey,” he replied as I hit send and picked up my spoon. I locked my phone and dropped it on the table. I didn’t want him to see what I was doing. Call me paranoid but I didn’t believe in making friends at work. Why call someone a friend if they would put their interests over you in a heartbeat? In a workplace, it was just the norm; survival of the fittest.

“That babe there,” he pointed at the lady from the 7th floor. I felt a little tingle as I saw his expression.

“Wetin do am?” I replied, almost possessively. I hoped he didn’t notice.

“She set die. I don dey look am. I want to go in for her.” That’s fast. If you asked me she didn’t look like she would be interested in any conversation right now. She was done with her call, but she looked frustrated. I’m not sure he noticed this. I finished my food and got up hoping he’d leave with me or stay back but not go to her. He followed me. I stopped to get water from the water dispenser at the entrance of the cafeteria.

“What do you think?”

“About what?” I asked.

“The babe now. Should I meet her now or later?”

“It’s your decision, guy. Is she that fine though?” I hadn’t expected those words to leave my mouth. Now that they had been said, I found myself saying more. “I mean she’s okay, but all she does is eat, she comes here all the time to eat. Do you really want that expense?” He was about to reply when the lady came out of the cafeteria. Maybe I was just guilty, but she looked at us a little too long before leaving. I swallowed and toyed with the cup in my hand.

“You have a point, Dan. Let me consider it. I don’t have any plans to go bankrupt.” He was oblivious to the fact that she might have heard us.

Bukola:

I got back to my seat and tried to tidy up things for the day. The call with my aunt had left me depleted. To end the call, I had to act like the network was bad and I couldn’t hear her. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take from her.

***

Daniel:

She definitely heard us. She didn’t nod at me this morning. I shouldn’t be this bothered; sure, it was wrong to talk bad about someone, but I didn’t even mention her name, how could she be sure?

***

Daniel:

It’d been a week after the incident and still no nod from her. Twice, she let the elevator close without even rushing. If I didn’t find a way to talk to her, I’d literally combust.

***

Daniel:

I said hi to her today in the elevator and she didn’t reply. Even worse was that my colleague or work friend, whatever, had told me that he intended to still pursue things with her. Now I was in double trouble, all for what?

***

Daniel:

Our annual party was coming up and plans were going on. It usually involved floors 6 to 10 on the office rooftop. Today was our quarterly meeting and as usual, the office was packed full. We had been discussing numbers and propositions since we began and just took a tea break. I strolled over to where Kelechi, my work friend, and another colleague were talking.

“Dan, her name’s Bukola! This FBI agent here just made the discovery and told me.” I plastered a smile on my face as my stomach turned. I knew that I liked her, but until Kelechi told me about his interest in her, I didn’t know that I had a crush on her. I was not even a competitive person, neither was I seeking a love interest but something told me to sit up so I didn’t regret this.

“Good job, FBI!” I smiled, clapping my colleague on the back then strolling away. At least I now knew her name. First, I had to make amends.

***

Daniel:

The annual party was a big deal. The 7th-floor staff was mostly involved in the console games. Honestly, I knew nothing about console games and I had never been concerned until now. There was a week’s game rehearsal and I was going to leverage the opportunity.

Bukola:

The only good thing about my job was the annual party—I could say that everyone genuinely loved it. I was usually one of the team leads for our console games, but this time I wanted to get in on the action as well.

“Bukola, are you going to be the team lead for team Crystal?” Linda asked.

“Naa, I want to be a team member this time.”

“Hmm, interesting.” Linda nodded.

It was almost closing time and I was packing my bags already when Linda came into the office.

“Bukola, here are the groups. We made Jose your team lead since he’s been assisting for a while. We have another person from the eighth floor which is weird considering that they leave the console games to us.” She stretched a sheet at me and I looked through. Five groups in total, rehearsal began on Monday. I shrugged and continued packing my things.

***

Daniel:

I was fifteen minutes early to the rehearsal, so I sat in the reception. At three, a guy walked towards me. 

“Hi, I’m Jose. Linda, the games organiser said that you’re interested. Daniel, right?”

“Yeah. Thanks, man.”

If only he knew that I was a ‘minus one’ to the group. I followed him as we entered the room close to the reception. I took in the faces and spotted Bukola. Her attention was on the screen so she didn’t see me. Someone called her name and she turned to reply, then saw me. There was no mistake, her countenance shifted. I took my seat on the chair close to the entrance as the games began.

***

Daniel:

It was day three and there was still no progress with Bukola. Others had warmed up to me but her. Obviously, I hadn’t said crap about them. She even refused to laugh at my jokes even though every other person laughed. They all knew I was useless and had admitted that I was only there to make the atmosphere lighter.

“I want to play against Bukola,” I said. Everyone looked at me like I had two heads. She was one of the best players in the room but I had to be direct at this point, if not, I didn’t stand a chance. 

“Let me play, what’s the worst that could happen?” I insisted.

“Exactly…” A few people answered.

“I beat her multiple times.” I continued, to which everyone started laughing.

“Okay okay, Bukola and Daniel!” Jose announced. Others started clapping as we took our seats.

“Hi, Bukola,” I said softly as we settled in. No reply. Fair enough. I wasn’t giving up though.

“I want you to know that I’m deeply sorry.” Nothing still. The game started. I wasn’t even good enough to play this game with zero concentration, but it had never been about the game.

“I just wanted you to know that I joined this team because of you.” There was a little pause and then she continued while I struggled.

“I am sure you heard what I told Kelechi. I don’t know what came over me, I need to explain the situation to you, honestly.”

***

Daniel:

Bukola had refused to talk all through the game. She wasn’t merciful either as she whooped my ass and others laughed at me. Small thing. I rushed my work and tried to clear my table so that I could be on the 7th floor some minutes before the practice. 

“Hi, Bukola.” She nodded at me. My belly fluttered with that little acknowledgment. 

“I’m sorry. Truly and deeply sorry.” We were still the only ones in the game room and I needed to make my move before everyone came.

“Please, let’s hang out. I need to be able to explain what exactly happened to you.” No reply. “Please please, just think about it.”

Bukola:

I definitely heard what he said about me. It was derogatory and unnecessarily mean. We had always met in the elevator and a small part of me looked forward to it, but since I heard what he told his colleague, I couldn’t stand being in the same place as him. Now, he wanted us to hang out and I couldn’t fathom the nerve. He had apologised, good for him, but that didn’t absolve him of his sin. Yes, sin.

Daniel:

I really messed up. I sat in the game room, quiet as I plotted different ways in my mind to get Bukola to hang out with me. Kelechi was going to make his move on her on the day of the annual party; I needed to be smart. It wasn’t a competition but there was something intriguing about Bukola.

It was the fifth and last day of practice, Friday. I still hadn’t gotten anything from her. I went in late and saw that she was sitting alone while others faced the screen.

“Hi, Bukola,” I said, squatting beside her. I knew she hated being the center of attention and it made sense to use that to my advantage. A few people turned to us with questioning looks. I noticed that she saw them and moved even closer to her.

“I’m so sorry,” I said whispering but loud enough to gather looks from the already curious people. This time, Bukola shifted.

“What is it?” She whispered—a true whisper.

“Hang out with me, I deserve the opportunity to explain to you.” I could explain things here but I wanted that time with her.

“Explain here.” She replied. I held her hand in both of my hands and almost smirked at her reaction.

“Say yes,” I said. Everyone in the room turned to us now as they paused the game. I smiled.

“Stop making it sound like a proposal.” She whispered, still not wanting to be heard.

“It is a proposal, Bukola. I want us to hang out, say yes.” 

“Daniel, are you manipulating me?” She asked. I feigned shock and smiled.

“I wronged you and I want a chance to explain that I acted like a fool because I liked you and couldn’t bear to watch my friend ask you out. Say yes.” I said it loud enough for everyone to hear. They started teasing us. Bukola was mortified.

“Yes yes. It’s okay. We’ll continue later.” She quickly answered.

“Thank you.” I smiled and got up.“Let’s continue the game.” I said to others.

“So this was why you came?” Linda asked, Bukola almost sinking into her seat. I looked at her and smiled.

“Yes. I saw a flower in your compound and came to ‘pluck’ it.” I air-quoted. Everyone started laughing. Hopefully, I could make amends and show her that what happened was out of character for me. Then we’d see what could be done about this budding emotion, hopefully, it was mutual. That seemed like a stretch, but I could be in luck.