She is someone I used to talk to on the phone every Monday morning and Friday evening. I didn’t see her face, I only heard her voice. Anytime she picked up the phone her first phrase was; “Hello boss…” I wasn’t her boss. She didn’t report to me. I was only doing a job that included talking to her. I told her often, “I’m not your boss. You only have to give me the report and off I go.” 

I was working from the headquarters and she was at a branch office in another region. Maybe that was the reason why she called me “Boss.” I sought to correct her every day but she didn’t want to be corrected so I let it go. For over a year we talked on the phone. I only knew her name, Patience. One day, I called her phone and another person picked up. A man. I asked, “Where’s Patience?” He answered, “She’s no longer here, they took her to another office.” I didn’t probe any further. I got the report from him and hung up.

Monday morning, I went to the office and saw this beautiful lady in the office. She was in the corner seat. That meant she was one of us. I thought, “They employed a new lady? This company and its shady ways of employing people. They won’t advertise it internally so we could recommend friends. By the time you realize, a new employee is around and had already started working.” I greeted her and walked to my corner. It wasn’t 8am yet so we had to wait for others. Around 9am, my boss walked in. He said, “Fii, you already know this girl, right? So there’s no need for any introduction, right?” 

I was confused. “She’s a new girl. I met her only this morning so how can I possibly know her.” He answered, “That’s Patience. The lady you talk to every Monday. She has been moved to the head office. She’s going to work with you from now on.” She got up and said, “Oh so it’s you? There’s a wide disparity between your voice and your personality. You look huge than your voice.” I laughed. I said, “You don’t look any different from your voice. Good to have you here.” 

I shook her hand and I didn’t want to let go, soft and warm and welcoming. I said, “Welcome to the head office. Get ready for the pressure.” She answered, “Thank you, boss. I’m ready for it.” I said, “I’m not the boss, this man right here is the boss.” We all laughed it off and started working on Monday’s problem.

I became her plug in everything. When she needed something she couldn’t find, I was the guy she asked. When she was confused about something relating to work, I was there for her. We moved together often so we had the time and space to talk about things that interest us. I asked where she lived and she told me. I said, “Oh, that’s closer to my church.” And because I went to church program every Wednesday after work, she sat next to me in the car and I drove her home. That also gave us another opportunity to be more than work colleagues. We were friends actually.

One Sunday after church I went to visit her place and for the first time, I saw her in clothes that were not for the office. The office encouraged us to dress official and look like we have billions but in the house, she looked like a woman who owns the space and as such could dress anyhow. I was looking at her with a different eye. I was falling in love with her. I wanted to stop the feeling because I knew the future of us if we had to fall in love. We couldn’t work together in the same company. One of us would have to leave the company before such an affair could thrive.

One night we were on the phone talking when I asked her, “How is it like to be apart from your boyfriend? Do you miss him every day?” She laughed it off. She said, “We’ve been talking for all this while. Have I ever mentioned to you that I have a boyfriend? I don’t. I’ve been single for over two years now. Yes, men come along every now and then, even in the office I’ve had two guys come after me. The time is not right, so I’m here, waiting for the right time to come with the right man.”

My heart skipped when she mentioned that some people in the office had already approached her. I felt I was being a coward. I told her, “So when the time is right, can you add me to the men you’re considering? I’m also interested in that position.” She laughed out loud and said, “I’m not hiring and I don’t have the desire to date someone I’m in the same office with. It’s awkward. I won’t feel good about it. I like you but I don’t think dating you will make the two of us any better. Let’s not talk about this.”

She said we shouldn’t talk about it but it became the topic on our lips for weeks. Finally, she told me, “It seems you know what you’re doing and you’re sure of it. Let’s do this. I’m not good at hiding my feelings when it comes to love, but at work, I will try hard to hide it so no one gets to know.” 

Two weeks after accepting my proposal, everyone in our office got the hint that we were dating. Apart from the fact that we were always together, people watched our mannerisms when together and put pieces together to conclude that we were dating. Our boss called us on the side and told us, “You guys ought to be careful. I don’t know what’s between you two, I just want to believe that you’re just friends but if there’s more to it than what I believe then you ought to be careful. People are talking.”

We tried to stay apart often. We didn’t go to places together. Even when we closed from work and I had to pick her up, I would drive far from the office so she would walk and join me at where I’m parked. We were hiding but it got suffocating. It’s not easy to pretend so on certain days we threw caution into the air and stayed as close as we could. To hell with what people think. We did it for over a year. One day she called and said, “My menses is late. It’s not usually late so I’m getting worried.” I got scared. I was so unprepared my heart started beating faster. I asked, “How many days late” She answered, “Three days, or four, I’m not sure.” I said in my head, “Wow, she’s pregnant,” I said to myself. I asked her, “Why don’t you do a test?” She answered, “I dint want to. I’m scared of the result I will get.” 

All night I was in bed thinking of what to do; “Ok, we are not officially married. We can hide the fact that I’m responsible until she gives birth. By then, I would have gotten a new job and left the company.” I called and told her my plans. She said it wasn’t going to be possible. If it’s true, then we have to marry before the pregnancy comes up.” I was in deep waters. She did a text and told me it was negative but we felt the test was wrong. You know these text kits can sometimes fail so I told her, “Tomorrow go to the hospital and check so we see what next to do.”

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She slept that night and called the following morning to tell me, “It has come!” I screamed, “Yes! I knew it was going to come. You couldn’t be pregnant, it’s not possible.” All the fears and worries dissipated from my heart but I knew I had to do something. When it came to who ought to resign for us to marry, I didn’t want to put it up for a debate. I knew I had to do it so she wouldn’t be pressured to leave a new position she had been given. I was the one who convinced her to fall in love with me so if someone had to take the fall, then it was me. I started looking for a new job. 

I got a new job in 2019, we got married right at the edge of 2020. Just when we were about to sing the praises of our diligence and the strength of our love, Covid happened and I lost my job. My wife was one month pregnant. My world was falling apart like a card of dominos, just one trip and everything started falling apart. While I was going crazy thinking of the next step to take, she said, “I have a job. What I earn can cover us. You don’t have to worry. You’ll get another job very soon and all this would be a thing of the past.” The next step was to do Uber with my car. It was ok but that wasn’t what I wanted.

She gave birth to a boy, I was still jobless. I was even shy to go to the hospital knowing that my wife paid for everything and her family was aware of it. I went to the hospital and brought them home. I didn’t drive Uber for a week. Each morning I would wake up and go to the cot of my baby and pray, “God, I have a son. He needs care and protection a father should provide. Do something. I learn babies bring luck. All the luck I need is a new job that can keep this family together.” The answer to my prayer didn’t come so I woke up each morning and hit the street. My baby was six months old when I got a call from my previous employers; “Your boss resigned. We need a replacement as soon as possible. If you’re available, pass by the office for negotiation.”

The following day I was there. They gave me the job and I slowly crawled back to my feet again. 

Today, I look back and I’m thankful to the woman who kept it all together until things got well. We never fought because I was unemployed. She never used that as an excuse to disrespect me or talk down on me. When the bills came, she paid without even telling me. She provided meals without telling me things were difficult. She made it look very smooth but it was hard for her, I could see from her demeanour sometimes. Today, we laugh and thank God for how far he had brought us. Life can always get better with a woman like my wife on my side.  

—Fii

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