Eeeeish wewe!' she pushed him away.' Give the phone back.' somehow Jacob had managed to even snatch her iPhone during the disentanglement. She protested as he went on to type his number on it. He wasn't planning on wasting his chances. Every decision he enacted could affect his immediate future in profound ways. He wanted to change his situation so badly he didn't mine coming out as too forward. Growing up, he'd had tales of how birds of a feather flock together. He wanted to effect a relationship with this clearly well off lady. Then perhaps he could get rich just by being around her, like osmosis.
'Sarova Stanley's... Hmmm, nice taste' he smirked getting into her classy car. 'That right there is my number, call me if you need your ride.' he drove off amidst the insistent hoots from the cars behind him. The seats were plush; hand stitched leather, made to accommodate the human form with surprising accuracy. The raving engine turned on Jacob. It was nothing he'd ever experienced. It was so much more of what he had hoped to experience. The scent got to him, sparked memories of Margaret, this enchanting siren. He felt that she looked down on him and it pissed him off. Had she given him a chance the he wouldn't be forced to as immaturely as he now was.
'Well, don't just stand there, you are thirty minutes late and you owe me big time!' Sophie complained to a delirious Margaret from the hotel's lobby. This multimillion dollar deal was at the brink of going stale. She had put her blood sweat and tears in supporting Margaret on this deal because she very well knew that if it went through, she would be set for life. She wanted to get in on the AirBnB bubble while it was still fresh. She wanted to retire practicing law at forty, have two kids before menopause and take care of her home.
***
Damn ,it's been two days yo! Hajapiga simu bado bana! Jacob was waking up to the fact that Margaret never took the bait. All his castles built in the air would be just that; castles in the air, unless something gave way. It was taking too long and time was a luxury he couldn't afford.
Yo! Just chill sawa?... You've got her Bentley with you, she'll call,... She has to... He rationalized that no sensible person would be unbothered about their missing vehicle. A car was a symbol of freedom in the twenty first century, the thought that you could decide to change your geographic location by thousands If kilometers in just a few hours was deeply compelling. Rich people had their cake and ate it. Just sitting inside Margaret's plush seats arose memories of his daily commute to work by public transportation. The loud music from the matatus, their old and torn seats covered with dust, overloaded with goods and people, with unruly touts collecting fare ever diligently, occasionally short changing their passengers. It was a menace.
But who gives a chick his number...? It should be the other way round bana. He thought that having control in the situation would have perhaps increased the chances of meeting this elusive lady. However, she never at one point allowed him her phone number and this thought made him crazy.
Naah STUPID, it's the other way round if you wanna stand out... That shows some rare confidence... Talking about taming a bitch. Jacob trying talking himself into a less depressing mood. He figured that whining never sold any problems after all. Ever, he thought about intimate moments with this lady he barely knew. He fantasized about a rainy afternoon between the sheets with this magnificent woman.
Shit! What if she takes a week before she calls, this neighborhood isn't safe dude. The uncertainty of security in his neighborhood finally got to him. At this point, he was worried because he had not anticipated this move to be made by Grace. He had figured that by now they'd have reconciled their differences and would perhaps be best of friends if not lovers. So he now had to come up with a strategy to see through this conquest that was proving impossible.
I'll take it to Paul's place huko Westy... It isn't that safe but better safe than this place. Paul was one of the managers at his place of work that he had managed to befriend. Partly because they belonged to the same tribe and came from the same rural geographic location. They somehow struck a cord thanks to their shared heritage. However, Paul had gotten lucky to go to a good school, got good grades and got employed with a great paycheck. The perfect life, all that Jacob ever wanted for himself.
He turned down the volume on the stereo playing Nigerian music and left the cheap rented bedsitter apartment.
The Eastlands of Nairobi had eighty percent of the the city's population, such a car driving through the slams of Kayole was a miracle by birthright. One would have easily mistaken Jacob for some rich guy or celebrity dropping off a campus girl from their trysts.