"It's been weeks you haven't mentioned Okpara."
Rita coughed, almost spitting out the white wine she'd just sipped. Clearing her throat, she carefully placed the wine glass on the coffee table in Nene's sitting room and pinned Eka with a confused look. "The detective?"
Nene arranged the plate of dried meat in the centre of the table to be easily accessible to the other two ladies occupying her couch while she took the single seat beside it and gave Rita a sarcastic look. "Is there another one?"
Rita hedged, her hand twisting strands of her hair at her nape. "I thought we gathered here on Eka's behest?"
"Behest? What's with the big English?" Nene frowned.
"She's hiding things from us." Eka stated as reason for her big English, with an accusing gaze.
"She's dragging her back hair," Nene noticed too.
"No! I'm...not," Rita sighed, her shoulders fell. Indeed, she felt guilty, but she'd not been hiding, she just hadn't felt the need to share...yet.
"So, talk. What's the update with the detective; what's the plan?" Nene prodded, popping a piece of meat into her mouth.
Rita sighed, "The idea is to get close to Zach Inyang..."
"Owner of Global Press, right?" Eka asked.
Rita nodded, "Yes, whether through business or..." she hesitated and her friends stared at her, silently inquiring.
"Or..." Nene prodded.
"Or through hot man Ben," Eka supplied, and then shoved Rita on the shoulder, "Right?" Both waited for her reply and she nodded.
"Well, except, I'm not really thinking of the older Inyang these days," Rita grumbled, hating to be reminded of her obligation, the one she was tired of pursuing now, after meeting Ben, despite the grave reason that had instigated the obligation in the first place.
"Eh, we noticed. You even unearthed the long buried desire to have a baby without getting married," Nene eyed Rita mischievously, causing her to smile even though she didn't want to.
"Enough about me!" Rita waved her hand over her head as though waving off her friends' inquisitiveness.
"Na lie o! E no work today." Eka exclaimed in Pidgin English, refuting Rita's attempt at dodging the conversation. "Tell us how it's been so far. You've been dogging this guy for what, a week...weeks? And you're yet to give us gist."
Rita groaned in exasperation, causing giggles from her friends. "It's been only two days. I saw him the second time, yesterday...and, I might have an ally," she gave her frowning friends side looks.
"Who?" Eka asked faster than Nene could.
"An ally? This soon in the game?" Nene caught up.
She was embarrassed about sharing the process of getting to Ben, but, these were her friends and they could help with ideas anyway. "I've been pretending to be Kate's client who has to wait in Ben's office for her."
"What's that going to solve?" Nene asked with a frown.
"Proximity and a chance to get a feel of the guy, become his friend," Eka provided impatiently, "Go on," she prodded Rita who stared at her in surprise that she got it while Nene nodded.
"Okay, calm down. The thing is, I got busted yesterday." Both her friends widened their eyes, sucking in air noisily. Rita nodded, agreeing to their shocks. "Yes, Ben's assistant branch manager knew who I was."
"Oh my God, so it's over?"
Rita narrowed her eyes at Eka's hopeful tone and enjoyed dashing her hopes. "No, it isn't. James, that's the assistant manager, took me to lunch today and told me that he knew I wasn't a client to Kate since I was her boss. I confessed that I liked Ben, so, he confessed that he liked Kate."
"Telenovella!" Nene cackled.
"Indeed." Eka agreed.
Rita shook her head at their blatant enjoyment of her predicament. "Well, Ben seems to also like Kate, so, James says he'll help in whatever scheme I'm planning, and I'm to put in a good word for him with Kate."
"So, you're a matchmaker now, uh?" Eka snorted, because she knew Rita hated such things, well, except when it concerned her friends.
"You could just order Kate to stay off Ben," Nene pointed with a piece of meat to make her point.
Rita cringed and slumped lower in the couch. Her friends stared at her inquisitively. Then Nene started laughing.
"Oh my God, you didn't." Eka covered her mouth.
Rita groaned, "I was mad when I found Ben had Kate's personal number on the first day. So, when I called her, I might have literally pissed around him like a dog to guard my territory."
"Jesus." Eka said, looking away as though she couldn't bear the embarrassment, while Nene kept laughing. "Is that all?" she asked, because she knew Rita didn't make single mistakes, they came in droves.
Rita slumped deeper and her hands went to her face, her voice came out muffled. "I might have blurted that I liked his arse."
Nene howled until she coughed pieces of mashed meat on the tiled floor she'd fallen on in her mirth while Eka's mouth dropped.
"What did he do, what was his reaction?" Nene choked out, now sitting on the floor with tears of mirth on her cheeks.
"He slammed the door in my face."
This time Eka joined Nene in laughing but it wasn't funny to Rita how they could laugh at that. When they'd calmed down a bit, Rita rushed through what had happened the previous day at Ben's office and then grumbled that Ben had had the impetus to tell Kate that she'd looked untidy.
Mirth disappeared from Nene's face, "In those exact words?"
Her friends might laugh, but Rita knew they were always protective of her with other people; they always had each other's backs and she didn't doubt Nene would storm Global Press to kick Ben's arse, fine as it is, if she perceived any manner of insult. The thought gave her immense comfort.
"Nah. He said it looked like I'd literally rolled out of bed to be there. Maybe, it isn't what I'd assumed he meant. Maybe, he meant I'd been early, now that I think of it."
Eka gave her a sceptical look, "What were you wearing, Rita?"
"Clothes."
Even though Nene chuckled, Eka wasn't having it, she raised an eyebrow and Rita felt like a recalcitrant child admonished by her mother.
Sighing, she spoke quickly. "Khaki shorts, T-shirt and flat slippers."
"On a Tuesday morning?" Eka exclaimed.
"At a corporate environment?" Nene was appalled.
"Rita." Eka groaned, "That's a new low even for you. And I'm sure you didn't comb your hair." Eka smoothed back tendrils of her hair which floated around her face in a very maternal fashion.
"There was no time. I had to catch him as he arrived. I needed to shoot my shot." Rita tried to joke, but her friends weren't falling for it.
"I've never seen you this fixated on a guy." Eka worried.
"Seriously. I mean, you've never really cared about men and then, bam, you want to have kids with this one." Nene added, giving her a confused look.
Rita sat up, sighed and folded her arms under her bosom. "At the rate he's ignoring me, I might never see his ankle talk more of bagging his cucumber enough to get pregnant."
Silence reigned in the room, then Nene wailed in laughter while Eka shook her head, her mouth twitching.
"And now, we've been availed the opportunity to also help you." Eka declared, shooting Nene a look to quail her mirth.
"How?"
"I'm still not in support of this fixation because if it doesn't work out, you might get hurt. Women shooting shots at a man isn't...acceptable...to me," she quickly added as her friends scowled at her.
"But you shot shots at your husband," Nene pointed out.
"Yes, that's my husband, it's not the same thing. And it's called seduction." Eka mock snapped.
"I disagree..."
"Whatever," Eka cut Nene who giggled, "I know you guys will gang up and tell me not to worry because it might work. So, we are going to help you bag this guy's..." Eka cleared her throat and waved her hand to indicate Ben's private part which caused the other ladies to fall sideways in laughter.
Then Eka went ahead to tell her friends how successful the seduction of her husband had gone. Rita was glad that it was Jude's call that ended the meeting while Eka hurried off with the promise to show up at her house with a plan.