Oma’s Story:Two

Joshua was engrossed in some report he was reading at the office when his phone began to ring. He looked at the caller id, “my sweetness”. He sighed. He had ignored her for a little over twenty four hours and he would be lying to himself if he said it wasn’t getting to him. Oma was quite a handful, no doubt.

He hit the answer button, activated the speaker phone and continued looking at the papers in front of him. “Heya, what’s up?”

The other voice coming through was soft “hello baby, good morning”

“Morning. How are you?”

“I’m good. Missing you, that’s all”

“Really? Surprise surprise! What happened? Nothing to do at the office?”

Oma sighed. Another of Josh’s very strong points: sarcasm. And he was probably the most difficult person she had ever met.

“C’mon baby, that’s a mean thing to say”

“Really? It is?”

Josh dropped the papers he was working on, picked up his phone and turned the speaker off. He rubbed his eyes absent-mindedly.

“Oma, you have got to stop treating me like I’m your hobby; you know, something you do just for fun. I’m supposed to be your boyfriend and yet you treat me like I’m some casual friend you owe no obligations to…”

Oma’s heart dropped. It was not the first time they would be having a conversation like this.

“Josh I’m so sorry. You know it’s not like that. There’s always so much to do…”

“Yeah, it’s not like that, it’s never like that but I’m yet to find out what exactly it really is like.”

He sighed and his tone softened a little

“Babe, I miss you, a whole lot and I just wish you could work something better out of that crazy schedule of yours. I find it really annoying”

Oma’s heart melted and she smiled.

“I miss you lots too boo and I promise I’ll make it up to you. Starting from this very minute.

I’m really sorry that I’ve been treating you as though you’re a hobby, because you really aren’t. You’re that one boy that I’m crazy about. You have been on my mind all week and I kept looking forward to being with you and every time we couldn’t get to see, it felt like a core part of me was ripped out.

My world revolves around you baby and I’m not sure that my life would have much meaning without you in it. And I know you’re probably thinking that my actions do not portray it but I mean everything I’m saying from the depth of my heart. I’ve never lied to you Josh, and I don’t intend to start now…”

Josh smiled; Oma really had a way with words.

“Okay, fine! I forgive you. You know I can’t stay mad at you forever…”

Oma squealed excitedly “yayyy! Thank you baby! Thank you so much! I love you!!!”

Josh laughed. “I love you too”

“Well, I have to go right now baby. I’m a little busy at the moment. I’ve got this report I’m going through and I have to finish it pretty soon. We could chat afterwards.”

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Oma was so excited! Josh wasn’t mad at her anymore!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

One thing Josh loved about Fridays was the fact that by 3:00pm, work was essentially over. Fridays was the usual “half-day” and he loved it. It was usually the beginning of fun for him. He and Oma had agreed to go out that evening but she had convinced him to go home first and change into something casual before going over to her place to pick her up.

By 3:00pm, he was not only done with the report, but had also cleared every other bit of work that he needed to get done. He packed up his laptop and hurried home, all the while thinking of what exactly he and Oma would do. He would take her to the cinemas and then maybe a karaoke bar. Oma loved to sing but they had not been to any karaoke bar before. They always talked about it but never had the opportunity to do so.

As he negotiated the bend into Uruguay Street, he thought it a little weird that Oma had not replied to any of his pings of returned his calls yet. He had pinged and called twice to inform her that he was leaving the office but she did not pick up. He shrugged and kept driving. Two minutes later, he was home. He parked the car and walked to the front door with his laptop bag hanging on his shoulder.

As he slotted the key into the lock and turned it, he thought he caught a whiff of something nice. His neighbour was probably at it again. He sighed. He pushed the door open and walked in, carefully shutting the door behind him. His cousin who usually stayed with him had taken the first flight to Lagos that morning for a wedding so the house was quiet but then, there was a wonderful aroma filling his nostrils and he was almost certain it was not coming from his neighbour’s house.

He took a few steps into the house, dropped his bag on the couch in the living room and walked towards the dining. He raised the curtain that served as a partition between the living and dining rooms and he nearly fainted. There were dishes, and glasses and fruits nicely cut, there was water and two bottles of wine and the table was basically set for two.

Josh leaned with his back to the wall and used both hands to cover his face. He could think of only one person that would have done this. At that moment, his phone began to ring. He brought it out, knowing instinctively who it was and without even checking, he answered the phone “hello”

“Hey heartbeat, had a heart attack yet?” Oma’s voice was playful and teasing

“Well, close enough. Where are you?”

Oma laughed. “Oh I’m somewhere”

“Baby, please, help me out here”

Oma giggled again.

“Fine!” she hung up and in a matter of seconds she was down the stairs, through the hall way and right in front of him. He took her hands and drew her close in a warm bear hug.

“Oma…”

Oma felt really proud of herself. The look on his face when she appeared before him was priceless. She hugged him tightly for a few seconds and eventually drew back. “Come with me!”

She dragged him and ran upstairs right into his bedroom. Josh was overwhelmed as he walked behind her into his room. What he saw was completely different from the chaos he had left behind as he hurried to work in the morning. His bed was laid with fresh sheets, the tiles sparkled, an indication that the room had been swept and mopped, his dresser was neatly arranged, the air conditioner was on and the room was chill and a lovely fragrance filled the room.

Josh looked at Oma and his eyes radiated with love, awe and admiration. And his first thought was “this girl is crazy!” Not the kind of craze that was scary but the one that made him realize why he loved her to death.

“Oma… honestly, I keep thinking I should have my head checked for falling in love with you”

Some other girl might have been misinterpreted that and gotten angry but not Oma. She merely laughed and then she pulled him close and hugged him. “I know I’m quite a handful, but I really do love you and I hope that counts for something.”

Josh who was a head taller than she was tipped her chin backward so he could look into her eyes and he spoke softly to her “It counts for everything…” He planted a kiss on her forehead and hugged her tight. As crazy as Oma was, she brought a lot of sanity to his life. Twisted but true!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

There’s more to come. Keep checking back… 😀 Cheers!