[Welcome back! The story continues…]

Emefa slammed the door of the Uber as she got in, startling the Uber driver.

“Sorry.” She muttered, rolling her eyes as though the Uber driver had had something to do with the meeting Emefa had just had Aunty Menaye.

“Where to please?”

“I selected my location on the map.” Emefa retorted.

“Okay Madam Emefa. Please I hope the location on the map is correct…?”

“What do you want me to say? Do I look like I work with Google maps?”

“Oh. I didn’t mean it like that. You…. it’s okay.”

Emefa ignored him, scrolling busily on her phone. She would not let Aunty Menaye win this battle. Getting married to Jamal was now more about proving a point to his aunt, than it was about her love for him. She could not believe she had actually moved her plans for the day around just to make it for this meeting. She had rushed her final dress-fitting, moved her manicure and pedicure to the evening, and rescheduled her hair appointment, all for what?

The car hit a pothole, jolting Emefa out of her thoughts. She looked sharply at the driver. He looked at her through the rearview mirror, “Madam Emefa, sorry.”

“Please stop calling me that. Just Emefa is fine.”

The driver nodded, finally realizing his passenger may not be in the best of moods. Emefa’s phone began to vibrate. It was Jamal. Emefa answered the call, but sat listening, without saying a word

“Emefs Estate.” Jamal called out on the other end of the line, teasing her as usual.

“Ji.” Emefa replied dryly.

“My almost-wife. How’s it going at the spa?”

“I’m now heading there.”

“Oh okay. Is everything okay? Did something go wrong at the fitting?”

“Not really. Just a few alterations. They’ll work on it and deliver this evening.” Emefa said, still with no emotion in her voice.

“Is that why you sound so down? Don’t worry about it. You will look beautiful tomorrow regardless, okay?”

Emefa paused. “So is that the best thing you can say to me right now?”

“Did I say something wrong?” Jamal asked confused. Silence. He quickly added, “Emefa. Babes, I was only trying to make you feel better. I’m sorry if I said something wrong.”

“You should be. ‘Cause this is the last thing I need right now with the stunt your aunt just pulled. Why does she insist on being such a pain in my life?”

“Whoa! What stunt? Did Aunty Menaye say something to you?”

Emefa went quiet. Aunty Menaye had explicitly stated that it would be in her, Emefa’s, own interest to keep their conversation between them.

“Emefa, I need to know. What did she say to you?”

“Ji, just forget I said anything about it.”

“Nope. Can’t do that. Tell me what she said.”

Emefa paused, then said, “Oh she has said many things to me.”

“Babes, were are you now?”

“In an Uber to my next appointment, I already told you.”

“Yes, but were exactly are you?”

“I just left Aunty Menaye’s a few minutes ago.”

“Wait. So you were at her end today?”

“Yes. That’s where it all happened”

Jamal went quiet for a while. Then he asked, “Where is your next appointment?”

“Dzorwulu.” Emefa replied, reluctantly. She knew Jamal and could tell what he would say next.

“Share the location. I’ll meet you there.”

“Ji, you’re not supposed to see me before the wedding. We talked about this. It’s important.”

“This is even more important. I’ll be there soon. See you.” Then Jamal hang up.

Emefa sighed. The last thing she wanted before her big day, was any form of drama.

The Uber driver looked at Emefa again through the rearview mirror. “As for in-laws, they can be very troublesome. You just need to exercise a lot of patience.”

Emefa ignored him. The driver, not taking a cue from Emefa’s silence, continued, “My advice to you is that you try to be very patient with them. As a woman, you must be humble and respect them, that is what your husband expects. If I marry and my wife tries to fight my family, divorce straight. You, the woman, are not even my blood. It is the children you will give birth to, that will be my blood. That is what my uncle taught me before I left my hometown for Accra.”

Emefa rolled her eyes in the backseat. They were only a few metres from her destination but she felt like the ride could not end soon enough. The Uber driver took a cue from Emefa’s silence, and kept quiet. At least so Emefa thought, until he looked at her in the rearview mirror again and asked, “So, am I invited to the wedding or…?”

“Could just drive please?” Emefa snapped.

“Okay. Sorry Madam.”

This time, Emefa did not bother to correct him on what to call her. About two minutes later, they pulled up in front of the spa. Emefa heaved a sigh of relief. Her Uber-ride-from-hell was finally over. She paid the driver and stepped out of the vehicle. Just as she closed the door, the driver turned towards her and said, “Madam, please don’t forget to give me five stars. I am giving you five stars too. We can help each other.” Then he winked and drove off.

Emefa shook her head in disbelief and headed for the reception of the spa. To her surprise Jamal was already seated at the reception, when she walked in. He rose to meet her.

“Ji.”

Jamal hugged her and planted a peck on her cheek. “My Mrs Asare-Menako.” Then he took her hand and led her towards the exit, “Come with me.”

Emefa’s knees got weak. Jamal knew the effect he had on her whenever he called her that name. She followed Jamal to his car. Jamal opened the driver’s door and asked her to get into the driver’s seat. Then he went round and sat in the front passenger seat.

Jamal turned towards Emefa the moment he got into the car. “Tell me everything that happened.”

“Ji. I am already running late for my appointment. I had to reschedule from my original time. These people close early.” Emefa said, trying once more to avoid the conversation about Aunty Menaye.

“Emefa, this is important to me.”

Emefa replied in a small voice, “I know…it’s just….” Her words trailed off.

“Just tell me everything. Why you went to see her. What she said. Everything.”

Emefa reluctantly began to recount everything that had led up to her visit to Aunty Menaye’s house, as well as her conversation with Aunty Menaye.

Emefa had arrived at Aunty Menaye’s house at about 3pm to meet an angry Aunty Menaye who stated, without mincing words, that she found Emefa’s tardiness rude and disrespectful. Emefa had apologized and explained to Aunty Menaye that, she, Emefa, had been delayed at an appointment she had made prior to Aunty Menaye’s request for a meeting. Aunty Menaye had then asked her to sit and proceeded to ask questions about the wedding. Emefa was confused. Her traditional wedding was in less than 24 hours and the blessing was in 72 hours. Why was Aunty Menaye asking for details she already knew, now? Was this some way of bonding with Emefa for Aunty Menaye?.

“Jamal gave me directions to some event centre but I want to know which church the wedding is at.” Aunty Menaye said looking Emefa dead in the eye.

Emefa was confused. “It’s called Eden.”

“Is that the name of your church?”

“No. It is an event centre. We’re having a garden wedding. I thought you knew this already.”

“Well, Jamal mentioned it and I had been telling him you need to change it but he seems not to be listening. My grandfather was one of the founding fathers of our church. It is unheard of for any of us to be marrying any other way than in a church wedding.”

“But a lot of people are embracing having a wedding outside the church these days. It is really not a big deal. There will be pastors there to pray with us and all. Besides, we have really compromised. We were supposed to have a destination wedding but…”

“Oh what nonsense desti-what wedding? Jamal should be getting married in a church!”

Emefa had had it with Aunty Menaye. It was high time someone stood up to this woman. “Aunty Menaye, this wedding is not just Jamal’s wedding. It’s mine too. It is our wedding. And we both decided we wanted to do things this way – a garden wedding is what we have decided to go with.”

“So, are we Christians or are we gardeners?”

“Does going to the beach make one a fisherman?” Emefa retorted angrily

Aunty Menaye looked over Emefa’s shoulder and called “You see what I was telling you about her? No regard for our family and our beliefs.”

Emefa span her head around to see Jamal’s father standing in the doorway. She had no idea he was there. How long had he been standing there for? Emefa felt ambushed. Jamal’s father looked at Emefa in disappointment. Emefa felt extremely uneasy. “I will ask if things can be moved to the church.”

“Now you’re talking.” Aunty Menaye said with a grin. “I hope I can trust you to keep this discussion between us. Find some other reason to give Jamal for changing the venue.”

 To Emefa, that grin was the most sinister thing she had ever seen. Emefa feigned a smile back. 24 to 72 hours and all this would be over. “If that is all, I should be going now.”

Emefa rose to leave but Jamal’s father stopped her, “Wait”. Emefa sat back down. What now?

Jamal’s father continued, “I think you should be apologizing to your mother-in-law.”

Actually, she’s not my mother-in-law! Emefa wanted to scream. But she decided to take the high way and apologize anyway. “Aunty Menaye, I’m sorry about earlier.”

Again that dark grin, “Oh, call me ‘Ma’. You know you are my daughter, just like Jamal is my son. I cannot hold any grudge against you.”

Nephew. Jamal is your nephew. He already has a mother and she is nothing like you! Emefa gritted her teeth. “Okay Ma. I would like to take my leave now.” Emefa had to control herself not to stomp out of the hall. She could not believe she had called that woman ‘Ma’. She felt violated, and vowed never to repeat it.

Jamal, who had been listening to Emefa quietly, shook his head and muttered under his breath, “These people.”

Emefa looked at him. “So we need to move the wedding ASAP.

Jamal laughed. “Are you scared?”

“No, but I don’t want to start off with them on the wrong foot.”

“It’s our wedding. Not theirs. We wanted a garden wedding. We chose Eden. Eden it is.”

“Jamal, let’s just give them what they want.”

“No. It’s high time they realized we have our own lives to live too.”

“But Ji, your aunt raised you. I would not want to be the reason both of you fight. Besides, she’s your blood. I am not. Only our future kids will be your blood. As a wif-…”

“Hey, hey! What are you saying? You are going to be my family now. Is that what you think? That you are not my family?”

Emefa shrugged, embarrassed by her own words. “The Uber driver that dropped me here was sayi-…”

“And if you listen to what he said, then you would not be the woman I thought you were. That’s some weird thinking right there.” Jamal laughed.

Jamal cupped Emefa’s face in his hands, looked into her eyes and said, “I want you to be very comfortable about this…about us. You and I are already one. Tomorrow is just so everyone else will know this too.” Jamal hesitated, then continued, “Listen, I love you, and I mean it. Even what happened between you and Eben can’t stop us. I was a bi-“

Emefa stiffened in her seat, “Wait! You saw that? You were there that night?”

“I was the lookout for the bridal shower. I was actually supposed to meet you and take you in, but you were late. Then , after witnessing that…..” Jamal paused and looked out the window, away from Emefa.

Emefa felt her ears suddenly turn hot. In that moment, she was appreciative that Africans did not blush visibly. “Oh Ji,” she started weakly, “It meant nothing. Absolutely nothing. I am sorry, so sorry. Really, really sorry.”

[Thanks for reading! Tamarind continues next week. Till then, stay safe]

[Welcome back! Been quite a week but I know you’ve been waiting for this one…Happy reading. (As always: All events and characters in this story are fictional. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.) (Not sure why I felt I should give a disclaimer but…) ]

“Oh-kay! That’s it. All done here.” Ricka said in excitement, spinning Emefa round so the Bride-to-be could take a look at herself in the mirror.

Emefa shrieked in excitement, “I totally love it! Very subtle. I still look like me just… you know….a bit more spalalala.” The two laughed.

“Which one too is ‘spalala’?” Ricka asked with a smirk.

“Oh it’s in the dictionary. It means I look a-…”

“…mazing! That word is in only your dictionary, Emefa. ” Maame laughed. “Are you ready? They’re asking for you out there.”

“I’m ready. I woke up ready. In fact, I was born ready to be Mrs. Asare-Menako.” Emefa replied. “I just need help lacing up this…” Emefa reached out behind her with both hands, trying to lace up her dress, “…this…” Emefa stretched further, ” ….this….Kente.”

“Here, I’ve got this” Ricka reached out to lace up Emefa’s Kente dress. “Emefa, this style is for people with flat tummies“

“I’m a flat tummy girl in transit please.” Emefa replied giggling.

“Let’s try this. Hold your breath and tuck in your tummy whilst I pull.” Ricka suggested

“I already am. It’s just a bit tight I guess. Maybe I’ve gained weight.”

Ricka began pulling on both ends of the string, “It’s supposed to be tight. That’s how corseted dresses work.” She paused and then added in a whisper, “If you can breathe well, then it’s not serving it’s purpose.”

“Oww! Ricka easy! I can’t even breathe properly.”

“You’re not supposed to breathe at all in this. Didn’t you hear what I said? That’s the inspiration behind the design.” Ricka giggled

Maame stepped in, “Looking at it, you’d think the dress was not meant for you. Here. Just loosen this line a bit.” Then Maame loosened the straps slightly, tying the two loose ends together in a bow. “There. Emefa, how do you feel now?”

“Still. Calculated breathing but it’s much better than before.” Emefa replied.

Just then, there was a knock on the door and a voice called out from the hallway, “Are you ladies done yet? People are getting grumpy from all the waiting.”

“We’re coming!” Maame shouted back. She turned to Emefa, “Let’s just go now. “

Emefa stepped out of the room with Maame and Ricka behind her. She made her way for the hall where Jamal, both their families and other guests were seated waiting for her.

Emefa stepped into the hall and the room filled with silence. Jamal, who had been seated with his head bowed, looked up at her. Their eyes locked and they smiled at each other. In that instant, it felt as though they were the only two people in the entire universe. Emefa’s gaze shifted to the empty seat next to Jamal. She grinned and thought to herself, “Time to take my place as Queen beside my King.” That was when she realized she had stopped walking and had been standing staring at her husband-to-be. She smiled shyly, covered half her face with her embellished feather fan.

Emefa began walking towards the empty seat next to her husband-to-be. Her dress seemed to get tighter with every step. She moved her left hand to the back of the waistline of her dress and, in a subtle gesture, pulled at the dress, in an attempt to ease the tightness. That didn’t help. If anything, it seemed to make things worse.

Emefa stopped three steps short of getting to the empty seat. Her outfit had become so tight she could literally not move. Emefa looked around the room, everyone was watching her with expectant eyes. She could see her family, her friends, Jamal’s family, everyone with the exception of Aunty Menaye. In spite of Emefa’s discomfort, she smiled, pleased that the one person who had tried to ruin her big day had not even been able to attend the ceremony at the end of the day. Emefa returned her gaze to Jamal, hoping he would read and understand the message in her eyes and help her with her dress. Instead, he sat smiling and gesturing for her to come to him, oblivious to her plight.

Emefa continued in her efforts to move towards the empty seat but her dress made it impossible for her to move. Emefa reached out behind her to loosen the strings. Her hands touched something. She froze. There was a hand holding on to the strings of her dress. She span around and discovered to her horror, that the hand was Aunty Menaye’s. There was a loud clap of thunder, then it began to rain heavily.

Emefa sat up in bed startled. It was raining heavily outside. That dream had felt so real, it took her nearly thirty minutes to convince herself that was a dream. She curled her knees upward and tested her chin on them. She sat quietly looking around her room with the little light streaming in through her window from the outdoor lighting. The rain seemed to be getting heavier by the minute. Emefa climbed hesitantly out of bed to pull her curtains shut. She returned to her bed and pulled her duvet to her chin. What time was it anyway? She groped around her bed for her phone and checked the time. 2:47am.

Emefa checked her notifications. She had missed many calls and messages from the night before. She had been so tired after the bridal shower last night, and had gone right to bed when she got home. Emefa unlocked her screen and dragged down her notifications bar. She had 3 missed calls from Eben, 2 missed calls from her counsellors, 3 missed calls from Jamal, 1 missed call from Jamal’s mother and 1 WhatsApp message from Aunty Menaye saying, “Your presence is requested at my house by 2:47pm tomorrow without fail.” If Emefa had had any difficulty going back to sleep earlier, she was very much awake now more than ever. There was only one thing in her mind: 2:47

[Thanks for reading. Tamarind continues next week! Till then, stay safe.]

[Welcome back! I must say I have the best readers ever! I have really enjoyed your messages and reactions to last week’s episode. So much so, that I may just have to find a way to bring you more than an episode a week. But then again, the wait can be just as exciting as the read…😉😉😉. Catch up on the previous episode here.]

Eben pulled away from Emefa in shock. “Whoa! Wha-“

“What was that?!” Eben exclaimed. He was confused. Had Emefa interpreted his playfulness and mock proposals as him having an actual interest in her?

“Sorry” Emefa muttered, moved away from him, and looked out the window, embarrassed.

“Emefa….?”

Emefa continued to look out the window, saying nothing in response. Without turning to look at Eben, she could tell he was staring at her. She could feel all of Eben’s questions and his surprise. She wished she had some super powers to time-travel and undo what she had just done.

Eben, after studying Emefa’s posture for a few minutes, began to feel sorry for her. “Emefa,” he started, “I can only imagine how stressed you must be.”

“I’m so- sorry.” Emefa said in a small voice, still looking away.

“Oh no…no need to apologize. I understand. You are under a lot of pressure right now.”

Emefa did not respond. She reached out for the car door handle and opened it. Eben reached out and stopped her. “Emefa, listen. Between you and I, this never happened, okay?”

Emefa nodded and smiled weakly, “Thanks.”

“No, I’m not just saying it. I mean it. Your secret is safe with me.”

Emefa nodded again, then she stepped out of the car and headed for the restaurant door. Now more than ever, she wished she did not have to meet her marriage counsellors. What kind of person would kiss someone and then go meet up with her fiancé and her marriage counsellors? What kind of person does that make her? She paused at the restaurant door, the attendant smiled and held the door for her to enter. She nodded and smiled back.

The attendant welcomed her with a smile. “Good evening Ma’am. You’re welcome. Would anyone be joining you or…?”

“I have a reservation in the name of Jamal Asare-Men”

“Oh right. Please give me a moment.” The attendant signaled to a waiter.

The waiter greeted Emefa with a smile. “Good evening Ma’am. Right this way please. Private dinner right?”

Emefa looked at the direction of his arm. “I’m sorry. Was the booking for a private room?”

“Sure.” The waited said with a mischievous smile.

“Um, say I wanted to move the reservation to the main restaurant…”

“That would not be possible as we’re already full.” The waiter cut in.

Emefa looked around. There were plenty of empty seats.

“Those tables are reserved.” The waiter added quickly.

Oh great. Just great. Sitting in a private room with Jamal and her marriage counsellors is exactly what she needed right now. At least sitting in the main restaurant, would have had other guests and some activity to distract them all. Emefa took in a deep breath and followed the waiter to the private room. The waiter paused at the door and turned towards Emefa, then he stepped aside to let her in.

“Wait.” Emefa said, causing him to pause with his hand raised to the handle of the door. Emefa hesitated. You can do this. Like Eben said, that kiss never happened. She straightened her dress with her palms, took in a deep breath, then nodded to the waiter to open the door.

In the next instant Emefa saw flashing phone camera lights with people shouting: “SURPRIIIIISSSEEEEE!!!”

Emefa felt someone grab her arm and a familiar voice say to her: “Come, come.” Before she knew it, she was wearing a tiara and a sash that read: “Bride-to-Be”. She looked around the room, feeling dazed. She slowly started to recognize the faces of her friends, cousins, and then her sister, Maame. Everyone she knew would want to plan a Bridal shower for her, was present. They all seemed to be talking at the same time. She could hear, “Emefa, were you surprised?”, ” Did you suspect anything?”, “I said, she knew it already la.”, “Who? This girl? Don’t mind her.”

“We’re already late. Let’s pray and start.” Fredericka shouted. Fredericka was Emefa’s favourite cousin and both Emefa and Maame called her ‘Ricka’. Clapping her hands to bring some order to the room, Ricka announced again that it was time to pray and begin. She said short prayer and once the others shouted, “Amen!”, Ricka yelled: “Now let’s show our girl a good time!”, to which the other ladies yelled, “Whooooo!”

Emefa smiled at them and shook her head. Deep within, she just wanted to go home. She wondered where Jamal was. Did this mean she would still have to meet her counsellors? The traditional wedding was barely two days away. Maybe Jamal had called but she hadn’t heard her phone. Emefa checked her phone.

Ricka walked over to Emefa. “Aunty madam. Put your phone away and come and de-stress. You’ve not even touched your food. The steak is a bit chewy but come and try the honey-glazed wings.”

“Oh no. It’s okay. I’m okay.” Emefa replied.

“If you taste the wings, you’ll realise you’re not okay. Let me get you some.” Ricka chuckled and left to fix Emefa a plate.

Emefa went back to scrolling through her phone, almost oblivious to the ongoing party. This was supposed to be a celebration for her but she was the only person in the room who was barely participating. Occasionally, someone would pull Emefa out of her seat to dance or take a selfie. During the activities and games, Emefa tried to stay alert and participate but her mind kept wandering away.

Soon, it was time to cut the cake. Emefa stood staring blankly at the cake. Maame whispered behind her, “Emefa, I know you must be tired but at least smile.” Emefa managed a half-smile. “Even your cake-topper seems to be enjoying this shower more than you.” Maame added teasing her sister.

Emefa looked down at the cake and burst out in laughter. At least that made her smile long enough to get some good pictures.

After nearly two hours of the group partying, Emefa’s sister, Maame announced to the group, “Ladies, let’s start rounding up and call it a night. I know some of us have quite a distance to travel to get home.”, to which one lady replied, “Then let them take the lead and the rest of us can stay!” The room filled with laughter.

“On a more serious note though. We need to wrap up. Our Bride-to-Be has had enough. Look at her.” Maame said, pointing to Emefa.

Emefa smiled, stood up and began to thank the ladies for planning the shower. The ladies said their goodbyes, a few shared marriage advice with her, and others wished her well and promised not to be late for the traditional wedding. All the while, Emefa’s mind was on Jamal. The room had started to empty out. Maame touched Emefa’s arm, jolting her out of her thoughts. “Time to head home. Didn’t want Ma to interfere with us planning this so I told her I’m picking you from a counselling session with Jamal.”

Emefa chuckled, “Then she’ll complain about the time we’re getting home, for certain.” Maame giggled in response.

“Emefa!” Ricka called out as Maame and Emefa walked out of the restaurant towards Maame’s car. Ricka caught up with the two sisters quickly. “I just wanted to confirm that I’ll be with you by dawn on Thursday to start makeup. And also remind you that as I told you earlier, I also wouldn’t mind coming over the night before if you prefer that.”

“Oh don’t let me give you more work. Thursday dawn is fine. We’ll have more than enough time to finish up.”

“Okay.”

Emefa, Maame and Ricka were still talking, when one of the other ladies rolled down her car window and called out as she drove past, “Emefa! Emefa! Don’t forget what I said earlier oo. Start some serious midnight prayers and do this daily oo. Pray against every plan of the enemy, pray for your future children, cancel in-law wahala, Jamal’s exes and aspiring side-chicks, your own exes or maybe work colleagues you have kissed before. Then she was gone.

Emefa froze. That last prayer topic was very specific. Had she and Eben been seen?

[Thank you for reading! Tamarind continues next week. Till then, stay safe!]

(Been a minute……okay, maybe a little more than a minute…but so glad you’re here because I’ve been speaking with Emefa and you won’t believe what an interesting turn of events it has been since her last update…..)

“Ei, Bride-to-be. You’re still here? I’m going home then. Congratulations in advance.”

Emefa looked up just as the door to her shared office closed. She was not even sure which of her colleagues had just left. It was her last day at work before she went on leave for her wedding and she was still behind on a number of reports. She had not even touched the handover form HR had sent her to complete, as part of her office leave procedure. She swang around in her chair and peeked outside through the blinds. It was getting dark and the office parking lot was almost empty. She had been so engrossed in the report she was trying to finish up that she had not even noticed that most of her colleagues had left.

Emefa checked the time, 5:38pm. Jamal would be there to pick her at 6pm for dinner with their marriage counsellors. This was going to be their last counselling session before the wedding and she really did not want to be late. Emefa turned back to her computer screen.” Just a little more to go.“, she thought to herself. She knew she would not complete the report before Jamal arrived, but she wanted to get as much of it as she could done.

Emefa had just returned to working on the report when she heard another voice from her office doorway: “The CEO and Founder of Emefs Estate herself.”

She bowed her head in laughter, then looked up at her office doorway. Just as she had thought it was none other than Eben.

Eben had already been working a year at the company when Emefa joined and he had taken it upon himself to show her around and handle her orientation when she started. He was a few years younger than Emefa and after a few weeks of Emefa’s being there, the two had grown so close, their relationship could be likened to that of an aunt and her favourite nephew. Eben seemed to have made it his personal mission to ensure Emefa’s welfare and would always be the first person in her office the moment she arrived at work, and the last before she left, today was no exception.

Emefa stuck out her index finger and waved it back and forth. “First of all, you are not allowed to call me that.” Emefa said with mock sternness.

“Okay then. Mrs. Asare Menako, go home to your husband.” Eben replied teasingly, walking towards Emefa’s desk. He enjoyed teasing her and would never let an opportunity to do so go.

“He’s not yet my husband, I’m still very much single. Thank you.” Emefa replied with a smirk, waving her left hand at Eben.

“Oh great. Then I still have some time to work on getting you to accept my proposal.” Eben bent on one knee, “Emefa, will you be my sugar mummy?”

“Ah! Will you just get off the floor and out of this office please?!” The two burst out laughing.

Then Emefa added, “No, seriously though. You need to get going. I’ve got a lot on my desk I need to complete before Jamal gets here.”

“Oh yeah…..ARAM report right? How’s that coming along?” Eben asked a he got up, dusting off his trousers with his palms.

“I was supposed to be done and getting ready to head out by now but here I am. So, how do you think it’s going?”, Emefa replied sarcastically.

Eben walked towards her. “Easy, easy. Just leave it and go. I’ll take care of it when I come tomorrow. No, wait. I’m on the field tomorrow. So, Thursday. I’ll complete it for you on Thursday.”

“Thursday is the traditional wedding.” Emefa smirked.

“I’m not coming. You didn’t make me your ring bearer.”

“Eben!”

“What? You refused to marry me because you said I’m a small boy. Now you won’t let me at least be in the bridal party.”

Emefa threw her head back in laughter, “So, are you even alright? I was already with Jamal before I started work here. Plus you are like ten times my junior.”

“I am not a small boy oo. Just give me one chance to prove it to you.” Eben started to go down on his knee again, “Will you marry me my dearest CEO and Founder of Emef-“

“Ah! You know what? Go home. It’s late.”

“Nope. Can’t. Jamal called. Asked me to give you a ride. That’s actually why I came here. “

“Wha- wait. I don’t get it. Why would he call you and not me directly?” Emefa replied with a puzzled look.

“Because you’ve called him on my phone before and also because he knows I’m legit competition for him. You can call him though. If that will convince you that I’m not abducting you.” Eben chuckled.

Just then Emefa’s phone screen light came on and her phone began to vibrate. Jamal was calling. “Ji.” Emefa answered the phone, with a hint of irritation in her tone. She listened quietly then continued, “I see. That’s okay. See you there.” Then she hang up.

“See? Ring bearer duties. I’m not even going to try for Best man or ‘Man-of-Honour’, ’cause I know you will say I’m being troubl-.…”

“It’s okay! Let’s just go!” Emefa slammed her laptop shut. She would try to find time to complete her report and form later. She began packing up and clearing her desk. Jamal had just gotten on her last nerve. It was only a few days left to their wedding and he was still prioritizing other things over her. All she asked was for him to pick her up today. But no. He had other more important things to do.

Eben watched Emefa in silence for a few seconds. Then reached out and stopped her hand. “Emefa, let me help you. ‘Cause at this rate you will be going home with a broken laptop and crumpled documents.”

Emefa paused, “I’ll do it!”. She slowed down but did not stop packing. A few seconds later, Emefa was done and headed to the car park with Eben. Eben unlocked the car but before he could open the door, Emefa opened it, slumped into the front passenger seat and slammed the door. Easy girl, easy. Emefa tried to calm herself. Jamal knew how much she hated changing plans at the last minute.

Eben watched her and got into the driver’s seat without saying a word. He backed out of the parking lot, then turned and asked Emefa, “Which way are we headed?”

“Right”

“Okay”

A little over 20 minutes later, Eben pulled up into the carpark of the restaurant Emefa was meeting Jamal and her marriage counsellors at. It had been an awkwardly quiet ride from the office here. Eben glanced at Emefa and said quietly, “I have heard of prewedding jitters causing some friction between couples and it’s considered quite normal. Don’t let this little incident become a whole thing okay?”

Emefa turned towards him. “It’s all good.”

“Sure?”

“Yup. All good here” Emefa managed to smile to conceal her displeasure with Jamal’s actions.

Okay. I’ll see you on Thursday then…I don’t even know if I will still recognize you after your makeup is done.” Eben teased.

Emefa punched him playfully. “Ah! What’s that supposed to mean?”

Eben continued, “I’m just saying…the makeup you ladies do, especially brides. We can’t always tell it’s the same person.

“You’re just so silly.” Emefa looked toward the restaurant door. “I should go.”

“Yeah…sure…Later then?”

“Later.” Emefa was still hesitant to get out of the car and head towards the restaurant. Something didn’t just feel quite right.

Eben’s voice cut through her thoughts, “All the best Emefa. You are an amazing woman with a really great personality. I should just have been born earlier.”

“You really should stop saying that. I’m sure there’s a version of me somewhere in your generation.”

“You’re sure?” Eben took off his seat belt and opened up his arms to give her a hug. Emefa laughed and leaned into Eben’s hug but before she knew it, she was pressing her lips firmly against his. The more she tried to pull back the more she found herself leaning in. Her muscles were simply not cooperating with her brain. Everything in her was screaming, EMEFA! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?!

[That’s it for now. Thank you for reading. Tamarind E07 out next week. Till then, stay safe!]