Yoke Of Love

Signs of Love

Kolawole arrived around three o’clock in the afternoon; and he was very surprised when the Receptionist asked; “You are Kolawole Adegbola, right?” The young man nodded his head dumbly; “Okay, go direct to Mrs. Lola Abolaji’s office; she is expecting you.” Kolawole left the Reception office, wondering what could be the meaning of his quick recognition in that paints company.

When Kolawole stepped into her spacious office, Madam Lola welcomed him cheerfully, and said; “I have made all the necessary arrangement for your official interview next Monday morning by ten o’clock prompt, just make sure to come to my office before the appointed time on Monday morning;” and she handed a printed sheet of paper to him which contained some important information about the paints producing company’s raw materials requirement and their procurement sources.

Kolawole read the vital information, and he knew the woman was helping him for a reason. “Try to memorize some of the raw materials listed in that paper I just gave you; you will need those information at the interview next Monday morning; please don’t allow any member of staff in this company to see that sheet of paper, hide it very well; and don’t come with that paper on the day of your interview; I wish you good luck.”

Kolawole quickly removed one of his shoes; he placed the sheet of paper deep inside the shoe and put his leg back inside that shoe again. Lola was amused by the way the young man respected the vital information she gave him, and asked; “Where are you going from here?”

Kolawole shrugged his shoulders and said; “I don’t really know how to thank you for helping me this way, but I think I should go home and study the vital information you just gave me; with God on my side and with that kind of information; I belief the job is mine already, and you are the angel God has sent to help me get the job Mrs. Lola Abolaji.”

Madam Lola laughed heartily, and said; “Angel indeed; wait until you get the job first, it is then you will know what I will ask you in return for the support I am giving you; and that is when you will be in a position to tell me what you think of me; nothing is free in this world my young man, nothing is free even in Freetown!”

She finished still laughing and moving her body seductively on her chair; but the young man did not notice the sign Madam Lola was flashing at him openly; a well experienced man would have noticed Madam Lola’s open sign of seduction. However, Kolawole thought the woman would be sharing his monthly salary with him after he get the job; that is better than not having a job at all, he reasoned within himself.

Mrs. Lola Abolaji escorted the young man out of the company’s gate to prevent the company’s security personnel from running a search on him if he should leave the company’s premises alone.

Many people in the company who saw Lola with the handsome young man wondered who he could possibly be; Mrs. Lola Abolaji was not the kind of woman who associates with other men apart from her husband who was a respected University Don.

When Tunde Oredara returned from work later that Friday evening, he met Kolawole in a pensive mood; he playfully slapped him on the back, and asked; “What is killing you my friend? Cheer up my guy, there is always a solution to every problem if you share it with a good friend,” Tunde concluded sitting on their bed.

“Alright Tunde, check this out; Madam Lola told me in a plain language to be well prepared for what she will require from me after I landed the job!” Kolawole announced helplessly.

Tunde was shocked at his friend’s behavior when he had a good chance of getting a mouth watering job. “Kolawole, I think you should be thinking of getting the job first instead of worrying yourself to death of what your helper would demand from you! When you arrive at a broken bridge, that is when you should be thinking about how to cross the bridge without falling into the water,” Tunde said to his friend solemnly.

“What if she asks for a huge amount of money or demands for half of my monthly salary?” Tunde shrugged his shoulders; “I still suggest you wait until you get the job first; you are putting the cart before the horse; don’t forget that it is the horse that will drag the cart!”

However, Kolawole could not help thinking about what that crafty woman said; “Nothing is free in this world; not even in Freetown;” Madam Lola had said. He wondered if he should tell Buckit about Mrs. Lola Abolaji’s insinuation.

He wisely rejected that idea, telling Buckit about what madam Lola said at this early stage before his official interview may ruin his chance of getting a job in such a big public quoted company in Nigeria. He decided to borrow himself a good sense of reasoning by not complaining to Buckit or anyone else before he ruins everything.

The following day, Saturday at the swimming pool; he only informed Buckit about the scheduled interview on Monday at his friend’s company. Buckit congratulated him in advance. “I am happy for you Kolawole, but try not to mess things up for yourself or do anything that would embarrassed me before my friend; do whatever your boss ask you to do legally and don’t forget a job from such a big Organization does not come easily; you are getting that job because McQueen is my closest friend in this Country.”

What Buckit said really cheered Kolawole up a great deal; and the white man still paid him as usual for couching his son how to swim Olympic style.

However, Buckit noticed the young man was worried about something he did not wish to share with him; the white man did not want to pry, he then decided to take Kolawole along with him to their exclusive club that evening; Kolawole rejected the offer at first, but he quickly agreed to go when Buckit informed him that Mr. Hollywood McQueen would also be at the club that evening.

McQueen arrived at the club by five o’clock, Buckit introduced Kolawole to his friend; Mr. Hollywood McQueen looked at Kolawole searchingly for a while; he liked the innocent looking young man; and asked Kolawole some questions.

And Kolawole did his best as he answered the man’s questions to the best of his understanding; the few questions he could not answer, he simply said; “I have no idea sir, but I am willing to learn if I am giving the chance to learn on the job sir.”

Mr. Hollywood McQueen decided to give the young man a chance to prove himself worthy of his employment in the paints company; the effect of meeting with Mr. McQueen at the exclusive Club of Ikeja had made the scheduled official interview in the coming Monday as just a formality; McQueen liked the young man; and he congratulated his friend for been a clever judge of good men.

Kolawole later left the two white men at the exclusive Club a happier man, but the thought of what Madam Lola would collect from him soon after he landed the job bothered him a great deal.

However, by the time he got back to their one room apartment around ten o’clock in the night, he was singing his favorite song: “Bi moji lowuro kutukutu ma dori mu, Mo sorire oh Eleda mi modupe oh” (meaning; “When I wake up in the morning I will hold my head, because I am prospering with the help of my Creator; thank you my Lord”).