Scars (Romola 2)

14: Romola's Contact

Olumide opened the door to the HR department. A few heads looked his way. He spent a few seconds trying to locate Naomi's head of dark blue twist braids.

Somone tapped their colleague and they stopped speaking as he walked further down the large office space, separated by office desks and chairs. He would deal with staff ineptitude later. Romola was a frog in his pot that he had to get rid of before she killed him.

He walked in a straight path to the large door on the other side of the room. He shut the door behind him.

"See, you would not believe how she made the cake. I don't want that baker." Naomi sat in her chair, speaking into her phone and playing with a pen.

He stood behind her visitor's chair and stared down at her slim face with high cheekbones.

"Naomi." He tapped his fingers against the leather chair.

"I'll call you back." Naomi ended her call. She walked around the desk, past him to the file cabinet on the left. "What can I do for you, Mr Makinde?"

"If everyone else is slacking, I don't expect the HR head to slack off too."

"It was just a phone call. What can I help you with?"

"That girl. The one who left the interview. Did she come back?"

Naomi opened the cabinet and drew out a file. "I wasn't expecting her back. Were you?"

Olumide sat in it in the visitor's seat as she sat in hers and stared at him. "Is there something between you and her?"

"What? No? Never?"

Naomi picked up her cat-eye shaped glasses and perched them on her nose as she stared at the file. "It didn't seem like that to me. "

"Don't you know her? I think everyone knows her. Her nudes were flying across the internet a while ago."

"Yes."

Olumide rested in the chair, waiting for Naomi to speak. She flipped the pages of the file. The sound of the air conditioner filled the space between them.

He leaned forward. "So why did you invite her for an interview here?"

"I didn't"

Then how did she get here? Or do people just show up for an interview unannounced?"

"Why are you so bothered about her? She didn't sit for the interview. She isn't getting the job."

Olumide let his head loll on the chair and tried to keep a smile from his face. but uncertainty still plagued his heart. "Tell me how she got here."

"She was referred by a professor."

"Who is that man that doesn't know what he is doing?"

"Professor Olatunde."

Olumide sighed. Professor Olatunde was an old friend of his father. The man had taught many of the country's current leading men and women- both home and abroad.

"But how does Romola know Prof Olatunde?"

"Did you say something?"

"No." He shook his head. "She just left like that?"

"I don't know if you were expecting her to stay after the way you treated her."

"Me? Didn't you hear what she said to me?"

"Olumide, I'm very sure there is something between you and her."

"How can you say that? You don't even know her."

Naomi raised her eyes. "And you do?

She was definitely baiting him.

"I'm just saying that it's weird that someone like her would show up at a corporate environment."

"I think it was pretty brave of her to show up."

"Brave?"

Naomi dropped the file, then tuned to the laptop. "Most people who have their sensitive pictures released never recover. They end up as prostitutes or porn stars Most of them never live a normal life. So I think it was pretty brave of her to come out and try to get a job.

"For most girls, their nudes are released by accident or as a sick form of revenge. People just assume the worst about them. They are objectified wherever they go. Miss Ibikunle is brave for at least trying."

Some of what Naomi said was fine but they were talking about Romola- a prostitute who knew no such thing as shame. Her innocent eyes belied her sinful body and her even darker mind. She was definitely trying to get back at him. But why?

"Well, it's too bad she left. I think I would have liked to know her." Naomi said.

"Can't you just call her back?"

Naomi frowned. "It's not like you want her here."

"Let's give her another chance."

It wasn't like Romola could get the job. She didn't have the qualifications it took to work in a company like this. Someone with a social status like hers could never make it to this company.

"As much as I would like to, I can't."

"Why?"

"I don't have her number."

Olumide rose "What do you mean?"

"It was supposed to be an unbiased test. The candidates would show up from refereed sources and we would recruit them based on the talent and knowledge they showed at the interview. The fact that I recognized her and you did too, already made the interview biassed."

"So you don't have her contact details?"

"The only person that can give us that is her mentor."

"Professor Olatunde?" The professor could not have anything to do with a shrimp like Romola.

"Her mentor is one of his students. All the people who came here today were mentored by Professor Olatunde's students."

"So do you have the mentor's number?"

"What do you want it for?"

"Since you've convinced me that she is so brave, I want us to reschedule the interview."

As long as he remained CEO, she would not get the job.

"Hmm."

"I'll stay out of the interview this time. It'll just be you and her."

Naomi reached for the stack of business cards on her table and flipped through them. "I'm only letting this happen because you scared her off."

"Or because you're a big softie for troubled people?"

She handed him the card then shook her head. "It's not that but I'm a bit suspicious about your interest."

"Hey, you talked me into this."

She narrowed her gaze at him. "Are you sure there is nothing between you too?"

"There was nothing and there will never be."

Author's Note:

 So sorry for the late update. I had a busy day.