Bound to Lust

After Before

The cheering got louder when the Chancelor ended his speech. The graduates in excitement threw their caps into the air. The three girls stood beside each other joining in the cheer. They were finally done with university.

"We made it!" Besty squealed excitedly

"I know right" Eli replied in a similar tone.

"I think you guys're forgeting about National Service." Adeline stated intentionally knowing that would put them off and it did.

"One whole year of slavery...uhhh" Eli groaned

"And they don't even pay well" Besty added. They groaned together and burst out laughing later on. The congregation was over so they went to look for their families to celebrate. Besty spotted hers first and ran to them. Adeline was sure her family was close by. A smile lit up her face when she saw little Benjie take tiny quick steps towards her. She bent with wide arms scooping him up when he got to her.

"I missed you so much" she cooed against his neck making him giggle. She smiled at his sensitivity. Joycelyn had gotten to her pulling them in an endearing hug.

"Congratulations, dear. I'm so proud of you" she said with admiration after all her daughter had graduated with honours.

"Thanks, mum" she replied. Her dad and brothers congratulated her as well. Later the families of the three friends sat together to celebrate till it was a bit late. They parted ways promising to call each other soon. Adeline sat in the back with her brothers as her father drove them home. Benjie, now a year old, was soundly asleep on her laps as she stared lovingly at him. He brought a sort of joy to their home after he was born. She got to spend little time with him because of school but now she was done and was going to be with him always. The music from her phone broke her thoughts. She took it out from her bag and smiled when she saw who it was.

"Hello, Uncle Ben" she greeted

"Congratulations madam graduate!" he said happily

"Thank you"

"So how does it feel to be a graduate?"

"It feels wonderful"

"Well enjoy that while it lasts because once you start your service, you'd wish you were back in school"

"Really?"

"Yeah, anyway how's my name"

"He's fine but asleep right now"

"I miss him"

"Already?"

"Yeah, he's my name after all and what can I do without my name?" Adeline burst out laughing causing Benjie to stir in his sleep.

"Please, if I continue this with you. I'd wake him up so I'll call you when I get home."

"You sure?" his,voice held a note of sarcasm. He knew she most likely wouldn't. She had a nasty habit of not calling people no matter how close they were.

"Fine, call me"

"Sure, safe journey and say hi to your folks for me. Tell them I'll be visiting soon"

"Alright, bye" she hung up and placed her phone back into her bag. "You guys, Ben says hi and he will be visiting soon"

"Oh cool" Ethan exclaimed. Her family had taken a liking to Ben even her dad. He made them laugh a lot.

"That's great." Joycelyn said a bit too enthusiastically. Ethan and Nathan shared a look and smirked. She smiled knowingly as well. Her mum has been passing hints about wanting the two of them to get together and she had been ignoring them. She wasn't ready for a relationship, not for a long time. She placed her headphones on to listen to music and stared out the window. It wasn't long before she dozed off cradling her son.

"Ade, wake up!" Ethan said shaking her slightly. She mumbled something and slowly opened her eyes. He was staring weirdly at her.

"What?" she asked

"Who's Noah?"

"What..."

"You said leave me Noah. Is he Benjie's father?"

"No, I don't remember saying that name. Now come on, lets go" she walked away quickly mentally scolding herself for being stupid. Her brothers were smart, really smart. If she wasn't careful, they would figure everything out easily. She sighed as she entered the house hoping he would let it be.

******
Adeline stood before the tall grey building smiling. This time she wasn't nervous at all. She walked into the building to the receptionist. It was a different woman from when she was last here.

"Good morning" she greeted

"Good morning, how may I help you." the lady responded.

"I'm here to submit my letter for service."

"Oh ok, please take the..."

"Don't worry. I know the place."

"Oh cool, see you around then" she smiled and walked along the familiar hallway to the elevator. She went to the human resource office, knocked and entered. The woman at the desk's face lit up

"Adeline!" she cried happily

"Good morning,Martha" she greeted

"Good morning, my dear. How are you?"

"I'm good, you?"

"I'm fine as well. What're you doing here?"

"I will be doing my service here."

"Oh wow, that's great. Where's your letter?"

"Here." She dived into her bag and picked a white envelope handing it to her.

"Great. I'll give you a call on when you should start"

"Ok, thank you"

"You're welcome. Now go say hello to your people. I'm sure they missed you more than I did." She smiled and nodded. She later walked out heading to the Bureau office. She almost got to the entrance when she saw Peter heading towards her. He hadn't seen her yet and when he did, his face broke into a grin. He walked to her pulling her in for a bear crushing hug. She laughed and hugged him back. He pulled away and held her at shoulder length.

"Wow, you've grown big." he said giving her a once over.

"Yeah, so says everyone."

"But it suits you. You look really great."

"Which poor girl are you harassing Peter?" a familiar voice said behind her. She grinned and turned to see Mr. Hayford. He looked surprised at first but opened his arms wide. She walked into them and he wrapped them around her.

"I really missed you,Miss. Quaye" he said

"I missed you too, Mr. Hayford." She responded stepping away.

"Come lets go to my office. I think we're drawing a crowd" He led them into his office making them take a seat as he sat as well. "We thought we'd never see you again"

"Oh no, I don't think you guys can get rid of me that easily." she said mischieviously making them laugh.

"Anyway what're you doing here?"

"I'd be doing my service here"

"Wow! We get to keep you for a year this time"

"Yeah"

"Great. Isn't it great,Peter?"

"Yeah, it is" Peter interjected.

She stayed awhile chatting with them. As she left, she reminisced the changes this place brought to her life and honestly she was happy about it.

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National Service is a compulsory work service for university graduates in Ghana. Without doing it, you can't get a job. It's sadly inevitable and I heard it's pretty annoying...Anyhoo, thanks for reading#^_^#

P.S Don't forget to vote and comment *_^