Come Back Abayomi

CHAPTER ONE

Abayomi slid the blade of her tenth anniversary letter opener into the flap sealing the letter and cut it open decisively. The bright green envelope stood out from the stack of letters she was processing before calling it a day. She sighed. It had been a long day. One of many, and the gilded letter opener gifted to her by her staff upon her tenth anniversary in this office was testament to that. It was a joke really. Abayomi on the other hand delighted at the relevance of a sharp object to do business with in this day and age, especially for a woman. She loved its weight in her hand. It made her feel like she'd accomplished something after all these years behind this desk. Her fingers parted the envelope and fished out a letter printed on official stationary. Abayomi held her glasses to her eyes without putting them on as she would when only scanning for importance. Skimming through the printed lines, the words 'xenophobia', 'South Africa' and 'agreement' leapt out at her. Abayomi hooked her glasses properly as she read the letter carefully again, then set it down on her desk and swung around in her chair to stare out of the window.

Down in the city below, Lagos was going about its daily business, as it usually did. Tiny people disembarking from a bus while others queued were signs that the afternoon traffic was picking up. Soon it would be chaos down there. But, despite life sprawling out into the streets in a hundred different directions, to Abayomi it all suddenly made perfect sense. Those teeming crowds down below in the streets of Lagos were her friends and neighbours, fellow human beings who gifted her with purpose, rather than just ants crawling across a dark continent. It wasn't so much the plight of Africans in the big world that got her started in this business all those years ago. No, remained diligently at this desk all that time simply because she believed that each of them deserved dignity.

It was the cornerstone of a life worth living, enough to build any dream upon, and now this letter had arrived!

"Abi, I'm off in a..." Pia stopped in mid-sentence, squinting to take a better look. "Geez, eat something, will you?" Pia ordered, surging into Abayomi's office as if there was a crisis. , Pia would've embraced her colleague and friend.

Pia stared inquisitively at Abayomi, whose mind was clearly still wandering around out there in Lagos. When Abayomi swung her chair around again, she clapped her palm over the envelope, but, alas, it was too late. Pia had noticed the green envelope and snatched the letter, suspecting it to be the cause of Abayomi's daydreaming. Pia pursed her lips sternly to warn Abayomi to back off, then ran her eyes along the text contained in the letter. Her eyebrows as she interpreted the contents. Her jaw dropped. - they both burst out laughing...

"Chineke me!" Pia shrieked, flopping into a chair. The news took a few moments to sink in - it truly was an 'Oh-My-God' moment!

"Now who says wishes don't come true?" Pia gasped. She picked up the telephone to dial Lemar, but Abayomi cut off the call.

"He would love this!" Pia said, wondering what Abayomi was playing at. "Lemar is perfect for this... he's qualified!" Pia said, wondering why Abayomi was reluctant to share the news with him.

"It's my decision who comes with me", Abayomi replied.

She stood up to stare out of the window at lively Lagos again. It was true. Abayomi knew that Lemar would indeed be an asset to the mission, but she didn't want him at her side on this particular occasion. Lemar was more a hunter out for the kill than a relationship-builder. A change from the traditional was clearly on Abayomi's mind.

"I've decided to take you instead" she said, finally.

"Stop messing around, Abi!" Pia frowned. She then realized that Abayomi was quite serious and the letter dropped onto the table.