The Dean’s Office (Part 1)

I know movies can be dramatic and are designed to entertain us.

“This scene is unrealistic,”

“That is too much of a coincidence,”

“The world is too large for these two to keep meeting,”

These are some of the commentary my brain runs when I sit to watch movies.

I had never set my eyes on him until the dean introduced us during one of the faculty meetings. He was tall, fair and properly dressed in a coffee brown Italian, slim-fit suit, a white shirt underneath and brown shoes to match. He seemed to have good taste in fashion.

“Dr. Osei, meet Francis Smith(PhD). He is the newest addition to the Business School. He will lecture in Finance,” the dean said.

“Pleased to meet you, Dr. Smith,” I said with my hands lifted to meet his in a firm handshake.

The two of us sat across the dean to discuss the course structure. We were still going to lecture for ten weeks, conduct interim assessments, give the students one project work to be executed in a group and finally examine them at the end of semester.

“I am glad you will be working together to make this semester a successful one,” the dean said. “But Francis, keep it strictly professional. She is definitely not your type and she is married.”

The dean said while sharing a hearty laugh with Dr. Smith.

I couldn’t tell how far their friendship went but I was simply not interested in where this joke was headed.

I packed my notebook into my bag and quickly made my way to the door of the dean’s office.

“Let’s just say I haven’t grown out of my boyish desires,” I heard Dr. Smith respond with another loud laughter which rang through the office and was followed by another handshake.

This Francis guy or Dr. Smith was good looking and God knows he looked great in that suit. Many women would definitely kill to date him but who really is Dr. Francis Smith?

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My sense of style cannot be described as classy or chic or trendy. I dress to feel comfortable and on regular days, I wear my African print dresses and my natural hair is always pulled up in a bun.

Today, I am dressed in a crisp white long sleeves with a navy blue body con skirt and a three-inch high heel. This is how I dress whenever I needed to represent the Business School at meetings off-campus. The dean offered me his spot at a high level meeting with some government officials and I had to look, act and speak the part. No wonder most of the participants wanted to interact with me right after the meeting.

I needed to grab some breakfast from the Senior Staff Cafeteria before heading over to the dean’s to debrief.

“There you are,”

A voice behind me made me turn and it belonged to no other than Dr. Smith. What do they say about coincidences again?

“Hi,”

“I haven’t set my eyes on you since we had that meeting at the dean’s office. We’re supposed to work together, you know,”

His eyes moved from my face, down to my little cleavage and they rested on my skirt before making their way to my eyes again.

“You could have have simply asked the dean for that information,” I said.

“You know, why don’t we sit at the table in the corner and have a little chat. The waitress could serve us,” he said.

“Second floor, Lecture Theatre 5, Room 7. You can find me there,” I said quickly while picking my meal and leaving the cafeteria.

…..to be continued

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#WBC2020 – ‘By the time he woke up, I was dying… (a creative story)

I walked to the washroom and saw Michael sitting on toilet, scrolling through his phone.

I folded my arms, waiting for him to notice me. He looked up and our eyes met.

“The test came out negative again, ” I said.

He got up, flushed the toilet, washed his hands and came over to give me a hug.

“Hey, it’s not your fault,” he said.

I don’t remember the number of times I had heard that statement. This is our eleventh year of marriage and I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve hoped, tried and taken those stupid pregnancy tests. They always managed to come out negative.

I wanted to scream at Michael but I couldn’t. I knew what he’d say,

“Let’s keep trusting God. He’s the one who gives children,”

I don’t blame him. Society never bothers men when married couples do not bear children. It’s always the woman’s fault.

I thought this month’s attempt at conceiving was going to yield positive results. I took the medication and the doctor reiterated that Michael and I were perfectly normal and there’ll be good news this month.

“We’ll keep trying,” Michael repeated.

I nodded just to please him. I walked to the room to call Sandra, my best friend.

“The test came out negative. Again.”

“Let’s meet at my place,” she offered.

I quickly dressed up and told Michael I needed to clear my head.

He walked over to me, gave me another hug and said,

“Take all the time you need,”

“I will,” I said with a smile.

I drove straight to Sandra’s and parked my car. The door flew opened and with wide arms, Sandra welcomed me.

I started narrating my ordeal. This isn’t the first time Sandra is hearing my trying-to-conceive story. She knew about it but her facial expression showed she wasn’t tired of hearing it.

“I have an idea,” Sandra interjected. “Do you remember Denise? She had been trying for 15 years too and she has twins now. She showed me something that worked for her,”

Sandra walked to her room and came back with a bottle.

“This is her magic potion. She testifies it had helped several women like her. Go ahead. Try it,”

I took the bottle with some level of doubt. What do I have to lose anyway? I knew Denise’s story. Who doesn’t? She keeps flaunting the twins on her Instagram page.

“Denise tells me you may feel a little drowsy an hour later after you take it. You may want to drink it while you’re at home,”

Thinking of Michael, who’ll definitely not approve of this, I drank the concoction and picked my car keys.

“I should be at home before I feel the effects of that. Thank you for everything, Sandra,” I gave my childhood best friend a quick hug and rushed to my car.

The journey was smooth till about 400 metres to my home. I started feeling the discomfort. It was in my tummy and I was sweating profusely. I stepped on the accelerator and made the journey in less than a minute.

As I turned the ignition off, I felt the most excruciating pain in my stomach. I tried to make it to the door but that was impossible. I laid on the ground and tried to shout for Michael. He was probably taking a nap. I clenched my teeth and held my stomach tightly as if that was going to make the situation better but, nothing happened. It was as if my breath was being taken out of me. My life flashed before my eyes.

This is the worst feeling I’ve ever felt. I said a prayer and my world was whirling so fast that I had to keep my eyes shut. Michael wouldn’t know the real story. By the time he woke up, I was dying…

***This is 18/22 of the #WinterABC2020. The prompt is “By the time he woke up, I was dying…Share a creative story with this line.***

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Never Ending Afrobloggers Chain Story

A never-ending chain story by the Afrobloggers community

It was a time for the planting season to begin and you’d expect everyone to be elated but for the rains. They had come too early… …and far too much. The earth became a soggy porridge, a fertile breeding ground for a very unexpected harvest. [Tawa of Gentlegiantblog & Beaton of BecomingTheMuse]

The year was 2025. 5 years after the fatal and brutal COVID19 had ravaged the world and left it empty. Almost. You see the world as we all knew it prior to 2020 was now a memory. A distant memory that no one wanted to talk about. [Sophie of akitcheninuganda.com]

The few of us who had survived the fatal virus now lived in groups we called tribes. Trying to live everyday. Fearful and distrustful of strangers. Never venturing out of the zones we had set for ourselves. [Mable of Mablesrants.wordpress.com]

Mona was the outlier of her tribe. She was 23 and had survived the pandemic. She felt life had to be lived in faith and without fear. Unfortunately for her, her newfound love for life was also the newly discovered fear for her parents who felt safer living within their zones. [OMT of www.omtsdigest.com]

So Mona’s faith couldn’t push her through. Fear still covered her like another pandemic was yet to come. In her zone, her girlfriends constructed a mansion where they all lived like it was a little country. Some farmers, others tailors, others saloonists others chefs, they grew their food and partied there own bar just like in the same compound. [Kadali.Bartlett of Kadaliblog.wordpress.com]

Life was not as Mona and her friends had known it, but through the stories of pain and survival they managed to get through the days. Each time she saw her parents and how her mom seemed safe in her father’s arms her heart ached as she remembered her love [ScotchRoyalty ofscotchroyalty.wordpress.com]

Locked in her fear, Mona decided to ask God for strength and restore her faith. Deep down she knew that nothing comes easy but she believed that God will make things right and erase the fear that clouded her and her parents and live a life filled with happiness. [Nikki_zw ofhumanityboss.blogspot.com]

One night, when the clock hit midnight she felt an energy in the room. She heard a woman’s voice say, ‘I am here to lift you up and remove all fear.’ She opened her eyes and saw nothing but still felt this woman’s presence. ‘Who are you?’ she asked. ‘I am the ghost witch.’[BecominguBu of becomingubu.com]

Mona knew the witch’s visit was the beginning of the adventure she had been waiting for all along. Just as the ghost witch had said, her fear was erased by her longing desire for something different. Something new awaited her.
The witch only had one question for her, “Are you ready?”. [Tanaka of Passion Victim Blog]

She held in her hands, a book of which she said “contained all the places in the work beyond the Aksum zone she could visit.”

It was at that moment her spirit fully awakened as the raging soul storms calmed, “Lead the way”, she said. The ghost witch took form. [rasmunroe of My Story, My Own Words]

A breeze filled the room and Mona saw the fairest creature in front of her. The sight of the Ghost Witch was overwhelming. The Ghost Witch stretched her hands towards Mona as the breeze grew stronger forming a whirlwind. Mona took the hands, held on tightly and closed her eyes. [Miss_Kayzi of Chipo_kayzi]

Mona couldn’t help but imagine the beautiful world that awaited her and as the speed of wind increased, she could no longer feel her body. It could have been an hour of spinning in the whirlwind but when Mona opened her eyes, she was lying on a pile of snow.

RULES:

  • read then copy and paste the entire post including rules
  • start a new paragraph Max 50 words
  • include a link back to this post so we can keep track of the stories
  • also include a link from the previous story entrant (the one you continuing from)
  • Tag the person who is next so they know they are up.
  • For a list of the other participants and full rules check Afrobloggers Post
  • contact Afrobloggers to be part of the line-up of participants
  • If you are not part of the list or do not wish to join the never-ending chain story, you are still free to use the story as a prompt and continue it how you wish on your site just link back to original Afrobloggers post.

What if…? (If He was a man)

What if…? is that mysterious man with the superhuman strength that everyone in the community revers seems to be afraid of. Tales are told of how he has disfigured the faces of the strongest men, made folly of the proud women and even disarmed soldiers who attempted to get close. As for the little children, the fables they’ve heard are enough to keep them away.

What if…? lives on the peak of highest mountain overlooking the town, where nobody abides. His house may seem haunted, his bed, as we are told, is made of steel. His kitchen has the biggest hearth with the biggest fire you can ever imagine. That is where he puts the cauldron used to boil disobedient children. His dam is what has cut water supply to the rest of the town.

“Do you want to loose your teeth or your limbs?” the older folks always ask when they sense someone is seeking to challenge What if…?

The large tract of land that surrounds his house is fallow yet nobody in the town has attempted to conduct any activity there.

“Are you building close to …?” they stammer, pointing to the mountaintop but unable to mention his name.

What if..? could have easily vied for the topmost leadership position in the community, as some say, because he is the wisest, strongest and the most knowledgeable. No town will conquer ours, in times of war, if he is made the leader. Why he is still not among the leadership is still a mystery.

We have heard so many stories that are enough to put fear into us but as I narrate the story of What if…? I haven’t had any personal encounter with him yet. I am not the only one who hasn’t. None of my friends have had any either.

These stories I tell are what I’ve heard from my father. I confronted him the other day to know if indeed What if..? is as strong as the town makes us believe. That was when he confessed he has never set his eyes on What if..?? He directed me to Grandpa. When I posed the question to him, he also responded he has never met What if…?

Perhaps the town’s sage may have encountered him. The sage is the oldest man in the town. He is known to have fought in World War I and has answers to some of the most absurd questions. I was confident when I walked up to him and posed the puzzling question.

“I know he lives on the mountaintop but nobody has ever set their eyes on him,” the town sage responded

“So you haven’t seen him too,” I whispered, too shocked to speak.

“My dear, I haven’t,” he admitted.

It was then that it struck me. Is it minutely possible that What if..? may not exist at all? Would I be right to believe that the tale of this strong man may be in the imagination of the towns folks? I am not sure but I may find out one day. That will be the day that I will gather courage to climb the highest mountain of the town and take a peep into What if’s..? house. If I come back alive, I will have the answer to my question.

Until then, “What if…? is the wisest, strongest and the most knowledgeable in this town.” Please don’t tell anyone that I haven’t met him yet.

This is Day 6 of the 21-day lock down blogging challenge and the writing prompt is ‘What if?

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