“No this would be for clothes for me. I‘d like your opinion.”
Gladys smiled; her aunt could be so nice sometimes. “What‘s the occasion?”
“It‘s a cocktail party. My friend is organizing it for her eldest son. You have met Atinuke, haven‘t you? You tied the bronze gele headscarf used during the Oba‘s do for both of us.”
“Oh I remember her now. We didn‘t actually meet but I remember that occasion. It was the golden jubilee of the Nigerian Navy, where they presented a plaque to the Oba?”
“That‘s the one. You couldn‘t go because an interview came up for you to attend.”
“Yes.” Gladys breathed a sigh a relief as she recalled that she no longer had to hunt through the job ads in newspapers or spend hours to adjust her resume for different positions. And no more fruitless interviews which also included some old managers being more interested in her clothes and her body than what she knew and could contribute to their organizations. She caught herself in time to hear the tail end of her aunt‘s speech.
“...should enjoy this one.”
“Sorry, I didn‘t get what you just said. My attention wandered for a moment.”
“Are you distracted by your new job already?” Her aunt looked at her fondly and continued. “Atinuke has invited both of us for the cocktail party, and it‘s for the second Saturday in May. I said I was sure you would enjoy it.”
“Will there be young people there?” She asked because the last time she went out with her aunt and some of her friends was not a very happy memory. They either interrogated her and then got annoyed at her answers or ignored her totally; there‘d been no common ground.
Aunt Isioma laughed, “You‘re worried you‘ll be bored like the last time. Like I said, it‘s in honor of her son who just returned from London after completing his doctorate. So I‘m sure there‘ll be quite a few of his own friends there of similar age.”
In her head Gladys began to sort the few clothes in her closet. “What‘s the dress code?”
“Atinuke is something of a stickler and it‘s at the Ocean View Restaurant, so probably classy.” Her aunt began to move toward the stairs. “Do you have something suitable?”