He looked at her when she stopped. “What did you receive?”
“That‘s the deal. I‘ll tell if you say where we‘re headed.”
He guffawed. She put a hand on his thigh, “Edward please...”
“So you thought to make a stand? I didn‘t think so.”
She pouted and looked away. They soon arrived at Reed‘s Restaurant, which served Thai food. They had been here before, but Gladys was surprised to see her friend Ola walking up to the car. She opened the door and stepped out.
“What a coincidence!” She said as Ola came closer to them.
“I don‘t think it is.” Ola pointed to the group of people near the doors of the building.
Gladys looked up and gasped; she looked over to Edward who had just finished locking up.
“Happy birthday to you darling.” He smiled innocently at her and turned to Ola. “Allow me to use this opportunity to congratulate you on your confirmation too.”
“Don‘t look at me, I didn‘t tell him.” Gladys protested when Ola turned to her with an accusatory look.
Ola was a colleague whose cubicle was just down the hall from hers at the office. She had started out in the industry ten years ago as a lowly clerk but had risen to become a chartered accountant. They‘d taken to each other, maybe because she was a fairly new employee herself when Gladys joined the firm. Ola was Gladys‘s best friend even though she was older by some years. They shared more interests than she did with Jennifer or Ayo. Also, Ola was a Lagos girl and from her and Edward, Gladys had learnt all about living in and enjoying the hectic city.
“How did you find out then?” Ola turned back to Edward.
“Let‘s just say I have an ear to the ground.” He replied striding around the car. Her eyes settled on him but she was speechless. Her birthday was last week but she wasn‘t even a stickler for celebrations. Her family and a few friends had called with greetings and she was even happier when he‘d made time from his busy schedule in China to do the same.
He took her arms and gave her a brief kiss on the lips.
“So this is your surprise?”
“Yes, a birthday party. Do you still not like surprises?”
“I love this one.” She gave him a big hug. Ola laughed at them. “This was exactly what Azeez did to me when we arrived. I told him about the confirmation yesterday but I know this is not a day‘s work.”