“I sorry madam, I forget. I not know who him be and you no dey house when he call. The man dey very angry today...”
“Why won‘t he be very angry?” Aunt Isioma wasn‘t speaking to Tolani anymore. She dashed to her feet and strode to her own room. She‘d strewn the whole contents of her handbag on the bed and was about to pick the phone when it began to ring. Gladys‘s mother‘s phone number flashed up on the screen.
She flipped it open. “Hello, Eunice…”
“Good afternoon Aunt Isioma. It‘s me Gladys…”
“Good afternoon my dear, I was just about to call your mother to make sure you arrived safely.”
“Mama said she tried calling you earlier without any answer. I‘m sorry I didn‘t call either of you. I think I misplaced my phone somewhere or I may have lost it on the way back to Enugu…”
“Your phone is in your room here. I just found out this evening when I got back. Tell your mother to accept my apologies, I was in a meeting and had to switch off my phone.”
“I‘ll tell her. Oh and what a relief about the phone! When I tried calling, a strange voice replied and dropped it. I‘ve been worried sick. You know I‘m expecting to hear from Edward…”
“I don‘t know what to with this new girl.”
Gladys was surprised. What had Tolani done this time? And why was her aunt even cutting in with a story about her?
“She doesn‘t know your name! Edward‘s been calling your phone since morning. She will go into your room, pick the call and inform him that there‘s no one here by that name. I was here all morning but she never bothered to tell me about it.”
There was a long pause. “Gladys, are you there?”
“Aunt Isioma I am here. I am just so relieved. I‘d made up my mind to call him with Mama‘s phone after calling you.” It wouldn‘t be fair for her to still hold out for him to make the first move knowing that her phone was lost and he couldn‘t reach her. But it was good to know that he was willing to talk to her.
“I suggest you do that right away.”