Dairy of a college girl episode 5

DIARY OF A COLLEGE GIRL:
A TOUCH OF LOVE
EPISODE 5
© GRACE KLUBI
 
Sister Yaa cooked up a sumptuous breakfast for us and we sat at the dining table together and ate. Neither she nor I wanted to leave mummy’s side the wh0le day.
 
We had a lazy day together, laughing around joking and eating a lot of food. I was grateful that a week so bleak had seen such a pleasant end.
 
At the end of the day, Sister Yaa led us to offer prayers of gratitude to the Lord. All three of us shed a few tears to dispel the fear we had been feeling and welcomed hope and a new day into our lives.
 
We had triumphed over death, and we could live free.
 
Being malnourished for a week made me feel a bit weak.
 
I was feeling generally fatigued but I pushed those feelings down to be with my mother. The weekend was bliss. We went out on Saturday to a garden and had a picnic. Sister Yaa and I prepared some sandwiches, smoothies, and a lot of finger foods.
 
We had a good time while talking, laughing, and playing around.
 
We also did a few rounds of yoga. Sister Yaa and I were trying to keep mum lightheaded and stress-free. We had taken her official phone from her and she wasn’t allowed to answer any calls on her line concerning Nana K or any stressful issues.
 
A ranking board member had been appointed to serve as acting CEO whilst my mother recovered. He seemed to be doing well. The picnic was so much fun. After coming tops in all the games – from charades to musical chairs – I won the prize prepared. A chocolate bar the size of a mini table.
 
We had it specially ordered from Sweet Delights, one of the best candy makers in the country.
 
I picked a knife and cut into it saying.
 
“I dedicate this win to you mummy,” I said.
 
“And to Kwasi,” Sister Yaa added with a hint of mischief.
 
“Who’s Kwasi?” mom asked.
 
“Oh, a guy at work,” I replied, glaring at Sister Yaa. “He’s the son of the Agtu CEO.”
 
“Oh yeah! Akwasi,” mother exclaimed. “He was a nice boy when he was younger. Very kind and honest to a fault.”
 
“He still isss,” Sister Yaa said in a sing-song voice.
 
I gave her another glare. Mummy looked at me questioningly and seemed to swallow her words of further query.
 
“Well,” she said. “We dedicate this chocolate to me and Kwasi! Now let’s dig in.”
 
We could barely eat half. We finally packed up at sundown and went home to rest.
 
On Sunday morning, we went for an awesome church service and had a lazy afternoon.
 
Sister Yaa had advised that I take at least a day off since the previous week had been stressful for me. I refused, saying I had missed a wh0le week, and adding more days wouldn’t be good enough.
 
***
 
And so, on Monday, I reported back to work.
 
That day at work was stressful.
 
Assignments had piled up on my desk because, as we were informed on the first day, every individual had to do their assignments. I quickly got to work, filing this, writing that, running this errand, proofreading this memo, sending out emails in a seemingly unending stressful streak.
 
I was so engrossed with my duties that I barely noticed the time or activities around me. But, suddenly, I heard the voices of people laughing. I raised my head to see Kwasi and Juan walking towards me and holding hands again.
 
I was getting used to that rather unpleasant sight, well, unpleasant in my estimation anyway. They asked if I would like to go have lunch. I replied in the negative; I had too much work to do.
 
Kwasi shook his head disapprovingly and wanted to protest but Juan replied faster.
 
“Okay. If you’re sure,” she said.
 
She grabbed Kwasi’s hand and pulled him towards the exit. My head went back down and I continued working.
 
About half an hour later, I began to feel faint.
 
“My blood sugar is too low.” I said to myself. “Time to find something to eat.”
 
I got up and suddenly felt dizzy and sat back down. Kwasi walked up to me but, seeing him from a distance, he looked blurred.
 
I got up and walked towards him.
 
“Cher, I saved you some lunch,” he said.
 
“Thank you,” I replied and reached out to take the pack of food and that was the moment everything became black for me.
 
***
 
I woke up to the voices of people raised in anxiety.
 
“Cherie! Cherie! Wake up!”
 
Juan, Fala, Stan, and Awurasi were standing above me. I opened my eyes slowly.
 
“Where am I?” I asked weakly.
 
Fala smiled and nudged me.
 
“Dadaba! You fainted! Do you know how scared we were?!”
 
I smiled at her and looked around. Kwasi was nowhere to be found. Then I looked up and saw his face looking down at mine tenderly. My head was in his lap as I was lying on the bench.
 
“Oh…” I said, a bit embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”
 
I made to get up and he held me down in place.
 
“Don’t you even dare,” he said. “How can you just go round doing assignments meant for a week in one day without eating? Are you trying to harm yourself?”
 
His voice was a mixture of annoyance and worry. I felt even more embarrassed.
 
“I’m sorry guys. I’m fine now. Really. I feel better already,” I said.
“Alright guys,” Awuraesi said. “Let’s leave Cherie to have some lunch and get some air. She’s almost finished all her work anyway. I checked.”
 
They wished me well and went back to their stations.
 
All except him.
 
“Aren’t you going?” I asked as I made to get up from his lap. He held me down again.
 
“Nope. I’m staying next to you for the rest of the day.”
 
“But… your assignments will pile up,” I countered.
 
He looked down at me and put a finger across my l-ips.
 
“Shhh. You talk too much.”
 
His finger lingered, a little too long on my lower lip as he traced the outline of my lip. I closed my eyes. I had a feeling of an idea of what was about to happen and yet, I didn’t want it to stop.
 
My heart was racing.
 
And then Juan’s high pitched voice interrupted my reverie.
 
“Here’s the food we got you, Cherie,” she said, handing the food to me. “Feeling a bit better?”
 
I muttered a thank you and finally got up from Kwasi and sat down behind my desk.
 
“Well…” I began, trying not to sound awkward. “I’d better eat this right?”
 
“Yeah sure,” he replied.
 
His gaze was unable to meet mine. We had come very close to doing something very inappropriate for an office, and I guess he had been just as embarrassed as me.
 
After lunch, he left me and we both got back to work till we closed.
 
As usual, Juan had sat in front seat of his car, and I made to sit at the back but Kwasi’s voice came up.
 
“Juan, since you’ll alight first, why don’t you let Cherie sit in front so she doesn’t have to be switching seats when you alight? You know she’s not feeling so well.”
 
The displeased look on Juan’s face was very obvious.
 
“Okay fine. But just because you’re not well.”
 
She opened the door and got down grudgingly and moved to the back seat while I sat in front. Kwasi got in next to me, strapped in and we took off.
 
The ride was pretty much silent unlike the usual happy banter, except for the pings from Juan’s phone indicating WhatsApp notifications. She was visibly engrossed in texting someone and didn’t even realise when we reached her stop.
 
Kwasi parked and waited for her to alight, and then he zoomed off.
 
En route, he grabbed my hand and turned slightly to glance at me, then kept his eyes on the road throughout the journey.
 
He would release my hand if he had to change to use both hands to turn a curve, and hold it again when he was in mostly straight drives that he could manipulate single-handedly.
 
I remained silent as my heart pounded so heavily that I could hear it in my ears. When we got to the place I’d alight, he drove past.
 
“Umm Kwasi….” I started. “Where are you taking me?”
 
“Dropping you in front of your house, darling,” He replied without looking at me.