Diary of a Single Mom: I’m Not a Man Hunter (Part 2)

Diary of a Single Mom: I’m Not a Man Hunter (Part 2)
Temitope Rotimi

Read the previous part here

Her name was Miss Yemi and she was ready to make the few weeks I had to work with them hellish for me. The hate was real. Her smile would vanish once I walked into anywhere she was. She would answer with so much bile everytime I needed help with something I didn’t understand. Thank God I got the hang of the job quickly and didn’t need help from her any more, this must have hurt her too.

I was hiding in a cubicle one day when I heard Mayowa ask some of his colleagues if they knew where I was. I could see him from a tiny space in the cubicle.

“Have you seen Mummy Valerie?” He turned to ask Miss Yemi.

“No.” She shook her head, the frown on her face hard as rock.

“Please can you help me check that cubicle?” He asked her again.
I wasn’t sure how he was still oblivious to the fact that she couldn’t stand me.

“No,” she hissed.

“Okay.” Mayowa picked up his phone and mine started to ring. I took the call and he asked me to come.

“So you have been in that cubicle all this time.” His face lit up when he saw me. “Didn’t you hear me say your name?”

I shook my head and cleared my throat. “What’s up?” The glare coming from Miss Yemi had me ready to disappear to the cubicle the next minute. I had better stuff to worry about like my little princess starting school the next month.

“Nothing,” he said and pulled an empty chair to his side. “Come and sit beside me so I won’t have too look for you again.”

Miss Yemi almost held her chest from falling. I felt bad for her but I also felt hurt; she was older than I was and seemed to be such a nice person to everyone but me. I wish she knew I wasn’t there to hunt her man down, we could have been good friends. At that time, I really needed a friend in an older woman who had her career and well, almost every other area of her life in order. I needed a close role model.

I sat in the chair anyway, Mayowa was the boss not her. He started to crack his silly jokes and I couldn’t help but steal some glances at Miss Yemi. The babe was swelling and deflating at intervals. I made an excuse and left the table and the man for her before she could burst and mess the whole place up with bile. Why so insecure?

Now, Mayowa and I got talking a bit on WhatsApp and we found out we had a lot in common like loving the same movies, music and books. This sparked a friendship between us but I was careful not to go too close enough to be eaten by the lioness.

One morning at the office, Mayowa dropped a bombshell. He had decided not to call me Mummy Valerie anymore. He called me by my first name, without warning! Miss Yemi turned her chair in slow motion to see who her man was calling and I could hear the Mortal Kombat soundtrack play in my head. It was time to run for cover.

To be continued…