Recap

Thanks to sharp-tongued Nuerkie, Elorm will be starting a side hustle by repackaging and selling her mother’s achoomo¹. Nana is still lurking in the shadows using every opportunity to get to know her.

Worla is facing one of her biggest heartbreaks. The heartbreak from someone she called a friend and business partner.

Auntie D is excited about how her achoomo business is booming, all thanks to Elorm’s colleagues. Korshi has been holding back with expenses for the house seeing that his wife is always busy making money.

2 months later

JONATHAN

It has been exactly seven weeks since Worla broke up with me. We dated for two weeks. I do not think that makes her qualified to be called an ”ex”. I remember trying to reach her on Sunday afternoon, Elorm picked my call and briefed me on what Janice did. I hated that Worla was hurting but I was slightly relieved Janice was out of her life. Worla has so much potential and I hope she is realising it now.

A month ago, I saw on LinkedIn. She had started a role as an Associate Head of Marketing for Legacy Insurance. I am so proud of her.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 Flashback to seven weeks ago

Elorm asked me to give Worla some space on Sunday because she did not want to talk to anybody. Worla ignored me for three days, I was worried but Auntie and Elorm assured me. On the fifth day, which was a Friday, exactly two weeks after our first official date. She asked to see me.

She came to my house which was rare. During our years of friendship, she either met me at my gate or asked me to come to her place. This time around, she entered the compound and asked that we sit in my hall. My parents barely lived in our house in Accra. They preferred to stay at the old house in Akosombo for the calm and serene nature.

I hugged her tight and planted a kiss on her forehead

‘’Oh my baby, I am so sorry about Janice. You look better. I miss you so much’’ I said as we sat down. She gave me a wry smile and took a deep breath.

‘’Is everything alright? You know you do not have to shut me out Worla’’ I said

‘’I know but this is one of the most difficult things I have to do’’ she said.

‘’I know, picking yourself up after this betrayal is going to difficult. But remember I will always be by your side, every step of the way’’

‘’You are making this harder than I thought Jona, I ..i… don’t think we should be together’’ she blurted. My heart sank, I felt a pit form in my stomach.

‘’I don’t understand’’ I said as I let go of her hands.

‘’I want us to break up Jonathan, this relationship is starting at the wrong time. I need to focus on myself. I am not in the right frame of mind to be in a committed relationship,’’ she said with teary eyes.

‘’Worla…Ah ! Worla! I am not Janice. I am Jonathan, if the J name is a trigger for you. You can call me Kwame. It is me, I love you Worla. What haven’t I done to show that I love you?’’ I pleaded.

‘’You haven’t done anything, you have been perfect Jona. I know myself, I will use our relationship as a distraction and that is not good for me right now. I need my energy invested elsewhere. Probably this is not our time, please. Let me go’’ she said.

I kept quiet for a while, processing everything.

‘’are you not in love with me?’’ I asked

‘’I am, I do but this is not about love. Love is never enough’’ she said

‘’Worla, you love me, I love you. I may not be Aaron Pierre but I am a good looking man. I have money, I treat you nice , even way nicer than half of the assholes you have dated. Your parents do not hate me, your sister and I get along. What is it? I work hard, we attend the same church, we believe the same doctrines and principles. You have a business mind like me, we like the same shows. What is it? Or is it sex?…are you not sexually attracted to me? Is it because we have not had sex yet? Even though, it is against our beliefs, we can go right now if that is your worry. I have some condoms’’ I argued.

‘’It is not that. You know sex is the last thing on my mind right now. Yes, I am sexually attracted to you, but I need to do this for me. I am not my best version and you do not deserve it’’ she said.

I stared at her, I looked at her. Even in her messy state, she was the most gorgeous person I know.

‘’who… broke… you?’’ I asked in a disappointed tone.

‘’pardon?’’ she asked confused.

‘’who broke you?’’ I asked again.

‘’I don’t understand’’ she said.

‘’are you that scared of committing to someone? Why are you running away from a good thing? Are you so used to chaos that when peace is staring at you in the face, you cant take it?’’ I asked. She was stunned, she looked tongue-tied.

‘’I am sorry Jonathan, I have to go’’. She said and left my house

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

After that day, I started going to the second service to avoid seeing her. Elorm and I had a chat, she pleaded with me not to give up on her sister. I don’t know what to do but I am tired of fighting for love. It is good to see Worla doing well for herself but it is time for me to move on.

ELORM

These past two months have been surprising. Sales from the achoomo has been good, I  even started a new line, ‘’Cake Fridays’’. I make colleagues and friends pre-order loaf cakes to be baked and delivered on Fridays. I have started with just three flavors, vanilla, chocolate and banana. It has been a month and so far so good.

Worla’s anointing for new jobs has to be studied. After the Janice debacle, one of her clients recommended her for a role and she got it. This role came with a nice company Honda CRV hence I drive her vitz to work now. One thing about Worla, she will work hard and excel at any job she does. I noticed she is great at ideas for packaging and branding. She is one chameleon.

She advised on all the fliers, packaging and branding for the achoomo. We decided to stick to a simple name , Dee’s Sweets.  Nuerkie opted to assist with registering the company name for me. I wanted to invest my car fund into creating a small shed at the outdoor kitchen for the baking business. However, Nuerkie advised me to use money from the business. She suggested not to expand too fast and risk running at a loss.

Gwen is my top customer. She has a standing order for different flavors of loaf cakes and chips. She buys them for her nieces and nephews every two weeks. She came back from Cape Town with a renewed energy and brought me a lovely handbag.

I had some free time at work. I decided to redesign some fliers on canva for the Dee’s Sweets Instagram Page. Just then Gwen calls me into her office. She offers me a seat at her meeting table.

‘’I wanted to have this meeting with you since I got back from  Cape Town. However, I have been so preoccupied with the mountain of work. Trust Duncan to skip actual work” she said. ”He only does the ones with appearances for the media,” she added, and I smiled.

‘’is there a problem?’’ I asked, feeling uneasy.

‘’not at all, I would like to thank you once again for last two months. I spoke to management about getting you a car but that backfired. I noticed you drive now’’

‘’yes, it’s not mine. It is my sister’s so it is quite old’’ I said.

‘’be proud of it my dear. It is good as your first car so you can learn proper car maintenance. Be proud, everybody started from somewhere’’ she said.

‘’I heard your first car was a Mercedes Benz’’ I joked.

‘’hahahahahhahaha, touché, yes thanks to my dad. I grew up a bit priviledged but this conversation is not about me. I just wanted to ask about your plans. Career wise, where do you see yourself? Any departments you are interested in?’’ she asked.

‘’eermmmm. I was thinking Human Resources or Business Administration. I am not sure yet’’ I said, feeling like I had disappointed her.

‘’that is alright. No pressure, you will figure it out. Just know that I am here to talk when you want to bounce certain ideas. How is the pastry business going? ‘’ she asked.

‘’it is okay’’ I said.

‘’I know you are skeptical about discussing your private business with your boss. That is fine, I understand but never let it interfere with the work you do here. I think you have found your interest, you just need to convince yourself. Your eyes sparkle when you talk about baking. Have you thought of taking weekend classes on baking? People transition from formal to informal all the time and what I can tell you is. The money is in the informal sector’’ she advised.

‘’thank you Gwen. I will definitely take you up on your offer and I will think about it’’ I said.

‘’you think being 30 is the end, it is really just the beginning of who you are. Explore and do not be afraid. In fact this is the best time, decisions are more difficult if you have children. This is the time to take risks’’ she advised.

‘’are you asking me to quit? ‘’ I asked.

‘’ahhahahahahahahha, not at all. I am just saying, when the time comes, do not be scared. I will miss you though but I want you to soar. You cannot be my executive assistant forever. What if I relocate or leave the company? You will get a new boss and then what? You are the one in control of your life. Believe in yourself Elorm, you have so much to give’’ she added.

‘alright, I understand’’ I said.

I left her office thinking about what she said. Gwen believes in me! Wow, I must be amazing at what I do.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I arrived home excited to tell my mother about an order I received early on. I got a new phone to run the pastry business on. I am strict on which hours I responded to messages and took orders. Some people still ordered from my personal contact which was alright.

We got an order to package savouries for 1000 funeral guests. The referral came through Nana. I sent him a text thanking him.

I joined her in the kitchen, washed my hands and saw she had finished up a new order from Nuerkie. I noticed she was trying something different, she brought out freshly baked cookies from the oven.

‘’Aha Elorm, try this. If this works, we can add it to the achoomo and flour chips’’ she said.

Just then Worla walks in too from work. Looking like the manager she is. One thing about Worla, no matter what she was going through. She will never look like her problems. Even though we were all happy about her job, she looked lost. Her eyes had lost a sparkle.

‘’Worla , you too try this’’ my mother handed us the cookies on a saucer. They tasted great.

‘’Ei mama, how come you never opened a restaurant or like a full time catering business? Because you are one of the best’’ Worla asked.

‘’you went to culinary school and all’’ I added.

‘’hmmmm, well, children and husband. I wanted to be there for my daugthers, if I was busy running a business. How would I have taken care of you?’’ she said.

‘’Mama, you are deflecting. In the early years, yes, but as we grew, you could have expanded the business. Instead of random orders from friends and family, you can be bigger. Didn’t you talk about it with Dad?’’ Worla asked.

‘’Your father and I barely did any talking. He was always concerned about who will look after the house. Do you know your Uncle Selasi got me a job as a chef for one of the ambassadors? The pay was awesome and you girls were in senior high school. He felt that was a good time to kick start my career. He even explained that the ambassador goes back to his country for summer holidays. So I can spend time with you girls on the long vacation during that time. I was so excited about it, I even started practising some of the continental meals I knew. Your uncle was so happy, he was excited about the opportunies that will open for you girls. All because I cook for an ambassador’’ she said sadly.

‘’what happened?’’ I asked.

‘’your dad said a personal chef is just a fancy name for a maid. And you know how he is very strict about being a local man, akple² all the way. He has no business with lamb chops and potato casserole. Hahahhaha’’ she joked at the end to mask the sad story.

‘’well, you can cook that now or you can teach me’’ I said.

‘’Elorm , you prefer baking. Whenever I mention cooking, you frown your face. But if I ask you to make waffles, pancakes, or bake a cake, you are there. You like sweet things’’ she joked.

‘’I am a sweet girl’’ I said back and we laughed but Worla had a straight face.

‘’ do you have any regrets? I mean about not pursuing cooking full time’’ she asked.

‘’Never! Raising you girls was my greatest achievement and work. And who says it is too late, I can start now. These past two months have made me happy and overjoyed.’’ She said.

‘’good to know, let us clean up’’ I said.

‘’not yet, I have to prepare palmnut soup’’ she said.

‘’it is late Mama, plus the okro soup I prepared over the weekend is not yet finished. We can cook palmnut this weekend’’ I said.

‘’yes but your dad said he would love some palmnut soup tomorrow’’ she said.

‘’tell him he will get palmnut on Saturday. Please rest Mama. It is not the end of the world.’’ Worla commanded as we pushed her out of the kitchen and she laughed.

‘’Elorm, since my pay is quite good. I have decided to hire someone to do the chores. So you can focus on the baking with Mama. Even though Hannah helps, your management can ease the burden. The person will come Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Mama will not be happy about leaving the cooking to a stranger. But the person can do the prep, then Saturday we just put things together.’’ Worla said.

‘’good idea. Thank you so much!’’ I said and hugged her.

‘’don’t mention’’ she said

‘’are you really fine?’’ I asked, looking into her eyes.

‘’I will be. After all, your best revenge is your paper’’ she said and we hugged.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I woke up the next morning for work. Mama was already awake and cooking in the kitchen. I wonder what for because we had cleared all our orders. I greeted and noticed she was cooking palmnut soup. I just smiled to myself, marriage is really confusing. I proceeded to get ready for work.

At Work

Today has been a slow one, Gwen was not yet back from lunch. She called me to allow a gentleman named Chris to wait in her office. This person must be important if he is allowed to wait in her office, not the lounge. A few minutes later, Chris arrived. I don’t know why I imagined a short pot-bellied old man. His perfume announced his arrival. He wore a simple white short-sleeved linen shirt with navy blue trousers. He also had a nice pair of loafers. He held a file, he was average height with an average stature. The smell of his perfume was not the intoxicating type, he smelt fresh and it lingered.

‘’Good afternoon Ma’am, I am here to see Gwen’’ he said with a very polite tone. He has a beautiful smile, I noticed his dimples.

‘’Goo..Good…. af….afternoon Chris?’’  I stuttered a bit.

‘’yes I am Chris and you are Elorm?’’ he asked

‘’Yes’’

‘’Lovely to make your acquaintance’’ he said and reached for a handshake.

‘’Likewise’’ I replied and shook his hand. His palms were soft, so comforting. He looked so neat even his finger nails were immaculately kept.

‘’Have a seat in Gwen’s office. Would you like some coffee or tea?’’

‘’Water will do just fine. Let me sit in your office. I can stare at your pretty face all day’’ he complimented.

‘’Thank you’’ I smiled like a shy school girl.

I decided to engage him in conversation. He and Gwen were in the same University. They are friends even though he is way younger than her. He manages his family’s real estate business. He tried the sample achoomo and cookies I had and immediately placed an order. I gave him an extra sample for free. We spoke generally about work and the challenges of work-life balance. Gwen came and they went into her office for their meeting.

 As he was leaving, he stopped by my desk with Gwen right beside him.

‘’Elorm, before Gwen rudely interrupted our work-life balance conversation..’’ he said.

‘’wow, I am the enemy here’’ Gwen interrupted.

‘’yes you are, I have found a new reason to take my life seriously. Elorm, let us continue our conversation over breakfast on Saturday if you are comfortable with it’’ he asked.

I knew it will be weird going on a date with my boss’ friend. I looked at Gwen and she had a look of approval.

‘forget your boss’’ Chris added sensing my uncertainty.

‘’I don’t even know why I am standing here.’’ Gwen joked and stepped out.

‘’Unless you are not a breakfast person. what about lunch?’’ he asked

‘’I love breakfast’’ i answered.

‘’Elorm, do not overthink this. We are just two adults eating together. ‘’ he added

‘’Alright…. then breakfast it is.’’

‘’Yes! Give me your contact so I send you details later’’ he was so excited.

I gave him my number.

‘’I don’t even know your full name’’ I asked

‘’Chris Riverson-Addo’’ he replied and quickly left before I could say anything.

Riverson-Addo is the family that owns Riverson Estates. They even own the building my office is situated in and other luxurious properties. Apart from that, they were sole distributors and operators of security systems for the international banks in Ghana.

Now this is uncomfortable, I guess it is just breakfast. What is the worse that can happen?

Author’s Note

I hope you enjoyed this episode. A gentle reminder that this writer does not believe in Cinderella. hahahaha. Have a great week!

Lexicons

1. Achoomo : A crunchy fried snack made from dough (flour, sugar, butter, and sometimes milk or nutmeg). It is golden-brown, slightly sweet, and enjoyed as a snack or served during festive occasions.
2. Akple: A traditional Ewe staple food made by stirring corn flour (maize meal) in hot water until it forms a smooth, thick paste. It’s usually eaten with soups or stews, especially okro soup.