Dami the sales girl - Season 1 - Episode 6

5 years ago

Dami the sales girl - Season 1 - Episode 6

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I couldn’t help the small frown that crossed my face. Wasn’t she taking this a bit too serious?

I didn’t have time to ponder on that because they
started moving again. Melodious music reached
my ears as we got closer, accompanied by the
sound of laughter. It was a completely different
environment altogether. A live band played soft
jazz music and beautifully-clothed people swayed
in their seats.

Behind me, the new girl gasped quietly. I definitely
understood how she felt. After a while, the waiters
started leaving to attend to different tables they’d
been summoned to. I kept waiting for my turn, but
it seemed no one even glanced my way. It was
down to just me and the new girl. We glanced at
each other pitifully aware that out of all eight of us,
we were the only two left.

“So… what’s your name? I don’t think we’ve met.”
I said to ease the tension.
“Natasha.” She replied quietly with a small smile.
I glanced at her from head to toe. Frankly
speaking, she didn’t look like a Natasha. She
looked more like a Chinyere , Njideka or maybe
Obianuju and she had a distinct Ibo accent when
she spoke.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Dami.” I said, not wanting
to pry.
She was about to reply when someone tapped me
from behind. I turned to find Kayla standing behind
me.
“You’re needed at table 6.” She had barely even
finished her sentence before running off in those
deadly heels.

I gave Natasha a smile before leaving, feeling quite
sorry for her being the last one. Taking care not to
trip, I made my way to table 6 and stood beside
the chair, fixing a polite smile on my face.
“Good day, shall I take your order?”
The gentleman and his female companion turned at
the sound of my voice. The man barely looked at
me before handing me his menu and dismissing
me. I glanced back once before leaving to find the
lady watching me with a blank expression as she
tipped her wine glass towards her red painted lips.
I realised just how different these customers were
from other sections and frankly, I didn’t appreciate
their indifference to staff, like we simply didn’t
exist. Maybe that was the norm here, but I wasn’t
used to it.

Minutes later, I saw Natasha serving a table where
a young, strikingly handsome man was seated. I
felt relieved that she finally got an assignment until
I saw what happened moments later. As she
leaned across the table to set down an ice bucket
in which a bottle of champagne was chilling, he
shamelessly ran his hand down her waist and
against her backside. She flinched in surprise and
drew back immediately, her lips parted as a fierce
expression took over her face and the first few
curses in Ibo language flew out of her mouth in
rapid succession. I unconsciously started walking
toward her but stopped when Kayla got there first.
Kayla grabbed Natasha by the arm which caused
her to go silent and turned to the man with an
apologetic expression. She then gave Natasha a
stern look which made her mumble an apology. I
stood frozen in outrage. Didn’t Kayla see what just
happened? That slimy thing just made a grab at an
innocent girl and she was making her apologise?
The man watched the two of them leave, his eyes
trailing on Natasha even when she was more than
halfway across the room. A slow smile grew
across his face and even though it wasn’t directed
at me, I felt myself shiver with fear.
Once the shift was over around 8pm, I immediately
went to the staff room.
“Dare, have you seen Natasha?” I asked before he
could leave.

“Not since that scene she caused, why?”
“Never mind, I just wanted to ask her something.”
He nodded as he grabbed his jacket and left. I
waited for close to half an hour for Natasha to
show up but she never did, I couldn’t find Kayla
either. It was getting close to 9pm and I knew I
had to leave so I decided to check on her
tomorrow.
But the next day when I arrived at the restaurant,
all everyone was talking about was the new girl
who had been fired on her first day. I was beyond
shocked as I realised how similar, yet different our
situations were. The only saving grace I’d had was
that I hadn’t offended one of the special customers
when I’d messed up at work last week, but
Natasha hadn’t been that lucky.

Back in dorm, I carefully approached the room
door and checked for signs that it hadn’t been
tampered with. Before leaving the house that
morning, I had placed a thin piece of transparent
sellotape between the door and the frame. If
anyone had tried to open the door while I was
away, the sellotape would’ve broken. I was
relieved to find it still intact. I tossed my stuff unto
my bed and took a quick shower before going out
to get something to eat. You would think that
working in a place like Exquisite would entitle me
to some free meals at least. There’s an employee
discount but considering the price of food there,
the discounted price would still cost a fortune for
me.

I stopped at the campus cafeteria to see if anything
looked appealing. After purchasing my meal, I
searched for a free table. Minutes after sitting
down, I heard the empty chair across me being
pulled out, slowly. I immediately looked up at the
person standing before me but when I got a good
look, I felt slightly relaxed.
“Hey Nonso.” I smiled.

“I hope I’m not disturbing? I just thought I should
say hi.”
“No, not at all.”
He went ahead to sit down and set his food on the
table. My eyes widened when I saw the amount of
food heaped on his plate. He simply laughed and
dug into his meal.
“I’m curious…” He started after taking a sip of
water.

“About what?”
“Well, I hardly see you with anyone. How do you
cope by yourself?”
“I’m not a loner if that’s what you think, I do have
friends. I just like my own company better
sometimes.” Although, now that I considered it, the
only real friend I could boast of was Daniel.
“Don’t you think you should get to know people
better?” He asked.

“Like you for instance?” I laughed.
“Exactly.” He grinned.
We talked all through the meal and I realised he
was really a nice person to be around. He even
got me to talk about my hobbies which mainly
consisted of my relationship with action TV series.
I learned that he and Chioma were the only
children of their parents and that despite how his
sister acted, she was really sweet. I had a hard
time believing that though. Afterwards, he offered
to escort me to my dorm but I declined because I
wasn’t sure how I felt about getting close to any
guy at this point with all the strange things
happening. The only guy I trusted was Daniel and
we had 6 years of friendship to prove that he was
trustworthy.
As I walked towards the dorm building, I was so
carried away by the great time I had talking with
Nonso that I didn’t realise my neck had begun to
tingle again.

***
10:33pm, 11th May 2016,
Wednesday Night,
Yaba, Lagos.
The one-bedroom apartment was dimly lit by a
single kerosene lamp and stank of poverty and
sickness. In one corner was a mat where a woman
lay helplessly. She looked older than her age due
to the damage that abdominal cancer had wreaked
on her body. Her once smooth, glowing skin was
now wrinkled in endless lines of fatigue. Her eyes
no longer hinted at laughter but held deep sorrow.
Beside her sat a young girl; her daughter.
A phone rang, breaking the silence and the girl
picked the phone up, moving away to speak
quietly.
“Hello?”
“Chidera, it’s me.”
“I told you not to call me that. My name is
Natasha.” She whispered.
Her birth name brought her painful memories,
things she wished she could erase from her
memory. She gave herself the name Natasha as a
constant reminder that she could no longer be the
young girl she was who sat back in ignorance as
everything fell apart around her.
“I’m sorry. Anyway, about what happened at the
restaurant, it’s quite a shame really.”
“You saw what he did. Did you expect me to keep
quiet?”
“I warned you about this kind of customers, they
aren’t to be disrespected.”
“So I was to stand there and smile while he tried
to take advantage of me, just because he’s rich?”
“You have no idea who he is, do you? People like
him rule society.”
Natasha was silent.
“Listen, I’m giving you one last opportunity to set
things right and get yourself out of that poverty
hole you’re in. Or do you want your mother to die
before your eyes too?”
Natasha gulped down her fear as she turned to
look at her mother who lay still on her side. She
sighed and closed her eyes.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Good girl, that’s what I want to hear. I’ll text you
a number to call, be glad that you even have a
choice in this.”
The phone went silent as the caller cut the line.
Minutes later, she got a text message containing a
phone number. Her fingers hovered over the
keypads. All she had to do was dial that number
but her conscience wouldn’t let her.
The next morning, she was up early to tidy the
little apartment as well as possible, not much
could brighten up the dull paint and the old
furniture but at least she wanted it to look clean.

Her mother was in the single bedroom while she
was in the parlour. All of a sudden, strange noises
began coming from her mother’s room. Natasha
dropped her broom and ran to find her mother
convulsing on the floor. Her scream alerted the
neighbours who later came to find out what the
problem was. Minutes later, her mother was
rushed to the hospital where the doctor informed
them that the cancer was progressing and her
body system was failing.
Natasha looked at the bill for the new medicine to
be administered and felt her heart sink in her
chest. She knew what she had to do. With
trembling hands, she picked up her phone and
made the call.
“Hello Natasha, I was waiting for your call.” A deep
masculine voice said.
She wasn’t surprised that he already knew who
was speaking. After all, she realized she never
really had a choice in this. It was just a matter of
time.