Love In Awkward Ways.

"Hello Sandy"

"Hey girlfriend! How are you?"

"Fine o. How is the weekend going?"

"My dear, you know it’s the best time for business now"

Ella sits on one of the cushioned cane chairs in the salon. She hadn't come to Sandy's Beauty House for over two months but always kept in touch with Sandy who sent her service girls to Ella's home whenever she needed beauty services. They were friends brought together by NYSC and their friendship grew stronger as the days passed by.

"How is work?" Sandy asked. "Fine my dear. That bank no go kill me. I thank God I’ve moved from marketing back to CS."

"Hmm, I just don’t envy you corporate workers" Sandy says as she wipes her hands on a towel and sits on a small stool in front of Ella "this hair Carol did for you fits you so well and you’ve carried it well"

"Thank you" Ella replied to the compliment as she brushed some imaginary straying hair strands back in place "you’ve really stepped up your beauty house, lots of good upgrades" she looks around.

"Yes o, it's became necessary so that those big big customers would always want to come back. What drink do I offer you?"

"Sandy leave drink first, I didn't come to drink, besides I dey looking my weight" Ella said and both ladies laughed cause that was one of clauses their platoon commander used during the morning drills at the NYSC orientation camp whenever some corpers on the big side were slow to obey orders.

"You said you had gist for me, that’s why I came. I just want to relax today away from my neighborhood and I thank God I have no special events this weekend" Ella said.

"Hmm! Emmanuella! My sister story dey o."

"Oya start start start" an excited Ella coaxed her friend.

"It’s Brenda o"

"Brenda? You mean Brenda Eze?" Ella asked with a little fear in her voice "what happened? Is she alright?"

"I hope she is o," replied Sandy as she got up to assist one of her girls in giving a customer a perfect finishing of her hair-do "cause the last time I saw her, she was more of a shadow of herself than her real self"

"Sandy please just say what happened, you are now beginning to scare me"

"Ah-ah! Ella cool down, it’s not something of life and death o" Sandy replied, "It’s just that she's badly heartbroken. That her darling boyfriend just walked out of her life just like that o"

"Sandra! Tell me something! What went wrong? I met him once with her and they looked so good together!" Ella said standing up to join her while admiring the hair she was finishing.

"My sister, the way it’s surprising you is how it surprised me too especially the part that he left her for an older woman."

Ella began to laugh "Sandy if this is a joke, please stop it. An older woman? But he's not a broke guy that would say he needs a sugar mummy"

"He's a big boy, works in NLNG, lives in a beautiful house, with more than two state-of-the-art cars. He’s doing really fine for himself”

“So what could have attracted him to an older woman if not money? Brenda is doing fine and I’m very sure she can’t be a financial liability to him, she’s decent and well behaved too.” Ella wondered.

“Ella, this older woman is not even rich o; she’s just a normal business woman that owns a cosmetics shop in town”.

The customer gets up to go settle her bills at the counter while Ella and Sandy sit on one of the two-seater cushioned cane chairs in the salon.

“Ella, we need to go and pay Brenda a visit before she does something silly to herself. She’s been taking it badly. I even had to go talk to him and he said Brenda has no faults, she's a virtuous woman, any man’s dream wife but that he has found what he has been looking for in the old woman.”Sandy said.

“Sandy, do you have an idea how old he is?” Ella asked.

“He is thirty two, Brenda is twenty eight, the woman according to Brenda is in her late forties” Sandy replied.

“Forties?” shouted a surprised Ella.

“Yeah”

Ella became visibly angry, “I’m not just going to see Brenda, I also have to him, and some sense has to be talked into his brain”

“I knew you would be of help in this matter that’s why I buzzed you” Sandy said, “but there’s something else you need to know about the older woman.”

“And what could that be?”