Oga Martins & His Kettle Of Fishes – Episode 1

It was Martins’ first official day at work in the capacity of Manager Sales, Agency and Property management. However he had come in pretty late and his MD as usual had jokingly reminded him of his stint as a mere marketer when he was almost sacked for sleeping on his first day at work. Martins thought he would have forgotten that incident but what he didn’t know was that the MD had a brain that recalled events that transpired even before the days of his forefathers. 

“Martins, you are now in a much more delicate position where there are no rooms for trials and errors, I won’t give you that luxury you enjoyed whilst a marketer. These are desperate times.” The MD did not mince words as he voiced his displeasure at Martins’ lateness

“I’m sorry sir. It won’t happen again.”

“It had better not” The man never forgets any wrong doing. He would give you a long rope but always had the faux pas and misdeeds of his employees registered somewhere in his black book.

Asides the gridlock that ensured he made it to work 38 minutes after the official time for  resumption, Martins had started that day on a not too pleasant note which was why he left the house late. Aisha had given him a hard time the previous night and her choleric state had extended till the wee hours of the morning. Martins needed to be in high spirits which would put him in the right frame of mind to tackle the day’s duties after a torrid weekend but his wife’s attitude stood in the way. All attempts to make peace only made matters worse for Martins.

A mere phone call on Friday night from Runo- the 21 year old model that lived in the residential property that was placed in Martins’ care was all the help the devil needed to make his wife a torn in his flesh the whole weekend.

Runo had called Martins when his phone was lying fallow on the bed. Martins was in the bathroom while Aisha was lying on the bed when his ringtone rend the air turning what was hitherto a quiet night to a rancorous one.

As he drove on the busy Ikorodu road on his way to work, the scenes from the weekend toiled with his thoughts

“Women! you will never understand their thought process even if you’ve lived with them for more than a 100 years, there will always be something new to ponder on. They are just full of surprises when you least expect. Even Eve surprised God when she went ahead to pluck the forbidden fruit in the garden against all odds. Chai! I duff my hat for that rare specie of creation” Martins thoughts echoed through the air spaces confined to his Toyota Camry car as he manouevered his way through the heavy traffic on Ikorodu road.

Aisha had watched on as Martins’ phone rang for the umpteenth time, her anger reaching crescendo. She wasn’t even sure why her anger was building. Was the pretty sexy figure that appeared each time Runo called her husband’s line or the fact that the girl was calling a married man at that time of the night even though it was just some few minutes to ten the fuss?

Aisha was finding a hard time comprehending how and why her husband would choose to save the girl’s contact and yet having the audacity to put not just a face to the contact but a young, pretty and sexy one at that.

“Who the heck was this slut that kept calling her husband?”

Yet she knew she was just a tenant in the residential property Martins managed. A tenant who made it a point of duty to call Martins whenever there was an issue in her apartment no matter how small that issue is. Even if the issue is the invasion of her room by mosquitoes. Runo was a spoilt brat and Aisha wondered if Martins and Runo were probably getting too close for comfort .

Martins scurried out of the bathroom to answer his call but before he could get to it, Aisha had ended it.

“So you really ran out of the bathroom to pick her call” Aisha grinned treacherously at her husband who still had water dripping from his head and only had a piece of towel wrapped around his waist.

“I ran out of the bathroom because I heard my phone ringing not like I had an idea of the identity of the caller”

Aisha held the phone closely like the foundation of her marriage was tied to it. “Martins do you realize you are now a married man? Why on earth would you save her picture on your phone and still have the effrontery to use the picture as her contact picture? Martins are you planning on cheating on me or you are cheating already?”

“What?” Martins wondered if the issue the wife raised was about the phone call or something else she discovered

“You heard me. Oh, you think she’s prettier, younger and sexier than me, right?”

“Aisha I’m not having this conversation with you?” Martins was lost for words.

“If we are not going to talk about the slut that keeps calling you just forget about sleeping tonight” Aisha voiced with a tone of finality.

From that moment all hell was let loose!

A knock on the door of Martins’ new office  brought him out of his reverie. It had been 30 minutes after his encounter with his MD and he was still yet to settle down to the day’s work. He quickly adjusted in his seat as the intruder gained entrance into the office. It was Felix the very good looking new employee. Although Felix was a handsome there was a rugged feel to his appearance.

“Oga Martins, good morning.”

“Good morning Felix.”

“The MD requests your presence. I think you guys would be leaving earlier than planned.”

Martins appears confused. “Leaving for where exactly?”

“You’ve forgotten sir?”

“That?”

“We are having the first presentation of our Cedar homes project today”

Oh! Of course. I will be with you guys in a jiffy”

Martins couldn’t believe it. It all still felt like a dream. His first official assignment as Manager Sales, Agency and Property management had begun.

 

To be continued next week…