Enchanted





Toyin Olorunsola


(C) 2023



Romance. Sexuality . Mystery



Seyi prides himself as a young man of dignity who will not be seduced by the opposite sex no matter how beautiful and alluring.

He is able to maintain this lofty stance until he meets Madam Francisca, the lady who disarms him and gets him spellbound.














I tried to make the class as interesting as possible. Literature is one subject I teach with passion. The SS 2 Literature-in-English class had always been lively.

The bell rang to signal the end of the period. Just then, a girl called Jennifer raised up her hand.

"Sorry, Jenny, I have to leave the class now. Can you ask the question in the next Literature period? If it is a pressing question, you can come around during break to see me in the staff room."

She looked disappointed as she put her hand down. I went for my next class. It was actually a busy day for me. I had no free period until the break time. Even after that, I had no any free period until closing time.

The pay was low, but the school still paid much more than many other private schools. The driving force was the passion I had for the job. I loved to impart knowledge, and that mattered a lot.

The school closed for the day at quarter to four o'clock. I decided to stay behind and write some notes. Some teachers stayed behind too, but by five p.m, all the teachers had left, leaving only Ada and me.

"Thank God we are now alone," Ada started. "There is a matter I will like to discuss with you."

The keenness of her voice showed that indeed, she had been angling to have a private conversation with me.

"I'm all ears," I said. She smiled. "It is actually a request and I hope you can grant it."

Ada was one of the closest teachers to me since I joined Highworth College about eight months ago. As close as we were, everything between us was official.

I suspected she should be about my age, but one could not be too certain about such a thing. I was twenty-eight years of age. I could be described as young, full of life and vibrant. Now, I wondered the kind of request Ada had in mind.

"Go on," I prompted her.

"Well, it's not much. It's just that right now, I have accommodation challenge. The aunty I'm staying with will, by this weekend, relocate with her husband to Ibafo.

“So, it will be too expensive for me to be coming from Ibafo to Ogba every day. I need a temporary accommodation. I plan to rent accommodation around here, but in the mean time, I need somewhere to stay."

I was full of thought over what she said. But, there was actually no need to think much. The answer to her request was a capital NO.

"Your request will not be granted for many reasons," I stated. "I have a fiancee who, first and foremost, will not accept that inclusion."

Ada's face clouded. "You have a fiancee?" she interjected in surprise.

Ada's face clouded. "You have a fiancee?" she interjected in surprise.

I chuckled and nodded. Should that be a surprise? "And another thing is: it will not be good for a guy and a lady to be co-habitating just like that."

Now, it sounded like I was making a sermon. "I'm sorry, Ada, if there's any other way I can help, I'll render it."

She tried to shrug it off. Some minutes later she announced that she would be leaving.

I glanced at my watch.

"I'll soon be leaving too," I said as I bade her goodnight. I worked for some more minutes and decided to call it a day. It was some minutes to six o 'clock. The two-storey bulding was very quiet.

I knew the security man would still be in the cubicle by the gate. He doubled as the janitor that would go round and lock the place. I put few books in my back-pack and stood up to go.

I was at the head of the stairs when I saw a student in mufti coming up. It was no other person than Jennifer.

"What! You're still in school?" I said in surprise.

She looked at me and smiled. "Yes, I forgot something."

Her class was in the middle floor, so I wondered what she was coming up to do. "And since you're still around, I decided to come."

How did she know I was still around? I remained on the same spot while she came up. When she was three steps to where I was, she stopped.

"Can we go back to your staff-room?" she said. "I will like to ask my questions there."

An alarm bell rang in my brain. "I'm sorry, school is over for today."

She shook her head like a petulant girl. "You are not going anywhere until you answer my questions."

Here we are.

Go on.

Nice one.

kweensheba:
Nice one.

Thanks.

Go on.

She shook her head like a petulant girl. "You are not going anywhere until you answer my questions."

I could not believe my ears. What an audacity from a student to a teacher! I decided not to engage her in further conversation, but to move on. As I moved to pass her, she gripped my left arm.

"What on hell is the meaning of this?" I uttered in astonishment.

Her grip tightened the more. I was very angry, but I realized I must control my temper. I could have exerted force to break her grip and push her away.

But that could be counter-productive. The option I had was to dance or rather pretend to dance to her tune. That meant I should take her to the staff-room to answer her questions.

But, was that really what Jennifer wanted? She should be around fifteen years old. What explanations would I say I was giving to her if the security man should come and see only the two of us together at that 'ungodly' hour?

My mind suddenly struck an idea. I smiled at her.

"Alright, Jenny, relax. There's no need you grip my hand like that. Relax."

She relaxed her grip a bit.

“See, I will love to answer all your questions, but not right now. I got a call from a friend some minutes ago. He called to inform me that he is at my residence. He wants to pay me the money he is owning. Don't worry, tomorrow, I will give you all the time you need.

“For now, I need to hurry home before he changes his mind."

Her stance softened a bit but I could still see doubts on her face.

“Look, I can even buy you lunch tomorrow from the money. Let me go right away to meet him. That money is very important."

I could see that I had hit her soft part. "Do you promise tomorrow?" she asked.

I smiled at her again.

"Of course, there'll be no hitch tomorrow." I patted her on the shoulder.

She released her grip on me and I could almost give a sigh of relief. On my way home, I jeered at myself for pleading with her and giving her a big lie. How could a grown-up man like me deign to a teenage girl?

Nonetheless, I knew I had done well. What I had done was better than giving in to her whims and allowing myself to be led into temptation.

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Snowx:
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Concurred.

Snowx:
Interesting

Thanks.

Go on.

Go on.

Nice work.

Could she be in the kitchen? I went to check the place.

"Precious?" there was no answer and she was not there.

Maybe she went out to buy something. I went back to the bedroom, hoping to find her bag or her clothes.

None was there. How could Precious leave without telling me?

I picked up my phone to cal her. It rang on and on. I sent a Whatsapp message to her, demanding to know why she left just like that.

She did not reply. I was appalled. How could she be behaving this way over a matter she was supposed to show understanding and support? Alright, maybe she was miffed by my outright insistence on abstinence. I had no doubt that soonest, Precious 'would get over it.'

I decided to forget about her for now. I took bread and tea for breakfast, then, I took a jotter and a pen. I wrote out the numbers I was expected to decode. I studied the numbers and tried to make a sense of them. I could not.

Maybe they stood for alphabets. I wrote the twenty-six alphabets and numbered them. I then tried to solve the puzzle. The outcome did not make sense.

I was about to give up when another idea came to my mind. I tried to renumber the alphabets, in reverse order. This time, the numbers formed the word: gravitas.

This must be it, I thought in excitement. I was finally able to solve the puzzle! But what was the meaning of 'gravitas'?

Was it an English word? I asked Wikipedia and got the answer. As a matter of fact, I loved, and still love, what it meant.

Without wasting time, I sent the answer through the Whatsapp number that I received the puzzle. Through out that weekend, Precious refused to pick my call or respond to my messages. I could not understand her grouse.

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Nice one.

Through out that weekend, Precious refused to pick my call or respond to my messages. I could not understand her grouse.

Was she not a pastor's daughter who should understand the sanctity of my stand? I did not hear from the firm too until late Sunday afternoon when they sent a message congratulating me and directing that I should report to their V.I office by nine o'clock Tuesday morning.

That morning, I tried to look my best in the formal clothes that I wore. I had to set out early so that I would beat the traffic. This time, I realized only a lady and me were invited. I was called in before the lady.

I met a panel of three members who asked me sundry questions, ranging from educational qualification to professional qualification, including my membership of institute of public relations.

They said what their client was willing to pay me. The pay was satisfactory but I was puzzled by the use of the word 'client'.

They explained that all they were doing was on behalf of the client. Now that everything had been concluded, I would start the job that week.

"Can I know who the client is?" I asked.

The only female member of the panel smiled. "You will know in due course," she said. "All I can tell you for now is that he is a very reputable member of the society."

The head of the panel hemmed. "Tomorrow, you will start a three-day workshop," he said. "It is a crash programme to prepare you for the challenges of the new job. Before you go, you will collect a letter from the secretary that will detail the themes, venue and time of the programme. For now, accept our congratulation on your success."

He extended his hand for a hand-shake. I stood up to take it.

"Thank you, sir."

The other panelists took turn to shake my hand. It was the end of the interview.

I went to the secretary. She gave the letter for the workshop and explained that the letter of employment would come upon completion of the workshop. I thanked her and left the place.

The letter I got showed the venue to be Dolphin Estate, Lagos. The three-day programme would start by nine a.m. There would be morning and afternoon sessions with break in-between.

I was happy I would be starting something new. It suddenly dawned on me that I would have to resign my teaching appointment with immediate effect.

While I would not miss this opportunity, I would certainly miss my students and colleagues. Well, in life, change is a constant thing.

On getting home, I decided to call Precious. I wanted to share the good news with her. Once again, she refused to pick or acknowledge. I decided that in days to come, I would have to see her mother and explain things to her.

Nice update.

Nice update.

ride on.

Ride on.

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On getting home, I decided to call Precious. I wanted to share the good news with her. Once again, she refused to pick or acknowledge. I decided that in days to come, I would have to see her mother and explain things to her.

Her mother was an assistant pastor and I believed it was high time she intervened in this matter. I went to school early Wednesday morning to drop my resignation letter.

It was about the end of the month, so I would have to forfeit the salary for that month. I did not stay long as I had to get to Dolphin Estate on time.

By quarter to nine, I was at the gate of address of the venue. A uniformed security man attended to me.

"I am here to attend a workshop," I told him.

"Your letter of invitation, please?"

I showed him the letter. He only too a cursory look at it before opening the gate for me.

"Just go straight towards that door and knock," he directed. “They will attend to you."

I thanked him and moved to the door. I knocked at it gently. Almost immediately, a lady opened the door.

"Good morning, ma'am. I'm here for the workshop."

She smiled at me. "You must be Seyi, right?"

I nodded and brought the letter. She did not even bother to read it.

"Come inside."

I stepped inside the air-conditioned reception room.

"I am Rose," the lady went on. "You can sit here for now."

A lady was already sitting. She was the one I had met at the firm's office the previous day.

"We meet again," I said. "Good morning."

She smiled and reciprocated my greeting.

"I'm Seyi. Can I meet you?"

"I'm Sharon."

I nodded. "I'm pleased to meet you."

It turned out that Sharon and I were the only ones to attend the workshop.

When it was a few minutes to nine, the lady that had introduced herself as Rose came to us.

"Lady and gentleman, follow me."

We followed her to the corridor and to the first door by the left. She opened it and ushered us inside. It was a room designated for seminar.

There were a white board, a projector, four desks and four chairs.

"Take a seat," Miss Rose said.

While Sharon took the one to the right, I took the one to the left. "Your facilitator will be coming any moment from now."

She left but some back with a man in black suit.

"This is Pastor William, your resource person for this session," Ms Rose annouced.

The first session started in earnest. Pastor William presented a paper on Office Ethics. I already had writing materials, though he gave each of us a copy of his presentation.

From him, I learnt that Faith of God Chapel (FGC) was our employer and that we would be working at the national head quarters.

I could hardly believe my ears. FGC? It was not the denomination that I attended for church service, but I had heard a lot about the church. It was one of the biggest and richest pentecostal churches in the country. I considered working for a Ministry like this as working in the vineyard of the Lord.

By ten thirty, Pastor William finished his presentation. We were taken to another room for breakfast. Toast bread, tea, coffee and fruit juice were made availble and we could have much as we wanted.

Pastor William left as soon as he finished the meal. The afternoon session would not start until one o'clock, so we still had a long break. Meanwhile, Miss Rose announced that we could go to our rooms to relax.

Our rooms? I was nonplussed.

Nice 👍 update.

Cool update.

Go on.

Interesting

Janet96:
Interesting

Thanks.