The gateman was the first to take off. For a man of such size, Akpan was surprised at the quickness with which he carried the bulk and bolted down the stairs, three at a time. It looked as if the force of gravity was aiding him and Akpan hoped that the man would be able to stop when it became necessary. It was a miracle that the bulky man did not trip judging by the swiftness and all the obstacles formed by the carefully placed bins which dotted the hallway. Akpan was petrified. He was running too. Everyone was running. Other well-dressed and well-mannered, courteous co-workers threw decorum to the wind and joined the race. All were jostling to be the first to get out of the building.
The people on the streets were alarmed seeing people in expensive suits and ties running. Their eyes dilated in horror as if the devil was after them. Akpan took refuge in the small, fast food restaurant opposite Molo Corporative Bank. Molo Corporative Bank was now the place of interest. Passerbys soon stopped to stare up the building, all the while keeping a safe distance. In a situation such as this, whatever was pursuing these people may still be there or about to come out. Some thought it was a fire outbreak. However, the bright afternoon sky revealed nothing but the vast, white building that was Molo Corporative Bank.
Chidera, the petite manager of Dera Food surveyed Akpan with interest. From her vantage position, she had seen the strange race by the people that worked in the building opposite her. She had managed the shop for close to eleven years; she had seen all sorts of things within the years.
However, one thing she had never seen was Abba, the gateman, engage in more than a shuffle. When he walked, his soft, massive middle would swing left when he put forward his right feet. Seeing him run at full speed captured her interest. She quickly walked over with a cold bottle of water for the out-of-breath man who's trying hard to catch his breath after the sprint. Akpan gratefully collected the chilled water and gulped it down.
"Thank you, Dera. You really know what a man needs this hot afternoon." He laughed nervously. Dera waited. She knew that he would talk when he was ready. No need to push it.
"I know you may be wondering what was happening at my office."He began. However, Dera was more than wondering; she was very curious to find out. Her face remained expressionless without betraying any emotion.
She said casually, "Well, it's odd to see Abba running." Akpan couldn't help but burst out laughing. When he finished, he continued. "You are not the only one. I can't believe that Abba had that much run in him."
"The problem today was all as a result of my boss. We decided to surprise him with a birthday party." He suddenly stopped, for effect Dera thought.
"I don't really understand what birthday party had to do with people running," Dera responded.
"I thought you'd rather keep wondering. You know that curiosity killed the cat." He gleefully clapped his two hands together. Akpan knew only a subhuman would not be interested to find out more when he stopped. "It had everything to do with what happened today." Without waiting for more prompts, he continued.
"You know our boss, Kemmy, was a good boss that always looked out for everyone. It was his fifty-ninth birthday. Unknown to him, we organised a surprise party since the wife and kids are away. The wife travelled to another state to be with the first daughter who made the best result and would be honoured at the high school graduation ceremony. A piece of information we got after much snooping," He paused and took a sip of water.
He continued, "We sneaked in the cake and drinks in order not to spoil the element of surprise and waited till 1 PM when he usually goes on a coffee break to surprise him. True to habit, at 1 PM he opened his door. As soon as he stepped out of his office, we all shouted, "Surprise! Happy Birthday, Mr Kemmy!" So an impromptu party followed suit. While this was ongoing, we heard music playing somewhere not very far. At first, we thought it was someone playing loud music in the neighbouring house, but the music increased in intensity until it was deafening. Then it became clear this was no music from a small electronic device. It was a live band. As we contemplated on the oddness of this, the front door flew open, and a pretty lady dressed in a very seductive dress stepped in with a huge smile on her face. Her music band and entourage in tow."
A customer walked in at that moment, and Akpan took that moment to stop as Dera swiftly moved over to attend to the client. Some minutes later, Dera was back, and he picked up from where he left off.
"At first we could not make head or tail of what was unfolding, but looking at the embarrassed look of Mr Kemmy, who was in a state of utter bewilderment," he paused, hoping that Dera would ask the meaning of the word. He was disappointed.
"Then some of us were able to put two and two together and concluded this must be an uninvited, clingy girlfriend who may have been a result of one night of indiscretion. However, some who were unable to arrive at that conclusion had all doubts cleared when she spoke"
"Hello boyfriend, you decided not to invite me to your birthday party. Well, I, on the other hand, decided to bring the party to you." She said with the sweetest smile.
Mr Kemmy stuttered, "I told you not to come to my workplace or anywhere near me, see the embarrassm.."
His voice trailed off as his eyes widened. The workers following his gaze and saw his cause of surprise. Standing at the end of the room was the wife and two daughters. One of the daughters was the same age as the party crasher.
"Oh, I see what made you guys run, the wife brought down hell," Dera interjected and laughed heartily.
"Well, you are both wrong and right in a way." Akpan continued. "The wife did bring down hell, but not in the way you might have thought." Dera gave him a nod which was a prompt to go on, and he spoke a little faster in his excitement, "If I was not there, there is no way I would believe what happened next." He paused for yet again another dramatic effect. "The wife looked at the young girl holding a cake and looked at the husband. Then from the husband, she looked at us. I think she deciphered what was going on. She took a step forward, and the girl standing in front with the cake took three steps backwards and in a moment that was when it happened. "
"The first daughter, Angie, who was following the mother made two steps and froze in shock. She said only four words,"Rose is that you?"
"I swear if I were not there, I would not have believed what happened next," Akpan repeated, shivering a little from mere recollection of what happened.
"As soon as the girl called Rose heard the words from Angie she dropped the cake."
Angie was petrified, and she could not move. She muttered to herself as if she was going crazy, "But this cannot be. Rose died three years ago".
One moment Rose was there, the next moment, she wasn't. She vanished into thin air! I swear as I'm standing here that is the truth. It was as clear as day.
That was when everyone took off.
The End.
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