Edward arrived at the Ocean View Restaurant with Kanayo right on time. The celebrant was a classmate of Kanayo and also an acquaintance of his, but he was here as a courtesy to the celebrant‘s parents who were his valued business clients. In any other circumstances he wouldn‘t have attended the party; but he‘d been feeling dangerously bored of late and ready for any type of distraction. He didn‘t like cocktail parties that much, especially those where there weren‘t any networking opportunities for business deals. Like this one. Now he couldn‘t wait to leave, and he calculated the earliest moment he could sneak off without giving offence.
He would have once relished the opportunity to rub shoulders with a room full of the movers-and-shakers, but at this point he was well past the stage where he needed to curry favor. Hopefully he‘d miss the majority of the guests notorious for lateness to such parties. He remained where he was on the fringes and gazed out on the crowd. The women glittered in their new dresses while the men strutted around. Suddenly the wind picked up speed, chopping up the waters of the nearby ocean. It began to rain and waiters walked around closing some of the windows. Edward cursed out loud; he would have to stay for longer.
“What‘s your problem, man? You still don‘t have a girlfriend, do you? The year is halfway through you know, soon it will be a year you broke up with Bisi. There are a lot of babes here, so let‘s mingle. We could start from the bar.” Kanayo tugged at his sleeve.
“I will still be leaving soon.”
“How can you think of leaving in this weather and with all these beauties flitting around? And the best are yet to come, you know, the fashionably late…”
A third person joined their discussion. It was Mr. Odusote.
“Edward, how good to see you here.”
Edward cursed again, this time underneath his breath as Kanayo shook hands with the man and left them alone. Mr. Odusote was the last person he wished to see. The man was becoming a pest in his life; how did he always know where he would be at?
“How is business doing?” Mr. Odusote backed Edward into a spot in the corner.
“Fine,” Edward snapped.
“I understand that you‘re not ready to work with me yet but I keep thinking of all the many opportunities we miss as time goes by.”