AND IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING...

“First, we brought darkness into our lives through our thoughts, words and actions,” Uchenna had told him last night. “Then, sorrow followed closely on its heels. If we had lived, as we should, according to the Lord’s Holy Will, we would have known nothing but pure joy; for sorrow is alien to the Light.”

Strangely, these words with the simplicity of their logic seemed to help Udoka to stave off the mysterious waves of despair that threatened to overwhelm him. Perhaps, it was the fuel crisis. Or, could it be the deluge of depressing news in the mass media?

It was hard to say. There was this general feeling of dissatisfaction, of weariness for everything around him. Sometimes, it was as though so many things joined forces to smother him. At such moments, he would close his eyes and heave a sigh. Then, a wordless prayer would simultaneously escape from him…

Even when unsavoury experiences pelted down on him, the words helped him to face them with courage. Nothing that he did not deserve would come to him, he reasoned.

And one of those things he deserved was this awful headache he had woken up with this morning, he mused. He certainly owed that to the binge-drinking session at Ejike’s birthday cocktail party last night. Maybe it was that Bordeaux. Sadly, it was one of those nights he ignored the word “moderation” as though it didn’t exist. Indeed, he recalled, he had behaved as though he didn’t seem to get enough of the red wine.

Droplets of sweat slithered down his neck despite his cranking up the car’s air conditioning system from 2 to 3. Oh, how he loathed this morning-after hangover! He regretted not waiting for Amaka’s espresso before dashing off in a hurry. Coffee, he knew form experience, always helped his hangovers.

But he hadn’t the time to compose himself this morning for prayers, much less eat or drink anything. He had to be in his office in Victoria Island before 8 am for this meeting. As he eased his gleaming ebony-coloured Toyota Avensis out of his side street into Awolowo Road, the main thoroughfare in Southwest Ikoyi that would take him to Falomo Roundabout, he hoped and prayed silently that there would be no obstructing fuel queues.

There was none. Thankfully, traffic along Awolowo Road was like a Sunday morning’s. He only needed to slow down a little at Falomo Roundabout before manoeuvring right towards VI. *** “The success or failure of this idea rests on you, Udoka.” The words of his boss at the Corporate Affairs Department, Olusegun Thompson, seared through him like laser swords. “In other words, you are driving this project!”

Ouch! Just when he thought he would retreat into the relative safety of his fibre-glass-walled office to quietly nurse his headache. This headache wouldn’t even let him think! Maybe he ought to have called in sick. But, he knew, that would not have been possible. Not when at a time like this when the spotlight of the hawkish MD (managing, not medical director) of this telecommunications company had been beamed on his department. And to make matters worse, his boss loved saddling him with work as though the others in the department didn’t exist.

“I suggest you meet with your team after this meeting here in this conference room to prepare for the ad agency team,” Thompson continued. “They should be here by noon and we should be ready for them.”

Chikamso nodded meekly. He was barely listening to his boss now, as the latter went on and on about how this was the MD’s special project. Oh, how he loathed this job on days like these! He had not even acquainted himself enough with the new brand. And now he had been mandated to brief the agency team about it.

“I am ready to take your questions now, if you have any.” Thompson’s imperious and stentorious voice wrenched him back from his musings. “Recall that this is the only brand in our stable that has been customised for the ‘C’ segment of the society.”

Udoka hadn’t any question. But Femi, clearly the most presumptuous among his colleagues, had one. It had to do with the brand personality. Wasn’t that obvious? On a better day, he would have told him not to take the meeting backwards. But this moment, he had only one thought: return to his office to update himself on the brand.

A glance at his watch told him it was already ten minutes past ten – less than two hours before that meeting. *** It was already five minutes to 12 noon when he finally looked from his HP laptop. At least, he’d got an above average grasp of what this was all about. Hopefully, the agency team wouldn’t have more than the obvious preliminary questions…

His Blackberry pealed its signature ringtone. A glance at the readout told him it was Thompson. Swiping the green “answer” icon on the screen leftwards, he held the mobile phone handset close to his ear.

“Udoka!” boomed Thompson’s voice before he could say anything. “The project has been called off.” Udoka was stunned. “Called off? How, sir?” he managed to ask. “Yes, called off. You heard me right. The MD called a few minutes ago to say it’s been cancelled. Don’t ask me why. We’d all know in due course.” A pause. “Guess why I had to call your mobile phone?” A chuckle. “You’ll have to break the news to the agency people. They must be on their way by now. Break the news to them now or let them know when they arrive. The choice is yours.”

Udoka sighed. Now, all that tension was for nothing: getting to work so early, the meeting and reading and re-reading the files on the new brand.