Broken: Episode 4

Friday, the last day of the week, got out of bed late and began to rush all in attempt to get to work on time, I drove like a mad man past an intersection and I could hear a woman hurling insults at me but I wasn't bothered, I had a meeting with my boss that morning to show him the weekly report from my department, we all took turns in the department to present the report and I was so unfortunate to be the one this time around. I got to the office ten minutes late and rushed up to my department to get the report only to find out that it was in my laptop bag and I forgot it at home. Luckily for me, I saved the document on my workstation also, I made a new copy and rushed to the boss's office, he had this "you again" look on his face and told me to drop the report and leave because he has to attend an impromptu meeting at another branch immediately. I felt relieved and walked back to my department, I walked past Kofo's desk and she was smiling at me as usual and this time I was curious to know why she had a smile on her face so I went back and asked with a stern look on my face:

"Why are you smiling?” She paused and stared at me for some few seconds and said with a smile on her face.

"Your eyes make me smile." I wasn't sure what to feel, my colleagues just sat and were watching the drama unfold before their eyes.

"My eyes?! What's so special about my eyes?" I asked inquisitively with a straight look.

"They make you look like a mouse, a cute one" she giggled. I realized my stern look wasn't getting to her so I walked away, my colleagues just laughed away as I retreated to my desk to sit my ass down and get some rest from all the running around I just did. I checked the network for any error and discrepancies but I could get just little work done because most of my documents were saved on my laptop. I decided to use my time to find out if Kofo was learning anything because I was trying to avoid a situation where my boss comes to the department and decides to ask her some questions and she doesn't have the right answers, I called her to my desk and asked if she had any question for me to answer

"No, I don't. Alex and Cynthia have been really helpful so far." She said excitedly.

"Will you be coming to the cinema with us later this evening after work?” She asked tentatively.

"No, I've other plans." Friday movie nights was a thing that Alex started a while back, they all go to the cinema to see a late movie and have dinner afterwards. I never went out with them because I had a girlfriend and we always had plans for Friday nights but since I became single, I indulged myself in watching the food network every Friday night, sounds weird but seeing people get creative with food really calmed me down.

"What other plans? Can I join you?”  She asked mockingly.

"None of your business." I was trying to get rid of her but she was just being so persistent.

"Well I'm sorry if I offended you". She turned and walked back to her desk. I noticed everybody in the office staring at me and I felt lithe bad guy with guilt written all over my face but I didn't give a damn. We all went back to our respective duties and before we knew it, closing time was here, I could hear Semisonic's 'Closing Time' playing in my head as I got excited to leave the office. My attention was distracted by a gloomy looking Kofo sitting at her desk, she wasn't the all-smiling girl that I saw this morning and this was all my fault, my ego came to play and I was adamant about apologizing to her but Cynthia gave me this mean look when I looked towards her and I didn't want to get on her bad side, I might want to pound that box later, I walked up to Kofo, dragged a chair and sat beside her, I apologized about how I responded to her question earlier in the day and I would do anything to make it up to her, she lit up immediately and said I had to follow them to the cinema, the apology was genuine but I wasn't expecting her to cash in on the "make it up" part, Urgh! I turned and saw Cynthia giving me this "I dare you to say no to that poor girl again" look, I really hate Cynthia but like I said before, her box is still of high value so I turned to the already smiling Kofo and said:

"Okay no problem, this should be fun." My fellow male colleagues were not so excited but I wish they knew how much I wanted to go home and enjoy a bucket of chicken while watching The Food Network. Filled with so much excitement, Kofo packed her bag and said we should all leave on time so we could get good sits at the cinema. Goodbye bucket of crispy chicken I was looking forward to all day.