Power outages in the city were common especially on Thursday afternoon.
When this happened, Makena always found solace in reading all the funny messages about Kenya Power on social media. Oti and Nash made sure she had a good supply of them even in the WhatsApp group they were all in. Makena had gone to lengths to make sure she accommodated every member socially. When the second cheque from the Breast Cancer Foundation came through, Makena treated them to nyama choma lunch and drinks.
Makena strained to see the dark figure walking through the door. The only light in the room came from her laptop. The power outages were now becoming too much. Her laptop would go off in the next 15 minutes. She heard strange movement under her desk as she pressed escape on her laptop. The room became pitch dark. The dark figure had disappeared. She blinked again and again trying to adjust to the darkness. The movement under her desk persisted.
Her physical address dreams had come true; she was now the proud owner of a small office space on the 9th floor of Marafiki Building. She had bought an extra desktop computer and a desk where Oti sat. Nash was in and out of the office juggling school and work. Mark had voluntarily paid for the internet connection. Makena suspected that’s what kept Oti in the office even late into the night.
Makena had grown fond of Oti. He always had jokes and funny quips off his sleeves. Oti often referred to Makena as M’me Stiletto. Makena had let him have it. The stilettos in question were a gift from Mark. A client of his whom he had planned a very successful honeymoon to Dubai had brought them to Mark among other gifts. The shoe had fit Makena perfectly. Although Makena had protested, the shoe could not fit Mark’s sister and it had been too pretty to honestly say no to.
Makena occasionally wore them, but on the day they official opened the office, she had worn them along with that short black dress spared for her night out with the girls and Dougie. She had not had any girl’s night out since Mo left for UK.
“You are the epitome of all things classy M’me Stilletto.”
Oti not only enjoyed teasing but also flattering her. Makena would sometimes feign seriousness but it only lasted a minute and she would burst out laughing. His Luo accent always got to her and Oti did well to exaggerate every English word that he said. There was never a dull moment at the office. Except that day when they had a typo on the name of Mheshimiwa. The day before the incidence, Oti had programmed the next day’s tweet about the Mheshimiwa tour; a typo in ‘election ‘to ‘erection’ had kept twitter critics on steroids. Makena received a long heated phone call the next morning and she had transferred the same heat to Oti and Nash.
On this dark, boring day Oti was unfortunately out of the office. Makena searched for her stilettos under her desk with no success, as she reached for her mobile phone, she stepped on something, a live creature. The creature made a scream and went for the door. Makena followed only to see a big rat leaving her office.
