This Could Have Been Our Song!: A coulda woulda shoulda ballad by Danielle-Claude Ngontang Mba Page B

Crazy. You call me later?
    Noor: I miss you too and will call you tonight
    Noor: But still what were the odds of that?
    Me: There were no odds. Crazy!!!!! He came to the lounge for me Noor: OK, but what were the odds of you actually leaving with him
    Noor: You didn’t have to
    Me: Just call me later I’m starving.
    Noor: Ok, Denial. Bye
    I choose to remember only the positive messages from Crazy. I ’m a Mpobo-Riddell and we have been through a lot; this tiny bump will not stop me. I think? I believe? I hope? Only time will tell. But let’s not tell Crazy just yet. I dial Kathie’s extension and pick up my receiver.
    “ Hey, Kathie. Downstairs in fifteen?” I reach for my handbag. “My treat,” I add.
    “ Okay, Luce,” she says. I can hear her typing. “I’m just finishing up here. See you there.”
    Alright, time to get some intel and Kathie is the one person that can provide it.
     
    “So how was your time away from work?” Kathie asks me. She takes another bite of her salade niçoise ; it looks delicious. “It has been crazy here.”
    I opted for a very appetizing smoked salmon and wild mus hroom risotto, which I’m pretty much gulping down. I was hungry. Kathie, always between two diets for one reason or another, is all about the fancy salads. Not that she needs it; her second-generation Korean genes let her eat whatever she wants without any possible chance of a weight gain and her fourth-generation Irish ones guilt her about it. Her words not mine.
    “ Thanks for lunch,” she says. “This place is my favorite.” She takes a sip of her diet coke. “But you knew that.”
    “ Guilty,” I say, cleaning off my plate. “So…how crazy exactly?”
    “ Well…you heard about the Beesly & Matt debacle,” she asks between a few bites. “Of course you did.”
    “ And that’s not even the whole story,” I mumble and finish my ice tea.
    “ What?” she asks me. “Anyway… Who waltzed into our office last week like he owed the place?”
    “ Marcus Grant?” I ask.
    “ Marcus freaking Grant!” She finishes her drink. “Matt called me to work on his album, bla bla bla. Second Coming is a horrible title, bla bla bla. The ‘Head to Toe’ girl; are you bloody kidding me? Bla bla bla,” she says. She pushes her half-eaten salad away.
    I didn ’t expect that. My mouth is wide open. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
    “ Then of course Jenny was all over him. He is hot, very hot,” she continues.
    Yes, Kathie, I ’m aware if that. “Did they go to my office by any chance?” I ask.
    “ She gave him a tour, whatever that meant,” she laughs.
    I think I ’m going to vomit. “You don’t think that –”
    “ Noo… Please, the guy is a tool but he has class,” she says. “Not that she didn’t try…a lot.” She winks at me and checks her phone. “She even gave him the remaining Origin passes we had, the ones I wanted keep for myself. The other went to you.”
    Well, did she now? Royal bitch!
    “I sent them myself,” she says.
    Well did she now? I’m surrounded by traitors!
    “ Did you use yours by any chance?” she asks me.
    “ Yup,” I say, raising one eyebrow. “I used them.” More ice tea please.
    “ Did you see him there?”
    “ Yup,” I slowly say. No, really, where is the waiter? My throat is hurting.
    Looking at Kathie ’s facial expression changing is priceless; she frowns first then tilts her head, closes her eyes. Bingo! She opens them back.
    “ You shagged him!” she shouts loud enough for the rest of the restaurant to hear. “You shagged the British stud!” she repeats, but lower this time.
    “ First of all, stop saying shagged. Secondly, hush!” I tell her, blushing a little. “Crazy, right? Then – surprise, surprise – who do I see here today?”
    “ Marcus freaking Grant!” she says, “The cocky son of a –”
    “ Calm down, Kathie. I’m supposed to be the upset one.”
    Kathie checks her phone again; Lloyd and Callia are always sending her