For Lorna, life outside of social media was ordinary. The most she had was a google email account to apply for a role as project coordinator in this construction company that has projects spanning Eastern and Central Africa. This was a job that she desperately needed.Lorna had just lost her previous job in 2019 as a marketing assistant for a telecoms company. Covid-19 and its impact on businesses had only exacerbated the situation that when this opportunity to do something other than her forte beckoned, she did not hesitate.

Fast rewind …

At a baby shower for Mercelina, one of Lorna’s BFF, when the fun and fantasy of the expected child was all behind the bus, it was time to know a little bit of the story behind the baby daddy to Mercelina’s expected child. You know the stories that “ghels” get into discussing the boys. Lorna was one who was eager to know how Mercelina’s fortunes had changed exponentially only 4 years since they left college.

Merce (as per peers fondly called her) was the chic who would slay whenever they went out with the rest of the girls. Her principle was always, “girls, lets get our grove on, dress to kill and hit the club. When at the club, the monied potbellied and generous boys will pay for the drinks.”

This is how Merce had landed this C-suite guy who was bankrolling her lavish lifestyle. When Merce mentioned of wanting a baby with him, he gladly accepted and even offered to “double the fortunes” for bearing his seed. He would go ahead and buy her a car and pay a huge down payment for her 2-br furnished apartment. This story got Lorna not only envious, but jealous.

Let me tell you a bit of Lorna. She was this athletic build lady 5 feet 7 tall, chocolate complexion, with a figure that would take many sweat dates on the treadmill.As fate would have it, the Monday after the eventful baby shower was going to be the turning point for Lorna’s life.

It was Lorna’s habit to get to the office earlier than the rest of her colleagues. On this day, she was running late – thanks to the go slow by the public transport crew plying her route.

As she was beginning to feel the pressure at the bus stop, lady luck called in unexpected. She saw a man smile at her from his imposing BMW X5 Series. He stopped to ask why there were many people milling around the bus stop. There is a “matatu” strike, she chimed. He went further to offer a ride to town.

Lorna had run out of excuses as to why she would not make her routine 07:45a.m at the office. It was heading to 09:00am. Her boss was understanding – after all, she was not the type to get to the office late. Lady luck knocked the second time. The gentleman was driving to an office block that was only a few minutes’ walk from her office. The pet talk while riding with this stranger was cordial, largely formal and easy. The kind of conversation that left Lorna feeling like her professional network was about to take a leapfrog. When she was about to alight, Georgren offered a business card that had the credentials of Chief Finance Officer.

If there was anything that Lorna could not afford to lose, was that business card. She took a picture of the card and quickly sent to Merce to let her know whom she had met that morning. But one thing was missing – a telephone number? How was she going to drop a WhatsApp or text message to just say, “thanks for the ride?”

A lot was going on in the mind of Lorna as the day unfolded. The girlfriend talk at the baby shower was playing on her mind. She recalled one girl saying, “if you meet this guy whom you have a crush on, do not hesitate to make the move!”

Lorna did exactly that. She went online, logged into her LinkedIn profile and made a connection request to Georgren. An hour turned into a day, a day into a week and a week into a month and there was no response to the request. She had almost given up.

One lazy Sunday afternoon, she saw a pop up on her screen, “Georgen viewed your LinkedIn profile”.

A few minutes later, her DM was all a flurry of messages. Lorna couldn’t believe her eyes! This gentleman was offering a polite drink that very afternoon. This was playing out faster than she could take it in. She couldn’t say no.

But why ….?

The polite drinks became regular. The meetups became a little more frequent. The conversation changed from being a professional connection, to a social connection. Lorna did not mind how this was developing.

Georgren was later to confirm that Lorna was staying in an SQ in the same neighborhood. This only made the escapades more interesting. At the slightest excuse, Geogren would be at Lorna’s. It became addictive to the point that one day, Georgren’s son bumped into them one evening. It was not a nice outcome. But stay with me with Lorna’s side of the story.

To sustain this relationship, Georgren took the burden to relocate Lorna to an address of mutual agreement where they could conveniently meet for their jaunts.

Lorna had a side of her that she had had never told Georgren. She was anemic and hypertensive and was on terminal medication to sustain her feeble health. Her fear was that he would dump her if he knew of her health conditions.

…. to be continued ….