Ishtar couldn't understand why a stranger had to talk to her in such disrespectful tone of voice and choice of words respectively.
"What gives her the audacity? Is it the fact that we're in the same age bracket?" At the back of her mind, she wondered, "or she took advantage of the fact that I humbled myself!"
Ishtar took a deep breathe to chill out, "You know, as I was on my way here to visit my beloved husband," she smiled at her again, "on my mind was this pure intention; to branch here and say hello to Sonia as a way of taking a memorable moment inside this admirable office that made my top most life wishes come to reality."
"What were those wishes?" Each round Nadia opened her mouth to speak, Sonia's heart raced anxiously nearly causing her a heart attack.
Ishtar was in answering shoes, "When Bob Lee gave me a chance to work beside him, our efforts were the only hope to resurrect a business which was already drawning in a worrisome debt, perhaps the same dabt stole the life of his father," on a downcast face she said.
"Long story short," she continued, "me and him worked our asses off and made it to the level where this beautiful skyscraper was easy for us to purchase, which later became the company headquarters as everyone can see: I am glad." Ishtar smiled.
"So, are you trying to inform me that you made your husband who he is?" Jealously Nadia asked, giving Sonia a hard time.
"I mean this office is like my other home; the second place I've actually spend most of my time ever since I was born. But I'm Bob Lee's wife now and he takes good care of me; I am happy, that's what I am."
In disguise, Ishtar gave a sneak peak of her background to command some respect from Nadia, a lady she didn't know at the moment.
But Nadia's jealous elevated to the next level.
"Men are not to be trusted," said Nadia.
"Gosh!" Sonia blurted, "did you really have to tell her all that?" Deep within she questioned, "Goddammit! How foolish was I to allow this problematic girl come here...? If at all I'm told to pack my bags out of this office, definitely I blame it on myself for putting my job at risk."
Proudly, Ishtar continued to walk around the place talking about how great heavens had blessed her.
"Now that am remaining with less than two months to have my twin babies, it's going to require my husband to spend much time at home and pay full attention to me and our little sweethearts," unknowingly she made Nadia Browne more and more mad.
Sonia looked at her best friend Nadia, then looked at her boss Ishtar, and all she could see was danger knocking and its doors were about to open.
Haunted by a feeling of guilt, "gosh, what do I do? I don't need to be part of this war," she thought.
She began to feel hot under a well operating air conditioner right up, next to the gypsum office ceiling which was making the office much brighter.
The sudden hotness Sonia felt made her to begin sweating. Ishtar noticed, "your makeup is dull allover a sudden, are you alright?"
"O Of course I am," Sonia stuttered, giving a tensful smile.
Down on a chair sitting, Nadia Browne knew the exact reason why her friend was not in a steady mood. Quickly she got on her feet to kick-start the battle.
"Nice to see you Ishtar," boldly speaking with an undermining gaze and smile, she started to close the distance, walking with eyes fixed directly in Ishtar's face.
Nadia's conduct appeared fumbling to Ishtar. She got anxiously eager.
"Sorry, have we met before?!"
Sonia saw that milk was about to spill.
In other words she realized that Nadia was openly waging a war, ready to fight innocent Ishtar over a man.
Hands akimbo, Sonia stood looking at both of them. She tried to open her mouth to talk but she didn't know the right words to speak.
Bothered and restless, "excuse me...!" Sonia stated.
"Don't get involved," Nadia made an abrupt reply, commanding Sonia to stop talking.
Allover a sudden the door was pushed open and Bob Lee walked in as Nadia Browne was about to spit a tone of wrong words to Ishtar.
Sentient of the danger that her adorable job was at risk, watching trouble calling to involve her innocent life, at the back of Sonia's mind she concluded, "I'm finished!" The moment she set her eyes on Bob Lee.
A sea of anxiety surrounded her.
When Nadia saw Bob Lee's she held on to say a word and took a few steps away, out of Ishtar's front.
"What!" Bob Lee blurted when he set his eyes on Nadia Browne, whose face was smiling guiltily.
She was the last person he expected to see in Sonia's office.
Looking at his wife Ishtar, her face seemed confused, filled with question marks. he knew fire had burnt-out already on the mountain.
All caught up in a fix, Bob Lee gazed puzzled, wondering how his side chick ended up in his personal secretary's office with his wife that early morning.
"Um excuse me," suddenly, Sonia intervened and stepped foward so fast to say something.
Everyone switched their eyes on her.
"Um boss," humbly she spoke, "please allow me to introduce my best friend Nadia Browne to both of you."
Ishtar couldn't believe her ears.
"Nadia Browne!" The name rang a bell hard in her head.
Ishtar turned her eyes at Nadia Browne, and then to her husband respectively, like she was slapped unaware in the face.
"Yes," Sonia panicked to respond, smiling like all was well and she quickly maneuvered a narrative, "my mobile phone rang. When I answered, all I heard in the background were cars horning if in traffic, and continuous sniffs from my friend. Of course my mind clicked something wasn't right with her."
Sonia improvised with hopes that this was the only way to prevent chaos that was yet expected to happen.
However, what Sonia didn't know was that, Ishtar's sudden blurt was based on the fact that the name 'Nadia Browne' wasn't new in her ears.
This was the second time the same name lands in her ears.
"What happened?" Inquisitively, at tension, with lots of love and care for Nadia Browne though, Bob Lee got so curious.
The wrinkled facial expression spoke how concerned he was at heart.
"Um worried," Sonia continued to explain on, "I tried to ask her what the matter was, but the fact that she was crying in pain, word from her mouth kept breaking, making it difficult for me to understand her."
Gesturing worried, Bob Lee continued to be at tension, over two factors.
"I dont want anything wrong to happen to my true love," desperately, his mind spoke, "why did she have to show up here for heavens sake? I believe she had come to meet me because I was nolonger attending to her! My affair with her is the last thing my wife should know about."
"... and since I had just reported at the office for work," Sonia continued from where she had stopped, "asking her to come over if she could was the most efficient option for me."
Sonia beemed a smile and concluded, "At least am happy my best friend made it here without any injuries.... I was so worried."
"So, you're Nadia Browne!" Speaking within the mind, Ishtar looked at her from head to toe, jealously and angrily.
Ishtar recalled that early morning when Bob Lee, under the influence of alcohol, praised the owner of the name as if she was the goddess of love.
Heart racing, eyes reddish-browning, Ishtar became so nervous all over a sudden.
Monitoring the situation keenly, of course it came to Bob Lee's attention that no secrets were revealed to his wife yet.
Smiling guiltily he regained his calm, "honey," and called upon his wife Ishtar, "why don't we create some space for Sonia and her visitor? They need sometime together; privacy for a moment."
He aimed to keep Ishtar out of Nadia's space.
"It's alright!" Nadia Browne, jealously on her mission to create awareness which was to lead to unnecessary chaos, stepped forward, "you don't have to leave. Perharps your presence may help my soul to heal."
"Your soul to heal!" Wondered, Ishtar.
"Nuh, haha, I don't see any need," Bob Lee couldn't wait to hold Ishtar's hand, smiling, directing her to walk along, by his side, out of the door, "it's not discipline at all to interrupt people's privacy; especially when.... um when... um....," words kept breaking.
"Boss is right Nadia," Sonia smiled as she intervened to save the day, "You're my visitor, he's trying to respect it?"
However, Sonia knew exactly what she was doing, in favor of her boss, which Nadia noticed too.
As an intelligent, Ishtar smelt a rat from the way Sonia was speaking, so suspiciously. She looked skeptical, questioning the truth in Sonia's words.
Turning her eyes on her an unexperienced lier husband, all over his face was evidence of something he was hiding. When Ishtar turned eyes on Nadia, with a determined eye Nadia smiled in their faces like she was in the place of control and power.
Nadia Browne really tasted Ishtar's patience and because of love, Ishtar's jeolousy could not stay hidden in the processing Chambers.
...