It was about 4:06 pm when I walked out of Takoradi Airport with Mr. James, the driver assigned to pick me up from the airport. Everything had been smooth; from the check-in to the flight which took about 45 minutes, it was all good.
Smooth sailing.
I called Ellie when we boarded the plane, and was subsequently treated to a three-minute story of how some policeman passed by the car at a traffic light and tried to hit on her until he saw the ring on her finger, which she said she strategically placed on the steering wheel just to give him the hint.
Chale, boys still dey craze give my wife, but I put a ring on it, so too bad for them.
Anyways, as I followed Mr. James to the car park, it was time to head to Alliance Hotel, which he said was about ten minutes away.
“So, Mr. James,” I asked as he moved to the boot of a red Toyota Corolla, “are all the others in the hotel?”
He shook his head as he opened it and carried my suitcase. “No please. Some will be staying at Africa Beach Hotel, and those who live in the city will come from their homes.”
“Oh okay. Is Mr. Ahmed staying in Alliance?”
“Yes please. He’s waiting to meet you.”
“Great, let’s move, then.”
***
“Mr. Richard Acquah! Great to finally meet you!”
As the concierge at the hotel took my suitcase and stood by, I greeted the bespectacled Caucasian gentleman with a well-trimmed beard and the purest Spanish accent I had heard.
Mr. Sebastian Ahmed. Soon to be my boss.
“Same here, Mr. Ahmed! After all our talks on the phone and Zoom meetings, good to meet you in person,” I responded.
“Yes, yes! I’m sure you are very tired after long trip from Accra, so you can go and rest. Tomorrow we meet in the conference room, okay?”
“Definitely.”
I didn’t waste any time after that. Straight to room 203, where I threw myself onto the bed right after the concierge left the room and fell asleep.
***
Monday morning arrived.
After a good night’s sleep in my spacious, awesomely-decorated deluxe room, a video call with Ellie where I showed off the brilliance of the room, and good, good breakfast (English breakfasts at hotels are always one of the highlights of my stay), I walked into the conference room of the hotel. The tables and chairs were appropriately arranged in a U-style setup.
I nodded as I looked around. Professionally done. Bons Farms banners all around. The names of every participant placed at their sitting places. Yep, the hotel staff did a top job.
I looked at my phone screen. 7:43 am. Still a whole lot of time left before the conference commenced. It was to begin at 8:30 am.
I turned as the door opened. In walked Mr. Sebastian Ahmed and a Ghanaian gentleman walked in.
“Ahh, Mr. Acquah! You’re in early, I see!” Mr. Ahmed as he and the other gentleman walked towards me.
“Yes, yes. I’m looking forward to this conference kicking off,” I remarked, shaking their hands.
“Oh, good, good. We have a lot to go through for today. By the way, this is Mr. Frank Kumah. Chief Finance Officer. Mr. Kumah, this is Richard Acquah, your General Manager.”
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Acquah,” Mr. Kumah said to me.
“Same here, Mr. Kumah,” I responded. “Looking forward to getting to know you better as we move along.”
“Definitely, definitely. Everything’s in place, right?”
“Yes, yes. Just took a look around. Everything is set.”
“Nice one. Lemme just take a look.”
As Mr. Kumah moved to the setup, I quickly whipped out my phone to check on my notifications.
Sebastian, who stood close to me, nodded. “That is your wife?”
I looked at him, then looked at my phone.
Oh yeah, my wallpaper. I have a picture of Eleanor in this cute black dress I love so much. A spicy little above-the-knee dress. With her hands behind her back, posing like some innocent little girl.
One word for that pic: spicy!
I nodded proudly. “Yep. That’s my wife.”
“Ahhh, I see. Very beautiful woman. I see you really love your wife, no?”
I nodded enthusiastically. “Yep, I really do. That woman means the world to me.”
“Nice, nice. I like to see men show love for their wives openly. Many men these days, they don’t like their wives, you know? They always running around with other girls, spending big money on taking them around the world. Buying them new things. I don’t believe in that. If you are married man, stick to your wife and make her happy. When you make money, spend it on her, you understand? Best way to live.”
I nodded. Wise advice from my boss-to-be.
I mean, he spoke super fast, so I had to really strain my ear to catch all that. But yeah, Mr. Ahmed spoke the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
***
“Hahaha! It’s serious, eh?”
“Chale, babe, if Sebastian is talking and you don’t pay attention well well, you’ll miss everything. Eii, rapid-fire speech paa nie! Everyone was talking about it afterward.”
“Interesting. Then you better be paying full attention to him. As the general manager diɛɛ, you can’t afford to slack when he speaks, coz they’ll most likely be looking to you to repeat it for them.”
“True, true. No doubt about that. I’ve already advised myself. No slacking. So anyways, how is your first full day of mandatory celibacy going?”
“It sucks, Richie. It freakin’ sucks. And if you open your mouth and let out another one of those infuriating virgin jokes, I’m calling up Mawuse so he can begin proceedings first thing tomorrow morning.”
I laughed. Mawuse is a mutual friend of ours, and he’s a lawyer. Every time I make that silly joke, he threatens to have our marriage annulled, as no consummation apparently is grounds for that. He really hates it.
But then again, who doesn’t? I remember passing that joke to my mother. The woman went savage mode on me.
“You and who is ediɛn virgin? You’re married to a hot girl like Ellie and you’re still a virgin? My friend, don’t make me come and slap that nonsense coconut of yours.”
Haha, mothers! Gotta love ’em.
So the first day of the conference went very well. Everyone learned a lot, and yep, Sebastian Ahmed certainly has a good vision for the farm. The sessions lasted till about 2:30 pm, then we ended, went for lunch, and some of us had to stay on and have some meetings with Sebastian. That lasted about an hour and a half, then those of us staying in the hotel went to our rooms while the others headed to their hotels.
And as I sat in the chair on the balcony, enjoying the sweet breeze, I had my Ellie on a video call.
“Anyways, it’s cool and sweet out here. The breeze is lovely, the ambience is on point. You know what would have made it perfect?”
“My presence, of course.”
“Yep. Ellie, I can’t lie, I wish you were here. Nestled up in my arms, just enjoying the breeze as we stay locked to one another, wishing nights like this would never end.”
Silence over the phone after that. That wistful little speech definitely had us both picturing the scenario I mentioned, just wishing it wasn’t just an exercise for our imagination.
“Ellie, I wish you were here. I really do,” I said softly.
“I wish I was with you too, baby,” she responded. “This bed feels so empty without you.”
Silence once again.
“Well, it won’t be long,” I quietly stated. “And remember the bigger picture. That’s why I’m here.”
“Of course, of course. We’ll be fine. Just do what you need to do. I know this is what you love, and you’ll always have my back. Just get the work done. Our dreams won’t come true by just wishing, will they? It’s the backing action that will get us there. So do what you gotta do, baby.”
“Indeed, my love. Indeed. By the way, nice philosophical touch to that last statement.”
“Philosophical? Where?”
“Oh, you know, our dreams won’t come to pass by just wishing…”
“That’s the philosophical eyi you’re talking about? Ah ah ah, Richie!”
I burst out laughing.
Oh, the joys of annoying your wife whenever you get the chance!
Yeah, the love is deep between him and his beloved Ellie, that’s for sure. What’s to come in the coming days, though?
