"Charming evil"

The placard, To err is human; to forgive isn’t part of the banking policy hung loosely on the wall of Vantage Bank as I walked in there for the first time. ‘Nice write-up’ I thought to myself as I visited every corner of the banking hall with my curious eyes.

The walls were painted a beautiful orange and lemon, giving the space the look of a kiddie’s playground. Beautiful square-patterned bulbs adorned the ceiling. Ash-colored Formica decorated the many strategically-positioned counters. The countless air-conditioners gave the space just the right amount of chill. The ambiance was simply splendid.

I smiled to myself. This was to be my new office. I could hardly believe it.           *                            *                            *

Seven months had gone by since that beautiful morning I first stepped foot in the premises of Vantage Bank. Everything looked just like it did the first day. But something was missing; the magic, the thrill, the excitement. The same place that seemed like a great escape from life the first day had since become an annoying little cage I sentenced myself to every work day just to make a living. I desperately needed some spark in my life; some sort of shine.

I looked up from my computer screen at the long queue that stretched the entire banking hall up to the door. People who had come to the bank for diverse reasons, who all seemed to have one thing in common – impatience.

Right in front of the teller beside me, a man was boiling with so much rage I could swear I saw steam oozing from his head.

“You are a very foolish boy. Tell you what, I don’t care how you do it, but I’m not leaving here without my money”, I heard him yell. Typical!!

I surveyed the queue for a while. Unbelievably, I spotted the magic I had been looking for. It was packaged in a tall dark frame that towered above everyone else. An egg shaped face with dull brown eyes sat on a long slender neck. A small nose that tapered at the tip graced that face and lips that looked like they were painted a wild pink twitched into what I thought was a smile. He had taken time to carve his beards, forming perfect 90 degrees angles at the edges. He was the quintessential TDH (Tall, Dark and Handsome).

"God is indeed a great sculptor", I admitted to myself as I got lost in one of his master-pieces.

He turned towards me, caught my eyes and smiled broadly, revealing well-tended dentition.

Embarrassed at being caught drooling, I looked away instantly, my hands shaking as I deftly keyed some digits on my keyboard. I was too shaken to dare another peek at his direction.

Some five customers later, a deep smooth baritone said,

“Good morning Miss”.

I looked up from my PC, and behold, Mr. Handsome was smiling down at me.

“Good morning sir”, I said with a shaky voice, (It was the bank’s policy to address every customer as ‘sir’ or ‘madam’, age irrespective.) my embarrassment was yet to fade.

He pushed a cheque leaf at me.

I picked it up and peeked at the figure. Mr. Handsome had come to withdraw one million naira from his account.

I went through the process of looking at the picture on the screen, making sure that was the same person in front of me. I took time to verify the signature on the cheque; paying that much cash to the wrong person was a mistake too expensive to contemplate.

Everything was intact. I paid him, smiled as was policy, wished him a great day and went ahead to round up the transaction.

“Next customer please”, I called looking up from my screen.

To my utmost amazement, I saw a wrap of N500bills on the counter in front of me. Had Handsome just forgotten fifty thousand Naira on my counter? I immediately called on the security to track him, but he was already far gone.

I did the right thing – took the cash to my supervisor. Working in the bank had since taught me not to ignore procedures. I had seen enough to know that one over-sight could cost me not only my job, but my reputation as well.

I stood a while and watched my supervisor call the telephone number linked to Handsome’s account, praying fervently that he’ll respond and come for his money. At the second dial, he must have picked because I heard my supervisor explain his fifty thousand Naira loss to him.

I wished I could see his reaction. Was it shock, or amusement? My gut feeling told me he knew exactly what he was doing when he left behind that money.

Bunmi - my supervisor listened for a while, said a cheerful ‘thank you sir, have a nice day’ and dropped. Raising her head, she said to me, ‘he will be here to retrieve his money tomorrow. You can go back to work now. Well done.’

*                             *                       *A week had gone by and Chucks – that was Handsome’s name – had yet to show up for his money. I was nearly convinced that Chucks was one of those alien creatures I have read about in books; they visit earth now and then to do some good. Maybe I had been picked. If that was the case, why only fifty thousand Naira? I had been making pleas to the supreme for five million naira if he existed. Had he mistaken fifty thousand Naira for five million? So many things just didn’t add up.

As if in response to my endless queries on the subject, I looked up from my screen to find Chucks wearing that grin that did strange things to my stomach, standing right in from of me. Damn!! Why did he have to keep wearing that grin!!

“Hello pretty one” he said.

“Good morning sir,” I responded, almost in a murmur, too stunned to return his smile. “We have been expecting you,” I rushed on, “you forgot N50,000 on my counter the last time you were here.”

“No dear, I didn’t forget,” he countered. “That was my way of saying thank you for a wonderful service”.

At that, I smiled generously and said,

“That’s really nice sir, thank you. But I was only doing my job. I’ll call my supervisor so she can return your money to you.”

Sensing that he would try to stop me, and not wanting any of that, I rose from my seat as I dropped my last word and almost ran to Bunmi’s desk. It was against the bank’s policy to receive gifts from customers. Tempted as I was to claim my bounty, a small part of me consistently whispered that I pass. What if the guy was put up to it as a test of my integrity? I couldn’t even bear to imagine what I’d tell myself if I lost my job over fifty thousand naira. I let that tiny part win and passed.

Bunmi pulled the money from where it was safely tucked away in a brown envelope and followed me to my tiny cubicle.

“Good morning sir”, Bunmi said, turning on her charm. “You forgot this the last time you were here”, she added, stretching the envelope towards him.

“Thank you” he said, as he received the cash. Bunmi returned to her seat, her job done.

Turning to me, Chucks said, ‘Timi Lanre,’ reading my name from my nameplate and startling me with it. He had not called my name before. He must have noticed my reaction to that because the grin on his face broadened.

“I insist you take this money, it will make me very happy.” As if determined to break my resolve, he added, ‘please…’ with a voice so deep it reached into his soul.

I could not help myself. It would have been really mean of me to say no to a plea so genuine. And besides, I needed him out of the way because there was serious queue beginning to build behind him. So I accepted his gift.

The smile that splayed on his face was so captivating, so real, and so beautiful. Just watching it convinced me I had done the right thing.

“Thank you,” he said.

“No, thank you,” I countered.

“Really, thanks,” he insisted.

On and on we argued about who rightfully deserved the thanks, and all the while the queue kept building. But just that one time, it didn’t matter to me.

“A beautiful girl like you deserves beautiful things,” Chucks said as he produced a small case from his pocket and placed it on the counter in front of me.

“No you can’t, you shouldn’t, you…” I protested, completely overwhelmed. Chucks raised his pointer to his lips, winked at me and walked away. With shaky hands I picked the case, opened it and got completely speechless – a diamond watch lay in there glittering.

To say I was stunned doesn’t come close to describing how I truly felt          *                                               *                                               *In the weeks to come, I found myself  taking a little more care with my make-up and hair do, always anticipating when Chucks would come around and not wanting to look less than perfect if and when he came. I would sneak out of my cubicle from time to time to apply powder on my ever so oily nose.

Chucks never disappointed. He visited the bank at least once every week, doing transactions that ran into millions on each occasion, and always insisting that I process his transactions.

It was no shock to me when, on a Friday, he lingered a few seconds after I had processed his transaction. Looking at him, it was obvious he had something to say, but could either not find the words or the courage to say them. I decided it had to be a lack of words because a guy that handsome and rich could not possibly lack courage.

“Are you busy this evening?” he finally found the words.

“No. Why?” I managed to reply with a flat tone, desperately trying to keep the fluttering of my heart from splaying all over my face.

He smiled as though grateful that my response was a ‘no’.

“That’s nice,” he said. Then added, “there is a thing I would love to show you later today, that is if you are okay with it.”

I pretended to think for a while, watching the many emotions designing his face, before answering,

“I guess I can come see it.”

He smiled, this time a victorious kind of smile, like a child who had just been handed his favorite candy.

“I’ll pick you from here by 6. Is that fine with you?”

“Sure,” I said, returning his smile. Of course everything would be fine as long as he was involved.          *                                   *                                   *Six o’clock would not come soon enough. When it finally did, it brought the greatest amount of joy six o’clock has ever brought to anyone.

I was so happy I whistled through the closing routine, nodding my head to the tuneless sound. Even though I was yet to see him, I knew he was there waiting for me. Somehow, I could feel it.

I stepped out from the gate, and made a quick scan of the outer parking lot.

It didn’t take long to spot him, looking like he had just dropped off the pages of a fashion magazine. He had on a simple red-shirt, hugging firmly to his muscular upper-body, and a fitted pair of blue jean trousers. A pair of sneakers completed the outfit and a gold necklace shone from where it hung elegantly around his neck.

He was standing by the door of a range-rover sport, flashing a smile that said, ‘seeing you just made life a lot better.’

I walked up to him, suddenly conscious of my creased work clothes and tired look. But he didn’t seem to notice. His first words as I approached him were, ‘stunning as always,’ as his eyes took a lingering sweep of my entire frame.

“Thank you,” I said, grinning from ear to ear – a response I must admit was very unlike me. I would normally have found something witty to say, but this young man was really messing with my brains.

He held open the door for me; shut the door after I had settled in, before returning to the driver’s seat to take the wheels.

“I hope you’re comfortable,” he said as he climbed in.

Was he kidding? Who wouldn’t be!! “Yes, thank you,” I replied.

He turned on the stereo and the smooth voice of Whitney Houston doing the ‘how do I know’ number blared off the speakers. ‘Silly’, I thought. ‘How could anyone not know when they are really loved’?

He drove without speaking, letting the music soak my soul. I caught him steal a glance at me from time to time, but I pretended not to. If he didn’t want me knowing he was staring, why would I want to unsettle him?

He turned into a beautiful one-storey building. As soon as he was well-parked, he rushed to my side of the door, held it open for me, and then led me through a massive entrance into a dimly lit space.

I could see a few lovely looking tables arranged here and there, with enough space between them to give occupants a sense of privacy. It was a diner.

At the far right of the diner, a life band sat playing blues softly.

Looking around me at the beautifully dressed ladies in expensive dinner gowns, I felt out of place. As though sensing my discomfort, he put his arm around my waist, guiding me to a table at the end of the diner.

The waiter, a beautiful young girl appeared as soon as we sat, smiled broadly at us and passed us the menu. Then politely excused herself.

I picked a copy of the menu, looked through it from back to back, hardly recognizing the gibberish scribbled all over the pages – from drinks to desert.

The waiter appeared when I had yet to settle for anything. I was thinking of picking one with the highest number of ‘Es’ in it. For some reason I can’t explain, I have always loved good old letter ‘E’.

The pretty girl smiled and said,

“Sir, madam, can I take your orders now?”

Chucks mentioned something I could hardly make out, and added, ‘for the lady,’ and a different sounding gibberish for himself.

‘How perceptive’ I thought, relieved that he had taken the burden off me.

After the young waiter had gone, Chucks turned to me with a smile that got even more charming in the dim light.

“I hope you don’t mind that I ordered for you. Its part of what I want to show you. I’m sure you’ll love it.”

“Not at all,” I said, waiving it off like the very idea was ridiculous.

We ate in silence, the clicking of our cutleries, the only sound on our table. Chucks watched my every bite, this time not trying at all to disguise the stare.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s really good.” I said. What I really wanted to say was, ‘it tastes like heaven’, but I couldn’t bring myself to act so enthusiastic about food.

I wished I even knew the name of the darned thing. Maybe I would have googled how it was made and learnt for myself. But I didn’t know and could not dare to ask him.

“Sorry, I keep staring at you. You’re just so beautiful it’s difficult not to,” he said. His voice was different – low, smooth and intense. It went straight to the very core of my heart. I could feel my heartbeat increase. I pulled myself together and tried to mutter a ‘thank you’ that didn’t betray my heart’s response to him.

“Do you want to dance?” he asked, right out of the moon.

“To this?” I returned, skeptical as to how anyone could dance to Enya’s ‘only time’.

“Yes, to this’” he said, reaching for my hand.

I allowed him lead me back to the stage, close to where the band sat. He pulled me close, his left hand circling my waist and the right, laced around my shoulder.

I was stiff at first, not knowing what to make of the intimacy. After a while, I relaxed against him, allowing myself enjoy the warmth of his embrace. We moved as one to the very slow rhythm of the music. I got so comfy that I settled in, crooning my neck on his shoulder, never wanting to let go.

The band stopped for a while in a bid to change the music.

“Let’s go home,” he whispered in my ear before leading me back to our table. In no time, I was fastening my seat belt as he sped away into the night.

He pulled into my narrow drive way, parking directly in front of my self-contain apartment. Turning towards me, he picked my hand in his, looked deep into my eyes and said,

“I hope you had a good time.”

“Yes, thank you,” I said with misty eyes.

“That’s what I wanted to show you – just how special you are to me,” he whispered close to my ear, his breath caressing my ears. I was speechless.

Abruptly, he let go of my hand as though the electric shocks were becoming unbearable. Came down from the car, opened the door for me and walked me to my door.

“Good night,” he said, rubbing the softness of my cheek with his thumb. Then he backed away to his car, climbed into it and sped away.

It was the most beautiful evening I ever had.          *                                               *                                               *          Life wasn’t just good, it was fantastic. Chucks called often to check on me. He bought me gifts on his every visit to the bank. He was the perfect gentleman. I could hardly wait for when we would have our second date.

In the time that passed, I had gotten so used to Chucks, to his kind of transactions, to his signature. Serving him was always a pleasure, I looked forward to it. He had at some instances extended his boundless generosities to my supervisor and other colleagues, making him a sweetheart of the branch. His sense of humor, a much needed spice to our otherwise monotonous routine.

We had gotten to that point where we didn’t bother checking signature and image before processing his transactions. I knew his signature by heart. Bunmi who did authorizations for huge transactions knew it too. That sped things along for him each time he came, unless he chose to hang around for a bit and flirt with me - a thing he loved to do.          *                                                           *                                               *Friday, the 13 of May is a day I won’t forget in a hurry. It started pretty normal, except of course it was Friday the thirteenth. The legendary Friday queue in the banking hall didn’t fail, everything was just typical.

At about 10a.m., I felt my heart skip a beat, so I looked up, and there was Chucks, coming in through the e-door. His presence had started having some ridiculous effects on really interesting parts of me. I knew I needed to get a grip and soon. But matters of the heart, who can control?  He waited patiently for me as always and approached my cubicle when it got to his turn. He never jumped the queue, even when he knew he could. That was another thing I admired in him - his sense of fair-play and equity. How had I gotten so damned lucky!!

“Hi pretty one,” he greeted wearing that very charming smile whose effect on me was gaining momentum instead of fading. I blushed a million times.

He pushed a transfer form in front of me. I picked it and scanned through his artistic writing. He had come to transfer fifty million Naira from his account.

“I’ll be glad if you would please do it quickly, a business deal is on the line,” he appealed.

He had never asked for anything, but he always gave everything. This one time, I was determined to do my best to put a smile on his face. I hurriedly made the deductions, sent it to Bunmi for authorization, rushed to her seat and whispered into her ears,

“It’s Chucks, and he says it’s very urgent.”

She immediately picked up the form, ran her eyes through it, clicked authorize on her system and the money was moved.

“Done,” I announced to him, wearing a victorious smile.

“Thank you,” he said, and in a dash, he was out the door. No flirtations, no gift, no chit-chat. Whatever that business was, it had to have been really important. I was glad I could assist.          *                                         *                                               *About an hour had gone since Chucks left the banking hall. I was seated in my narrow cubicle hoping the day would end so I could begin my weekend. I noticed commotion in the banking hall. An elderly man had come in yelling, throwing his hands in the air and moving straight to the customer service officers.

I could not let myself be bothered. It was just another yelling customer, banks have loads of those.

I noticed the customer service officer move swiftly to Bunmi’s desk, his face a little too serious. I watched them speak in hushed whispers for a while. I noticed Bunmi walk towards me with the strides of an angry army personnel and I knew that something was wrong. My heart fell to the pit of my stomach.

In seconds, Bunmi was already barging into my cubicle, the customer service officer in tow.

“Can I see the transfer ticket Chucks gave to you?” she asked, almost yelling.

I retrieved it and handed it over to her with shaky hands. I watched her key in the account number from which the money was transferred. For the first time, I looked close enough to observe that the name on the account was not Chukwudi Obasi but Chukwudi Okoro. My heart literally stopped. Bunmi went ahead to check the signature and image, even when we both knew it was futile.

I dashed to my bag, retrieved my phone and frantically dialed Chuck’s cell, I was so certain he had made a mistake. But Chuck’s line was switched off. Again and again I dialed and persistently, the lady with the sweet voice kept saying, ‘the number you have dialed is currently switched off, please try again later.’

Dejected, I returned to my cubicle. Bunmi was there panting hard, still checking the account, as though looking continuously would change the reality.

I sighted the security men walk in with hand-cuffs and I knew mine was finished. The chief security personnel, a guy who had always been so friendly wore such a fierce look I could hardly recognize him, as he slid the hand-cuff around my wrist and led me to a vehicle outside.  I looked back and saw Bunmi receiving the cuffs too.

Tears flowed freely from my eyes as I watched my future disappear…..

Deeray is a passionate writer presently trapped in a bank cubicle; she hopes to escape someday.