She didn't resent working. She resented the silence that followed her home. Tobi would ask how her shift had gone, then retreat into himself when she asked about the finance case. His mother believed he was consulting because he hadn't had the courage to explain his dismissal. Nkiru kept the pretense alive for months, until the lies grew too heavy to carry. She sold earrings her mother had given her at graduation and told herself it was temporary. She borrowed money from her sister and cried only after the call ended.
When she reached home from headquarters, Tobi was sitting at the kitchen table with an old laptop open in front of him. He had been trying to retrieve files from the final weeks of his employment. Nkiru placed her bag down and said, "Your former CEO knows who I am." Tobi's fingers stopped over the keyboard. "What did he want?" "To reinstate me. To review your case. And to ask questions neither of us can answer with 'trust me.'"
Tobi closed the laptop. "Nkiru, stay away from that family." She pulled out the chair opposite him. "Why are you afraid of them?" "Because they destroyed my career." "You keep saying 'they' as though every person in that company acted together. Who changed the payment? Who asked you to sign? Who can explain why your name was attached to forty-two million?" He stared at the table. "I don't know who changed it." She leaned forward. "That isn't the same as not knowing who asked you to approve it."
He looked up sharply. Nkiru felt a cold realization settle. "You know something," she said. "You've known something since before you lost that job." Tobi shook his head. "Not enough to prove anything." "Then tell me what you know." He stood and walked to the sink. Water dripped from the tap in irregular beats. At last he said, "The original request came from Temilade Akinwale. She asked me to approve the supplier payment before procurement finished verifying it."
Nkiru absorbed the name. She knew Temilade from company publications: an elegant executive with a reputation for discipline, charitable projects, and unusually rapid advancement. "Why would a senior executive ask you to skip procurement?" she asked. "She said the amount was four point two million and the vendor needed urgent release." "Did procurement confirm it?" "Not yet." "So why did you sign?" Tobi turned. "She took responsibility. I trusted her." Nkiru watched him with dawning unease. "Why did you trust her enough to risk your career?"
He said nothing. She felt anger rising, but it was not simply anger about company procedure. She knew the expression on his face, the way he looked when hiding something he believed would hurt her. "Tobi," she said quietly, "tell me who Temilade was to you before she became your executive director." He closed his eyes. "We knew each other before I met you." "How well?" He leaned against the counter. "We were together for four years." Nkiru waited. "We were engaged," he added.