Exclusive Membership Privilege

"You look disappointed. I take it that he refused to tell you his name," said Aisha.

"Not that. He had already left before I got there. I described him to the gym instructor and he said he left already," replied Nkechi.

"Oh, gym love. Sit down baby girl and tell me everything. Look, I deserve to know."

She moved closer to Aisha and sat down and told her everything, describing to her how seeing him made her feel.

The narration took a while, Aisha watched and listened to her blush and smile uncontrollably while she talked, using her hands to gesticulate.

She described him as the most handsome man she had seen in her entire life. The joy of feeling so full of love from the inside, she was swept away at first glance.

The gist kept going on and on and Aisha got more interested in knowing who this strange fellow was, that got her friend all loved up at first glance and the fact she wasn't bothered about the competition like she had been in the past few days, made Aisha somewhat happy because the burden and tension that was on Nkechi's shoulders had been dropped off, thanks to the stranger she saw earlier.

"Baby girl, let's get prepared and go out. We need to go shopping for a bicycle, it's about 10:00 am," said Aisha.

"10:00 am?" Nkechi sprang up from her sitting position.

"How did the time pass by so fast?" asked Nkechi.

They both went to have their baths and got ready to leave the house.

On their way out, Efe called Nkechi on the phone to ask where she was and if she was free for the day but told him she was going out with Aisha to buy a new bicycle she'd use for the upcoming cycling competition. Then he told them that he knows a good place where she could buy a good quality bicycle.

He got her location and drove over to meet up and they all went to the place.

On getting there, it turned out that the shop was locked and Efe put a call across to his brother, Brume to ask for other places he could buy a bicycle.

The other place Brume knew sells bicycles at higher prices and he went further to ask Efe why he wanted to buy a new bicycle when he had three bicycles at home and he could use any of his and Efe told him it wasn't for him that it was for a friend who was preparing for the cycling competition.

Brume went ahead to tell him that whenever he gets to the place, he should meet whoever is in charge and tell them that he came through him and that he was his brother so they could give a discount. Efe thanked him and they were on their way again.

In no time, they were at the place. It was named 'the bicycle palace'. He drove straight to the gate and he was asked by the security at the gate if he or anyone with him was an exclusive member they all said they weren't exclusive members and he directed them to drive further and to take the left turn after entering, that's where the parking lot of non-exclusive members was.

He drove there and the lot was filled up, with no space, he had to reverse and go to the gate, he drove past the gate to the left of it where the other parking lot was. The security stopped him and told him that the parking lot he was to drive into was reserved for exclusive customers only. Efe tried to complain that there was no space in the other parking lot, and he was asked to park outside the building.

Grumbling and angry, he drove outside and parked, and they all walked in on foot.

The pillars in front of the building were gold plated, with the entrance having an automatic door. As they approached the door, it opened and they walked in.

The reception section was majestic. Massive space, furnished with the finest of materials money could buy. The entire floor was for the reception only, with seats carefully arranged on the far left of the floor and the stairway behind it to the right.

The receptionist station was situated in the middle of the room, built circularly. Far behind the receptionist station, an elevator could be seen and to the far left of the reception station was an escalator.

They walked about twenty-five steps before getting to the receptionist station and they looked impressed with the luxurious nature of the place.

There was no bicycle in sight, all they were seeing was a massive space of beauty and they began questioning themselves if they were at the right location.

They approached the receptionist and he warmly welcomed them.

"Good morning," the receptionist greeted.

"Welcome to the bicycle palace," he continued.

"Good morning, Ahmed," said Efe, looking at the receptionist's name tag.

"Good morning," said Nkechi and Aisha, respectively.

"Are we at the right place?" asked Nkechi.

"Because we are here to buy a bicycle and there's no one in sight," she continued.

"If you need bicycles, take the escalator. The elevator is for exclusive customers only and it only goes downwards to the basement. The stairway to my left is where you can get sports gear for cycling," said Ahmed the receptionist.

As Ahmed was explaining the different sections of the building to them, the elevator made a sound and opened. A man walked out of the elevator and was making his way towards the receptionist station.

"Can I see the manager, please?" asked Efe, to the receptionist, Ahmed.

"Is there a problem?" a voice from behind asked. It was the man who just stepped out of the elevator.

"I was referred here by my brother, Brume. Brume Ose," said Efe.

"Ah, yes. Mr Brume Ose is an exclusive member. He called earlier," said the man.

He walked closer and on his name tag was written 'manager'. There were smiles on their faces, they'd get to enter the exclusive area finally.

"However, as I explained to Mr Brume over the phone, exclusive membership is for members only and doesn't cut across family or friends so you can't go into the exclusive area. But because of him, we'd give a discount for anything you buy."

The manager handed them a slip, to give to the salesperson they meet in the upper room, using the escalator, telling them it was from the management.

Efe looked at the slip, '30% off, plus one' was written on it.

And all three of them made their way to the escalator.