WORK

The alarm on my phone was barely letting me have any sleep. I had this tendency of leaving my phone far away at the charger, at the table, or in the bathroom, so that when the alarm rings, I do not press snooze, as that was my all-time style. I used to place my phone right on the bedside or under my pillow, so in case of an alarm, I would just switch it off as fast as possible and continue with my slumber until Ana would call me screaming if I had had a shower. Those were actually my first days attending morning breakfast shows, as they offered chances for us to present, especially on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, where the school station gave us a whole two hours of just presenting our views and reading out the comments from different people as we engaged in heartfelt conversations with different guests invited by the station. I had once thought of inviting Kelvin, but I feared he would chime in his insecurities into the world about our relationship, and suddenly all that would bring misjudgements by the listeners, and all that, so I called it odds. For most students in the school, I was dating the secretary general, even today, as I prepared to head for a morning breakfast. To be precise and to avoid any unplanned and unwanted confusion, I worked on the WBHM radio stations specifically from Thursday to Saturday and the school radio station on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. We had not yet signed much of the contract for the London radio stations, but soon I was on the verge of signing them. As you all remember, I have been wanting to make new adjustments in my life by maybe leaving and starting my permanent livelihood in London, where I guess I will be driving to Birmingam for WBHM. For the school radio session, I guess it is high time that I leave and maybe let other students, especially those pursuing mass media and communication, at least practice their skills and sell their names for easy assessment by the world. Maybe it is high time that I sign the contracts in the London media houses, as many, not really quite big, but well-off media communication companies have taken a liking to me. As time went by, I became fond of my English and am still helping myself reach the best of my potential, to at least surprise myself with what I can become and what my purpose really is in this ever-changing world, not in the love life but specifically in the dream life. All this I am thinking about as I do quite a number of things. I guess it's almost four after midnight. I want to arrive fast in the workplace and read the newspapers before we start our sessions, which earlier start at seven and later at eight, depending on the weight of the breakfast news presentations and the center of discussions in relation to the politics of the country, the problems facing the country, football as a central point, any pandemic that is to come, or any new scientific invention that is desired to be celebrated by the people and the media.

I am never the sluggish type of girl who takes forever getting ready. I am the type who quickly does things, unless for makeup, where I have to focus on my representation. Of course, you know I am a media personality, and I never know who is watching my steps. Maybe sooner or later I will find myself as a television personality. But my idea on the screen has been wanting to do scripts; it was a thought I used to practice even back home. I used to write various scripts for our drama club. I remember the best script I wrote, was 'the vegas' I used more of slung, but God, it attracted many students, seeing male students strip, azzin my idea was just crazy, and I really never expected the men to like participate and come on stage dressed crazily, just living a vegas life in the streets of a gangstar loaded life, that was the best script I would say I wrote, as it surpassed my expectation, and the fact that the producer was skeptical about it, made me really tap myself in the back and just thank God for believing in me, and not making me fall in the temptation of changing the script into a more randomized female stripping thing, men have watched that all over and over again, I just wanted something different, something for the ladies, and for the men to enjoy in adjacent, it hit the grounds, but later on the next day it was banned from ever being performed in the graduation squares of the school, but I smiled, for I caugt my hefty and big handful cut of the bill, as all the tickets were sold, and others printed, for students to just observe, that thing really gets me each and every day, like how did I even make it. As I think of all this, I am done with everything and close my door. As I call Ana, who is used to picking me up, as Kelvin, you know, after our conversation, he is now distant and, of course, has no right to continue giving me his boyfriend treatments. Then, even when he was far away, he just knew who to send to come and pick me up. I never knew how to drive cars, trust me, but I was thinking of having some side lessons in driving, and maybe someday I will buy my own and continue living a beautiful life like my other friends. Ana's car was a gift from her dad. After completing high school with the best grades, for me, this was a scholarship. Most of the African students who were in the same class, I hear, have already left for their homes, while others are looking for their way out on this other side of the world, me included. We are waiting for the perfection of life, but I am happy the school saw my potential, for I know I would also return home if it were not for this job. That's why I am in no care whether it seeks me to wake at three or have no sleep at all. I shall give it my all in all ways, and in one day, I know, I will look back and say, 'damn, I gave it my all'.

"Hey girl, waited for me long?" Ana asks, as she pulls down her driver window, to talk to me, and I do not even waste any time as I enter the other side.

"I was just thinking about life."

"Your handsome men?" She asks, laughing, as she starts the car, and I also help her laugh in comparison.

"My men have not been speaking to me." I state, still under laughs and jokes, and I know she knows I am being serious; it is just coming out as a joke because, of course, it's a joke.

"Which man? Do you want to speak so much to? Campus lover, or the Sec Gen?" She answers, giggling around, which makes me laugh even louder in nervousness.

"Of course I miss the campus lover. But the Sec. Gen. still means something."

"Stay away from them, though. But the model is a catch." I laugh at her words, as Leniey's form just figures out in my mind everything that made me attracted to him—totally everything.

"I guess I have eyes for models, or should I change my taste?" I ask, and Ana knows I am talking about some editor who has been having eyes on her since the first day we started our podcast on the WBHM radio station. She just rolls her eyes and states, "Models are quite good."

"Independent bitches era." I state, eyeing her, which makes us laugh as she steadies her car. The journey is not always long; it is a twenty-minute drive.

"Heard any news?"

"No, it's the newspapers for me." I state, laughing because Ana always hated it when I would come with little to no knowledge about the news and just read the newspapers to give me insights about the news. She was always like, 'Why do you hate reading about news?" But the truth is, I don't hate news; I just do not like reading news feeds from different platforms, which would end up being wrong or just wanting views. I needed to read a well-published daily newspaper from the company and drive out my ideas from there. Furthermore, our podcast always started almost three hours after, so why would I stress myself all night checking tweets about fuel prices, the economy, and political problems when I would literally devote one hour of my time to a whole new newspaper?

"I see myself starting to take in your idea." Ana states, laughing as she enters the wide gates of WBHM, as the guard greets us in unison and signs the entrance books. She steadily packs the car, and we move out in unison as I see the news presenter for six AM car already packed. The truth is, people really work hard in this world, and here we are, in our prime twenties, cultivating our way out of this world.