Weekend with the CEO

Peter wants co-worker to be his second wife

man about

I finally had a conversation with Peter regarding his relationship with Christabel. It felt like he had been avoiding me for the last two weeks because every time I told him that we needed to chat he would reply that he was swamped by work.

So last Friday he came to my work station and said: “Josphat, we need to have that long outstanding drink, I need to hear how my godson is doing.”

I did not read much into the invitation and assumed that Peter must have been feeling guilty for ignoring my requests for a chat.

So after work we headed to a nearby pub which was selling drinks at half price since it was happy hour.

We started off with the usual chitchat, trying to catch up on home and office gossip.

Peter seemed to be up to date with everything and told me about who was leaving the company and why, and who would be joining us come New Year.

After a few beers I figured that he had been mellowed enough for me to broach the subject of Christabel. “Peter, what is happening between you and Christabel? The whole office is talking,” I asked.

“In fact I wanted to talk to you about this whole saga,” he responded.

The answer shocked me. I had expected denial and not blatant admission. “Christabel is a cute and smart chick and we have gotten close throughout this year,” he said. I laughed and said: “Well, that maybe the case but you have been letting the whole office know of your misdemeanour.”

He said: “That is the least of my concerns, I have a bigger problem.” Now that he had my full attention he blurted out that Christabel was pregnant.

This threw me off guard and I asked: “Are you sure it is yours? You cannot have a child outside your marriage. You have to stop this madness.”

What followed wasn’t what I had expected.

It was apparent that Peter was experiencing marital problems and he seemed serious about his relationship with Christabel.

Instead of running for the hills he talked of making Christabel his second wife.

“Peter, this will not work with your wife, you must put an end to it,” I counselled. He laughed and said: “Well, she has to accept. In fact I plan on going to Christabel’s family home next weekend to notify them that I am the owner of the pregnancy.” He ordered another round of drinks and said: “I need you to come with me since you are one of my boys, I mean we have been buddies since college.”

I told him that I needed to consult my wife before making a decision. “Well, you ask her but I am marrying Christabel whether you like it or not,” he said firmly.

After a few more drinks I congratulated Peter for having such guts, I could not imagine trying such moves on Shiro; she would kill me.

At about eight o’clock my pal Nathan called me and I left the pub to take his call since he was dealing with the all-important issue of the CEO’s tax problem.

He sounded pretty excited and said: “Josphat my boy, We can make some money for Christmas.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. Nathan told me that the CEO had a huge tax liability but some official at the revenue authority was willing to lower it at a fee.

Nathan then said that we could share the “fee” three ways. I could tell from his tone that he did this often.

“I will discuss it with the CEO tomorrow and advise you,” I said.

I went back to drinking. Matters were fast becoming too much for me to deal with.