Out of Office

Friday couldn’t end soon enough.

By 4 p.m., I’d closed most of my tabs, cleared the urgent emails and mentally checked out of the office. The week had been long, and I needed a proper break. Not the kind where you spend the whole weekend answering calls and pretending to relax. An actual escape.

My dark blue BMW 330d was already waiting downstairs.

I’d booked a nice lodge around Naivasha for the weekend. Good food, a beautiful view, a comfortable room and enough distance from Nairobi to forget that Monday existed.

There was just one thing missing.

Company.

I remembered Riziki’s joke from the other day, when she’d asked whether joining my parties would get her into trouble.

You don’t make a good party girl, I’d told her.

Apparently, I still owed her a chance to prove me wrong.

I sent her a message.

Me: Remember when you asked about joining my parties?

Riziki: 😂 I remember you being very disrespectful.

Me: I’m giving you a chance to defend yourself. Naivasha this weekend. Good food, a nice place, and no work talk.

Riziki: Is this a serious invitation or one of your jokes?

Me: Depends on whether you’re brave enough to accept.

She took a few minutes to respond.

Riziki: Send me the details, Max.

I smiled at my phone.

Well, well.

Maybe the weekend was getting interesting already.

Saturday morning, I picked her up just after nine.

Riziki looked different outside the office. Gone was the formal workwear and the polite receptionist smile. She had dressed comfortably but beautifully, and she seemed genuinely excited about getting away.

She walked around the BMW before opening the passenger door.

“So this is how you escape Nairobi?”

“Only when Nairobi starts getting on my nerves.”

“And you invited me into your escape plan?”

“Don’t make it sound so romantic. We’re going for a weekend away.”

She laughed and settled into the seat.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Max.”

The drive was easy. We talked about music, food, childhood memories and the strange things people did when they thought nobody was watching. I discovered she was funnier than I’d given her credit for, and she discovered that my confidence wasn’t entirely an act.

At one point, she asked whether I always invited women on spontaneous trips.

“Not always.”

“How many times?”

“Why? Are you collecting statistics?”

She laughed so hard that I had to turn down the music.

It was the kind of conversation that made the kilometres disappear.

By the time we arrived, I was glad I’d invited her.

The lodge was everything I’d hoped for.

A Familiar Face in an Unfamiliar Place

By evening, Riziki and I had settled into the holiday mood. For once, I wasn’t thinking about work or the endless list of things waiting for me back in Nairobi.

Around seven, we headed to the restaurant for dinner.

The place was beautiful. Warm lights hung over the outdoor terrace, the air was cool, and the view across the grounds made the whole place feel a world away from Nairobi.

We’d barely settled at our table when I heard a familiar laugh from behind me.

I wouldn’t have paid much attention, except I’d heard that laugh before.

I turned casually, and there she was.

Susan.

She was walking in with another woman, dressed for a relaxed evening out. For a moment, I wondered whether my mind was playing tricks on me. What were the chances of meeting my client in Naivasha, of all places?

Then our eyes met.

“Max?”

I stood up, genuinely surprised.

“Susan! What are you doing here?”

She laughed as we exchanged greetings.

“I could ask you the same thing. I thought you were a Nairobi man who never leaves his office.”

“I’m offended. I have a life outside spreadsheets and meetings.”

“Really? That’s news to me.”

We laughed, and for a moment, it felt like Friday at the gym all over again. Then she glanced at Riziki.

“Oh, sorry. I haven’t even said hello. I’m Susan.”

“Riziki,” she replied, smiling politely.

I introduced them properly and explained that Riziki and I had escaped Nairobi for the weekend.

Susan told us she was spending a couple of nights at the lodge with a friend. Apparently, she’d needed a break too.

“Small world,” I said.

“Very small,” she replied, holding my gaze for a second longer than necessary.

I couldn’t tell whether she was simply being friendly or whether Friday’s chemistry was still somewhere in her mind. Either way, I wasn’t about to encourage anything. She was my client, and I’d come here with Riziki.

We exchanged a few pleasantries before Susan and her friend headed to their table.

Riziki waited until they were out of earshot.

“So, you two know each other?”

“Yeah. We met at the gym, then discovered she’s the client I’m handling at work.”

“Just the client?”

I looked at her.

“What else would she be?”

Riziki smiled and picked up her glass.

“Nothing. I’m just asking.”

I let it go, but I knew that tone. Riziki was filing the information away for later.

The rest of dinner went well. We talked, laughed, ordered another round of drinks and eventually forgot about the unexpected encounter.

At least, I thought we had.

Later that night, when Riziki and I were finally alone, the teasing we’d been exchanging all day took a different turn. The chemistry was undeniable, and neither of us seemed interested in pretending otherwise.

Our room overlooked a stretch of green landscape, with the afternoon sun settling over the hills. We had lunch, walked around the property and spent the better part of the afternoon doing absolutely nothing productive.

For once, I wasn’t checking traffic, tracking work or wondering whether a client had replied to an email.

Riziki seemed to enjoy that version of me.

“You’re actually normal when you’re not in the office,” she said as we sat on the terrace.

“That’s disappointing. I was hoping to maintain the mystery.”

“Trust me, there’s still enough mystery to investigate.”

She gave me a look over her glass.

I knew that look.

At some point, Riziki moved closer.

“You know,” she said, “you’re not as difficult to read as you think.”

“Is that so?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then tell me what I’m thinking.”

She smiled.

“You’re wondering whether I’m going to kiss you.”

I laughed.

“And if I am?”

“Then stop wondering.”

I didn’t need a second invitation.

The kiss answered a question neither of us had asked out loud. One kiss became another, the teasing gave way to something more intimate, and whatever professional distance existed between us in Nairobi was nowhere to be found.

The rest of the night was ours.

Let’s just say Riziki had made a convincing argument for why I should have invited her out sooner.

Sunday morning arrived far too quickly.

I woke up to sunlight slipping through the curtains and Riziki beside me. For a few minutes, neither of us said much. There was something pleasant about not having to rush anywhere, not having to explain ourselves, and not having the usual Nairobi noise demanding our attention.

Then she turned towards me.

“Max?”

“Hmm?”

“I want to ask you something.”

I already knew that tone.

“Should I be worried?”

She smiled, but this time she didn’t laugh.

“Yesterday was nice. Really nice.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Turn everything into a joke when a conversation gets serious.”

I looked at her.

Fair enough.

She took a breath.

“What are we, Max?”

There it was.

The question that could turn a perfectly good weekend into a complicated Monday.

I sat up against the headboard.

“Riziki, I like spending time with you. You know that.”

“I know you like spending time with me. I’m asking what this means.”

I didn’t have an immediate answer.

I’d invited her because I enjoyed her company. I’d been attracted to her for a while, even if I’d never admitted it. And last night had been good—better than good.

But did one weekend mean I was ready to define whatever was happening between us?

I wasn’t sure.

Before I could answer, she asked another question.

“Is there something going on between you and Susan?”

I turned to look at her properly.

Susan?

Of all the things I expected to discuss on a Sunday morning in Naivasha, that wasn’t one of them.

“Why would you ask that?”

“Because I saw the way she greeted you yesterday. And the way she looked at me.”

I rubbed my face.

“Susan is a client. We met at the gym before I knew she was a client. That’s all.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s all I’m pursuing, anyway.”

Riziki studied me for a moment.

I could tell she was deciding whether to believe me.

“Okay,” she finally said. “I just don’t want to be somebody you call when you’re bored.”

That landed harder than I expected.

I looked at her and realized she wasn’t asking me to promise her the world. She wanted to know whether the previous night meant something beyond a convenient escape from the office.

“I hear you,” I said.

It wasn’t the grand declaration she might have wanted, but it was honest.

She nodded, although I wasn’t sure the conversation was finished.

And just when I thought we could leave the matter there, my phone lit up on the bedside table.

Susan.

Max, I hope you’re enjoying your weekend. There’s something I need to discuss with you before Monday.

Riziki saw the name.

Then she looked at me.

I looked at the phone, then back at her.

“Work,” I said.

She gave me a small, knowing smile.

“Of course, Max. Work.”

I couldn’t tell whether she believed me.

And for the first time that weekend, I wished my phone would mind its own business.

Because the truth was, I’d come to Naivasha to escape complications.

Instead, I’d spent the night creating a new one.

And now, before we’d even checked out, I had two questions to answer.

What was I going to tell Riziki?

And what exactly did Susan need to discuss before Monday?

I had a feeling my weekend wasn’t quite finished with me yet.

To be continued…

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