His Naughty Diary – Episode 2

Monday mornings have a special way of reminding you that the weekend is over.

Had it not been for the alarm, I would have slept straight through the morning.

I stretched, turned toward the side of the bed where I normally keep the clock, and immediately knew I was in trouble.

5:30 a.m. had already passed.

By thirty minutes.

My usual routine was simple. I normally woke up around 5:00, often before the alarm even rang, and by 6:30 I was already on my way to work. That morning, however, my body had clearly decided that whatever plans I had made were none of its business.

My head was pounding, and my stomach felt like it was trying to negotiate terms with whatever I had put into it the previous night.

Too many drinks.

Or, more accurately, too many different drinks.

I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, seriously considering calling in sick.

Monday blues hit differently when you are nursing a hangover.

I didn’t even bother with breakfast. A cold soft drink and some chewing gum would have to carry me through the morning. Nairobi traffic on a Monday is not something you casually challenge. If you aren’t on the road by six, you are basically volunteering to spend the morning watching other people move faster than you.

By 7:30, driving was obviously out of the question.

So I took the other option.

My bike.

Helmet on, engine started, and—

Vruuum.

Twenty minutes later, I was at the office.

That was one advantage of having a bike in Nairobi. While everyone else was negotiating traffic, matatus, impatient drivers and junctions that seemed to have been designed by someone who hated commuters, I was already pulling into the office parking lot.

Ironically, I arrived earlier than most of the people who had left home before me.

I walked into reception looking like a man who had his life together.

I was hoping nobody would look closely enough to notice that I was operating on caffeine, mints and pure determination.

Riziki was behind the front desk.

She looked up as I walked in and gave me that polite smile of hers.

“You look like you had a nice weekend.”

I stopped.

“How do you know it was nice?”

I tried to sound innocent.

She raised an eyebrow.

“It was all over your Instagram and WhatsApp Status.”

I frowned.

I didn’t remember posting anything.

I pulled out my phone and quickly checked my accounts.

Then I saw the evidence… Kwa kalatas.

Apparently, my weekend had been very well documented.

Photos. Drinks. Friends. A few moments I vaguely remembered taking. And enough evidence to prove that I had been having a considerably better time than my Monday-morning face suggested.

I looked up at Riziki.

“You’re lucky to see this side of me. Most of our colleagues can’t. My account is private.”

I gave her the kind of cocky smile that I knew would irritate her just enough to keep the conversation going.

She laughed.

“So no one else will know if I join you in your parties?”

I looked at her for a moment.

“I don’t think you make a good party girl.”

She folded her arms.

“Oh really?”

“Show me what you’ve got and maybe I might reconsider.”

She gave me a look that said she had been waiting for an opportunity like that.

Then she pushed her chest forward just enough to make stare at the glaring cleavage.

“Good luck missing out on these.”

She turned away dismissively, like she had just won an argument I didn’t remember agreeing to have.

I shook my head.

It was barely Monday morning and already distractions were reporting for duty.

Gosh.

My ancestors must have been working overtime after I prayed that they remove all feminine distractions from my path.

“Weee, hujui jokes,” I said, laughing. “Unataka nikose kufanya kazi nikifikiria vitu nimeona?”

She waved me off.

“Enda usettle na usisahau kuna client unafaa kumeet twelve.”

“Oh yeah. Thanks for the reminder. Juu karibu nisahau tuko kwa ofisi.”

Riziki laughed again.

She was one of those people who could make you feel like you’d known her for years without actually trying too hard. Beautiful, polite and naturally friendly, with a distinct coastal accent that made even ordinary sentences sound a little more interesting.

At first, I assumed she was simply that friendly with everyone.

Later, I realized she was actually very good at connecting with people.

Or maybe she was just very good at making people think she was.

Either way, she knew how to handle people.

And apparently, she also knew how to expose my weekend activities before I’d even sat down.

Monday with a hangover is a different kind of workday. The first few hours were mostly about surviving.

I caught up with the team, went through the meetings I had missed over the weekend, checked a few pending tasks and tried to convince my stomach that it had nothing against me personally.

Fortunately, I didn’t have too much on my plate.

The important thing was the client meeting at noon.

This wasn’t an ordinary client.

The company had been approached by a business owner who wanted to move from running a local physical store to building a nationwide e-commerce operation.

My boss had given me the go-ahead to take charge of the project.

That meant everything would eventually come through me: communication with the client, coordinating the team, managing deliverables and making sure the project didn’t turn into one of those corporate adventures where everyone attends meetings but nobody actually knows what they are supposed to deliver.

It was a proud moment for me.

For about five minutes.

Then I remembered the workload attached to it.

Still, I liked being trusted with that kind of responsibility.

It made me feel like I was moving somewhere.

By noon, I was ready.

I had gone through the brief, reviewed the initial requirements and made sure I knew exactly what I wanted to discuss.

I also preferred meeting clients somewhere relaxed rather than sitting across a desk in a cold office.

If you’re familiar with Kilimani, then Connect Coffee should sound familiar.

That was my spot for this meeting.

I arrived a few minutes before noon.

The table was already reserved for three.

I assumed the client was coming with an assistant.

“Hello Max. Nice to have you here again.”

I looked up.

Emily. My usual waitress.

“There’s your table.”

“Thank you, Emily. Have the others arrived?”

“Not yet. But I hope they won’t keep you waiting. Anything to keep you busy before they arrive?”

“Two double shots of Mexican Candy, please. I’ll order the rest when my guests arrive.”

She gave me a knowing look.

“On a Monday?”

I smiled.

“It’s been a difficult morning.”

She laughed and walked away.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking.

Two shots of tequila before a business meeting isn’t exactly what they teach you in management school.

But I had a reason.

I wanted to loosen up a little. Take the edge off. Let the morning disappear and allow my usual confidence to take over.

Besides, I was meeting a client in a coffee shop.

It wasn’t a board meeting.

A few minutes later, I had finished the drinks.

I wiped my mouth with a napkin, popped a couple of mints into my mouth and leaned back in my chair.

Perfect.

Business mode.

At least, that was the plan.

Then two people approached my table. One looked familiar.

The other looked like a gentleman at first glance, but there was something distinctly feminine about his mannerisms.

I looked at the first person again. Then I froze.

“Susan?”

She stopped too.

“Max?”

I stood up quickly and extended my hand.

“Hello, Susan. I didn’t know I’d see you here at this time of day.”

She looked almost as surprised as I was.

“I’m also surprised. What are you doing here?”

She turned slightly toward the person beside her.

“Meet Ryan, my personal assistant at work.”

“Nice to meet you, Ryan.”

I shook his hand.

Then I gestured toward the chairs.

“I’m meeting a client here. She was supposed to be here by now, but I guess it’s traffic.”

Susan’s eyebrows went up.

“Really?”

She looked at me for a second longer.

“I was supposed to meet someone too. From Digifront Solutions.”

She laughed.

“I hope it’s not you.”

My brain practically stopped.

Of all the people in Nairobi. Of all the gyms. Of all the Friday nights.

Of all the possible clients my boss could have assigned me.

It had to be Susan.

They don’t call Nairobi one big bedroom for nothing.

I smiled.

“Well, well, well…”

I leaned back slightly.

“I hate to disappoint you, but I am from Digifront Solutions.”

Her expression changed.

“And if that’s the project you’re here for…”

I smiled.

“Then you’ll be working with me.”

There was a brief silence.

Ryan looked from Susan to me.

“Sorry to interject, but are you guys familiar with each other?”

His voice had that slightly exaggerated, almost theatrical tone that immediately told me there was a personality behind it.

I had my suspicions about him, but honestly, everyone has their own character.

“Kindly have a seat,” I said. “Emily will take your orders.”

Susan sat down. 

Then she looked at me.

“Actually, we’re not really familiar.”

That one caught me off guard.

“I’ve seen him at the gym,” she continued. “We just had a brief catch-up.”

A brief catch-up?I almost laughed.

My Friday night suddenly felt like it had been edited out of the story.

For a second, I wondered whether I had imagined how naturally we’d connected.

Maybe I’d read too much into it.

Maybe she was simply trying to keep things professional now that she had discovered I was her potential business partner.

Either way, I wasn’t going to let a little awkwardness ruin the meeting.

“She’s right,” I said, smoothly recovering.

“You can call me Max. I represent Digifront Solutions for this project. It’s nice to meet you again.”

Susan gave me a small smile.

Not the same smile she’d given me at the gym.

This one was different… More careful. More aware.

And somehow, that made things  even more interesting.

Because now there were two versions of Susan sitting across from me.

The woman I’d met at the gym on Friday.

And the client sitting in front of me on Monday afternoon.

Same woman. Completely different setting.

I opened my notebook and shifted into work mode.

At least, I tried to.

Because while I was discussing e-commerce platforms, migration, logistics and nationwide expansion, another part of my brain was busy processing the coincidence sitting directly across the table.

Working with Susan on her project suddenly sounded like it was going to be much more interesting than the project brief suggested.

And knowing myself, I already knew one thing.

Max always does what Max does.

And somehow, I had a feeling this project was going to give him plenty of opportunities to do exactly that.
Missed the previous Episode? I gatchu covered here: Diary of a certified problem Gym,Gyal & Bad Decisions?