RABONNI
Keffi Street, Ikoyi
The soft glow of the lamp cut through the darkness of the room, creating shadows around the solitary form lying motionless but blinking on the bed. The digital alarm added to the illumination, its luminous display showing 4:30 a.m. Sonia sighed heavily, frustrated and annoyed at the insomnia that had plagued her for the entire week. She lay there, sheets tangled around her legs, one hand resting on her stomach.
Slowly, almost absentmindedly, her fingers began to drift upward, tracing the curve of her waist, then higher, skimming over the swell of her breasts. A quiet sigh escaped her lips.
It had been months since Daniel. She could still remember the weight of his body and how intimacy with him used to be. God, she missed that. Missed being touched like she was wanted. Craved. Needed.
She needed to find love again. Real love this time. Not the kind that ended in heartbreak and stinker text messages.
Just then, uninvited, a name flashed sharp and clear in her mind.
Tomide.
“God forbid,” she muttered under her breath, snatching her hand away as if burned. But a low pulse had already begun blooming between her thighs, sending her heart racing.
“God forbid. That idiot? No way.”
Throwing the covers off, she swung her legs out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom. By 5:45 a.m. she was dressed in a crisp white blouse, navy pencil skirt, and her favourite black pumps. Keys in hand, she stepped out her two bedroom apartment and into her car into the ixora lined compound, its dense foliage shiny and wet with the morning’s dew, the first clusters of orange red flowers just beginning to open.
“Avoid him until you have a plan. Avoid him, avoid him,” she repeated under her breath as she slid into her car and started the engine.
She was determined. Today, Tomide was invisible until she could come up with an iron clad plan to rid the firm of his annoying presence.
*****************************
Abule Ijesha
3a.m
Tomide sat beside the hooded figure on a low stone bench. Surrounded by a vast, open emptiness that clung to their forms and swallowed every possible sound, he sat still until his breathing felt as though it had stopped.
Time folded in on itself and he could not tell if they had been sitting like that for minutes or centuries. A question rose unbidden in his chest. He turned his head toward the hooded figure. The deep indigo cloak hid everything except the faint gleam of ancient eyes. Still, Tomide found his voice.
“You never told me your name.”
The mist surrounding them froze.
“You never asked,” the figure answered.
“What is your name?”
“Rabonni.”
The word resonated low and deep, like the ground trembling from a lone thunderclap in the heart of the rainy season. It settled into Tomide’s bones and stayed there.
Tomide swallowed. The silence had prepared him; the next question came more easily, urgent yet unafraid.
“Rabonni.” Tomide tried to look into the hood to catch eyes that eluded his search. “What does that mean?”
He felt a stare he could not see. Transfixed he stayed motionless, and then suddenly he knew. He nodded slowly.
“I know now.” Tomide paused and then continued. “I know now that I can possess my desires the second I want them. I accept that they are already mine the instant the wanting is pure, but what must I do to experience them in my world?”
“Get up and go, that is what you must do,” Rabonni said, his voice calm and certain. “You must go before you see or believe.”
“Well, that is different from what I know. What I have always known is that you first see the vision, believe it and then take action.”
“Your world is an inversion of the truth.”
He paused, letting the words sink into the silver air between them. “Do what fear whispers against. Rise up and act boldly, even if it seems foolish in the eyes of men. Sight and belief will follow after you like faithful servants, for they must obey the one who walks in the authority of the divinity within them.”
The mist stirred gently, as if nodding in agreement.Rabonni’s hooded head inclined the smallest fraction toward him.
“That which you desire was given without fail. Will you rise and take it, or shall you wait until you are dust and returned to the mist?”
The silver mist brightened, growing luminous at the edges. Tomide sensed the dream beginning to thin, the stone bench softening beneath him. The soft command came, releasing him from his dream.
“Remember!”
******************************
PrimeVistas Advisors
Victoria Island
9:30 a.m
Tomide sat across from Mrs. Fabiyi in her spacious, sunlit office. The floor to ceiling windows offered a sweeping view of Victoria Island’s skyline that no one in the room paid attention to. Sonia sat to Tomide’s right, notepad in hand, her posture stiff and professional.
“I have found a beautiful apartment not far from the office,” Tomide began, keeping his voice steady and confident. “It is about ten or fifteen minutes drive.”
Mrs. Fabiyi said nothing, watching him with the intensity of a stalking hunter.
“Given the nature of my role and the long hours expected, I believe the firm should cover the accommodation as part of my compensation package.”
Her eyes blazing with annoyance, Sonia immediately leaned forward.
“With respect, Mrs. Fabiyi, Tomide only joined just three months ago. We don’t usually -“
Mrs. Fabiyi raised a hand, silencing her without a word. Her sharp eyes turned fully to Tomide.
“Why should PrimeVistas Advisors foot your accommodation bill, Tomide?”
Tomide met her gaze directly, unflinching. “Because the value I bring far outweighs the cost of one apartment. In the short time I have been here, I have already identified three high net worth clients who were previously overlooked. I closed two of them last week alone, generating revenue that will cover my entire annual compensation, including housing, within the first quarter. I am not asking for a favor, ma’am. I’m proposing an investment that will pay dividends many times over.”
A slow, appreciative smile spread across Mrs. Fabiyi’s face. She leaned back in her leather chair, studying him with new interest.
“Impressive,” she said softly. “Sonia, please look into the request. Check availability in the budget and prepare the necessary paperwork.”
Sonia opened her mouth, then closed it again, nodding tightly. “Okay, Ma.”
Mrs. Fabiyi waved a dismissive hand. “That will be all for now, Sonia. I’d like a moment alone with Tomide.”
Sonia gathered her notepad and rose, casting a brief, unreadable glance at Tomide before leaving the office and closing the door behind her.
Once they were alone, Mrs. Fabiyi’s expression softened into something more maternal, yet still commanding.
“Tomide,” she began, her tone warm but direct, “I’ve noticed the friction between you and Sonia. I need the two of you to work well together because she has worked with me for many years.” She paused, letting the weight of her words settle between them. “So here’s my advice, get close to her. Build some rapport. Take her out for dinner this week or maybe next. Just… get to know each other outside these four walls.”
Tomide’s lips tugged into a wry smile.
“Okay Ma.”
“And before you start overthinking it,” Mrs. Fabiyi said, a playful glint in her eyes. “I’m not asking the two of you to have sex please. We advise against such relationships among staff. Just dinner okay?”
Tomide’s smile turned to a chuckle.
“Okay Ma.”
Mrs. Fabiyi’s expression shifted back to business.
“Now, tell me about the appraisal you were supposed to do for the Adekunles. How is that going?”
Tomide nodded and pulled out the blue plastic file he had brought with him to the office. He flipped it open on the desk and spread out the documents across the polished surface. Mrs. Fabiyi leaned forward and they began to discuss.
Minutes wore on as they remained engrossed in the discussion, oblivious to the world beyond the closed door.
Sonia walked past the office window three times, carrying a stack of brown folders from the cabinet room to her own office. She moved with quiet purpose, but her eyes kept darting surreptitiously through the glass window and the two figures bent over the paper on the table. Her lips continued to thin on each subsequent passing until it became a line of barely suppressed fury on the third pass.
She could not take it anymore. He had to go.
********************************
3pm
Tomide’s office
Tomide sat in the high-backed leather chair of his sleek office, Mrs. Fabiyi’s words echoing in his head.
Get close to her. Build some rapport. Take her out for dinner.
He rubbed his hands together and glanced up at the vents of the central air conditioner, puzzled by the sudden chill in the air. The clean lines of his crisp white shirt tightened across hard muscles earned from countless push ups on the floor of the room back in Abule Ijesha as he worked warmth back into his fingers.
He admitted to himself that he would happily ignore Mrs. Fabiyi’s advice about mending his frosty relationship with Sonia, if it didn’t risk damaging his own relationship with Mrs. Fabiyi.
He exhaled, closed his eyes, and tried to quiet the storm in his mind. A voice, calm and deep, resonated low inside his head.
“Go.”
Tomide’s eyes snapped open. The hesitation dissolved. He pushed himself up from his chair, straightened his sleeves and strode purposefully towards Sonia’s office.
*****************************
Sonia’s office
3:15pm
Sonia sat at her desk, the glow of her monitor casting sharp shadows across her face. Tomide’s employment file lay open before her. She scanned his educational background and then moved to his previous work history, searching for any weaknesses she could exploit.
The sound of approaching footsteps made her freeze. A jolt of panic hit her when Tomide appeared in the open doorway of her office. With a quick, fluid motion, she slid the file off the desk, letting it fall silently under her chair while her mind scrambled for calm
“Hello Mrs Oga -, Sonia.”
Tension crackled between them. Sonia frowned and crossed her arms.
“Yes?”
He didn’t waste time. “Are you free this evening?”
Sonia’s frown deepened.
“Why? So I can be your driver again to that rough area? Madam is yet to compensate me for driving you there and all the way back to Ikoyi the last time, so the answer is no.”
Tomide held her gaze steadily.
“I am not asking for a ride. We could have drinks this week if you are open to it.”
Sonia opened her mouth to refuse, then paused, recognizing the opportunity that had just fallen into her lap. She let the frown fall away and leaned back slightly.
“Fine,” she said coolly. “But it has to be short. Very short.”
“Short works for me,” he replied, voice calm. “Just let me know what day is convenient for you.”
Before she could respond, Uloma, an intern with the research department, breezed past Tomide in the corridor, flashing him a bright, flirty smile and a playful wave.
“Hey, Tomide,” she called sweetly. “I stopped by your office to drop the file off you requested…”
Sonia rolled her eyes, jaw tightening as Tomide turned towards the slim and attractive intern and began a conversation. She watched them walk out of view and then pulled out his file from underneath her desk. She made a brief call to John, the firm’s IT manager.
“Did you find anything yet?”
“Not yet Ma.”
Sonia sighed. “You need to be fast about this. I need something this week.”
“Okay.”
Tossing her phone aside, Sonia drew the file toward her and began her search again.
**************************
Tomide’s office.
4pm
Tomide sat alone after the intern had finally left for the open plan office where the interns worked. He remembered the stillness of his dream and closed his eyes.
Watch.
Minutes later, he opened his eyes and stared blankly at the computer screen in front of him. A nagging unease had lingered since he left Sonia’s office. He kept replaying the moment she startled at his arrival and the swift movement of her hand. He rubbed the stubble on his chin, his eyes narrowing at the screen in front of him.
She is hiding something.
The realization settled upon him like a new dawn, just as her threat the week before slithered through him like poison.
You won’t last in this place.
He leaned back in chair. The date with her wasn’t merely a chance to watch her. It was a gift. Mrs. Fabiyi had unwittingly handed him a weapon and he intended to use it.
© Umari Ayim
2026
