Kyle saw Mr Koffi’s unreadable expression as he stepped in, they made eye contact and

locked gazes as he was walking slowly with purpose toward him, he definitely doesn’t look

like he’s in for a friendly chat, it was obviously he was moving with a mission, he swing his

arms like he was on his way to confront a debtor. He could hear his shoe hit the solid tile

floor with every step he took, it sounded like doom was approaching.

He reached his table and Kyle leaned back as he adjusted on his chair waiting for the worse”

‘KYLE, DO YOU WANT TO RUIN YOUR LIFE?’

his voice cut through the quiet hum of the office, it wasn’t loud enough for anyone else to

hear, but it felt like the air shifted around them. Mr Koffi never came to his desk unless it was

break time or something serious.

He looked up from his laptop screen blinking thrice as if it would clear the sudden weight that

settled on his chest,

“What?” He asked, keeping his voice light like he didn’t know what he was talking about.

For a moment, the office around them disappeared, the tapping keyboards, the soft drone of

the printer, the muffled laughter from the far corner, everything faded. All Kyle could see was

Mr Koffi’s furrowed brow and the tight grip he had on the chair he had pulled up.

‘You joined barely a month ago, and you’re already doing things with that DEVIL I warned

you about, Hilda isn’t someone you can have a thing with’

.

He glared away pretending to adjust something on his screen, even though he wasn’t really

doing anything.

Hilda. Her name has become a song in his head, an addictive rhythm he found himself

dancing to almost everyday after work. The first time Hilda looked at him straight in the eye,

he knew they won’t just be coworkers, he knew she wanted something else.

She spoke to him with so much calmness he had to ask himself if this is the same Hilda he

has been told about.

Their chemistry was amazing and they bonded perfectly, they got close so fast it almost

seemed like they had been waiting for each other.

He has eyes on the gorgeous Naomi, and he would be blind to not know she was interested

in him too.

But Hilda, Hilda looked like a fallen angel, she was the kind of lady that walked into rooms

like she owned the oxygen, her dad is the CEO so why not? Everything about her fascinated

him so much that he just couldn’t stay away.

He heard she once got into a brutal fight with a coworker a while before he joined, he heard

about how she’d left him with torn sleeves and a bruised ego. Some even claimed she’d

gone home with a swollen face herself.

He wondered how someone so feared could be so soft around him. The way she laughed

around him, the way she fixed his crooked tie like it was the most natural thing ever, He

looked back at Koffi,

“She’s not what you think, He muttered.

‘She’s different”

That broke something in his expression.

Mr Koffi stood slowly as his chair scratched softly against the cold floor, he didn’t respond,

he didn’t argue, he didn’t fight his delusion, he just gave him one last look, one last sad look

and walked away.

Kyle sat there rethinking what just happened.

“Why would Mr Koffi call her a devil? Hilda is

nothing like that, he didn’t care at this point, how could a lady this sweet be talked about Iike

this, everything about her felt right, if this is what the devil looks like he was ready to be her

demon.

Memories of him and Hilda flicked behind his eyes like a montage he didn’t ask for.

Her smirk, her fingers brushing his when he handed her a stapler, the way she leaned into

his shoulder when her heels hurt.

They never made plans, she’d just linger by the main entrance with her arms crossed and

her eyes warm, and he’d know. He’d wait until the staff cleared out. They’ll walk to his car

and he’d drop her home, pretending not to enjoy the way her perfume lingered on the

passenger seat long after she was gone.

He stared at his computer screen with a straight face, but he was smiling inside, smiling at

the thought that he’ll get to see his beloved Hilda very soon, the words and the numbers on

the screen blurred into nonsense. He couldn’t get the face of his sweetie out if his head.

Maybe he was already in danger

Maybe he knew it…Maybe he didn’t care.