Amaka My Sweet Colleague................... 2

Ogbonna reached the shabby looking block of flats that contained his home and took the concrete steps two at a time as he bounded up to the first floor, mindless of the increasing cold.

He let himself into his flat and hung his fleece jacket up in the hallway, kicked off his trainers and headed into the kitchen, where by the light of fridge he wrestled some ice from the tray and dropped it into a tall glass before kicking the door shut and making his way to the living room. Once there he snapped on a single lamp and proceeded to pour Southern Comfort over the ice, listened with satisfaction at the way the ice cracked under the alcohol, before taking a seat in his favourite leather armchair.

Lifting his feet onto the footstool that stood between the chair and the huge plasma television opposite, he sighed loudly and sipped at the sweet whiskey.

In most men, younger and older than his thirty-four years, Ogbonna would create feelings of envy and possibly jealousy. He had the sort of looks that turned women's heads and had learnt over the years how to use them for his own ends, and what most men wouldn't know, was that he had a sizeable asset to back them up! He had a decent, if not high-flying job that paid reasonably well, offered regular hours, and a comfortable life. His flat, though modest, was bought and paid for, and that enabled him to drive a rather more luxurious car than he otherwise might have afforded. He was easy going and confident, but in a self-assured rather than arrogant way, and to all intents and purposes a happy-go-lucky single guy enjoying himself.

If they had known more about his history, most men might even feel that envy, or that jealousy, increasing. He had grown up in a pretty liberal family, an only child, and holidayed alternately with his parents and with the parents of a good friend, Ugo. He and Ugo had pretty much had a ball growing up. People had often thought that they were brothers. They had had each other's backs and were known for it, so the bullies tended to leave them alone.

Ogbonna had quit school at the first chance he had and had started work in a bookstore, Ugo had stayed on and had gone on to university, but they had drifted apart by then, life having dealt them different hands. Not long after his eighteenth birthday, Ogbonna had been on holiday, for the last time though none of them knew it back then, with Ugo and his parents at their home in the outskirt of the city of Calabar.

Ugo and his father had left early one morning to travel into the city to watch a football match, a passion that they had shared, but one that had bored Ogbonna to the bones. Ogbonna and Ugo's mother had stayed behind, his Mum planning on a little shopping trip to the carnival town, and Ogbonna content to laze in the sun with his books. It hadn't worked out like that.

Ogbonna had awoken at mid-morning and gone for a shower, and had stood masturbating under the hot jets fantasizing about his big crush, unaware that the woman in question had been leaning against the door frame watching him. When he had exited the shower stall, Ugo's Mum had still been leaning against the door frame, her robe open, one hand stroking her nipples and the other jammed tightly between her thighs, her eyes never leaving the massive dick that swung between his legs.

Over the course of that day, she had initiated him into the wonderful world of sex, in many ways, and over the next few months had continued to avail herself of his eagerly provided talents, until guilt had made her abandon him.

Ogbonna didn't know if he was attracted to older women because of that or whether he would have been naturally anyway, but a succession of them had followed, starting with the manager of the bookstore where he worked. Over the ensuing years, he found that he could attract and capture women almost at will, and he became something of a player. Often it was never more than a one-night stand, though occasionally he had date a woman for a few months before moving on. It was difficult to know whether he was using the women, or they him, but nobody had cared either way.

As he grew older, he changed jobs and ended up following an unplanned career in administration. There followed a succession of jobs, and a succession of women, always older. He had got a lucky break and rented his flat cheaply and was nicely settled in life for a while, but then he had turned thirty and something had changed.

He had realised, when he had thought back, that he could barely, if at all, remember most of his successes with women and began to wonder what it had all been about. He had begun to dream about 'the one' that he could settle with, a someone special that would bring meaning to their sexual adventures, and companionship in life. The thing was, the women he went for mostly just wanted ‘Mr. Right-Now’, rather than ‘Mr. Right’, and were often breaking away from relationships or just playing around.
On the occasion that he had found somebody looking for a long-term fix, he had realised that his charming banter often didn't work on them because they just read him as a player and walked on by. So he had carried on playing, but the longing for something more kept growing in him.

When he had started at his present employer he had spotted Amaka right away and had been very attracted to her. She was undoubtedly beautiful in looks, though for some reason dressed herself down. He was sure that underneath the loose-fitting clothes there was a sensational figure, and something in her eyes spoke of a deeply passionate nature that excited him. She wasn't like other women of her age, she was a little shy and nervous, and somehow that appealed to him, perhaps to his protective instincts.

She had also become a big problem to him, without even knowing it, because though he wanted to approach her, the great womanizer that he was didn't know how to. He didn't want her to think that he was just a player, he didn't want to spew out the corny chat-up lines that he knew worked so well on others, in short, he didn't want to scare her off. So he did nothing, until two of her colleagues had just about set them up for a date!

He sipped his whiskey, unable to stop himself from smiling. He had never been kissed like that before! On the wow factor it had been off the scale completely. He could hardly wait to call her in the morning and set up another date for the following night, Saturday night.

Finishing his drink, he decided that he had have to give up all his usual tactics and just play it straight with her, no bullshit or false platitudes, no flattery, just honesty. That had been what had saved the night after all, and maybe that's what she needed. Considering that he had always been so used to just saying what he thought that a woman wanted to hear without caring whether or not she actually believed any of it, now he had have to say what he felt, and that wasn't going to be easy for him.

The one thing that his upbringing hadn't taught him was how to handle emotion, and maybe that too had been one of the reasons that his life had turned out the way that it had. He was just going to have to learn to let go a little if he wanted to get to know her better, and he did very much want to get to know her better. He couldn't help feeling that she was a flower waiting to blossom, just needing some sunshine to bring her out. He liked the idea of being her sunshine.

He threw off his clothes and pulled the duvet up over his shoulder and tucked it under his chin, snuggling in, his head on the soft pillow as he fidgeted for a minute to find the right position to relax in, then sinking into the soft mattress blissfully when he did.

His eyes flickered and he grew sleepy, telling himself that he had just have to let go and be straight with her, then he recalled that amazing kiss and as he drifted into sleep, the thought carried into his dreams where things went much further than kissing, but in no less a sensational way.

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