SISSY’S PAL: EPISODE 8

Every day, Sissy fantasized about Gina’s offer. She painted virtual pictures of her beating eggs, melting butter, mixing flour and other dry ingredients. She couldn’t stop picturing how she’d look in a baker’s apron, standing behind her worktable, holding a spatula or wearing the oven gloves. One picture that usually brought the widest smile to her face was the thought of how she would look at her works with so much admiration when they came out of the oven or when she was done decorating them.

“Aunty!” Tommie’s voice jolted her back to life.

“Ahnahn, Tommie! Why did you scream like that now?” She held her hand to her chest.

“Why I no go scream? Tell me one reason why I should not scream. You laid there smiling at the ceiling while I have been standing here for not less than five minutes. You did not even know when I entered the room.”

She sighed.

“O ya o, wetin dey tickle your bele?”

“You have come again. Nothing.”

She cleared her throat in an exaggerated manner.

“Okay, I was thinking about my baking lessons. I am excited about it.”

“Not bad,” Tommie said as she unpacked her bag on her bed.

Sissy just shook her head and lay back in bed.

“So when did she say you would commence?”

“She did not say.” Her countenance changed. “I haven’t seen her since four days now and I don’t have her phone number to check up on her.”

“But you have her room number. Visit her room. If she’s not around, you can leave a note for her. I am sure she will appreciate the thought.”

“My correct roomie Tommie! You are right. I will do just that.”

She nodded smiling.

Later that evening, she traced the description Gina had given her and she was standing at the door to her room. She knocked on the door but got no response. She knocked again and this time, she heard footsteps. The door flung open to reveal a worn-out looking Gina.

“Hi, Gina!” She smiled and waved.

“Hi, Sissy!” Gina replied. She yawned as she wiped her hand across her face.

“Oh, I’m sorry to interrupt your sleep.” She stole glances of the room. “I can come back. I will come back. You go back to sleep.” She finished but she barely meant those words, especially now that she saw the worktable in the room decorated with cakes of different shapes and sizes.

“No, you don’t have to. I woke up anyway.” She stretched and yawned again. “Come on in.” she stepped aside for her.

Sissy stepped in very gently as though into a sacred cove – it was, for her, the wonder of her dreams. Each step she took further in the room brought to light the possibility of her dream – to be one of the best and most creative bakers in the country. She placed a hand on the shelf that hung against the wall.

“Careful there,” Gina’s voice stopped her short. “It hangs loosely. You have to be careful so that it does not trip off the wall.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She took even more careful steps around.

Gina chuckled. “Come on, sit here.” She pointed at a chair by her bed.

She took her seat while Gina sat in bed close to her.

“What can I offer you? This is an August visit.” She winked. “I have cake, sausage rolls, cookies, smoothies and juice. Which would you have me serve you?”

“Thank you for the offer. Actually, I came to see how you are doing. I haven’t seen you around for some days and I thought it mindful to come and say ‘hello’. What happened?”

“That’s so thoughtful of you. I have been so busy. You see those arts over there?” She nodded towards the cakes on the worktable. “They are orders to be delivered starting from this weekend. I have been working to meet up with my orders. That is why you barely saw me around.”

“Wow!” She could not hide her amazement. But then, she was curious about how she combined baking with school work.

“You don’t attend classes?”

Gina laughed softly. “Of course, I do. I go to class in the morning and I leave immediately after my last lecture for the day. I bake overnight most of the time. Fortunately, this semester, my classes hold between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. So, I get back in time and the rest of my day is spent baking.” She noticed the disbelief in Sissy’s face.

I do miss lectures, but that’s hardly. Moreover, I don’t bite more than I can chew. I turn down orders sometimes when I know I cannot handle them. Besides, the work isn’t as cumbersome as you may be thinking now. I have mixers. The bulk of my work is to measure my ingredients and set them in the mixer. Then I put the mixture in the oven to bake. Those spare times in between, I listen to lectures and read materials on my phone.”

Gina paused while Sissy processed what she had just said. She saw the light on her face – that meant she understood the highs and lows of the job.

“Over to you; how is your boyfriend? I saw his poster when I went to my friend’s department. He’s contesting.” She winked.

“My boyfriend?”

“Uhm uhm… Pally Anderson.”

“Oh!” She placed her palm over her mouth. “He is not my boyfriend! That guy is old enough to be my older brother -”

Gina rolled her eyeballs. “Were you going to date someone who’s old enough to be your younger brother?”

“That’s not what I mean, Gina. I mean, we are not dating. I see him as an older brother.”

She was getting lost in her thoughts when Gina spoke again.

“Okay, I’m sorry I said that. I have been seeing you two around so I just concluded that you both may have a thing going.”

“It’s fine. I understand.”

She changed the topic immediately and showed her baking ingredients and some of her equipment and tools. They also looked through recipes in her recipe book. An hour later, Sissy bade her host goodbye.