The Curious Case Of The Wright Family by John Alade

The Curious Case Of The Wright Family by John Alade was submitted in January 2022 to Challenging The Writers Writing Contest #1 based on the writing prompt: Begin your story with “Friday, the most celebrated day in the week” and end it with the word Monday.

Friday, the most celebrated day of the week. Thank you, Jesus.  

Ego thought to herself and smiled, humming along to a song blasting from her airpods as she walked across the hallway of her office: NEW LIFE MEDIA.  

Completely distracted, she eventually collided with Frances resulting in a portion of tea spilling on her white satin blouse. 

“Jeez. I’m sorry.” Frances apologized. 

“Gosh. It’s just noon, Frances. Noon and look at what you’ve done to my dress,” She protested. 

Frances politely attempted to wipe off even the tiniest portion from Ego’s blouse. 

“What are you doing? That will make it spread more.” Ego pushed Frances, wading her off with an aura of spite and irritation. 

This ensuing foray caught the attention of the office. Everyone is watching this drama unfold. 

“My office, Ego.” A commanding voice called from inside an office, a bit distant from the scene. Ego grunted and walked in the direction of the office. 

“It won’t come off if I wash it.” Ego complained as she took her seat across the desk of the Human resources manager—Uzoma Otti  

“It was a mistake. She never even intended to do that. You took it personally and turned to what?… A radio? Chattering non-stop and raising your voice.” Uzoma responded. 

“I’m sorry ma. I acted out of control. The blouse was a gift and I hardly receive gifts,” Ego retorted, emphasizing as she clung to the spot stained by the tea. 

“You’d be fine. I just don’t want such a scene to repeat itself.” Uzoma cleared the air and clicked her fingers as she asked. “Are the final pages for the magazine ready for editing?” 

“Yes, ma…I’d bring it back before closing,” Ego replied. 

“That’d be all.” Uzoma dismissed her. Ego left the office, ignoring all the eyes drawn to her due to her stiletto heels clinking as she sauntered across the hallway.

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The clock struck four o’clock and Ego’s alarm went off. She pulled her lipstick and a mirror out of her bag. Smearing a portion of the lipstick onto her lips, before rubbing them against one another.

She took one final look of despair at her white blouse, and a gloomy countenance befell her. She remembered the history of that white blouse.

“Babe, don’t open your eyes yet,” Subomi whispered. His greasy palms tightly shut her eyes as he led her across a row of exotic clothing neatly arranged in a luxurious boutique. She continued along the hallway of the shop, her hands flipping through dozens of dresses hung on sturdy and opulent-looking stands.

“Where are you leading me to baby?” Her hands ran across each row of clothes she could touch.

“Shhhhh, it’s a surprise,” He whispered into her ear. She chuckled, meandering the path of clothes like a lost sheep.

“Here we are. You can open your eyes.” He pecked her and released his palms from her eyes.

She stared in awe; jaw slacked. She mumbled different words, but could not find the right one. She turned to him and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, babe, you are simply the best.” She continued, locking lips with him.

“I like this one. The blouse from Zara. The one you showed me the other day.” He snuggled her as they displayed public affection.

“They will hear it from me at work.” She laughed and gave him a soft punch on the chest and waltzed towards the cloth.
Ego sighed and placed her head on the documents on her desk briefly, as she gathered her composure, before proceeding to pack her bags and exit her workspace.

She arrived home late that evening. Swinging the door open, she threw her bag on the bed of her one-room self-contain apartment. Ripped open the blouse and entered the bathroom for a cold shower. She transferred the stained blouse into an empty bucket in the bathroom and placed it under a running tap, but got distracted moments later when her phone rang.

The call was from Subomi Wright; her boyfriend, her prince charming. She never failed to boast about her relationship with Subomi with her friends. From the moment they had met, they had gotten along really well.

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