LIZZIE'S WORLD: The last move for Chris?

Liz finishes her meeting with Joe and ends up contemplating her position with Chris. ILLUSTRATION| JOSEPH NGARI

What you need to know:

  • It’s been 45 minutes and I have spent all this time asking Joe a few basic questions, hoping to gently ease him into a place where he feels safe enough with me to tell me the truth when I hit him with the hard questions.
  • I feel like I have warmed him up enough, and now is the time to go all in.

“So how long have you been out of a job?” I ask Joe as I accept the third glass of red wine that Mariam proffers me and take a sip.

It’s been 45 minutes and I have spent all this time asking Joe a few basic questions, hoping to gently ease him into a place where he feels safe enough with me to tell me the truth when I hit him with the hard questions.

I feel like I have warmed him up enough, and now is the time to go all in.

“About two months, ma’am,” he replies most politely.

“And all you do is sit around watching TV and making Mariam’s house untidy instead of going out and being productive?” I frown. Mariam gives me a sharp look and opens her mouth to interject, but I hold up the palm of my hand in her direction and concentrate my gaze on Joe. I am just waiting for him to say something I don’t like – like I know he will.

“Actually it’s just that it’s Saturday afternoon and I figured it would be a good way to lounge after spending all week hustling.”

I swallow my embarrassment down and glance at Mariam, who is now raising a smug eyebrow; damn it, I should have asked first before jumping to conclusions. “And what is this you do during the week?” I ask, this time sounding a heck of a lot more tame than I was a few seconds ago.

Joe smiles. “Well, I have a small Mpesa agent business which I manage, and a couple of boda bodas I invested in for making small, corporate deliveries. Oh, and I manage a small fast-food restaurant in my hood – I do those when I am not sending my CV out and following work leads.”

Now I am truly impressed. “You are a focused young man!” I exclaim.

Joe smiles cockily. “I’m a grown man,” he shakes his head. He looks more amused than perturbed. “Mariam can testify to that,” he grins.

“Ahem!” she says loudly.

I blush on her behalf. “So I think I will leave the two of you to, eh, bond…” I say as I hastily finish the contents of my glass and stand up lest there are any more jokes of an intimate nature that the two of them want to trade, in which case I don’t want to stick around and be a witness.

As I stand up, Mariam exclaims, “Liz why don’t you help Joe get a job? I mean, you’re the marketing head honcho at your company, and he is in marketing…”

“Um…” I am looking for a way to escape this conversation politely; I have never been known to hire my friends or their friends just because we are friends. “There’s a strict HR policy at my company so it would not be up to me, per se…” I hedge.

“Oh, come on,” she cajoles. “Can you not pull even just one string?”

“I’ll do my best,” I say, trying to sound as convincing as I can.

“Ok so you’ll send Liz your CV on Monday?” Mariam turns to Joe, who nods happily. I sigh quietly; this is not going to end well.

“Ok, I’m off now,” I tell them both as I head towards the main door and let myself out, waving and hurriedly walking into my car lest I am forced to continue this conversation – and I don’t want to. Thankfully, the boo-d up couple can’t wait to be rid of me either so they can do whatever things couples do behind closed doors, and they barely see me get into the car. I stare at them as they close the door – and then the gnawing ache in my chest comes into full focus as I remember my current woes with Chris, and wish that it was he and I who were in Mariam and Joe’s shoes.

However, I let go of that thought as I drive home and decide that I will stick to my guns and do as Jo advised, which is to ignore Chris. And if that means that we never speak to each other again if I don’t make the first move, then… so be it.