LIZZIE'S WORLD: The aftermath of the Fatma fallout

I get home at about 11am on Sunday morning and jump into the shower to wash the sleep out of my eyes and see if I can rejuvenate myself. It’s been an early morning since Fatma called me with her frantic news, and I also take the time to process everything I have just heard.

I wonder how these new developments with Steve and Louise will affect my workplace relations with Fatma and her firm. She is in charge of our advertising account. I frequently have to speak to her about work. She will probably have to interact with Louise going forward. How will she maintain her professionalism in this respect?

I sigh deeply; it’s going to be choppy waters ahead, but for the next three months while Louise is on maternity leave, I don’t have to deal with that. Speaking of which, I wonder how Louise is doing. I pick up the phone to call her and find out.

“How’s the baby doing? Did you decide on a name yet?” I ask her when she picks up. I can hear her little girl cooing in the background.

“Yes, we’re going to call her Nia,” she says brightly. She sounds happy and not at all exhausted like most new mothers I know. I ask her how she’s handling things. “Steve’s been really great. So helpful with everything. He’s a really hands-on father,” she says.

Oh… I see. “Tell me, Louise,” I decide to get right into it. “Did you know that Steve was involved with Fatma while you were getting pregnant?”

She keeps quiet for a bit. I suppose she is trying to sift through her answer. “I did… but I didn’t know the details and I didn’t know who she was. He said it was all but over. And I didn’t exactly plan on getting pregnant. It just happened. So now that we are here…”

“Well, he broke up with Fatma last night.” I could also offer that theirs had been a perfectly happy relationship until Nia came along, but I am not going to rock that particular boat until it becomes strictly necessary.

“Ok…” Louise keeps quiet again for a bit, perhaps processing what I have said. “You mean he had been with her until yesterday?”

Oh dear. I seem to have let the cat out of the bag unintentionally. “Yea, but I don’t know for sure what the relationship was like in recent days.”

Louise sighs. “Liz, tell me… Do you think I am making a mistake with Steve?”

“Do you love him?” I counter.

“I mean… of course I do. I’m just scared. This is probably not the best way to start a relationship.”

Indeed, everything is messy. But here we are. We can only move forward. I tell Louise as much, and ask her not to worry and to just stay focused on Nia. Then I hang up and decide to take myself out for a long, leisurely breakfast and an afternoon of some light shopping.

Later on, getting back home, I fall asleep early; it’s been a long day and the sleep is heavy in my eyes. When I wake up on Monday morning it’s bright and early and I feel very well refreshed.

The first person I bump into when I walk into the office lobby is none other than Chris. “And how was your weekend?” he asks as we enter the lift. I smile and tell him it was nice and quiet.

“I should have called you up and asked you to come have a meal with me or something,” he smiles. We both know that that is out of bounds.

“Yes, well, I wouldn’t want to end up in the blogs again courtesy of your ex-wife,” I say. He chuckles. “How is she, anyway?” I ask him.

“Well, Bertha finally filled the divorce papers. We should be in court soon. I think we’ll be done in a few months and then I will finally have my freedom.” He turns to give me an intense look and I am suddenly grateful that we have reached our floor and must now exit the lift.

“Yes, well, all the best with that, and have a lovely day,” I smile tightly and walk quickly into my office where I close the door behind me and take a deep breath as I sit down in my chair. I don’t know what to do about the butterflies that attack my tummy every time Chris looks at me a particular way. “Focus on your work, Liz, focus,” I say to myself.

And on that note, I throw myself into my workday with as much vigour as I can muster.