Edward arrived at the Ocean View Restaurant with Kanayo right on time. The celebrant was a classmate of Kanayo and also an acquaintance of his, but he was here as a courtesy to the celebrant‘s parents who were his valued business clients. In any other circumstances he wouldn‘t have attended the party; but he‘d been feeling dangerously bored of late and ready for any type of distraction. He didn‘t like cocktail parties that much, especially those where there weren‘t any networking opportunities for business deals. Like this one. Now he couldn‘t wait to leave, and he calculated the earliest moment he could sneak off without giving offence.

He would have once relished the opportunity to rub shoulders with a room full of the movers-and-shakers, but at this point he was well past the stage where he needed to curry favor. Hopefully he‘d miss the majority of the guests notorious for lateness to such parties. He remained where he was on the fringes and gazed out on the crowd. The women glittered in their new dresses while the men strutted around. Suddenly the wind picked up speed, chopping up the waters of the nearby ocean. It began to rain and waiters walked around closing some of the windows. Edward cursed out loud; he would have to stay for longer.

“What‘s your problem, man? You still don‘t have a girlfriend, do you? The year is halfway through you know, soon it will be a year you broke up with Bisi. There are a lot of babes here, so let‘s mingle. We could start from the bar.” Kanayo tugged at his sleeve.