Charles Adeoluwa is a middle level manager in a multinational company. He is a cool guy, easy going and professional in his approach. He's very civil. He's a complete gentleman. But something happened in a board meeting that really got him mad. A family friend, Mr. Okafor accused his unit of wrongdoing at the meeting, though later he realised that he was wrong; he apologised for that slipup, but the unfortunately, the damage had been done...
Mrs Adeoluwa and Mrs Okafor jointly own a successful events company. They behave like siblings. They were even nursing hidden desire that, Ireti, Mr Adeoluwa's son, who was about 10, would marry Mrs Okafor's Ogechi, a girl of 6, when they both become adults. They were just too close.
After that board meeting, Mr Okafor threw his arms around his friend and told him that he was indeed very sorry. But Adeoluwa was silent. Okafor sent him a message on WhatsApp few minutes after the closing hour explaining how he got his facts wrong. Adeoluwa simply replied with a thumbs up emoji.
When Adeoluwa got home, he went straight to his room. That was so unusual. Everybody was worried. He used to give everyone a passionate peck on his arrival from work. His wife thought that the worst had happened. She took his briefcase to check if there was a sack letter in there. She was surprised! The only thing she saw was a file containing urgent tasks to be accomplished by the company for the next 6 months which her husband would have to supervise.
She then summoned courage to ask her husband why he was not in his right mood. After a moment of hesitation, he told him all that transpired at the board meeting. Mrs Adeoluwa listened with rapt attention. Without saying a word, she sighed deeply, then went to the kitchen, served her husband and the children. She did not eat that night; she just drank a glass of water, and went to bed.
After a day or two, Mr Adeoluwa got over the issue and normalised his relationship with Mr Okafor. Their friendship became warmer than before. But, gradually, Mrs Adeoluwa drifted away from Mrs Okafor. One thing led to another, then at a point they decided to split their company, each person going her own way. Then they stopped their children from talking to each other. At the end of that academic term, Mrs Okafor changed her daughter's school so that she would be far away from the Adeoluwa's child...
This is not a real life story, but this is what normally happens when misunderstanding at places of work, disagreements at religious meetings, misunderstanding between friends are reported to third parties, especially wives, fiancées and other friends. It seems they help the offended party get emotional justice. They always escalate the situation and raise it to a boiling point; just as a Bollywood actress said: when a husband gets into trouble, it is his wife that will start a fight.
It's wise to bear pains silently and bury hatchets quickly. It's not every little burst ups and misunderstanding that worth a mention. It's always good to know that when people that we love hurt us; we shouldn't worry as such, since that's the price to pay for friendship. So we must be prepared in advance and take it in strides and move on when it happens, being aware that it could be the other way round the next time.
EXRADALLENUM OLUSEGUN AKINSANYA
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