CHAPTER THREE

Woo!!! What a day it had been. Shola walked out of the bathroom. She needed a hot bath after all.

Who wouldn’t?

She had spent a large portion of her day sitting in an air conditioned car, waiting for the rain to stop.

No matter how much they turned the heat up, it was never enough to compete with mother nature’s cool. Sitting there almost all day must have cost her a lot.

I just hope I can cover up today’s work after so much lost time.

But it was probably worth it, having to spend so much time with Samuel. She sat on her bed as thoughts of the time they had spent together caused a smile to anchor along her lips. She fell back into her bed with her arms wide spread. Her white towel loosened up, leaving her sexy body scantily clad, but she didn’t care. She was all alone in her bedroom after all.

“Ah” she sighed

Was she falling for Samuel already?

Oh such luscious lips he has.

She could stare at them all day, and maybe all night too. After all, she so much enjoyed watching him talk all through the time they spent in her car that she didn’t even notice when it had stopped raining.

Curse Jimmy for bringing that to their notice!

And then his arms. Oh God! The way his muscle had flexed every time he raised his hand to emphasize a point. She would have probably held them to see how it felt, if she wasn’t so shy.

“Ping!” her phone rung

It was a message from Samuel “Hello bathtub invader”

Shola chuckled without sending a response.

The same ringing sound again. One could easily guess who it was.

“Playing the silence game are we? What do I do to get you talking?” with a thinking emoji attached

Shola read again but was still playing hard to get.

“Hmm… typical feminine response. Silence!” he texted again.

“Hey! That Is so wro…” Shola stopped typing, giving no response again.

“I almost got you to reply there. I guess provoking you is the key. I have just the thing” he sent with a winking emoji

A few seconds later, he sent a picture that Jimmy took, of her picking her nose in the car.

“Mining now are we? Sure hope you found some gold in there!”

That definitely would get her to respond. “Okay that’s embarrassing. Lol”

“There we go.”

“I thought it was the guest room” she replied to his earlier text justifying her being in his bathroom. Not that she needed to.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“If answering doesn’t put me in trouble. Sure!”

She took a deep breath and typed “Who is Amy?”

“Hmm…” a silence that had a thousand meanings

“I am sorry, I shouldn’t have asked something so personal so soon” she deleted her previous message

“Church tomorrow. Then I will tell you everything”

“And she blushed” he added.

Like hell she did!

Shola couldn’t hide her excitement to see Samuel again, even if it meant going to church which she normally didn’t. She was Christian, but wasn’t the strongest around.

Enough of the chat. She dropped her phone and begun to get dressed up. Her casual dress code at home, a very comfortable baggy jogger and a slim fitted round neck made of pure cotton. Most times, she never put on a bra when at home, didn’t matter if there was a visitor or not. Shola loved her comfort and didn’t care what people thought. She only dressed like a proper woman when going out simply to respect her father’s wishes.

Being the only born child in the family and with her mother’s tragic death during labour, Shola was brought up by her father. She didn’t really have any friends growing up except for one person, Seun. Seun was the son of her father’s late friend, they more or less considered themselves siblings and did a lot of things together whenever he came around.

“Ko! Ko! Ko!” there was a sudden knock on her door.

“Come in!” Shola put on her shirt

“Good evening Ma. Oga said you should come down for dinner” a young pretty lady walked into her room. She had a smile so friendly as a viper.

“Jumie I am so sorry I couldn’t help in the kitchen today” even though Shola was always busy, she always made out time to spend with Jumoke in the kitchen. It became so much of a norm to her that she had probably begun to get obliged.

“No ma. You even need rest sometimes. I see how hard you work.” Being so considerate. She knew Shola didn’t really need to help her out anyways.

“Please come downstairs” she gave off a gentle smile before she left.

Shola rushed downstairs to the dining room.

Overly eager to spend time with her dad, Mr. Ayomide Joel. They never got so much time to spend together as a family because they were both always busy.

Mr. Joel was a very big and powerful business man in Lagos, probably one of the richest men in the town but wasn’t lavish. He founded the company “Shine” a soap producing company which sold millions yearly, generating a huge amount of revenue. He also owned numerous real estate around the country; hotels, estates, even down to hostels for students in their various schools. He owned shares in many other companies around, including the company Shola worked for.

Not that he helped her get a job there though.

Mr. Joel was a very busy and wealthy man. No wonder Shola could afford to drive the newest model of any car she wanted.

They only really got time to spend together during weekends at dinner and Shola always made sure she couldn’t miss it. Due to his religious nature, he’d invite her a couple of times to join him at church on Sundays but Shola wasn’t the most religious person around even though she followed him few times. After he had forced her of course.

“Daddy o!” Shola walked into the dinning room to her dad who waited patiently for her.

“My little champ.” Mr. Joel was always so proud of his daughter.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek “Good evening sir” still being formal

“How are you my girl?”

“I am very good!!!”

“I see you are exceedingly happy today. Your smiles reminds me of your mum every time she saw me”

“So why don’t you tell me about it Shola” Mr. Joel investigated.

Uh-oh Shola couldn’t possibly tell her dad why she was so happy. At least not yet.

“About what sir?” she chose denial

“What is making you so happy ma?” her father put on a knowing smirk.

“uhh… I umm…”

“Ding dong!!!” it was the door bell!

“I will get it!” Shola quickly made her escape.

Phew! Saved by the bell.

Shola opened the door but there was no one behind it.

I could have sworn I heard the bell ring. She stepped out a little, scanning to see if there was anyone around

“And now I am hearing things” she whispered as she turned to go back in.

“ah!” suddenly, someone grabbed her hand pulling her close.

“Boo!”

“Seun! I have told you I don’t like frights” Shola complained, pulling herself out of his grip.

“Ha!Ha!Ha! Alright sorry” he apologized

“What are you doing here self?! Be going” Shola folded her hands and looked away

“Oh okay. Bye!”

“Come joor! Shey you don’t know play again?” holding his hand

“Why don’t you welcome me properly then” Seun spread his arms for a hug.

Shola responded with a very tight hug, making herself comfortable in his arms.

Remember Shola’s best friend Seun? Yes, that guy. Adio Oluwaseun, the only guy Shola had ever really trusted in her entire life. Being childhood friends and more or less growing up together, they knew absolutely everything about each other and really loved spending time together. Apart from being just friends, Seun always protected her and took very good care of her when needed.

Due to how safe and free she felt with him, Shola eventually accepted to date him after he had asked about a thousand times. It seemed to be a very beautiful union at first, but didn’t end so well. Seun wanted more from their relationship than just goodbye kisses and hugs, he wanted sex. Shola on the other hand didn’t feel like she was ready for that at the time. He continually mounted much pressure on her which soon made Shola shy away from the relationship and broke up with him.

He went on to date another person which really disappointed Shola. Nevertheless, she didn’t allow it ruin her friendship with him.

“That’s much better. Let’s go in”

“Yh. Come join us for dinner” Shola welcomed him into the house

“Good evening sir” Seun prostrated to Mr. Joel

“My boy! How are you?”

“Fine thank you sir”

“I hope you are taking good care of your family and business” Ever since Seun’s father died, Seun was left in charge of his father’s business.

He took care of his mother and other siblings while coping to run his father’s business. With some help from Mr. Joel of course.

“Everything is fine sir” unleashing a wide grin

“That’s good. Join us!” Mr. Joel pointed to a dinning chair next to him.

“Thank you” Seun sat comfortably

While Mr. Joel and Seun were busy discussing business and other related stuff, Shola was a little preoccupied with her phone.

“I wish you could invite me for dinner” Samuel teased

“It isn’t pounded yam and egusi soup” Shola mocked

“Wow! How much of our conversation did you hear?”

“Pretty much everything” she replied with an emoji sticking out its tongue.

“Great! Now we will have to set assault against you”

“You and what army?” Shola jeered

He sent a picture of his biceps fully flexed

“Me and this army” with a smirking emoji. Like he knew she fell for it already.

Which girl doesn’t?

Shola blushed and responded

“Not enough” biting a side of her lower lip in anticipation to see what he was going to send next.

His abs? his thick chest? Or everything... Oh how she wished he would send it all. Her breathing got a little faster and her heartbeat warmer. He had read the message but wasn’t typing a response.

He went offline! Could this mean he wants to snap the picture? The suspense was killing her. She hadn’t even taken a taste of the delicious porridge that Jumoke had prepared.

He is back online! Yes!

“I have never seen you this caught up with your phone before” Seun interrupted her little chat.

“Oh!” she jerked

“It’s umm… I… am… watching cat videos” terrible recovery

“I never knew you liked cats” Seun puckered his brow in suspicion.

“What do you know?!” Shola stuck with denial taking a sip of the porridge

“You were too busy with your little girlfriend to have noticed” offensive is better than defensive she has learnt all through her life.

“Ping!” her phone went again.

There was a sudden silence in the dinning room as both Mr. Joel and Seun stared at Shola to see when she would respond to the notification. She could almost feel their eye balls pocking her forehead but continued eating her meal like nothing happened.

“So! Seun how is your girlfriend?” she flustered, trying to divert the attention from herself

“My ex you mean. We broke up a long time ago”

“Oh… sorry to hear.”

“Umm… thank you very much for the meal Mr. Joel. I have to head home now” Seun stood with his hands held behind him.

“One more thing Seun. Why don’t you take Shola with you to visit your site tomorrow morning. I mean, since she probably won’t go to church anyways” Mr. Joel was very fond of the two being together.

“That would be…” Shola interrupted before Seun could show his interest

“No!”

“I uhh… who said I am not going to church?! I will go”

There was a crease between Seun’s brows. He knew Shola too well. She had not been herself all night. He knew she was definitely hiding something.

“It’s fine. We can meet for lunch later on. Right?”

“Sure!”

“Cool. Uh... Mr. Joel, I will be off now” Seun strode away from the dining table. He was tall and burly, with a very fluid movement.

Shola knew she hadn’t behaved like she normally would. Seun would probably be mad at her. She wanted to apologize but couldn't. What was wrong with her? Why was she suddenly ready to sacrifice anything for Samuel.

“Shola” her father tried to talk to her

“Daddy I am sorry. Goodnight” she flustered, running up to her bedroom.

Mr. Joel’s eyes fluttered out of confusion. What is wrong with this girl tonight?

She jumped in her bed trying to force herself to sleep. She felt a little ashamed and a little confused too. She just wanted to sleep now. At least that would help her pass time, enough for her to forget the uncomfortable night.

She tossed

She turned

She lay on her back, her side, her stomach

It was useless. Thoughts of Samuel overwhelmed her.

Oh no! I haven’t responded his chat!

She unlocked her phone to a picture of Samuel shirtless. Chills all over her body as she fell deeper into his abyss of emotional games.

Oh! Surely I will sleep now. She pressed her phone against her chest with the picture still in display, and closed her eyes to give herself one more shot at sleep.