Chapter Fourteen
Adaeze stayed at Abike’s house for a long time after that, talking and gisting with her until it got dark.
“Shit!” Abike groaned as she checked the time on her phone, “unless you are spending the night here I suggest you start leaving.”
“You are right, let me order an Uber.”
“Nah… why don’t you let Tunde drive you instead?”
“Uhm… will he agree to that? I do not want to impose.”
“Honestly, I do not want you to get into another crappy experience with these drivers. Give me a minute to talk to him.” Abike got off the bed and walked out of the room.
Adaeze let out a deep sigh as she began to gather up her stuff and return them into her purse. The last thing she wanted to do was to forget anything here, it might not augur well for her at all. She had no idea how the time had flown by so fast. She and Abike had really caught on, it was as if the years they had been apart had not even happened at all.
The visit had been full of laughter and fun, getting ready for wedding and married life and making fun of just about everything. She had really enjoyed herself, and she was going to visit again before the wedding.
Abike did not waste time at all, she walked back in soon after, “wow… for some reason he did not argue with me on this. Actually seemed pretty happy to give you a ride.”
Adaeze let out a shrug, “well, if he is willing to do it then I guess I can just take it.”
“Come on, let us go. He is already outside.”
Taking her purse, Adaeze followed her host out of the room. Now that it was all dark, there were more lights on in the house, giving it an entirely different look from what she had seen earlier in the afternoon. As they walked through the living room, she could see that the family were seated there in front of the television and they watched some telemundo.
“Is your friend leaving?” Abike’s mother asked, turning her head as she did so.
“Yes ma.”
“Good night ma,” Adaeze said. “Thank you for having me.”
“It is always a pleasure, my daughter.”
That was how Adaeze greeted everyone in the living room, waved them goodbye and then made her way out of the house behind Abike. The sky was well lit up, brightening up the horizon. It was so clear that they did not even need the lights that were currently on in the compound.
Tuned was leaning leisurely against a Lexus ES350 car, it was dark red in color. His phone was in his hands and as he saw them, he stopped operating it and slipped it into his pocket.
“You could not live with your failure, and where did that lead you?” He said as they stopped before him, “Right back to me.”
Confused, both ladies looked at each other, “what the hell are you talking about?” Abike asked.
“Shit,” he cursed quietly as he pulled out his car key. “Try to watch movies okay? I was quoting Thanos!”
“I watch movies, but I do not keep every dialogue in my head. I have got better things to keep there. Moreover, I am not a creep.”
“Of course, I do know what you are. Please get into the car Senorita Ada, your humble ride awaits you.”
Abike turned to her, “do not just let him rile you up, he can be pretty annoying at times okay?”
“Sure,” Adaeze nodded her head.
“And just because you are in his car does not mean you have to talk to him, if he is being an asshole just give him the silent treatment. It works on him all the time.”
“Thank you Abike, I will be fine.”
They hugged, “will you be coming tomorrow as well?”
“I think so, we will just see how tomorrow works out.”
“I guess. Thank you very much for coming, you really made my day.”
“Of course―” Adaeze was interrupted by the honking of the car’s horn. Tunde was getting impatient. “I guess that is my cue, have a good night babes.”
“See you tomorrow!” Abike called as she hurried over to the car.
Abike went to the passenger side of the car and opened it then gently eased herself into the confines of the vehicle. She shut the door behind her and the noise from outside was shut out.
“First of all, I would like to let you know that this is my car and you must talk to me. Forget what my baby sister said. But no worries though, I am not an asshole in anyway. You might even come to see me as sweet.”
She laughed at that, ever since she had laid eyes on him, all he had been doing was just making her laugh. Even in the most ordinary things that he was just doing. And to top that off, he was also handsome. Handsome guys that were also funny were getting scarce these days.
“I take that as a good sign,” he muttered as he slipped the key into the ignition and turned it. With a low rumble the car came to life and vibrated mildly under them. Then, changing gears, he activated the head and rear lights. “Let us get you out of here, shall we?”
Abike was still outside, she was the one that opened up the gates and waited for them to drive out. Then she shut it after them.
On the streets, the lights that had been on in their house were absent and everywhere was truly dark. it was then Adaeze realized that the house had to be running on generator or probably an inverter, because most of the houses they drove past were dark with only a few having light. There was no power in this area at all.
How could a place as expensive to live in as Ikeja not have sufficient power?
As they drove on, Tunde said nothing and she too kept quiet. He was focusing on his driving because she could see that the road was bad indeed and he had to be extra vigilant because it was also a residential neighborhood. Just in case someone ran out into the street he would not be the one responsible for mowing down such a person.
There was soft music that was playing on the stereo, he had his phone connected to the car’s Bluetooth and that was what was playing the music. Adaeze did not really know the song, but she found it calming and relaxing to listen to it. Even with the way the car shook and bumped on the bad road, everything just seemed to be going in tune with the beat that was pouring out of the speakers.
In time, the approached the main roads, the major roads that will then lead to the hotel.
“So, where is your place?” He asked her.
“I am staying at the Sharone Hotel and suites.”
“A hotel?” He wondered loudly.
“Why? Is something wrong with staying in hotels?”
“Nah… I just thought you lived around, that is all. I did not mean anything by that.”
“It is no problem at all. I am not based in Lagos, I only came here for your sister’s wedding.”
“Oh… that is so sweet.”
“It is? How so?”
“Well… it just shows how much you care about her. The wedding is on Saturday, today is Tuesday and you are here. It says a lot.”
She let out a chuckle at that, if only he knew the real reason she had come so early he would know that it was not because she cared about his sister. But she was not going to tell him that, obviously. So she said instead, “well, it is the least I can do as a friend.”
She kept quiet as they finally got to the junction, he had to pause the car for a few seconds as he waited for a break in the traffic so he could get into the main road. Eventually, he did it and soon he joined the other cars in the hold-up.
“This is going to take a while,” he said. Before them the trail of cars was just so long it was scary, and the one behind them was just as intimidating. But the good thing about it was that the line was moving, slowly but definitely surely.
“I can see that,” she muttered in reply. “I hope this would not waste your time in getting back home.”
“I am a big boy, Ada. I can take care of myself.”
“I never said you can call me Ada,” she told him. “Not everyone calls me that.”
“Well, do you want me to stop calling you Ada?”
“Not really,” she looked out the window with a smile. “I guess it just sounds a bit different when you say it.”
“Hmm… hope you are talking about a good difference, not a bad one.”
She shrugged, “it can’t be all that good, can it?”
“It can’t be all that bad either, can it?”
“Well, I guess only time will tell.”
He did not say anything else for a while, focusing instead as he tried to navigate a roundabout, “so what does everyone else call you?”
She did not get his question, “what?”
“I am asking, what does everyone else call you? I mean the ones that do not call you Ada.”
“They call me by my full name, which is Adaeze.”
“Oh… Adaeze is kind of boring if you ask me though.”
“What?” She laughed at that, not knowing why she even found it funny. “That is the sweetest name in the world. There are facts and statistics to back it up.”
He scoffed at that, “okay. If you say so. But you need to know that I do not believe that in anyway. Adaeze is not the sweetest name, but Ada is. And it fits you, because you look sweet as hell.”
At that, she stopped laughing as she turned to look at him. Did he just hit on her? He peeled his eyes from the road for a few seconds and glanced at her, and then he returned to concentrate on his driving.
But she did not stop looking at him. It was at that time she realized he had a nice smell on him, his cologne had a really sexy smell that lingered in her nostrils even though there was an air freshener in the car.
It was also then that she realized he had some muscles on his arms, which meant he had to be working out from time to time. Well, he was sexy indeed. She wondered what kind of lover he would be. What would it be like fucking her friend’s brother?
“Usually,” he said suddenly, cutting her off from her train of thoughts. “when a compliment is paid, a thank you is given as a reward.”
“Oh, I am so sorry.” She replied, blushing deeply. “You just had me surprised for a moment there, Tunde.”
“For a moment? Babe, you were quiet for more than a minute. That sounds like a lot of moments to me.”
“Well, I have not been called sweet before.”
“Oh, you have. There are other synonyms to sweet, you just probably did not know about that.”
“Well, if you say so.”
“Okay. So, my thank you?”
“Thank you Tunde, I really appreciate the compliment.”
“You are welcome,” Tunde told her, taking one of his hands off the wheel and tapping her lightly on the thigh.
Before she could do a thing about it, his hand returned to the wheel as he continued driving.
Oh shit… she thought in her head as she looked out the window once more. He also wanted to fuck her as well. What was she to do? For a moment she considered what Abike would do with that piece of information if she found out. And she realized that she had no frigging clue.
Abike knew that she was getting married soon, but she highly doubted that Tunde knew this as well. Because she just did not think it was a topic they would be discussing while they were both busy bickering at each other. But then, in time she might get to tell him. Especially if he became serious.
She did not know if this would be a good idea or an absolutely worse one. Nah, the stakes involved were just too high. She would not do it with him. The moment he dropped her off at the hotel, she would bid him farewell and wait for her next session with Femi.
“What is going on in that mind of yours?”
“Uhm… I am just thinking, really. Nothing much actually.”
“Well, tell me. What is it that has you so engrossed in thought? Even though you are here with me, you are also miles away.”
“You know, I am just thinking about this… Lagos.”
“It is a beautiful city, you will get to love it once you get used to it.”
“I do not think I would love it, or get used to it for that matter. There are just too many people here, makes it really small you know? And quite difficult to keep a secret.”
Tuned said nothing for a while as he gently eased the car around a trailer, overtook it and drove on to slowdown behind a Ford. In the distance, they could see the tall building of the hotel they were heading towards.
“Secret? If there is one thing you can be sure of in this Lagos, it is how secretive people can be.”
“Oh, what happens in Lagos stays in Lagos, right? Is that a thing here?”
“It is very much a thing, Ada. If not on a daily basis you will be hearing a lot of unflattering things about this place.”
“Hmmm…” she looked out the window again, wondering which direction she was pushing this conversation. Or was it that he did not know she was subtly carrying out a research to know if this idea she had in her head was going to work out just fine for her, or be disastrous. Did he really not know, or was he just playing along?
At long last, they got to the hotel and he drove through the open gates and straight to the parking lot where he parked between two vehicles, one was a Tundra truck and the other was a Mercedes Benz. He first of all killed the lights, and then the music before finally killing the engine.
In the ensuing silence and darkness of the car, Adaeze was thinking hard about her predicament. She could not shake off the feeling that this was all going to turn out to be a bad idea. And one that she would come to regret severely.
She turned and looked at him one more time, he looked sexy as hell.
He turned to her as well and their eyes met.
“Do you want to come upstairs?”