Chapter Sixty-One

Adaeze spent most of the day basically doing nothing and watching the television. And when she was not doing that, she was busy on her phone watching one comedy skit of the other. There was just so much time on her hands and so little things to do that the day just seemed to crawl along.

Because from her own point of view, the week had went past in a blur. Everything had happened so fast and now six days were down. How the hell was that even possible? It was as if the Time Bureau had ganged up on her and made everything happen so fast.

And now, she did not want it to come to an end. Not at all. But there was no way she could extend her trip without causing such a ruckus back home. Especially not with her own wedding already on the corner and just a week away. Getting to travel two weeks to her wedding had required a lot of convincing and strongheadedness on her part. She didn’t think she was up for that.

Moreover, she had to return and get herself ready for her husband. Not just in her body, but also in her mind and in her soul. She needed time to recover from everything that was happening in this Lagos state, and jumping right into the wedding would do her no good. She had to think straight. And one week would be enough for her.

Once she left, she would turn her back on the life and focus on the future.

She wondered why she kept reminding herself of that fact. Was it because she knew it was a dud and there was no chance of that ever happening? Did she really feel that she could not move on from this life? Had she woken up something she had no control over that would eventually end up controlling her?

She shook her head and sat up from the bed, she was stronger than all that. It was not like she was addicted to the life, she could always stop when she wanted to. That was what made it all the more enjoyable for her because it was all her choice and she could end it whenever she wanted.

But she did not want it to end, not yet at least. It was all just for one last time and then that would be it. After tonight with Femi, then she would call it quits for real and move on with her new life. That had always been the plan and nothing was going to change it.

She would keep all the lessons though, and all the memories. And most of all, the experiences she got. Although she did not know how all those will help her out in her life but she was certain it could be done. And the one thing she was sure of was the fact that everything changed her. she was going back home a different person from the one that had left it. And she would only know the extent she had changed when she left this environment and returned to her base and resumed living her normal life. That was when she would really know how much she had changed.

But until then, everything was just hypothesis.

Sometime in the evening, when she was reading a post on social media when a call came in, it was an unknown number. She picked it at once, “hello?”

It was the delivery of the vagina tightener she had been expecting. The person was at the hotel and downstairs. She didn’t have the strength to go down and she told them to come on up. She was still dressed in just the polo she had worn when she received her meal delivery. So she got off from the bed and wore her trouser back.

Being on the bed all day and not doing anything made her legs feel rubbery. Having a walk might have been nice, but she just did not have the strength for it. She was actually enjoying being indoors and doing absolutely nothing. She had already lost count of how many times she had fallen asleep and woken up today alone.

She even doubted she would have the ability to sleep again tonight.

By the time she was done with the trouser, she heard the knock on the door. She treated it the same way she had done with the meal delivery man. She opened the door a crack and looked out. It was a young woman and she was wearing a branded polo of the product.

Adaeze was surprised, she had thought it would be a dispatch rider that would deliver the product to her. And she mentioned it.

“Well,” the lady replied with a smile as she pulled out a neatly wrapped pack and handed it over. “That only happens when the customer is far away, ma. Like in the deeper reaches of Lagos, and outside in other states as well. But for those of you around Ikeja here, we do it in person. That is the only reason we could agree to the payment after delivery plan, ma.”

“Okay,” Ada nodded as she took the pack and perused it. It was a white and green pack, just like it had been advertised on the social media platform. She hoped that it worked just as promised as well. She placed the pack on the desk beside the door and turned back to the lady, “give me a minute, and let me get my phone.”

“Sure, ma.” The lady said with her smile still in place, “take your time ma.”

Rolling her eyes at all the “ma” the lady was pouring out, she closed the door and went to get her phone from the bed. When she returned the lady was leaning against the wall and fiddling with her phone on one hand and biting the fingernail on the other.

“Let me have your account number, please.” Ada told her.

The lady went on to rattle off some numbers off heart, and she supplied the bank at the end. Ada did the transfer and they waited until she got the debit alert. It was only then that the lady left. Apparently she was not the owner of the account and it was not to her phone that the alert would come.

She closed the door and locked it once again.

She took the pack and made her way to the bed and sat down.

“Well, what have we here?” she murmured to herself as she proceeded to unwrap her product.

She picked up the remote and increased the volume of the TV, flooding the room with the sick rhythm of afrobeats that was currently playing.

Returning to the vagina tightener, she began to unwrap it. The wrapper had the official seal of the manufacturers, at least she thought it was the official seal, seeing as it consisted of the company logo embossed on it. She took off the wrapper and dropped it on the bed.

The pack was made of carton and it had substantial weight. She tried to open it but it was glued fast, so sha had no choice but to tear it open. The container inside it was made of plastic, but it was transparent. She could see through it and tell that the cream was white in color.

Was that the color that had been advertised on their handle? She could no longer recollect, she did not know if it had been white or red or green. Whatever it had been, the product was now in her hands and she had to move on.

She opened it. Seeing as it was new, that took some doing on her part and she had to really put in her strength. She opened it and a faintly nice smell hit her nostrils.

She thought about it for a few seconds and then let out a sigh as she closed it once again. She could only hope and pray that it worked as promised. Because if she developed a reaction because of this, things could get really bad for her. But she would first of all make sure she destroyed those that were selling fake products.

She got up from the bed and went to open up her traveling box, and then she placed the cream inside it. making sure it was sealed tight so that it would not pour away and ruin her stuff. She was not going to make use of it until after her session with Femi tonight. That would be when her treatment would begin. And she would continue it for a week after until her wedding by which time she was hoping there would have been a significant improvement. Because if it did not work by then, anything that happened on her wedding night was all in the hands of fate.

She returned the box to its position and left it there.

She returned to the bed and picked up her phone. She continued reading her post and was watching skits online. But the music that was playing was distracting her so she put the volume on mute again while she watched comedy and comedy skit.

Time went. She thought about eating but realized she did not really have the urge. After thee full course meal she had consumed earlier, she was not even feeling hungry in the least. And if she bought something now, she would probably not finish it and it would all go to waste.

So no eating for her just yet, she would be able to hold on until tomorrow. Then she might grab a bite or two before her flight. And she was also managing her water. She didn’t want to have to buy another so she was being careful in her consumption of the one she did have.

Soon, it was already dusk. She didn’t even know, and if not for the time on her phone she would have been oblivious to that fact. Night had fallen all over Ikeja, and being a Sunday night just before Monday, people were looking to see one last thing they could achieve before they had to return to work.

It was a few minutes past seven that her phone began to ring in her hand while she had been watching yet another comedy skit. It was Femi that was calling.

As she saw his name displayed on her screen, she felt a slight thud in her chest and her heart skipped a beat. This was really going to happen and she was going to do this for the last last time. Or could it be that he was calling to cancel? He could not also not bear to see her for the last time so he chose to avoid her as well? Was that the case?

She was about to pick it when the call cut.

She had wasted too much time deliberating and thinking about it as she stared at her screen. She instantly began regretting that, what if he interpreted it the wrong way?

The phone began to ring once again, it was still him. And she picked it at once, “hello?”

“Hi, Ada.” His voice poured through the phone and filled up her ears and by extension, her head.

“How are you?” She asked.

“I’m doing okay, I’m actually on my way.”

“You?” She echoed, “just you?”

“Oh, let me rephrase that. We are on our way.” He said, “she is here with me.  I just wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Okay,” she let out a sigh. “You can come on up when you get here.”

“Sure, see you soon.” Femi said and then cut the call.

She was breathing hard as the phone slipped out of her fingers and dropped to the bed. Her heart giving rhythmic thuds in her chest. So it was all happening.

She let out a sigh, this was going to be the last one for her and she would have to make it the most enjoyable one for herself. Because it was the one that would remain on her mind the longest. She was breaking more boundaries now as she was going to do it with a woman as well, but it was still the same. The goal was to have a great time. Nothing more and nothing less.

She got up from the bed and began to take off her clothes. The polo and the jeans, she would not be needing them. They tended to slow things down. She packed them up and took them to the laundry basket. As luck would have it, she had ended up not sending all her dirty clothes to the laundry after all, this meant that she would have to get it done first thing tomorrow morning so they would be dry and ready for packaging by the time she was ready to leave the hotel for the airport.

She started going around the room, cleaning it out. But it was not dirty because there were not a lot of things to make it so. The floor was neat, there was not enough furniture to cause a cluster, and the bed was neatly made. Moreover, she had spent most of the day in that bed so there had literally been no time for her to do anything that would make the room look unpresentable.

Except when she had eaten of course, but all that was in the trash. Where it belonged.

By the time she was done, the room looked spick and span again. She didn’t know if she was doing this for Femi or for the lady he was bringing along. But then, she was never to be caught unfresh.

After that, she walked naked to the bathroom and has a quick shower. After toweling herself dry, she went to the wardrobe and picked out her nightgown. She was going to be needing the services of that nightgown for the last time.

When she was finally done, she returned to the bed and sat still. Her heart was beating furiously in her ears and she was clenching and unclenching her fingers. She was feeling nervous about everything in general. But she was already used to this feeling.

This was how she had felt the first day she had met Femi. It was the same way she had felt when she had the threesome with him and Musky. And now, she was having it again. She had already gone through it enough to recognize the symptoms. And knowing that there was no cause for all that nerves did not make it any better. She was still very much feeling it.

Her phone was on the bed beside her, turned upside down. Her eyes were on the TV pinned securely to the wall, but she was not seeing what it was displaying. Her mind was somewhere else entirely.

And then, the knock on the door came. Pulling her mind back into the room. She turned and stared at the door.

It was time to begin the last day of the rest of her life.