3—Guarding You!

Folarin Giwa prided himself on being stoic, but Aramide Bankole, née Ajose, always tested his ability to keep it together.

Maybe it was because they grew up together for a few months before she left for university in London. Maybe it was because he considered her his closest friend. Maybe it’s because he knew her, knew how stubborn she was. Or maybe because he hadn’t apologised or made amends for lying to her that year.

He hated this distance between them, but felt he had caused it. It was funny that he had been arguing with her Dad about telling her the truth when she overheard the whole situation. After that, she shut down. She locked herself in her room and didn’t eat, drink water, or talk to anyone.

Tayo, her Dad, had almost gone crazy with worry. He had camped outside her door until she agreed to see him. She had to forgive her Dad, but Folarin was collateral damage. He stood behind her chair, trying to be inconspicuous, knowing how much she hated being watched or monitored. He didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable in her own office. But he also had a job to do.

He stared at the back of her head, feeling her growing discomfort.

“Just ignore me,” he said. “You're good at that,” he couldn't help the snide comment that followed.

She didn't even reply; she was already listening to him. They were already off to a great start!

He still felt bitter about the whole incident. He hated that it was so easy for her to ignore him. She didn't even allow him to explain himself. He had felt like he didn't matter to her at all. Like he had just been a toy she had grown bored with. He understood that she felt betrayed, but she didn't try to hear him out. Didn't try to understand him.

But he cared about her so much, she was the most important person in his life, except maybe his Mom, and she had just dumped him like yesterday's trash and never looked back.

He wouldn't even be here if not for her father, who had kept their relationship over the years. He had felt guilty and the part he played in the situation. He had been like a surrogate father, stepping into a role that no one had ever cared not fill. Not even his biological father. He was forever grateful to Tayo, which was why he was still Folarin’s number one client.

As he stood watching over her, his mind travelled back to the conversation that brought him back into her life.

“Good evening, sir,” Folarin smiled as Tayo pulled him in for a hug.

“Not of that, sir, nonsense.” Tayo frowned at him. “Folarin, my boy, how are you?”

“I’m doing okay. Is everything okay?”

“No,” Tayo sighed. “I need you to come back and as Ara’s bodyguard.”

“Sir, the others-”

“They are good, but I need the best on this case, Fola.”

“I’m flattered, sir, I am. But I don’t think Ara will like that.

“She doesn’t have to like it.”

Folarin frowned at that. Tayo would do anything for Aramide. “What’s going on?”

“I received a threat. I thought it was for me, but the more I investigated, the quicker I realised it was for Ara.”

“What are you not telling me, Tayo?”

“I have reasons to believe that Adeolu Bankole was murdered.”

“Your dead son-in-law?” Folarin looked at Tayo, trying to read between the lines. “But it was ruled off as an accident."

“I know, but it was too suspicious.”

“Accidents happen all the time, Tayo. Why don’t you think it was an accident?”

Tayo sighed, then began the story. “Adeolu was cleaning up the family business, and Tayo leapt from his chair like it was on fire. He started joining my catch-up lunch with Mide.

At first, I thought maybe she wanted it to be a family thing now. So, I called her out, and she told me the truth. He needed help cleaning up the family business; they had spoken about it extensively, and she advised him to talk to me about it. And he did, we would spend hours poring through their books, talking about next steps, and practical tips. But it was starting to eat into my time with my daughter, so I suggested we have a separate meeting.”

“He started seeing me privately at the house. It was the only place we felt safe discussing confidential information.” Tayo scrubbed his hands through his bald head. “He didn’t trust his family members; he knew it wasn’t going to be a simple process, but he didn’t want to tip his hand. The day of the accident, he was coming with Mide, but I guess she just got pregnant then, and she was not feeling too well, so she stayed back.”

“I could have lost my baby girl, too, Folarin.” Tayo looked away, probably to hide the tears welling up in his eyes. Folarin remained quiet while Tayo composed himself. “My friend in the police alerted me when it happened, so I was one of the first people on the scene. Folarin, the car was crushed beyond repair.”

“That happens in a fatal accident.”

“Smartass,” Tayo smiled at him, and he shrugged. “No, it looked like someone hit the car repeatedly; there was evidence to prove it, but no second car turned up. Ever. The family wanted to bury their son. They didn’t want the case dragging on." Tayo snorted in disbelief.

“People grieve differently, not everyone is like you, Tayo."

“If anything happened to my baby girl, you best believe I would find out who was responsible and give them hell. Unless-”

“You already know who is responsible,” Folarin finished the sentence. “Shit!”

Fola frowned, but one thing didn’t make sense, though. “How does this relate to Mide?”

“The first note arrived after she went to tell her in-laws about the baby. I'm not sure I believe Adeolu didn’t leave a will. The guy knew how dangerous his family was, yet he didn’t prepare a will when he was getting ready to take them down?!”

"Maybe he thought they'd let him live, this is his family we are talking about. No one thinks their family is going to kill them,”

“Maybe,” Tayo looked out the window. Folarin knew he probably wasn’t seeing the sprawling view of Abuja that sat outside his window. “Anyway, the child complicates things for them. I can’t prove any of this. It’s just a hunch. But I think they want the baby gone. The baby is a direct heir, his wife not so much.”

“But doesn’t the wife automatically inherit something when her husband dies?”

“She verbally relinquished any hold she had; she told them she didn’t want anything. She just wanted to take her belongings and live. It’s like she’s a broke upstart. The girl is rich. She didn’t need anything in that house.”

“It’s the principle of the matter. You don’t just throw a grieving widow out of her home. It’s cruel.”

“It was,” Tayo nodded. “She didn’t have the will to fight. You should have seen her when she first came home. She was so heartbroken, it was like that episode again.”

Folarin remembered the episode like it was yesterday, maybe because it was the last day he saw his best friend.

“She didn’t eat, bathe. Nothing. She became a husk.” Tayo sighed. “I’ve never been happy to see a pregnancy test in my life. It gave her the will to live again. She started coming to the office again. I felt hopeful. Then she went to tell them,” He spat the word out like it was poison.

“They broke her heart. I was so scared she would slip back into that hole, but her baby gave her purpose. My first grandchild.”

“Only,”

Tayo glared at him.

Folarin raised his hands in surrender. “Hey, the girl is not married. Unless you want a child born out of wedlock.”

“She’s young, she will fall in love again.”

“Just like you did,” Folarin smirked.

“She’s not like me; she’s like her mom. Her heart’s too big. She’s got so much love to give. She will marry again. Regardless of what she thinks. I believe she will find love again.”

“And you don’t?”

“I’ve not met anyone who’s tempted me from my first love,” Tayo glared at him before he could reply.

“So why do you need me? I can send-”

“No, Folarin. It must be you,”

“She doesn’t like me. She refused to talk to me for days, remember?”

“I remember,” he sighed. “But I trust you, Folarin, and she does too.”

Folarin snorted. “Yeah, right. That’s why she’s been avoiding me like the plague for the last six months since she moved back in.”

“Folarin, just because she doesn't want to talk to you doesn’t mean she doesn’t trust you.” Tayo raised his hand to stop Folarin’s rebuttal. “You must think about why she was so hurt by what happened. It’s because you meant so much to her. It wouldn’t have hurt that much if it were one of the girls from summer club or something,”

Folarin frowned at the logic.

“I’m sorry I didn’t do more back then.”

Folarin waved his concern off. “I get it,”

“No, you don’t,” Tayo looked away. “A big part of me was relieved that she was so mad at you. You must understand that I was scared. I felt like she would do anything for you, and that scared me.”

“What are you saying, Tayo?” Folarin stood up, unable to believe what he was hearing. “Did you set it up so she would hear us?”

Tayo’s head snapped back like he had been slapped. “WHAT?! NO!” He let out a loud breath. “I didn’t. I was just relieved. Did you know she was talking about not going to London? Of staying in Nigeria. Maybe going to the same university as you. I just felt like she was too attached. Like she was throwing away her future just to be around her best friend. I was scared that next thing she would be pregnant, and I would either be planning a wedding or shooting your balls off.”

Now it was Folarin’s turn to look like he had been slapped. “I would never,”

Tayo snorted. “Give me a break, Folarin. You were a teenage boy. You were thinking through your lower brain,”

Folarin laughed. “Maybe,” he admitted with a shrug. “But I would have waited. I would have waited for her. I respected her so damn much.”

“I know,” Tayo smiled at him. “I know that much. Why do you think I kept you around?”

Folarin nodded, feeling exposed and embarrassed. “But I don’t know if it’s enough, Tayo.” He paused. “I don’t know if I’m enough.”

“Will you be able to live with yourself if something happened to her or the baby?” Tayo waited.

Folarin pictured her hurt or worse. He shivered; he didn’t want to live in a world where she wasn’t. Even though she wasn’t talking to him now, there was hope that she would forgive him someday.

“That’s what I thought,” Tayo looked smug, like the cat who got all the cream and then some. “So, what’s our strategy?”

They talked strategy for hours after that, discussing and investigating. Making plans and putting things in place. After hours huddled up, they decided the best strategy was to slowly reintroduce Folarin to Aramide’s atmosphere. That meant being in the house when she was there, hanging out when she was there. No more tiptoeing around her schedule. Slowly at first until she didn’t walk out of the room when she saw him.

Yes, she had done that a few times. Like she couldn’t bear to be around him. No one kept a grudge like Aramide Bankole née Ajose. Their plan worked, and slowly she became reacclimated to Folarin, they were not back to best friend’s but at least she didn’t look at him with revulsion.

She stood up after hours of sitting at her desk, and he snapped out of his daydream. He watched her take a step towards the door, and he followed her.

“What are you doing?” she turned her head to glare at him.

“My job,” he said. He didn't want to get into an argument with her when he was feeling this bitter.

“Stalking me?!” Her voice rose several octaves.

“Guarding,” he corrected. “Guarding you,” he swallowed the feral growl that wanted to slip out. She got on his last nerve. He was just trying to do his job, and she was fighting him at every point.

“I’m sure your job doesn't involve following me to the toilet!” she screamed at him.

His head snapped back like he had been slapped, and he looked around. He must have been more distracted than he realised, because true to her words. They were standing in front of the toilet door. That wasn’t good; a distracted bodyguard was useless. He might as well quit now.

He cleared his throat, took a few steps back, and hit her couch. “I'm sorry,” he said, looking away from the toilet door.

He could sense her amusement at the situation as she opened the door and went in. He sighed, allowing himself to slide into the brown couch. He was right, he groused as he relaxed against the couch. Aramide tested his stoicism. He scrubbed his face, trying to focus.

It was going to be a long day. At least nothing else could go wrong now.