The wind and the dust, spin and create thrust. As it spins and forms whirlwinds, naked kids slice through burst pipes. Each with a dream, of a happy life promised. Promises made and broken, by naive parents, holding on to a dream that their own parents brainwashed them with. Everything has a price and to long for more is to inch closer to the commodity that price can get. Right now, it's the winds tilting the ray of water my way. Bending the splash of water by stiff winds that buckle and break the united body apart.
Again we are here, at that point where men become monsters. Where father's murder their wives and dump them in septic tank's. And the saddest of all, his five year old son... Slammed on the head by a rock and tossed and dumped like rubbish, along Iba express way. Now tell me that he is not a monster, that beast masquerading as a human being. Tell me that there is something very wrong, with our priorities, with our eroding human heart. Reassure me that, though horrid Monsters On The Rise, Humans Will Arise. Justice will be served and such atrocities would not repeat itself. Tell me such a world can exist and will exist. Because, it can and it will. Humanity will triumph amidst all the evil that men do. We will read of kindness and the goodness of men, more often I hope...
At first, I am dazed and then as I watch Henrik massage my forehead. I remove his hands and feel my face for a bump. It's beginning to hurt and I grumble and complain. The crowd around me annoys me.
'Who sent me oooo?', it was not me talking but my aching head.
Everyone was telling me sorry and then, for a brief moment I look up. And realize it was Bala, Ajoke and Henrik apologizing. The raging women continue their fued, as if it was a feather that knocked my face.
I should have stayed below deck and ignored all my friends as I planned to. But Henrik said it was selfish of me. Selfish to go out with the girls and hide away with my gt below. So, I agreed and we joined the others. Even though, I knew there was tension between Opeyemi and Nnoye. Definitely, no doubt.
The delicious wheat meal and ogbono soup, just made the trip magical. Lunch made us all friends and friendly and there was no firming or pretenses. We all dined and eat in peace, until the food finished. Then their fued resumed. I don't know why I expected my kolo friend, Ahoje to shut them down.
Ajoke was too busy talking on the phone to the twins, with Bala speaking baby languages I could not understand. Oblivious of the little animosity brewing. The sea breeze calms me and I start to shut my eyes and tuck my self deeper into my darlings embrace. It feels good to be rocked by the atlantic ocean and it's calm, uneven waves. Until all hell breaks loose.
All of that, gone now. I am now in excruciating pain.
I swear to God who made me, I will press charges and make these women pay for injuring my face. I turn to see the culprit and it's Opeyemi.
'What is your problem? Daniel wants nothing to do with you'
The stupid girl is still talking, as if she does not know that the glass hit me.
'Sorry ooo, miss perfect. See her, she threw her glass at Ade'
And my government worker friend, Nnoye only cares because she can use it to verbally abuse her opponent. See these joker's ooooo.
'Ade, sorry jare. It was meant for Nnoye'
I cannot even dignify that anwser, with an answer. Nnoye shoves her and I move backwards, so these jobless women are not yet done.
'And what are you feeling cool about? You won't be Daniel's first nor last'
'Typical, you are willing to settle to make it. My dear, work hard and make your own money'
'Pele ooo, Mrs. Talent. If talent was enough then you should leave Daniel alone'
At this junction, Daniel moves Nnoye away from Opeyemi.
'Nnoye please, don't agitate her'
Nnoye shoves his hands away, irritated that he is defending his current girlfriend.
'Why not, because she is pregnant?'
Nnoye asked the very pregnant question, with all intention of causing more trouble.
I jump up and Ajoke tries to drag her away.
'Leaf me, if you must know. I am pregnant too and...'
Nnoye shamelessly directs the rest of her statement at Opeyemi.
'.... Mine is older than yours'
Daniel laughs and that shocks Nnoye, can you just imagine that. This drama is so interesting that I forget my headache.
'You think having a baby is funny?', Nnoye says as cluelessly as she can.
'It can't be mine', Daniel adds.
Implying and reminding her of the escapade that broke their relationship.
'I will do all the tests necessary, because I am one thousand percent sure it is yours'
'Desperate liar', Opeyemi adds.
And at this junction, ladies and gentlemen, I stand up. And drag Henrik as I do, but he now decides to stop me and remove his hands from mine. My husband decides, to stop the women. Is he for real?
'Henrik, let's go'
'Ade, in a moment'
'Eh, Hehn', it was a mixture of shock and disappointment. Why would Henrik choose to stay around all these toxic people?
Me, I'm just watching all the soap opera unfold and then Daniel opens his mouth and cracks me up.
'No need. I don't need all this. You two are on your own'
He is talking to the two women carrying his children. I've had enough, and I just walk away.
As I walk downstairs, I watch Daniel walk out on his two pregnant chicks. Typical player, trying to dodge the mess. He can't fit, I trust Nnoye. This will be all over the news, first thing tomorrow morning.
But wait ooo, did Henrik just pick Daniel over me? He will come and explain himself to me.
The fresh morning breezes squeezed it's way into our room and cranked up the air-conditioning unit. The combination of the ice cold air and humming sound, shook me out of my sleep.
As you can expect, I am still pissed. Of course, I am still mad at Henrik for what he did or did not do on Ajoke's yatch. What was he looking at, when I was sleeping that the two women got so violent? I can't even deal right now. I watch his cute handsome face and resist the urge to wake him up with a kiss. Nonsense and ingredients.
I slept all through the night and only because I took piriton to knock me out. It's not drug abuse oooo, I had to. I was allergic to all the messages I was receiving from everyone. Even the phone calls, I stretch and decide to shower and dress up, like the boss I am. Smart skirt suit with my Ankara, pussy bow blouse. I wrap my hair into a bun and then put on diamond earrings.
Yes, I dressed to kill, dressed to look good for me and to drive Henrik nuts. I've not heard from my girls, my P.A and assistant.
I switch on the phone and the beeps, alerts and incoming messages almost runs down my battery. I quickly plug and charge it and then ignore all but messages from my office. It's a good thing I was not in the room, the sound would have woken Henrik up. The doorbell rings and I race to it, the security called to inform me that my P.A is here. I open the door and she looks scared.
'Good morning dear, what's wrong?'
'Good morning, ma. Your appointment would be here in an hour'
'What appointment?'
My office space seems so foreign to me, the whites shine so bright and it looks smaller. That's because, there are two tables now for two worker's. My own personal space is still cozy and looks like futuristic space. I need to work on my co-worker's space. I start to read and then finish his email, when he walked in. Tall, dark and dashing. He looked like a catalogue midel and his smile was so inviting that I was locked into it.
This man was handsome die, kilode?
His skin looked so even and I wanted to touch it, test to see if it felt as smooth as it looked. I wonder what his beauty routine is like?
'Hi, I'm Idibia'
'Like the musician', I add and loved his Benue accent.
'We are from the same town, but as you can see, I am talker and much more handsome'
I was laughing and we were relaxed. He was a pro and i knew I was in trouble.
'I know you have all sort of presentations for me...'
I look at my P.A. and she hands me a folder. I flip it open and recognized my old presentation, rewritten to fit the new clients need.
'For get it all'
He grabs the folder and places it beside me.
'As you can see, I have sent at least five new specifications before now, erase them'
I just sat there with open palms and a posture leaning towards him. I want to be as open as I can be. That is, without giving it away that I have only read one outdated email.
'In fact, we can all see what I'm talking about'
He stands up and hands me tickets. I accept them and read them and still have no clue what they mean.
'It's three tickets, to get on my Ride'
'What exactly do you want?'
'I can only show you'
If he was trying to confuse me, it was working.
'Show me, what?'
'Only from, up above '
I smile and keep my eyes glued on his beautiful dark brown, almost black eyes.
'You need to see it, feel it, experience it all. Tell me you haven't been'
I swear to God who made me, this man was not making any sense.
As if to further confuse me and my workers. He turned to them.
'Have you ever been?'
'Where, sir?'
A resounding clap, stung my ears as the man with large hands intended.
'The curious one has asked, I want in your own words... A first hand account of your trip, over the Benue forest's'
'I cannot swim ooo', she protest's and my stern look makes her calm down and stop talking.
'You have forgotten yourself, everything counts and I am testing all of you'
'What kind of contract, are we talking about?'
'Spoken, like a true boss'
Our new client hands me a contract, which I read and reread. It's very detailed and I call my lawyer, he shows up and analyzes it and then smiles at me. I dont ever recall my lawyer, smiling after reading a contract.
'It's all a win for you all, I just need fresh new eyes. And I love the buzz you created with Ajoke and Bala's pre-wedding celebrity campaign. You made her look like a reality television star. In fact, you created her Reality show'
'So you want me to do that around Benue state?'
'A round my state, around Lagos state, around Nigerians, creating a buzz around Nigeria'
'Good or bad?'
'Talented, hardworking and then scandalous'
The smile, playing on my face betrayed me.
'I know'
'You know what?'
'You are thinking of your scandalous friend'
'What do you know?'
'That, you almost lost an eye in the fight'
'You dont read gossip magazines'
I feel like he is playing with my mind.
'But I do, read this and tell me she does not have the potential to explode '
I cannot believe that Nnoye is in my business conversation. My lawyer hands me the documents, with his side notes. I tell him to do his due diligence and keep a copy.
The clause absolves my company of any commitment, until both part agree. But agrees that, should I accept I get a premium for today. I look at the figures and nod my head. It's good money, no. It's fantastic money and I accept it.
Donald Trump, his book the Art Of The Deal, taught me to shine my eyes when entering into contracts. And today, that he is officially the President of The United States of America. I get a very good job, signs of great things to come I believe. I'm just going to be positive in 2017 no matter what.
It's there as expected, Nnoye's story. The caption reads,
'Daniel Ojora scores a very big goal with Lagos Big Girl, Nnoye. The first child from the player'
I don't know if i should laugh or just cry. Beside it, is a story about a popular Nigerian actress Mercy. The babe had a designer custom made Ankara shirt on and gave the wrong designer credit. Many fans on Twitter and Instagram corrected her and even the real designer and she blocks and deletes them. I'm laughing so hard, it's almost unbelievable. Why would she do such a thing, I so want to be the designer now, she's trending on social media like crazy. I want to call Nnoye and gossip about the entire situation. But her fifteen messages, grumbling about the boat ride makes me hold myself.
You mean to say that, if I accept this deal Nnoye gets to work with me? I'm happy for her already and her baby. She is climbing up into the world of top earners. Of course, I'm getting her a grand deal. What else, am I supposed to do for my clients.
I stand and give Idibia' a firm hand shake and her raises both hands up.
'Fantastic'
'Its the beginning of the best...'
'Ladies, lets go'
He leads us outside and his white Rolls Royce Phantom, just makes my day. It's such a beautiful car and he opens the door to let me in. As I sit down, I get an alert and almost pass out. My client paid in full and i just relaxed better into my seat.
'I've got my private jet waiting'
A box of chocolate and wine were waiting and I taste the chocolate.
'Cocoa from my far and the wine is from y vineyard in the south of France'
Eyes gluedto my fingers, makes me look at his. He has no wedding band on and neither do I. I think it was a combination of how he looked at me and guilt. I search my bag, until I find it.
You cannot imagine my relief when I find it, and I put it on. Idibia laughs at me and says.
'I'm still single and searching'
'My girls are single', I say trying to divert his gaze from me.
'I don't want them'
'I'm happily married'
'Thought it was a marketing strategy'
'What?'
'Not having it on'
'I forgot '
'Did you buy it?'
'My wedding ring?'
'Yes, many women upgrade their A'
'No, this is a family heirloom'
'It's beautiful, they have taste'
'You dont like when women upgrade their wedding rings?'
'No the contrary, i do. I love women with taste. It looks like what you would buy'
'So, did you choose to be single?'
'I actually always had a crush on you'
'Since when? I don't know you'
This is news to me, seriously I don't know this man. And he is amused by how clueless, I look.
'You were in my sister's secondary school. She always said you were too posh for me, and I swore I would make sure I was totally irresistible. The next time we meet '
Words as silky as a rare silk worm, spinning and weaving you deeper into his web.
Should I or should I not enjoy this attention, or should I shut him down? What would you do, if you are in my shoes?
**Season 1, Episode 102**
*"ADE'S JOURNAL", 102, COPYRIGHT 2017*
** BUSOLA ELEGBEDE, COPYRIGHT 2017**
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