****
Ivan was in high
spirits as he drove away from Pelumi's house in Maryland. He tapped on the
steering wheel whilst whistling to a song that was playing on the radio. He'd
had a wonderful outing with Pelumi and he looked forward to more of that.
Fifty minutes
later, he parked his car in the Ikoyi home he shared with Liyel and dashed for
the stairs. His thoughts drifted to Pelumi again. She was too good for him. She
was a blend of innocence and sincerity. There were no airs around her, no
pretense too. She always said what was on her mind.
He had convinced
himself relationships were not for him but Pelumi came along and all that
changed. He had made her a promise and God help him, he intended keeping his
promise. He was thirty four and a part of him longed to have his own family;
children running around calling him daddy.
Like salt on an
open wound, he thought about his last relationship. The one with Alero that had
left him with a broken engagement. He had heard tales of Alero's numerous
affairs but had dismissed them as nothing but rumors until he had caught her in
his friend's arms three years ago. He had vowed to stay off women after that.
In his mind, women were only good for one thing- sex! While he'd had a few
affairs after Alero, he knew he wanted more out of life. He remembered the last
time he had slept with a lady was at the club several months ago. It had been a
one night stand and he hadn't set his sights on Halima after that night.
He snapped out
of his reverie and picked up his mobile phone. He had been interested in
purchasing property in the United Kingdom for some time now and had contacted a
few real estate agents. Out of curiosity, he wanted to see whether his
inquiries had been answered. He looked at a few more houses in Chelsea,
Knightsbridge and Pimlico.
Having bought
stocks at Bates and Archer a long time ago, the company was extremely
profitable now and he had been getting huge dividends lately. There were other
investments here and there that yielded multiple streams of income. So for him,
there was no better time like the present for investing in real estate in
London.
Suddenly, he
heard Liyel yell loudly. "Damn! Dude kick the ball. Oh yeah! Nice
shot!"
Ivan chuckled
and shook his head. Liyel was a different person when watching soccer.
Especially when Liverpool and Manchester United were playing each other.
His mind drifted
to Pelumi again. How was it that a woman could capture his mind the way she had
done? She wasn't born into affluence, didn't clamor for his attention. There
were from two different sides of town. He attributed their meeting to the pure
hands of fate.
He could feel
his eyes start to give way to sleep. He put away his phone and changed into his
night clothes. The air conditioner in his room was extremely cold but that's
how he got his good night's sleep. Slipping under the duvet, he switched off
the TV and turned on the switch on one of his bedside lamps.
Sleep claimed
him in less than twenty minutes.
****
Even in the
madness
There's peace
Drowning out
the voices
All around me
Through all
of this chaos
You are writing a symphony
Celeste woke up
with a song playing in her mind. She'd heard it playing in her car one
day. 'Symphony by Switch'. She had gone to look for it on Spotify, found
it and had it on replay since then.
Pain gripped her
heart whenever she thought about her last encounter with Liyel. The hate
in his eyes, the scorn in his voice and memories of her past troubled her
sometimes but the song gave her peace and calmed her spirit. She was one to
think overly about issues and worry to no end. But did worry solve anything? To
her, worry was a case of sitting on a chair and rocking it. You didn't move
forward, you are just stuck in your present state. She knew that and yet she
battled with worrying every now and then.
She got up and went
into the bathroom. She picked up her Sensodyne toothpaste and brushed her
teeth. She was in the mood for a hot cup of decaf coffee.
When she got to
the sitting room, it was quiet which was unusual. Essien was an early riser.
She had gotten used to seeing her perched in one corner of the living room
typing away on her laptop. Celeste figured she was probably still sleeping. She
decided not to wake her up.
Essien was
leaving later in the day and she felt sad knowing that. She was a businesswoman
who owned two restaurants around. She had started from scratch putting one foot
on front of the other.
Her diligence
and hard work had paid off. She was looking to expand her businesses at the
moment. Overall, the future looked to be very promising for Essien and she was
happy for her. She was also engaged to be married to Banji Lawal in the next
year.
Celeste picked
up a novel she had been reading for a week now. She was usually a fast reader
but the way her mind had been muddled up recently left her picking up the novel
every now and then and dropping it again. She began reading when she heard
footsteps approaching.
She looked up and
saw Essien yawning. "Girl! Why didn't you wake me up? It's almost
7:30pm."
"Oh. Sorry!
I didn't want to interrupt your sleep. You're usually an early riser so I
thought you wanted to sleep in." Celeste explained.
"Gotcha. I
don't like being late for the service at Church."
"Ah! That's
right. Again, it didn't cross my mind you would want to head to church
today."
"You should
come along. Ignite church is a great place to be. The service there is unusual.
It's like a huge home fellowship where we get to ask deep questions about the
Bible and being a Christian. It's usually a relaxed environment where one
is free to be oneself. No fakery and no judgement." Essien explained.
Celeste nodded.
"That sounds like somewhere I'd like to be. I got tired of playing
church!"
"People checking other people dressing out..... Who wore what to church? A birthday thanksgiving one day and a wedding anniversary thanksgiving the next! Then everyone dances forward and backward. Before you know it the service is over! Too much show all over."
Essien couldn't
help bursting into laughter. "You should see the look on your face
Celeste! You look so pissed...."
"Everything
just stopped making sense to me. So I stopped going to church. What time
does service start at Ignite Church?" Celeste asked her friend.
"At
10:30am. Would you like to come along today?" Essien asked reservedly.
"Of
course!" Celeste replied.
"Aww,
that's awesome!" Essien responded smiling.
"Can't you
stay for another week?" Celeste blurted out.
Essien laughed.
"Ah, I have been here for 4 days now. My house misses me. My business
misses me too."
"Essien,
but you know you've pretty much spent the time here majorly on your laptop and
on your phone. I'm sure your business doesn't miss you. You haven't walked away
from it all thiswhile you know...."
"You know
how it is. A man must eat." Essien replied winking.
"Yeah,
yeah! I get." Celeste said, chuckling.
"Does
pancakes sound good for breakfast?" Essien asked.
"Yes."
Celeste answered.
****
When Ivan woke
up on Sunday Morning, the smell of fried plantains lingered in the air.
Liyel knew how
to throw stuff together in the kitchen and somehow managed to put together a
fantastic meal. He on the other hand barely cooked. While he could do the
basics like frying eggs and plantains, cooking rice and making sandwiches, that
was about it!
Outside of
these, he was helpless in the kitchen. He remembered Alero had told him once
that it was okay that he even knew how to cook at all.
The phone in his
room rang.
Hello
Good Morning
Ivan
Sorry I'm
calling so early in the morning
No worries. Ivan
said, while struggling to wear his slippers
Actually, I
want to come over later in the afternoon at around 3pm. Is that a good time?
Ivan scratched
his head.
Yeah, it
is.
Okay, thanks.
I'll be coming along with a friend
Great. I'll
be expecting you both. Ivan replied while walking into the bathroom to take
a shower.
"Hi
Bro!" Liyel tilted his head forwarded and greeted his brother forty
minutes later.
"Good morning,
Liyel. Have you been taking culinary courses lately?" Ivan asked.
Liyel laughed.
"No, why?"
"Obvious
question! I went into the kitchen now and tasted some of the food you just
made. Tastes great!"
"Maybe I'll
be a Chef in my next life! Who knows?"
Ivan laughed.
"I hear ya! Should we tell Akpan that his services are no longer
needed?"
"No
way!" Liyel said laughing.
"Akin, the
quantity surveyor is coming with a friend this afternoon. I think he wants to
talk about the property we are looking to buy at Eko Atlantic." Ivan told
his brother.
"Oh!
Gotcha! What time is he coming around?"
"3pm."
Ivan replied.
"Awesome!
The boys and I are going to The Country Club later this evening. Say around
5ish! You down?"
"Sure!"
Ivan answered.
"I'm going to
go clean my car outside. Baby boy needs some cleaning."
"Go ahead
bro!" Ivan answered.
****
When Liyel got
into his car, it felt as though a flood of regrets had just come tumbling into
his heart.
He thought about
all his affairs. The ladies, the nights of reveling.... Was it all worth it?
Living life on the edge? Just because someone he had once loved had trampled on
it?
Every now and
then he thought about what could have been. His four or five year old smiling
at him.
How was it that
he'd found it hard to forget the past and forgive Celeste? Why couldn't he move
on?
He shook his
head and continued cleaning his car.
The sound of a
dog barking loudly caught his attention. Someone was banging on the gates
leading to his home.
He checked the
security camera app on his phone and saw a little girl with a lady. Standing
beside them was a dog with a leash around its neck.
Interesting......
Liyel thought.
He opened the
gate and gave the little girl a smile.
"How may I
help you?" He asked the lady simpering.
"I'm sorry...
We just moved into the next building. My children were playing outside and it
looks like they accidentally threw their ball into your compound."
"I
see..." Liyel muttered. "Lemme look around. Funny, I didn't hear
anything drop."
"Ah, there
it is!" He exclaimed. He turned around and went to fetch the ball.
"Thank
you." The lady told him smiling.
"Thank you."
The little girl said to him in a small voice.
"Welcome to
the neighborhood. My name is Liyel. I live here with my brother, Ivan."
"Tinu....
Bankole." She added.
"This is my
daughter Diwura. Her brother decided to hide inside the house." Tinu
chuckled.
"He threw
the ball." Diwura added.
"Hi!"
Diwura waved at him.
Liyel crouched
and smiled at her. “So how old are you?"
"Four going
on five." Diwura responded.
"Four going
on five?" Liyel displayed a shocking look.
"My
goodness, that's a big girl." Liyel winked at her. Next, he proceeded with
ruffling the dog’s head.
“I like beagles.
A he or a she?" He asked Tinu while rising to his full height of
6'2.
"He's male"
Tinu replied.
"Awesome."
Liyel replied
"We'll be
on our way now. Thanks for helping to get the ball."
"Anytime!
See you around, Tinu."
"Bye...”
Diwura waved at him again.
"Bye."
Liyel replied, watching them leave.
****
Pelumi had been
sleeping for most of Sunday. She didn't know when Itoro opened the door to her
room and walked in.
"Pelumi.
Wake up o! Did a tse tse fly bite you or what?" Itoro smirked.
"What?" Pelumi asked yawning.
"Wake up
jor! Look at the time. It's past noon!" Itoro scowled at her friend.
"My
goodness!" Pelumi exclaimed.
"Yeah, I
know it's unlike you to sleep for so long. That's why I decided to come in and
see if all is well."
"Right...."
Pelumi nodded.
"So tell me...
Tell me... how did the evening with Ivan go yesterday?"
"So
so...." Pelumi replied.
"Biko, if I
hear? Oya give me the full gist now."
"Smh for
you, Itoro. Nosey nosey."
"Like I
care, just spill what I want to hear." Itoro blurted out laughing.
Pelumi did a
quick recap of her outing with Ivan and how she had agreed to date him.
"Say
what?" Itoro's eyes widened. She got up and did a dance.
"Is this
your own version of 'Shaku-shaku’?" Pelumi asked with laughter lacing her
voice.
"See me
even adding ‘Zanku’ to it! My friend has become rich o! Our own don better
o!" Itoro exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air.
Pelumi rolled
her eyes. "So I have become rich automatically?"
"Yes, of
course! We will start to dine with the crème de la crème in the society! Well
done my friend!" Itoro replied.
"Itoro with
the wild and vivid imagination. I hear you."
Itoro chuckled.
"Jokes apart, this gladdens my heart you know..."
Pelumi
smiled. She was thankful for the gift of Itoro's friendship. There was
nothing like having a friend who wished one the best and never got jealous of
one's wins.
****
Later that
afternoon, Ivan heard his phone ringing and figured Akin, the quantity surveyor
was around.
Gimme a
minute. I'll be right there. Ivan told the voice on the other end of
the line.
"What a
lovely place you've got here." Akin said, while walking towards Ivan.
"Thanks."
Ivan replied.
"This is my
friend. He's a lawyer." Akin announced.
Ivan raised his
brows.
"Bode
Pepple...” The guy stretched out his hand to shake him.
"Ivan Akenzua."
"I've heard
a lot about you. Finally glad to meet you."
"Hopefully
you've been hearing only good things?" Ivan stated.
Bode laughed.
"But, of course!"
When the men
were seated minutes later, Ivan listened with rapt attention as Akin reeled out
the details of his findings about the hectares of land he was looking to
purchase at Eko Atlantic.
"Hey,
Ivan!" Have you seen my reading glasses?" Liyel shouted from across
the room.
"Oh! Sorry!
I didn't realize you had company." Liyel said on walking to the sitting
room and seeing guests.
"I was
actually about to come get you since you need to be a part of this
conversation. You already met Akin right?"
"Yeah."
Liyel saluted Akin.
"This is my
friend, Bode." Akin stated.
"My man,
how goes it?" Liyel's gaze shifted to Bode. They exchanged pleasantries.
"Alright,
let's hear you Mr Akin." Liyel said, taking his position on the couch
beside Ivan.
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