Thirty - Chapter 9

Read Chapter 8 here and Chapter 10 here

“Hey, see what the cat dragged in,” Bola said as soon as I opened the door, eyeing me from head to toe. “This your grin only confirms what I already knew,” she added, smirking.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I said, removing my shoe, and taking a seat beside her on the couch.

“Give me a little credit Madam,” Bola rolled her eyes. “Even if I had not seen the travelling bag on your bed, that grin is too big to be caused by your weekend at home,” She said, shrugging.

Bola is right. The weekend I spent at home was the longest weekend I’ve had in a long time. My mum just wouldn’t stop. If we were not praying, she was asking non-stop questions about my plans for marriage and offering advice about how to get a man. It was too much. I needed all that tender love and care, I thought, smiling.

“There it is, the smile again,” Bola said drawing me out of my reverie.

“Haha, someone cannot smile in their own house again?” I asked, unable to wipe off the grin.

“Madam, just spill it before you explode from all the excitement you are trying to hide,” Bola said lightly shoving my shoulder.

“We kissed,” I announced grinning.

“What??” Bola said, her mouth wide opened in shock.

“You may close your mouth now, Bola,” I said, placing my hand on her lower jaw.

“S…so…sorry,” She stammered. “You shocked me now,” She shrugged.

“Hmmm, How did that happen, or did you initiate it?” She asked, earning a nod from me.

“Whoop! whoop! That’s my girl,” She grinned. “I didn’t think you had it in you, but you just made me proud,” She added, raising her right palm for a high five.

Kissing Lolu was out of character for me, so, I understood Bola’s dramatic antics.

“Besides it’s high time Mr. W got some action,” Bola winked.

“What action? It was just a kiss o” I said, my hands raised in surrender. “Okay, maybe a few kisses, but I made sure his hands behaved,” I winked.

“So, how was it?” Bola asked, grinning.

“Heavenly…” I sighed, content. “I think I might have found a new calling, Bola. So, I absolutely see more kissing the next time we see,”

“Ha!! Where is Teniola?” She looked around dramatically as if searching for something. “What have you done to my prudish friend?” Bola shook her head, laughing.

“Well, she’s retired,” I winked.

“I’m proud,”

“So, to be clear, you both are dating now, right?” She asked, her eyes focused on mine.

“Of course, we are. Have you ever known me to kiss just anyone?”

Bola rolled her eyes, and continued “And I hope you also discussed and sorted out your issues, or you were too busy swapping saliva?”

“Eww, that’s just wrong,” I responded scrunching my nose in disgust. “No saliva was swapped, thank you. And Yes, we talked, and sorted it all out,”

“Then, I’m happy for you,” She said pulling me in for a hug.

“Now, to a more serious issue, have you decided what the aso ebi colour will be?”

“Aso ebi?” I asked in surprise.

“Yeah, the colour. I was thinking green aso oke for you, then aso ebi can be peach or onions… abi what do you think?” Bola grinned.

“You are delusional,” I said, shaking my head, as I dug into my bag for my ringing phone.

“It’s Lolu,” I said, looking up from the phone. “Keep working on those colours, Miss party planner,” I added, standing up.

“Mrs. W!” Bola called after me as I walked into my room.

“Hey lover,” I said as I answered the video call.

“Lover huh?” Lolu said with a chuckle. “But you forgot to call this lover when you got home,”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Bola and I were talking…”

“I should have known,” He said. “So, are you both done gossiping about me or did I interrupt?” He asked with a self-satisfied grin.

“Mr. cocky,” I said, smiling. “You called at the right time, saved me from discussing aso ebi colours.”

“Aso-ebi colours?” he asked, confused. “I thought she already picked her wedding colours?”

“Well, she has a new mission now,” I sighed. “I hope you like green because that’s the colour she picked for ours?” I laughed.

“Oh, the colour is ours.” Omololu grinned. “I knew there was a reason I liked Bola… a little crazy, but good crazy.”

“That’s Bola for you… and yeah, well, she is a big fan…” I laughed, removing my wig, as I laid on the bed.

“Oh… and the wig is off,” Omololu chuckled. “What next?”

“You better get used to it bro,” I chuckled.

“Let’s stick to ‘lover’ abeg, that ‘bro’ is not a good zone,” He grinned. “It’s worse than the zone I just escaped from,”

I laughed hard at this. I like that nothing has changed between Omololu and me, even though we took a giant step away from being just friends today. It all feels so easy, and I feel giddy just thinking about it. Lolu will always be Lolu, the guy who manages to make being sweet and serious attractive and could make me laugh without trying too hard. The perks of dating your friend, I thought, unable to help my face from breaking into a smile.

“You are incorrigible,” I finally said, looking up to see his staring at me indulgently.

“What can I say? You bring out the best in me,” He shrugged.

“So, how about that date I mentioned earlier?” He asked, changing the topic.

“You are serious about that?” I asked, groaning. “What’s the fuss? We’ve gone out together before right?”

“Well, not as my girlfriend, and I still need you to meet my alter ego, Mr. Romantic,”

“Okay, Mr. Romantic,” I giggled. “What’s the plan?”

“Now, that’s the question that should have come first,” Omololu said in feigned frustration. “You are like the only girl I know that needs to be persuaded to dress up and go out,”

“Well, that’s where you are wrong dear. I’m no girl,” I responded cheekily.

“You are trouble,” Omololu chuckled. “So, my lady, I’ll pick you up at 7 pm Friday. Please dress up, look pretty… as always,”

“Yes, Captain!” I said, with a mock salute. “We will talk about it before Friday,”

“Captain sounds good too,” He winked. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

“Good night lover,”

“Night. I lo.. hmm… Sweet dreams,” he said, quickly ending the call.

Chicken, I thought, chuckling as I got up to prepare for bed.

*Originally published 24 November 2020