This is going to be a short novelette, with very short chapters. I hope you enjoy it.

Underlying Love

By

Kayode Odusanya


Chapter 1

He had walked in and out of every room in his apartment aimlessly, now he was in the living room, standing by the 8ft tall mirror he had bought yesterday, staring at his slim 5ft7 frame. He cracked a smile and laughed lightly, wondering what his friends would say if they walked in on him right now. He didn't even know why he bought the damn thing. The sales girl was so pretty and he didn't want to say 'No' to her, now he was stuck with a furniture that reminded him how much he needed to take his health more seriously. It would have been no problem if the movers had put it in one of the three rooms of the apartment, but they were so untidy he would have been so embarrassed if a stranger walked into anyone of them.


Stephen was a writer in his mid thirties who lived in solitude. He had few friends, but he only hung out with them whenever he wanted to get drunk and forget his worries. He had gotten a flat on the outskirts of the city to get away from everybody. He had no cell phone, and no social media presence of any sorts. The only person he cared to constantly show he was still alive, his mom, didn't have a phone anyway, so he made sure he went to see her on Sundays after church service. His other siblings usually also came around on the same day of the week, and it was a way of using one stone to kill two birds.


He spun the two-sided mirror around, stood to watch his face appear and reappear very fast like an old cartoon, and then walked off when the mirror stopped spinning. Stephen had given up alcohol last month, and getting inspiration to write, which was always easy with a little liquor in his system was now so hard. It took him a whole day to finish a two thousand word chapter these days, and he had to do a lot of pacing around the house and eating to work up the inspiration to write. Back then, two bottles of Guinness would help him knock out a thousand words in less than an hour. He thought of going back to the bottle, but his doctor had given him a scare the last time he visited the hospital, and he definitely wanted to stay alive long enough to enjoy all he had sacrificed for over the years.


Not having a steady relationship, self sabotaging any chance of experiencing love, isolating himself from the world, working hard to write 12 novels a year, and a host of other sacrifices he had to make to get to this point couldn't all be in vain.


Now he was back at his laptop, with his hands suspended above the keyboard, summoning the words from the universe. Just when he got that urge to write again, he heard a knock at the door.

Nice one bro. But wat abt ur other stories na

stephenGee12:
Nice one bro.
But wat abt ur other stories na

Don't worry, i have a plan on how to finish them all within a few weeks. Slow and steady. Thanks for asking.

Chapter 2

He sat at his dining table and waited. When the faint sound of knuckle on wood came on again, he was definite it was either a female or a kid. Who could it be, no one visits me, he thought to himself as he got off his seat.


When he was a few feet away from the door he realized he had on t shirt and boxers' shorts, so he walked back to the dining area, and into the master bedroom to get a pair of jeans to wear. The knocking came on again, this time accompanied by a female voice that said, "Stephen, are you in there?" The voice sounded very familiar, but he didn't want to believe it was who he thought it was. My mind is playing tricks on me again, he thought to himself.


He tiptoed to the the living room window and looked out to see who it was, but all he could make out was the outline of a female in skirt suit. He walked to the door, took a deep breath and opened it. "Modupe Aluko." He said out loud with a shocked look on his face.
She smiled at him. "How sweet. You still call me by my full name." She said in a low voice as she walked into his apartment holding a food cooler in her hand. She was wearing a black skirt suit, with a white camisole underneath her blazer. Modupe was an average height slender lady in her late twenties. Her braids were neatly packed behind her head and it brought out the beauty of her oblong face.


"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Stephen asked as he locked the door behind him.

She dropped the cooler on the floor by the wall and walked back towards him, "Have you forgotten you don't have a phone?" She said while fanning herself with her hand. "Men! It's so stuffy in here." She said as she looked around the living room. "Have you grown shorter or something." She said and closed up the gap between her and Stephen, so that they were face to face, inches apart. They were eye level with each other now.
"That's technically impossible. Besides, you are wearing high heels." Stephen said and walked over to the cooler. "Are you coming from a party or something?" He said, crouched beside the cooler.
"No. We were meant to have an office meeting, but..." She was saying and her voice trailed off.
Stephen looked up from where he was and shouted out, "Stop! Don't read that." He raced over to her side and shut his laptop. "It's a very rough draft." He said with a smile on his face.
"So how many people are going to die in this one." She said with hands at akimbo.
"What?"
"Your novels. People die in them."
"Oh! Modupe, i write crime stories, people have to die." He said. She rolled her eyes as she walked past him. "So...to what do i owe the honor of this great visit." He said as he sat by his laptop. He opened it, saved the manuscript he was working on and shut the silver colored Toshiba laptop. He looked up and saw her by his kitchen sink. He headed over to the cooler again, and before he opened it, he knew what was inside. When he took the lid off the top, he started salivating immediately. The cylindrical cooler was about an inch and the half tall, and it was filled to the top with Jollof rice and chicken laps. It took all his willpower to put the lid back on the cooler. He went back to sit by his laptop, and she emerged from the kitchen with two glass plates in her hand. He didn't even know he had those types in his kitchen. "Stephen, when was the last time you entered your kitchen?" She said and he chuckled. "Dining table partially blocking the main entrance. Only Stephen Iloya does that." She said as she dropped the plates on the table and he laughed some more. Her phone started to ring and she reached into her inner blazer pocket for it. Her face showed no expression as she looked at the phone screen and then picked the call. "Hello." She said into the receiver.


The phone conversation lasted about a minute, and Stephen overheard her mention his name, and he wondered who she was talking to. "Jack said hi." She said as she put her phone back in her inner blazer pocket.
"Oh, how is he doing?"
"He is cool." She said and put the cooler on the table. She paused for a minute and looked into space before she shrugged and began dishing out food. "You want two?" She enquired as she dropped one chicken lap on his plate. When he didn't answer, she smiled and put two more in his plate of Jollof rice.


They ate in silence for a few minutes, and then Modupe stopped to clear her throat. "You know why i am here, right?" She said with a smile.
A playful frown appeared on his face as he said, "Please, don't start again."

Nice one..

Rahmoney:
Nice one..

Thanks.

nice keep it up

Nmaglit:
nice keep it up

Thanks.

I was meant to post the third chapter this morning, but while i was editing it on the microsoft word on my phone, i msiateknly deleted it. Men! I almost cried. And instead of me to cool down and press undo button, i just vex off the phone. It was later i remembered i could have undone the command. Damn!

I will write another chapter three this night, but it really hurts. I will just stick to writing on my laptop from now on.

Sorry Oh Bros! I may not know how that feels but you should see my sister when it happens to her,she literary goes hysterical.

kennedith9:
Sorry Oh Bros! I may not know how that feels but you should see my sister when it happens to her,she literary goes hysterical.

I can imagine.

MhizDherbee:

Yes o! It's another ONE.

Chapter 3

Modupe had been trying to hook Stephen up with a friend of hers for a while now, but he wasn’t ready to give up his single status. They were back at it again; Stephen giving reasons why he didn’t want a girlfriend right now, and Modupe stating all the reasons why it would be great move for him.

Stephen had finished his food, but was munching on the extra chicken wings that she had dropped in his plate. The bottle of water on the table was ice cold and every once in a while, Modupe would have to mop up small puddles of water from the table as a result of the ice flakes on the bottle dissolving. She went off to the kitchen to squeeze the napkin in the sink, and as she walked back she asked Stephen, “When was the last time you had sex?”
“My goodness.” Stephen said out loud and nearly choked on the chicken he was eating. He coughed a few times and took a sip from his glass of water before adding, “What sort of question is that?”
“And I am not talking of when you…”
“Okay! Okay! I get you. You don’t have to spell it all out.” He said and looked at her for a few seconds with a frown on his face before adding, “You are now a bad girl.”
“I knew I would get your attention with that.” She said between laughs. When he didn’t say anything for a while, she continued with, “I know this is new territory for you, but you can’t tell how it would turn out if you don’t try.”
“I understand you. But it is the time. I don’t have time.”
“She’s a busy lady too; you guys will work out ways to see when you are both free.”
“So…I will have to take her out, buy her stuff and all that, right?”
“What is wrong with that?”
“I don’t have money like that.”
“That’s always your excuse.”
“But it’s true.”
“Stephen, you earn $2, 000 from your book sales monthly.”
“What!!? How did you know that?” He said, wide eyed as he stared at her.
“So, it’s true?” It was her turn to be shocked now. “That’s like 750,000 Naira. That’s 250,000 Naira more than Jack earns and we are married.”

He looked into space, and searched his mind for his next line of defense, but he couldn’t come up with any. How roles have reversed, he thought to himself. He remembered that day in 1997 when a little preteen girl was brought to him for care. It was odd for a girl to have a school father, but she was a transfer student from another Federal Government secondary school, and his Literature teacher at the time had wanted him to help out with her academics as she was finding it hard to adjust.

He was in Senior Secondary School 2, had just been elected the acting dining hall prefect and the Senior Secondary School 3 students had a few months to go before graduating. With his new level of authority, he made sure she was taken care of when it came to food, and also brushed her up academically. He became a friend of the family after she did really well in her Junior Secondary School 2 third term exams, and her parents were really grateful for what he had done in her life.

He graduated secondary school, lost touch with her for many years till one day a few years ago when he got a friend request from her. It was really odd at first, being that she was now all grown up, and he had known her as a girl, but with time, their friendship grew.
He looked up at her; smiled and shook his head as he said, “Okay. I’ll do it.”

Chapter 4


Stephen was trying to do some writing on his new phone, and when the words weren't flowing as he wished, he dropped the phone on the table and looked into space. He felt like a kid again sitting in the Chicken Republic fast food joint waiting for Adunni to show up. 'Relax.' He heard Modupe's voice in his head. That was the last thing she had told him during their phone conversation earlier that day. He checked his black Casio digital watch again, and he noticed just 2 minutes had passed since he last checked. He chuckled and slouched in his seat. Then he remembered where he was and sat up.

He had on his favorite dark blue lumberjack shirt, with brown khakis and blue ankle length converse all stars sneakers. His shirt sleeves were rolled up two folds. He thought about dressing corporate, but that wouldn't be him, and that would make him self conscious, which would then make him nervous.

There were just three rows in the place, and he was at the table closest to the counter, in the middle row. The place was all white, with red chicken head logo here and there on the wall. Apart from Stephen, there were four other customers in the place. Modupe had suggested the place to him as she said it was rarely crowded and would be great for a first meeting with Adunni.

He took a deep breath and leaned back in his seat. The visuals for the new Davido song with Rae Sremmurd and Young Thug was playing on the big screen TV to his left, and he shifted his focus to that. He liked the fact that Davido sang his part in a mix of Nigerian broken English and Yoruba language instead of trying to sound foreign. Exporting the Nigerian culture to the western world was something Stephen was big on, and a smile appeared on his face watching the young Nigerian musician do just that.

The smile was still on his face when the video ended and he shifted his attention to the entrance again. Walking towards him was a curvy girl wearing a black low plunging v-neck blouse, and a black mini skirt. Her skin tone was caramel. She reminded him of Tyra Banks, but a shorter version. Her shoes made a click clacking sound as she approached him, and the look on her face held Stephen spellbound. There is something sexy about a girl with a poker face.

When she was a few feet away from him, she smiled, and it accentuated her beauty even more.
"Hello." Stephen said and as he stood up to give her a hug. The sweet smell of her perfume filled the air around him.
"Sorry i am a bit late." She said as she sat opposite him at the table and gently placed her bag on the floor. "I had to drop something off for my mom." She added. Her words were pouring out of her mouth in slow motion, like how girls in erotic movies talk when they are about to get the business.
"It's okay." He said, looking at her and trying to read her mind. She wore her hair in a bun, and Stephen found her sideburns sexy.
"Okay. Does that mean if i would have come on time, i would have had to wait for you?" She said.
"No. I actually...I just said that cos..." Stephen stuttered.
"It's alright." She said and smiled. " I was just kidding." She added.

He smiled back at her, and at that moment, even though they hadn't spoken much, he could feel the chemistry. He knew this was the beginning of something great.

You're doing a good job, ride on sir. By the way, you wrote rolls (paragraph 4, line 1) and role (paragraph 4, line 3) instead of rows and row respectively.

VanTee20:
You're doing a good job, ride on sir. By the way, you wrote rolls (paragraph 4, line 1) and role (paragraph 4, line 3) instead of rows and row respectively.

Thanks a lot. I will make the correction now.

Kayo80....I don land.

Oya keep them coming.

dimssy:
Kayo80....I don land.

Oya keep them coming.

Abeg come kwantinue this story.

aprilwise:
Abeg come kwantinue this story.

Okay. Abeg no vex...I.will drop another chapter tonight.

Sorry for the delay guys, I am back now...and I hope for good. Life happens some times.

Chapter 5

They had been on the way to the cinema when Adunni got a call from her flat-mate that a technician from the satellite TV Company had come to check out their faulty decoder. There was no one to let him in, and Stephen had to turn around. They hadn’t gone too far anyway, so it wasn’t so much of a problem. Now he was waiting in the car, checking his reflection in the rear-view mirror every minute. It was his first time wearing the particular white polo top he had on, and he felt so self conscious in it.


A lot had changed in his life since he met her a few weeks ago. He had gotten a new haircut, bought some new clothes, bought new perfumes. He had even taken his Camry to the carwash instead of the fifteen minutes wash he usually gave it every time he had to go out. It took a lot of his time to do all that, but he felt it was all worth it. Every minute he spent with her was like heaven on earth; even just having her sit beside him in the car without speaking made him feel good. No girl had ever had that effect on him before, and in such a short time. It was just two weeks since their first date, but they had gone on five dates between that time and now.


His phone beeped in his pocket, and he pulled it out to notice a Whatsapp Message from Modupe asking him if everything was going fine. He was about to reply her when he heard Adunni's house gate open. He looked up and saw her approaching the car. She lived in a cul-de-sac, and her house was the one directly ahead once you drive into the close. She looks so gorgeous in the yellow mini gown, he thought to himself. "Umm! Maybe you should come in for a minute; the guy might take longer than I thought." She said, standing by the driver side door. He hesitated for a second, thinking of something to say then he shrugged and turned the key in the ignition so he could wind up the car windows.

"Sorry." She said and hit him with her shoulder when he came out of the car. She was wearing heals and was about the same height with Stephen standing next to him.

"It's okay." He said and put his arm around her waist as they walked to the house. It was an instinctive move and he was about to slowly remove it when she put her fingers in the space between his fingers.

He saw her white Corolla parked behind a grey Nissan Pathfinder as they walked into the building. Heavy breathing from a dog caught his ear, and he almost jumped when he looked to his left and saw a large sized bull-mastiff. "Bella, sit!" She said out loud and it responded accordingly. She looked at him and smiled. "You are scared of dogs?" She asked.
"No. But I guess I was caught off-guard ."
Her flat was at the back, and he stole a few back glances at the dog before they entered the apartment. Inside the living room was neatly arranged, except for the little mess the satellite TV guy had done by the TV. He greeted Stephen with a head nod and continued with his work. "I'll be right back." She said and disappeared into a room. He sat on the long black leather couch that faced the TV and looked around the place. Two one-seater couches flanked him to the left and right. The walls were painted in white, and most of the furniture was black. For some reason, he thought of chess.


A few minutes later, the guy called out to her, and she came out to check the work he had done. She flipped through a few channels, and then disappeared back into the room, came out with a couple of folded Naira notes, and handed it to the man. After counting it, he nodded at her, packed his things and started towards the door.


"I need to walk him out because of the dog.” She said to Stephen, and handed him the remote control before walking out of the living room. He smiled up at her and slouched in his seat, staring at the big screen TV in front of him. It was on CNN and they were showing the damage Hurricane Irma had done to a certain Caribbean Island. The hurricane had more or less wiped out the whole island.


He started flipping through channels. A music channel showing an old Toni Braxton music video caught his attention, and he stopped there. The music video was just ending when she walked back in, and then Mariah Carey’s Dreamlover video came on. “This is my song.” She said enthusiastically and started dancing in front of him; throwing her hands and head left and right with a big smile on her face. She went ahead to sing the lyrics to the song, “I need a lover to give me…the kind of love that would last always…I need somebody uplifting to take me away…I want a lover who knows me…who understands how I feel inside…someone to comfort and hold me…through the long lonely nights, to the dawn, why don’t you take me away.” When the chorus came on, she started motioning for Stephen to join her. He was reluctant at first, and then he got up and started moving clumsily left and right to the beat of the song. She laughed lightly and put her arms around his neck. He put his hands on her waist and moved to her rhythm.


When the second verse came on, she looked straight in his eyes as she sang along to it, “I don’t want another pretender…to disillusion me one more time…whispering words of forever, playing with my mind…No! No! No! No! No! No! Baby! I need someone to hold on to…The kind of love that won’t fly away…I just want someone to belong to…every day…of my life…always…so come and take me away.” She stopped singing, looked deeply into Stephen’s eyes for a few seconds, and then leaned in to kiss him. He met her halfway.

Welcome back Mr. Kayo. Nice update as usual.

VanTee20:
Welcome back Mr. Kayo. Nice update as usual.

Thanks.

thank you for the update keep it up

Chizim1:
thank you for the update keep it up

Thanks. Lookout for another update tonight.

Nice update

Osedagal:
Nice update

Thanks Ose. Lookout for the next update tonight.

He met her half way...

Hmmmm

Breathtaking As Usual,Thanks for the update