EPILOGUE

A pinch in her waist sent waves of shock through Ruby’s body. She looked up from her laptop at the offender. “You really should stop that. It’s annoying.”

Justin grinned widely and poked the frame of her glasses. “You really look good in glasses, you know eh? If someone sees you working now, with your glasses and your studious look, they will think you are too serious. They don’t know you are a vixen in bed.” He leaned down and kissed her neck. She moaned as he sunk his teeth gently into the soft skin. “I didn’t bring you here to work. Come on, babe.” He pulled her up from the chair.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “You said you wanted to take a nap. I thought you would sleep for more than an hour.”

Justin hugged her, placing small kisses on her bare shoulder. “Like I can sleep without you on the bed. How’s it going? Still that annoying client?”

Ruby whimpered as he used his teeth to graze her skin. “Yes. The money he…” she trailed off as Justin’s hands started roaming over her body. She turned to face him and inhaled his scent. She could catch a wisp of her peppermint shower lotion. She scrunched her face and when she opened her mouth to query him about it, he covered it with his lips. Before she knew it, she was lying on the bed. Justin covered the length of her body with his and instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist, welcoming his intrusion into her. She moaned his name loudly when she came, then wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss.

“You never get tired, do you?” Ruby said, drawing lines on Justin’s chest ten minutes later.

Justin took her hand and kissed the finger with her wedding band. “Why should I get tired when you’re still going strong?”

Ruby chuckled. Feeling adventurous, she ran her hands down his body and teased him back to hardness. “Never fails,” she said as she went down on him.

Seven years of marriage and the sex with Justin remained as passionate as it had been like their first time together. Their two kids, Zara and Jachi, were five and three respectively. They had wanted a third child but after Ruby suffered two miscarriages, they decided to stop trying. She worked for two years after the wedding, building her personal accounting brand, and quit working at the firm when she got pregnant with Zara. It hadn’t been easy, but through their years together, Justin remained just as loving and as supportive as he’d promised her. She conceived Jachi when they went on a family vacation to Jamaica just a few months before Zara clocked two. Currently, they were on a couple’s vacation in Dubai, celebrating their seventh wedding anniversary.

“Mum called me this morning. She said Jachi has been crying that he is missing you. I even heard his voice through the phone,” Justin said when they were spent. Lying naked on the bed, sheets entangled around their legs, the smell of their passion in the air felt completely natural. Ruby felt content just lying like this and talking about their kids.

“He’s like that. Mummy’s boy.” Ruby laughed. “He should learn from Zara. That madam was already forming independent before she was one year.”

“Just like you.” He pinched her nose.

Ruby pulled her head away and straightened up, using her elbows to support her body weight. “But she looks just like you, with the same frown, the same expression when she doesn’t get what she wants.” Ruby used her finger to touch his forehead, thinking of their beautiful daughter.

“I was hoping that as she grew, she would look more like you. Your eyes, your smile,” he touched her eyes and her lips as he spoke. “But no, everything went with Jachi.”

“Isn’t it normal?” Ruby chuckled. “For the son to look like his mother, and the daughter like her father. You look just like your mother, you know right?”

Justin pouted. “My father has been saying that since I was four years and now, you!”

Ruby kissed his chest, tugging at his nipple with her lips. “Then you know better.”

“Rose says they’re coming home this Easter, with the kids,” she said. What an irony that Rose had ended up giving birth to three kids while she ended up with two. Rose had joked that God had mistakenly sent Ruby’s last child to her instead. Ruby somewhat believed it seeing as Gael, Rose’s last born, adored Justin. Anytime she called Rose, Gael would scream and ask for his Uncle Justin until Ruby put him on the line. “One day, I’ll just bundle him and dash Justin,” Rose joked one day while she complained that he was the naughtiest of her kids even though he was only four years old. Rose’s first two kids were twins, two girls, Iris and Ivy. So she and Kay decided to try again for a boy.

Justin put a hand over his eyes. “Not Gael again!” Even though he was complaining, his lips were curved up in an affectionate smile. “You know last year when they came, he was already teaching Jachi how to play tricks on me. These children!”

“Children are like that. I hope the two of them remain friends. When Jachi grows up, we should send him to the UK to study. Rose wants to do the same for Gael too.”

“They’re still small,” Justin laughed tugging at her cheeks. “Let’s wait till they finish primary school first na!”

Ruby shrugged. “I’m just saying. We should start saving towards it. Even for Zara.”

“Okay, okay.” Justin kissed her on the forehead. “I’ve got it covered, so you don’t need to worry.”

Ruby smiled and snuggled deeper into his arms. “So where are we going later? I sure as hell don’t want to remain on this bed with you before my legs totally give out.”

***
Later that evening, they were seated a seafood restaurant that served food made with freshly caught seafood from the aquarium in the restaurant. The longer she stayed with Justin, the more she became used to eating in places like this, having exquisite dates in expensive restaurants both in the country and around the world, enjoying romantic and family vacations to tropical islands. She never dreamed her life would turn out like this. She’d only set out looking for love, for romance. For someone that would return her affections. For someone that she would feel safe with for the rest of her life. And the universe sent her Justin, giving her all and even more than she asked for. He’d given her two lovely kids and a warm family, a happy home.

“I love, you Justin. I never get tired of saying this.” She smiled at him, emotions swimming in her eyes.

Justin kissed her hand over the table. “I love you too, Ruby. So much.”

Clicking their glasses, they said to each other, “Happy anniversary, babe.”


This time it’s really the end.



Authors Note: I’ll really miss this story.

Thank you, readers, for following till the end of Ruby’s story. Even though I’m a reluctant to part with this story, we all know that all good stories always have an end. But is it really an end to Ruby’s story? For Rose, I really wanted to give her her own story, but the more I wrote, the more I felt that maybe not all love has to be tagged with that ‘romance’ title. Romance is good, but it only goes so far. What matters is having companionship, having someone that is willing to walk the rest of your life with you, with trust, loyalty and also important, friendship.
Again, may we all find the type of love we need, whether its the crazy, romantic type or the simple yet long-lasting type.

I’m working on another series. I don’t know if I would post them on Nairaland or simply get my blog running and post them there. But I hope you’ll still be willing to read my stories.

Thank you for journeying with Ruby as she discovers herself and the love of her life. I hope we meet again.

Fades out!

EPISODE NINETY-FIVE

The next evening, Justin invited both Rose and Kay to dinner. Rose and Justin had gotten to know each other through the video calls with Ruby, so when they met, it was like old friends reuniting, easily falling into comfortable interaction. Conversation with Kay kicked off as soon as Rose introduced the two men. Ruby watched in disbelief as Kay practically turned into another person, laughing out and talking excitedly. When it was just her and Rose, he remained in the background, replying with simple words if he was asked a question.

“He’s like that,” Rose said. “With women, he just locks up. It’ll take a while for him to warm up to you.”

“And you said you guys met on the plane?”

“Don’t get me started on that.” Rose rolled her eyes. “I was the one that struck up the conversation. I think it’s my charms that got him at first.”

Ruby smiled. The sat down around the table. Kay and Justin on one side, Ruby and Rose on the other. Ruby noticed that after Justin ordered a bottle of wine, before Rose could say anything, Kay had already asked for a separate order of juice. He looked at Rose pointedly after he did so, and Rose looked away guiltily.

“He knows?” Ruby whispered. Early that afternoon, she escorted Rose to do a test and it came out positive. Rose wanted to wait until when they got home to tell Kay. Seeing his swift actions, she guessed that he must have figured out that Rose was pregnant. Didn’t Rose say he was a doctor.

“I think so.” Rose gave him a small smile and Ruby watched as he shook his head with a small smile playing on his lips. It was easy to pick out that tell-tale sign of affection.

It was a lovely dinner. Ruby felt excited having her favorite people beside her. She and Justin talked about their wedding plans, the whole stress involved. Justin joked that he just wanted to cart her off for their honeymoon and skip the whole strenuous process. Rose gave Ruby a knowing wink at the statement. Ruby shrugged. Justin had been keeping their honeymoon destination a secret. He refused to tell her despite her constant pestering.

“Maybe an island?” Rose guessed. “It’ll be romantic, I bet.”

Soon, Justin engaged Kay in a conversation about Canadian land laws, comparing it with Nigerian laws. Ruby and Rose talked about the latest entertainment gossip and then about Ruby’s bridal shower. They chilled at a nearby bar before they separated. Patrick came in Rose’s car to drive her and Kay back to the apartment, while Ruby went home with Justin.

***
The next two weeks were extremely busy for Ruby. In between the preparations for the wedding, Ruby’s results for the accountancy certificate came out. She had passed the exam. Though she didn’t feel like it, Rose and Justin thought it was worth pausing in their preparations to celebrate.

“You know, sometimes, you pretend as though you’re not smart, but you’re really intelligent, you know right? Passing these exams in one sitting?” Rose said while they looked at the results. That day, they were at Justin’s house. Ruby and Rose just returned from getting Rose’s clothes from the tailor.

“Help me tell her,” Justin said placing a jug of juice on the table.

Ruby smiled modestly. “I have to be humble, don’t you know?”

She was a little surprised that she had passed the exams, since she’d only registered for the exams at the last minute, deciding on a whim to write the exams before rather than after the wedding. After Justin proposed to her, she toyed with the thought of writing the exam sooner than she planned. Even as she increased her study time, abandoned freelancing, and took more courses, she doubted that she would be prepared for the exam as the date drew closer.

“You don’t even know what happened,” Justin sat down eager to tell the story. “I woke up one day and Ruby was sitting on the bed with her laptop. Before I said anything, she said “I registered for the exam. Are you busy later, so you’ll follow me to submit my application?” She didn’t even allow me to wake up before she started dressing.”

Ruby slapped him lightly. “It’s not true. I started dressing like two hours later.”

“Without explaining clearly,” Justin retorted. “When I asked her which exam, because we agreed she would write the exams three months after the wedding, she just kept saying “the exam now, that exam” as she wore her clothes.”

They laughed. Ruby remembered the day clearly. It was the second to the last day before the deadline for registration. She had been unable to sleep thinking about writing the exam, doing tumbum in her mind to decide whether to register. In the end, she thought writing it was not bad, if she failed, she could always rewrite it.

“So how are we celebrating?” Before Justin or Ruby said anything, she was already bringing out her phone, “There’s this cool lounge in Marina. We’ll go there. Let me call Kay and inform him.”

Ruby sighed. “You just left the guy at home, like this? Are you not supposed to take him around to view the sights of Nigeria?”

Rose laughed. “Is it not you that has been dragging me around? Don’t worry, after the wedding, he will see Nigeria well.”

“We’ll celebrate it better. After the wedding,” Justin whispered into her ears as Rose talked to Kay over the phone. He bit her ear suggestively and a shot of pleasure spiked through her spine.

***
The week before the white wedding, they travelled first to Ruby’s home in Kogi and then to Justin’s village in Imo State for the traditional marriage. A month earlier, Justin’s parents and some of his relatives had gone to see her people for the introduction ceremony. Justin didn’t go with them as the custom had required. After dealing with the traditional marriage ceremonies, Ruby’s mother flew with them back to Lagos for the white wedding.

It was a big wedding ceremony, bigger than Ruby had imagined her wedding would be. Justin’s parents were extremely generous. In fact, his parents had been extremely supportive since they started planning for the wedding. Her mother and Justin’s mother, though of totally different personalities—her mother more simpleminded and straightforward and Justin’s mother being the typical businesswoman—became close friends after they met. Somehow, Justin’s mother was able to get her mother to visit them in Abuja after the wedding. Justin’s parents handled the payments for the venue and the refreshments. While she and Justin handled the rest.

Even though Ruby had spent the week pruning herself, preparing herself, even having a wedding rehearsal, she couldn’t help the queasy feeling in her stomach when she woke up on the wedding day. She only ate at the prompting of Rose as nausea threatened to ruin her pretty look. She and the other bridesmaids as well as her mother were in the house Justin got her in Lekki. It was big enough to contain all of them including the make-up stylist and the videographer.

Rose couldn’t help exclaiming when she saw the house. “Babe! This one has passed love o. Even though I saw pictures of the house, I didn’t know it would be this big.” Her mother didn’t say much, but Rose told her she heard her mother singing songs of gratitude at night.

Her wedding gown was a Venetian lace gown, specially customized for her. It was an off-shoulder mermaid gown with flowers embroidered on the material, enhancing her upper body curves and flowing out from her mid-thigh. She wore a silver tiara, her hair styled back and enhanced with attachments. Her bridesmaids were dressed in elegant lavender-colored gowns. Her make-up was classic and simple. Even though she had a mini-fan, Ruby couldn’t help feeling hot especially during the church ceremony. As she repeated the pastor’s words, saying that “I do” that echoed through the church’s speakers, she forgot the people in the church, her eyes trained on Justin, the center of her world. Her hands shook as she slid the ring into Justin’s finger. They might have kissed more than a thousand times in the past, but kissing in front of the people in the church, his parents, her mother, made her feel shy. Justin understood, settling for a simple peck. “I love you, Ruby,” he said when he moved away. She mouthed the words back.

Ruby changed into a royal purple gown for the wedding reception. The wide hall was decorated in purple and silver, with splotches of pink here and there. It gave off a feel of enchantment, turning the formally wide, bare hall into an intimate space they could share with their closest people. The wedding cake was a three-tier cake, white with purple flowers and silver beads around it. Topping the cake was a mini-Justin and Ruby, looking just like them in their wedding attire. After the couple’s dance, Ruby danced with Justin’s father. Ideally, it should have been a dance with her father. During the dance, his father promised to treat her just like his daughter, because that was what she was now.

The wedding ended on a good note, with Ruby feeling so exhausted that when they got home, she fell asleep barely handling a round of celebratory sex with Justin. Three days after the wedding, they travelled first to Bali, and then to the Maldives for their honeymoon.



The End.

EPISODE NINETY-FOUR

Ruby pulled Rose into a big embrace as soon as she came into her sight. The frustration she’d felt navigating the congested traffic that led to the airport soon forgotten. Rose smelled of abroad, she joked when they separated.

“Biko, how does abroad smell abeg?”

Ruby laughed off the question. It was then that her eyes turned to the man standing behind Rose. He was looking around the airport, obviously surprise at the busyness and liveliness of the Nigerian airport.

“Omo, he’s tall o,” Ruby remarked. “When you told me he was tall, I didn’t know you mean this much.”

“Don’t you understand what 6 foot 3 mean?” Rose pinched her elbows.

“Ow!” Ruby slapped off her hands.

Rose took Ruby’s hand and turned to the man. “Kay, this is my friend, Ruby. Ruby, Kay, my boyfriend.”

Ruby stretched out her hand to shake the man. “Rose told me a lot about you,” they both said at the same time, eliciting a laugh from Rose.

“Nice to meet you,” Kay said with a polite smile.

“And you too. Welcome to Nigeria. Rose said this is your first time here.”

He nodded. “It’s…it’s uhmm… different.”

Ruby laughed Of course it’s different. When Rose told her that she was bringing Kay home to meet her parents, Ruby had been surprised. They had only been dating for four months but Rose was certain that he was the right person for her. She threw inconspicuous looks at Kay as she and Rose walked hand-in-hand out of the airport.

“It feels like ages since I breathed in Lagos air.” Rose took a deep breath when they came out. “I’m already perceiving the aroma of authentic amala and gbegiri.”

Ruby laughed. “After you guys freshen up, I’ll take you to this new restaurant that opened near the estate. You’re totally going to love it.”

They’d decided to stay at Ruby’s place for the duration of her stay. Ruby had already moved her things into her and Justin’s new house and spent most of her time in Justin’s place, so the old apartment was mostly uninhabited.

“I’ve been wanting to feel this car since you sent me the photos. Wow! So sleek.” They had gotten to Ruby’s car now, the one Justin gifted her. It was a dark blue Nissan. Rose ran her hands through the body of the car.

“Right.” Ruby smiled brightly. “This baby is mine.” She did a little dance. She opened the booth of the car so that Kay could put his and Rose’s luggages inside.

“I’m actually surprised Justin got you to ride more often,” Rose said as they got into the car.
Ruby scoffed. “It’s just because of you today. I really don’t like driving, especially on these roads.”

“Look at her.”

It felt good to have Rose, her chief bridesmaid, back. They bantered as they drove to the apartment. Ruby’s white wedding ceremony with Justin was going to take place in two weeks. The months after the proposal had been very strenuous for Ruby; trying to complete her accounting exams—she’d taken the exams the previous week and was waiting for the results to come out—and preparing for the wedding: dealing with the decorations and designs, attending marriage counselling with Justin, getting caterers, sorting out the asoebi (she settled on having just four ladies, people that were really close to her for her asoebi), and most importantly dealing with wedding nerves. Rose’s coming back was like a breath of fresh air. She would be able to handle things better with Rose’s presence.

They went to the restaurant Ruby talked about to eat after they freshened up at the apartment. Rose resumed her task as the chief bridesmaid with prompt as soon as they made their order in the restaurant. Even when she was in Canada, she’d been actively involved in the preparation process, spending long hours on video calls with Ruby as she ran around with the event planner to get things settled.

“Who are the other asoebis? I know Ama and Precious. The other one, you’re sure she’s not going to Bleep anything up, right?”

Ruby nodded. “Helen. She’s my closest friend at the firm.” She’d met Helen at the new firm she worked. Though she would only describe Helen as her foodie friend. Helen cared mostly about food. She knew the best restaurants in Lagos. She had a blog where she wrote about food and shared her recipes.

“Okay. So have they all sewed their clothes? I don’t want anybody to come a day before the wedding and say ‘their tailor suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth’.” Rose clicked her tongue.

Their food arrived and they started eating. Rose took some time to explain to Kay who had been mostly silent (and ignored) about the food. She’d ordered fried rice for him, joking about how he had a running stomach after he ate the first egusi soup she gave him.

“I can eat them now,” Kay said in a slightly childish tone.

Ruby took the time to watch him, to observe their interactions. Later that evening, when Kay retired into Rose’s former room, Ruby pulled Rose into her old room to have a private talk.

“He’s cute,” she started.

“More like beautiful.” Rose chuckled. “That was the first thing I thought when I saw him.”
Rose was right. When Ruby first saw Kay, she thought he was attractive. But the longer she looked at him, she realized that he had very soft features that enhanced his looks. He was from Cape Verde and had light brown skin. Rose told her that they met on the plane when she travelled for a weekend vacation with one of her colleagues. It sounded like the classic romantic story: they had a lovely conversation on the plane, exchanged numbers, went on a few dates and bam! they were ready to settle down.

“So you love him?” Ruby looked searchingly at Rose.

Rose shrugged. “Yea, I love him.”

Ruby frowned. “Really? You don’t sound like it.” She’d seen Rose ‘in love’. Even though she looked at Kay with a sparkle in her eyes, it was different from the look in her eyes when she was with Blossom.

“Love works different ways, you know, right? I do love him, but not like I loved Blossom. The whole thing with Blossom took something away from me,” Rose sighed. “I’ll never feel like that for someone else again.”

“Then why are you planning to get married?”

“He’s the right person for me.” Rose used a rubber band to pack her braids. They were already so old, but somehow they looked really good. Even though she said the words with seriousness, Ruby still found it hard to believe.

“I don’t understand. But do you love him?”

“I love Kay,” Rose said again. “What I have with him is different. Different from what I had with Blossom. From what you have with Justin. I mean, it just feels sweet and comfortable, you know.”

“You’re not one to settle for just comfortability,” Ruby put in.

Rose smiled wryly. “Well, not in this case. Kay, he’s dependable. You know, like a mountain. Strong, resilient, funny, like that. When I’m with him, I feel happy, at peace with myself and all my demons. I don’t want to love someone the way I loved Blossom again. It’s dangerous.”

Somehow, Rose’s words made Ruby to think of her mother. She wondered if this was how her parents relationship had been before her father died. Sweet and comfortable? Or maybe just comfortable and resilient? Ruby rubbed her friends back. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Rose’s laughter dispersed the gloomy air that was gathering in the room. “I actually like it like this, the simplicity of being with him. Love is different for everybody. It may not be like what you imagined it to be, but it’s still love. We love in different ways, don’t we?”

Ruby smiled. “Of course.”

“We’ll go to see my parents next tomorrow. Then the introductions will be after your wedding. We’ll do a small ceremony when we go back to Canada and register there. But we’ll have a simple dinner party here with my parents and a few friends and relatives. I don’t want something big.”

Ruby raised hr voice, “Why?”

“I just want things that way, something small. I don’t want to handle the whole marriage process when we can just complete it in an hour or two.”

“What about Kay? His family? Are you-”

“He’s an orphan, Ruby,” Rose said drily. “The more reason I want to keep it simple. You know how our traditional rites are, and then he has nobody to back him, to speak for him the way I do. I don’t want to put him through the whole stress. Thankfully, he’s also a simple person like that. So he totally agrees with me.”

“Oh.” Ruby had to admit, she didn’t understand a lot of Rose’s choices.

“By the way, you won’t guess who I saw at the airport while we were driving out,” Rose said in a light tone, changing the topic.

“We were there together,” Ruby said dryly.

“I saw him from my side. Boye. You won’t believe it. I think he was waiting for someone.”

Ruby frowned, reminded of her hopeless ‘love’ for Boye. Thinking about it now, she laughed at herself for selling herself too low. “Like it concerns me.”

“There’s another thing you should know too.” Rose’s voice reduced to a whisper even though they were the only people in the room. “I might be pregnant.”

Ruby widened her eyes. “Oh my God! That is so great, Rose. Congratulations.”

“Shh!” Rose shushed her. “I’m not sure yet, so I haven’t told Kay yet.”

“But babe, that is so cool.” Ruby hugged Rose.

“I know.” A genuine smile spread across Rose’s face. “It feels surreal, I tell you. I never knew I would trust a man again after Blossom. Even when I dated that Jamaican guy, I couldn’t get myself to feel free around him. Then when I met Kay, even though I was the person that approached him first, I was still quite sceptical. I mean, look at the guy. Attractive, a doctor, and this might sound cruel, but he doesn’t come with the whole family baggage. The more we spent time together, being around him began to feel more natural, like we were meant to be together.”

“Feels like love.” Ruby cupped her face in her hands.

“I told you I love him.”

“I know, I know. It just sounds strange to me. I just have this feeling, that you deserve more, like real, stomach-churning love, like the way I feel around Justin.”

Rose flicked her forehead. “And who said this isn’t real love? And besides, Blossom gave me enough stomach-churning to last a lifetime, and not in a good way.” She scrunched her nose.

Ruby rubbed her forehead with a dissatisfied look. “You know what I mean. Does he love you? Abi its the same thing with you.”

“He loves me.” The conviction was strong in her voice. “He says it. I feel it in my heart.”

“Well, it’s all good if he loves you,” Ruby said. “I’m a little angry that I don’t get to attend a wedding or do asoebi for you. We talked about it before.”

“I’m really sorry, babe. But you know it’s not the wedding that is important. In the end, it’s just the two of us that will spend the rest of our lives together. And though, there’s no wedding, Kay planned an exquisite honeymoon. Wait till I show you pictures.”

Ruby shook her head with a small smile. “I can’t say I understand, but it’s your choice.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll have a dinner party here, after the introductions. I argued so much with my mum before I could convince her. Thank God, I’m not the only girl she has. My younger sisters are there.”

“Alright. If a dinner party is the only thing we can get, I’ll take it like that. How long before you return to Canada?”

“One month. We’ll spend three weeks here then we’ll travel to his country. Even though he doesn’t have relatives there, I just want to see where he grew up.”

“That sounds fair. What about the pregnancy?”

“I’ll do a test then tell him if it’s positive. He’ll be so excited. He wants like four or five children.”

Ruby laughed. “Same with Justin. Look at them, they think giving birth is easy.”

“I told him I want just two o. No more no less. I can’t deal with more than that.”

“We settled for three kids. Me and Justin.”

“Three is good. Maybe they can come often to visit us in Canada, right? Did I tell you Kay plans to move away from the city in a years time. He is building this lovely house in the countryside, like those ones in romantic novels. Let me show you.” Rose unlocked her phone to show the house designs that Kay had sent to her.

They talked late into the night. They talked about their future husbands, about the way they would bring up their kids. They laughed together at the fact that somehow, they still ended up getting married at the same time. They cried too, at they fact that they were going to become mothers and wives. Together, they hoped they would become good women to their husbands and kids. They fell asleep on Ruby’s bed at the early hours of the money. This would be the last time Ruby slept in this apartment that held so many memories for her.

Blesstar:

Haba
Aunty heemah don't drag my position with me na...

Where did you people throw Rose too abeg?!!!

Blesstar:
Army green, navy blue and airforce white

PS. I'm still waiting for the price of the asoebi material o...
Make i begin to dey sew am now. No time to waste

I like this one

EPISODE NINETY-THREE

Justin proposed to Ruby on her birthday. It was a simple proposal, a private one. In a private dining at a restaurant in Victoria Island. She hadn’t suspected anything when they entered the room and saw the decorations of red flowers and balloons. Justin was romantic like that. There were times when they enjoyed romantic diners in his house where he set his home up, giving off that romantic ambience. It had seemed like any other day, like most of the Sundays she spent with him. Early that afternoon, they had gone to a spa where she got her nails done. Then he’d taken her shopping and got her the blue diner gown that she wore to the date. It was normal when he put on the new silver necklace he’d gotten her, with a tiny heart inside a small circle. These were things he did often. Things she’d gotten used to in the eleven months of their dating.

Ruby’s attention was so focused on Justin and his bright smile that she didn’t notice when the background music changed. And then she watched with widened eyes and a rapidly beating heart as he stood up and knelt down in front of her. The black box with the ring seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Her surprise wasn’t feigned. Though she knew they were getting married, she knew this scenario was going to happen, had imagined it in different ways—maybe at that resort in Abuja that had become their getaway destination, or in the cinema like in that video she’d watched on Tiktok—yet, her surprise when it came was real. It was the classic old proposal, nothing out of the ordinary, but when she looked at Justin kneeling in front of her, his eyes gleaming with expectations and love, not a hint of hesitation or worry that she was going to say ‘no’, she felt that it was the most romantic proposal. This was her proposal, she didn’t need strangers shouting “say yes” around her when they didn’t know their story, strangers that only cared about their personal entertainment. This was between her and Justin, the most important person in her life; the only characters that mattered in this love story.

She said yes, a shaky yes, with a choked voice that was trying to hold back her sobs, even though the tears were already running down her cheeks, some falling on her gown. She stretched out her hand and watched as he gently put the ring on her middle finger, kissing that finger before he got up and pulled her in for a deep kiss.

As if on cue, the door opened and a waiter came in with a plate covered with a cloche. Ruby tried to pull away from Justin and tidy up her face in the presence of an outsider. Justin’s hands remained tight around her, not giving her an opportunity to separate.

“I got you a gift,” he said and gestured at the waiter to carry on.

Ruby gently patted her face and looked at the plate that was expertly balanced on the waiter’s hand.

The waiter placed the plate on the table and looked at Justin.

Justin kissed her hand, the one with the ring on it and nodded at the waiter. The waiter raised the cloche with slow, dramatic movements. Ruby’s eyes remained trained on the plate. When the cover was taken away, she looked with shock at the contents of the plate. One was something she would never mistake. A car key. Her hands tightened around that of Justin.

“Justin,” she muttered. She wanted to scream, like in the videos she saw, but her mouth felt too dry. Her emotions were whirling over the top. She looked at the other contents of the plate. A silver rose was sitting on a white envelope. Though filled with curiosity, she first turned to Justin and hugged him. That hug was filled with things she wanted to say but couldn’t find words to express them. She hugged him, breathing in his natural scent mixed with the scent of the perfume she’d gotten him. She pressed herself into his body feeling his warmth and hardness against her body. She felt content like this, with his hands around her waist, his fingers tapping lightly against her clothed skin.

“I love you, Justin.” She’d said the words numerous times in the past, to different men—to Fred, to Dafe. Yet, this time, the weight of those three words were strengthened by the name that followed them. This feeling, she was coming to understand, was different from what she’d felt with the other men. Maybe, she thought, what defined love for different people was the person they shared it with. Justin had become her symbol for love—the smile that reached his eyes when he was with her, the way he moaned her name when they made love, the way he held her when they were in public with his strong muscled arms around her waist, the vulnerability that he didn’t hide when he professed the way he felt about her. The gifts he gave her were only physical indications of his feelings, a mere extension of what he wanted to say, how much he valued her. And so, even though she enjoyed these gifts, she was more conscious of the intention that came with it, inner emotions that couldn’t be measured by money or any material gift.

“Open it,” Justin urged when she continued hugging him. The waiter left as his task had been completed. Justin led her closer to the table and took the gold rose and handed it to her. “I know you don’t really like flowers, but you know what this means, right?”

Ruby took the rose from him. It wasn’t as heavy as she’d expected it to be. “No.” She shook her head.

“An eternity rose,” he said. He went on to tell her that eternity roses were treated to make the flowers last longer. It signified that he wanted their love to last longer than infinity.

“Quite cheesy.” She smiled. “I love it.”

He kissed her cheeks. After he handed the envelop to her, he led her to sit down, then prompted for the second time. “Open it.”

She opened it slowly, guesses of what it could be running through her mind. Inside the envelop were two property deeds. One had her name on it and the other was blank with no name on it.

She looked at Justin in shock. “Honey, what is this?”

Justin smiled at her. “My second engagement gift. The first one is yours, the second one will be our home after we get married.”

She widened her eyes. “You don’t need to do this, Justin. The car… this… its too much.”

Justin took her hand over the table and covered them with his. “I want to do this for you.”

The property with her name was in Lekki and the other one, the one he intended to be their home, was in Victoria Island. They’d talked about where they would live when they got married. At first, Ruby didn’t see the need in getting a new place as Justin’s home was big enough. But Justin felt it was a bachelor’s pad, wasn’t suited to married life. They never really agreed on where they would live. But now, it was obvious that Justin never forgot about it. She looked from the deeds to Justin.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” She gestured at the one with her name on it.

“I don’t know.” Justin gave her a roguish smile. “After you sign it, it’s yours. You can do whatever you want with it.”

“It’s too much,” Ruby blinked away tears. “I don’t know what to say, Justin.”

Justin got up and came around to her side. He pulled her up and embraced her. “You don’t need to say anything, or do anything. Just enjoy it, alright. I love you. All these are just material things. What matters is that you feel the same for me. That you are willing to walk down the aisle with me. That we are going to spend the remaining part of our lives together. That is what matters. Okay?”

This time, Ruby didn’t hold back her tears. For the first time since her ugly breakup with Fred, she cried. Not tears that couldn’t reduce the pain in her chest or tears that were awash with bitterness. The tears that fell on Justin’s shirt, staining it with little spots of black from her eye make-up were tears of joy, of happiness and of love.

Later when Ruby settled down and the property deeds and car key were placed away, Justin said, “Six months.”

“What?” Ruby looked at him in confusion.

“Six months and we get married, is that okay?”

Ruby tipped her head, deep in thought. She would have preferred to wait until she got her accountancy certification to get married, knowing that she wouldn’t have as much zeal to pursue that dream of hers after she got married.

“I won’t stop you from chasing your dreams, Ruby. I don’t want you to feel getting married to me will be putting yourself in a cage.” He shook his head. “I’ll always be there to support you.”

“Six months it is then,” Ruby said with conviction, then gave Justin a smile. Justin reached over the table and kissed her.


Author's Note: All these weird colors.... where are they coming from? Our couple deserve better o!

EPISODE NINETY-TWO

The vibration of her phone woke Ruby up. She crept out of the room to pick up the call when her phone vibrated. She tip-toed so she would not disturb Justin as he was still sleeping. She took the call on the balcony. The sun was out, casting warm rays on the railings. She yawned as she said, “So when are you guys coming?” She stretched her body, twisting her waist to wake up the muscles in that region.

“By ten ‘o’clock.” The voice on the other side said. Ruby could hear the noise of the traffic as the woman spoke.

“Alright. Don’t be too loud.” She walked back into the house and stealthily laid down beside Justin. In the dim-lit room, she looked at Justin, his face free from the frown that he had come home with the previous night. He had come across some problems in one of the branches of his dealership. Even though he travelled some days to sort out the problem, the people he was supposed to deal with were bent on frustrating him before doing what they were supposed to do. There was little she could do but give him some listening ear and comfort him the best way she could. Luckily, the next day, today, was his birthday. This would be the first birthday they would be celebrating together. Her’s was still about three months ago. But she felt it was the best time to put a smile on his face.

When Justin woke up, he trailed the smell of akara to the dining table. A bowl of deeply fried, awkward-shaped akara was sitting in the middle of the table, beside it was sliced bread and the electric jug with steam still coming out of its lid. 

“Babe,” he called out. 

Ruby’s reply came from the kitchen. She was cleaning up after an untidy mission of making akara. She was glad that Justin came out a little late, otherwise, he would have cringed at the mess she’d made in his kitchen, with splatters of the akara dough on different surfaces.

Justin hugged her from behind and kissed her neck, not forgetting to pinch her waist before letting go. “Why did you wake up so early to make the akara yourself? We could have just bought some from the woman down the road.”

Ruby shook her head. She turned over to kiss him on the lips. “Happy birthday, Justin.” She wrapped her hands around his waist not minding that her hands were wet. “I wanted to prepare something for you. Besides, you’ve not tasted my akara before.”

Justin kissed her again, first on her forehead, then on the tip of her nose and then finished it off with a kiss on her lips. “Thank you, babe. But you really didn’t need to. Come on. Let’s eat. Leave the cleaning up until we finish eating. We can do it together.”

Ruby followed him into the dining room. She winced when she saw the shapes of the akara she’d fried. No matter how she dried, she couldn’t seem to be able to get the perfect round shape like the ones they bought by the roadside or the ones Rose use to make when she was still around. But Justin was already using his phone to take pictures of the bowl of akara balls—or akara shapes.

She stretched out a hand to stop him but he cleanly evaded her. “Don’t take pictures. They look so ugly,” she whined.

“It doesn’t matter. I like them like that.” He reached for one and bit from it before feeding her the other half of it. “Come on. It’s not that bad. It also tastes good.”

Ruby pouted and chewed. It didn’t taste bad, not as good as she aimed for, but it was eatable. She sat down beside him. “This is the first time I’m making akara,” she admitted. 

“Whoa! I’m glad I’m your first akara taster.” He made tea for both of them, making it in one cup before dividing it into another cup and adding water to the two cups.

They finished the bowl of akara, sometimes feeding each other. 

“Do you have anything planned for today?” Ruby asked.

Justin shrugged. “Nothing. I’m too tired.”

“I want to take you out,” she announced.

He raised his brows. 

“I’m serious!” She slapped his shoulders gently. “We’ll first go shopping, then I’ll take you to a massage parlour. And then we’ll go to a barbing saloon. Then dinner together, what do you think?”

He was still looking at her. “I just cut my hair a few days ago.”

“Then we can skip that part. We’ll go to a spa. Don’t worry. I’ll sponsor everything.” She patted her chest confidently.

“We can just stay at home and relax. We-”

She shook her head and placed a finger on his mouth to cut him off. “No, no, no. We are going to celebrate your birthday. I suspected you didn’t want something big and complicated so I settled for this. Don’t say no please.” She batted her lashes at him.

Justin took her hand and kissed it, giving her an affectionate gaze. “Anything you want.” 

Ruby’s phone pinged with a message when they were in the living room, watching a show. 
We just got into the elevator.

Feeling giddy, she excused herself and went into the room. She replied to the message, saying they could ring the bell when they arrived at the apartment. She quickly changed her clothes and tidied up her hair. The doorbell was extremely loud. She heard Justin’s “Who’s there?” as he went to open the door.

Because she didn’t want to disturb the neighbours, she’d gotten a guitarist rather than a sax player (she also thought the guitar was more romantic). The strains of the music flooded into the house, Wande Coal’s Olulufe. Ruby came out just in time, looking at Justin. There was a myriad of expressions on his face, surprise, happiness as he looked at the surprise party, and then love when he looked back to see Ruby. He didn’t mind the visitors. He walked over to her and hugged her, encircling her in a warm embrace, holding her tight. 

“Babe,” he whispered into her neck. 

She returned the hug, wrapping her hands around him. “Happy birthday, sweetheart. I love you. So much.”

Hands around each other, they listened to the sound of the guitar. Ruby recited the lyrics of the song to Justin in a low voice, “You're my everything; I can't even say I need; Because of the love you bring; That's why I will always sing; And every time I'm weak; And every time I sleep; I know I'm still dreaming about you.” Changing the pronouns in the lyrics when needed. 

The lead of the surprise party presented Justin with a bouquet of flowers when the serenade was over, after an open speech that said they were sent by his girlfriend, Ruby. They placed a food tray on the table as well as two gift boxes. They left after their service was others.

“Flowers?” Justin smelled the flowers and beamed at Ruby.

She blushed. “I thought you would love it.” 

“Of course I do.” He kissed the flowers and placed them on the chair. Then looked at the food tray. “I didn’t expect this.” He picked up the bottle of red wine. “My favourite,” he smiled and pulled her closer by the waist. He kissed her temple. “I love you, babe.”

She basked in his attention, enjoying the look on his face as he opened up the rest of the gifts. A perfume set; a Gucci belt; a silver pendant; and a pair of leather shoes. It had taken her ages to decide which gift to give him. He seemed to have everything, but as she arranged it all, including the surprise party, she understood that it was the intention that mattered. She suspected that even if it was just the guitarist with his serenade or even just the flowers, Justin would still have the same look of happiness and adoration on his face. She had spent a big part of her savings to set it up—the belt took a huge chunk of her money—but it was all worth it.

“I love them,” Justin said when he finished opening up the gifts. “Thank you, babe.” They sat down together, wrapped in each other’s arms. 
 
***
Later in the afternoon, they went shopping. Or rather, Ruby took Justin shopping. “Pick what you want,” she said when they entered the boutique, adopting the stance Justin often took when he took her shopping, that bossy “I’ll pay for everything you get.”

Justin obeyed. He picked out three shirts and tried them in front of her like she usually did. As Ruby paid for the clothes, she felt a little sting in her chest. So expensive, she cried inside. But she was careful not to show it at all. She was certain she would have to take three or four freelance gigs to replace the money. As they left the store, Justin said, “I like this feeling. We should do this more often.”

You want me to go broke! She moaned to herself but said, “Of course. Maybe next time we’ll use your card.” She gave him an impish look.

Justin laughed. Their next stop was at the spa. They enjoyed a lovely service—a professional massage, facials, pedicure and manicure. Ruby also got a salt bath. 

“This feels so good,” Justin said when they came out of the spa about two hours later.

Ruby felt the same. Her whole body was relaxed. Her skin felt as smooth as that of a baby. Even though she wanted to pay for it, they ended up swiping Justin’s card. (Not that she minded.)

Dinner was at Justin’s favourite restaurant—the one with the private booths that offered great pepper soup. Ruby sang ‘Happy birthday’ to him while they waited for their food to arrive. Justin held her hands over the table as she sang, his eyes not leaving her for a second.

“I love you, Justin. Thank you for coming into my life. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for standing by my side. Thank you for choosing me. And I thank God that he created you.” She choked as she said the words. This wasn’t the first time she was professing her love for Justin. She felt grateful, really grateful for his presence in her life.

Justin reached over to wipe a tear from the corner of her eyes. “Thank you, Ruby. For today. The best birthday I ever had. I love you. To the moon and back. You make me happy, babe. The happiest I’ve ever been.”

When their food arrived, they teased themselves as they ate. Despite their banters, the romantic ambience between them didn’t dissipate.

They sipped on their glasses of wine when they finished eating. They didn’t talk about the serious things in their lives; like Ruby's courses or her job; or Justin’s frustrations. Justin patted the empty space on his seat and told Ruby to come over. “You’re seating so far away.”

He put his arm around her and kissed her neck when she sat down beside her. “You’re special, you know, right?” 

“That’s like the ten-thousandth time you’re saying that today.”

“I just want you to understand,” he said. “I’m so glad I took the wrong order that day. I don’t why I didn’t get your number that day. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I didn’t go back to that bar with my friends.”

It was something they talked about often. Something they never got tired of reminiscing. If she hadn’t gone to the bar the next Friday after they met, she probably must have missed out on something big. And when she thought of this, she thought of the events leading up to it. The main catalyst being Rose leaving for Canada. A lot had happened since then.

They were still reminiscing when a waitress walked up to their table with a glass of wine, intruding on their sweet moment.

“Sorry, sir, madam. The lady over there asked me to bring this here,” she said politely.

At the “lady” part, Ruby instantly felt irritated. She looked in the direction the waitress referred to and her irritation increased. Talk about Lagos being small. If it was not Jasmine with the expired honey voice, who else would disturb them at this critical point.

“What does she want again?” Ruby muttered. Even though she couldn’t see the other person clearly, sitting opposite Jasmine was another man. Jasmine stood up and walked over to their booth when she saw the both of them looking over.

“Happy birthday, Emy,” she said stopping beside their booth.

Justin replied with a small smile. 

“You didn’t-”

“Hi, Jasmine,” Ruby cut in. She hated Jasmine’s feigned ignorance of her presence. Couldn’t she tell that she was intruding on a private moment? The private booths didn’t seem so private after all. The owners should just build private huts instead, she thought. 

Jasmine smiled at her, a fake smile. “Huh?! I didn’t get your name the other day. You’re…”

Ruby rolled her eyes, not hiding her vexation. “Thank you for your wine.” She gave Jasmine a fake smile of hers. “I’m sure your partner is waiting for you.” 

Jasmine looked at Justin, but he ignored her, looking through his phone. “Happy birthday,” she said again. “I’ll just leave you guys to enjoy your date.” It was difficult to hide the envy in those words.

“What does she want again?” Ruby grumbled when Jasmine left. 

Justin kissed her neck and then turned her face to kiss her on the lips. “Don’t mind her, babe. We’re still celebrating my birthday. I don’t want any unhappy thoughts, okay?”

But the gossip in Ruby’s mind was already rearing its head. “She is with someone, isn't she?" Ruby peered in the direction of Jasmine's booth. "Maybe it’s her boyfriend. But doesn’t she know that it is rude to go and greet your ex when you’re with your current boyfriend? Hmm. Do you think the guy knows?”

“Ruby!” Justin was offended.

Ruby kissed him and rubbed his back. “I won’t talk about her again. But she should not come near you again o. Can’t she-” Her words were cut off by a ruthless kiss. Can’t she see that you have moved on? She completed in her mind, then surrendered herself to his kiss.

They were breathless when they separated. There were smears of lipstick around Justin’s lips. Ruby reached for a piece of tissue to wipe it off.
“You didn’t need to be so harsh,” she chided.

Justin remained still, allowing her to wipe his lips. “I don’t like it when you do that, bring up topics of unnecessary people and things that will make you unhappy during our dates.”

“I won’t do that again,” she promised then kissed him.

“We should go home now and round off the birthday celebration.”

Ruby was quite confused. “You have something else planned? I thought you said-” she was cut off by another kiss. Justin pulled her closer so she would sit on his legs. It was only then that she understood what he meant. Under her blouse, her nipples stiffened and she could feel a little wetness between her legs. She pulled away quickly.

“Not here.”

She adjusted her clothes and they stood up. Justin picked up her purse for her and they walked out of the garden restaurant, abandoning the untouched glass of wine on the table. 



Author's Note: Colour suggestions for our asoebi pls!!!

EPISODE NINETY-ONE

For the past few Saturdays, Ruby was going to one wedding or the other. Sometimes, it was that of a friend or client of Justin’s. Most times, it was one of her friends, friends that she didn’t talk to often but needed her to buy their asoebi and show up as one of their dancing bridesmaids. The latest wedding she’d attended, the only one that she was genuinely willing to buy an asoebi for was that of Ama. After ups and downs with her husband’s family members especially his spoilt sister, they finally tied the knot. She even travelled to Ama’s village in Ebonyi state to attend the traditional marriage. During the white wedding, she also met Gideon. 

After they exchanged awkward greetings Gideon said, “I heard that you have a boyfriend now. And you left the company?”

Ruby frowned. She could guess that he had seen it through one of her social media accounts. During her fourth month with Justin, she posted their pictures together online. Two times more since then. It was not a surprise that Gideon would come across it. “I’m working at an accountancy firm now. In Ikeja,” she replied blithely. “And you? What are you up to now?”

He shrugged, folding his blue agbada. “Just here and there.”

She quirked her eyebrows at the vague reply and reminded herself to ask Ama what was up with him later.

“So you’re doing well now?” he asked.

“We thank God.” She shrugged. She looked at his face and realized how unattractive he was, especially compared to Justin. How did she ever think he was fine? His dark lips were a little too broad for his face; his eyebrows were too bushy and unkempt for her liking; even the long eyelashes that she’d formerly thought were a fine quality suddenly seemed bristly, ready to pierce anyone that came too close. She wasn’t keen on talking to him. Couldn’t he feel the tense air between them? Things hadn’t ended well with them, so why was he talking as though they were still friends?

He wanted to say something but Ruby cut him off, making an excuse that she had to go help the chief bridesmaid. Ruby didn’t know what he wanted and didn’t care. She had never been certain of her feelings for Gideon even when their relationship took an affable turn. It might have grown into something else, but whatever good feeling she had for him was halted with that phone call between them. She was back to having a dislike for him. 

***
She went to visit her mother in Kogi State after the wedding. She spent only a night as she needed to return back to work the next day. She told her mother about Justin and told her that they were already planning on marriage.

“When?” her mother asked, peeling the yams she would use to prepare dinner.

Ruby was sitting on a stool, cutting the vegetables. “Maybe next year.” She’d also thought about the ‘when’ a number of times. She was certain that she wanted to write the exams for the accountancy certificate before that, so she put a lot of effort into studying, not wanting to make Justin wait for too long. When she shared this thought with him, he’d accepted, saying he was willing to wait for her.

“You’re sure he is serious about you?” her mother asked. She put the peeled yams into the pot and placed the pot on the stove.

“Yes. I have met his parents.” When his mother came to Lagos some weeks ago, she’d invited the both of them to dinner. Since then, they had been in regular communication.

“That is good. When is he going to come and see me?” 

Ruby looked up in surprise. She didn’t expect her mother to be willing to do anything except what was traditionally expected of her. Besides, when she’d mentioned Justin to her, her mother had remained quite aloof. “I…may…maybe next month?”

Her mother sighed. “When you’re ready to bring him home, tell me. I’ll handle your father's people.”

Ruby wasn’t exactly sure how the relationship between her mother and her uncles was, especially following her father’s death. She knew that there had been an intense argument among them following the death. It was after the quarrel that they moved from the old family house to their current house. After then, there wasn’t much communication between them and their father’s side of the house. But if Ruby had learned anything from all the weddings she’d attended, especially Ama’s traditional wedding in the village, that was one of the few times that these relatives appeared from nowhere to partake in the wedding feast.

She hesitated for a while before she asked, “What happened?” This was a question she’d been curious about all through her life. Why all of a sudden most of the uncles that visited them when her father was alive, the ones that her mother cooked for, ate chicken and drank beer in the wide parlour of their former house suddenly disappeared not long after her father did.

“What?” Her mother took the bowl of cut vegetables from Ruby and placed it on the kitchen table.

Ruby looked at the expression on her mother’s face and kept quiet. Instead, she asked, “What about Eni? I thought they are on holiday now?”

Her mother sighed. “He came back and left almost immediately. He said he got a job back in school. He just came to pack all my foodstuffs and left.”

“Which job again?” Ruby groaned. The last time she called him, he’d assured her that he was going home to help their mother with her provision store.

Her mother shrugged. “Allow him. Every time he comes back, I won’t have peace of mind. He carried one carton of Indomie from my store.” She shook her head.

Ruby didn’t say anything. It wasn’t as though she didn’t do the same thing when she was at the university. Even though her mother complained, it just ended at that. If she didn’t want them to take anything from her store, she could as well change the keys or hide them where they wouldn’t find them. But it was always on the fridge in the dining room. Ruby couldn’t imagine all the loss she must have suffered from their reckless acts. 

As she thought, she sent a message to Justin. I want to renovate my mother’s shop. Turn it into a supermarket.

His reply was quick. How much do you need?

She chuckled to herself. I want to use my money for this. I just wanted to let you know. She added the rolling eyes emoji.

We can do 50-50. She’s going to be my mother-in-law, don’t forget. A wink

Ruby didn’t reply. She knew the conversation wasn’t over. Though she didn’t mind spending Justin’s money, this was something she wanted to handle by herself, something she wanted to do for her mother. Later after they talked about it, Justin conceded to her. “I can always replenish the money for you,” he said.

In the end, after talking to her mother about the issue, her mother preferred to reconstruct their old house. And turn it into tenant housing. She told her that she didn’t have the energy to look after a bigger store than the one she currently had. This time, Ruby didn’t refuse Justin’s help when he offered it. Revamping a provision store was one thing, but constructing tenant housing was a different thing altogether. The construction of the new house only began after Justin came to see her mother. Her mother treated him with warmth. They quickly got along and soon, her mother was referring to him by his Igbo name. It happened so fast before Ruby knew it. For a while, she thought she was already married to Justin, especially with the familiarity between him and her mother. But she didn’t complain. She liked it. It was left to make the union between them an official thing. Even Ruby wasn’t certain how long this would take.

yettielicious:
Hi dear, hope you’re good?

Please try and make the next update lengthy to make up for the days you didn’t drop anything.

Thank you.

Alright. I'll take note.

kimannie08:
Punctuations well used, no grammatical errors whatsoever... OP, keep it up!!! I'm in love with this story.

Thank you

EPISODE NINETY

The next few days after the wedding, Ruby didn’t get a good night’s rest. Jasmine might have disappeared from her sight, but her voice continually pierced through her lovely dreams about Justin. Like a nightmare. She did not mention it to Justin, even during their night calls before she went to sleep in her house. As though Justin knew what was going on in her mind, he kept up his reassurances that she was the only one he wanted. Sometimes subtly embedded in his words during their calls, sometimes more conspicuously, like in the messages he sent at irregular times of the day. It made her feel that she was being too insecure. Especially when he told her about his day with explicit details. It also made her feel ill at ease. What if he was telling her so much to avoid telling her just one thing? This question was enough to send her into another episode of overthinking.

Thinking about this affected her week so much that by the end of the week, she was sure that she was going to break down. She poured all her attention into work and studying to avoid thinking and envisioning things that were unlikely to happen. She knew if she kept up like this, it was her health that would take the brunt of it all. By the end of the week, she couldn’t keep it to herself and called Rose.


“What are you afraid of?” Rose asked when she told her. “That he will cheat on you? Or that he will get back with this Jasmine girl? Or-”

“I don’t know, Rose.” She was sitting on the floor in her room, hugging her knees to herself. Even though it felt uncomfortable sitting on the cold and hard surface, she needed the physical discomfort to distract her from the sting in her chest, especially hearing Rose voice out the fears that she had been harbouring.

Rose’s deep sigh was loud through the phone. “Ruby, are you alright? You’ve never been like this before? Did he say anything or do anything to make you feel this way?”

She dug her fingers into her palm. “Nothing… it’ll kill me…he didn’t say anything.”

Her sentences were disorganized but Rose understood. “Babe, listen to me. Ruby, I understand that you love him. I think he loves you too, in the same way. But do you realize what you’re doing to yourself? This is something that might never even happen and see what you’re turning yourself into, an insecure woman radiating doubts towards a man that loves you. This is enough to ruin your relationship with Justin, you know right?”

Ruby was quiet. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Listen, no relationship is easy or free of problems. I’m sure you know that. What you have with Justin is great. Even though I was also doubtful at first but after everything you’ve been telling me—Ruby, I hear the happiness in your voice, I see it on your face every time we have a video call—I have to admit, the guy is good and I don’t want you to ruin what you have with him. Because of what? Because of one girl that appeared from nowhere? Ah, this is not the Ruby I know na. Where is the Ruby that stayed with Boye even through all his girlfriends? You still trusted him even with his nonsense-”

“Justin is not Boye,” Ruby had to cut in with a petulant tone.

Rose laughed. “It’s good that you know. I was wondering if I have to come and flog you before you stop your stupid thinking. Ruby, life is not thinking “what if this happens”. No, babe. I don’t want you to lose what you have with Justin because you’re worried about what will or not happen in the future. You said you guys have talked about marriage, then where is all this nonsense coming from?” Rose ended the last sentence in a harsh voice.

The tears had dried on her cheeks. Ruby sat upright defensively. “Rose!”

“Good. Use that energy and banish thoughts like that from your mind. Stop behaving like one ajebota that has not been in a relationship before.”

“You’re annoying you know, eh?”

“Annoying but I’m the only person you called,” Rose sniggered.

She had to admit that Rose had become a little more honest since she left the country. Ruby assumed it was because she didn’t need to look at her face while she made her sometimes snide but candid comments. Even if Ruby got angry, the least she could do was to end the call and post a snarky comment on her WhatsApp status. But she also liked this part of Rose. It made their friendship seem even more real, not the kind that avoided the truth to maintain their intimacy.

“Thank you,” Ruby muttered. The fears were still there. That “Emy” in expired honey voice was still echoing in one part of her mind. What Rose did was to help her whip up the courage to face them.

“About the rent? You know it’s expiring next month, right?” Rose asked after she replied to Ruby’s words of gratitude.

Ruby groaned. She had been so consumed with work, studying and thinking that she’d forgotten about it. Rose had been kind enough. She didn’t ask Ruby to return the other half of the rent that she didn’t use. But the annual lease would soon be over. Rose wouldn’t join her to pay the other half.

“What do you plan to do? You want to move to another apartment or get a flatmate?”

“I don’t know yet.” Ruby wasn’t sure if she was willing to share the space with someone else.

“The rent has increased o. Don’t forget. The money is too much for you alone. You can get a flatmate,” Rose said.

Ruby calculated her account balance in her mind and the returns she might get from the agriculture investment that she had made. Rose was right. It would be too much if she wanted to pay for the whole thing by herself.

“Or you can ask Justin,” Rose prompted. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

Ruby sniffed. “You don’t say! I don’t want to spend his money.”

“What if he wants to spend on you. Biko, tell him o. He might prefer you to have the apartment to yourself. Who wants one stranger to be pouring sand in their garri. Make person no spoil our market.”

“You and who dey go market!” Ruby’s legs were numb as she got up from the ground. She sat on the bed and massaged them.

“Okay o. I still need to go back to work. My break is over.”

“Alright.” Ruby yawned and looked at the time. She still needed to call Justin before she went to bed.

***
She didn’t want to, but she ended up talking to Justin about her week and her crazy thoughts when he called later. She couldn’t help it. After trying to bottle everything up and keep them to herself, she gave in and talked to someone; first to Rose and then to Justin. She wondered how people kept things to themselves for years. It was only one week and she couldn’t control herself. She could only sigh at herself.
Justin was hurt when she told him. “I even forgot about her. I didn’t know you were still thinking about it.”

“It’s not just Jasmine,” Ruby admitted. “It could be anybody else.”

A helpless sigh. “You have to trust me.”

“I trust you. I really do. It’s just ...”

“I’m glad you talked to me about it. I’ve told you before, I don’t like you keeping things from me, especially things like this.”

“I’m sorry.”

“There are words that don’t need repeating every single day. At some point, they would become fake. I want you, Ruby. Just you. Not Jasmine or any other woman. You’re the only woman in my life. The closest to me besides my mum and sister. And I want it that way. I want to marry you and I want us to raise our children together. You’re it for me, alright? I want you to understand it.” He said the words slowly, enunciating them clearly, deliberately.

Ruby’s heart was beating rapidly. “I understand.”

He lowered his voice. It thickened with emotion. “I also have my fears. Like you. You’re attractive, don’t you know? Do you remember the other day when we went to the cinema? I just went to park my car and in just that short time, a man approached you.”

Of course, Ruby remembered. They’d laughed it off. But that night, Justin insisted that she spend the night at his place even though she had work the next day.

“I know you don’t have eyes for any other man except me. Just the way I no longer notice other women except the one with her smiling face on my phone screen. And I want it to remain that way.”

“Me too,” Ruby said in a small voice. She hugged her pillow to herself and buried her face in it. Her face hurt from smiling too much. What a sweet mouth. She could literally feel the sugar pumping into her blood vessels.

The call ended with sweet “goodnights” and “I love yous”. While she slept, there was no annoying “Emy!” disturbing her dreams. Instead, it was Justin’s “I want you, Ruby. Just you” that echoed in her dreams. And it was a sweet, erotic dream.



Authors Note: This episode was not an easy feat to write, especially the single-pringle that I am. As I wrote, it was just "God When!" that was on my mind. Even with a silly smile on my face. Even though it's fiction, I wish all my readers find that special person for themselves. Love is beautiful. And if when you do find that person, cherish them. It's difficult to find someone like that in this age and time. But we all deserve love. I know that. One day, I will tell my own love story. And you too.

Enjoy your reading.

yettielicious:
Well done Cythialinlin.

Can’t access your other stories from your website, is there anything that could be done?

I've been unable to update the payment for the site, so it's currently on hold. When it's starts running normally, I'll inform you all.

EPISODE EIGHTY-NINE

The next Monday morning, Ruby resumed her new place of work. Unlike at the previous place of work, where she had to only deal with the account of just one company, this new place worked with different companies. Because of her specialization, she had to deal more with the internal financial reports of different companies. It had been easier working with the reports of just one company. But while the new job came with its difficulties, it allowed her to broaden her level of expertise. Working with the accounts of one company made her over-familiar with the topic, and reduced the novelty of the work, but with her new position, she could come across newer cases, broaden her knowledge and get better at what she did.

She didn’t pause her accountancy courses because of the new job and its demands. Rather she learned how to manage the two. The weekends were spent either in Justin’s apartment or at her place studying. During weeknights, she spent about two hours reading on her laptop and making notes. She enjoyed the benefits of working at a place that was not far from where she lived. She didn’t need to wake up early so that she would get to work on time. It took her a while to get used to the new life she was creating for herself. She no longer had enormous amounts of time to lie on her bed and scroll through social media, bemoaning that her mates were leaving her far back, getting married and making headways in their careers. Freelancing took the brunt of her new schedule. In between her new job and studying, she had little time to work on freelance contracts. She became extremely selective with the type of work she would do, often going for the high paying ones and those of her loyal clients.

Justin was supportive all the way. When she didn’t spend the night at his place, there were days he would drop by her apartment with suya or grilled fish or shawarma. During the weekends, he took her out on dates. He pulled her along to the gym with him when she stayed at his apartment. “Just once a week is enough,” he would say when she complained that she couldn’t keep up with daily exercise. He prepared a table for her in his study room so she could study when she came to his place. He replaced the snacks that she munched on while she studied. He knew to switch off the music when she entered study mode. He only disturbed her to eat or to take a rest. “You have been staring at the computer for too long. Rest a little.” Then he would give her a massage that was as amateur as they came and only tickled her. They would make love and listen to music together. They cooked together, both in his kitchen and in her kitchen. And he would joke, “We should just have one kitchen.”

It was only a joke but she couldn’t help but about it. There was no guarantee that living together for a while would strengthen their relationship or make them realize they were not perfect for each other. When she shared her thoughts with Rose, she advised that it was too soon to make that move. “Why not wait for a while? Till he engages you. We both know that even engagement is not a guarantee these days, but I won’t advise you to move in with him.”

“I’m just thinking about it,” she told Rose. She was not even sure what Justin meant when he said they could just have one kitchen. It might mean marriage. But it was still too soon. In the end, she gave up thinking about the matter. On one hand, her job would suffer if she moved all the way to Justin’s apartment and on the other, Justin himself seemed just okay with their current mode of interaction. They were still getting to know each other. They were still making uncertain steps towards their futures. Justin was busy trying to open another branch of his dealership in Enugu. There was no need to rush.

***
“Whose wedding is it?” Ruby asked as Justin helped her to draw her zipper.

Justin ran his hand over her curves. The red gown was fitted, enhancing her curves. “One of my secondary school classmates.”

Ruby admired herself in the mirror. Her exercises with Justin seemed to be paying off. The stubborn pouch around her abdomen was slowly disappearing. She and Justin had been together for close to six months now. They had become more familiar with each other.

“You look freaking hot, babe.” He encircled her waist with his arms and pulled her closer so her buttocks rubbed against him.

She smiled at the image they made in the mirror. “Thank you.” He had bought the gown for her. It was what he did, giving her random gifts without reason. It took a while for her to get used to his generosity and only recently did she learn to return his generosity, giving him gifts of her financial capability. He didn’t lack anything, but it was the intent that mattered.

“You should wear the pearl necklace,” he said when she reached for a gold necklace. “I think it matches the gown better.”

They were not living together but a good number of her clothes and jewellery were in his house. It wasn’t an intentional move. She just woke up one morning and realized that the blue sandals she wanted to wear to work were at his place or that she’d left the new clothes she bought at his house because she ended up spending the night there. Justin liked it. “What if we have to go for an occasion from my house, is it not better to be prepared for something like that?”

And it was such an occasion that met them this Saturday. Justin wanted her to go with him to a friend’s wedding. The red gown was the latest addition to the gifts she got from him.

“Are we not going to be too late?” Ruby looked up at the wall clock, it was a few minutes to four. The time on the invitation card had been 2 pm.

“I bet you the wedding is not going to start until 5. It’s like you’ve forgotten that you’re in Nigeria abi,” he teased.

She put on her earrings and stuck her tongue at him. “I’m just saying. Then why did you keep rushing me before?” An hour ago, she’d been laying on the bed, watching comedy clips on Instagram. It was after Justin urged her continuously to start dressing that she came down from the bed and went to take her bath.

“I thought you were going to spend a lot of time on your makeup.” He sat down on the bed.

She shook her head and continued dressing. Almost an hour later, Justin drove to the venue of the wedding. They were neither too late nor too early for the reception. There were already a lot of guests seated in the beautifully designed hall but it had not yet started. Justin took her around, greeting a number of people and introducing her to them. “Ruby, my girlfriend.” The words were said with both familiarity and warmth. She returned their curious gazes with a warm smile and a breezy “Nice to meet you.”

The table that they were given was seated by familiar faces—Justin’s friends and their wives. Ruby felt comfortable as soon as she saw Lotachi. She exchanged greetings with the other occupants of the table and took the empty seat beside Lotachi. Justin sat down next to her. They asked about her, her new work, and how she was preparing for her exams. Ruby talked to Lotachi about her pregnancy. She’d gotten the news from Justin three weeks ago. Even though she’d sent her congratulations over the phone, this would be the first time they would talk face to face.

Not long after they sat down, Justin and the men stood up to talk with their friends. Almost as soon as they left, Blessing said loudly, “That woman is here again o.”

Lotachi eyed her. “What is your business with that one?”

Ruby followed the sharp eyes of Blessing and the other two women to a lady that was standing some distance away from their table. She was wearing the purple asoebi gown. “Who is she?” she asked.

“Don’t mind Blessing.” Lotachi didn’t forget to give Blessing another warning glance. “She’s just one of those girls.”

Before Ruby could ask “Which girls?” Beatrice was already saying, “The girl likes your boyfriend o. She has had eyes on him since forever.”

Ruby looked again at the girl. She was light-skinned. With so much make-up on, it was hard to tell if she was naturally beautiful or if it was just the make-up. But with her full chest and wide hips, Ruby was certain that her looks wouldn’t matter so much to a lot of people.

Lotachi placed a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t need to listen to them. Even though she likes Justin, he has never paid attention to her.”

“Exactly,” Beatrice said with a scratchy voice. “The other day, Lucy told me that she saw the girl with a married man. She only likes that type. The ones that already have partners.”

At first, Ruby only had a slight aversion towards Beatrice. It was difficult to like a woman that seemed to pick quarrels over little things, especially with her husband. Now, she simply disliked Beatrice, with her big mouth and lips that extended too far from her face. It must have grown that long and wide from talking too much. But if Beatrice wanted to cause trouble, she had succeeded in doing it. Now, Ruby could barely take her eyes away from the girl, ordering her in her mind to stay a thousand meters away from her boyfriend.

Soon, the reception began, some minutes past 5. Justin and the other men came back to the table.

“What is wrong?” Justin asked as soon as he sat down. “See how you’re drawing your mouth.” He raised his finger to her mouth and massaged it lightly. “I’ve told you to stop drawing your mouth like that when you’re unhappy. It’ll make you have wrinkles.”

“Says who?” She pushed away from his touch but softened the muscles of her face. "You'll ruin my make-up." She took out a mirror from her purse and looked at herself in it.

He smiled. “Later, we’ll talk.”

That was not the end of it though. During the reception, while the parents of the couple danced, a lady came up to their table and called out in a syrupy voice. “Emy!”

Ruby recognized the lady as soon as she looked. Jasmine. Justin’s first girlfriend. She did not look so different from the picture she’d seen in one of Justin’s old albums. The wide afro in the picture had been woven into tiny braids that extended down to her buttocks. And she called Justin by the shortened form of his Igbo name. It was hard to deny the familiarity and affection embedded in the appellation.

Justin stood up to give her a hug. Feeling nauseated, Ruby reached for her glass of juice and took a huge gulp.

“Wow! It’s been really long, Emy. How have you been? You just stopped taking my calls and deleted my contact, eh?” Jasmine asked. She pulled an empty chair from the next table and sat down. "How many years now? You're still angry with me?"

“I’ve been good. Well.” He grimaced.

Ruby felt a little pinch in her waist. It was Lotachi. “Who is she?” she mouthed when Ruby looked at her.

“Ex-girlfriend,” Ruby whispered.

Justin heard her and looked at her with a smile. He took her hand and rubbed them with his. “Jas, this is my girlfriend. Ruby.”

Ruby’s eyes had been on Jasmine since her “Emy!” so she saw the smile on her face turn a little cloudy when Justin made the introductions. Hmm, she thought to herself. She gave Jasmine the brightest smile she could muster and stretched her hand for a handshake. “Hi.”

Jasmine ignored her hand, settling for a half-hearted “hello.”

Justin took Ruby’s ignored hand and held it on his lap, drawing small circles on them. Jasmine didn’t leave immediately. She continued engaging Justin in conversation, asking him about his life, telling him how things had been for her. Even though Justin continued holding her hand as they talked, she couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened when Justin promised to unblock her number as they both hadn’t changed numbers since the break-up.

As soon as Jasmine left, Ruby pulled her hands away from him and scoffed. “She is beautiful.”

Justin reached for her hand again. “I’m not going to unblock her contact,” he said.

“Hmm,” Ruby said coolly.

A man called out to Justin and after promising to be back soon, Justin stood up and walked toward him.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure nothing will come out of it,” Lotachi said.

“Justin is a hotcake. It’s no wonder that many women are after him. You should be ready for things like this,” Beatrice said.

“Beaty, keep quiet,” Rita said in an authoritative voice. She’d been talking with her husband but her attention was also on the table. “It’s not every time choo-choo-choo, without any control.”

Beatrice looked away, a chided expression on her face. “Sorry.”

“She argued with her husband again. The day before yesterday,” Lotachi whispered in a very low voice.

“Are they not always quarrelling?” Ruby mumbled. She couldn’t help but glare at Beatrice, not caring to hide her expression.

“This time it’s serious, very serious. Rita said she found some chats on her husband’s phone and she confronted him. Can’t you see the way they have been since today?”

During most of their gatherings, Beatrice and her husband never seemed to be on good terms. So it was normal for them to ignore each other with Beatrice making snide comments. Otherwise would be more noticeable to Ruby.

“That’s why she wants to ruin someone else’s happiness,” Ruby quipped. Justin was now shaking a man in blue agbada, laughing widely. Even in the noisy hall, she could clearly the bass of his laughter.

“She’s like that, don’t mind her. Most time, they ignore her when she starts talking like this.” ‘They’ meant Rita and Blessing, and other female friends.

The wedding ended uneventfully for Ruby. By the end, she just wanted to go home and cuddle with Justin even though she was angry. It suddenly seemed as though Jasmine was everywhere. Ruby noticed her every movement, smiling with the bride’s parents, dancing with the other bridesmaids, exchanging words with one of the ushers. As they left, Jasmine came out to bid them—no, not them, just Justin—goodbye.

“Don’t forget to unblock my number o,” she said in that annoying, sugary voice.

Ruby repeated the words in a mocking voice as Justin drove out of the venue.

Justin chuckled.

She scowled at him. “I’m angry with you, you know? I thought she broke your heart? Why are you still smiling at her?”

“I was just being polite. That’s all.”

“Hmm. I don’t believe it. Everything she did today is just screaming "let’s get back together." Can’t you see it? Or you still like her?” Ruby looked at him pointedly. Justin was a loyal person, she knew. But while she didn’t feel threatened by younger girls that were after men with partners as Beatrice said, someone that Justin had loved and even wanted to get married to was a bigger threat. What if he still had an inkling of love for her? That inkling could be easily reignited.

“Like who?” Justin returned her look with one of surprise. “What we had ended ages ago. I totally forgot about her. I’ve not seen her in like ages.”

“If you say so.”

The rest of the ride to his home was quiet, the only sound in the car was from the stereo. When he parked the car in the basement of the apartment, he took Ruby’s hand. He could see that the doubts and fears he had struggled to get rid of were slowly coming back.

“Babe.” He called out.

No answer.

“Sweetheart.” He kissed her hand. “Look at me.”

Ruby obeyed reluctantly. Her lips were curled in a pout.

“I can only have one woman in my life. And it’s just you. Jasmine is my past. She is not coming out of there, neither is her phone number going to leave the list of blocked contacts on my phone. I love you, Ruby. You know that, right? You’re it for me. Not Jasmine or anybody else. Don’t doubt that fact, okay?”

Ruby nodded.

“So, stop being angry with me, alright?” he coaxed.

She nodded.

“And don’t think about Jasmine. Or any other woman, okay? I’ll also get jealous.”

She couldn’t withhold her laughter. “Okay.”

“That’s my girl.” He kissed her.

That night, they didn’t make love. They cuddled and breathed in each other’s scents. The knot in Ruby’s heart loosened. She drifted off to sleep listening to his deep breathing over her head.

EPISODE EIGHTY-EIGHT

It was her first time in Abuja, she admitted to Justin as they walked out of the airport. Everything looked and smelled different. She took pictures. “One more,” she said to Justin, her boyfriend/photographer. He gazed at her affectionately as he took the pictures, indulging her as she changed poses. They took a cab to a hotel, thirty minutes away from the airport.

“Do you always stay in hotels like this when you come here?” she asked as they entered the hotel room.

“My parents live here, Ruby,” he reminded her.

“Look at me,” she slapped her forehead. She kept forgetting about his parents. “Your mother…?” She remembered him asking her if she wanted to meet his mother.

“We can have lunch with my parents before we leave on Sunday. They’re really nice. You’re going to love them. If you want.” He rubbed her arms.

She nodded. “Alright.” She thought about it. His eagerness for her to meet his parents was infective. She had seen pictures of his parents and also wanted to meet them. From Justin’s character, she could tell that they would be as pleasant as they looked in their pictures.

Later that evening, after they had rested, Justin took her to dinner at a five-star restaurant. After dinner, they went to a cinema. When they returned, Justin took her to the swimming pool in the hotel and taught her to swim. The rest of the night was spent in bed. Justin didn’t let her rest even when she complained that she was tired. His hands worked well, making her forget her tiredness to wrap her legs around his waist and pull him again inside her. As a result of the intense night exercise, they ended up spending half of the next day in bed. Ruby’s muscles felt so sore that she didn’t want to move.

“I should have stopped earlier,” Justin apologised when she complained of how he almost caused her to faint.

She slapped his chest lightly and adjusted her weight, throwing one naked leg over his thigh. “What about today’s plans? I don’t think I have the strength to do any other thing.”

He kissed her forehead. “We can stay in today. I wanted to take you to this nature park. It’s especially lovely in the afternoon. But we can go next time. In the evening, we’ll go to the Jabi boat club. The view at night is lovely.”

“Okay,” she mumbled and buried herself into his arms. “We can still go to the nature park.”

“I thought you said you were tired, eh?” He pinched the skin of her back, causing her to wiggle.

“Stop it.” She moaned. “If you continue like this, we’re not going to go anywhere in the end.”

“I’m not worried. After all, we still have a lot of time to explore everywhere in Abuja.” He laughed. “Maybe the next time we come, we’ll stay at that resort I told you about. Even if we spend the whole weekend there, we won’t explore the whole area.”

“Abuja is so nice,” she said.

“We can relocate later if you want,” he replied softly.

She kissed his chest. His certainty was appealing, this certainty about their future together. She loved it. “But I’ll always prefer Lagos.”

He pinched her nose. “Just say you don’t want to leave Lagos.”

She brushed his hand away and scrunched her nose. “I’m used to Lagos. Abuja is not for me.”

They listened to music in bed as they talked. Just like that, her first afternoon in Abuja passed with them holed up in their hotel room. They had an exquisite lunch in their room. She finally understood why Justin said she would be needing only her underwear. Even though it felt weird, she was dressed in single-piece underwear as they had lunch. Eventually, she got tired of slapping Justin’s roaming hands away. He was extremely touchy all through the meal.

That evening, Justin took her to the boat club. It was easily the most exquisite place that she had been to (not like she had gone to many places like that). The site was lovely, a perfect combination of man-made attractions with the natural world. They had dinner on a boat, with soft lighting. The fresh air caressed her skin as the boat floated on the water. They drank wine and looked out of the boat. They were not the only couple out in the night. Justin kissed her. His mouth tasted strongly of the wine. The day ended with another tumble on the bed. This time, Justin didn’t push her too much. He was also tired, stopping after the first round. After they cleaned up, they relaxed in bed, lazily watching the movie that was showing on the TV.

And like that, the weekend was gone. The next day was Sunday. The weekend getaway was over before Ruby could even enjoy it. Somehow, it didn’t even feel like a getaway, not with her body feeling drained and tired. She blamed it all on Justin.

“It’s not as if we cannot have sex in Lagos. Why do you have to jampack it all on this short weekend?” she complained as she dressed. They were about to head over to his parent's home.

“As if you didn’t enjoy it.” Justin helped her out with the buttons of her blouse, pecking her lips when he was done.

“Even though,” she mumbled. “I feel as though a truck ran over my body. Everywhere is so sore.” It was an understatement.

He tickled her waist. “How about a massage after lunch?”

“And our flight?”

“We’ll leave my parent’s place early. It’s just lunch. What do you think?”

“Hmm.” She pretended to be indifferent even though she was already screaming “Yes! Yes!” in her mind.

***
Justin’s parents lived away from the liveliness of the city centre in a quiet estate. From the type of houses in the estate, Ruby could guess the calibre of people that lived in the area. Anxiety racked through her bones as the car drove into one of the houses. On the outside, it was simple and elegant. There were fresh plants decorating the angles of the house. The security man that had opened the gate for them greeted them with familiarity and politeness, complimenting Ruby.

“He has been the security man for a long time now,” Justin told her. He led her into the house, calling out as they walked in, “Mum, dad?”

“In the living room,” a deep voice replied.

“My dad,” he said and walked with her to the living room.

Justin’s dad was a huge man, tall and thick. He got up when they went into the parlour, giving his son a wide hug. He smiled politely at Ruby, complimenting her looks. “You’re just as pretty as Justin said.”

His mother came into the living room. She was also tall, though her height only stopped at the shoulders of his father. When she looked at Ruby, she had a warm smile on her face. “Welcome. Ruby, eh?”

Ruby nodded. She was stiff with nerves. What if his parents decided she was too short and would undermine the passage of tall genes to their grandchildren? What if they didn’t want someone that wasn’t Igbo?

“The food is ready. Justin said you both still have to go back to Lagos today? Why the rush?”

“Mum, I told you Ruby has to resume at her new place of work tomorrow. You were not listening again,” Justin complained.

His father laughed. “She was looking at her account books. Do you think anything will enter her head at that time?” They walked to the dining, his parents continued exchanging banters.

The dining table was filled with different plates and jugs of juice. Ruby sat beside Justin, his father took the head of the table and his mother sat beside him. His mother led in a short prayer of thanksgiving before they started eating. They talked as they ate. His mother talked about her recent trip to Switzerland and how Justin’s sister and her husband were doing. “Ijema married a good man,” she extolled. Justin’s father engaged Ruby in a conversation. He didn’t ask her about herself, it seemed more as though he was trying to confirm everything Justin told him.

“You’re from Kogi eh? Which part?”

“Okehi.”

“An accountant? That’s good.”

It was a cordial meal, the atmosphere warm and welcoming. His parents didn’t press to know a lot of details about their relationship. After the meal, Justin told his parents that they needed to make one stop before heading to the airport, so they would have to leave early. They didn’t make any effort to make them stay longer. His parents invited Ruby to visit them the next time she was in Abuja (Ruby laughed about this in her mind. What would bring her to Abuja apart from Justin?) It was only as they left that Ruby realized that the man that had driven them to the house was his father’s driver.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” She pinched Justin’s arm at the back of the car where they sat. She spoke in a low voice so that the man wouldn’t hear.

“Like it matters.”

“So he’ll drive us to the massage parlour?”

Justin nodded. “It’s not necessary to look for another car. It’ll just waste our time. Don’t worry.”

Ruby still felt a little uncertain. She wasn’t sure why. Was he going to rattle to his parents that he’d picked them up from a hotel? If he did, what would his parents think of her? Spending nights with their son in a hotel? She didn’t think that his parents must have already made the assumption. Their son came to Abuja with his girlfriend but didn’t sleep in their house. Where else could they have been?

Justin must have thought this way but decided to keep it to himself, knowing how distressed Ruby would be if she thought his parents saw her as a loose girl.

Ruby enjoyed a full body massage before she left Abuja. She wished she could stay longer, maybe get her nails and her hair done.

“Next time,” Justin consoled her. “Even though I also want to indulge you, I wouldn’t want you arriving late at work tomorrow or looking for another job because you missed work on your first day.” He pecked her lips. “I’ll take you to this cool spa on Friday. You’re going to love it.”

yettielicious:
Finally…

Welcome back.

Thank you.

EPISODE EIGHTY-EIGHT

Ruby had always known that Justin’s dealership was huge, with even branches in other states of the country, but it was only when she went to where he worked that she understood the extent of his business. She found her way easily through the showroom, admiring the new cars that were lined up. A young boy came toward her asking what type of car she wanted to buy.

“I’m just looking around,” she joked, attracting a funny look from the young boy. She had sent a message to Justin that she had arrived, so she didn’t hurry to look for him. The boy didn’t stay very far from her, observing her as she looked at the cars, peering into the inside and knocking on the glass windows lightly.

“Which one do you like?” Justin’s voice came from behind her, startling her.

She had been focused on trying to see past the dark window and get an interior view of the car. “You scared me!” She hit him lightly on the shoulder.

He put his hand around her waist and gestured to the young boy. The boy left immediately. Justin kissed her on the neck. “So which one do you like?”

Ruby shrugged. “They are all cool. I didn’t know your business was this big.” She stood on her tiptoes to look around. “And you say you have showrooms in other places.”

He led her through the line of cars into an office. “I’m still building. How was lunch?”

“Great.” She sat down on the couch in the office and started telling him about her day.

Justin poured her a glass of juice and sat beside her. “She sounds like a nice person,” he said when she talked about Mrs Oyena.

“She really is. If you take one look at her, you might think she is harsh and unfriendly. But she is so cool. I’m really going to miss her.”

Justin rubbed her back in comfort. “The other day you were asking me which clothes to pack on our trip to Abuja. Have you sorted it out?”

Ruby eyed him. The call had gone from asking which clothes to pack to her on the bed, having phone intimacy. “I’ve sorted it out,” she said haughtily.

“My angel,” he teased, pinching her waist. “You don’t need to pack a lot of things. We’ll go shopping in Abuja.”

“Really?” Ruby leaned on him.

“Aren’t you starting a new job? You’re also going to need new clothes,” Justin continued.

Ruby pouted. “I can just get them here in Lagos instead of running all the way to Abuja just to buy clothes.”

“We can go now if you don’t mind?”

“EH!” Ruby widened her eyes.

“Of course babe. It’s best to go now. You see, tomorrow we’ll be in Abuja and we’ll return on Sunday evening. You have to resume work on Monday. There’ll be no other time before then.”

Her heart was beating faster. She wasn’t going to say ‘no’ to this. “Okay.” She swallowed.

It was not up to twenty minutes that she sat down in his office and they were already heading out. Justin gave some orders to the boys in the showroom and walked out with her.

“Do you have any place in mind?” Justin opened the door and she got into the car.

She thought a while as he walked around the car to get in the driver's seat. She tucked in her seatbelt as she spoke, “There’s this place. It’s not far from here. The owner of the boutique is Rose’s friend. Her clothes are really nice.”

Justin knew the place so he didn’t have to use the GPS navigation. They talked about music as they drove. They shared similar tastes, although Justin also enjoyed listening to traditional Igbo music.

It was a short drive to the boutique, only about twenty minutes. The traffic on the road was not hectic as it was still quite early. The owner of the boutique recognised Ruby as soon as she saw her.

“Wow, it’s been a long time, Rubs. How far? You’re looking really good.” Tonia hugged her as she gushed. A gust of heavy perfume overcame her nose. Of course, Rose said one of the things people didn’t like about Tonia was the way she poured perfume over herself. Not just one, sometimes she mixed even two or three.

Ruby held her breath until they separated. “You too. Oh, I love your hair.” Ruby returned her compliment with one. Tonia’s wig was long and from the feel of the hair she got while they hugged, she could tell it was of premium quality.

“You know, we never see you around since Rose left. How is she, by the way. She is not always online on WhatsApp.”

Ruby sighed. “Time difference. And you know how difficult things are for her there.” Ruby didn’t reply to her first statement. They were Rose’s friends. Most of the gatherings she went to was only because of Rose. Now that Rose wasn’t around, she didn’t feel the need to stick to a circle that she wasn’t familiar with.

“My dear!” Tonia moved her eyes to Justin who had been standing beside them all through their exchange of courtesies. “Your boyfriend?” she asked Ruby in a whisper.

She nodded. “Justin, my friend, Tonia. Tonia, Justin.”

Tonia greeted Justin politely and then turned to Ruby. “Let me show you around. You came just at the right time. My new arrivals came in yesterday. I just put them up this morning.”

Ruby turned to Justin. He nodded at her that he wouldn’t be far.

“Since when?” Tonia asked curiously when Justin was out of hearing distance.

“Three months.” Ruby took out a red skirt to look at it.

“This one is good,” Tonia said. “You can try it on.”

Ruby shook her head and returned it. “The colour is too stark.”

“What about this one? It’s white.” Tonia took out another skirt to show it to her.

Tonia was the perfect seller and the perfect gossip. In between gushing about how this blouse or that trouser would look great on her, she talked about how Lota finally got married after giving the man that wanted to marry her unnecessary headache. Rose had told her about it. She had also seen photos and videos of the wedding on social media. But there were differences between the version she got from Rose and the one Tonia was relating to her.

“This one would look good on you,” Justin cut into Tonia’s rambling about how Freda was giving up a lot of things to appease her overprotective husband.

Ruby looked at him with gratitude. Tonia was talking too much. With the way she gossiped, Ruby wondered if she would be the next topic of gossip when Lota or Freda or anyone that knew her called Tonia on the phone.

At least, Tonia could understand hints. She left almost immediately to attend to another customer.

“You looked like you needed help,” Justin said.

“Yes,” Ruby sighed in exasperation. She said in a low voice, “Rose always told me she was a ruthless gossip. Whether it is true or not, she will talk about it. They’re all afraid of her mouth.”

“I thought you liked gossip.” Justin brought out a cream blouse and held it out in front of her.

She stretched out her hand obediently. “Not this type. This type of gossip can ruin somebody’s life o. I’m not that heartless.”

He laughed. “Have you picked the ones you want?”

“They’re all really good. I don’t know which one to choose.” She held out a black dress and the cream blouse Justin picked.

“Let’s try all of them, then you can take the ones you want. Don’t worry about the price.” He kissed her on her forehead. “I’ll handle it.”

In the end, they spent almost two hours in Tonia’s boutique. Customers came and left, some came as couples. Justin and Ruby left the boutique with clothes enough for Ruby to wear for the next few months.

“Come again next time.” Tonia bade them goodbye with a broad smile on her face. She must have gotten a lot of profit from this single sale.

“I can already imagine what she will tell her friends,” Ruby groaned as Justin pulled away from the front of the boutique.

“What?” Justin grinned. “That you have a rich boyfriend that spends money on you.”

Maybe worse, she thought to herself. Even Rose was careful to not share a lot of details with Tonia. It could be twisted into something else.

“Don’t mind her.” Justin briefly squeezed her thigh then returned his hand to the steering wheel. “After all, it’s not her money that you are spending.”

Ruby laughed. “What time are we leaving tomorrow?”

“I already booked an afternoon ticket. I’ll send someone to pick you up at 2 pm. It’s not too early, right? I know you wanted to sleep today.”

It was only now that she remembered the get-together with Ama and her other colleagues. “My God. I totally forgot about this evening.” She looked at her phone. Ama had already sent her the details for the get-together. If she went home, she wouldn’t meet up.

“Where is the place?” Justin asked.

She told him.

“We can go to my office and wait. The place is not far from there. I’ll drive you there when it’s time.”

“Really? I don’t want to take up much of your time.” She suddenly realized how Justin was always making out time to accompany her whatever she did, especially during workdays when she was sure he would have been busy with work.

He winked at her. “I’m the boss. You don’t need to worry. I know how to arrange my time. And most importantly, you are worth my time.”

He drove back to his office. While he worked, Ruby relaxed on the couch, munching on the snacks he bought for her and scrolling through social media. As the time for the get-together drew closer, she followed him out and into the car.

“Are you going to join us?” she asked as he drove.

He shook his head. “I’ll just let you guys do your thing. I’ll just wait for you.”

She didn’t say anything. She felt so lucky, to have a man like this, a man willing to wait that long for her. Justin, Justin, J-U-S-T-I-N, she repeated the name in her mind, spelling the words out. Justin. She had fallen for him, completely, wholly, without any reservations. His actions had swept away whatever doubts, whatever fears she had over their relationship. And now, she was all in—her heart, her mind, her head, and her body were all buried underneath the sea of Justin. She looked at him as he drove, admired his clean-shaven jaw, his wide ears, that nose that settled perfectly on his face. He was not the most handsome man that she’d come across, but he was her handsome prince. He was her boyfriend, her handsome boyfriend. He was Ruby’s boyfriend, she thought to herself. Ruby’s boyfriend.

“If you look at me like that any longer, I’ll just drive straight to my place,” Justin cut into her inner musings with a mischievous smile.

She looked away shyly. “Who said I was looking at you?”

He laughed. “Look all you want. It’s all yours.” He winked.

She couldn’t withhold her laughter. “Concentrate on your driving, before we land inside gutter o.” Yes, this was her boyfriend.

***
It was a simple gathering of just six people including Ama and Ruby. The four others were the closest to her during her time at the company. Ama picked a small, classic bar for the gathering. They ate grilled fish and drank wine, talking about their experiences in the company. They laughed. They toasted to Ruby’s future endeavours. They toasted to their own successes. It didn’t last for long. They still had work tomorrow and it was already late.

“You know how Lagos traffic is,” one of them joked, in case Ruby felt bad about their leaving too soon.

But Ruby was glad that it ended quickly. She didn’t feel comfortable knowing Justin was waiting for her. Ama was the only one remaining when they left.

“Why didn’t you invite him to join us?” Ama asked when Ruby told her that Justin was waiting for her.

“I invited him. He said I should just do my thing.” Ruby sent him a message to Justin.

“I’ll be on my way too.” Ama saw the message she sent to Justin and stood up. “There’s this nice restaurant behind. The atmosphere there is quite cosy. You guys can have dinner there before you go home.”

Ruby smiled at her in gratitude. She hadn’t eaten much especially knowing that Justin hadn’t eaten either. When she walked out of the restaurant with Ama, Justin was already waiting for her by the entrance. The introductions were short. Ama left almost immediately after they exchanged names.

They had a simple dinner at the restaurant. Justin drove her home. He didn’t stay long at her place. He still needed to sort out some things before their trip. So he left as soon as he helped her offload the bags of clothes into her house. She decided to leave the new clothes until she returned from Abuja. It was an exhausting day. She said goodbye to her former life; one without dreams, without struggles, without love. It was going to be a fresh start for her. And she looked forward to it all.

I apologize for the late update. I'll resume normal updates this week. Thank you again for reading my story

EPISODE EIGHTY-SEVEN

“How did the interview go?” Justin’s voice echoed from the speakerphone.

It was Wednesday evening. Ruby massaged her feet in the living room. Her legs hurt like mad. “It went well. Anthony told me that I would be getting it. He says I’m one of the few people that qualified for the position. He became more amiable when I told him I was going to get an accountancy qualification. He got almost his certifications abroad. He said I could come to him if I needed help.”

“I’m glad it went well. So when are you starting?”

“Next week.” She groaned. “Mrs Oyena told me it was better to start working towards my resignation earlier. But now, I don’t know. I already sent her a message on WhatsApp but she hasn’t replied yet. I think I will quit tomorrow, so I can take off time to rest before resuming at the new place on Monday.”

“I don’t think it should matter. After all, you already have another place to go. By the way, what about the location of the place? Is it far from where you live?”

“No. Luckily, it’s in Ikeja. Not far from here. I can take the BRT bus direct, and then just take a keke to the office. Maybe twenty minutes. Even if I take a cab, it’s not that expensive. It’s not as stressful as this current place.”

“Why don’t you use Rose’s car, then let Patrick pick it up from the office. That way, you won’t have to trouble yourself with public transport.”

Ruby didn’t like driving. The other day, she had gotten enough insults that would last her life when she almost crashed into someone’s car. Even being a slow driver came with its wahala. “I don’t know yet. I’ll consider it.”

“You think I don’t know what you’re thinking?” Justin laughed. “If you don’t drive often, how will you get used to Lagos road?”

“Those drivers are scary, I swear. Any small thing, somebody wants to break your head. No o. I still like my head.”

He guffawed. She could hear him slapping his thigh. “Sweetheart, nobody will break your head.”

She smiled. “Ehen, yesterday you were giving me updates from that man and his pregnant sidepiece drama. What happened again? What did the wife say?”

“You and gossip eh, Ruby!”

Ruby scrunched her face. “As if you don’t like it when I pressure you for more gist.”

“She wants to take the children with her and go abroad. She wants the man to sponsor everything. They’re at a standstill now. The sidepiece doesn’t want to get rid of the baby; the man doesn’t want her to give birth to the baby; his wife just wants to use this opportunity to go abroad.”

Ruby burst out laughing. “Omo drama. The man should just allow the woman to go abroad na.”

“The sidepiece said if the wife goes abroad, she too, she would go.”

“See guts o. On top person husband.” Ruby shook her head. “Things dey happen sha.”

Justin agreed with her.

“You said you wanted to take the weekend off to relax, right?” he asked after they made small talk on the side-chick drama.

“Yes.”

“Why don’t we go to Abuja together?”

“Hmm?”

“Did I say we will go to Abuja when I come back from SA?” She made a noise of agreement. “We can go this weekend. I was worried that you wouldn’t have time because of your work, so I didn’t mention it earlier.”

“Works for me.” She stood up and head into her room, to begin choosing the clothes she would go with.

“My mum is also coming back from Switzerland this weekend. You know she has been travelling to and fro to help my sister with the baby. I’m sure she would love to meet you.”

“Isn’t it too soon?” She paused in between looking at one of her jean trousers. What was that whitish stain on the black fabric?

“I already told her about you. She’s really nice. You don’t need to worry.”

“I mean, we’ve only been dating for what? Like three months?”

She heard Justin take in a deep breath. “I don’t think it matters. But if you feel it’s too soon, we can wait until you’re ready.”

Ruby was quiet for a while before she said, “Okay. I’ll think about it.”

It wasn’t awkward between them for too long. Ruby playfully asked him what type of clothes to pack for the trip, and the rest of the conversation went in another direction, with Justin saying “Just your underwear. It’s not like we’ll be doing anything much outside the room.”

***
The next day, Ruby went to the company with her already typed and enveloped resignation letter.

“I’m sorry, Mrs Oyena.” She stood beside Mrs Oyena’s desk with the expression of a child waiting to be queried. “The company that employed me wants me to start work immediately.” She explained that she also wanted to take some time off to rest before she resumed work.

Mrs Oyena looked at the letter in her hand. It was only a few minutes past 8:30 am, the usual time they resumed work. Mrs Oyena had just settled down at her table before Ruby came up to her.

She sighed. “It’s alright. Go and submit the letter. If any problem arises, you can come and get me.”

“Thank you ma,” Ruby revealed a toothy smile and went to HR to submit the letter. It wasn’t a difficult process nor was she given a hard time. Only that the personnel at the HR queried her thoroughly, advising her that even though her employment contract didn’t state repercussions for resigning without early notice, she still couldn’t do that as she was giving the company problems.

She kept on muttering, “I’m sorry, ma” as the woman spoke. Even though she had a number of comebacks in her mind, she thought it was better to keep them to herself until she got her salary.

After assuring her that she would be paid the rest of her salary within the next week, Ruby left HR with light steps. On her way back, she stopped at Ama’s office and informed her of her resignation.

“That fast?” Ama looked at her in surprise. “I thought you were resuming next week? There’s still tomorrow.”

“I want to rest, Ama. I cannot go from one highway to the other without stopping for fuel na. Besides,” she lowered her voice. “We are going to Abuja for the weekend. Me and Justin.”

Ama couldn’t hold her squeal, attracting curious stares from the people inside the office. “Sorry.” She pulled Ruby out into the corridor.

“Really? Babe, that’s so cool. The guy is treating you really well. I’m happy for you.”

Ruby shrugged. “Thank you.”

“Are you leaving now? Can’t you wait till lunchtime so we can go out to celebrate? I’m sure some of our colleagues wouldn’t mind.”

Ruby had suspected something like this would come up. She’d worked in the company for almost 5 years. Even though she wasn’t extremely close with her co-workers, they still shared a level of familiarity and closeness. It didn’t seem right to leave without doing anything.

“What about in the evening? I’m going to arrange it and send the address to you.”

Ama rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry babe. I’ll arrange it myself. You’re the one leaving, not us.”

Ruby gave her an uncertain look. “I’m not…”

“No. I mean it. It’s not something big. I’ll ask the others and get their opinion. Maybe we’ll just find a chill place and relax.”

Ruby let out a sigh of resignation. “Alright. I’ll just listen to you.”

She went back to her office to pack her things. When she told her office mates that she was leaving, they revealed different expressions. She listened to their well-wishes as she packed, expressing her gratitude.

“Are you leaving immediately?” Mrs Oyena asked.

Ruby nodded. She didn’t see the sense in staying any longer when she was no longer being paid.

“You cannot wait till afternoon? Let’s have lunch together then you leave?” Gina stated what was on Mrs Oyena’s mind.

“It’s true,” Bayo put in. “We don’t often have lunch together. Why don’t we share one last meal together? We don’t have to go far, just at Iyabo’s place opposite.”

Ruby looked at their expectant faces and gave in. “Alright.” She didn’t pause in packing her things though. Rose’s car was outside and Patrick was on his way to pick up the car for the daily Uber business.

Initially, she planned to spend the whole day at home. She would first arrange her wardrobe and get rid of the work clothes that were either old or the ones that she no longer wore. And then, she would spend the rest of the day sleeping or scrolling through social media. Now, she had to change her plans.

When Patrick arrived, she took her things down and placed them in the booth of the car. “When you finish for today, just take the car home.”
She sent a message to Justin informing him of her change in plans.

Why don’t you come to the dealership in the afternoon, after lunch with your colleagues?
I haven’t shown you around yet.

She stared at the message for a few minutes before typing a reply. I wanted to go home and sleep.

His message came in almost immediately as though he’d expected the reply.
I will drive you home after.

She smiled to herself and sent a smile emoji. Her afternoon was gone, just like that.

The rest of the morning in the office was a relaxed atmosphere. Even though her colleagues still worked, they threw banters at each other unlike before when the office was usually a silent zone during work hours. Ruby joined them in the banters. Ruby was tying up some loose ends of the work in her head, forwarding them to Mrs Oyena. It had seemed like a small task, but as she worked, she realized why Mrs Oyena wanted a week’s notice before she resigned. It wasn’t something that could be done in four hours, but she gave it her best.

“Don’t worry,” Mrs Oyena said. “They can handle the rest.” She gestured at Bayo and the other two people in the office.

At lunchtime, Ruby walked out of the company with her colleagues. It would probably be her last time in the company, but she didn’t feel nostalgic. Even though a huge percentage of her time had been spent in the cream-painted building, she didn’t have any feelings toward it. But she would miss the restaurant opposite. It was one place that left her with happy memories.

“You can still come around here to eat,” Gina said when she expressed her feelings toward the restaurant.

“I’m sure she will find a better restaurant at her new workplace,” Bayo retorted. He reduced his voice and said, “The restaurant near that supermarket, is it not better than this place?”

Gina nodded. “That’s where most of us eat.”

Ruby had eaten in the restaurant they talked about. It was a new restaurant, open for about four months now. Ruby didn’t like the food there. The size of the meat didn’t appeal to her as well.

Mrs Oyena paid for their meals. Ruby expressed her thanks to her. She reminded herself to buy the woman a gift when she returned from Abuja. Mrs Oyena had been so helpful to her throughout her stay in the company. It wouldn’t be nice to leave without so much as a gift.

After lunch, she bade her colleagues, now ex-colleagues, goodbye and took a cab to Justin’s office.

yettielicious:
Thanks for this beautiful update…
More grease to your elbow.

Thank you

Ann2012:
Interesting as always
Well done OP

Thank you

EPISODE EIGHTY-SIX

The invitation from Anthony’s firm for an interview the next morning while she was at work. She forwarded the message to Justin attaching the emojis of the dancing woman and the cheeky smile. Earlier that day, while she was preparing for work, he’d called her to remind her about the registration for accountancy courses. Of course, she wouldn’t forget. He’d reminded her over and over again the previous night when he dropped her at her place. Ruby knew the road to be a chartered accountant, registered under the ICAN was a long, and arduous one. Honestly, she still wasn’t sure about her determination to follow through especially with all the complicated stages that were involved.

She sighed, and then replied to the email carrying details of the interview. She closed down the window immediately to avoid getting into trouble again. She peeked at Mrs Oyena, grateful for having such a superior at work.

As soon as she came to work that morning, she’d taken a trip to HR to request a leave of absence in the afternoon. Registering for an accounting course wouldn’t take the whole afternoon, in fact, an hour was too long. It was also something that could be done online. After all, she was only registering for a course and not the exams. But she like taking the whole afternoon off. She didn’t often take time off from work. The only time was when she was ill and was forced to take time off to take care of her illness. From the look of things, she would have to take time off again two days later, Wednesday, to attend the interview.

When it was time for the lunch break, she went to see Ama.

“I told you before that I wanted to take ICAN exams. I’m going to register for the courses this afternoon.”

“Finally!” Ama drank from her bottle of Fanta.

Ruby eyed her. “What do you mean?”

“Two years since you said you wanted to write it. It’s just now you’re taking action. I’m just glad you finally decided to become serious.”

“Hmm.” She rubbed her nose in shame. “I’m serious this time. Justin is going with me to register. If I take the courses seriously, I should be able to register for ICAN exams next year.” She sighed. “It’s a long process. A lot of exams, a lot of courses.”

Ama patted her on the back. “One step at a time.”

She nodded. “Oh, and I have another news.” She looked around to see if there was anyone around, then went closer to whisper into Ama’s ears. “I’m going for an interview on Wednesday, for a new job.”

Ama widened her eyes. “Wow, really. That’s good. I didn’t know you were looking for a new job.”

Ruby shrugged. “I wasn’t certain yet. A friend sent the job details to me, so I decided to try it out.”

Ama smiled and looked at her, drawing closer to her. “At first, I didn’t want to tell anybody. You know, with all this co-worker and office drama. But since you shared yours, let me tell you too, I also went for another interview on Saturday. The fourth one in three months. I’m waiting for the result.”

Ruby didn’t feel offended. At first, she didn’t want to tell Ama about it, even though they had been close friends for about four years. In a work environment, it was difficult to tell who was a true and loyal friend. But after considering it, she decided she needed someone to talk to, as Rose was not around. She wasn’t one for bottling things in her mind. In telling Ama, she decided to take a chance.

“It’s alright. Me too, I didn’t want to say anything at first. I just thought I should let you know.”

Ama smiled and squeezed Ruby’s hand in confidence. “Don’t’ worry. It’ll work out. Even though this job is good, I don’t want to remain in the same place for too long. And another thing, I really don’t like this new GM.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “My sister. The man is just something else. Pretentious hypocrite.” She thought of the woman that had come to the office on Friday, a pretty woman with a lovely smile. She had been so nice to all the workers she came across, greeting them politely. It was later that news flew around that she was his fiancee, the one that just returned from abroad. Compared to the small girl the GM was seeing in the office, who took advantage of the fact that the GM was sleeping with her to give attitude to her other colleagues, she was left wondering what he saw in the girl that made her better than his fiancee.

“They’ve not gotten married yet. I’m sure if she gets to know what her fiance is doing, she would end the marriage. But for me, I’m not going to put my mouth inside someone’s matter, before they sack me before my time,” Ama said.

Ruby agreed with her. There were times when they needed to mind their business.

Justin’s car was already outside the company by the time they came out. Ama gave Ruby a sneaky smile before waving her goodbye and walking to the opposite restaurant.

“Babe.” Ruby kissed Justin and then got into the car.

“You said you needed a referee for the registration. Have you gotten anyone yet?”

Ruby shook her head. “I’ve not asked yet. Two of my coursemates from the uni are eligible. But right now, I want to take courses for the exam first before registering for the ICAN.”

“If you need someone, I can help you. My father may be in the medical field, but I’m sure he will have contacts that can help.”

Ruby smiled. The importance of connection. “Thank you.”

“So where are we going?” Justin asked.

Ruby gave him a look. “The way you were driving, someone will think you even know where you are going.” She shook her head. “Lekki.” She called out the address. “Even though their fees are quite expensive, they’re quite reputable and have good testimonials.”

He inputted the address into his phone map and began navigating.

“They also provide online courses, so I don’t need to be running there every day,” she continued.

Two hours later, they drove out of the institution, Ruby already registered and was on her way to becoming a chartered accountant. Ruby had prepared the money required to pay for the course, but Justin remained adamant and paid it for her. “I’m your boyfriend,” he said when she continued insisting on paying for it herself. “How can I be here and still watch you spend the money?” He put his hand around her waist and pinched it slightly. She should really get used to his pinches, she thought when she shivered at the small action, attracting a suspicious look from the woman behind the counter.

“Where next?” Justin looked at her as they drove out of the gate. “Are you going back to work?”

“I took the rest of the day off. If I decide to go back now, by the time I get to the office, it would be almost 5 pm. I don’t think it’s necessary.”

“Well, then. I know where next.”

He drove to Shoprite.

Ruby looked at him. “Really?”

He smiled. “Come on.”

Justin took her shopping. He bought her snacks, provisions, fruits, an expensive bag and perfume. This was the first time he was taking her shopping. Ruby was careful not to be too greedy even though she liked the feeling of someone spending money on her. After they put the things they bought in the car's booth, they went to the cinema.

“I feel so naughty being in the cinema on a Monday when my mates are at work,” she whispered into Justin’s ear when they sat down. There were still people in the cinema even though it was a Monday.

Justin pinched her waist. “It’s not as if you didn’t work today.”

Ruby agreed with him. In order to take a guilt-free leave of absence, she had crammed in a lot of work in the morning. She felt it was a well-deserved break.

They didn’t concentrate on the movie, stealing kisses at the back of the cinema where they sat. Ruby was thrilled at this. She’d always wanted to do something like this at a cinema, with someone she was dating. Fred had been too uptight when they went on dates to the cinema, his whole attention on the screen. She hadn’t lasted long enough with her other boyfriends to go to the cinema.

By the time the movie was over, Ruby felt her lips were a little sore. The insides of her legs felt wet. She couldn’t wait to get home.

“Babe.” Justin’s voice seemed to echo what she felt.

“Let’s go home,” she muttered.

***
The drive back to her apartment was quiet, thick with tension. Ruby cursed a thousand times at the traffic jam that signalled the end of another workday. She was certain that whatever passion in her head would have dispersed when they got home.

As she had imagined, by the time they finally got home, almost three hours later, she was exhausted. The only thing on her mind was to lie down and sleep.

“I’m so tired.” She yawned. The shopping bag in her hand felt as though it was loaded with stones. It was only as they were taking the things out of the car that she realized that she’d gotten a lot of things, despite her initial determination to just buy a little.

“You can leave them. I can handle them.” Justin wanted to take the bag out of her hand even though he was already carrying two bags.

She didn’t loosen her hold on the bag. “It’s not that heavy.”

It took two trips to finally offload the contents of the car. Ruby opened a carton of juice from the dozen Justin had bought and poured it into two glasses. They sat down in the living room.

“Aren’t you going to arrange them?” Justin asked, gesturing at the group of yellow bags at one corner of the living room. He finished his glass of juice in a few gulps and helped himself to another glass.

“Later,” she said dismissively. “Or maybe tomorrow.”

Justin massaged her thighs. “Are you that tired?”

“Can’t you tell?” She pouted and leaned her head on his shoulders. “I don’t even want to move from here.”

Justin rubbed her head. “What about me?” he complained in a childish voice.

Ruby snuggled in deeper into him, curling into his chest. “Don’t worry you can sleep here.”

Surrounded by his scent, Ruby slept off within a few minutes. It was hours later that she woke up. Justin was putting on his shoes. “Are you going now?” She rubbed her eyes with a slight yawn.

“Yes.” He leaned over to kiss her on the cheeks. “It’s almost 4 am. I want to hurry home before the morning traffic hits. I have an important client to deal with, so I have to be at the dealership by 9.”

Ruby felt a slight crick in her neck. She looked at the couch on which they had slept for the night. She wondered how Justin would be feeling. Probably worse, because she had been laying on him all throughout.

“Don’t worry. You can still get some more sleep. Send me a message when you get to work, okay?” He kissed her again. She nodded.

He waited until she went into her room to continue sleeping before he left, locking the door behind him as he left.

EPISODE EIGHTY-FOUR

The next morning when Ruby woke up, Justin was still sleeping. Because she was hungry, she decided to make a simple breakfast, making use of the things available in the house. The house was pretty stocked. There were some vegetables in the fridge—tomatoes, carrots, green peas—as well as containers of soup. She wondered if he cooked the soups by himself or if he ordered them from one of those online caterers.

She was frying eggs when Justin came into the kitchen.

“What are you making?” He wound his hands around her waist and kissed her on her neck.

She shivered and tried to move away from his hold. She scrunched her nose as she said, “Indomie and egg.”

He laughed. He looked at the vegetables she had prepared. Diced onions and carrots. Roughly chopped tomatoes. “You don’t need my help?”

“Just for simple indomie?” she tsked. “I can cook o. Shey you know?”

“Of course, I know. I was just asking.” He poured himself a glass of water from the fridge and gulped it down.

“You didn’t go to the gym today?”

“I don’t go on Sundays. Next time you should come with me. The gym here is well-equipped.”

She shook her head vigorously. “Not me.”

He came towards her again, putting her hands around her. “Come on. You’ll like it. I swear.”

She still shook her head. She took his hands away. He was making it difficult for her to concentrate on the eggs. They were already slightly brown. She took the frying pan down from the stove.

“Even if it is just to watch me,” he grinned, pinching her waist. She glared at him and gently pushed him away.

“I’ll consider it.” She proceeded to fry the already parboiled noodles. “Do you have pepper? I didn’t see it.”

“You want to pack pepper inside this small thing?” Justin widened his eyes, pointing at the parboiled noodles in the colander. He went to the fridge to bring out a can of blended pepper. He gave it to her. “Don’t use a lot of pepper. It’s too early.”

Ruby eyed him. Was indomie still indomie without plenty of pepper? “I thought you liked pepper too?”

“I like pepper, but not this early morning. This is breakfast.” He sighed as though he were communicating with a child that did not understand the dangers of the wider world. He went on to explain. “Pepper is good for the body, but using a lot of pepper to start the day, eating a lot of pepper on an empty stomach is not good.”

“I just ate a little bread before,” she countered.

“And me?” He pouted. “I’ve not eaten anything.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay. I will just use half a spoon.”

“No. Quarter.”

“It’s not going to be enough.”

“This pepper mixture is strong o. I bought it from a Yoruba woman. Even a little amount can be so spicy.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll use a quarter and a tiny amount.”

He laughed. “What do you want to do later?” He leaned on the fridge and watched her as she cooked. If she turned to look at him now, she would see the look of affection and admiration on his face.

“I don’t know. It’s your house. You’re the one that invited me.” She stirred the onion and tomato mixture into the pot with hot oil, stepping back to avoid oil splashes.

“We can go to the cinema later in the evening, after dinner.”

“Okay.” She added the Indomie spices and a quarter spoon of pepper as she’d promised. “See o, just a quarter spoon,” she said in case he had missed it.

“Hmm. Anyhow it comes out, I’ll still eat it, so far as you’re the one that prepared it.”

She threw him a dirty look and went ahead to pour in the carrots and peas. She stirred for a while before she put in the noodles and turned them together.

“Tea or coffee, madame?” Justin plugged in the electric kettle.

“Tea, biko.” She didn’t like coffee. She always ended up with a runny stomach after she drank it. “When you say tea, you mean milk and milo, right?” Some time ago, Rose told her how she’d ordered tea instead of a chocolate drink when she went to a cafe and ended up with a cup of bitter black tea.

As though he knew what she was thinking of, he said, “Lipton.”

“I’ll take milk and milo tea.” She ignored the mischievous look on his face and turned off the stove.

They ate in the dining room, throwing banters at each other. After eating, they relaxed on his balcony. The sun wasn’t too harsh. Ruby worked on her laptop while Justin read a book. The music from the speakers in the living room was just enough to put her in a relaxed mood. When she got tired, she pulled Justin with her into the room. They made love, and talked, and then made love again. When they were exhausted, they fell asleep.

Later in the evening, Ruby packed her overnight bag and placed it in the booth of the car. They went out for dinner, in a nice restaurant by the beach. Because Ruby found the night air more refreshing, they gave up going to the cinema and sat by the beach for a long time, talking.

When she lay on her bed later in the night, she thought about what they talked about. They seemed to have so many things to talk about even though they didn’t have a lot in common. Justin talked about cars; he talked about football and basketball, his favourite sports; he told her stories from his secondary school days—when men were boys— and he talked about his mother.

She listened and laughed at his jokes. And then she told him about her childhood; she told him about her brother and his antics; she told him about the different times she’d spent her money on things that she ended up not using; she talked about accounting.

They made assumptions about their lives before they met each other—what if I didn’t study accounting; what if I went abroad to study as my father wanted me to; what if your ex agreed to marry you when you proposed; what if I was already married when we met.

And then they would cancel the assumptions. Thank God we met when we did. It was the right time. Thank God your ex didn’t agree to marry you. Thank God I was single when we met.

There were the tentative moments too. When they touched on topics about the future. Where do you think you would be in the next ten years? Their answers were similar, both supposed they would be married with kids by then, and had different hopes for their professions.

When they spoke about the future, Justin held her hand as he talked. He didn’t shy about using the pronouns ‘we’, ‘us’. His more daring expressions were all the boost she needed to think of a future, their future together.

And now, as she laid down, about to sleep, she allowed herself to imagine. Imagine a life with Justin, raising their kids together, weathering the storms of married life together, growing old together. When she drifted off to sleep, her dreams were filled with laughter, not just hers and Justin’s, but also those of their future children.

EPISODE EIGHTY-THREE

It was a homely gathering. Later that evening Justin took Ruby with him to the gathering. It was in a mansion, fifteen minutes far from his where he lived. A woman in her mid-thirties welcomed them, giving them warm hugs. She asked Justin about his business and his recent trip. After Justin introduced her to the woman, as his girlfriend, she told him to join the other men inside while she spoke with Ruby. They walked inside together. Ruby could hear the sound from inside the house, men greeting each other with loud, enthusiastic voices.
The woman, Rita, told her to feel at home. Since she was Justin’s partner, she was also one of them.

The house painted light brown and cream was spacious. The ceilings were so high that it was easy to hear the echo of voices. When she went to the wide living room where about five men were seated, she was struck with uneasiness. She recognized two of the men from the group that had come in with Justin the second time they met at the bar. She concealed her discomposure with a smile and returned their greetings. They were curious about her—what she did, where she came from, most especially how they started dating as Justin had been stingy with that information, only telling them that he was in the talking stage with a certain somebody. They made jokes about Justin but in the end, implored Ruby to take care of their guy.

While they talked, three women came into the living room. Of the group, four of the men were married. Rita and her husband Olisa were the hosts. They were married for ten years and had three kids. The others were recently married. Ruby immediately bonded with Lotachi. She was the closest to her age and like her worked an office job.

The last to arrive seemed to be the ‘problem couple’ of the group. From the expressions on their face when they came in, Ruby could tell that they must have had a quarrel. As if on cue, the ladies left the living room to the men and went to the living room upstairs. It was much smaller, much simpler in design but still as exquisite as the other living room. Rita was already asking the woman, Beatrice, what happened before they took their seats.

They had quarrelled again, she said, this time it was over whether she should stop working to take care of their 3-months-old twins. Her husband didn’t trust any nanny and preferred her to stay at home. Beatrice felt she was doing too well to stop working.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to start a supermarket?” Blessing, one of the women asked. “Why doesn’t he just open one for you? Then you can stay at home and still make your money?”

Beatrice rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to stop working, simple. I’m sure he wants to turn me into a housewife.”

They gave her different advice—employ a relative, take care of the children for a few months before returning to work—but Beatrice was adamant.

Lotachi whispered at Ruby, “This one is just looking for wahala. Don’t mind her.” She abandoned the conversation to talk to Ruby about their jobs and the stress that came with having office work.

Bits and pieces of the conversation between the other women passed through Ruby’s ears. A widow who had lost her husband five years ago was getting married to a second husband; Olisa, Rita’s husband was looking to extend his business to Southern Africa; Blessing wanted to travel abroad for a health check-up.

Much later, they went downstairs to join the men. It was a lively atmosphere, conversations flying here and there, laughter echoing through the house. They ate in a wide dining room that must have been built for this purpose.

It was around 10 pm before they started dispersing, especially the ones with kids. Beatrice's mother had come for omugwuo, so they could leave the kids with her, but not for too long.

Justin and Ruby left much later, some minutes past ten.

“How was it?” Justin asked as they drove out of the compound.

“You have really good friends,” Ruby commented. “You seem different around them.”

“Those are my guys,” he said. “Three of them are my classmates from secondary school—Tobechi, Ugo and Abel. You know I went to a boarding school.” He shook his head in reminiscence. “Omo, the things we did together.” He laughed.

“And Olisa? He’s the oldest among you.”

“We became friends along the line. But he was our senior back in school. He helped us all, especially Ugo. He helped him with his business. Joe is also one of the people he helped. Some days like this, we just get together, sometimes we’ll meet different faces. The man has a lot of contacts. Some of them come and go, you know.”

Ruby nodded in understanding. It was difficult to get connections like this.

“They like you,” he said after some seconds of silence passed.

“Really?” Ruby hadn’t felt open among them. Even among the women, she only felt comfortable talking to Lotachi. It wasn’t that they were mean to her or ignored her, she didn’t know how to bring herself into their circle. When they talked, they spoke about things that were different from her reality; they talked about travelling abroad for check-ups. And what could she bring to the conversation? How to sit in an office for more than seven hours without feeling restless?

She would reply when they asked her questions, compliment them when they talked about something they were proud of, but aside from that, there was really little she could talk to them about. Or maybe not. They’d had an intense conversation over the state of things in the country. It was the only topic she felt she could contribute to, after all, it was the one thing they all had in common.

“Don’t worry.” Justin covered her hand with his and rubbed it. “It’ll take a while but you’ll get used to them. They’re really nice set of people.”

“I know.” She smiled at him.

Without thinking about how she felt among his friends, she was delighted that he was bringing her into his circle. Lotachi had told her that when either of the men brought their partners to small gatherings like this, it meant serious business. She didn’t really understand it until after she got married to her husband, Joe.

She smiled again, thinking of how he held her in front of his friends, the possessive arm around her waist. Once or twice, he slipped his hand under her blouse and began tracing circles as he talked to his friends, as though trying to pass a message across. She thought of how he kept his attention on her all through the gathering. When she looked around, thinking of how to ask where the restroom was, he was at her side in no time and showed her where it was.

“Thank you,” she said.

Justin looked at her in surprise. “What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“You have come again! What is the matter?”

“I mean it. I’m just grateful for everything.”

At this time, they had gotten to his apartment. As he waited for the gate to open, he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?”

When they got inside, Ruby took the initiative again, pushing Justin on the bed and riding him. As they made love, she slowly came to the realization that maybe this was it. Maybe this was the romance she’d been looking for. And she was going to cherish it.

EPISODE EIGHTY-TWO

It was Ruby that made the first move. One minute they were watching the mangrove forest and the next, their lips were locked in a kiss. She blamed it on the alcohol. She had ended up taking more glasses than she’d expected.

She deepened the kiss, pulling Justin closer to her. Her roaming hands were not content to remain on his muscular arms. His muscular chest was her goal. She slipped her hands into his shirt, sliding her hands over his skin that felt warm. His hands were not idle too. He cupped her buttocks, bringing her over his legs. She obliged, placing her legs on either side of his thighs. The narrator on the TV was now describing the type of plant life that existed in the mangrove. Ruby wanted to tell him to keep stop talking.

She was also the first to pull away when it became harder to breathe. Gulping in breaths, she looked at him. His shirt had been raised all the way up to his chest. She started tracing lines on his skin. “Let’s go inside?” She had intended it to be a statement, but it ended up as a question.

His hands were on her waist. “You really want to do this?”

Feeling naughty and in the heat of the moment, she wiggled her buttock over him, where she could already feel a bulge. “Why not? Don’t you?”

His reply was pulling her in for another kiss. But a few minutes later, he stood up suddenly still holding her. She squealed in fright and put her legs around him to avoid falling off.

Worried about her weight, she wanted to come down, but the arms around her were as strong as steel.

“Don’t worry.” He walked with her into the bedroom. The way he carried her as though she didn’t weigh about 68kg made her feel excited. She pecked him as he walked; on the cheeks, eyebrows, lips, atop the nose.

She didn’t bother looking or admiring the room. She was more interested in his body. Once he placed her on the bed, she pulled him down, enjoying his warm body weight over hers. When he took her clothes off, she didn’t shy away from his gaze, enjoying the attention as his heated eyes ran over her body. He played with her body, running his mouth over her, expertly pleasuring her with his tongue. When he entered her, she curved her legs around his waist taking him in deeper. Her moans bounced off the walls of the room. He kissed her as he moved, inviting her to join his rhythm, to dance with him.

It was a long night. Ruby felt drained when Justin finally pulled out of her. For a time, she felt she was going to blackout from the waves after the waves of explosion that hit her.

“That was…wow!” Justin collapsed beside her.

Ruby turned to him, breathing hard. “Worth the wait, huh?”

He kissed her on the forehead. “Much more than I expected. How do you feel?”

“Can’t you tell?” She rested her head on his shoulder. “I can’t move.” She wasn’t lying. Her legs still felt a little shaky.

He sat up on the bed, then carried her. “How about a shower together?” Without waiting for her reply, he was already walking into the bathroom.

Because she was so tired, he ended up doing the whole work. She felt a little embarrassed. This was her first time being washed by a man, her first time bathing with someone else. Justin couldn’t resist playing with her as they showered, exciting another orgasm. This time, she was truly spent.

Minutes later, they both lay on the bed, enjoying the heat of each other’s bodies.

“You’re special. You know right?” Justin said.

Too drowsy to even reply, she “hmmed”.

He chuckled lightly over her reply and switched over the bedside lamp. “Goodnight, babe.”

*
Annoying noises and shuffling woke her up hours later. She grumbled.

“Babe?” Justin’s voice came over her head.

She looked up to see him. In the faint morning light, she could see him dressed in a tracksuit.

He kissed her on the forehead. “I’m going down to the gym for my morning exercise. It’s still early. You can continue sleeping.”

She nodded sleepily. “The lights,” she mumbled.

“Alright, babe.” He kissed her again before shutting the curtains tightly and then leaving the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Ruby was back to sleep in no time, burying herself deeper into the sheets that smelled strongly of Justin.

*
When Ruby woke up much later, the sun was high up in the sky. The clock in the room read 9:23 am. She could hear the faint sound of music from the living room. She got up from the bed and went into the toilet to relieve herself. When she was done, she quickly freshened up, brushing her teeth and washing her face.

When she came out of the room, Justin was sitting in front of the TV, looking through his laptop.

“Babe,” she walked over to him and kissed him. “Good morning.” She sat down beside him.

“You’re finally awake.” He closed the lid of the laptop and pulled her into his arms.

“When did you come back?”

“It’s been a while. Are you hungry? I bought some akara. You’ll take it with pap, eh?”

Ruby nodded. She followed him into the kitchen, designed in a way that she was certain Rose would envy. He spoke as he worked, plugging in the electric kettle and mixing the yellow starch with cool water.

“Do you have any plans for today?” he asked.

Ruby was transferring the akara balls into a bowl. “Spend the weekend with you?” she said impishly repeating his words when he invited her.

“You know what I mean.” He rolled his eyes at her. “Any freelance work?”

“Yes.” She couldn’t help reaching for a piece of akara. She was starving. “But I’m almost done with it. Someone sent me another one this morning,” she briefly explained the message she’d seen as soon as she opened her phone. “I’m still considering it. It’s quite demanding, but the pay is good.”

“Don’t finish the akara before the pap is ready,” Justin chided when he saw her reach for another akara.

She pouted, but still ate the akara.

The pap Justin made was thick and milky, the way she liked it. Justin stopped her when she tried to add more sugar. “Too much sugar,” he warned. “I already added enough.”

Ruby shrugged. She lifted the plate of akara and followed him to the living room.

“This evening, there’s this get-together with some of my friends. Can you come with me?”

This would be the first time she would be meeting them. She nodded. “Sure.” She was relieved that she had come with extra clothes.

The rest of the morning was spent leisurely. They made love and then Justin showed her around his house while they talked about irrelevant things. In the afternoon, they prepared lunch together, with Ruby cutting the vegetables and Justin as the main chef. It was a simple lunch, spaghetti with beef sauce. After lunch, Ruby went into the third room in the house, the one Justin had turned into a study room/office and worked on her laptop. Justin remained in the living room making some calls. Sometime later, he went into the room for a nap.

Even though it was her first time in the house, Ruby felt extremely comfortable, like it was also her house. When she felt hungry, she knew where to go and look for snacks. Justin did not eat a lot of sweet things and snacks, so she knew the unopened carton of biscuits and can of Pringles in the kitchen were for her.

Late in the afternoon, Ruby completed her work and forwarded the project to her client. Justin was still sleeping when she went into the room. She joined him as she also felt a little tired.

EPISODE EIGHTY-ONE

Ruby walked out of the company with anxious steps. The overnight bag felt a little too heavy in her hand. She spotted Justin’s car immediately she stepped out. He was parked a few meters away. But before she could begin walking towards it, she noticed the red lights of the car, as it drove backwards. She waited until it stopped in front of her. Always a gentleman, Justin came out of the car and walked toward her. He gave her a light hug and pecked her on the cheek.

“How was work today?” He took the bag from her hand and placed it in the back seat of the car.

“The usual.” She entered the car as he held out the door for her. A feeling of contentment washed over her as she sat down and he closed the door after her.

“What about the application? Have you heard from the company?” he asked when he entered the car. He started the engine and drove off.
She shook her head. “It’ll probably be next week.” She’d sent in her application the previous day. She was looking forward to being called in for an interview.

“We’re going to eat first before going home,” he informed her, taking a right turn.

She nodded nervously. This was the first time she was going to his home; the first time she would be spending the night with him. The feeling of eagerness surpassed that of the anxiety she’d felt when he relayed his invitation. How about spending the weekend with me? At my place?
She understood what he meant. In fact, she’d been looking forward to the invitation. Even though they’d been dating for a while now, she hadn’t felt comfortable enough to extend the invitation first. She wasn’t a saint. It had been almost 6 months since she had sex with someone, Fred. And she had to admit, she felt a physical relationship with Justin was very much delayed. He’d never talked about it or demanded anything from her. In fact, he often pulled away when things got heated as they made out. She was curious, but she didn’t say anything. Most times, she ended up pleasuring herself in the comfort of her bed after they separated. So she was eager to spend the weekend with him, imagining that it would be spent on the bed throughout, after all, she had so much passion pent up within her.

They had dinner at a simple restaurant. They talked at length while they ate. Even though Ruby told him previously about her plans to apply for another job, she didn’t tell him about her other plans—to become a certified accountant. So they talked about it as they ate. Ruby explained the steps she needed to take, estimated how long it would take, calculated what sacrifices she would have to make including precious hours from her sleep time. Justin listened patiently. He asked curious questions about what one step required.

“If you can start taking the courses now, why wait until you get the job?” he asked when she finished.

It was a question she’d not really considered. When she made the decision to become a professional accountant, she’d always put off registering, thinking there was going to better time.

“I say, why not just register first and start taking the courses. If you keep putting it off and waiting for a better time, you might wait until the next century. My understanding is that your new job is going to be demanding enough. And then it would be, I’ll wait until I settle in, then I’ll wait until I get promoted. Things like that. If it takes that long, why not start now. I believe simply registering might push you to do more.”

She started picking at her food. It was easier to put things off for a later time. Justin was right. There really was not going to be a better time. In fact, she had a feeling that she had already missed the ideal time. Postponing things now would only have serious repercussions.

“I’ll think about it then,” she said dismissively, shelving the thought for when she got home.

“No.” Justin reached over the side of the table and took her left hand. “How about next week? On Monday? You can take a leave from work in the afternoon and I’ll take you to register? We will also buy the resources you need to take the exam, books and stuff, and from next week, you can start taking the courses.”

Ruby widened her eyes, blinking at him. “Isn’t that too sudden? I don’t have any study plan yet?”

“How will you create a study plan if you don’t know what you’re studying for?” He breathed in deeply. “Don’t worry. I’ll be by your side all throughout. Next week, we’ll go and register. After that, I’ll help you draft a study schedule. Even if it takes five years, the important thing is to start taking small steps.”

Seeing the earnestness in his eyes, Ruby caved in. No one knew her better than herself. She knew that the part of her that kept on postponing taking the accountancy exams for the past three years would keep on doing so, for probably the next ten years. Even though it seemed she was only doing it because Justin pushed her, she was grateful that there was someone to push her when she was reluctant to take that step.

Once it was settled that she was going to register for the courses the next week, the winds of their conversation turned. Justin started talking about a recent drama of a friend who got his sidepiece pregnant. The gossip part of Ruby pressed for more gist until Justin flicked her lightly on the forehead and said they shouldn’t be dragging other people’s dirty matter into their lovely dinner.

Ruby didn’t say anything, but she shelved the story. In a few days, she would bring it out and ask how the man solved the matter. The rest of the dinner continued talking about lighter topics.

*
After dinner, they headed to Justin’s place. His home in Ikoyi was a three-bedroom flat on the fifth floor of a residential building in Parkview estate. Ruby couldn’t help the thrill that ran through her blood as Justin led her into the building, and they took the elevator up to his flat. She’d known Justin had money, but to what extent? She did not know. Her eagerness to visit his house was slowly doused by rising anxiety. Again, the doubts she always had about the difference in their social levels came back.

“No need to be so stiff.” Justin rubbed her shoulders. It was then that she realised she’d been standing by the door, not entering the house.

“I didn’t know you live here,” she said before she realized how it sounded—as though she were familiar with residents of the area. She wanted to pinch sense back into her head.

He spread his hands out, gesturing towards the house. “Welcome to my humble abode.” He did a slight bow.

I wouldn’t use humble, she thought to herself as she walked in. She felt a little reluctant to step on the tiled floor that reflected the overhead bulbs. “Your place is nice,” she said before she even looked around.

Justin worked with familiarity, reaching for the remote control to switch on the AC and another to switch on the TV. He smiled at her. “Why are you still standing there?” He gestured at the couch. “Let me drop this first.” He pointed at her overnight bag placed on one of the seats, and then went inside.

She sat down, taking in the living room. It was a wide space, wider than hers. The TV in front of her took up a huge space on the wall. Dark blue curtains complemented khaki-painted walls. It was a combination that evoked a sense of guardedness; cool, wanting to keep the residents and visitors at a distance, but still giving off a sense of privacy.

Justin returned with a bottle of wine and two glasses. “Are you watching that?” He placed them on a side table and sat beside her.

It was the advertisement channel. Her attention had been on the decoration of the house that she forgot the background sound. She shook her head. “No.”

He pulled her closer to himself and switched between channels. “You’re being too quiet. Is there any problem?” She was shaking her head before he finished. He didn’t give her an opportunity to talk. “This is my space. You don’t need to feel constrained. Feel at home, babe.” He stopped at a channel showing a documentary on plant life.

“Alright.”

Justin rubbed her shoulders. “You still feel tense. Is there any problem?”

Ruby didn’t know exactly what was wrong. One minute she was excited and the next she was drenched in nerves. “I don’t know,” she admitted, explaining how she felt.

“Excited?” His attention was on the first part of the sentence.

She slapped him lightly. “I’m serious.”

“Well, there’s no need to be nervous. I brought you here to relax, not to write an exam. Here, have a glass of wine. It’ll help calm your nerves.” He poured the wine into the two glasses and handed one to her.

She was about to drink, but he stopped her. “Cheers!” The glasses touched with a sharp clink. Ruby gobbled down the contents without hesitation.

“Whoa! What’s with the rush?” Justin took the glass from her and gave her a stern look. “Where are you rushing to?” he asked then placed the glass on the table. “It’s not good to drink alcohol in a rush. You’ll hurt yourself.”

She too was regretting the rush. Her throat burned a little, her eyes watered. “I didn’t know it was that strong.” When the burning disappeared, her mouth began to feel dry. “Water?” she croaked out.

“Give me a minute.” He went out and returned with a bottle of water. He uncorked it and gave it to her. “Drink slowly.”

She took his advice, taking little sips of the tasteless drink.

“How do you feel now?” he asked when she covered the bottle.

“Much better.”

He shook his head. “Don’t tell me this is how you drink all those wines in your house?”

“No, no,” she refuted immediately. “I just wanted to calm down, that’s why.”

“I don’t know why you’re nervous. Nothing you don’t want to happen will happen.” He tugged at her ears lightly.

She wanted to say “I actually do want something to happen.” Instead, she settled for, “I understand.”

Justin talked about the documentary to ease her nerves. It was a fascinating documentary. In no time, Ruby had forgotten about how she had been feeling and was paying attention to whatever flora and fauna that the narrator was introducing.

EPISODE EIGHTY

Rose called her later that night again which was quite unusual. But she was calling with good news.

“Rubs, there is this position that came up. You remember Anthony? The tall guy that was always eating fish roll in class?”

It took a while for Ruby to recall him. “Yes.”

“So, he finished his masters in accounting two years ago and started an accounting firm. It took a while for it to kick off and now they’re doing pretty well. He sent me a message on Facebook and I told him I’m no longer in the country. He asked about you. He’s looking for experienced accountants to join the company. I’ll forward the job details immediately to you. Just look through it and see if it is acceptable. I feel it’s much better than your current work and the pay is also higher.”

Excitement coursed through her body. Truth be told, she had been considering looking for a new job for a while now. While her present job was good, it no longer challenged her. That the chances for growth were limited even worsened her apprehension over the job. This came just at the time she needed it. “Thank you, babe. I was also considering changing jobs.”

Rose sent the job details as well as application procedures to her email and forwarded Anthony’s phone number to her before she ended the call. “You have a good portfolio, but I think it’s best to keep communicating with the guy. I’m sure you’ll get it.”

Even though she remembered Anthony, she hadn’t been so close to him until she and Rose became friends. He had been one of the brilliant students in the class, most of his time being spent in the library. Once again, she was grateful Rose came into her life at the time she needed her. Their friendship might not return to how it was before, yet she was still willing to maintain the relationship. And she knew Rose felt the same way.

As she looked at the job descriptions for the different positions available, Ruby only felt disappointed at how her qualities only qualified her for two jobs out of the five jobs listed. She didn’t have any accounting qualifications as she hadn’t gone through with her plans to become a chartered accountant. She wasn’t discouraged though. Maybe this was an opportunity to finally start making the moves she was supposed to take earlier on.

As a burst of motivation rushed through her blood, she took an A5 paper and began to write her plans—apply for the job, start the process of becoming a chartered accountant. She understood that becoming a professional accountant would take a long time, maybe even up to four years, but it was a journey she was willing to undertake.

“Hmm,” a voice came over her head, pulling her out of thinking of her future. She looked up to see Mrs Oyena looking from the paper in front of her to the opened file on the computer.

She cursed in her mind. She had forgotten that she was at work. She stiffened her spine in apprehension as she thought of a viable excuse about why she was looking at another job offer while she was at work.

“Have you finished working on the file I sent you yesterday?” Mrs Oyena asked before she could come up with a good excuse.

Ruby’s mind was jumbled for a while. She fumbled around with the mouse before she closed the window showing the vacancy. “Uhm…y…yes. Yes. I will email it to you right now.” Her heart continued racing.

“Okay.” Mrs Oyena turned and returned to her seat.

It took a while for Ruby to calm down. Even as she tried to control her breathing to get her heartbeat back to its normal pace, she was still a little disconcerted. Why didn’t Mrs Oyena say anything? She kept glancing at Mrs Oyena, judging her expression. Like always, Mrs Oyena's puffy face was locked in that expression that made it seem like she was smiling.

“Stop looking at me and concentrate on your work,” Mrs Oyena’s rough voice startled her.

“Yes ma,” she said meekly and turned to her computer. She folded the paper four times into a neat rectangular shape and put it in her bag. It was better to do things like this at home. She typed a simple message of gratitude to Rose on WhatsApp, the focused her attention on her job.

After work, Ruby found herself walking out of the office side by side with Mrs Oyena. She felt it was done purposely as Mrs Oyena was usually one of the first to leave the office while she left a few minutes later, often taking the time to look at herself in the mirror.

“I’m sorry ma,” she said unable to endure the lengthy silence.

“For what?” Mrs Oyena’s tone was lighter than it had been in the afternoon. “For looking for a better job?”

Ruby didn’t reply.

Mrs Oyena chuckled softly. “It’s normal. You’re still young. No need to prison yourself in one place. God knows, if I was your age, I would have left a long time ago.” There was sadness in her voice when she ended the last sentence.

“Really?” Ruby widened her eyes.

Mrs Oyena shook her head in self-pity. “I have been with the company almost since it started. Close to 12 years now. I missed the best time to leave. That was when I had my last child. I had another job offer, but because I was pregnant, they couldn’t let me start work. I didn’t blame them. After all, if I started working, I’d still go on my maternal leave three months later. So, I lost it. The company was willing to give me my maternal leave and still allow me to come back, even though I would lose my position to someone else. That was seven years ago. With my family and everything in between, I didn’t have any stimulus to go to another company and start from the bottom. So I remained here. Looking back now, I wish I had taken the challenge. Here is good. The pay is well above average and the company policies are also favourable. But there are better places, better offers. It may sound surprising coming from me, but if you find a better offer, take it. I’ve seen people come and go in this company. I know it’s normal. So I’m not going to stop you from taking that step.”

Ruby felt the stone that had been in her chest since Mrs Oyena discovered her in the afternoon slowly disappear. “Thank you, Mrs Oyena.”

“But…” Mrs Oyena cut in. “Give me a heads up early, ten days. I’ll help you with the HR people. They’re always giving people wahala.”

Ruby was already nodding like a puppy, “Yes, ma. I’ll do that.”

They were outside now. A car was waiting for Mrs Oyena outside. Ruby knew it was her husband. He came to pick her up from work almost every day. A businessman, his office was not far off from the company, an arrangement that she guessed was made in consideration of his wife. She watched the car as it drove off. Mrs Oyena might have doubts and regrets about her work life, but it wasn’t so with her marriage. Mrs Oyena never stopped preaching about marrying a good man, especially when she came to work with something new her husband got for her—a new blouse, wig, or necklace. There were times that she came to work with food prepared by her husband. She made sure everyone in the office became witness to it as she munched on it, savouring every spoonful. They were not wealthy, but they had a happy family. That was important.

Ruby craved this kind of life. Thinking about Justin, she hoped that one day, they would live like this; each in support of the other. She took a deep breath in. They still had a long way to go. She only hoped they could keep on walking together.

EPISODE SEVENTY-NINE

They talked at length after eating. Justin told her what he liked about her. The person he described seemed foreign to her as if it wasn’t her he was talking about. She listened. She liked this person he described.

She was determined and committed to her job. She carried herself with a kind of composure. And while he didn’t expect the outburst from her that led to their quarrel, he was willing to try to understand that part of her. The part that flared out at a little thing that would have seemed inconsequential to him. He liked that she was not demanding. Maybe because she also had a demanding job, but he appreciated it. They hadn’t known each other for that long, but his interest in her was not just for a short while. He understood that there were parts of her that he was only going to know as they spent more time with each other. He looked forward to it, getting to know her on a deeper level.
He added, as an afterthought, that he was also interested in her because of her looks. When they met, she wasn’t putting on make-up. He liked her natural; he liked her when she used make-up. Whichever way, she was beautiful.

It sounded strange, someone complimenting her beauty. Did she even have one? From early on, she’d come to understand that she had an average face. She wasn’t ugly, but she wouldn’t use beautiful to describe herself. She never felt inferior because of her looks, instead, she learned to grow comfortable with it, especially knowing how sensitive her skin was. Sometimes, even the make-up she wanted to use to make her more beautiful might end up setting off a reaction.

So even though it felt superficial coming from his lips, she liked it. She wished he would say it more often.

And then he wanted to know about her past relationships. When he said it, whatever pleasant feeling she had over his compliment promptly disappeared. Replacing it was apprehension and angst. When he saw the reluctance on her face, he didn’t mind. Instead, he went ahead to talk about himself.

He’d only dated two ladies. Ruby found this hard to believe. With his background, he could have dated more than that number. He understood the look of incredibility on her face and explained.

He’d been with the first girl for two years and a half. He started dating her in his third year at the university. She broke up with him during his year of service. “There is someone else,” she’d said during the long-distance phone call. It came as a surprise because everything seemed to be going pretty well. He’d even booked a flight from where he was in Kano to visit her during the weekend. It took a while to recover from the break-up.

His second relationship was longer, close to five years. At that time, it seemed they were both heading in the same direction—marriage. He worked hard, putting his effort into his business, so he would be able to cater for her without having to seek help from his parents. Nothing prepared him for the devastation that came when he proposed to her and she replied with a blatant “No.” He tried to understand what went wrong. When he asked, her reply was that she wasn’t ready to settle down. Quite ironic was the fact that, three months after the break-up, she announced the date for her traditional wedding on Facebook. This was a wedding with someone she’d supposedly met after they ended their relationship.

That was it. The whole of his dating history. Just two, with relatively long periods of time. Even her longest relationship didn’t last up till two years.

As if he could read her mind, he said, “You don’t believe me?”

She shook her head and sipped from the glass of juice in her hand. “No, not like that. They’re pretty long-term.”

He leaned back on the couch with laughter cloaked in self-mockery. “I was dating with the purpose of permanence. I had this illusion that I wouldn’t need to go through a string of relationships before I found the one. My father only had one woman all his life, my mother. And he never looked for another woman. Not that his job would allow him,” he added wryly. “So I wanted something like that.”

“Oh.” Ruby got rid of that illusion a long time ago before she got into the university. Even where she grew up, the men had women outside their marital home. Like their neighbour back in Kogi. He was always chasing after one woman or the other. At one time, he wanted to take in another wife. But the parents of his wife stood their ground. Even though they were not wealthy, it was his wife’s family that provided most of the money they used at home, including the one he used in chasing women. Ridiculous, she’d thought at that time. There were the women too. Mama Jo, the owner of the provision store opposite their compound, allegedly bore a child to a man that wasn’t her husband and it resulted in a divorce, a messy one that still left her with the provision store.

She supposed that it was the environment he’d grown up in that allowed his illusion to continue even after the jungle of messy relationships that littered the university environment. And she could tell, he still held that illusion. Maybe he thought he had let it go, wake up to the fact that the world, Nigeria, didn’t work that way. But it was still there, with a faint presence. In a way, she was happy with this part of him. Yet, when she thought about her dating history, she once again felt the difference between them.

“You don’t need to tell me if you’re not ready,” Justin finally said when after a long time, Ruby didn’t say anything.

She looked up at him, debating if she could tell him without ruining what they had between them. In comparison, hers’ suddenly felt like a dirty past.

“It’s not going to be pleasant,” she warned before she started.

She talked until her lips hurt. Once she opened her mouth, everything seemed to come out naturally. She told him about her abusive relationship with Dafe, smiling at him when he pulled her closer, as though trying to protect her from the physical pain she’d endured in the past. She told him about Boye, even though it didn’t count as a relationship. She told him about Fred and how it’d ended with him accusing her of cheating. She briefly mentioned Buike, her first boyfriend, as the relationship had only lasted for the duration of her first semester in school. She didn’t talk about Uti, her boyfriend during the three weeks in the NYSC camp. It seemed too short to add to her already long list of past boyfriends. She wondered if it counted as deception.

“When you said it wasn’t pleasant, I was expecting something worse.” Justin let out a sigh of relief when she finished.

“Like what?” she prodded. Five boyfriends compared to his two girlfriends were on different levels.

He shrugged, evading the question. “That’s why you don’t trust me, eh? It’s more understandable now that I know the root of it all. But first things first, my name is Justin. Do you understand? My name doesn’t start with an ‘F’ or a ‘B’, okay?” The words came out a little stern, as though he were a teacher trying to teach a four-year-old how to recite the alphabets.

She nodded meekly, even though she wanted to laugh at the way he tried to feign a severe expression.

“I’m also scared, Ruby,” he admitted, softening his expression. “I know I treated them well, but they just left me like that, for other men. You know how much it hurt at that time, especially the second time. When I saw that I.V. on Facebook, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Five years, gone. Just like that. I’m also scared the same thing would happen again. You’ll find someone better than me and leave. But you don’t see me leaving or holding back.”

Ruby held his hands in comfort, feeling sympathy for him. She understood the way he felt. Fred had made her feel exactly the same way. And no matter how many times she asked herself, why things had ended that way, there was no reply, there was never going to be a reply.
“We both have our past, both of us have been hurt in the past. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t move on from them. Now that we both understand each other, maybe, we can work things out, work on our relationship. Because, Ruby, I like you so much. And I really don’t want to lose what we already have. So can you give me the chance, the opportunity to show you how much I feel? Can you trust me?” He looked at her, hope glimmering in his watery eyes.

Ruby took his hands in his and without thinking, she said, “I trust you.”

She didn’t need to say anything else. Everything Justin needed to hear was in those three words. Grinning from ear to ear, he reached over to pull her into a deep hug, before covering her mouth with his, kissing her with more passion than he’d ever done.

Blesstar:
Beautiful piece dearie....
I'm a fan!

Thank you

EPISODE SEVENTY-EIGHT

Rose talked excitedly on the phone about her new boyfriend, the Ghanaian that had been asking her out for close to two months now.
“He was nice, really sweet,” Rose gushed. “Can you believe it? He has bought me breakfast like six times in a row, like every morning. As I’m stepping into the office, he’s there with it. It’s so sweet.”

Ruby didn’t try to interrupt. Rose had been talking for the past fifteen minutes, and it didn’t feel like she would be stopping anytime soon. She responded in the right places, “Wow, so sweet,” “That’s so cool of him,” “Now I’m beginning to envy you.” Somehow, even though she tried to share her friend’s excitement, she couldn’t force herself to ignore that tilt in Rose’s voice. She didn’t need to see Rose physically to know that the smile on her face, as reflected in her voice, was ugly. It was easy to tell when Rose didn’t like something. While her lips would be turned upwards, the rest of her face would be stiff, as though caked in mud. And her eyes, they were the most telling. What did they say? The eyes don’t lie.

But she could also understand why Rose agreed to the advances of the Ghanaian, even though they had bought laughed on the phone over his croaked teeth, over his lame walking style, over how the short dreads he wore didn’t fit him. And yet, here was the same person that had said, “I wouldn’t date him if he were the last man in Canada” praising his kindness and gushing over how he bought her breakfast, even though she didn’t like the bakery he bought the bread from. She had to admit that Rose had changed. She was still a go-getter, but the carefree side of her seemed to have been tamed. Or was it that the phone calls didn’t give Rose the space to explore her carefreeness?

The little crack that had formed in their relationship when Rose suddenly announced her plan to leave the country was still there. It had grown a little, but not too much to be noticed. Ruby understood that there were parts of her life that Rose would definitely keep away from her. Life abroad was not easy. Even when she complained, she sensed that Rose was playing down how she felt. The small jokes she cracked didn’t hide the weariness that sourced the complaints. Ruby wanted to be a good friend to Rose, especially at this time, but it was difficult to do this when they were separated by more than a thousand miles, of both water and solid land. Even more difficult when she doubted her abilities as a good friend.

It was only when Rose stopped talking, probably unable to keep up the fake excitement that Ruby asked, slowly, in an even tone, “But do you like him?”

Rose cackled, “Of course, if not why would I date him?”

“Rose, I’m serious.” Ruby raised her voice a little this time. “I can sense that you don’t like him. You even said it before.”

“I can grow to like him.” Rose was finally dropping the fake excitement in her voice.

“Really? How long would it take? Three months? One year? Two years or what? Nothing about the guy excites you physically. How are you going to date him?”

“I don’t know. Somehow. I will learn to deal with it. This is not Nigeria, you know.”

Ruby breathed in deeply. “How? Aren’t there other guys there? The other day you mentioned the Mexican guy that bought you coffee. What about him?”

“He has a wife at home, with two kids,” Rose said drily.

Ruby was struck dumb for a while. She didn’t know if she wanted to continue asking. “And the one from Malawi?” she asked tentatively.

“The guy is now dating one of the ladies in the office, with blonde head and green eyes.” It came out mockingly. “How do people even have green eyes?”

Ruby suddenly felt sorry for her friend. Ordinarily, she had men flocking around her and now it was totally different. “I’m sorry,” she muttered.

Rose sighed. “I know. Things are not easy here. I just have to make do with what is available. I don’t know. Maybe something will develop from it.”

But you don’t even like him, Ruby wanted to say instead she said, “Yeah, maybe it would work out. Somehow.” She copied Rose’s words.

Rose changed the subject. “So how is it with Justin? It’s going well, right?”

It felt cruel to flaunt her relationship while her friend was going through a difficult period, so she talked about the quarrel with Justin, emphasizing how close they were to a break-up.

“But you guys are back together now?”

Ruby made a noise of agreement. “He travelled. When he comes back, we’ll talk about him properly.”

“From everything you have told me, he seems like a nice guy. I don’t want you to suffer from another heartbreak, but I also don’t want you to miss out on something great. You should talk it through with him.”

This should be the first time Rose was approving of Justin. During their previous calls, it was always “Hmm, are you sure he feels the same way about you?” or “Aren’t you falling too fast for the guy?” While she didn’t understand what made Rose change her mind about Justin, she was grateful for the support from her friend. “Thank you, Rose.”

For the rest of the call, Ruby filled Rose on the current happenings in the country, though the major part of the call was Ruby complaining about the increasing prices of foodstuffs, which undoubtedly affected the prices of other things. When the call ended, it was almost midnight. There was no missed call from Justin, only a message wishing her good night. She wasn’t surprised. Earlier, she told him that she would be on a call with Rose. He understood that the call might last for an hour or two. After talking so much, Ruby’s throat felt sore and her mouth was dry. She reluctantly got up from the bed even though all she wanted to do was go to bed. It was only after she drank a glass of water that she returned to bed to sleep.
***

Justin came to her house the day he returned. It was a Saturday and even though she had been expecting his return that day, she didn’t expect him to visit. She was about to prepare a simple lunch of concoction rice when he called her to inform her of his impending visit. Grateful that she had not started cooking, she hurriedly rushed out of the house to buy some foodstuffs, deciding on preparing her foolproof jollof rice. She could add too much water to ogbono soup, mistakenly allowed the stew to get burnt, but with this jollof rice, it always turned out great.

When Justin arrived, she was frying the stew for the rice. She apologised for being tardy. Even though she had changed into one of her best-looking house wear, it was difficult to prevent the stew from splattering around. She was already regretting wearing the cute yellow t-shirt.
After dropping the things he came with—quite a lot—on the dining table, Justin joined her in the kitchen.

“Hmm!” He sniffed loudly. “Smells really great.”

She reduced the heat of the gas cooker. “Is it not better to wait in the living room? It’s quite messy here.” A look around the kitchen confirmed what she said. When Rose cooked, the kitchen remained neat, as she cleaned while cooking. But for Ruby, it was one mess here and there. The blender she had used for the tomatoes still sat in one corner of the kitchen with red spots around it. Even looking at the pile of plates on the sink, she wondered when she’d used that many plates. The vegetables she’d bought for the salad were still unpacked on the other side of the kitchen counter. And the mess on the floor?—onion wraps, empty nylon bags. It was all too scattered. She didn’t want to think of how she looked.

He shrugged. “It’ll be lonely sitting alone out there. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Ruby wasn’t going to allow him to join her. Cooking for someone, especially someone she wanted to impress was one thing; cooking with the person she wanted to impress was another. She was certain that if she felt his continued presence in the kitchen, her foolproof jollof rice was going to lose its name.

“Just wait outside. I’ll feel more comfortable doing it myself.” She chose honesty, not doubting that Justin could find a hundred ways to refute if she wasn’t straightforward. “I feel nervous when someone else is watching me cook.”

“Okay.” He sounded disappointed. “Can you help me with a knife? I got some oranges. I’ll peel them outside.”

She smiled in gratitude and rinsed the knife before handing it to him. “Thank you. This won’t take long.”

When he left the kitchen, she released a sigh of relief and returned to her cooking.

It was another forty-five minutes before she finished cooking. While the rice cooked, she joined Justin in the dining where he had finished peeling the oranges and was watching a documentary on animals. Quite conscious that she was cloaked in the smell of spices, she sat a distance from him and reached for an orange. Justin didn’t notice the discomfort in her sitting position as his attention was on the description of arctic bears and how it was difficult for them to find food in the winter. He commented mundanely on how many of them could die from lack of food. When the food was almost ready and the vegetables for the salad prepared, she quickly arranged the kitchen and went to her room to freshen up, changing out of her stained, spice-smelling clothes.

Soon, she set out a colourful meal on the table—a bowl of rich, deep red rice with a mixture of green and yellow, a creamy plate of salad, a bowl of fried, golden brown plantains, and a plate of fried chicken coated in pepper sauce. She brought out a carton of Five Alive from the fridge and poured it into two cups, setting them at different positions on the table.

“Wow! You didn’t need to go all out.” Justin took a seat at the dining table that was made for four people.

“I already planned to prepare something like this, but for tomorrow instead.” She laughed at the lie.

“I know,” Justin coughed slightly. “It seems kind of a waste to have this kind of meal on a Saturday instead of a Sunday.”

Ruby chuckled. “It’s still food. Whether on a Saturday or Sunday.” She reached for his plate to scoop spoonfuls of rice on it and then added the salad, plantains and two chicken drumsticks.

“It might be a little spicy.” She watched gingerly as he took the first spoon of rice.

“Don’t worry. I also like pepper.” He winked at her, then gestured at her empty plate. “Are you not going to eat?” He wanted to reach over to take her plate.

As it was closer to her, she reached it fast and proceeded to serve herself. “It’s okay. You’re the visitor.”

He smiled. “The food tastes really great. What spice did you add? I’ve not tasted something like it before.”

“My secret.” Or not. She had learned to cook this type of jollof rice from Rose. She had been cautious when she saw Rose adding rosemary and oregano to the rice as they were foreign spices, but after she ate the meal, she could hardly prepare jollof rice or tomato stew without sprinkling them into the food.

They spoke as they ate, jumping from one topic to the other. It felt natural, this kind of interaction like they were married and having a casual dinner. She also loved the way this shared meal made her feel, enjoying the way Justin casually added more rice or salad to her plate as though he could read her mind; and how he selected the fleshiest plantains only to place them on her plate. And suddenly, she no longer thought of the stress of having to prepare the sumptuous meal. It was worth it.

EPISODE SEVENTY-SEVEN

As the days went on after Justin travelled out of the country, Ruby found herself grateful for the step back he had proposed. Or rather, it was their last conversation in her living room that gladdened her mind. On Sunday, after they cleared the air between them, she’d treated herself to a spa. After that, she had a total makeover, making a new hair, fixing her nails and going for a wax treatment, as it felt like ages since she went on one. After the makeover, she went shopping and got herself new clothes and a designer bag that took a chunk out of her savings. But she allowed herself just this time, after all, the last time she got something that expensive was when she was still with Fred. And it seemed like decades since the purchase. The day ended with a fancy dinner for one. While it felt strange eating alone, especially in a fancy restaurant, but she could care less. However, after dinner while she was heading to the car to drive home, a man approached her, introducing himself as Noel. She ended up giving him her number as he kept on following her.

The weekend treatment had left her enough fuel for the work week. Monday, she had arrived at work earlier—thirty minutes—than usual. She gave Mrs Oyena an official apology for her poor performance during the previous week. She faced the rest of the week with the same gusto, though she soon returned to her usual arrival time for work. Her performance picked up, but Ruby was determined to push her performance past its previous levels. She wanted to do better.

Like Justin had said, nothing changed in their relationship. His morning messages didn’t stop, and neither did the calls. It was mostly video calls. They didn’t talk about their relationship, rather they spoke about mundane topics. Justin filled her with details of his trip. And she talked about work and the crazy things she came across during the day. Their relationship seemed to have come to a standstill. There was no visible step back as Justin had proposed, and neither did they show any sign of moving forward. The standstill was not uncomfortable. It allowed her to have the hindsight of how their relationship developed and allowed her to contemplate how far she wanted the relationship to go. And even more, talking about mundane topics ended up being a good way to know Justin deeper, what he thought about certain things, his values.

On her own part, Ruby was trying to bring herself to let go of the past hurts she had incurred from her past relationships. She had come to the realization that it would take more than seven days to suddenly forget them and welcome a new relationship with wide, open hands. Unlike before, it wasn’t Justin's motives towards her that left her worrying. Justin was clear about what he wanted from her, and he had stated it openly. She could no longer hide under the shield of uncertainty. Her relationship with Justin had a future, and she was certain about it. More importantly, she was afraid of losing what might end up being a long-term relationship even before it began. She liked Justin. There was no denying it. She didn’t want to lose a chance at a relationship with him because of fear.

But at the same time…, there was no absolute to what could happen between them. So while she put most of her attention on her work, she also looked forward to Justin’s return. She was willing to work on their relationship. She hoped though, that he would be willing to be patient with her as she worked through her inner doubts.

***

It had been raining all afternoon. As though it sensed that it was the end of the workday for workers all over the Lagos, the rain reduced to a drizzle as the work came to a close. Ruby walked out of the company with Ama, holding up an umbrella over both their heads.

Ama was eating an eggroll, the remnant from her lunch.

“So she has gone back?” Ruby asked as they walked.

Ama nodded and swallowed hard. “Yesterday. Oche drove her to the airport in the afternoon. I really hope she doesn’t come back.”

Ruby laughed and reached out her hand to see how serious the rain was. She hadn’t come to work with an umbrella and the one in her hand belonged to Ama. “Is her brother really ignorant of how she is?”

Ama shrugged. “I don’t know. At this point, I don’t really care. It’s their family wahala.”

Ruby didn’t say much. They switched the topic to work gossip. There was a rumour that the GM had a fiancee that was in the US and would soon be returning to the country.

Ama waited for her to board a keke before waving her goodbye.

Her phone rang as the keke took a right turn into the main road. It was from an unknown number. She picked up the call.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Ruby. It’s Noel.” A deep voice said.

She frowned, trying to recall the person. “Noel?”

“Yes, don’t you remember me? We met on Sunday.”

This time, she remembered him. “Oh, hello.”

She could hear the laughter in his voice. “So you don’t remember me?”

She rolled her eyes even though he couldn’t see it. When she spoke, she wondered if he could hear the mocking tone in her voice. “I don’t go around remembering everyone I meet.”

“Just the special ones?” he quipped.

Slick tongue, she observed. She forced a laugh. “So…”

“I was wondering if I could invite you out for dinner. I’m interested in getting to know you better.”

“I’m not interested,” she said drily.

“Really? Just one dinner. I won’t disturb you after that if you are really not interested.”

Without saying anything, she ended the call.

*
Noel’s messages came in again later that evening, while she was on a call with Justin. The three messages came in almost at the same, merely seconds apart. Without controlling herself, she hissed loudly when she read the cheesy messages. Hearing her, Justin asked, “What happened?”

She heard the apprehension in his voice, so she rushed to explain, “It’s this guy I met the other day. He’s disturbing me with annoying messages.” It was only after she finished explaining that she realized how wrong it felt. Talk about jumping from the hot oil only to land on the bonfire. “Errm…”

“He wants to go on a date with you?” Justin asked after what felt like four hours of silence.

She didn’t want to lie, but she also didn’t want to complicate their relationship. “No. I hung up on him when he called earlier.” It wasn’t entirely a lie, she consoled herself.

But his reply wasn’t convincing. “Oh?”

She bit her lips, cursing her carelessness. “Are you angry?”

“No.” The answer was quick. “I don’t feel comfortable. I know it’s impossible for you not to have admirers. But just allow them to admire from afar.”

She laughed. “Of course. Hotcake like me,” she joked. “You don’t need to worry. I’m not going to do anything that would hurt our relationship.”

She didn’t want the topic to continue, so she started telling him about the client that wanted to contract her, for six months. As they spoke, she typed out a quick reply to Noel. I’m in a serious relationship. And not interested in anything else. Thank you. Polite but straightforward. Immediately after she sent the message, she blocked the number in case he still wanted to be insistent. The action felt familiar like she always did when she was in serious relationships, even with Boye, the action had been natural. Refuse, then block, and forget, well, until her current relationship ended. Rose often commented that she was too loyal, maybe too loyal as her loyalty always ended up with nothing other than heartbreak in the end. In the end, she regretted her loyalty, but when another man came into her life, when she started having an inkling of love for him, the cycle only repeated itself. She had stopped trying to change it, reduce the intensity. It always stopped at refusal. Sometimes she didn’t block the numbers, yet her refusal was always blunt and straightforward, unwavering even, that the men stayed away. This time, she wondered if her excessive loyalty would land her in another pit of misery. However, like always, she consoled herself with the belief that someday her loyalty would be returned with as much energy as she had given out.

EPISODE SEVENTY-SIX

Justin arrived an hour and a half later while she was watching a movie on Netflix. In his hand was a takeaway bag from Tantalizers. Because of how things were between them, she couldn’t bring herself to be overly touchy with him, settling for a side hug. He took off his jacket as he followed her inside.

He looked at the box of pizza on the table, beside it was a half-filled carton of Five Alive. “You’ve eaten?”

She nodded and opened the box of pizza. “I left some slices for you.”

He chuckled and sat down beside her. “I got you something from Tantalizers. If you don’t feel hungry now, you can have it later.”

She collected the bag from him and kept it aside. She would look at it later.

He reached for a slice of pizza and munched on it. Unsure of what to do, she continued watching the movie even though her mind was no longer on it. Justin didn’t seem to be in a rush. He ate slowly, pouring juice into the sole cup and drinking from it without bothering if she had used the cup. She saw this as a good sign.

It was over ten minutes before he spoke. The carton of juice was almost emptied and the pizza slices had all disappeared.

“I didn’t know you were hungry. If it is not enough, we can eat the one you brought.” She looked at the empty pizza box.

He shook his head. “It’s okay. I’m not hungry.”

They sat in silence, both of them staring at the TV. Ruby’s back was stiff against the couch. She wasn’t sure how to break the silence.

“Can we talk now?” he said after some minutes.

She nodded vigorously. “Yes.”

He reached for the remote control and paused the movie. “So what happened?”

Ruby looked at the frozen face on the screen. The woman was sitting down on a bench near the bus stop. She was waiting for someone, but until Justin paused the movie, the man had not arrived.

“I’ve been getting complaints at work.”

“I know. You told me.”

“That day, Mrs Oyena said I would be fired if I didn’t get myself together. Because I didn’t take his job, a client said some pretty hurtful words that same. He was one of my first clients. At first, he was angry when I increased my pricing. But he continued to patronize me. When I said I couldn’t take the job because the deadline was too short and didn’t match the price, he became quite abusive. I had to remain polite with him because even though he is rude, he is one of my loyal clients. So when you called, I just… I just…” she trailed off.

“Innocent me?” he said drily and leaned back on the couch, stretching his legs to fit the small space between the couch and the centre table.

“I’m sorry.”

He sighed. “I said I’m not angry. I mean it. I just wish we can talk calmly each time things like this come up. I’ll listen. You can call me and complain about anything. But don’t turn the anger on me. I was only trying to be supportive, but…” He took a deep breath. “It’s alright. Next time, if you have problems like this, tell me. I cannot interfere with your job, but there are still ways I can help you. For the client, you can ignore him when things get to that extent. I’m sure other people would appreciate your services.”

She nodded, the tension in her spine disappearing. “I promise. Next time, I’m going to talk to you about it.”

He reached over and pulled her into his arms.

She settled into his hold, breathing in his scent, feeling calm as she placed her ears on his chest and felt the beat of his heart. They were like that for a while before she asked another question that had been bothering her. “Why didn’t you call me after that night? I keep wondering what would have happened if I didn’t call today? Are we just going to go our separate ways like that?”

When he didn’t answer immediately, she looked up at his face and caught a shame-filled expression. “I felt I was falling too fast for you, so maybe it was an opportunity for me to… opportunity to think about the relationship.”

“So you probably wouldn’t have called again?” She removed herself from his hold.

He rubbed his face. “I would, I definitely would. I was waiting for you. I felt that you were no longer interested in the relationship. Most of what you said pointed to a break-up. I wasn’t sure if you were even going to pick my call.”

Even though she understood what he meant, she couldn’t bring herself to imagine what would happen if both of them kept waiting for the other to make the first move. She forced a laugh. “And now? What do you think?”

“My feelings about you haven’t changed.”

“But…” she pressed on.

“I feel we should both take a step back and think about what we both want, if we are right for each other. I’m looking for something permanent. And I swear, you have everything I want in a woman. But I also feel your reluctance, you keep holding back. I don’t know what happened to you in the past. But if you cannot trust me enough to make you happy, there’s only so much I can do.”

She bit her lips. Of course, she’d been holding back. She had learned her lesson from Boye and Fred. She didn’t need another man to complete it and make it a trinity of life lessons.

“I know what I want, Ruby and I’ll fight for it. But I also need the green light from you. If you keep me at a distance, I don’t know how the relationship would work. Not you doubting me, making assumptions, and not communicating.”

“That’s why you want a break?”

He shook his head. “Not exactly a break. You’re still my girlfriend. I’m still your boyfriend. I just want us to think about what we want. I believe a break will only worsen the problem between us.”

“There’s no difference,” Ruby muttered, pouting her lips.

Justin laughed and flicked her nose. “Are you looking for an opportunity to run away from me?”

She humphed. “You’re the one that said I think we should take a step back.

He quipped, “I meant a step, I didn’t mean a dozen steps backwards.”

“You and this your mouth.” She shook her head. “So what are you going to S.A to do?” she changed the topic.

Her eyes glittered with amusement as he looked at her, but he didn’t make any remark and instead answered her question. “I’m going to attend a friend’s wedding. And then for some vehicle business. Do you want to come with me? It’s going to be fun.” He winked.

“Maybe next time,” she said without thinking.

She didn’t notice the wide smile on Justin’s face.

“When I get back, we can go to Abuja.” He pinched her cheeks. “You need to take a break.”

She brushed his hands away and shot him an annoyed look. “I cannot take a leave from work now. Especially not this period.”

“What of the weekend? We can go on Friday night and come back on Sunday. You won’t lose a day of work,” he pressed.

“I’ll think about it.” Already filling hungry again, she reached for the take-way bag. “What did you even buy?” She brought out a plate of rice and a carton of Hollandia. “Wow.” She reached over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you so much.”

And he understood that she wasn’t just thanking him for the food.

EPISODE SEVENTY-FIVE

It was the smell of burning food that pulled Ruby out of her dreams late in the afternoon. She looked at the time and winced. She’d only wanted to reheat the remaining beans porridge from the previous day, but in the short time that it took, she slept off. This was not the first time it was happening. In the past week, she’d found herself even more sleepy and sleep-deprived. If not that she was certain she hadn’t had any intercourse in the past few months, she might have blamed the sleepiness on pregnancy. She yawned as she walked to the kitchen already contemplating what she would eat. The only food she had at home had been ruined. 

Staring at the blackened pot, she wanted to cry. Her eyes were already teary from the smoke that was circulating the kitchen. She coughed as she took the pot down from the gas cooker and poured water into it. After that, she went on to open up all the windows and doors in the house. When she was done, she retired to her room. It was unaffected by the smoky smell that now clung to her clothes. She wanted to change out of the clothes, but she felt too exhausted. She simply collapsed on the bed. But she was no longer feeling sleepy. She just felt hungry and tired. Soon, she gave in to the tears that had been threatening to escape her eyes, bawling her frustrations out.

It was Saturday, but after the horrible week she had, she wished it would remain Saturday forever. Her work performance during the week had reached an all-time low, inciting a lot of queries from Mrs Oyena, who at one point threatened that she was on a path to losing her job if she didn’t get herself together. She couldn’t blame her. She had made a lot of mistakes in the quarterly report that had been submitted to the board directors. Even the MD had called her in for a proper talk. 

What irked her about it all was that she wasn’t sure what caused it. After the last freelance work that had taken up a huge chunk of her last weekend, she hadn’t taken any other part-time work, preferring to pour all of her focus on her main job. But even that didn’t solve the problem. If anything, her performance became worse. Two days ago, she’d quarrelled with Justin. 

Thinking about it made her cry even harder. She didn’t know how it escalated. She’d just gotten home when he called. One minute he was asking about her day, the next she was pouring all her frustrations on him. She’d said a lot of things, most she didn’t remember and didn’t want to remember. Since that night, Justin hadn’t called her again, and she couldn’t bring herself to make the first move, even though she was the initiator of the misunderstanding.

The quarrel only made the rest of her week worse. At first, she was glad that it was weekend, but when she imagined a weekend without Justin, a weekend thinking about her poor performance at work, she only felt melancholic. And so, since she’d returned home the previous day, she’d been holed up in her room, scrolling through Instagram and admiring clothes she couldn’t buy, and looking at Justin’s number contemplating whether to call him.

She cried loudly, on one hand, grateful for the empty house, on the other, miserable that there was no one to comfort her.

She was hungry and tired. Yet, she could only curl on her bed and cry. What had she done wrong? Where were all her accounting skills? Why did she lash out at Justin when all he did was try to comfort her about the bad day she was having? Why hadn’t he called even after three days? Was it over between them? What about her job? Was she going to lose it? Mrs Oyena was getting impatient with her. How long before she totally lost her patience? 

The questions ran through her mind. She didn’t try to focus on any of them. She just let them flow. She was worried. Worried that she would lose her job, that she might have lost the best relationship that she would ever have, that she was slowly losing herself. She cried. She cried until her stomach hurt from both the hunger and crying. She cried until her eyes became dry, unable to produce tears. She cried until she was tired of crying. When the tears stopped pouring, she just laid on the bed, letting out small hiccups. She was very hungry. Very very hungry. She’d only eaten two slices of bread with milk in the morning. It was evening already. She didn’t have anything at home. Her fridge was empty. She’d exhausted her bag of garri during the week. 

Minutes later, she lay on the bed. Her problems were forgotten for the moment. She wanted to eat. She ran through her options in her mind. All of them required her to stand up from the bed and leave the house. She knew if she ordered something online, it would take longer before it arrived. After weighing her options, she ended up ordering a Domino’s pizza. While she wasn’t a particular fan of pizza, it seemed the fastest option for her state. Now she only had to wait for it to be delivered.

She picked up her phone and started scrolling through it. Since their quarrel, Justin hadn’t posted on his WhatsApp status. Or he’d simply blocked her from viewing it. She typed out a few words, Hey. What's up. Then she deleted it. She typed again. Babe, I’m sorry. But she also deleted it again. She felt a pinch in her nose. She wanted to cry again. She opened up his phone number, her finger hovering over the call button. 

What would it cost? She thought, then feigning oblivion, she quickly clicked on the button before she changed her mind.

He picked up almost as soon as the phone rang. “Hello.” The voice that replied was taut and gruff.

She started regretting the call. She didn’t know what to say. 

She heard him sigh. “Are you still angry?” His voice lost the tension, took on a placid note.

“No,” she said in a small voice. “Are you angry with me?”

“Should I be?” He turned the question at her. “I’m more hurt than angry. It took you this long to call me?”

“I was waiting for you to call,” she said in defence.

A few seconds passed before he spoke, “I was wondering what I did that made you angry. Some of the things you said… it didn’t sit right with me that you have thoughts like that.”

Some of the words she said that day echoed in her mind. Stop acting like you really care. You’re just like them, Boye, Fred, just hiding under your ‘caring’ coat.

And all those places you keep taking me to, how many girls have you taken there? This had come after he offered to take her out so she could relax and take her mind from work.

“I’m sorry, Justin. I didn’t mean any of that. I was just upset and tired-”

“That you could say them meant you’ve been having thoughts like that,” he interrupted in a calm voice. The calmness in his voice was starting to scare her.

“Work has been tiring this week,” she tried to explain. 

“I know. What did I tell you? I understood. I offered to take you out and you just lashed out.”

She’d thought her eyes were tired of producing tears. But they were at work again. The tears flowed down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Justin. I’m a little insecure. I know it’s not an excuse, but, I really didn’t mean any of those things. I once felt that way, but that was before. Not now. I mean it.”

He breathed deeply. “I like you, Ruby. I really do. But at this time, I think we should both take a step back and process our feelings.” With each word he said, Ruby could feel her heartbreaking, little by little. “I’ll be travelling to South Africa tomorrow. I’ll be back next week. When I come back, we can have a proper date and talk things out. Is that okay?”

Ruby couldn’t talk. She felt short of breath. Why did her abdomen hurt so much? Was it the hunger?

“Babe?” Justin’s voice softened. “Are you still there?”

She let out a choked sound. “Hmm.”

“Are you crying?”

She tried to control herself. “N…no. No.”

“I’m just saying we should take time to process our feelings for each other. I didn’t say that it is over between us. You can also try to sort things out at your workplace.”

She sniffed, finally getting her emotions in check. “I understand.”

“Are you at home now?”

She replied in the affirmative.

“I’ll come over later. I’m currently at home. Have you eaten?”

“I ordered pizza online. I’m still waiting for them to deliver it.” She sat up on the bed, slowly feeling strength flow into her weak limbs.

“Alright. I’ll come over. Don’t cry, okay? Just wait for me.” He entreated several times before he ended the call. 

Feeling reinvigorated, she got down from the bed. Almost immediately, her phone rang. It was the delivery. Her pizza had arrived. Now wishing she had ordered some other Nigerian delicacy, she trudged to the door to get her delivery.

Heartstrings:
I can smell something fishy

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