Episode 1
Femi: “…more of you, more of you, more of you, Jesus, more of you….” The entire church was silent as they listened to Femi’s voice giving a rendition of Sinach’s song. Her voice, rich, powerful flowed beautifully and everyone either held their breaths or bowed their heads in prayer. When she finished, there was a standing ovation.
She climbed down from the altar in her 4 inch heels and tripped on the microphone cord to the dismay of the worshippers. Sitting at the back of the church, her aunty put her hand out as if to stop her fall, her uncle covered his eyes and her cousin crossed her legs elegantly and smirked “That can only happen to Femi”, she thought to herself.
On the altar, Femi was saved by the choir leader who had been standing beside her so she didn’t fall entirely. Nonetheless, when she got back to her seat in the section that was appointed to the choir members, she wasted no time shucking off the offending shoes. The murmured sorries from other choir members brought tears to her eyes. She hated this, really hated this. She had only bought the shoes in the first place because her cousin told her she couldn’t wear them. Now, she had proven her right and in front of the entire church too.
After the service ended, she rushed to meet her aunt and uncle and stopped to get the occasional “well-done” and “good job” from the congregants. She was almost at their seat when she noticed her aunt was arguing with Tiwalola, her cousin who turned out to be right about her klutz factor.
Aunt: “…You shouldn’t say things like that!” Her aunt scolded Tiwa, unaware of Femi’s presence, “She’s your cousin, the way you talk sometimes, people will think you hate her…..”
Tiwa: “Mummy, I can’t help how I feel, she shouldn’t have worn the shoes”, Tiwalola said defensively, “she always thinks she can do everything I can do and the truth is she can’t. I can rock those shoes because I have a good body, Femi is just fat, she should stick to slippers or flats!” She stated unapologetically.
Femi froze when she heard that. The truth was Tiwa said it all the time, heck she didn’t have to say it, Femi had a mirror, she could see. She knew in a contest of beauty, Tiwa would win. Tiwa was willowy and slim with beautiful dark skin, long natural hair, mammy water lashes, long legs and a perfectly aligned body. She on the other hand was, well, fat was the word. She had generous hips and big buttocks, small breasts and a face that was passably pretty.
In a contest of brains too, Tiwa would win. At 28, Tiwa was already a resident doctor at Saint Havers Hospital on the island in Lagos while she was just a primary school teacher. In a contest of style, Tiwa would win too. Infact, in a contest of anything, Tiwa would always come out trumps, there were just some people God blessed with everything. The only thing she really had above Tiwa was her voice and she figured God compensated her with that.
Aunt: “Tiwa, you…..” her aunt started, angry at her daughter’s thoughtless words. She stopped when she saw Femi. “Oko mi, pele, hope you’re okay?” She asked Femi stretching her hands out to hug her.
Femi: “Mummy, I’m fine…,” Femi said as she knelt to hug her aunty back. She laid her head on her aunt’s b—-t and breathed in the love and devotion she had always received from this special woman. She looked up to see her uncle smiling at them and she smiled at him back, feeling lucky to have both of them in her life.
Tiwa: “I’m going oh,” Tiwa said, breaking the moment, “I have an appointment to keep.”
Her aunty released her and turned to Tiwa, “Haha, won’t you come home with us and eat Sunday jollof rice?”
Tiwa: “No need oh mummy after you’ve shouted at me over Femi’s matter,” she replied, giving Femi a side eye. “Let Femi eat your jollof rice with you.”
Father: “Your mother was just encouraging you to stop talking about your cousin like that, it’s wrong and others will think we aren’t at peace…” her father explained gently
Tiwa: “Daddy, are we at peace? Have we been at peace since you brought Femi home? Please, am going, bye bye.” She said as she turned and left the church auditorium
Father: “Ha ha!” her father exclaimed. “Oya, let’s go.” They trudged out of the church to the carpark in time to see Tiwa driving off in her black lexus jeep. They got into her Uncles Toyota Camry and drove out quietly.
Sitting behind her uncle in the car, Femi closed her eyes and remembered once again the 11 year old girl whose mother had just committed suicide. She remembered the devastation she had felt, the loneliness and the simmering anger directed at her mother.
She had only been 4 when she realized her family wasn’t like others. Her parents were constantly fighting, that’s what people said. More often than not though, it was her father beating her mother. He would beat her and tear her clothes every time they fought. She and her elder sister who had been 3 years older would constantly follow them crying until neighbours intervened, usually her mother would be naked by that time.
She had an older brother too, Nifemi. He had been the oldest at 10. He used to try and help his mother out of the scuffles but when their father started turning on him, he abandoned ship and would run out when the fights started. By the time he was 13, he had joined the boys in their street and would constantly be seen high on weed. By the time their parents died, he was the meanest thug in the area.
She looked back and could not believe how unrelentingly stupid her mother had been. As far as she was concerned, her mother hadn’t loved them. If she had, she would have gotten out of the abusive marriage that eventually destroyed her family. She remembered seeing her uncle at their house for the first time when she was 6, apparently, he had tracked down his sister who didn’t tell any of her family members where she was staying.
It was only after she came to her uncle, she realized the whole story. Her mother had gotten pregnant for one of the neighbourhood mechanics and run off with him. She returned home years later with two children to beg for help from her family telling them the mechanic had been abusing her. Her family members were angry and demanded the father of her children come home so he could settle the issue and marry her properly. He came, looking penitent and remorseful but before they could get any solutions or fix a date for the payment of the bride price, she ran off with him again and proceeded to birth another child.
The abuse only got worse, he was out of work and was a mean drunk, he would call her a prostitute in front of the neighbours, accusing her of sleeping with her male customers whom she sold herbal drinks (agbo) to and tear off her clothes. For years, her brother kept looking for her until he tracked her down to their house. Femi remembered thinking even at her young age that he had very kind eyes and was very excited because he bought bread and biscuits for her and her sister.
Despite her brother’s pleas on behalf of the family, her mother refused to leave her father. Till date she couldn’t tell if it was pride, submissiveness or plain stupidity that had kept her mother with her father for so long. Her Uncle came several times during the next few years and even helped her establish a business and sent her 2 daughters to school. While her sister had been out, Femi had never even gone.
Her brother opening a shop for her to sell minerals caused so much problems between her p between her parents that her mother told her brother not to come to their house again. And he didn’t, not until she died.
When she was 10, Femi realized that her elder sister, who was just 13 had begun mixing with the wrong crowd. She especially liked hanging out with their brother’s crazy friends and it wasn’t long till she got pregnant. In a bid to hide it from their mother, she took the advice of a friend and mixed up the herbal remedies her mother sold and drank them. The next day while Femi went to school, their brother to his joint, their mother to her shop on the next street and their father to his favourite baba ijebu betting spot, her sister stayed home to eject her 3 months old baby.
Femi usually joined her mother in the shop after school while her sister went home to cook. Her sister hadn’t been walking from school with her for months so no one thought to look for her, just assuming she had gone home. By the time Femi and her mother cleared up and went home by 9pm, they met her sister in a pool of blood, unconscious. She was declared dead at the hospital they rushed her too.
That night had been one of the worst nights of her life. Looking at her sister’s lifeless body in the hospital, going home and having to clean the blood in their sitting room floor, crying with no comfort only the stone cold assurance that her sister was gone forever.
The next day, when her father returned home from the brothel where he had slept, it was to see neighbours gathered by his tiny face me, I face you apartment consoling his wife. When he heard the news, he was visibly shaken. He had been a terrible husband, an irresponsible father but he had cared about his daughters.
Her father normally was an unkind person but in his grief, he became an animal. He charged at her mother, accusing her of being a failure incapable of raising a child properly. He pummelled her, beat her and spat at her but that night, Femi never knew what took over her mother, she sent Femi to a neighbour’s house, locked Nifemi out of the house and went to bed, supposedly. She waited until her husband had slept and plunged a knife into his abdomen 7 times and then quietly covered him back. She then proceeded to swallow a……..
The next morning when the neighbour whom Femi had slept with tried to wake them up so Femi could go in, no one responded. After an hour, they broke down the door to meet them both dead, their initial thought was that Nifemi had killed his parents. On hearing this suspicion, instead of defending himself, Nifemi ran away. That day officially became the worst day of her life.
In the space of 3 days, she had no one left. By the time her uncle came, her tears were spent and her heart was horribly broken. The only feelings she had were fear of what she would find with her uncle. On getting to her uncle’s house in his Peugeot 504, his wife, a woman she had never met before, beautiful and kind, had rushed out, opened her arms to her and loved her wholeheartedly.
We are home, her aunty announced, rousing her from her recollections. She got out of the car and listened as her uncle complained good naturedly about hunger and his impatience for Sunday jollof rice. She then smiled and rested her head on the roof of the car, looking at them,
Yes, she thought to herself, no matter what Tiwa thought, no matter what anyone might say, this was home.
Question: What can you guess about this interesting story? Please do NOT miss any episodes.

Episode 2
It was Monday morning and Tiwa wasn’t having a very good day. She had woken up with a raging headache and a sore disposition, all from yesterday. She couldn’t understand it. Why was her mother always in support of Femi? Why did her mother treat her like her feelings didn’t matter? Why? Why did Femi even have to exist? She resented the hell out of her cousin.
When push came to shove though, it didn’t matter. She was 20 times the woman Femi would ever be. She was beautiful and Femi was not, she was a doctor saving lives and Femi was a teacher cleaning the butts of little children, she had her own apartment and car, while Femi was still living at home and jumping buses. She sighed at her own stupidity, wondering why she ever let the whole thing get to her, Femi wasn’t worth the though.
As she drove towards the hospital, she turned up her radio to beat FM so she could listen to a few songs and be cheered up, who cared about Femi anyway? On entering the hospital, she saw that Fiyin’s hummer was already there and she smiled to herself. Fiyinfoluwa Arowolo, her boss, her friend and soon, very soon, her husband and lover.
She remembered the first day she met him during her interview for her job 3 years ago, she had fallen instantly in love with his beautiful brown eyes, his voice that always seemed like chocolate, his big, beautiful surgeon hands, his intelligence, and when he stood up to shake her after the interview, she had gripped those hands, looked into his eyes and knew that she would never be whole again until he was completely hers.
Of course, things hadn’t worked out the way she had hoped. At that time, he was just 31 and had just lost his wife of 2 years to a fatal accident. He hadn’t been interested in a relationship with a woman and was too busy taking care of his 1 year old child. She had chafed at the time she needed to give him to grieve but realised she had to be patient with him or things were never going to work out between them.
Taking that into consideration, she had worked herself carefully and subtly into his life, using his daughter, his sister and his respect for her as a colleague. She was Aunty Tiwa to his daughter, his sister’s bestie and his father who was also a renowned surgeon and the founder of their hospital, really liked and respected her.
Recently, she knew she had gone from friend in his view to potential wife, she saw how he was beginning to look and appreciate her, she enjoyed how his eyes lighted up when he saw her and how he was always coming to talk to her over sundry and ridiculous things. She had heard from his best friend, another doctor in the hospital that he was always mentioning her name. The time was ripe,
Tiwa: Fiyin you’re mine, she thought as she stepped out of the car.
As she entered the doors of Saint Havers, she reported and signed in at the nurses’ station, made her way to her locker in the changing room, changed into her scrubs and planned how she would go see Fiyin as soon as possible. She was coming out of the locker room when she saw Seun, Fiyin’s sister, striding towards her.
Seun: “I’ve been looking for you,” she said excitedly, “I have gist oh”
Tiwa: “What happened?” Tiwa said with a little impatience, she was only friends with Seun because of Fiyin. The truth was the woman made her tired but she could not afford to close her off. She was forever having gist about irrelevant things and always had a story to tell that Tiwa didn’t want to hear. She feigned interest though, she couldn’t afford to loose Seun’s friendship at this point in the game.
Seun: “You know Tola na?” Seun asked and Tiwa nodded, even though she couldn’t care less about the 26 year old nurse who had also had her eyes on Fiyin last year. “Well, guess what?” Seun asked, the stars in her eyes winking dramatically.
Tiwa: “What happened?” Tiwa asked, trying not to bark at Seun. She couldn’t understand how a grown woman of 30, married with 2 children would take so much pleasure in talking about other people.
Seun: “Haha now, I thought we agreed you would guess,” Seun whined a bit but she saw the look in Tiwa’s eyes and decided to tell her anyway, “well, Tola, is pregnant”
Tiwa: “Really?” Tiwa asked, relieved, at least now nurse Tola will stop chasing Fiyin, not that Tola ever stood a chance anyway especially when they were put side to side. Although Tola was beautiful with good bone structure and bountiful breasts, she could turn heads and regularly did with her sexy scrubs, she fell short of the one quality Fiyin valued in women, intelligence.
Nonetheless, Tiwa had been worried about her because she had gone after Fiyin with boldness and assurance, another quality Fiyin liked in women. Then she realised she hadn’t heard who Tola was pregnant for. “Who is she pregnant for?” She asked Seun who was happy to see that her gist was well met.
Seun: “Don’t tell anybody,” Seun whispered quietly, “I think its Doctor Niyi, my sources say she was sleeping with him 2 months ago.”
Tiwa: “You and your sources!” Tiwa laughed, happy now that Seun dished necessary gist. She wondered how Seun would cope without hospital gossip to sustain her. Even though Seun was a gynaecologist and a very busy one, she still found time and energy to receive and dispense gossip.
Just then, Tola and another nurse passed beside them. The other nurse greeted both of them while Tola only greeted Seun and walked on. Tiwa shook her head and laughed, “Imagine, she still has the guts to raise her head up, w—e!”
“Haha!” Seun exclaimed, “It was probably a mistake! Don’t say that, it can happen to anyone.” While she liked observing and talking about people, she wasn’t a critical or judgemental person, she couldn’t say the same for Tiwa though, who felt she was better than everybody else.
“Not anybody abeg, it can’t happen to me! Catch ya later.” She said and walked away from Seun.
“That girl…,” Seun said to no one, “…is too proud”. It didn’t say much of Seun that she was friends with her but she was one of those people that couldn’t stand not being friends with everyone. With Tiwa though, she had doubts, she had a strong feeling that by the time Tiwa got her brother, she wouldn’t have any use for Seun again. That’s life, I guess, she told herself as she entered the lift that would take her to the 3rd floor labour room.
==
After her rounds to check on her patients, she made her way to Fiyin’s office on the 4th floor, she just had to see him. It had been a very long weekend as she had been on call Friday and Saturday but he hadn’t been around either day as he had a meeting in Abuja and had left on Wednesday. After the appalling way her parents had raked at her yesterday over Femi, all she needed was Fiyin’s smile and embrace.
She walked to the door that had Chief Medical Director written on it, strode in past his staring secretary, Ozioma, a complete village girl in her opinion and went directly to his door. She opened the door after hearing his deep throated “come in” to her knock.
Peeking her head in,
Tiwa: “Hi, Dr Arowolo, how do you do?” She asked and was instantly gratified when he smiled broadly at her.
Fiyin: “Tiwa!! Just the person I wanted to see…” he enthused, standing to his 6 feet 2 height and walking around his big desk to embrace her “…how are you?” He asked her.
“I’m fine, even better now that I’m seeing you.” He nodded in satisfaction at her answer. He had to agree she looked good, she was always beautiful, even without makeup.
“I missed you.” She said emotionally. He smiled at her, “I missed you too…” and turned back to his seat, “…sit down and tell me what you have been up to.”
“Nothing, I just wanted to see you.”
So they sat and talked for a while. He told her of his trip to Abuja, of seeing his father, who was currently the Nation’s minister for Health and of his daughter, Amanda’s progress in the new school she was in. She left only after her pager beeped that she was needed somewhere else.
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Fiyin watched Tiwa leave and smiled to himself, he really, really liked her. She had all the qualities he liked in a woman, slim, sleek, intelligent, respectful, caring, bold and she was a real goal getter too. Just like his late wife had been.
When he had employed her 3 years ago, it was to balance out the overwhelming number of male doctors in the hospital. At the time, there were less than 4 female doctors on staff amongst about 47 male doctors. He, his father and sister, who had been the youngest female doctor at the time had felt it important to bring in fresh and young female doctors.
Truly, she had wowed him at the interviews, she had superb results, amazing grades and rave references but he figured he had met a lot of brilliant Doctors in his time so he wasn’t expecting much from her or any of the other 6 female doctors they had employed but she surprised him. Indeed, she did as she slowly but surely made herself one of the most important, hardworking and high achieving doctors in the hospital.
When she joined the hospital, he had being going through a tough time with the death of his wife and the responsibility of a young child that he hadn’t even had the time to think about women but 4 years had passed now since his wife had died in a ghastly motor accident and the thought of Helen was now a dull type of pain. As he had been told when she had first died, time only lessened the pain. And it had.
He had only started dating again in the last few months and it had not being as tiring a process as he thought it would be. He understood that he was a man and he did not want to spend the rest of his life alone. He wanted to have more children, he wanted Amanda to have a mother, he wanted to have a woman in his bed, his kitchen and to go back home to every day.
He was prepared for the step and while he had gone out with a few women, none of them seemed to fit his idea of an ideal woman as much as Tiwa, there was no other woman he respected as much, except his mother. When he travelled to Abuja, his father had advised him to snap her up, understandably, his father had always really liked her.
So, he figured it was time to take his relationship with Tiwa to the next level. Yes, it was, he nodded to himself.
Question: Do you think Tiwa will make a good wife to Fiyin?

Episode 3
A for apple, B for ball, C for cat….” The children in Femi’s nursery 2 class chanted in excitement. She used her rod to point at the objects while the children recited. Her class wasn’t very big, she had only 9 children in her class, 3 girls and 6 boys. The boys were mostly chanting except Christopher, who was kneeling in the corner for pulling on Imelda’s hair.
Imelda was a pretty, quiet 4 year old with soulful eyes and Christopher had taken to bullying her in the past few weeks. Personally, she thought he had a crush on her and like most boys his age, he was acting out. Whatever his reasons though, she couldn’t let it continue especially when Imelda’s eyes were still red and tears threatened to spill out at any minute.
Of the girls, Lanke was the only one reciting as Imelda was still struggling to recover. Lanke was her best student, dark skinned and brilliant, Lanke excelled at everything and for a five year old, she was extremely self-assured and in total control, sometimes Femi felt Lanke was a very old woman in a very young body.
The last girl, Amanda was a different kettle of fish. She had joined her class at the beginning of the previous term and so far she hadn’t done well or interacted properly with the rest of the class. Femi had tried talking to her and realised Amanda responded well when she spoke to her but retreated into her shell when she had to do anything to do with her classmates or others.
This wouldn’t have bothered Femi as much if she was doing well in her school work, but she wasn’t and Femi was at a loss as to what to do about her. She had already decided however that she would look at Amanda’s result this term and then write a letter to the school’s Proprietress if her results showed she hadn’t made any headway.
Poor darling, she thought to herself. She loved children a lot, in fact, she had always thought that at 25, she would be married with at least 2 children of her own. She was 27 now and still no child or marriage for that matter.
When she had moved to her Uncle’s house, she had made pocket money by babysitting for several children in the neighbourhood. She remembered the joy with which the children had run to her calling her Aunty Femi. She figured early she wanted to work with children but she had assumed she would be a paediatrician or child psychologist. She hadn’t had the brains for either and now, she was doing something equally fulfilling, she was teaching and moulding children.
By break time, Imelda had settled and was eating quietly, Christopher had apologised and was sitting down looking contrite, and the other boys were laughing and stuffing their mouths with their lunch of yam and pepper sauce. Lanke was looking at them with a disdain only a child can perfect and Amanda was at the back of the class, staring at the others, her food untouched.
Femi left her table and went to kneel beside Amanda,
Femi: “Baby, why aren’t you eating?”
Amanda: “Nothing,” Amanda sighed
Femi: “Don’t you like the food?” She asked, knowing that wasn’t the answer, Amanda hardly ate the School provided lunch even though the food was well cooked.
Amanda shook her head.
Femi: “Should I feed you?” Amanda shook her head again. Nonetheless, Femi took up the fork and waved a piece of yam in front of Amanda’s tiny mouth. The little girl took that and ate some more before deciding she didn’t want more.
By the time Femi returned to her sit, she decided she had at last come to a decision about Amanda. She was determined to see it through to the end. For whatever reason, Amanda wasn’t responding well to the general classes, as shown by her test results so far. She felt sure that Amanda will respond better to one on one classes.
She made up her mind to write to the Proprietress now instead of waiting till the end of term to see what they could do for Amanda.
==
Mrs Ingalam was a very strict woman, a devout Christian and a lover of God, she suffered no fools and hated having incompetent imbeciles around her. That was why her school, Reign Academy was such an overwhelming success. She got the best money could buy and any child that passed through her school was sure to receive the best.
When employing her teachers, she didn’t just get those who had great results and teaching skills, she also wanted people who were loving, natural nurturers. Of course, with the amount parents paid to have their children in her school, she wanted to assure them of top value and quality education.
Of her Ninety-eight members of staff, she had 2 child counsellors and 2 psychologists and she paid them good money per child their services were required.
When she received Miss Femi Olaosebikan’s letter about Amanda Arowolo, she didn’t waste time didling. Femi, in her observation was a natural teacher, a gifted young lady who had started with her years ago as a part time staff. After realising the girl’s gift with children, she had made her a full member of staff and had not regretted it till date as the girl had proved herself over and over again.
The news about Amanda wasn’t a huge surprise, she had sometimes observed the girl in class through the secret cameras in her office and she had seen her, often alone on the playground. Amanda was the granddaughter of the Minister for health and her father was the MD of renowned Saint Havers Hospital so she had to thread with caution.
She had asked her psychologists to check Amanda out and they both decided that while Amanda had no learning disabilities, she seemed to have problems keeping up in such a boisterous environment and felt a little left out. They offered that Amanda receive home lessons for a while so they could see if her performance would improve.
Which was why Mrs Ingalam was sitting in her office waiting for Dr. Fiyin Arowolo to keep their 2 ‘o’ clock appointment. When she heard the phone ring, she picked it up and listened as her secretary made her know that Dr Arowolo was around.
“Let him in” she said and barely 40 seconds later, he was in her office, his handsome face creased in worries. “Dr. Arowolo, it’s a pleasure to see you again..” she said as she shook his hands. “Thank you for coming, please have your seat” She gestured towards the chairs in front of her table.
Fiyin: “Is there a problem ma’am?” He asked as he sat down.
Mrs Ingalam: “No sir, none at all!” She was quick to assure him, “would you like to have anything?”
Fiyin: “No, I’m fine, thank you ma, if there isn’t a problem, why have you invited me?”
Mrs Ingalam: “Oh, it was nothing, I wanted to talk to you about your daughter, Amanda.”
Fiyin: “I figured as much, what is the problem?”
Mrs Ingalam: “Sir there isn’t really a problem, it’s just Amanda hasn’t been keeping up in her class. She cleared her throat, what I mean to say is she isn’t doing so well.”
Fiyin sighed, “What do I do? She had the same problem at her former school and my mother recommended I bring her here that you would be able to handle it. Isn’t she doing better?”
Mrs Ingalam: “Sir, its not beyond us to handle Amanda’s case but as you may be aware as a parent, what works for one child might not work for the other. At Reign Academy, we are committed to taking care of each child in accordance to their special needs and with procedures that will work for them individually.”
Fiyin felt a weight on his chest, it seemed he had tried all he could to help Amanda do better at school but this was the 3rd school and it didn’t seem to have worked. Maybe he would take her out of school for a while and whenever she was ready, she could start again.
Mrs Ingalam: “We have had Amanda assessed by our excellent team of child psychologists and we agreed that the problem is not so much Amanda’s inability to learn but the environment.”
Fiyin: “Maybe, youre right, she plays at home when she’s alone or with family but freezes up around strangers.”
Mrs Ingalam: “Exactly!” Mrs Ingalam said with excitement. “And we decided that the solution will be for Amanda to be home schooled for a while……”
Fiyin: “Home schooled?! How?!”
Mrs Ingalam: “Yes. The teacher will come home and take her for her lessons. Depending on how she performs, we can bring her back in a next session.”
Fiyin: “But the teacher will still be a stranger to her?” He asked, unsure.
Mrs Ingalam: “No, we would pick a teacher she already gets along with. Her present class teacher, Miss Femi Olaosebikan.”
Fiyin sighed, “And you think it will work?”
Mrs Ingalam: “We will give it a good trial, Miss Olaosebikan is a committed teacher, very kind and gifted, which is what Amanda needs. She was the one who first told me Amanda will benefit from one on one classes and I trust her explicitly.”
Fiyin: “Alright, let’s do it. I hope it works out.” Fiyin sounded hopeful, he was willing to try out anything that would help Amanda out.
Mrs Ingalam: “Very well sir,” she said as she stood up. “I will decide on a schedule with Miss Olaosebikan and get back to you.”
He also stood up and they shook hands “Thank you ma’am, you’ve been a big help. I’ll talk to you as soon as possible.” He said as he left her office.
Question: Hmm.. Can someone please make a good guess about this interesting story?

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Interesting, following

I guess Amanda home schooling will bring Dr Fiyin and Femi together maybe something in the line of romance and eventually marriage,which will humble her cousin Tiwa

Episode 3
A for apple, B for ball, C for cat….” The children in Femi’s nursery 2 class chanted in excitement. She used her rod to point at the objects while the children recited. Her class wasn’t very big, she had only 9 children in her class, 3 girls and 6 boys. The boys were mostly chanting except Christopher, who was kneeling in the corner for pulling on Imelda’s hair.
Imelda was a pretty, quiet 4 year old with soulful eyes and Christopher had taken to bullying her in the past few weeks. Personally, she thought he had a crush on her and like most boys his age, he was acting out. Whatever his reasons though, she couldn’t let it continue especially when Imelda’s eyes were still red and tears threatened to spill out at any minute.
Of the girls, Lanke was the only one reciting as Imelda was still struggling to recover. Lanke was her best student, dark skinned and brilliant, Lanke excelled at everything and for a five year old, she was extremely self-assured and in total control, sometimes Femi felt Lanke was a very old woman in a very young body.
The last girl, Amanda was a different kettle of fish. She had joined her class at the beginning of the previous term and so far she hadn’t done well or interacted properly with the rest of the class. Femi had tried talking to her and realised Amanda responded well when she spoke to her but retreated into her shell when she had to do anything to do with her classmates or others.
This wouldn’t have bothered Femi as much if she was doing well in her school work, but she wasn’t and Femi was at a loss as to what to do about her. She had already decided however that she would look at Amanda’s result this term and then write a letter to the school’s Proprietress if her results showed she hadn’t made any headway.
Poor darling, she thought to herself. She loved children a lot, in fact, she had always thought that at 25, she would be married with at least 2 children of her own. She was 27 now and still no child or marriage for that matter.
When she had moved to her Uncle’s house, she had made pocket money by babysitting for several children in the neighbourhood. She remembered the joy with which the children had run to her calling her Aunty Femi. She figured early she wanted to work with children but she had assumed she would be a paediatrician or child psychologist. She hadn’t had the brains for either and now, she was doing something equally fulfilling, she was teaching and moulding children.
By break time, Imelda had settled and was eating quietly, Christopher had apologised and was sitting down looking contrite, and the other boys were laughing and stuffing their mouths with their lunch of yam and pepper sauce. Lanke was looking at them with a disdain only a child can perfect and Amanda was at the back of the class, staring at the others, her food untouched.
Femi left her table and went to kneel beside Amanda,
Femi: “Baby, why aren’t you eating?”
Amanda: “Nothing,” Amanda sighed
Femi: “Don’t you like the food?” She asked, knowing that wasn’t the answer, Amanda hardly ate the School provided lunch even though the food was well cooked.
Amanda shook her head.
Femi: “Should I feed you?” Amanda shook her head again. Nonetheless, Femi took up the fork and waved a piece of yam in front of Amanda’s tiny mouth. The little girl took that and ate some more before deciding she didn’t want more.
By the time Femi returned to her sit, she decided she had at last come to a decision about Amanda. She was determined to see it through to the end. For whatever reason, Amanda wasn’t responding well to the general classes, as shown by her test results so far. She felt sure that Amanda will respond better to one on one classes.
She made up her mind to write to the Proprietress now instead of waiting till the end of term to see what they could do for Amanda.
==
Mrs Ingalam was a very strict woman, a devout Christian and a lover of God, she suffered no fools and hated having incompetent imbeciles around her. That was why her school, Reign Academy was such an overwhelming success. She got the best money could buy and any child that passed through her school was sure to receive the best.
When employing her teachers, she didn’t just get those who had great results and teaching skills, she also wanted people who were loving, natural nurturers. Of course, with the amount parents paid to have their children in her school, she wanted to assure them of top value and quality education.
Of her Ninety-eight members of staff, she had 2 child counsellors and 2 psychologists and she paid them good money per child their services were required.
When she received Miss Femi Olaosebikan’s letter about Amanda Arowolo, she didn’t waste time didling. Femi, in her observation was a natural teacher, a gifted young lady who had started with her years ago as a part time staff. After realising the girl’s gift with children, she had made her a full member of staff and had not regretted it till date as the girl had proved herself over and over again.
The news about Amanda wasn’t a huge surprise, she had sometimes observed the girl in class through the secret cameras in her office and she had seen her, often alone on the playground. Amanda was the granddaughter of the Minister for health and her father was the MD of renowned Saint Havers Hospital so she had to thread with caution.
She had asked her psychologists to check Amanda out and they both decided that while Amanda had no learning disabilities, she seemed to have problems keeping up in such a boisterous environment and felt a little left out. They offered that Amanda receive home lessons for a while so they could see if her performance would improve.
Which was why Mrs Ingalam was sitting in her office waiting for Dr. Fiyin Arowolo to keep their 2 ‘o’ clock appointment. When she heard the phone ring, she picked it up and listened as her secretary made her know that Dr Arowolo was around.
“Let him in” she said and barely 40 seconds later, he was in her office, his handsome face creased in worries. “Dr. Arowolo, it’s a pleasure to see you again..” she said as she shook his hands. “Thank you for coming, please have your seat” She gestured towards the chairs in front of her table.
Fiyin: “Is there a problem ma’am?” He asked as he sat down.
Mrs Ingalam: “No sir, none at all!” She was quick to assure him, “would you like to have anything?”
Fiyin: “No, I’m fine, thank you ma, if there isn’t a problem, why have you invited me?”
Mrs Ingalam: “Oh, it was nothing, I wanted to talk to you about your daughter, Amanda.”
Fiyin: “I figured as much, what is the problem?”
Mrs Ingalam: “Sir there isn’t really a problem, it’s just Amanda hasn’t been keeping up in her class. She cleared her throat, what I mean to say is she isn’t doing so well.”
Fiyin sighed, “What do I do? She had the same problem at her former school and my mother recommended I bring her here that you would be able to handle it. Isn’t she doing better?”
Mrs Ingalam: “Sir, its not beyond us to handle Amanda’s case but as you may be aware as a parent, what works for one child might not work for the other. At Reign Academy, we are committed to taking care of each child in accordance to their special needs and with procedures that will work for them individually.”
Fiyin felt a weight on his chest, it seemed he had tried all he could to help Amanda do better at school but this was the 3rd school and it didn’t seem to have worked. Maybe he would take her out of school for a while and whenever she was ready, she could start again.
Mrs Ingalam: “We have had Amanda assessed by our excellent team of child psychologists and we agreed that the problem is not so much Amanda’s inability to learn but the environment.”
Fiyin: “Maybe, youre right, she plays at home when she’s alone or with family but freezes up around strangers.”
Mrs Ingalam: “Exactly!” Mrs Ingalam said with excitement. “And we decided that the solution will be for Amanda to be home schooled for a while……”
Fiyin: “Home schooled?! How?!”
Mrs Ingalam: “Yes. The teacher will come home and take her for her lessons. Depending on how she performs, we can bring her back in a next session.”
Fiyin: “But the teacher will still be a stranger to her?” He asked, unsure.
Mrs Ingalam: “No, we would pick a teacher she already gets along with. Her present class teacher, Miss Femi Olaosebikan.”
Fiyin sighed, “And you think it will work?”
Mrs Ingalam: “We will give it a good trial, Miss Olaosebikan is a committed teacher, very kind and gifted, which is what Amanda needs. She was the one who first told me Amanda will benefit from one on one classes and I trust her explicitly.”
Fiyin: “Alright, let’s do it. I hope it works out.” Fiyin sounded hopeful, he was willing to try out anything that would help Amanda out.
Mrs Ingalam: “Very well sir,” she said as she stood up. “I will decide on a schedule with Miss Olaosebikan and get back to you.”
He also stood up and they shook hands “Thank you ma’am, you’ve been a big help. I’ll talk to you as soon as possible.” He said as he left her office.
Question: Hmm.. Can someone please make a good guess about this interesting story?

Episode 4
It was 4pm already and there was no sign of Miss Femi yet, Amanda thought to herself as she looked out the window of the massive sitting room in her father’s house. Miss Femi was never late, never. In the 6 weeks since her home classes had started, Miss Femi came at precisely 3pm four days a week without fail. So, what happened today, she wondered.
Nanny: “Mandy!” Aunty Ose, her nanny, called from the dining area, “come away from the window!” “Your standing there will not make your teacher come any quicker and if she comes and you haven’t eaten, you’ll only delay her….”
Amanda: “But I’ve done my homework, I want her to see it, I did it by myself, why won’t she come and see it?” Amanda whined hopelessly. She was getting better, Aunty Femi said so, she even knew her 2 times table now, where was Aunty Femi?
In her excitement to show her aunty her homework which she had done by herself, she hadn’t even felt hungry and now Aunty Femi had refused to come, why? What had she done wrong? She wondered as she rested her head against the leather chair and started crying.
Nanny: “Ha!” Ose exclaimed and rushed to gather the small body in her arms, “Okay, I’ll call her, stop crying, she will soon come, you hear?” She said as she cleaned Amanda’s leaking eyes and carried her to the dining table.
They had barely sat down when they heard Fiyin’s horn. “Daddy’s back!” Amanda shouted in excitement and rushed out of the house to greet her father.
Fiyin: “Baby girl!” Fiyin exclaimed as Amanda ran out of the house and into his legs. He grabbed her and threw her up, “How are you?” He asked and then saw the faint marks of tears on her face, “What happened?” he asked, concerned as he saw Ose standing by the dinning.
Nanny: “Nothing sir, she was just disappointed that her teacher had not come…”
Fiyin: “Why hasn’t her teacher come?” He asked in confusion. In the 6 weeks Femi had been coming to teach Amanda, he had noticed a few things he didn’t like about her but her skill, dedication and timeliness had never been in question.
Nanny: “I spoke to her just now and she said she was on her way, today was open day at the school and she couldn’t leave on time.” Ose explained quickly.
Fiyin: “Couldn’t she have called you or me to let us know, instead of letting Amanda cry?”
Ose just shrugged, not having any particular answer.
Fiyin dropped Amanda who was now cheerier and grumbled under his breath. Femi was extremely scatter brained sometimes. While he liked her dedication to his daughter and her ability to teach, he was hard pressed to think of anything else he liked about Miss Olaosebikan.
She always dressed like a clown without a fashion sense, wearing ridiculous brightly coloured ensembles. She had a low self-esteem and was never assertive enough, she would never say the same things twice, always changing her mind if she thought what she said did not please her hearer and he had noticed she seemed to be suffering from an addiction to chocolate and all its variants, no wonder she was fat.
Once, he heard her talking to a guy he assumed was her boyfriend and he couldn’t help laughing, he couldn’t believe a creature like that had a man in her life but stranger things had happened. She was pretty enough, if you liked big eyes and full lips on a woman and she had lovely hair which was hardly ever made in any other style except weaving, she wore no makeup except the horrid orange lipstick that made her lips look even fuller and her sandals or slippers were forever cutting. Of the over 24 days she had been coming to his house, she had looked for a shoemaker at least 13 times.
He sighed and rubbed his beard, hoping that her horrible influence and taste did not rub off on Amanda who idolized her teacher. Of course, they wouldn’t be together long enough, even he could see Amanda had improved well enough under her Teacher’s golden influence. He was planning that by September, he would return Amanda back to normal schooling. It was April, that should give Femi less than 4 more months to permanently corrupt Amanda.
On a brighter note, he thought as he went climbed upstairs to his bedroom on the first floor, he had a date with Tiwa. In the past few weeks, he had tried to get a feel as to how she would react to the idea of a date and when he realized she was forthcoming, he had played his shot four days ago.
Now, it was Friday and he had a plan to take her to his country club on the Island for a very relaxing time. He had every intention of getting to know her outside work, her past and everything that made her tick. He smiled to himself as he entered the shower, wondering just what his father would think when he heard. The Minister would be ecstatic.
He was picking her up by 5pm and he was wondering if he shouldn’t change his plans for the day from the island as the Friday traffic to that area might be ridiculous. They might end up spending most of their night in the car at that rate. He was still ruminating when he heard the door open followed by Femi’s voice downstairs.
“Amanda!” She squealed in excitement. He didn’t have to be there to picture Amanda running into her outstretched arms. He had seen it often enough. He remembered now there was something else he liked about Femi, her voice. It sounded like whatever angels sounded like. Last week Monday, he had been going to the kitchen for a glass of juice, more to stretch his legs than anything else when he heard her singing. He couldn’t explain what he had felt that day and he had decided not to examine it too closely.
He had walked into the study that day and warned her never to sing in the house again especially when she was supposed to be teaching his daughter her lessons. He hadn’t expected a reply or defence and he hadn’t gotten one anyway. Voiceful or voiceless, Femi was a necessary nuisance and in 4 months, he need not see her in his house again.
He finished dressing, called Tiwa to ask her if she was ready, she said almost and he cut the call and left his room. On his way downstairs, he heard Femi talking to Amanda and decided to stop and say bye to Amanda. And to see what Femi was wearing today. And to see if her slippers or sandals was in need of mending. And to see if she still had on that horrible lipstick she usually wore.
=
Femi was trying really hard to teach Amanda a nursery song without making too much noise but it was a very tough call and she was whispering. She couldn’t help but feel dismayed at this, no nursery rhyme should be taught by whispering but she had been warned by Dr Arowolo not to sing out loud in his house again.
.
More stories @ www.chorusman.com
.
She could only grimace when she thought back to the day he had found her singing, he had been so mad. She knew she had a bad habit of singing wherever she found herself but no one had ever minded or reacted so strongly, in fact people usually complimented her voice whenever they heard her singing. The way he reacted, one would think she had the voice of a bull frog.
“Hey, baby.” She heard Mr Arowolo as he entered and grabbed Amanda and she realised she had been lost in thought. She turned her face as Amanda started giggling when her dad tickled her belly. It was hard to believe Amanda was the same quiet, mousy girl from her class. At home, Amanda was active, playful and loving, she laughed a lot and she also loved singing.
Amanda: “Daddy, you smell nice, where are you going?” Amanda asked, sniffing her father.
Fiyin: “Somewhere that doesn’t concern you, small stuff!” Her father replied, sniffing her back.
Femi felt her heart clench as she looked at both of them. They were so beautiful. Amanda with her big smile and twinkling eyes. And Dr Arowolo, she sighed. The man was a vision of perfection, with his long legs, broad shoulders, his intelligent eyes and his mouth that always seemed to smile at everyone but her.
She knew she was too old for a crush, she was 27 for God’s sake but she couldn’t really help herself when it came to Fiyin Arowolo. She liked everything about him and sometimes, when she was daydreaming, she pictured her boyfriend, David looking exactly like him. And talking like him. And walking like him too.
She knew how foolish her fantasies were, she knew a man as learned as Dr Arowolo could never, ever want a woman like her. She had seen pictures of his late wife when Amanda had taken her to see her room and she knew that type of woman was the type that got a man like him. Intelligent eyes, beautiful body, polish, smarts, confidence and boldness. Traits she did not have and would never have.
More than that, she could tell the man did not like her and only tolerated her for his daughter’s sake. He looked at her like she was a maggot and sometimes she felt he came to check on her classes with Amanda to make sure she did not infect his daughter with her terrible ways. No wonder he didn’t want her singing around his house.
She couldn’t understand what he found so disagreeable about her, she knew she wasn’t all that special but generally, people tended to like her. Besides her cousin, Tiwa, no one had disliked her so quickly before and she hated that it was someone she happened to like and respect that didn’t like her back. It lessened her self-confidence and made her feel really stupid and awkward in his presence.
Fiyin: “So, what are you doing?” Fiyin asked Amanda as he dropped her back in her seat.
Amanda: “We are learning a rhyme, ring around the roses…..”
Fiyin: “Oh, that was one of my favourites when I was young, your aunties and I used to play games with it.”
Amanda: “Really?” Amanda asked, trying to picture her father as a child.
Fiyin: “Yes, baby, really.”
Amanda: “Well, we can’t sing it, Aunty Femi said you said we are disturbing you. Are we disturbing you, daddy?” She asked innocently
Fiyin: “No, I…., I of course, I didn’t say that,” he sputtered, looking accusingly at Femi, “I don’t know where your teacher got that idea!”
Femi: “Sir, but you said last week that is should not…..”
Fiyin: “I said you shouldn’t sing, did I say you should not teach?”
Femi: “How would i teach a rhyme without singing it?” She muttered.
Fiyin: “What? What did you say?”
Femi: “Nothing, nothing sir.”
“I thought as much!” He said in triumph, noting that she still had on her ugly lipstick. “Alright baby, bye, I will check on you when I get back.” He said as he kissed his daughter’s head.
“Bye, daddy.” Amanda returned as he gave Femi a dirty look and left the room.
Amanda: “Does that mean we can sing now?” Amanda asked.
Femi: “Yes, I think so.” Femi answered, her thoughts faraway. He succeeded in making me sound like an idiot as usual, she told herself sadly as she heard his car start and drive away.
One day, one day she promised herself, I will be something, I will have a wonderful husband and I’ll be slimmer with very nice clothes then I’ll go to his hospital and register there.
You’ll see, Doctor Arowolo, you’ll see!
Question: I don’t see it coming the friendship between Femi and Fiyin. Do you agree?

Episode 5
There were days when Femi felt like the world
was out to get her. Today was one of those days.
First, her aunt had been angry with her for not
helping her pack in the clothes she dried outside
the night before but Femi had been in a hurry to
get to school and decided to pack it in when she
got back. Unfortunately, the rain had fallen
heavily and her aunt’s beautiful Asooke had
gotten wet.
She had barely gotten off the phone from her
Aunty’s tirade when the mother of one of her
students, Eri had come to shout at her for feeding
her son something that made him purge all day
the previous day. All attempts to make the
woman understand that she wasn’t the one who
made the school lunches fell on deaf ears and by
the time Mrs Ingalam intervened, Femi was in
tears.
After school ended, she had made her way to Dr
Arowolo’s house, only for the rain to start falling
and she had to stand in a stall with some other
people. On getting to his house, she had received
serious tongue lashing from him for coming late
and ended up unable to teach Amanda properly,
sniffling through the poor girl’s lessons.
When she finished there at 6, she decided to stop
at David’s house and be cheered up so she could
be better prepared to face her aunt but David has
insisted she cook even though she told him she
was really tired. He ended up giving her a
rundown on all her failings as a woman and
eventually she had left in a worse mood than
when she arrived.
She had barely left his house when the rain
started again and by the time she got home, she
was wet, tired and hungry. Her aunt was waiting
for her when she got home but one look at Femi,
her tears, wet clothes and wet hair had the older
woman rushing to hug her.
Aunt: “Oko mi what happened, why didn’t you
stay out of the rain?”
Femi: “I….i…..went…….i…….to…..” she stammered
as her teeth started chattering.
Aunt: “Ha! Eyaa. Oya, go to the bathroom, take
off your clothes, let me boil hot water for your
bath. Pele, oko mi.” She said as she pushed Femi
towards her bedroom and quickly went to boil
water for her to have her bath.
Adelaide was upset at the rain, why wouldn’t it
stop, now it had ruined her good aso oke and wet
her poor child. Of course, she knew it probably
wasn’t the rain that brought Femi home in tears,
she was worried something else had happened
but she wanted the poor child to stop crying, if
not she wouldn’t get anything out of her.
Femi was very soft and very emotional, the
smallest thing could have a bawling her eyes out
and she had tried as much as possible to shield
Femi from too much pain. She remembered when
Femi had first come to them, seemingly broken,
she had looked out her window at the thin girl
who was too small for her age and with eyes that
seemed like they had seen too much and she had
rushed out to grab her
Since that day, she had never regretted opening
her arms to Femi. In more ways than one, Femi
was more like her than the daughter she had
borne. Femi was quiet, demure, loving and loyal.
Where she loved, she loved and she had a very
large heart.
Unlike Tiwa, who walked tall and dared anyone to
try to demean her. Tiwa, her brilliant daughter,
the one who never gave second chances, the one
who could look anyone in the eye and made a
very strong enemy.
She sighed as she remembered that her fondest
wish and prayers about her daughters had gone
unanswered. She had wanted desperately for both
girls to be best friends and encouraged it by
taking them out together and buying similar
clothes for them. It hadn’t worked. More often
than not, Tiwa would refuse to go and when she
bought similar clothes for them, depending on
how Tiwa felt about the cloth, one would
disappear.
If Tiwa liked the cloth, Femi’s would get lost and
if Tiwa didn’t like them, hers would go missing.
At first, she wondered at the losses until she
finally realized the pattern and stopped buying
similar clothes for them.
For Femi, she knew living with them hadn’t
always been easy or welcome. The evening she
got to their house, then a small 3 bedroom flat
around Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, she had been scared,
lonely and hopeful. In her kind and authoritative
way, Adelaide had led her inside and introduced
her to their children. Their first son Damola who
was 15 at the time, their 12 year old daughter,
Tiwalola and the baby, 9 year old Kunle.
When Tiwa was told she would be sharing a room
with her newly acquired cousin, she had
grumbled. As the only daughter, she had gotten
used to having a room to herself which she only
had to share with the occasional visitors, now
she was to share her room with a cousin she
declared was ugly.
Adelaide had been angry and warned her to never
address her cousin that way again. Only then had
Tiwa led Femi to her bedroom and even that
hadn’t been without drama for she had heard
Tiwa telling Femi not to touch her things. In a bid
to avoid any trouble, she had gotten a matrass for
Femi with every intention of making a bed for her
later.
At first, it had been really hard for Femi to cope
with Tiwa’s disdain and displeasure and her
mother had thought it was temporary phase since
Tiwa had always being the only girl amongst the
boys. But things didn’t get better as even Kunle
joined in taunting Femi. Punishing them for Femi
only made things worse as they would choose to
punish her back. Damola on the other hand
hadn’t even been interested in Femi.
For a short while, Adelaide had felt like a failure
for raising children who because of the comfort
they had showed no empathy or sympathy for
someone who had lost everything she ever had.
She then promised herself that she was going to
make sure Femi lacked nothing to help her grow
healthy, strong and confident.
Later, while inviting Femi to join her in the
kitchen, she realized the child was incredibly
adept in the kitchen for someone her age and
soon she and Femi turned the kitchen into their
corner. She loved to cook and although she had
tried to teach Tiwa the same, the child was
always grumbling and ended up taking pleasure
away from the activity. It wasn’t so with Femi,
who was always eager to know what went in,
how and why. Soon they were both coming up
with new ideas and recipes.
In retrospect, Adelaide realized this had only
infuriated Tiwa, who felt that Femi was trying to
steal her mother’s affections from her. She had
hated it that out of the blue, her mother had
opened her arms to another girl. Then though,
she had seen Tiwa’s attitude as incredibly selfish
and self-centered.
Her inability to understand her daughter’s feelings
had led to a distance in their relationship that she
had never envisioned. In truth, before Femi came,
she and Tiwa had never been really close. Tiwa
had always been her father’s daughter and when
Femi came, Adelaide had just seen an opportunity
to mould someone who could be like her and she
had.
Her feelings and sympathy for Femi emerged
when she remembered how terrible her own life
had been after the death of her mother. Her
father had remarried and produced four children
rapidly with his new wife to the detriment of
herself and her younger brother. When her brother
fell ill from all the punishments and maltreatment
their stepmother metted out to them, there had
been no one to take care of them and it wasn’t
long after her brother had died, at the tender age
of six.
She didn’t know what would have become of her
if her mother’s sister hadn’t come to take her.
She had only been 8 at the time but she
remembered the disinterest her father had shown
when her aunt swore to take her after accusing
him of killing her nephew. She remembered
leaving without her father saying goodbye. And
she promised herself she would go back and ask
him why he hadn’t cared for her or her brother.
She never had a chance too as her father died
four years later after a massive heart attack. Her
stepmother had refused to give her anything of
her father’s belongings and her father, not
expecting to die at the age of 46 had never
written a will.
She had moved on, she hadn’t had a choice
anyway. Her aunt was not always kind to her,
she often had to do without the things she
needed and she had learnt what it meant to be
truly alone while she stayed with her aunt. The
woman had refused to let her go to school and
sent her to learn fashion designing at her tailor’s
shop.
She had barely finished her training when she had
met Dele, a Youth Corper in her town of Ile Oluji
in Ondo state. He had wooed her all throughout
his service year and although she liked him, she
had refused to give inti what she felt was his
sweet tongue. At that time, girls in her town were
constantly being warned away from smooth
talking Youth Corpers.
He left after his service year and that was when
she felt genuine regret for letting him go. She
realized he had never dated anyone in their town
and if his friends were to be believed, he had no
girlfriend at home in Lagos. A month later when
he returned for her, she had jumped into his arms
and made him a very happy man.
Her aunt had been very upset when she told her
she wanted to get married. As far as her aunt
was concerned, at 22, Adelaide was too young to
be married even though her own daughter, Ade’s
cousin, Aduke had gotten married at 20.
When her aunt had remained adamant, Ade had
run off with Dele to Lagos and only returned 2
years later with Demola in tow. Having no choice
and despite her obvious displeasure, her aunt had
agreed for Dele to come and do the traditional
wedding which he did very quickly. They followed
it up with a court wedding in Lagos and had their
two other children.
Things hadn’t been perfect, in fact, they had been
far from perfect at the beginning. What with Dele
struggling to earn a living and she getting
pregnant so quickly. But somehow, their love saw
them through. Things had improved after Dele got
a job with the state government, paid her bride
price and opened up a tailoring shop for her.
At first they had to make a lot of sacrifices and
they depended heavily on Dele’s parents. His
parents had been kind and supportive and his
siblings had pitched in to help as often as
possible. Their actions always made her feel
nostalgic for her own family that wasn’t anymore.
She remembered the inevitable fights between her
and Dele and how he always had someone to tell
his side of the story when she had no one but her
children.
That feeling of loneliness and not having anybody
else in the world were what had prompted her to
open her heart and arms so freely to Femi. She
promised herself that while she was alive, Femi
would never need to doubt that she had a home
and a person who was willing to put her first.
==
Tiwa was having a very good day. There were
times when she felt like she had a personal
guardian angel always watching over her. It was
enough to have her whistling as she entered into
the male ward to begin her daily rounds.
Tiwa: “Hello, Mr Salman” she greeted the man
lying prone on the bed with oxygen tubes
attached to his nose, “How are we today?” She
asked cheerfully.
Patient: “Good morning Doctor, I’m fine, thank
you, my daughter came to visit me yesterday
and……..” Tiwa barely listened, she just kept
nodding and smiling as the older man continued
talking. Carefully she checked his blood pressure
and was glad to see it had reduced, she also
checked the gash on his head and noted it was
coming along fine.
She noted that she would remind the nurses on
her way out to change his oxygen tank in an
hour. The man had suffered a heart attack a few
days back and fallen down the stairs, cutting his
head in the process. His daughter, a long time
patient of the hospital and a commissioner in the
state had immediately rushed him to the hospital
where she believed he would get the best possible
care.
Saint Havers was well known all over the nation
for employing specialist, for putting patients care
ahead of anything else and for their superb
international standard Laboratory recommended
all over the nation for tests in any ailment. Their
recently opened Cancer Research Institute had
nailed them a class of their own above any other
hospital in Nigeria.
Tiwa knew how lucky she was to have landed a
job in a hospital like Saint Havers and to also
meet the man of her dreams in the same place.
She did not doubt that she was the subject of
envy of the other female doctors and nurses in the
hospital. She knew they talked about her behind
her back but she didn’t care. She had worked
hard to get where she was and she wasn’t going
to allow anyone demean her success
professionally or personally.
As a child, she had always known she was going
to do great things, her brains and extra ordinary
IQ had assured her of this. Of course, the
presence of that yamayama Femi had also seen
to it. When she realized the snake had twined
herself around her mother’s heart, she promised
she was going to do everything twice as well as
Femi ever could.
She had worked hard at her books to her father’s
delight and hadn’t been able to suppress her
happiness that Femi proved to be quite dull
academically. According to her mother, it was
because of Femi’s poor educational background
but she didn’t care. She always relished the joy
of calling her Olodo which often left the younger
girl in tears.
She had made all her papers by the time she was
15 and had graduated not only the best student
in her school but in the state of Lagos. As her
father was a State government staff, the state
had immediately offered her a scholarship abroad
throughout her University education.
By the time she was through with her Pre-med
degree at UCLA, Femi was yet to get admission to
the University. This would have given her pleasure
as even her younger brother had cleared his
papers and was studying computer science in the
University Of Ibadan but it didn’t.
Her holiday home that year had seemed like she
was the usurper. Everyone had been chummy with
each other and even her little brother who had
hated Femi with her was now Femi’s best friend.
Demola couldn’t seem to do anything without
Femi’s input and her parents treated Femi even
closer than they had before. The entire holiday
had left her feeling lost and she once again
promised to leave Femi in her dust.
And she had, she definitely had. She was a well-
recognised and appreciated Doctor in the best
hospital in the country and Femi was busy wiping
little children’s poop. She had her own apartment
and car and Femi still lived at home with her
parents and jumped buses and keke napeps
everywhere. She was in a budding relationship
leading to marriage with a man who was
everything above all men and Femi was dating a
local Government Official.
She couldn’t help but laugh at the disparities in
their lives. When all was said and done, she was
2 times the woman Femi would ever be. When
she was home during the weekend, she could see
Femi was looking depressed and sad and she
couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the poor
fool. Of course, she felt sorry for her, who
wouldn’t? At the rate Femi was going, she would
end up being 3 times the woman Femi was.
Oh, thank you karma, she laughed as she
continued her ward rounds.
Question: Hmm…

My heartbeat episode 6
Episode 6
Tiwa’s week had started out great and it had
progressively gotten better. The whole week, she
did not lose any patients, she had no emergencies
and 3 of her patients including Mr Salman got
discharged. Even better, on Tuesday, Fiyin had
asked her out again and they had gone on their
third date just yesterday.
She couldn’t help the tingly feeling being with him
gave her. They had gone to the mall to see a
Friday night movie and she had enjoyed the way
women had turned around to stare at him. She
had felt ecstatic that it was her hands he was
holding and even though he had been distracted
during the movie, he had made it up to her
afterward.
When he dropped her home, she had expected
him to kiss her goodnight but he had only kissed
her fingers and drove off after making sure she
was safely inside her house. She could wait
though, she had been waiting unconsciously for
the better part of 3 years. Somewhere inside her,
she had known that it was only a matter of time
before Fiyin came to the realization that she was
the only woman that could ever suit him, she
hadn’t allowed herself enter any serious
relationships and now her waiting was finally
yielding results.
She entered into the locker room and changed out
of her scrubs into the mufti she had come in
earlier in the day. Her shift was over but she
wasn’t in a hurry to go home to her snobby
roommate who always had something to
complain about. That pompous Imelda! She
thought to herself, she couldn’t wait to get
married to Fiyin and live in a house bigger than
Imelda’s parents’.
She made her way to Fiyin’s office and passed
the snarling Ozioma without a second glance. She
knocked at his door and made to open it but she
realized it was locked. She turned back to see
Ozioma’s red lips curled into a smile.
Tiwa: “Where is he?” She asked impatiently
Ozioma: “Me? Are you talking to me?” Ozioma
asked, her eyes happy. “Doctor Tiwa, you cannot
be talking to me oh!”
Tiwa: “I’m talking to you, where is Doctor
Arowolo?” Tiwa asked, getting pissed.
Ozioma: “I don’t know, you will have to go and
ask the other secretary you usually greet when
you come here.” So saying, she looked down at
the desktop on her desk and continued typing.
Tiwa: “Better watch the way you talk to me,
Ozioma, warn yourself!”
Ozioma: “Or what?”
Tiwa: “You’re not even worth my stress!” She
concluded as she made her way out of the office
angrily.
Ozioma: “Ha ha ha ha!” Ozioma laughed as she
clapped her hands together. “See how her eyes
are shining, over a man oh. Let me call Hoiza!”
She exclaimed as she picked up the phone to dial
another secretary that didn’t like Tiwa.
==
She found him at the car park. She had been
heading to her car in anger when she saw him
chatting with Jire Israel, a paediatric surgeon who
was engaged to Fiyin’s youngest sister,
Boluwatife who was a lawyer and activist.
Fiyin: “Hey dear,” Fiyin called out to her, “heading
home?”
She pasted a smile on her face and approached
them, “Hi, Dr J!” She greeted Jire, another doctor
she didn’t like as she made her way to Fiyin.
Jire: “Hey, Tiwa, how are you? Hope there’s no
problem?” Jire asked, noticing her eyes.
Tiwa: “It’s that stupid Ozioma in Fiyin’s office…”
she exploded, “…she had the guts to insult me
when I went there to check on you just now, that
snake was mocking me, she all but said I was a
worm….. she even….see ehn….in fact, what i will
do with that girl!”
Fiyin: “Calm down Tiwa, please. Ozioma did all
these?” Fiyin asked, quite shocked at Tiwa’s
anger. In all the time they had worked together,
he had never seen her quite so worked up. “What
happened?” He asked, concerned that Ozioma
really had passed he boundaries.
Tiwa: “See, I don’t want to talk about it again,
okay?” She told Fiyin, happy that he was
concerned for her.
Jire watched the exchange silently and decided to
keep quiet. He wasn’t sure sometimes how he felt
about Tiwa. When she had first joined the
hospital, he had chased her, impressed by her
intelligence, boldness and beauty. Later, as he
had gotten to know her, he had become more
distant when he realized she was also quite
cunning and had an unnecessary habit of looking
down on people like she was better than them.
She seemed to be in the bad books of almost all
the nurses, the administrative staff and the
cleaners. Even Junior Doctors were not on her
level. When he finally decided to correct her, she
suddenly started having issues with him and their
relationship had cooled.
Which was a blessing in disguise because it gave
him an opportunity to be open to meeting Bolu,
his fiancée. He just hoped that Fiyin was too
smart to fall into Tiwa’s net. And if he fell, that
he was smart enough to get himself out.
Jire: “Alright you guys, I’m out.” He told the pair
currently giggling together. “Take care, Tiwa. And
guy, we go see Sunday na?”
Fiyin: “Yeah, sure thing.” Fiyin told him and
watched him walk away.
Tiwa: “So, why are you in a hurry to get home?”
Tiwa asked Fiyin.
Fiyin: “Oh? I told you about Mandy’s teacher,
right?”
Tiwa: “Yeah, what happened?” Tiwa asked,
wondering why Fiyin seemed to pay so much
attention to someone beneath him.
“Well, I want to catch her before she leaves the
house” He said, apparently excited.
“Erm, is that why you’ve been rushing home the
past few weeks?”
“Yes oh, if I’m not there, only God knows what
will happen to my baby girl when I get back! The
teacher, she’s so disorganised, you should see
her clothes and her lipstick, Jesus! She’s
always…”
“Hmm, I thought I was your baby girl?” Tiwa
asked, unwilling to go into his discussion about
his teacher abi nanny. He had done the same on
Tuesday and spent over an hour talking about the
woman or whatever she was. She had tuned him
out though, it was a skill she had perfected that
made her the doctor with the best bedside
manners.
“Erm, no. that’s a position exclusively for Mandy.”
“Oh, okay!” She said cheerily, although she was
far from pleased with him. Couldn’t he have said
she was his older baby girl? Men though, stupid
insensitive creatures!
“Alright, I should be on my way, it’s almost five.”
He noticed she was looking expectantly at him so
he pecked her on her cheeks and rushed to his
car. He did not want Femi to leave before he got
home.
==
“When is your daddy coming home?” Femi
wondered aloud, usually the good doctor was
back home before 5, especially on Saturdays and
it was almost 6 already.
“I dunno” Amanda replied without looking up from
the colouring book she was painting on.
“Does he have an emergency?” Femi urged,
knowing that an emergency at the hospital was
the other thing that kept him out late.
“Dunno” Amanda kept colouring, her tongue
between her teeth, deep in concentration.
“Errrgh!” Femi groaned. She took Amanda four
times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and
Saturdays. She had a real hankering to see Fiyin,
the last time she had seen him had been during
the class on Wednesday. She hadn’t seen him
when she had come yesterday and when she had
asked where he went, Amanda had only just
stared at her.
She looked at the time, 5:51pm. Come on Dr,
where are you, she asked herself.
Then she heard the gate opening and his car
driving in, her heart lifted and she started smiling.
“Why you smiling?” Amanda suddenly asked when
she looked up to see the dreamy look in her
Teacher’s eyes
“Your daddy is back” Femi said without thinking
“Daddy! Yaaaaay!” The little girl screamed as she
jumped out of her chair and ran into the sitting
room and into her father’s arms.
“Hey, small stuff, how are you?” Fiyin asked,
rising with his daughter snuggled in his arms.
“Daddy, I’m very fine, I drewed a nice picture
today. Lemme show you!” She wriggled out of his
arms and went to get her drawing from the study.
Femi followed her out.
“Good evening sir” Femi smiled in greeting but
was overshadowed by Amanda’s screaming of her
picture. Nonetheless, she thought she had seen
Fiyin smile at her, she couldn’t be sure though,
the man hardly ever smiled at her.
“See what I drewed! See it, Daddy!”
“What is it?” Fiyin asked, kneeling beside Amanda
to look at her drawing. It was a funny caricature
of a very tall man, a tiny girl stretching out her
hands to the tall man and at a distance, was
another stick figure holding a book and waving.
All their faces were painted orange and their
bodies green. He waved the picture at Femi, who
was laughing with her back against the wall.
“This is me…” Amanda said needlessly, pointing
at the tiny figure, “….this is you…” she pointed at
the really tall drawing “…and this is Miss Femi”
she concluded.
“Wow, it’s pretty, I like it.” Fiyin said, tongue in
cheek, it was safe to say Amanda would never
make a career as an artist. “This is beautiful….”
he told his beaming daughter, “I owe you ice
cream for this.”
“Yes!! Now, now?” Amanda cried, excited.
“Yes, now.” Fiyin answered, smiling at the way
laughter made Femi’s eyes shine. She had really
nice eyes, he told himself. Big and white and
twinkling.
“Let Miss Femi come with us, please. She was
sad yesterday, her boyfriend said she’s fat”
Amanda pleaded passionately.
“Amanda!!” Femi shouted, aghast. “I didn’t tell
her that.” she told Fiyin, “I don’t know where she
heard that!”
“I heard you talking to your bestie on the phone
yesterday” Amanda said quietly
“Amaaanda, you shouldn’t eavesdrop on people,
it’s a bad habit!” Femi whined, embarrassed.
“I did not evedop, you said it!” Amanda felt
persecuted
“It’s not evedop, baby girl, it’s eavesdrop and it
means listening when people aren’t talking to
you. You really shouldn’t do it, okay?” Fiyin said
sternly. “Femi don’t take it personally, okay, no
harm done. Amanda, apologise now!”
“Okay, I’m sorry, Miss Femi” Amanda said
genuinely. Not the least deterred, “Can Miss Femi
come for ice-cream?”
“Sure, if she doesn’t have anything else doing…”
“No, I don’t!” Femi exclaimed, excited. She had
been scared Fiyin would send her packing after
the Boyfriend talk but he didn’t seem to mind,
whew, she would have to watch what she said
around Amanda, that child was a little sharper
than she gave her credit for.
“Alright, let’s go, I will drop you at the bus stop
on our way back.”
“Alright sir” Femi said as she went back to the
study to quickly gather her belongings.
==
“Hmmm, delicious!” Amanda said as she took yet
another big spoon of ice-cream. They were seated
at a little corner of cold stone Creamery enjoying
their ice cream.
Femi could not credit the excitement she felt.
Since they got there, they had been gisting
constantly, Fiyin told her about work and was
being very kind and generous.
“You own the hospital?” Femi asked, surprised.
She knew he had money but did not know he
owned a big hospital. She also knew his father
was the current Minister of health and she
assumed that was where he got his wealth from.
“Erm, not really, my father started it but now
there’s a board of trustees and some
shareholders although we still own the largest
shares. I’m just serving as the M.D. while my dad
is the chairman. It goes beyond the hospital
though, we have a Medical laboratory in another
location and several pharmacies all over the
country.”
“Wow….” Femi intoned, speechless. “You must be
a really big man”, she said then closed her mouth,
she must sound really stupid to a man like Fiyin
but she had never been particularly intelligent.
“Saint Havers is big, but my father is the big man,
not me” Fiyin smiled. Surprised he was having a
conversation with Femi and enjoying it.
“Saint Havers, Saint Havers, it sounds really
familiar.” She said, racking her brain.
“It should, I must have mentioned it before or you
have seen the letter headed papers lying about at
home.”
“Maybe, you’re right sir.”
“Daddy, today, when you came, Miss Femi was
really happy and smiling” Amanda said between
her spoonfuls of ice-cream.
“Amanda!” Femi screamed, her big eyes goggling.
What was the child trying to do? Give her heart
attacks?
“Really?” Fiyin asked Femi, his eyes twinkling.
“Nooooo!” Femi denied hotly, “It’s just
that…..erm….David called me and apologised.”
She lied, since David had not called her since he
had once again insulted her on Thursday.
“Oh, David?” Fiyin asked, surprised at the
disappointment he felt.
“Yes, my boyfriend” Femi said, glad for the
diversion. “We are having some issues.”
“Oh, really, because you’re fat?”
“I’m not fat…” Femi said shamefaced. “I’m thick,
that’s what everybody else says, even my aunty.”
“What would your aunty say?” Fiyin asked
derisively, a bit hurt that it was her boyfriend
apologising that made her smile, not his coming
home. “Have you seen yourself? Your clothes are
too big, you look like a bag lady, you wear that
awful orange lipstick that makes you look garish
and………”

More stories @Chorusman
.
Femi and Amanda were staring at him. One set of
big eyes, deeply hurt, the other smaller one,
deeply confused.
“I should be going home…” Femi choked out,
lifting her bag and standing up at the same time.
“Femi…..” Fiyin grabbed her hand that was still on
the table, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any of that,
I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Femi said, quickly swiping away the
tears that had formed, “thank you very much sir,
goodnight Amanda.” She turned and left the
Creamery.
Amanda still had her spoon in her mouth and was
staring at her father, “Daddy, you’re so mean.
Now, you’ve sent Miss Femi away and she didn’t
even finish her ice-cream. You’re just like her
boyfriend!” Amanda concluded.
“I am, aren’t i?” Fiyin asked, very ashamed of
himself. And the problem was, he couldn’t even
explain what had come over him.
==
Femi was almost home when she remembered
where she had heard of Saint Havers. Tiwa! Tiwa
works there. Did she know that evil, insulting,
ugly, big-headed Doctor Arowolo? She would now,
they were two of a kind. Well, if those were the
kind of doctors they had in that hospital, she
wouldn’t be surprised when they went down.
She would never talk to him again, she promised
herself. He insulted her today because he bought
her one filthy cup of ice-cream, and she didn’t
even finish it! She couldn’t even blame him, she
had caused it by smiling at him too much, she
would never, ever smile at him again, she told
herself, never!
She remembered now why she had been waiting
for him, she was supposed to tell him about the
Teachers Conference she was due to attend the
following week in Abuja, now he had made her
forget but she wasn’t going to call him. Never
again.
Question: What do you have to say about the story so far?

read more here: https://www.emperorblog.com.ng/?s=my+heartbeat

Have you seen urself? Your clothes are too big, you look like a bag lady, you wear that awful orange lipstick that makes you look like a garish.

All these insults on just one person haba, you're too mouthed Dr Arowolo jare

Thanks for the update

emperorblog21:
frankyfipps( m), Blesstar( f), Jadekfarm, ghoolib95 ( m), PROPAGANDIST ( m), souloho19 ( m), wealthywiseman , Preshbeauty ( f ), MistaMerlin ( m), Jennifer0371 , izaray ( f )

Following bumper to bumper

emperor pls come and update o

Blesstar:
emperor pls come and update o

dey enjoy

Beautiful story.

I can relate to how femi is feeling,while growing up I was constantly called fat by people around me.

izaray:
Interesting, following

Tori wey I don know the end already

[quote author=emperorblog21 post=81058217][/quote
Are you aware going to ur blog automatically redirects one to other pages like bet naija etc? Too many pop up ads and all dat? Its such a hassle trying to navigate thru. Do something about it.

izaray:
Have you seen urself? Your clothes are too big, you look like a bag lady, you wear that awful orange lipstick that makes you look like a garish.

All these insults on just one person haba, you're too mouthed Dr Arowolo jare

No mind Fiyin jare

My heartbeat episode 7
Episode 7
Fiyin was having a miserable day. Actually, he was having a miserable week. After the fiasco with Femi at Cold stone on Saturday, he had called her that night but she hadn’t picked her calls. On Sunday, he had sent her a message apologising and she hadn’t replied. On Monday, he had roses delivered to his house for her but she hadn’t come.
He had called her repeatedly after that and she hadn’t picked, he had eventually had to get in touch with Mrs Ingalam who told him Femi had gone for a Teachers’ conference and was due to return on Friday. It made him angry that she hadn’t called him or told him about the conference. Yes, he paid the school for her services and they in turn paid her but he was to all intents and purposes, her employer.
He had been tempted to tell Mrs Ingalam to tell her not to come back but he was scared that at this point, such a threat might prove too real. The way she felt about him now, she just might go and he didn’t want her to go. Yet.
Now it was Thursday and he hadn’t found anything to cheer him up. In fact, one of their doctors made a mistake in a surgery on Tuesday and was about to be sued for malpractice. He had spoken to their Team of lawyers a few hours ago and they had decided that settlement out of court was the best way to go. He knew they could win the case in court but the Hospital’s name and Doctor Ifeanyi Godson’s name could end up being smeared by the ensuing publicity.
He needed Femi and her orange lipstick back by Saturday or he just might explode. It didn’t help that Amanda was sure it was his fault that Femi wasn’t coming. All his explanations to the little girl had fallen on adamant ears and she continued to stare at him like he was some sort of betrayer.
She even reported him to Ose, her nanny and that one was also giving him the bad eye. His mother had also called him yesterday from Abuja to ask what he had done to Amanda. His little girl that everyone said was quiet and peaceful had turned into a little blabber mouth and disrupter in the past few days.
His phone rang and he picked quickly, realising it was the office intercom and hence could not be Femi.
Fiyin: “Yes, Ozioma?”
Ozioma: “Sir, its Dr Tiwa, she’s here to see you.”
Fiyin: “Sure, let her in.” He had waded into the problem between Ozioma and Tiwa and had been surprised to hear that Tiwa did not usually acknowledge Ozioma and infact, according to Ozioma, snubbed her regularly. He hadn’t often asked how she managed to stride into his office without him getting a call and assumed she and Ozioma had an agreement.
He had to ask Ozioma to apologise to her and that she was never again allowed to come into his office without Ozioma’s say so. If he called Tiwa to come, he would tell Ozioma to let her pass but she must acknowledge Ozioma as his secretary and gatekeeper.
“Hey, doctor handsome” Tiwa said as she came in, wearing a beautiful blue gown that moulded her curves well with heels that showed off her long lovely legs
“Hi, dear, how are you?” He smiled in greeting as he came around his table to hug her.
“I’m not fine oh.” She said as she pressed her body into the hug. You’ve been neglecting me this past few days. She grumbled, her mouth forming a pretty pout.
He removed her hands from around him and went to sit down on the guest couch and patted the space next to him. “I’m sorry, I’ve been really busy, you must have heard of Doctor Ifeanyi’s lawsuit?”
“Yeah, I did” she said as she sat down and crossed her legs, “He should have been more careful.”
Fiyin raised one eyebrow at her, “Really? He’s a doctor, he made a mistake under pressure, an unavoidable mistake, he’s deeply shaken and sorry. Damage was done, yes but nobody died and the damage can be repaired. We can pay for that, we are trying to convince the family to settle out of court, Imagine what this would do to him”
“I know you want to take his side as the MD but as a Foreign Trained Medical Doctor, don’t you agree that Nigerian trained doctors are a little too careless because there are no repercussions?”
“I agree but from the inception, Saint Havers has always trained her doctors to be much more careful than the average Nigerian Doctor. Doctors aren’t infallible though, they are human. Mores the pity.”
“Yes, Nigerian doctors are, especially that UNN trained guy from Nsukka. If I were you, I would only employ foreign trained doctors and you can afford it, anyway” She stated emphatically.
“Okay” He said, unwilling to discuss the confusion her lack of sympathy was causing inside him.
Not wanting him to see her as cold blooded, she grabbed his hands and laid it against her b—-t “Look, I understand what you’re going through, you can talk to me about anything, alright?”
“Sure.” He didn’t think so but he didn’t tell her that as he took his hands off her b—-t.
“So, what are you doing tonight? I have these……….” She droned on but he wasn’t listening anymore. Femi was in big trouble on Saturday. He had a lot of things to say to her when she got back.
“Fiyin!” Tiwa’s voice pierced his eardrums.
“Yes?” He asked, shocked out of his reverie.
“You weren’t listening to me.” She grumbled, pissed off.
“Sorry, I’m tired, I need to sleep, okay. We will talk later.”
“Alright.” Tiwa said as she kissed his cheeks, “see you later.” and walked out. If she wasn’t mistaken, Fiyin was starting to lose interest in her. Well, he had better find the interest again because she wasn’t going anywhere. And neither was he.
“He said what?” Ronke screamed, spitting out a bit of her shawarma in the process. “Why, that pompous, good-for-nothing oaf! What is it with these men, anyway?”
“I don’t know oh.” Femi answered her best friend, still hurt by Fiyin’s words from last Saturday.
“Oh, dear, don’t be like that.” Ronke comforted her, grabbing her forearms that were resting on the table. “See, I swear, men are just naturally stupid, seriously, see Ben for example, do you think he’s okay?” She questioned speaking of her husband of 18 months. “Just the other day, the idiot told me I was getting too fat, me oh?” She wondered, getting up from the table to get more shawarma from the kitchen.
Femi couldn’t help laughing, Ronke really had gotten fat, her friend who had always been petite and weighed less than 50 kilograms was now soundly round. Of course, her 3 months old pregnancy had a lot to do with that. Because Ronke was tiny, immediately she got pregnant, it was very obvious and now at 3 months, she already looked over 5 months pregnant.
“Imagine Ben oh! Who put me in this condition?” Ronke was saying as she came back to the sitting room with doughnuts in her mouth, fresh shawarma, groundnuts, chocolate and meat pie in the tray she was holding. She gave Femi the tray before lowering her bulk into the love seat she just vacated.
“Don’t eat my stuff jor,” she dragged her tray from Femi, “go and take your own in the kitchen, imagine wanting a pregnant woman to run errands for you.”
Femi giggled at the way Ronke was eating, happy to see her friend so healthy and glowing. She and Ronke had been friends since their second year at the University of Ilorin. She studying primary Education and Ronke, History. They had eventually started rooming together in their second year and remained best friends till now.
She had been the one to stand by Ronke when her parents had refused to allow her marry Ben, her long-time boyfriend because he was from Benue state. They had wanted her to find a perfectly nice Yoruba boy but Ronke had been adamant on marrying Ben, the guy who had proven himself over and over again.
It took Femi’s intervention and Ronke’s uncles for them to eventually agree. Femi knew for a fact that Ben, a Federal civil servant in Abuja was extremely kind, courteous and loving and was truly deserving of the prize that was Ronke. Femi had been maid of honour at their wedding and although she loved Ben, she had been desperately sad to see Ronke relocate to Abuja.
Now, Ronke’s parents couldn’t be happier. It was hard to be around the couple without seeing their love, commit and dedication to and for one another. And even though she was fatter and bulging, if Ronke looked any more beautiful than she did in that moment, then it would be disastrous. She was just glowing from good health and contentment.
When Femi realised she had been selected as one of the teachers to represent the school at the Teachers conference in Abuja, she had immediately called Ronke who was delighted for her to come. They hadn’t had a chance to meet and talk since Ronke got pregnant and was not permitted to travel anymore. Femi had come and stayed the entire time at their house, saving the money given to her for hotel to enjoy a good quality week with her friend or as much as she could of the week when she wasn’t at the conference.
“But, babe, you know your dressing culture is not improving, right?” Ronke asked her friend softly.
“How? You said I should buy more colours that went with my complexion, that’s what I’m doing..”
“…and style, Femi! Style! Why must you always wear these loose, baggy gowns? You’re the one letting that Doctor whatever talk to you anyhow, imagine! He and Tiwa should plan a wedding. With their filthy mouths! And that orange lipstick! It makes my eye water just looking at it! If I say wear flashy colours, am I referring to orange and purple?”
Your eyes water at everything now” Femi answered her, unsmiling.
“This one is not pregnancy matter jare. Shebi you saved some money on hotel accommodation? We will go shopping on Saturday, I’ll make Ben drive us.”
“But I’m going back tomorrow…”
“Lai lai! Never! When did you get here? You haven’t even spent one day and you want to go?” Ronke said, sounding hurt. “Am I chasing you?”
“I got here on Sunday, now its Thursday, that’s a whole 4 days here. It’s not you, its work, I have to teach Amanda on Saturday.”
“Okay, send a message to Dr whatever and tell him you’ll resume on Monday and….”
“…..i don’t want to talk to him again!”
“Let me hear word jor! You’ll talk to him and prove him wrong about you! Send him a message, we will go shopping on Saturday, then you’ll go back on Sunday.”
“Roooonke, I don’t…….”
“Please now, consider my pregnant state and Ben is a terrible husband, he’s really maltreating me” Ronke wheedled.
“Fine, let me see more of Ben’s maltreatment” Femi sighed, “I will send him a message.”
“Yes!” Ronke shouted. “By the time I’m done with you, you’ll also send him to the grave- with a heart attack.” She smiled wolfishly.
==
Good evening sir. I’m sorry I wouldn’t be able to make Amanda’s class tomorrow as I’m still in Abuja. I will be there on Monday, extend my regards. Good night.
Fiyin read Femi’s text in worry. He knew he should be angry but he was actually bothered. What if she wasn’t intending to come back? Why had she refused to pick his call since Saturday? Did she hate him now? Amanda will never forgive him if Femi did not return.
He switched off his TV and dialled her number. Not surprisingly, she didn’t pick up. He had really been looking forward to her coming tomorrow, he had cleared his schedule so he could be at home all day. What would he do now? Maybe he would take Amanda out or he could call Tiwa, he really had ignored her lately.
Or he would just fix a date for all three of them. Yes, he needed both Tiwa and Amanda to take his mind off Femi’s shenanigans.
Question: What’s happening to Dr Fiyin? I suggest he gives Tiwa a chance though. You never can tell.

(My heart beat)
Episode 8
Fiyin’s table was full of papers. It was a usual Monday with plenty of things to occupy him. An hour later, he looked up and realized it was 2:15pm.
Oh, my God! He jumped out of his seat and grabbed his jacket and wallet, he had to be home before 3pm, he wanted to be there when Femi came in and he still wanted to stop to get her flowers and chocolate. I will never make it in time now, he thought dully as he ran out of his office toward the elevators
“Dr Arowolo, Fiyin!” Tiwa shouted, coming from one of the operating rooms, wearing her scrubs.
“Yes?” Fiyin called out, trying to be patient.
“Can we talk?” She asked when she got to where he was. “I know I messed up on Saturday and I want to….”
“No, Tiwa, don’t disturb yourself, it wasn’t a big deal.” He quickly assured her.
“Yes, it was, you know it was, this could affect our budding relationship.”
“Tiwa, nothing will spoil our friendship, I promise, okay?” He said as he pressed the button to open the elevator.
“Still, let’s talk, I know…….”
“Tiwa, I’m really in a hurry, can we do this later?” He said as he entered the elevator.
“Sure….” She nodded although the doors had closed and he was gone. She rested her back against the wall and slammed her head repeatedly. “Stupid! Stupid! Tiwa, you are so stupid!”
How could she have made such a mistake? How? When he had called her to come to the games arcade with him and Amanda, she had been so happy, realizing it could mean he was testing to see how she would get along with Amanda. Maybe she had been trying too hard because there was no other explanation for it. Amanda had met her before and although she had been really quiet, she had spoken to her.
On Saturday though, the girl had barely acknowledged her existence and because she didn’t want Fiyin to think she couldn’t connect to Amanda, she had tried too hard and ended up making the girl sad, dull and miserable and Fiyin had noticed. She had just wanted to be her friend, why was the little b—h being so tough anyway?
Whatever the case, with or without Amanda, she was going to get Fiyin and that girl had better sit up because a new government was coming. There was more than one way to catch a man!
==
He made it, Fiyin wanted to scream as he entered the house and realized Femi was not there yet.
“Daddy, what’s this for?” Amanda asked, touching the flowers he brought with him.
“Erm, it’s for your teacher” he said awkwardly as he saw Ose smiling in the passage.
“Awwww, really?” Amanda’s eyes were shining, “did granma tell you to ‘pologise?”
“Yes, she did.” He said, not wanting to drag the drama longer, especially with Ose staring and giggling like a schoolgirl. Then suddenly remembering Amanda’s penchant for repeating everything. “Yes, she did but I came up with the style, you get?”
When Amanda only looked at him, confused, he relaxed. A confused Amanda was better than a knowing Amanda.
He looked at the time, 3:15pm, he hoped Femi was coming, otherwise, he would get to their school the next day. Just then, a knock sounded on the door.
“Miss Femi!” Amanda screamed, abandoning the flowers and chocolate to run to the door. She opened the door and Fiyin craned his neck for a vision he had since missed seeing.
“Amanda darling. How are you?” Femi said.
Wow!” He heard Amanda say as she opened the door wider for Femi to come in. Fiyin looked at her from the sofa where he sat and decided wow was right. Wow!
Was that Femi? She was wearing a long green skirt that outlined her curved hips and a tight black turtleneck shirt that showed off her tiny waist. Her hair was plaited in a lovely Ghana weaving style, he didn’t know which and she was wearing a new low heeled sandal he had never seen. Gone was the orange lipstick, in its place was a lovely lip gloss that made her lips look sinful, add that to the confident twinkle in her eye and she packed a punch.
“Good afternoon sir” she greeted without meeting his eyes.
“Yeah, Femi, how are you?” He asked, staring at her, quite confused.
“Sister Femi, haha! You’re looking yummy, chai! What’s happening?” Femi passed him to go the dining to hug Ose and he got a view of her back. So she had a back like that, he wondered, still staring. Why did she wear all those other clothes? And who knew her waist was so tiny? And her stomach flat? She wasn’t fat at all, just beautifully endowed.
“Miss Femi,…” he heard Amanda pipe up, “…see what daddy bought for you.” She came and grabbed the flowers and chocolate from the chair beside him and he was ashamed to admit that in the past 5 minutes, he hadn’t remembered his own daughter. He adjusted himself on the chair and decided he didn’t like this new Femi at all.
“Awwww, really?” He heard Femi coo as she opened the box of chocolates.
“You sound like me” Amanda giggled. And followed Femi back to the sitting room.
“Thank you sir” she said demurely.
“Yes” he cleared his throat and sat up. “It was an apology for my thoughtlessness last week, please forgive me” He begged quietly.
“Of course” Femi said, excited that he bought her chocolates and flower, but she would not smile at him. She would forgive him but they would not be friends. She would make sure he knew she was beautiful and nothing less than him crawling would satisfy her. “I forgive you, sir”
In the kitchen, Ose couldn’t stop giggling, poor boss, he was looking so lost. She thought as she laughed louder.
==
Femi could barely explain the high she felt as she left the Arowolos that evening. As soon as she got home, she was going to call Ronke and shout a big, fat mission accomplished in her ears. Usually, she came to Amanda from school, today though, she had first gone home to change, for maximum effects before she came and it had been worth it. The good doctor had stared at her as if a cat got his tongue.
Of course she didn’t think that meant he was interested in her, it would take more than a makeover to achieve that but she was gratified to know that she could actually be an object of stupefaction to someone like Fiyin. She had been surprised to see him home today before her, even more surprised by the chocolate and flowers he bought for her. When she had shared the chocolate with Ose and Amanda in the kitchen before she left, Ose told her he had had flowers delivered last week Monday and had even called her Proprietress when she hadn’t shown up.
And when she was about leaving today, he had called her aside to tell her he was sorry for what he had said, he admitted he was wrong and that she was an incredibly beautiful woman and her boyfriend was lucky to have her. More than anything else, she felt touched that he had gone to so much effort to apologise. It made her think he cared about her feelings, that he might actually like her, that she might be falling deeper for him.
Before she fell too deep though, she had better go and see her boyfriend, she thought to herself. Her outfit had been to kill two birds with one stone. The first bird, Fiyin Arowolo and the second, David Bamidele. And although Fiyin hadn’t begged yet, David would.
When she got to his house, a miniflat BQ in Oshodi, she knocked and waited with bated breath for David’s reaction when he saw her. He shouted come in and she went in. She found him sitting in his tiny sitting room, watching a football match.
“Hey dear”, she greeted him.
“Hi” he answered, not taking his eyes off the screen. She sat on the arm of the chair he sat and wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to remember if she had missed him the past week.
“Stop, go, go” he said as he unwrapped her arms from his neck and pushed her aside. “You’ll distract me from my game for nothing. If I leave the game now, you’ll tell me you are not ready for sex” He said, disgruntled, still without removing his eyes from the screen
“Is it sex that is always on your mind?” She asked as she stood up, rather angry and disappointed.
“What else? Am I not a man?” He asked as he finally took his eyes off the screen and looked at her.
She preened a little even though she wasn’t happy with him. “Ki lo ko si?” He shouted and started laughing, dropping the remote he was holding.
“What do you mean what am I wearing? Can’t you see?” She asked, upset.
“Sorry, you just look so funny in it.” He continued laughing. “Don’t wear it again abeg, or if you wear it, stock it up. Your b—-t looks so tiny in it, like agbalumo seeds.” He laughed at his cleverness.
Femi was so insulted, for a minute, she didn’t know what to say to him. “I think I will go home” she finally said as she picked up her bag.
“Haha,” David complained grabbing her hands. “Don’t go….” he smiled cutely, “…please, I’m joking.” She dropped her bag again and went to seat on the other chair.
“Please, cook something, I beg, I’m hungry.”
“What does that mean?” She asked, angry again
“I said go and cook something for us to eat.”
“I’m not hungry, you’re the one who is hungry, go and cook.”
“Ha! Why will you be here and I’ll be cooking?”
“That’s a sin, abi?” She asked with disdain. “If I didn’t come, nko?”
“But you told me you were coming, that’s why I was waiting for you. If you aren’t coming, I know where to get food from but I cannot be cooking for myself when I have a wife.”
“No, David, you don’t have a wife, you have a girlfriend.”
“What’s the difference, you just like complaining all the time as if you don’t know the duties of a wife. Your aunt is a woman, why don’t you ask her to teach you? Come here, cook, you’ll say no, see my clothes, wash, you’ll say you are tired. Let’s play in the bedroom, you’ll say no, what’s your usefulness, why do you bother coming at all?!” He shouted aggrieved.
“You are right, I don’t know why I bothered.” Femi said even as she promised herself she would not cry. “Did you once ask me how my trip went? What I went to do? Who I stayed with? You never give me one word of appreciation, ever. Imagine you asking me about my usefulness, me, David? Let me leave you for your conscience. You want a footstool, a traditional woman abi? I wish you all the best. Me, I am too tired of this relationship, it’s not equal, all you want is a slave and a complaint loader and I have spent enough of my life with other people judging me, no more! I won’t come back here again, goodbye.”
She grabbed her bag and left his house even as he shouted her name. When she got to the gate of the compound, she turned around and wasn’t surprised to see he hadn’t followed her.
==
That night as Fiyin slept, he wasn’t surprised when his dreams were of over 100 Femis dressed in different attires and chasing him about. Femis in bikini, Femis in Ankara, Femis in skirts, Femis in undies, Femis in suits and Femis in wedding gowns. At the end of the dream, he saw the Femi that could save him from all the other Femis. The Femi in orange lipstick and cornrows, wearing a purple shapeless gown. As they ran from the other Femis, her sandals cut and he had to carry her and keep running.
He woke up from his dream, sweating, his heart beating too fast and he acknowledged that he was in trouble.
==
That night as Femi lay on her bed, she tried hard to reawaken the feelings of happiness and pleasure that had taken her through the day but she couldn’t. She realised David had completely eclipsed the entire day with a few short words and she had let him.
She tried to remember a time David had been a worthwhile boyfriend but she couldn’t. She realised that in their 15 months long relationship, he had always been shallow, selfish, demeaning and lazy. She couldn’t remember him saying a good word to her, just complaining all the time. She wanted to be really angry with him but she couldn’t because in her own way, like with Tiwa, she had empowered him to think he could always trample on her feelings.
She knew when she met David at Ronke and Ben’s wedding that he wasn’t her spec. Usually, she liked competent men who knew how to handle themselves but David had been a whiner almost from the beginning. She had agreed to date him because she knew his family, he was Ronke’s cousin and because she was scared of being alone. She had wanted badly to have someone else around when Ronke went to Abuja but David had never filled that role. It seemed like it was when she needed a friend that he needed to rant.
He was always complaining about work, about being broke, about how unfairly he was treated by others because he was short. She realised now that with her low self-esteem, the last person she should have chosen to be with was someone with a chip on his shoulders.
At the beginning though, she refused to count it against him. She had been with someone who she thought was everything she needed a man to be. Strong. Capable. Independent. In the end though, Lanre Balogun had left her at the proverbial altar. Not an altar exactly, he had waited until after their introduction to pull a disappearing act on her.
She had dated Lanre for two years, a civil engineer with a huge construction firm, he had seemed perfectly content to be with her. She lost her virginity to him and hadn’t even regretted the decision, he had made her feel special which was what she had needed. Until he dumped her. Even his family had been stunned by his insistence that he couldn’t continue with the marriage proceedings because they knew how much he loved Femi.
He had never come to talk to her, he had only sent a note through his brother and left her to face the taunts alone. The betrayal had hurt her so badly, it had taken her a while to get herself together and she hadn’t opened herself up to any other relationship until she had met David 2 years later. At the time, his biggest attraction was his difference to Lanre.
Where Lanre was tall, he was short, Lanre had been dark, he was much fairer than she was, Lanre wore glasses, he didn’t, Lanre had been deep and quiet, he was noisy and belligerent. She realised now how stupid it was to pick a man on those basis.
She promised herself after Lanre that she wouldn’t try too hard anymore so all the effort she had put into dressing and looking good, she diminished and started dressing comfortably. When David asked her for money, something Lanre never did, she gave it, she washed and cooked and cleaned because she did not want him to be able to leave her without a backward glance, as Lanre had done.
It hadn’t worked out quite that way though because even though she had walked out, he hadn’t glanced back, not even to call her after she got home. And everything else she had sacrificed in their relationship, her money, time, energy, the clothes she washed, the food she cooked from her own pocket hadn’t mattered because of the one thing she had refused to offer, her body.
And now, she was done with making sacrifices. She was done with managing a man. From tomorrow, she was going to go all out and find herself the kind of MAN she wanted. Lanre or David, none would matter anymore. What she wanted now was a good man who was competent, capable and caring and by God that is what she would get. That was what she deserved.
Question: What do you guys have to say about the story so far?

My heart beat)
Episode 9
Fiyin had been reading the same line of his medical journal for the past 3 minutes, he dropped the book and rubbed at his aching forehead. He wasn’t sleeping well at all. Since Monday, his dreams had been full of Femi and now, he couldn’t go anywhere without been reminded of her. He wasn’t even sure he liked her that much so he couldn’t understand this constant invasion of his dreams.
Crazy woman had probably made some vegetable for him and he ate it without knowing or what else could explain the hunger that had suddenly started beneath his belt when she was close by, or the heartache he had felt when she had come in on Wednesday looking sad or the excitement he tried to supress when Amanda told him she broke up with her boyfriend. God help him, he had the Femi bacteria.
Now, it was Friday and he wasn’t able to concentrate anymore because he knew that at this precise moment, Femi was back in his house teaching Amanda. And now, he wanted to be there, he wanted her to teach him something. Oh, God, he groaned and pressed his face into his table.
He either went home or he called Tiwa to go out with him. He didn’t know what to do about Tiwa, he still liked her and respected her but his initial romantic feelings had quickly subsided. He had come to realise Tiwa did not evoke half the feelings Femi did in him and Femi wasn’t even trying to get him worked up, she just happened to be succeeding at it.
Besides, he was disturbed by the fact that Amanda hadn’t seemed to like Tiwa, on their way after dropping Tiwa, Amanda had referred to her as “that awful lady”. But in a contest between Tiwa and Femi, Tiwa still what he wanted, not madam dream disturber.
In the end, he decided not to go home. He needed to exercise discipline over his body and put it under control. He could not keep allowing his body and heart slip out of his control every time. In any case, it was better he not see what Femi was wearing before his subconscious adds a new Femi with a different outfit to his dreams.
A few hours later, he was enjoying a pleasurable serving of suya and Smirnoff ice at a popular Suya spot with Tiwa and she was talking to him about Tola, a nurse at the hospital who had chased him relentlessly a while back. She informed him Tola was pregnant and she even told him who Tola was pregnant for. He didn’t really care but Tiwa seemed very excited at the prospect of the woman’s fall from grace.
“It’s not such a big deal” he said. “This is the 21st century, lots of women have babies without the fathers.”
“Oh, please, Fiyin, you make it sound like you would marry a woman who already had a baggage with her” Tiwa said with arrogant disdain.
Fiyin looked up at her, “Baggage? Is that what you call children? If it is, then I also have a baggage and I want a woman to marry me, don’t i?”
Tiwa realised she had put her foot in it, “Yeah but you’re a man, and a widower at that, it’s not your fault!”
Fiyin laughed, “Really, Tiwa? I used to think you were enlightened and all that. Honestly, that was a shallow thing to say.”
Tiwa looked at him angrily, “I am enlightened so I know most men don’t marry baby mamas.”
“Maybe they don’t but that’s because they are as unenlightened as you! They would rather marry a woman who has aborted series of babies to one who has kept her child, right?”
“I have never had an abortion!!” Tiwa was aghast.
“I wasn’t accusing you of that, Tiwa, I was just trying to make a point. You are right that her actions are wrong but you also seemed excited that her actions had brought her downfall and I don’t agree or subscribe to that…”
“Do you like her?” Tiwa asked suspiciously. “You’re defending her seriously.”
“So, I defend her means I like her? Wow, Tiwa!”
The evening went downhill from there. Tiwa was unhappy that he had called her shallow and Fiyin realised he might have misjudged her. It came to him now that Tiwa always seemed to glory in other people’s misfortunes. And for her to refer to children as baggage. He had a child too for God’s sake. Is that why she didn’t get along with Amanda last week?
He wasn’t sure but he felt disappointed in her.
==
Fiyin felt like the world was suddenly out to get him. 2 weeks had passed since his outing with Tiwa and although their relationship had cooled considerably, she still found a reason to drop by every day and hug him and bring him food and stuff.
He had not minded initially until he heard from the hospital grapevine-his sister that is- that Tiwa was going about telling everyone they were dating. When he confronted her about it, she denied it and said the gist had probably started when people saw them going out together.
Strangely, for the first time in their relationship, he hadn’t believed her at all. He couldn’t tell when his feelings for Tiwa really changed but now, he was hard pressed to think of things he still liked about her besides her brains. These days, she struck him as being very manipulative. He had warned her then to stop bringing him anything and had told his sister to inform her “sources” that he wasn’t dating Tiwa.
That wouldn’t have been a problem really except he realised as Tiwa drained out of his thoughts, Femi had become the official new occupant of his mind and several parts of his body.
Just the other day, he had gotten home to find Femi dragging Amanda from the pool. In their back and forth, Femi’s chiffon dress had gotten wet and her n—–s had shown clearly through the material and he had spent the rest of the day battling a not so welcome erection.
His situation wasn’t helped by how much he had started enjoying spending time with her. She would never fit the general idea of intelligence but she was so deep, she made him feel like every other woman he had ever spoken to was shallow. She listened and she empathized, sometimes when he spoke to her, he felt like he could drown in the comfort and strength that she had.
Last week, he had been talking to her quite unexpectedly about his late wife, something he never did with anyone. She had listened so quietly and somehow the pain he used to carry about Helen’s death seemed to have disappeared. Of course, before long, all he had wanted to do was kiss her soundly but he had managed to restrain himself.
He felt desperately out of his league, he hadn’t seen her coming and he felt like she was a huge curveball in his life. He wanted a classy, bold, sassy, independent woman but Femi wasn’t really that. What she was was kind, genuine, sweet, deep and giving. She was independent too and really beautiful, with her lovely skin the colour of butter.
The holidays had started in schools and Amanda was also on holiday and Femi hadn’t been to their house in over 4 days and he was beginning to suffer Femi deprivation. Amanda was also the same way and she had urged him to call Femi, which he had done this morning. To his surprise, hearing her voice alone had made him feel considerably better.
Thank God the holiday was only 3 weeks, anything longer and he would go and kidnap her from her uncle’s place. He could just imagine the news headline now “MD of Havers Hospital kidnaps School Teacher and locks her in his bedroom”. He laughed at himself as he realised he was actually contemplating doing it.
==
3 weeks later, Fiyin laid in his bed Saturday morning, excited at the prospect of Femi’s coming. Holidays had ended and schools had resumed that week so Amanda was resuming her lessons today to everyone’s relief. If the relief had more to do with the teacher than the classes, they all kept quiet. He noticed Ose had bought chocolate ice cream in the freezer and yesterday, his security guy had told him he had missed Femi asking him about his mother.
His weekend maid was around, he could hear her downstairs vacuuming and he could hear Ose telling Amanda to clean her room. He needed to clean his bedroom too but he didn’t want to stand up yet. He had spent the previous evening in the company of some doctors at the hospital and he had had a good time. He hadn’t done that in a long time and had forgotten the pleasures of just being with friends for fun.
In the course of the evening, which they spent at the hospital cafeteria, he had mentioned his problem with his daughter’s teacher, the complicated woman he was almost sure he would not cope without having and the guys had made jest of him.
Nonetheless, Jire and Micheal, two doctors he really trusted. Jire was engaged to his sister and Mike had been happily married to his fine girl wife for 7 years. They had given him the same advice, if you want something, pursue it, if you don’t get it, you have the satisfaction of knowing you tried.
He decided after a long restful night without a single dream of Femi that Femi was what he wanted and he didn’t intend to lose her.
By the time Femi came in by 12, he was leisurely relaxing outside by the pool which was at the side of the house. When she saw him, she walked in his direction and he covertly watched her elegant walk. God, he had really missed her. Although he had been to the school on Tuesday under the pretext of seeing Mrs Ingalam. Seeing Femi in school was not the same as seeing her in his house. Somehow, she fit in here better.
“Good afternoon, Dr Arowolo” she greeted, wearing a long green alter necked gown that showed off lovely golden shoulders.
“Hey, pretty lady” he greeted, getting up to hug her.
She was shocked speechless and her cheeks coloured brightly. “Er……yes….. Thank you…… yes sir”
“How are you?” He asked as he brushed something non-existent off her shoulders, he really just needed an excuse to touch her.
“Yes, er, yes, I’m fine, here for Amanda, I mean”
“Okay, go ahead, I’ll be up in a bit” He sat down again and watched her run into the house.
He looked at his time and decided he would go and disturb her again in one hour.
In one hour’s time, he was sitting by Amanda- who was terribly excited- and was watching Femi in action, she wasn’t excited. He wasn’t saying anything but he could see she wanted him to go. She had asked him several times “don’t you have something to do sir?” “Aren’t you going to work, sir?” “Isn’t that your phone ringing sir?” Each time he had quietly said nope.
He sat there watching her lips, her eyes, her hands as they moved and her gentleness with Amanda and he wasn’t bored for a second. When she and Amanda started singing a ridiculous rhyme, he closed his eyes and felt an amazing feeling of peace wash over him. He was in love.
When they finished their classes by 3pm, Amanda rushed out to get her lunch and Femi started clearing their books up, Fiyin leaned back in his chair and kept staring at her. Suddenly, she dropped all the books and stared back,
“Sir, is there a problem?” She asked abruptly.
“For who?” He asked innocuously, pushing his chairs back on their hind legs alone.
“Why are you following me around and staring at me?”
“Following you around, how? This is my house, you know?”
“I know, it’s just you are kinda acting weird, I don’t know” she shrugged.
“Oh, that…” He said as he stood up, closed the door and came around to where she stood, looking scared.
“I have decided I want you” He said into the silence when he stood directly in front of her.
“You…..want me? She stammered.
“Yes, I want you….” he pointed to her chest and pointed to his “…..to be mine.”
“Rea…lly?” She croaked. “I think you’re joking.”
“I am? How do you know?” He asked grabbing her by her tiny waist so their bodies were touching.
Femi tried to hide her reactions but her body was shaking as she stared up at him. When he brought his head closer to hers, she closed her eyes in anticipation. When his lips touched hers, she heard a gasp but she couldn’t be sure who made the sound and she didn’t care because he took the kiss deeper and her hands that had been resting uselessly by her side, grabbed him and she was as much a mauler as she was mauled.
When he removed his lips from her softly swollen ones, she opened her eyes and saw a dazed look in his eyes. A look she was sure matched the look in hers. When he started to bring his lips to hers again, they heard the door open and she quickly pushed him away but he didn’t budge.
“Daddy!” Amanda called out, looking at the two of them suspiciously, “Why are you holding Miss Femi like that?”
“She was begging me to kiss her….” Fiyin said and Femi nearly fainted.
“Really?” Amanda asked with glee, “What did you say?”
“I said yes and I kissed her, Miss Femi really likes me.”
Amanda started clapping in excitement “I know she likes you, my spirit told me” she said with adult intelligence.
“I’m going home!” Femi said as she grabbed her bag before the crazy father-daughter duo dragged her into their special brand of madness.
“I will drop you.” Fiyin said as he followed her outside.
“Don’t you like me?” Fiyin asked Femi as they drove towards the express. Femi looked at him through the side of her eyes, she had tried to leave without him but he had been adamant about dropping her at home.
“No, I don’t like you.” she said with a nonchalance she did not feel.
“Sorry, I asked. I know you like me and I am crazy about you. You are single and so am I. We are adults and I was thinking we could be more to one another, what do you think?”
“Are you serious?” She asked, shocked. “Since when? What do you like about me?”
“Yes, I am serious, since maybe the first time I saw you, there was something about you that grabbed at me and put you on my mind everyday but recently, in the past few weeks, I haven’t thought about anything else except you. What do I like about you? Wow, that’s hard. The ideal question should be what I don’t like about you.
Is it your pretty face or your eyes that are always twinkling, or your voice or the way you stamp your feet when you are angry but don’t want to talk, the excitement you feel when you see chocolate or the gentle way you treat my daughter or your lips, jeez those lips, they have occupied my thoughts from the first time I met you. I really don’t know where to start…”
“Erm, you have tried,” Femi said clearing her throat. Unsure of what to say, she paused, could she really believe this man who could have any woman had suddenly started liking her overnight? How could he? What other motive could he have?
And then it came to her, he was bored! The stupid man was tired of his near perfect life and looking for some meaningless idea of fun! And he chose her? Why were men so disrespectful and contemptuous? What had she ever done to him to deserve this insult? He probably thought because she was fat and dull, she would fall for his nonsense, well, he had another think coming.
“What do you think?” Fiyin asked when Femi kept quiet for too long.
She waited until he got to her house and parked before answering him, with anger in her eyes, she turned on him “You think I’m stupid? That I don’t know what you want? I trusted and respected you but I realise you’re just like all the other disgusting men out there. You want to use me, right?”
“No, i…. wait….” Fiyin tried to interrupt her tirade.
“Please shut up sir!” She raised her palm up. “I know your type too well. After everything I’m doing for your daughter, you don’t care, you just want to hurt and disgrace me. When did you suddenly start liking me? You that called me fat and ugly? Why would I ever believe you? You must think I’m as stupid as I look! Well, I am not and I won’t be coming to your house again! Goodnight!” She finished and scrambled out of the car.
Fiyin got out of the car too, shocked and deeply hurt and called her before she got to her gate. “Please, don’t stop coming because of what I said, okay, please. If nothing else, come for Amanda. I’m really sorry if I offended you, okay?”
She nodded and went into her gate without looking back.

my heartbeat episode 10
Episode 10
Femi could not hide her anger all throughout the weekend. That Dr Arowolo, he had insulted her one too many times. What had she ever done to deserve his insults? Now, he wanted to turn her into his play thing on top of everything else.
She had been so mad, she had called Ronke to tell her everything and even told her aunt. Both of them were righteously furious on her behalf and her aunt even had plans to go to his house and set him straight. Femi was glad her Aunt did not know where he lived and she didn’t tell the woman where he worked too before she carried out her threat. Her aunt was fearsome when she felt her children could be hurt.
On Monday, her aunt had armed her with pepper spray and warned her that if the “oloriburuku” tried anything, she should use it on his eyes. Femi left it in school though because she didn’t think Doctor Arowolo for all his evilness was actually violent.
When she got there though, she experienced a strange pang of disappointment when she realised he wasn’t home. Her disappointment turned to dread when he didn’t come home during her lessons all throughout the week. Ose had called her to ask her why the good doctor was avoiding her and she hadn’t had an answer. His attitude now felt worse than what he had said to her last Saturday and she couldn’t help feeling low.
“Ki lo fe? What do you want?” Her aunt asked when she described how she was feeling at Dr Arowolo’s absence when she went there “He approached you, you said you don’t want him, now you’re sad he’s not at home waiting for you everyday! Ha, your own is plenty!”
“Mummy, I just don’t want him to feel like he has to avoid me in his own house, it makes me feel bad” she tried to explain although the truth was, she really couldn’t rationalise her own feelings. She didn’t understand at all why his absence had cast a pall on her classes with Amanda and even the little girl had seemed disenchanted.
“Mummy, I don’t even know again!” She admitted.
Her aunt shook her head at her, “Children of these days!”
==
Fiyin spent a lot of time in his office these days. 2 weeks had passed since the scene with Femi and he couldn’t help the sour taste the whole episode left in his mouth. He figured he deserved what he had gotten from her but underneath, where it really mattered, he was shattered.
He hadn’t really put a name to his feelings for her but now he realised he was in love with her and it hurt him deeply that she thought he was the kind of man who would play with her emotions. He wasn’t perfect, God knew, but he had never gone out of his way to hurt another human being before and for Femi, someone who really mattered to him to believe he could hurt her just for fun really cut him to the quick.
He hadn’t initially intended to avoid the house, he had only wanted to do it one day so she could feel comfortable again but when he was driving home the second day she was due to come, he had realised he couldn’t quite stand the thought of being in the same place with her and not having her. He decided if she was going to be in his house and not belong to him, it was better he didn’t see her there.
Unfortunately, while he made that decision to preserve his heart from more hurt, he found that missing her terribly was just as hurtful as not having her. Now, he was stuck because having avoided her for this long, he didn’t know how it would seem if he suddenly appeared at home again after all this time. But he missed her, a lot more than he had thought he could.
What if she decided she was more comfortable with him gone? What if she preferred it that way? He sighed, receiving no answer from the walls in his office.
His phone rang, disturbing him from his dismal thoughts.
“Sir, Dr Tiwa is here.” Ozioma said when he picked.
“Let her know I’m busy and unavailable.” He told Ozioma. He dropped the call, not feeling in the right frame of mind to handle Tiwa. She had been selected as part of a Team of Doctors to represent Lagos State and Nigeria at an International Medical conference and although it was very good for the hospital, he figured Tiwa could celebrate without crowing about her success.
He had gone for such Conferences when he was younger and they were widely educative as well as entertaining and you got to meet several new people in your line of work. However, since he had warned Tiwa about coming to his office unnecessarily, she used the excuse of preparing for the conference to disturb him often and see him as well.
He had to give her credit though, she had gone about it so subtly that he hadn’t even noticed at first. If it hadn’t been for his dismal hopelessness centred around Femi’s rebuff of his affections, he might never have noticed that Tiwa was trying very hard at insinuating herself into his life again. Fortunately, it hadn’t worked and she had in fact, made herself into a rather annoying pest.
He sighed again and looked at the time, 5:40pm. In a short while, Femi would have gone again and he would not see her today too. He closed his eyes and tilted his head backward suddenly feeling very tired.
==
Amanda stared at her teacher as she started packing up her books and prepared to leave. It was another week already and all her prayers for her teacher and her daddy to smile at each other like they used to before had been in vain “Aunty Femi” she whispered under her breath.
“Yes, dear?” Femi asked, surprised that the little girl was addressing her as Aunty, usually she addressed her as Miss.
“What is it?” She asked when she saw the small head bowed. She went to kneel beside her. “Sweetheart, what’s the problem?”
“I am sad.” She said quietly and raised shimmering eyes full of tears to look at Femi.
“Oh, why?” Femi’s eyes started watering too, she was quite distressed to see Amanda so sad.
“Daddy is very sad, he’s not talking or eating and he doesn’t throw me up anymore.”
“Why?” Femi asked, afraid of the answer and yet hopeful.
“I don’t know but I hear Aunty Ose telling mummy cook that it started the day he took you home, I wasn’t evedop, I just hear it. Aunty Femi, did you do anything to my daddy?”
“No, Amanda, I didn’t. I promise. I just……”
“Then why is daddy soo sad?” Amanda asked unhappily. “And he doesn’t come to our class again, why?”
“Amanda, how about I talk to your daddy? Ehn?”
“Okay!” she nodded her head.
==
That night, Femi laid in her bed, deeply confused. This whole thing with Fiyin was getting out of hand. It was bad enough when she was the only one yearning to see him, now Amanda was sad, Ose stared at her strangely and the cook was sure she was at fault somehow. And she couldn’t even see the man to ascertain if they were right or they were all just making mountains out of molehills.
Afterall, Fiyin could actually just have been really busy. Of course, it would seem weird that his busy days suddenly fell on the days she had to be there but she couldn’t really bring herself to believe that her rejection of him would have left him so hurt or disturbed, he would refuse to come home. More likely, she had stung his pride.
But the longer it lasted, the more she doubted that it was pride affecting him. And she was beginning to think she might have done more damage than she had thought. She had waited all night for him but he didn’t show up and by 8pm, she had left his house.
Tomorrow was Sunday and she didn’t have to be there but she would get there in the evening to see him. He wouldn’t be expecting her so she would definitely catch him at home so they could sort out this mess between them. Of course, the fact that she could see him after what felt like months of missing him and breathe him in again did not contribute to her decision in the least.
==
Fiyin returned home on Sunday afternoon with his daughter. He hadn’t really paid attention to the message and he felt sure that God would punish him for thinking about a woman when the message was being preached. He didn’t know how but he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her. He was really suffering, hopefully that would make Femi really happy.
Later in the evening, he was watching TV and trying to understand why the vivacious actress in the movie had suddenly taken on Femi’s face. Of course, it couldn’t be Femi, Femi would never wear something so tacky, the shorts so short, the tank top was showing the woman’s breasts, that definitely wasn’t his Femi, even in her days of awful clothes, she was always decently covered.
He fell asleep on the sofa and woke up over an hour later and in the chair opposite, he saw Femi sitting. He smiled, realising that he was beginning to see visions but not minding in the least, he had missed seeing her.
“Hey, you look beautiful” he said, grinning.
Femi felt her heart roll over as she saw him smile at her. He was looking so relaxed and handsome, she couldn’t hold her own smile back. She had come in over 20 minutes ago with every intention of waking him but watching him sleep like a baby, she had been unable to disturb him.
Now, she smiled at him “Thanks Sir, you too.”
He stared, then blinked, “Are you really here?”
“Yes, I am.” she nodded.
He sat up and rubbed at his eyes. He could see clearly that she was here, in his sitting room. He had to stem the tide of joy he felt at her presence. “How are you?” He asked, wondering why she was in his house on a Sunday.
“I’m fine. Can we talk?” She asked.
“Yeah, let’s go to the study.” He stood up and she followed, noticing that he had lost weight. When they entered the study, he went to put on the AC while she stood by the door waiting. When he turned around, she smiled at him nervously.
Without knowing what he meant to do, he walked up to her and embraced her, he had missed her so much and he fully intended to apologise for hugging afterward. He was quite shocked though when her arms came around him and hugged him just as tightly.
He looked down at her face and when he saw her looking at him with her eyes shining and her lips inviting, he moved his lips to hers and soon they were embroiled in a hot passionate kiss. He held her so tightly and she held unto him just as close. When they stopped to catch their breaths, he asked against her lips, “Did you miss me?”
“Yesss…” She answered breathlessly and she saw his face change. His eyes filled with wonder and then joy, he kissed her again, this time with as much passion and excitement.
“I missed you….” he told her. “….I really missed you. Please tell me you thought about me, about us, tell me you think better of me, I love you, Femi…” he told her passionately. “I am crazy about you, please believe me”
“I believe you.” She nodded. She hadn’t come here for this but now looking into his eyes, she believed him and she didn’t want to keep hurting herself or denying herself something she actually wanted.
“Really? Really? You are telling the truth right?” He asked her doubtfully.
“Yes!” She laughed, “I believe you! But I don’t think we can be together, sir. I…”
“No, No, don’t say it!” He laid his finger against her soft lips. “Please Femi, I love you and I want you, quite badly. I can’t eat or sleep or think when you’re not around, you’re driving me crazy, please Femi give me a chance, I beg you. I’m not a bad person, I’m not wonderful either but I am kind and caring and please, Femi, just please.” He begged her.
“Oh, sir, I didn’t mean to make you so sad” She said noting the desperation in his eyes. She put her palm against his cheek and he rubbed his face in it, then kissed her palm. “I just don’t think I am the kind of woman you should be with. I am not gorgeous, or brilliant or…..”
“Femi, I love you, I love the woman you are. I love the way you smile, the way your eyes are so happy, I love your kind heart, the way you listen to me, I love how you love my child and all I am asking for is a chance to prove to you that I deserve you.”
His words brought tears to her eyes, “Oh really? What would people say? What would they think?”
“You know what? I don’t care, just tell me you want me and please, for God’s sake, stop calling me sir, okay? I like sweetheart better!”
She giggled. “Okay, sweetheart”
“That’s a yes, right?” He didn’t wait for her to answer though before he started kissing her again.
They heard a sound at the door and they turned around to see Amanda staring at them, curiosity in her eyes, “Aunty Femi, good evening.”
“Hi, Amanda”
“My Mandy girl!” Fiyin shouted, happily carrying her and threw her up.
Amanda giggled loudly, “Daddy, you’re better!”
“Yes, I am, Aunty Femi came to kiss all my booboos away.”
Really?” The little girl asked, her eyes wide and staring at Femi.
“Yes, and she agreed to be my girlfriend, do you want her to be Daddy’s girlfriend?” He asked her seriously and he felt Femi behind him holding her breath.
“Yes, I do! Yes, yes yes, I knew it!” Amanda crowed. “Aunty Femi, will you be my mummy?” She asked Femi after her father dropped her.
“Erm…”
“Only after she becomes my wife.” Fiyin informed his daughter.
“But she’s your wife….” Amanda grumbled.
“Calm down baby, she’s just my girlfriend, wife is the one that wears white and carries flowers…”
“Oh, daddy!” She exclaimed, excited, “Like Aunty Mari’s wedding?” She asked, speaking of her father’s cousin.
“Can’t we do it tomorrow?” She asked seriously and Femi started laughing.
“Haha, do you want to chase her away?”
“No, Daddy, I don’t want her to go, I want her to stay forever so you can be happy every time.”
“Oh, darling!” Fiyin said, hugging his precious child.
Femi knelt down and hugged her too, “No matter what happens, I love you very much, okay?”
“Okay” she nodded and smiling happily at Femi, went out.
“Where were we?” Fiyin asked as he sidled up to Femi. “Here, right?” He started kissing her again and Femi forgot everything else she had planned to tell him. The man could kiss, Jesu!
Question: Any advice for femi and rival Tiwa?

I'm loving this story like mad

Thanks for the update

Just finished reading on your blog, the story is really captivating.

Well done

Happy sallah

Tiwa was busy dividing up all the gifts she had bought all the way from Italy. She had been selected as one of 20 participants to represent Nigeria at the International Medical Conference in Milan to her utter delight and envy of her housemate and work buddies. She had spent a week in Milan and two more weeks travelling from Florence to Rome. She had only just gotten back yesterday, picked from the Airport by her brother, Kunle who although worked in Akure was in Lagos. She had managed to buy several things for everyone. She had gifts for her parents, brothers, some choice friends, for Fiyin and Amanda too. She hadn’t bothered to get anything for that selfish Imelda who hadn’t asked her where she was going or when she was returning. And when she had come back, the only thing she had said was, so, you are back. Well, yes, she was and she was going to lay all the stuff in the sitting room so Imelda could see everything properly and know where she had been although knowing her, she had probably been to Italy several times. Nonetheless, she would still be satisfied for the Imelda to see she had travelled abroad. And when she got home, she would lay out her gifts for her parents in the sitting room so Femi too can eat her heart out. She had bought a wonderful doll set for the Amanda, hoping this will make the girl more favourably inclined towards her. For Fiyin, she had bought a nice trimming set, perfumes shirts, shoes, things she knew he would enjoy. It felt like years since she last saw him. Before she travelled, she had spent a lot of time at the embassy, getting her visa and arranging her trip so she hadn’t had a lot of opportunities to actually see him. While there, she had called him a few times when she had gotten a mobile phone but the phone calls had been unsatisfying at best. He had seemed distracted and the calls had been really distant. Infact the last time she sat down to have a real conversation with him had been almost two months and she was just about ready for their courtship to pick up again as she wanted to be married latest by the end of the year or the beginning of next year. Quickly, she packed Fiyin’s gifts and Amanda’s in two big bags and made her way to his house. She had only been there twice when he threw end of the year parties at his house for his colleagues at the hospital. When she got to the huge house in GRA, she parked outside and walked quickly to the gate to knock. A security man opened the gate and she told him her name and her agenda. He asked her to come in and wait by the gate and went towards where she knew the garden was to tell Fiyin of his guest. From where she stood, Tiwa saw that in the huge garden to Fiyin was laughing and chasing after a lady. She was suddenly very upset because when a grown man spends his Saturday playing and frolicking in his garden with a woman, the woman usually meant something to him. She hoped to God it was a relative, anything else will be unacceptable. When the security got to the garden, the woman stopped running and Fiyin grabbed her waist in a very intimate manner and they both stopped to listen to the man. Tiwa found it hard to swallow as the man pointed at her, they both looked at her and suddenly she recognised the woman. “Femi!” She shouted and started running towards her. When Femi heard the man mention Doctor Tiwa, her heart sank and she wondered briefly if there was any way she could escape before Tiwa got there but the minute she turned and looked at Tiwa, she knew the game was up. With the way Tiwa’s face contorted, she knew her cousin had recognised her and she was running towards her. Fiyin was confused when he saw Tiwa running towards them with fury in her eyes and he pushed Femi behind him. “You b—h!” Tiwa screamed when she got to them and seemed to go at Femi. He wondered briefly if he had ever given Tiwa any reason to throw a jealous scene over him. She was scratching him to get to Femi. “Are you crazy?” He screamed at her as Moses, his security detail grabbed her from the back. “Femi, you dog!” She screamed, “Conniving b —h!” Since he hadn’t mentioned Femi’s name, he turned around to Femi. “You know her?” He asked a visibly shaken Femi. She nodded, “Yes, she’s my cousin” “Really? Why didn’t you tell me?” He wondered, “Did you know she worked for me?” He asked her as Tiwa screamed, held by Moses. “Yes, I thought she did but I wasn’t sure and it never came up.” “True!” He admitted, turning to Tiwa, “What’s the problem? Isn’t she your cousin?” “Why is she here?” Tiwa asked with anger Fiyin raised his brows at her tone, “I don’t know I need to explain why and whom I allow into my house!” “Fiyiiiiin!” Tiwa groaned, “What are you doing with her? Just tell me…” “Why am I telling you? If you wanted to know, you would have come here like a reasonable person. You don’t come into my house uninvited to fight and call anybody names, the next time it happens, I will have you thrown out!” He warned her sternly Tiwa was shocked, Fiyin had never spoken to her that way before, never. “Are you talking to me like that cause of her? Femi? Imagine!” “Tiwa, I think you should go. Moses!” He shouted at the security guy who had been standing aside after gathering Tiwa’s things that she threw aside in haste. “Please, escort Doctor Ademola out.”

“Wait, Fiyin, please, okay, I am sorry, please.” “Go, Tiwa, we will talk on Monday, just go.” Defeat etched on her face, Tiwa turned and left them. All the way to the gate, she wondered to herself, where they dating? Where did they meet? Was God trying to punish her for something? What of her angel? What was going on? As she entered her car, she told herself this was only a setback, Femi was the easiest prey in the world and she knew her almost better than anyone else and knew just what stone to throw. Inside the compound, Fiyin was consoling Femi who had started weeping immediately Tiwa left. In the 7 weeks he had been dating Femi, he had learned quickly that Femi was very emotional. She would cry over movies, over love stories, over bad things, good news, over injuries and over violence. “Alright, that’s okay” He said as he kissed her fore head, “I don’t want Amanda to wake up and think I beat you. She would report me to the whole world.” Femi started smiling and cleaned away the rest of her tears. He sat down with Femi on his thighs, “Tell me, if Tiwa is your cousin, why did she attack you?” == Monday was a gloomy day with the rain falling incessantly, it was a match to Tiwa’s mood. The events of the weekend had totally ruined her entire week, month for that matter. She knew that wasn’t what happened but Fiyin’s attitude made it seem like he was picking Femi over her. She wished she could go back to Saturday and not react so aggressively. That action alone had cost her and now he was not likely to believe anything she said. That d–n Femi! How and where had she met Fiyin? She had hoped to corner her in church yesterday but she hadn’t been in church, she had come home later but had stayed glued to her mother all throughout. Not that that would have stopped her but she hadn’t wanted to arm Femi with more ammunition to give Fiyin against her. She would have her time with Fiyin today and he would see the light, she was sure. With this thought, she was able to go through her rounds without breaking down. By 2pm, she made her way to Fiyin’s office. She had been by earlier and was told by Ozioma that he had a surgery that would end at 1:15, she gave him time to rest and write his report before coming. She waited while Ozioma informed him she was around and was relieved when she was invited in. “Hi.” she said as she entered. “Hey, Tiwa” Fiyin smiled at her but didn’t get up. He motioned for her to seat in the visitors’ seat. She couldn’t explain her fear when she realised he had just treated her the way he treated every other member of staff who came to his office. “So, what’s up?” He asked, without looking up. “I was hoping we could talk about Saturday, you said we would talk.” “Oh, yes, I did, explain yourself” He said but she saw his eyes had hardened. “Yes, thank you. Femi is my cousin, my dad’s sister’s dau….” “Yes, she told me.” He cut her short, “Tell me why you attacked her at my house on Saturday.” “Oh, that?” She laughed nervously. “Are you guys dating? I need to know, please! Why was she there?” Fiyin sighed, “Yes, Tiwa, I’m dating Femi, we have been dating for a while now.” Tiwa closed her eyes against the despair his words brought her. She felt like someone was ripping at her insides. She took time to gather herself together while Fiyin stayed silent. “Is there a problem?” He asked when she was still closing her eyes 10 minutes later. She opened freshly determined eyes. She had been prepared for this. Not for the pain his words would bring but for the confirmation of her thoughts. Now, she would play her game well. All along, Femi thought she had seen her worst but she had only just begun. She would not loose Fiyin to that fat, shapeless Amoeba! “Okay, I saw her with you and I was concerned. You see, Femi has a thing with men. You see, her former fiancée, Lanre just woke up one day and said he wasn’t going through with the marriage proceedings.” “They were getting married? I thought they broke up.” “No, not the last guy, she dated Lanre years back, he wanted to marry her but then he caught her cheating with his brother.” Fiyin was disturbed, “Really, Femi? She doesn’t seem like someone who will do such a thing.” Tiwa grabbed his hand over the table, looking sympathetic “Well she did. But, you can’t tell her I told you. After the whole breakup, her conscience overwhelmed her and for a while, she wasn’t very sane so we promised not to talk about it ever again. The truth is I have never really liked Femi, she might have told you that.” She smiled when she saw Fiyin nod, obviously, the b—h had tried to paint herself as some kind of a saint. “It’s because she’s a very good pretender, she will lie to you for years and only the grace of God will help you catch her. She has always been jealous of me, because I was brilliant and beautiful. She used to resent the hell out of me and when I won that scholarship to study abroad, by the time, I came back, she was sleeping with my boyfriend. You can only imagine how broken up I was.” “You know her brother killed her parents, right?” She asked Fiyin and was pleased to see his eyes recede in shock. “Nooo! He croaked. “Well, he did and till date, they haven’t found him. My dad calls her a bad seed in private, as in she brings bad luck to people. When I saw her with you, someone I really care about, I was worried she would destroy your life and family and you aren’t alone, you have a little girl to consider. That’s why I attacked her, I swear.” “I shouldn’t have, I know but I couldn’t control my fear, I am sorry, I will apologise to her if you want, I bear her no ill will. Truly.” She finished, satisfied.

Seeing her words had gained the desired effect, she stood up to go. “Fiyin, I didn’t tell you this to hurt you, just so you can be careful. You can’t tell her these things, after the fiasco with Lanre, we chose to bury it permanently and if it was any other man, I wouldn’t say a word but it’s you. Just be careful.” With that, she turned and left Fiyin staring but not seeing. == Seun had gotten a nanny for her 4 year old twin boys, they were always disturbing her especially when her soap operas were due to start. She loved her soaps as much as she loved gossip and she never missed an opportunity to watch them. Her husband complained about it all the time but she never disturbed him about his addiction to football and polo. To each, his own. Tonight though, after getting out her popcorn and ice cream, she had to forego the pleasure of finding out who Alassandro’s real mother is so she could listen to her brother’s tale of love. He sat down slouched in the chair, his hands covering his face, deeply disturbed. His usually upbeat mood very low and she suddenly wanted both Femi and Tiwa out of the planet. “Look, why don’t you ask the Femi girl the truth?” He sighed, “Because Tiwa said she could go crazy if I did.” “Isn’t that a little too convenient?” She wondered aloud. “You say something about a person no one can confirm or deny because you can’t ask the person, why not ask the parents then?” “Tiwa said they buried everything…” “And she dug it up abi?” She asked as she threw popcorn in her mouth. “You sound like you think Tiwa is lying, I thought she was your friend.” “Fiyin, she is, everybody is my friend, I like her and she’s brilliant, I don’t even know this Femi from anywhere but Tiwa wants you badly though and when she wants something badly, she becomes manipulative” She laughed when she saw her brother’s shocked face. “Like you didn’t know? She was fighting every female in the hospital over you.” “She was? I knew she liked me but I didn’t think it was anything too serious! How come no one told me?” “It was fun to watch, trust me and it gave me plenty of laughs. My point is Tiwa is desperate and she is not above making up stories about her cousin, stories you can’t confirm. So you have 2 choices, no 3 choices, choose Tiwa, choose Femi or let the 2 of them go.” Fiyin groaned, “Number 1 and 3 are not choices at all.” “There you have it…” She said as she dropped her empty popcorn bowl, “….you have made a choice.” “You are right, I may be wrong but Femi is a really good person, she’s kind, diligent, protective, you should see the way she is with Amanda… I don’t think she’s faking it and if she is, well, I will deal with it but until I see proof of meanness or deceit in her, I’m not giving her up.” He finished, determined. “Aww, my big brother is in love!” Seun laughed. “I need to meet this 2 faced woman!” “Hahahaha!” Fiyin burst out laughing, “You are crazy, very crazy. Thank you for listening and for putting everything into perspective. I love you.” He said as he stood up to hug her. “I love you too!” She hugged him back. “Oya, go, let me see if I can catch up with my Indian soap now that you have let me miss my Mexican series.” “Thank God Femi doesn’t like these things!” He said disdainfully as he picked up his phone, car keys and wallet. “Says who?” His sister asked, “If Tiwa is right about her, she could be waiting for you to marry her before she shows you her true self.” “Ha hah haah! Goodnight, kiss the boys and Engineer Nnabuife for me” He said, speaking of Seun’s husband and sons. “Alright, send my love to my Mandy girl.” She shouted as he went to his car. As he entered his car, he examined the feelings rolling within him, Hope. It was Hope. Tiwa was wrong, this thing with Femi was one of the best things that ever happened to him and he was going to fight for it. If Tiwa was right and Femi really did those things, then he was sure she had learned from them and was a better person because of it. And if she hadn’t told him yet about her past yet, she soon would. Tbc If you are following the story episode by episode, comment what yo

oliver twist....... i want more

Best update for the public holiday

Doctor should please make more findings about miss Femi

Thanks for the update

Tiwa can lie and be desperate for Africa thanks for the update