Episode 24
“You do realise that I’m perfectly capable of walking by myself, right?”
Tobi had insisted on carrying Abena bridal style when they got back from the hospital, and although she liked the closeness, very much, she was obviously not going to show it.
They had gone to the hospital first, to drop Joseph, much to the displeasure of the doctor.
Apparently, he was a handful.
Then, after Abena had her check up, they
came home.
“Abena, you know the doctor said that your body would be sore. So be a good girl and shut up so I can set you up in the
bathroom.” He easily manoeuvre through the door, up the stairs and into her room. He dropped her gently on the bed, and went
into her bathroom. She heard water rushing and after a while, he came out.
“So, I’ve set the bathtub for you. It should relax your muscles. What would you like to eat?” He asked, wiping his wet hands with a towel.
“You are acting so nice, it’s weird.” She
pointed out.
“I’m always nice, you just didn’t know. Now answer before I change my mind.”
She rolled her eyes and smiled. Well, it
would be good to make good use of the
situation.
“Fried rice please. Chicken included, and
bananas too.”
“Okay then. Get into the bathtub before it gets cold, or would you need help in there too?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she started laughing.
“No, thank you. I think I can manage.” “Suit yourself.” He shrugged with a smile. “Shout if you need anything.”
After he left, Abena peeled off her clothes slowly. She remembered that they forgot to get her phone back from the kidnappers. Her gaze wandered to the iPhone that Tobi gave her. She shrugged to herself; nothing wrong with accepting his gift. At least, now, she would be able to video call with Demi. Demi.
She missed that boy so much, it hurt. But she knew they had to be apart. He had to get better. She knew he was going to get better, that was why she was pregnant for a price.
And now, she was getting more than she
bargained for.
…
“Tobi, what time is the interior decorator
coming tomorrow?” Abena asked as she
walked down the stairs, wearing her old
sweatpants and the shirt Tobi let her wear
the day they went shopping.
“I buy you a whole closet, yet you still wear my shirt?” Tobi raised his eyebrow and gave an amused smile.
“It’s comfortable. Don’t ask questions if you find out that your shirts are missing.” She shrugged and sat down on the stool, resting on the kitchen island.
Tobi was flawlessly chopping the vegetables and she could see that the rice was already cooking. He was wearing an apron, and she realised that the situation seemed domestic again.
“The interior decorator would not be coming tomorrow. I moved your appointment to next week.” He said, while getting the frying pan from a cupboard.
“Why?”
“Because, you’ve had a rough day, so I decided to stay home for this week to take care of you.” Her skin warmed up at his
words. “You need to rest na, and we have
plans tomorrow.”
“Plans? What kind of plans?” She said, while taking a carrot from the bowl. He slapped her hand playfully and removed the bowl, placing it far away from her.
☆☆
“That’s for later.” He said, referring to the carrots. “And we have lunch at Joseph’s place tomorrow, you’ve been specially invited by Dera. He is leaving the hospital tomorrow morning, and we are coming to celebrate his ‘freedom’, from the apparently evil doctor.” She burst into laughter. “Joseph is a handful.” She smiled. “And after that, I’m taking you out.”
“Where?” She asked curiously.
“The Quillox club.” He shrugged.
“The Quillox club? You need to be worth at least millions of naira before you can even enter the parking lot!” She pointed out.
He just smiled at her, then mixed the chopped vegetables together. He poured it into the frying oil and it made a sizzling sound.
“Babe, I own the Quillox club.”
She just rolled her eyes, not looking
surprised at all.
“I’m not even surprised any more jare. Before I know it now, you’ll tell me that you own half of the Nigerian Government.” She said sarcastically.
“I don’t own half of the Nigerian
Government Abena. Maybe just about one eighth of it.” He shrugged.
“Well, you are the third richest man in Nigeria.” She pointed out playfully. “Almost the second. I would be in a month.”
He said, pouring the vegetables into the
rice, then stirring it.
“It smells so good.” She complimented. He smirked at her. “Of course yes, it does. It was made by me.”
…
They pulled up into the parking lot of Joseph’s modest duplex, and noticed the kids coming out of the house excitedly. “Okay. They have three kids, the oldest is James, he’s eight, then Jesse is five, and the youngest is Juliana. She’s two. His kids hate me by the way.” He said nonchalantly and stepped out of the car.
“Why?” She asked, a smile tugging at her lips. She brought out the cake she had baked from the car, and balanced it expertly on one hand.
“They’re annoying.” He grumbled and she rolled her eyes.
The kids ran out at the sight of them, screaming excitedly. The two boys got to them first, while Juliana, the toddler, squealed excitedly while running as fast as her little legs could take her.
“Uncle Tobi!” They screamed, hugging him. “I though you said they hate you?” Abena lifted an eyebrow.
“They do. But I always give them money when I come, so when I come, they take my money and then go back to hating me.” He replied.
She just laughed and looked down on the
children, who paid her no attention. Their
attention was on the wallet that Tobi had
fished out of his pocket.
“Okay. So James is the oldest. He gets two thousand.” He said, bringing the notes out of his wallet. James snatched it quickly, as though he was afraid that Tobi would change his mind.
“Jesse gets one-five.” He said giving the notes to the second child. He took it from him shyly and muttered a thank you before following his brother inside the house. “Oh! Juliana!” The toddler looked up at him expectantly. “You get one thousand.”
She stared at the note inquisitively before taking it from him and running back to her house.
“I actually thought you would give them like ten thousand each.” Abena joked.
“Joseph gave me a two thousand naira limit. I don’t even know why they expect money anyway. They give it to their mom
immediately, and Joseph is almost as rich as I am.” He said as they walked up to the house.
To be Continued…
BARGAIN