****EPISODE 36****
‘Please’ Jide whispered like a person begging for last breath.
Daisy sighed. ‘What do you want me to do?’ she asked, the words almost choking her.
‘Sit here with me’.
Inspite of herself, Daisy found herself sitting down. Then she crossed her hands on her laps and refused to look at him.
Jide sat down and opened his meal, the aroma assailed him, and he found his appetite running back to him. As he dug into his meal, he found that the ache in his heart had ceased, and the joy he felt that moment was immeasurable, he was probably the happiest man on earth now, he thought.
Daisy on her part sat still and refused to look up. If she’d ever
doubted then that Jide was finally falling for her, then all her doubts had vanished. His words kept replaying in her mind. If he ached as much as she had, then it was okay, infact it was a dream come true.Jide the only man, whom she’d truly ever loved was finally aching for her!
‘Your food tastes good, I’ve been longing to tell you’ Jide said interrupting her thought.
Daisy smiled, her face still buried.
‘But you’re not eating…’ he continued.
Daisy muttered something that sounded like ‘Not yet hungry’. Jide only nodded and continued his meal.
Daisy stole a glance at Jide & smirked. Even if he was heads over heels falling for her, everything wouldn’t just fall perfectly in place. That would be a crime! She still wanted a pound of flesh. Yes! She could just tease him a bit more and maybe play hard to get. Then she would finally warm up to him. *************
‘Am gonna be going out today’ Daisy said, her hand stroking the back of one of the dining chairs.
Jide nearly choked on the tea he was sipping, bringing down the cup, he stared at Daisy, to know if this wasn’t one of her taunts. But it wasn’t.
‘You’re going out?’ he asked foolishly.
Daisy shrugged. ‘Yeah. You don’t suppose I stay home all day, am going to burst with apprehension and…’
Jide sighed and forked a plantain, ‘I get it’. He drawled and put the plantain into his mouth. Atleast it was better than the annoying notes she previously left.
Today was Wednesday, five days after their peace pact-if one called it that-and so far, the air around the home seemed calm, no out of the blue trips, no sarcastic remarks, no deliberate taunts, little civil conversations here and there, infact, they had been living in a form of companionable
silence. Although that wasn’t his ultimate goal, it was still manageable.
‘So you’re going to where?’ he asked casually and drank from his tea. ‘Brenda’s place’ Daisy replied with a grimace. Brenda had refused to
pick her calls since the Club incidence. And she’d been putting off when she would go over to her house, mostly because she wasn’t sure she could easily find her way
to their family house in Ikeja, for she wasn’t so familiar with places around Nigeria yet. Stuck in the house for over five months now, she didn’t see how that’d would have been possible,
but now, she just couldn’t let matters be, whatever hole Brenda lived, she was going to find it or atleast try.
Lost in her thoughts, Daisy hadn’t noticed the effect her reply had had on Jide. Being in the process of drinking his tea, the word Brenda had startled him that he had spilled the hot content onto his thighs, now he was cleaning it with a napkin & muttering angrily. That girl was a bad omen no doubt, just a name and things happened.
‘Brenda is that friend of yours?’ he asked rising up and on his face was an angry scowl. Jide didn’t feel any more hungry for his appetite had fled him.
‘Yeah, I’ve not seen her in a while, she’s obviously angry with me after…’ ‘Whatever. Just be back on time’ he said walking away.
Daisy pouted her lips, wondering why he had suddenly changed. she glanced at the fried plantain and egg he had hardly eaten. It was so unlike Jide who she knew to be a very big eater.
Slowly, Daisy sat down, her eyes still on the retreating Jide as he grabbed his keys on a side stool and strolled out, not even a glance back.
That too was new and strange, she thought. For the past days, he would always smile and say ‘see you in the evening’ before he left, but today he hadn’t even looked at her, much less uttered a thing.
This unsettled Daisy even more. She drew his half touched meal, picked a fork and dug into the egg, putting up a forlorn look as she ate.
She had being loving these new side of him, that scowl of his that
affected her had disappeared and she was gradually warming up to him, even her resolution of getting a pound of flesh was fizzling out fast. Then why was he bringing up this new attitude that so unsettled her? Was it something she had said or done? But She’d only notified him of her
visit to Brenda’s…wait a minute, that had to be it! Definitely was it!
Jide obviously didn’t like Bree, infact that had been the bane of their Saturday fight. Well, Brenda was her friend of many years and Jide had better start waking up to the fact that Brenda was a big part of her life and their life. Daisy sighed. If only they would just sort out whatever bad air was
between them, it would really do her world a great good. The two most important persons in her life shouldn’t be at loggers heads. it would cut her into pieces. Rising up, Daisy sighed and carried the remaining meal to the Kitchen.
Okon would have something to look forward to afterall. She should rather
concentrate on the task ahead and think up how best to placate Bree’s anger, she
really missed her friend. She would just spend an hour or less swimming, after
which she would be good to go.
******************
‘Madam na the place be this?’ the Taxi driver asked and grinned, exposing stained teeth, he was middle age and had tribal marks that gave his tribe away.
‘Yeah, am sure it is’ Daisy said and turned to face him smiling. The man had proven to be patient and understanding throughout. Armed with just the name of the estate, she had ventured out and the oldman had been a God sent, he’d quickly warmed up to her, maybe because of her intonation, charm or something else, she wasn’t sure, but was glad all the same.
Glancing back at the building again, Daisy exasperated, she could very well recognise this particular one-storey magnificent building as Brenda’s family house, nomatter that every house on the road looked the same, for it was an estate.
But if it happened to be the wrong stop, she would have to resort to knocking on every gate, just so she could see Bree.
‘Madam your money na 2500 naira’ the driver prompted.
Turning to face the man, ‘okay’ she said and dug into her purse, wondering if the fare wasn’t trifle considering the distance from her house down here, because it sure felt like a long journey to her.
‘Here it is’ she said handing him three 1000 naira note.
The driver collected it, felt his pocket for money and was about digging in to get her balance when Daisy cut in.
‘Oh no, don’t worry, consider it as a…uhm compensation for your patience and…’
‘Make I keep the change?’ the driver asked surprised.
‘Sure’ Daisy replied, picked her purse and came out. She had opted to sit at the front with him as opposed to the back seat reserved for passengers.
‘Thank you madam’ the driver called pushing his head forward to peer at Daisy.
‘bye bye’ he said waving.
‘Bye’ Daisy replied. He was so like Adamu. She thought smiling. ‘and oh, can I get your number just in case?’ she quickly added.
‘Walai madam my phone get small problem, I no dey with..’ The driver was apologising.
‘Okay then, have a wonderful day’ Daisy cut in and started her walk towards the gate.
‘Bye bye madam!’ the driver called excitedly ‘Americana’ he chuckled before
driving off.
*******************
TAKING CHANCES