Being Human (12)

They had both done their best to pet Dolapo to sleep. She had wept for some time after seeing the pictures of Lizzy's bruised face . She kept asking what sort of man would beat another human being to the point where such wounds were inflicted.
Folusho made sure her friend slept before she went back to bed. They had a long morning ahead. They both had flights to catch back to their base.

Jay on the other hand, barely slept. He had to figure out a way to sort himself ASAP before Dolapo found out anything. He had to see the Minister too, to finalize plans for the catering of his daughter's wedding. A part of him laughed at how much faith he had in the possibility of him still having the contract, the other part reminded him of Mrs. Martins and what she was capable of doing.
He brushed the thought aside as he drifted off to sleep.

***

It was just 7 am. A knock on the door was the last thing Jay could expect on a Sunday morning. He excused himself from the dining where the ladies were seated, munching on the sandwich and tea he had made early that morning before they headed for the airport to catch their respective flights.

"I'm coming... who is it?" Jay asked as he kept looking back at his pretty girlfriend while walking towards the door. He wished she could stay longer.

"who is it?"
He opened the door and Mrs. Martins walked past him, into the apartment.

"Err... what are you doing here?" He tried to ask in the lowest voice possible. He wished he had super powers to make the ladies invisible or make Mrs. Martins invisible. The morning already looked gloomy.

Mrs. Martins couldn't be bothered by Jay's reaction, nor with the presence of the two ladies seated at the dining section of the flat.
Dolapo stood up from the seat as she walked towards Jay, using her eyes to communicate as though she needed to be introduced. She knew for sure it wasn't Jay's mum, so she smiled as she approached the woman who was now sitting comfortably on one of the sofas.

"Good morning ma, you must be Jay's boss" she did the half-kneeling stunt and then walked back to where Jay was standing with the smile fading away, when the woman wouldn't reply her greeting.

"Yes, that's my boss. And this is my fiancee, Mrs. Martins" Jay finally found his voice. He swallowed hard as he watched the smirk on Mrs. Martins face.

"Oh, I see... Let me be brief. Alhaji has given the contract to some other caterer..."
She crossed her legs, began unzipping her bag as if to bring out a document and then went on with the details of her meeting with Alhaji in the most professional way ever. She talked of how much persuasion she employed into convincing Alhaji that Jay was capable and was only here to let Jay know that Alhaji had succumbed to her pleas.

"One more chance, Jay. That's all you've got..."

By this time, Dolapo was back at the dining with Folusho as she felt Jay needed space to discuss business.

"But what sort of boss comes to your house on a sunday morning?" Dolapo silently asked as she tried to finish up her tea. She was no longer comfortable with Jay's gesticulation and body language.

"Except she's not just your boss..."

"except she's not what?" Dolapo almost raised her voice but cautioned herself as she pondered on Folusho's words.

"Oh my God. I said that loud?... I'm sorry. It was just a thought" Folusho tried to explain but it was too late.
Dolapo dragged her friend to the room, and locked the door behind them.

"explain..." Dolapo said sternly.

"seriously, babe. you need to chill. I was just thinking aloud"

"sorry, i'm overreacting. I just want to know."
Dolapo went on to summarise what her discussion with Jay had been the night before and explained that she didn't quite get the part of his boss giving him a house.
Folusho just smiled at her friend, she couldn't conclude, not yet. She also did not want to scare her friend by telling her what she felt was really going on - Jay's boss was his sugar mummy.

"Talk to me. Who do you think that woman is?"

"I... Hope you won't be offended?" Folusho wasn't sure if she should voice out her suspicion which she had most likely confirmed after seeing the confidence with which the woman walked into the house and talked with Jay.

"I'm not sure, but I've heard stories, how rich women take care of young guys... you know" Folusho said slowly.

"Oh... sugar-mummies, you mean?" Dolapo was not sure if she should pray Folusho was wrong.

"babe, we should get going. Please hurry Jay up" Folusho changed the topic as she unlocked the door and walked out of the room, leaving Dolapo who was still trying to reason out what her friend had just said.

By the time she came back to the sitting room, the woman had left and Jay was now placing their bags in the car. Dolapo walked out of the house to where Jay was.

"Tell me what I missed yesterday and  who this woman is... and don't lie to me!"

Jay had never heard his girlfriend speak in that tone, she was cold and he knew she must have eventually figured it out. He couldn't play games now. He loved Dolapo and he knew he might end up losing her but she didn't deserve to be lied to.
As briefly as he could and before Folusho came out to find them talking about this messy situation he had found himself, Jay explained what the real deal was, sparing his girlfriend some unnecessary details.

Dolapo entered the car without saying a word, she had to process all the information had brain had just received.

***

Dolapo smiled at her image in the small mirror before placing it back into her bag and then fastening her seat belt. She wondered how she got here; she wondered if she had been responsible for this whole mess, maybe she had been too pushy, too desperate, too determined to get hooked before the year came to an end. She remembered the countless times she had gisted Jay about weddings of her colleagues and friends, all in a bid to pass a message across to him.
She couldn't deny that no one at home had put pressure on her to get married, in fact, she was the one putting pressure on herself. She was going to clock 28 by December, her wishes had evolved into rigorous prayer sessions on her part to get married by that December or quite early the coming year.

"Did I silently push Juwon too far?" she thought too herself, then wiped the tear that was trying to find its way down her left cheek off before it could get the chance.

"Olajuwon Taiwo" she kept muttering Jay's full name beneath her breath as the plane took off.

She tried to mentally push the events of that morning aside as she viewed the pictures Lizzy sent her again. She felt sorry for the girl; she felt even worse that she wasn't there to help her out. She had called her first thing that morning to know where she eventually stayed after leaving her boyfriend's house. Nelson had beaten her blue-black and had threatened to do more if he came back and met her in his house. She had buzzed Dolapo to ask if she could come to her place but when Dolapo wouldn't respond on time, she had hurriedly left the house with a few clothes to a guest house, just for the night.
Dolapo expressed how sorry she was over the phone and how she would be glad to accommodate her once she arrived.

She really couldn't wait to get back to normal busy life: the never-ending demands of her perfectionist boss, the church services and the interesting people she was just getting to know in the Youth church - Dare and Febi, and maybe, just maybe, she could get drowned in more activities at work and in church and in due time, be able to totally forget about the events of the last 3 days.

She scrolled through the pictures Folusho had taken and wished they were on the same flight; she really needed a shoulder to cry on, she could only act strong for a while.

***

Jay turned on the ignition. He had been sitting in his car, doing some thinking for almost thirty minutes after making sure the ladies had boarded. He drove out of the airport and headed for Mrs. Martins' house. The ride from his house to the airport was so awkward, the silence was deafening, he wished he could get the ladies a taxi instead of driving them after the embarrassing incidence that unfolded that morning.

He could feel his life falling apart and he couldn't tell for sure why he was going back to her house and what he was going to do once he got there but he drove on all the same.


*Being Human
*Faith Tunde-Yara
*Photo credit: www.shutterstock.com