I tap my foot impatiently against the marble tiled floors, checking my diamond encrusted watch every five seconds. After what feels like an eternity, Mayowa strolls in. His face, the epitome of calmness. He looks more handsome than ever, dressed in a simple crisp white shirt and dark blue jeans that brings out the gold of his skin, his whole outfit pulled together with leather loafers and a shiny gold watch. I am ready to straddle him.
“Where have you been?” I begin, not even waiting for his reply before I continue. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting here?”
His gaze is careless and unapologetic, My skin prickles with anger. I take a few deep breaths before pulling myself together again. “Let’s go, we’ve got almost half of Lagos waiting for us at the gallery. We cannot keep them waiting for too long.”
I brush past him, immediately getting a whiff of his familiar citrus scent. It sets my teeth on edge, but I walk on, ignoring the butterflies fluttering at the pit of my stomach.
As soon as we step into the chilling vehicle, I recite a quick prayer in my head, hoping my nervousness would soon vanish. Beads of sweat cling to my forehead despite the icy atmosphere, making me self-conscious about my carefully made-up face.
Mayowa glances in my direction and smirks slightly, pleased by my uneasiness. I ignore him, tucking my tongue inside my cheek and sparing a glance at my watch, yet again. My breath hitches once I realize how late we are. But before I have a panic attack, the driver speaks up.
“Madam, we are here oh.” I thank him and climb out of the car, as elegantly as I can, in my floor length chiffon get-up and matching six-inch heels.
Mayowa, having already stepped out from the car and now by my side, grabs my hand before I can protest, and pulls me towards the tall grey building. He throws me a distinct frown, before baring his teeth at me in an attempt to smile.
“You’re going to have to do better than that,” I whisper to him. Morphing my lips to form a smile of my own.
“Mrs Ayodele, what is this all about?” Chairman asks, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he sets his mug of coffee down. I smile at Mayowa, motioning with my fingers for him to take my hand.
He pulls me onto my feet, a bit too aggressively but I am quick to hide my stumbling, my high platforms not making it much easy.
“I’m glad you asked, Chairman. I have invited you all today to propose an idea my husband and I have been concocting for quite a while now.” I shoot Mayowa a knowing look, in return, he raises a perfectly arched eyebrow at me.
“Yes. Yes, ah we plan on turning this building into a place where people can easily come to find jobs….” He says, beaming. He looks better when he smiles. I think dreamily to myself, as he drawls on. Not quite catching what the men at the table are purporting.
“Omolola?” A deep voice rumbles in my ear. “Are you even listening?” The voice booms again.
I snort, fully aware the men at the table were too caught up in their discussions to notice this small exchange. “Of course,” I mumble. His sneaky grin drops, and is immediately transformed into a deep frown, like he has just realized something.
This man, so unpredictable. He goes from blatantly rude, to purely cocky. The room suddenly becomes dangerously silent. I bite my lip in anticipation, waiting for one to talk.
“We accept.” A burly man with a receding hairline announces. I manage to comport myself and we go on with the meeting. Deciding this and that. Well, Mayowa does. I sit there like a doll, smiling to myself. They have no clue, none at all.
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