Lola's Story✔️

Chapter Thirty five

Chapter Thirty five

****
The weekend rolled by before I could even notice. It seemed like the days rolled by like that for a reason.

I got out of bed, grouchy. I said my morning prayers, after which I picked up my phone, several notifications graced my sight. Client after client in my inbox on different social media accounts, trying to get in touch with me. This was a good thing, it had some good money rolling in but for the first in my life, I was in no way eager to show off my skills. This was not good. Ignoring the incessant buzzing of my device, I trudged into the bathroom to freshen up, and start the new day.

I dressed up and made my way out of the room, locking the door behind me. I came to a brief halt when my gaze fell on Laila who was just stepping out of her room which was next to mine. She looked away from me, walked past and headed downstairs, like she did not just see me. I shook my head at her antics, I had no time for any of it.

After our fall out the previous day, neither of us had said a word to the other. We hadn't been like this for a very long time, so yes, it was that bad.

Checking the time on my wrist watch, it was about eight in the morning. Having nothing else to do and definitely not an appetite, I said hello to everyone else present.

"Lola?"
That was my mum.

"Where are you going? So early in the morning?" She asked, setting the bowl of scrambled eggs on the dining table. She made breakfast and I would have loved to dig in but I did not have the time.

"Good morning mummy, I have some business to take care of." I replied with a blank stare. She gave me a skeptical look before nodding, I gave a smile in return.

"I'll see you later." I said dismissively. I turned on my heels and found my way out of the house.

****
I gazed at the building before me, a simple but elegant duplex in the suburbs. Gerald did not  have his house on the island, you can imagine how long it took me to get down here.

After staring at it for several minutes, I stepped out of my ride, still observing my surroundings as I locked the doors.

It was a middle class neighbourhood, with cars parked on different ends and few passers by. I saw kids playing on one end of the close, and several occupants outside doing whatever.

I crossed the small street and knocked on the huge black gate.

"Who be that?" I heard from the other side of the gate. I kept mute and waited for whoever to come open it.

"I say, who be that? The person no dey talk?" The guy who I assumed was the security guard, muttered as he pulled open the small gate.

"Good morning." I greeted with a gentle smile and the evident frown on his face morphed into a wide grin.

"Morning o, fine sisi. Abeg, who you dey find?"

"Please I'm looking for one Mr Gerald Gregg, does he reside here?" I asked genuinely worried about being at the wrong address.

"Na my Oga be that." He said and I heaved a sigh of relief.

"Him know say you dey come?" He questioned and I nodded. He was skeptical about my answer, I saw it in his eyes. As expected, he asked me to wait while he went over to ask his boss. He returned and bashfully asked for my name before returning inside, all this while, shutting the gate in my face. I huffed in annoyance, did he not know I was coming? He asked me to come here, why all this hassle?

The guard finally came out after what felt like forever and ushered me inside the premises. My eyes examined the view,the potted plants adorning the walls gave a fresh feeling to the place, it seemed like he was a fan of nature. I spotted two cars in the makeshift garage and I took in the full view of the building as we walked towards it. The orange paint on the outside stood out amongst all the houses on the street, it was hard to miss.