Revolt

23. Sand Castle

She was happy for them without doubt, but she couldn’t help the gnawing feeling of envy in the pit of her stomach. Especially now, that her stance with Lekan was very much fickle and volatile and the fact that they were more likely to end things on a sour note, factoring into consideration current travails. She didn’t exactly know what to do about the matter. Lekan had done a wrong thing, but she had been rude also—in some way. She knew he wasn’t going to reach out, since he had maintained his distance, even during the burial and so was leaving the choice up to her to make the decision.

Since she was lost on ideas, it probably wouldn’t be the worst idea to consult the opinion of a third, neutral party that would see things with a clear mind, void of sentiments. Tiolu would be the natural choice as her best-friend, but she didn’t want to bring her into the classified area of their relationship, as it would complicate things further since she was his sister and was skeptical about their relationship altogether.

Next in line, was Adaure and while Anjola trusted her enough, she didn’t know how the girl would interpret her opting to discuss said topic in their first real conversation, since she returned. More so, Ehize was by her side and she didn’t know how she felt opening up, with him present. They hadn’t quite gotten there yet, for her to be comfortable with discussing such sensitive topic with him around.

“Heyo,” Adaure greeted in a bubbly, cheerful voice as she slid into the booth across her and Ehize followed suit. Her friend was wearing a black blazer with oversized lapels, on a white long-sleeved, turn down collar blouse and a black Jolie Max long pencil maxi stretch skirt. While Ehize was wearing a crisp, blue plaid pressed shirt on black khakis, with bulging gators and brown brogues. It was one of the few times the duo deviated from their usual modes of dressing, with Adaure wearing something fully corporate and Ehize not pairing his outfit with a boot.

“I was worried you guys forgot about me, for a bit.” Anjola said, just as a waiter popped up by their side to take the duo orders. Usually, Adaure sat beside her but now she was seated across by the side of Ehize. There were quite a lot of new changes to adapt to, that she didn’t know how to feel about. It felt like everyone was moving on, and she was still stagnant on the same spot, left behind in her misery.

“How could we ever forget you?” Ehize frowned at her, as if she had suggested something implausible but it made perfect sense to her. She was practically third-wheeling already, and felt like she was intruding on them. “Our working relationship could be likened to a simple machine. Adaure and I are like the levers, right? I don’t know much science, but we’re like the ends of the meter rule and you’re the fulcrum in the middle, ensuring balance and making sure no one topples off and falls.”

“Yeah, right.” She did her utmost best to keep the bitterness of her voice, as she sipped from her cup of coffee. Ehize had stated in uncensored, unequivocal terms that the bond that held them all together was affiliated with ‘work’ and nothing more. For him and Adaure, it was something deeper of course, but for her, once the work clause was removed from the equation, she’d be eliminated alongside it.

“With the joint weight of both of you, I’m not doing. You guys would just crush me before I can do any meaningful balancing. Even Superman would try in the matter of balancing the weight of you guys, because I can barely deal with the wahala of both of you, not to talk of the joint weight.” Anjola added.

Adaure rolled her eyes, and reclined in her chair, while Ehize attended to their orders. It would seem that he was ordering for the both of them, and not just himself. Of course, they had gotten accustomed to each other’s tastes while she was away. She couldn’t help but wonder what other monumental thing had happened during her absence. “Anjola, just say you miss our wahala. We’d totally understand. Delano might be a down-to-earth dude, but his company can’t beat our joint one.”