It was only seven in the morning when my mother called. I had to rub my eyes to be sure I'd seen correctly but the caller ID remained the same. It was my mother.
"Oh God!" I panicked, setting my phone down on the bed and jumping down to the floor like I was scared my mother would reach out of the phone and grab me by the ear.
Naborhi had released Ruby last night and she had assured me that Ruby had no idea who had kidnapped her but I was still anxious about the whole thing. What if Ruby had figured it all out? What if she had told my parents and that was why my mom had called?
In all honesty, I was scared to pick up the call. I had no idea what to expect. If Ruby hadn't said anything about Naborhi and I kidnapping her, why was my mother calling? Was she worried about me or was she just calling because I hadn't showed up at work for a couple of days? It was certainly bad that the daughter of the CEO of such a huge firm had acted so irresponsibly and abandoned her office duties. If the information spread around, it was going to ruin my parents reputation and they obviously didn't want that.
The phone suddenly stopped ringing and I freaked out. Was I to call her back or pretend I didn't see the call? I was still contemplating the next step to take when the phone began to ring once again and my heart began beating even faster. Slowly, I reached for the phone with my sweaty palm and swallowed hard as I picked up the call. I had expected her to yell the moment I did but what I didn't expect was the exhausted sounding voice. I panicked instantly as she spoke up. I couldn't remember the last time she had spoken to me so softly. Was she alright?
"Hello, Tiara."
"Mom? Good morning ma."
"My daughter, how are you?" She asked and I became even more confused. Why was she sounding so nice to me? She had been shouting at me just a few days ago, what had changed?
"I'm fine, mom. Uh, how are you and everyone at home?" I asked, scratching my head. This was a very unexpected conversation.
"We miss you, Tiara. I think it's time you came home. Let's work things out." She said and my eyebrows shot up in surprise.
My mother had wanted to work things out? Why now? Had she perhaps received Ruby's pregnancy test? Naborhi had promised to tell me when the results were out, so that couldn't have been it.
"Tiara, are you there?" Mom called as I stayed silent for a few seconds. I shook myself out from my thoughts and answered.
"Yes, mom. I'm here."
"We're having a family meeting this evening at six. We'll be expecting you." She said and I let out a breath of air, rubbing my forehead with my index finger.
"Okay, mom." I answered, although I wasn't sure I was going to show up. I felt like this was an ambush, a ploy to get me back to the house so they could all descend on me for running away.
"Alright. I'll see you then." She said before hanging up and leaving me utterly confused. I tossed the phone on the bed and took a seat on the edge as I tried to make a decision. Should I have given an excuse or just gained some courage to face my family once again?
Sighing, I decided to sleep on it. I was exhausted as Tosin had kept me up all night watching kdramas. We'd laughed and cried the entire night and it was a lot of fun but the sickening feeling I felt as soon as I woke up this morning made me regret it. I had barely slept three hours when I got up at six for a morning jog down the street with Tosin. She was all about keeping fit and staying healthy and had convinced me to go on a jog with her as 'exercise was refreshing to the soul'. After much protesting, I eventually gave in, however, I walked the entire time, much to Tosin's disappointment.
I had fallen asleep almost as soon as I closed my eyes and had only woken up after having a terrible dream. In the dream, I had gone home for the meeting and the moment I stepped in, everyone had began to yell at me while Ruby stood to the side, laughing and rubbing her pregnant stomach. It was horrible but helped me make up my mind. There was no way I was going back to that house.
I got off the bed shortly after and dragged myself out of the room, stretching my limbs as I did so. I was still tired and sleepy but I did not wish to go back to sleep, not after the dreams I'd had.
"Tosin?" I called as I walked out into the living room. She wasn't there. I searched all around the house but she was nowhere to be found. Sighing, I dragged myself back to the room to grab my phone and call her. She picked up after the third ring.
"Hey, babe." She answered and I yawned as I laid back in the bed. I was so tired.
"Hey." I greeted. "Where did you disappear to?"
"Work." She replied and I froze. Work? I couldn't remember her saying anything about work. "You did hear me say I had work today while we were out on our morning jog, right?"
"Of course not. I obviously didn't or I wouldn't have called you."
"Ooh, someone's cranky this afternoon." Tosin teased and I had to pull my phone away from my ear to check the time. It was a little after noon.
"When will you be back?" I asked as I sat up once again. I had come to her house for her company, not to be alone with the walls. Of course, this wouldn't have been happening if I had been going to work like I was supposed to.
"In a couple of hours and then, we can head out for dinner."
"Actually, I've got plans for this evening." I informed as I settled down on the couch.
"Date plans?"
"Family plans." I sighed. "My mom called and she wants to 'work things out', whatever that means." I had asked for Tosin's advise on my family situation as soon as I arrived at her house. She gave great sane advises unlike the rest of my crazy ass friends and she always told me when I overreacted but even she had been knocked speechless when I explained the situation to her.
"Really? That's great, isn't it?"
"I don't know, Tee." I sighed once again. "She sounded too nice on the phone. I have no idea what I'll be walking into. Maybe I shouldn't go."
"Are you crazy? You have to go! If you're parents are willing to work this out, you have to let them. Families shouldn't fight this long."
"It's not like I don't want to work things out. I'm just skeptical about this. They didn't listen to me before, why would they listen now?"
"Well, they're your parents. They probably miss you and want to fix things."
"I know but—I don't know. What if Ruby pulls something else and makes things worse? What if—"
"You'll never know what's going to happen if you don't go find out. It could get worse or it could get better but you'll never know which way things could go if you don't go." She stated and I nodded, knowing she was right.
After a few more words, I said goodbye to Tosin and went on to browse through my social media as I hadn't done so for over a day. I came across a message from Derrek on my WhatsApp which he had sent the day I had gotten to Tosin's. He was asking if I had gotten to Tosin's house alright. I scowled at the message and moved on to my other messages.
Derrek and I needed to have a serious conversation about his secrecy about his dating life. He was going to explain to me why he had failed to tell me about his fiancé, then, I was going to yell at him for putting me in a tight spot.
Once I was done with replying the necessary messages, I proceeded to take a shower, then I had brunch and called Naborhi to know where she was. I needed her to tell me exactly what had happened with Ruby and also, an update on the pregnancy test. I needed to know what exactly I was walking into with my parents.
*
Naborhi picked me up from Tosin's house at a little after two. She was dressed in a simple oversized black t-shirt, black cargo pants and a black baseball cap over her black bob wig. She also had on dark sunglasses that covered up most of her face.
"Why do you look like you're in disguise mode?" I asked as I put on my seat belt.
"That obvious?"
"You're entire getup screams 'Look at me, I'm famous'."
"That's definitely not what I was going for." She sighed, taking off her sunglasses.
"So, tell me everything in detail." I went straight to the point.
"Well, I got into this street race and I accidentally trashed—"
"No." I cut her off. "I mean what happened with Ruby last night."
"Oh. I had some friends put on skimasks, put on headphones on Ruby, throw a pillow case over her head, bundle her into the car, drop her off on some deserted road. It was a clean drop and no one saw a thing, so, don't be worried. However, if she does figure anything out, you straight up deny. She has no proof this time, so, you'll be fine."
"If I get in trouble for this, I'm snitching on your ass without any hesitation."
"You'll be long dead before you can get a word out." She winked at me and I gave her a suspicious look. She laughed. "I'm kidding, Tiara. Can't take a joke?"
"You tell expensive jokes, Ana, so, no. I can't take a joke."
"Whatever, dude." She waved me off as we slowed down by a traffic light.
A gray Bentley pulled up beside Naborhi's side and the driver honked, calling her attention.
"Oh, crap!" She cursed as the tinted windows of the car rolled down, revealing none other than the one and only Wizkid. I screamed, slapping my hands over my mouth as he glanced at me. I couldn't believe my eyes.
"I told you that there's no where in this Lagos that you can hide from me." Wizkid said with a smirk on his face and Naborhi groaned, hitting her head on the steering wheel repeatedly.
"Ana, that's Wizkid! Oh my God! That's Wizkid!" I hit her arm continuously in excitement and she shoved me lightly before turning back to Wizkid.
"How about we make a deal then, Ayo?" She proposed and Wizkid gestured for her to go on. "We have ourselves another race. On the race track this time. I win, you leave me the hell alone. You win, I'll get you a new car."
"Deal." Wizkid nodded. "Prepare your pockets, Ana. That car cost more than your summer house in New York."
"What? You can't be serious!" She screamed and Wizkid laughed at her reaction.
"You should have thought of that when you crashed my car."
"See you at the track, kiddie." She winked at Wizkid before winding up her window. "How would you like to watch me beat Wizkid's ass in a race?" She turned to me and I nodded, still in shock.
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