"...Isn't that right, babe?" Candice's obnoxiously loud voice pulled me away from my thoughts and I glanced in her direction to see her smiling up at Derrek who seemed lost in his own world. "Babe?" She nudged his arm and he blinked a few times before turning to her.
"Yeah?" He answered and Candice seemed annoyed for a split second before putting on her fake smile once again.
"I was just telling them all about how you proposed to me at the top of the Eiffel tower in Paris." Candice recalled and I glanced at Derrek who seemed a bit thrown off. He nodded anyway and gave a small smile.
I gave a unconscious sigh and glanced down at the seasoned turkey legs sitting on the table in front of me. It had always been my dream to get proposed to at the top of the Eiffel tower. I always thought it was so romantic, standing on top of all of Paris while he popped the question with a French band singing behind him. I never took Derrek for a romantic but it seemed he did have a romantic bone in his body after all. Sadly, all his affection was focused on Candice. I gave another sigh.
"Are you okay? What's with the sighing?" William whispered in my ear and I shook my head, giving him a smile. He looked like he had more to say but the European woman to the left of him called his attention.
"That is so romantic! I wish my husband had done something even half as romantic." The dark skinned, middle aged woman across from me sighed. "Emeka was my dad's apprentice at his electronics store back in the day and his romantic idea of a proposal was to hide the ring in between a nut and bolt and watch me try to spot it out." She rolled her eyes but there was a smile playing on her lips as she spoke.
"My fiancée proposed to me on a yacht here in Lagos. Being the clutz he is, the ring fell overboard before he could slip it on my finger." One of the models from the show, Zoe laughed. I had recalled her the moment I had seen her. She had been on so many billboards all over Lagos.
"How about you, Tiara?" Candice voiced a few moments later. "I heard you recently got engaged. How did he propose?"
I was completely caught off guard by her question. How had she found out that I was engaged? How much did she know? Did she know I was fake engaged to Derrek?
"Oh, my God! I'm so sorry! That was a touchy subject." She feigned an apologetic reaction and I balled my fist in an attempt to restrain myself from doing something I would have regretted. She was trying to humiliate me.
"How come?" Zoe asked and I noticed all seven pairs of eyes were on me now, waiting for my response, including Derek's which looked curious.
"My engagement was called off but it's alright. I've moved on now." I tried to keep my response as short as possible, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
"You poor thing." The middle aged lady from before cooed and I laughed, although awkwardly as I tried to look unaffected by the topic but I was, especially when the cause of my heart break was sitting a few seats across from me.
"I didn't know you were a model, Tiara. You absolutely shocked me today." Derrek spoke up before anyone could and I felt grateful to him for switching topics. I couldn't stand the awkwardness from before.
"This was actually my first show." I responded and I heard a gasp but I couldn't tell who it had come from.
"Wow! You did great!" The European woman clapped in applause and I thanked her. I got more compliments from the guests at the table and it actually brightened up my mood.
My eyes met with Derek's and he held my gaze for a few moments. There was a look in his eyes that I couldn't decipher but before I could try to, Candice called his attention. They went into a discussion and I turned to see that every one else had been conversing with each other. I suddenly felt left out.
I got up to my feet and excused myself, grabbing my purse before making a search for the ladies room.
After inquiring from a waiter, I headed in the direction he had directed me in and soon found the ladies room. I took a look at myself in the mirror and I frowned at the tired, sad look on my face. I took out my face powder and dabbed some of it over my T-zone and under my eyes, then, I practiced a smile in front of the mirror, trying to make it look as real as I could but in truth, I was too tired to pretend that I was happy to be at this stupid dinner and that I was totally okay with seeing Derrek and Candice all lovey dovey from my peripheral vision. I decided on coming up with an excuse to get out of here and I thought of good excuses as I walked out of the bathroom.
"Hey!" A voice called, startling me. I looked up with wide eyes to see Derrek leaning on the wall right outside the restroom. He pushed off the wall and walked up to me.
"Derrek, what are you doing here?" I asked, pulling nervously on the skirt of my dress. Seeing him here less than two feet from me reminded me of the night of Matt's birthday and how we had almost kissed. I could still feel his breath on my face.
"I came to check up on you." He said casually, sticking his hands in his pocket as he glanced down at me.
"What? Why?" I asked as he took a large step towards me. I took one step back.
"I know Candice upset you when she brought up the fiancé thing." He took another step towards me but I stood my ground this time. That was why he was here? Why did he care anyway?
"That's alright. All of Lagos knows I was previously engaged." I waved it off dismissively and put on a fake smile to convince him that I was okay but he didn't seem to buy it.
Derrek was quiet for a few moments and I felt awkward under his intense gaze so I excused myself and walked away from him.
"He was an idiot!" Derrek said and I stopped in my tracts. "Your ex. He was an idiot for letting you go."
"We were doomed to fail from the beginning." I felt tears well up in my eyes and I blinked rapidly to push them back. "It just ended much sooner than I thought it would." When Derrek didn't say anything, I glanced back at him. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts as his eyes glazed right past me. I turned back around and began to walk away once again when he spoke.
"Do you regret it?" He asked and I turned back to him, surprised by his question. Why did he seem so interested in my love life all of a sudden? And why was he staring at me so intensely?
"It doesn't really matter. It's all in the past now." I don't know what I expected him to say but I felt like I was going to die waiting for his response. I bit on my inner cheek as I waited. He looked like he wanted to say something as his lips parted and closed every few seconds.
"Is there something I should know?" He finally spoke up after about a minute of silence and I swallowed hard as his eyes stared deeply into mine and I felt like he could see everything I was trying so hard to hide from him. I felt very vulnerable in that moment.
"S-Something like what?" I stuttered and I mentally kicked myself for doing so. If he didn't suspect I was hiding something from him before, he sure did now.
Instead of replying, he continued to search my eyes for his answer and once I couldn't take it anymore, I broke eye contact and cleared my throat before speaking.
"We should get back to the group." I said, scurrying away before he could question me further. What did he know? Did someone say something to him about us? Why else was he asking that question? Was I reading too much into his words?
A few minutes after I got back to the table, I gave an excuse of not feeling quite alright, not caring if it sounded believable or not. I just needed to get away from there and Derrek who hadn't looked my way once since we got back. He had been staring down at his food the entire time and nodding to whatever Candice said to him.
William saw me out as soon as my bolt arrived and I thanked him for everything before getting into the car.
The entire ride home, I kept replaying the scene with Derrek in my head. Why had he come to check up on me? Why was he curious about my previous engagement? Why did he look like he was trying to tell me something but couldn't? Was he starting to get back his memories? Was that what all that was about?
The ringing of my phone pulled me from my thoughts and I fished through my purse to get it out.
"Hello?" I answered without looking at the caller ID.
"Tiara, where are you?" Adiola's voice rang through the phone.
"I'm on my way home, why?"
"You promised we'd watch the new episode of Grey's anatomy together. It's starting in five minutes." She reminded, sounding annoyed as she did so. Two weeks ago, I had promised Adiola to watched her favorite show with her when the new episodes aired every week after she had complained that I didn't spend enough time with her. I had totally forgotten that the show was on today.
"I'm so sorry, Addy. Start without me. I'll get home as soon as I can."
"Whatever." She mumbled and before I could apologize once again, she hung up.
Sighing, I set my phone back in my purse but before I could let go, It began to ring once again. I pulled it out and answered.
"Yes, Addy—"
"Tiara?" A masculine voice spoke up and I pulled the phone away from my ear to see the caller ID. It was an unknown number.
"Hello? Who is this?"
"Tiara." The voice said once again and I heard a sniffle follow after.
"Who is this?" I repeated and I heard a few more sniffles before I got a reply.
"It's Luke." The voice said and I wracked my head for a moment before the image of Derrek's cousin flashed in my eyes.
"Luke? What's going on? Are you crying?" I asked concerned. I wondered why Luke had called me in his state and how he had even gotten my number. I couldn't remember giving it to him.
"Can you come over to Princeton Private hospital? Please." He sounded so desperate that I couldn't bring myself to interrogate him. I did get a lot nervous though as I wondered what could have happened. Had something happened to Derrek? I had only left him a few minutes ago. Was he okay?
"I'm on my way."
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Hey guys! Here's another update. I hope you like it. Please tell me what you think in the comment section.
While you wait for the next chapter, please check out my other Nigerian book called "FRAME IT AND PIN IT". It's a mystery/romance/semi-action book.
You can check it out on my profile.
Thanks for reading
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