Lifting up the edge of the bed with one hand, I used the other to pull the sheet over the edge and carefully placed it back down. I repeated this action for the rest of the corners and then proceeded to tuck in the sides.
Once the bed had all its creases smoothened out, I looked around the room and then moved towards the windows. For some reason, the room seemed dim and stuffy even though the air-con and room lights were all turned on. I pulled the curtains open and pushed the window open for some fresh air.
I took in a deep breath of air and looked out the window. The mundane scenery of rusted rooftops, the neighbour's balcony, birds chirping whilst perched on an electric pole and blue skies fed my eyes. Although the scenery was uneventful, I still stood staring transfixed in my spot until a set of arms snaking around my waist pulled me out of my reverie.
I looked down at the arms pulling me back into its sturdy frame and then tilted my head to be able to place a face to the person. Lo and behold, I was met with Yinkas'.
I looked back out the window, hiding the smile that was creeping up on me. He pulled me closer and chuckled clearly aware of how flushed his presence made me. The vibrations that emerged from within his chest made me lean back against and close my eyes, basking in his warmth and cologne.
He tightened his hold around my waist and then leaned down to place a soft kiss on the crook of my neck, right where my birthmark resided, causing my stomach to flutter with butterflies. He placed a playful bite on my neck and I quickly pulled away from him, holding onto my neck, laughing.
"Stop..." I drawled out, grinning foolishly
"Come here" He held onto my arm and pulled me back to him, securing me in place with his arms behind me.
I slowly trailed my fingers up his chest and then crossed my arms behind his neck. We stayed gently swaying in a spot, staring into each other's eyes then he leaned down and met my lips with his.
Just as the kiss was about to progress, my eyes flew open and I stared wide-eyed into my pitch black room. I peered into the dark room and was able to make out Oluchi's frame, laying on her bed.
What was that?
I stayed still, mindlessly staring into darkness trying to collect my thoughts. After what seemed like forever, I finally sat up on my bed and proceeded to bend over the bed frame searching for my phone. I had placed it down on the floor, near the extension box to charge over the night.
I finally found the phone, disconnected and then sat back on the bed. I clicked it on and 3:04 am boldly lit the screen. I released a deep sigh and wiped my face with my palm; it was covered with sweat and so was my pyjama shirt.
I looked up at the fan and it was static, indicating that there was no power. I released another deep sigh and leaned against the cold wall behind me.
What kind of dream was that? And why Yinka? This makes absolutely no sense to me.
I stayed awake pondering on the whole essence of the dream I'd just had.
Wait... Since it was a dream and spirits both good and bad take over human characters that are familiar to us in said dreams. Does this mean that I was making out with a spirit in the form of Yinka? Omoo...
"I come against these kinds of dreams, in Jesus name. Amen. I wash away any imprints of the evil one in my life, in Jesus name. Amen. I'm covered with the precious blood of Jesus. Lord sanctify my dreams with holy ones, these I ask, in Jesus name. Amen," I muttered underneath my breath with my fingers clasped together in front of me.
Dreams, sometimes, portray our inner hopes and wants. Does that mean that-No. No. It can't be possible.
I shook my head and lightly tapped on both cheeks to wade off any irrelevant thoughts from my mind. Then, I went ahead to lay back down, blew out air from my lips and closed my eyes. After a couple of turns and adjustments on the bed, I finally settled back into the state of the unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wait a minute, why was I so comfortable in that dream?
I still couldn't let the dream go, even though the full details of the dream wasn't as clear as it was when I had just woken up. With the way I hung unto this dream, it was a wonder how I was able to communicate with Yinka as I would normally do on a regular day.
"So, are you ready?" Yinka glanced at me, pulling me out of my reverie.
I blow out air from my lips and readjusted in my spot on the bed. "I guess"
"Okay," he nodded and turned to the camera. "What's up, guys? Welcome back to my channel. It's Neye and me again today and we are going to be answering the questions you guy sent it."
"So for those of you who don't know or are new, I went live two days ago and I asked my viewers if they would want me to do a Q and A. A lot of you were down with the idea and so I had you guys send in your questions via Instagram?"
He picked up his and scrolled through it. "There are quite a number of questions but we would try to go through as many as possible... yeah, with that being said, let's begin"
"I can already foresee some of the questions," I said rubbing my palms together and cracking a smile
He glanced at me briefly and then chuckled. "I know right"
He cleared his throat and looked into his phone. "Okay, first one is from __peeace and this person says 'Neye, are you in a relationship? If you aren't, are you open-minded? Cause I'm down if you are"
I blinked. "Wow... uhm" a snicker escaped my mouth and I slapped my hand over my mouth to stifle any upcoming laughter. "Sorry"
Yinka chuckled. "That's quite an opener"
A snort escaped my lips in my bid to hold down laughter and that caused me to erupt in a fresh peal of laughter.
"Sorry... sorry" I cleared my throat. "Let me be serious" I muttered to myself as I took in a deep breath, waving my hands in front of me as I did.
"Okay... I'm not in a relationship and I'm completely straight. Next question"
He looked back down at his phone. "_theo1.3 says 'when are you dropping a new song?'"
He placed the phone down on his thigh. "To be honest, I don't know myself but I'm working on some songs... who knows, I might even drop an album. Fingers crossed"
He picked up the phone. "itssarah_ says... 'Are you back in Nigeria permanently?' No, I'm not. I'm hoping to stay around for a while but I'd still return to the UK"
"Awwn" I pouted like a child
"You'll miss me, right" he gave me a cheeky smile and squished me into a side hug. "Don't worry, I'm not leaving anytime soon"
"Lemme jare" I giggled as I pushed against his chest.
He released me and straightened up, then returning his attention to the phone. "Next question... 'Do you guys live together? And how did you guys meet?' We do not live together and we met, uh... technically she..."
I noticed he was having trouble disclosing the nature of our relationship, as to how we met so I decided to help him out. Might as well rip the bandaid out.
"I work for him" I cut in. "Technically I work for his parents but same thing. I work here as a maid and that's how we met"
He tensed up beside me and muttered. "I think housekeeper would be a more preferable term"
I gave him a soft smile and then chuckled. "Tomayto, tomahto"
He shrugged his shoulder and tried to keep a nonchalant attitude but he was clearly discomforted. "You really didn't have to put that out there" he muttered underneath his breath and looked away from me.
"Are you embarrassed?" I said, pulling on his shoulder to get him to look at me but he remained adamant. I laughed and released his shoulder but remained focused on him.
"Look, I'm not ashamed of what I do. I mean, if scammers and thieves are proud of what they do, then why should I cower in shame of what puts food on my table. I make an honest living and I'm very proud of that" I said, squaring up my shoulders.
He cleared his throat and spared me a glance before facing the camera. "We get it, you're proud. Let's move on"
I chuckled and patted his back.
He read from his phone. "Neye's skin is really smooth and beautiful. What's your skincare routine? If you have one"
I patted both cheeks and grinned. "Aww, thank you. Uhm, I don't really know if it'll work for you but I use a facial cleanser and toner before I sleep"
Yinka looked at me. "You might need to give them the name of the product you use"
"Oh, I don't really have a particular one I stick to. Any facial cleanser would do, I guess" I said, lifting my hands and shrugging my shoulders. "Next question"
He looked down at his screen and released a groan after reading the screen. "I just knew this question was coming" he muttered
"What's that?" I asked as I tried to peer into the phone.
He moved the phone further away from my gaze. "You know what, we don't have to answer it"
"No, why?" I persisted as I reached out to grab the phone. "Read it out"
"Okay, fine" he used one hand to hold my hand back from taking the phone and the other to hold the phone to his face.
"This is from Jessheart12. She said 'you guys definitely have feelings for each other'" he read out.
"Is that it?" I asked with raised brows
"Yeah" he nodded
"Well, despite what some of you might think. We're just friends" I waved my finger back and forth between us. "Only friends, nothing more. Right?"
I looked at him for affirmation but instead, he was staring at me with a longing look on his face that took me off guard.
He quickly snapped out of the daze and turned to the camera. "Uhm, yeah... Of course, we're just friends"
"I mean, she's not even my type. No offence though" he said and let out an awkward laugh
He didn't sound very convincing to me and I felt like the last part was unnecessary but I shrugged it off and joined in the awkward laughter.
"Next, please" I called out
He scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, next one is... 'Are you guys dating?' I think we've just answered that. We're not. Next one... 'Do you like Neye?' As a friend, yes. Next... There are so many questions like these so I'll just jump ahead" he rushed out.
He scrolled through the questions, mumbling some of the questions but never completing them before moving ahead. "Okay, this one is for you... 'Neye, do you attend Unilag? I think I saw you once'"
"Yeah, I do" I replied quickly but then started second-guessing my answer. "Please note that I'm a very shy person outside, just in case, you meet me in person"
Yinka raised an eyebrow at me and scoffed. "You? Shy? Yeah, right"
I playfully pushed him by the arm. "What do you mean? Please don't mind him o, I'm extremely shy. Thank you and God bless you" I did a subtle bow while putting my palms together
"You're something else" he shook his head at me and turned to the phone. "Next... Can you guys do those couple challenges on Tiktok?' No, we can't. We're not a couple, sorry. Next... Oh, I actually like this one, 'What do you think about Yinka?' This is for you, Neye"
I chuckled nervously as I noticed his attention fully on me. I didn't know what to say, what did I think about him? How?
"I hope you're not expecting praise," I said jocosely to lighten the mood because it seemed a little serious
His mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide but he didn't say anything. I laughed and pushed his jaw close. "Flies would just enter your mouth now"
I cleared my throat and readjusted in my seat. "Uh... He's very annoying and rude and mean. Forget this face you guys are seeing o" I pointed to his face and chuckled. "You'll be deceived with this his face, he's not nice"
He gently swatted my finger away and laughed. "Be serious"
"Ah ahn... who said I'm not being serious" I side-eyed him and looked back at the camera. "But as mean as he is, he can also be very thoughtful and kind and extremely generous. When I say generous, I don't just mean materially, he gives out his time, energy and the rest. He's also funny, at times... but bear in mind that he's extremely boring"
He nudged my shoulder lightly with his. "You know, I'm not"
"You are. You literally need me to survive" I boasted with a wide grin
"Whatever" he muttered in defeat.
I laughed and squared my shoulders. "Your turn"
He looked at me with raised brows. "My turn for what?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "To tell them what you think about me"
He shook his head with a satisfied smirk and lifted up his phone. "They never asked that... that question was for only you. Next!"
"That's not fair" I grumbled, folding my arms across my chest
"Life's not fair" he shot back, suppressing a smile.
I rolled my eyes at him and allowed him to get away with it. He read out more questions and I answered the few that I could and spent the rest of the time, listening to his answers to the questions. At the end of the day, it was a fun shoot.
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