She flickered her eyelids open, first disoriented as to where she was. But a glance at Yomi at the driver's seat brought back the incidents of the day; a robbery at her house, getting shot.
If the robbers were not caught, they would come back for me and my box, and that would be putting Yomi and his daughter at risk by staying with them.
She shuddered at the thought.
“Are you okay?” Yomi casted her a concerned glance.
She nodded, unable to speak. As they drove through into an unfamiliar driveway, Dinma blinked away from her eyes the remnants of sleep.
Where were they?
And as though reading her thoughts, he said calmly as he killed the engine. “We are at my sister's.”
“Oh!” She should still be sleeping.
She watched him walk out of the car to the front door in quick strides. He knocked at the door twice and it was opened by a lady. From where she was, in the shotgun of Yomi's car, Dinma could make out the features of the woman as she stepped out into the front light of the house. She knew instantly that she was his sister. She looked like she was in her late thirties, her gait was that of a rich woman, and Dinma could see the resemblance between the two.
They both spoke animatedly for a while and the woman looked towards the car, making her wonder what they were talking about, and almost immediately Yomi walked into the house and the door was shut behind him.
Dinma took a moment to survey the neighborhood she was in. Just like Yomi's, His sister's lived in a very wealthy neighborhood, and Dinma could tell even in the dark.
After what seemed to be an hour later, Yomi walked out of the house carrying a sleeping Zara on his shoulder, with his sister trailing behind with a bag.
“Good evening.” Dinma greeted as the woman approached the car.
The woman nodded and gave her a small smile, as Yomi opened the door behind and placed his daughter carefully on the passenger seat.
“Meet my sister Mopelola.” Yomi introduced as he slipped behind his wheel.
Mopelola slipped her head into the window beside her “Dinma, I've heard a lot about you.”
Okay “Nice meeting you.”
“I'll call you when I get home.” Yomi said to his sister as he revived the engine of the car.
Dinma offered a small wave to his sister, and leaned back into the sit while Yomi drove, taking notes of the exhaustion that wore on his body. The drive to his house was surprisingly a short one and the time on the dashboard read 8:36pm.
As he killed the engine, She made to help herself out of the car, but the stern look he gave her sent her sulking in her seat. He carefully carried his daughter in, and Dinma could see how much his daughter meant to him. The sight warmed her heart.
After what seemed like forever, Yomi was back, opening her door as though she was his girlfriend.
Indeed!
He leaned towards her causing her to gasp a little, she was affected by the distance between them. Her subconsciousness squealed in delight, obviously enjoying the situation.
His hands went under her legs, and the contact sent mad fluttering butterflies in her stomach.
“I want to carry you.” His voice sounded unsure.
Her voice came out in a breathy whisper, “But I can walk.”
“Don't be stubborn Dinma.”
Yeah, don't be. Her subconscious pouted.
She nodded, and tried to keep her mind off wild thoughts. As he lifted her, her hands met his firm chest.
Wow, She thought. If only she could run her hands over his chest.
Stop it! She shook her head to toss the straying thoughts.
Yomi walked in silence into the house. She tried not to notice the proximity between them, but it was hard not to; His musk cologne felt intoxicating and her heart thudded against her chest, as she imagined scenarios of what could happen with both of them in a room. She blushed at the thought, instantly grateful that Yomi couldn't read minds.
Her senses became alerted when she saw him heading to an unfamiliar door. All the time she cleaned his house, she was never curious about what was behind the locked door, but she knew it meant something to him.
Why would he bring her here, and not the visitor's room?
“The visitor's room is kind of messy right now, we were repainting.”
Maybe, he can read minds.
He pushed in a key she didn't realize he was holding, and twisted the door knob at ease, making her wonder just how light weight she was. He pushed back the door, and stepped into the room, flicking the light switch on as he did.
One quick look at the room, and Dinma could tell it belonged to his late wife; There was an enlarged picture of the woman hanging on the wall by her left. Dinma couldn't take her eyes off the picture, even when Yomi had placed her on the bed. The woman in the picture was very innocently beautiful, and the eyes of the woman that peered back at her, held so many emotions. Dinma even thought the woman was questioning her for being in her room.
“Your wife was beautiful.”
Yomi followed her trail of vision, “Yeah, she was.” Then he cleared his throat, and pointed to a door on the left, “The bathroom is over there. I'll go get your luggages.”
Dinma nodded, “Thank you.”
He gave her a brief smile, and left the room. Dinma took the moment to look around the room, surprised as to how a room no one stayed in had no speckle of dust. The room was a large one, a little larger than her apartment put together. The walls were painted in pale blue, and the bed was in the center of the room. A wardrobe was at the foot of the bed, at the far end of the room. She could take a look at it later to know if any property of Mrs. Johnson was there.
Yomi knocked on the opened door, he had her bags. He took quick strides towards her, and dropped the bags on the bed.
“Do you need anything?”
Yes, I want to know why I'm been tortured by being in your late wife's room.
“No, I'm very fine. Thank you for doing this.”
He lingered, with hands in his pockets. When he realized he was staying too long, he cleared his throat, “I'll go order something for us to eat.”
“Isn't it late? Why don't I make something.”
“No, you rest, I'll do it.” with that he left, shutting the door behind him.
Then as quickly as she could, she carefully unpacked her bag. Temi had graciously packed her two jeans, a blouse, a T-shirt, a ridiculously short dress that belonged to Temi, and clean pairs of underwear. She smiled at it, and reached for her phone in her pocket, to dial her friend. Temi picked at the fourth ring.
“How are you doing mama? Are you settled in?”
“I'm fine. We just got to his house few minutes ago.” Dinma picked on a stray thread on her blouse.
“That's good. Toju came not long after you guys left, and picked me, I'm at his place.”
“I'm too young to be a godmother oo.”
“Will you keep quiet, No be your mate dey carry three to five kids? Stay there and be claiming you're too young.” Temi said in an amused tone that got Dinma laughing.
“Hope Yomi has fed you.”
“Haba! It's not his responsibility na.”
“Have you not told him that the way to your heart is your stomach?”
Dinma rolled her eyes, “He's gone to place an order.”
“Rich boys, am I right?”
Dinma chuckled at this.
“Try to take your meds. I'll get a carpenter to fix the door tomorrow, and I'll come see you.”
“You're the best.”
“I know. Make sure you sleep.” She could hear the concern from her friend.
“I will, and you too.”
“Good night.” The call was dropped, and Dinma resumed unpacking.
After about five minutes into her task, she undressed. The blouse was an easy task, but the jean trousers wasn't. It took her a willpower not to scream in pain as she tried to pass the wounded leg out of the trousers. After she had successfully done that, she took in deep breaths, and carefully changed into a night dress.