“God you look like someone who got some last night.” Temi stated. “You're glowing.”
It was midday, and the ladies were seated across from each other on the bed, each going through a pile of letters.
After Dinma had finished her breakfast in giddiness, she had called up her friend so that they would finally open the box while they waited for the time slated in the brochure for brunch at 11am with their colleagues at the resort's event hall.
“Did you?” Temi asked, unfolding a letter.
Dinma blinked, realizing that she had zoned out, her thoughts replaying the earlier incident of that morning.
“What?”
“Omo, you have it bad. How was it like?”
“What are you talking about?”
Her friend gave her a look. “Sex with Yomi.”
Dinma choked. “We didn't — I don't know.”
Temi lowered the letter in her hand. “What do you mean 'you don't know '?”
She shrugged, “I was too wasted last night to remember anything and this morning he was acting like something happened.”
"Maybe something did happen. You could ask him."
"I don't want to, I'm too embarrassed to." Dinma blew a breath. "Can you give me a run down of what happened yesterday?"
Her friend chuckled at some inside joke.
“What?” Dinma asked.
“Oh last night was so funny. Yomi was ready beat my ass.”
“Why, what happened?”
“He was furious that I had left you alone in your drunken state with Mike.”
“Mike?”
“Yeah. The dude accosted you, and Yomi went all possessive.”
Butterflies swarmed erratically in her belly at the thought of Yomi being possessive of her.
“You needed to see how the man almost beat the hell out of Mike.” Temi narrated.
Dinma replied in a breath,“Looks like I really missed a whole lot. I was so angry that Mike's moved on with a totally hot babe, that I got myself drunk.”
She picked up a letter addressed to her grandma.
“Didn't you move on yourself, with a hunk of a man? And let me tell you sweetie, that girl is all fake, she's got nothing on you. I even heard she was paid to act as his babe.”
“Wow.” Dinma said in a breath, then after some seconds of tracing lazily at the edges of the folded letter in her hand, she spoke. “Hope I didn't do anything crazy.”
Temi pulsed her lips to hold in her laughter, which she had a hard time doing because in less than a second, she had burst out laughing.
Dinma groaned loudly at this, and rubbed a palm over her face. “I did, didn't I?”
“Err... Not really. But you were really acting the role of a needy girlfriend.”
“Oh God.” Dinma face palmed.
“Yep” Temi popped the 'p'. “And it was really nice seeing the both of you like that.”
“I pretty sure it's because I'm supposed to act like his fake girlfriend.”
Temi shook her head. “You guys complicate things, why can't you learn romance from your grandparents.” She gestured casually at the opened letters littered on the bed.
“I think it was easier in their time. Because, listen to this–” She then began reading the letter in her hand. “Dearest Josephine, last night I dreamt of you–”
“Aww... Your grandpa was a cryptic romantic.”
Dinma continued.“I saw you happy in my arms and when I awoke, I was squishing my pillows.”
“Omo... Toju should come and learn.”
Dinma still reading, “I do hope to make you the happiest woman on earth. Love Gerald.” She lowered the letter to the bed, a frown etched on her forehead. “And to think someone is desperately in need of this, that he or she had to send armed men to me.”
Temi blew a breath. “I'm disappointed too, but why would your grandma want you to have them.”
“Guy... I don't know. I'm tired of reading.”
And they fell silent, folding back the opened letters into the box. And when they had put away the box, they laid side by side each other, facing the ceiling.
After what seemed like an eternity later, Temi broke the silence.
“Where's Yomi?”
“Oh, he had something to deal with at work.” It had been saddening watching him leave. Who knew what would had happened if he were to stay?
She blushed at the thought, and realized she had missed out on what Temi had been saying.
“... working on Saturdays, must be hectic.”
“Mm hmm.” She replied with a non committal sound.
“Do you think that if you had sex with Yomi, you'd forget about it?" Temi asked suddenly
“That's the problem, I don't know if anything happened last night. I just woke up and he was a bit different.”
Temi turned on her side to face her friend. “Good different or bad different?”
Dinma said with a smile. “Good different. I don't know how to explain it.”
“You're keeping me in suspense here, explain it from wherever.”
With a sigh, Dinma sat up and dragged her knees to her chest so that she rested her chin on them.
“We kissed.” She said quietly.
“So?”
“Like we're a thing.” Dinma said in a sigh.
“Are you not?”
“No Tems, I'm just his daughter's nanny.”
“That wasn't what I saw yesterday.” Temi sat up. “The guy is crazy about you.”
“It would be nice if he told me himself.”
****
The brunch started late at about 1pm, and the host had in her apology, stated that she had an emergency. Although it wasn't really noticed because there was time for old friends to catch up.
Midway to the brunch, Dinma had received a text from Yomi, asking her to meet him at the resort's bar for a date at seven. So in all smiles, she showed this to her friend Temi, who was super excited and suggested that they would sneak out of the brunch, if it lasted longer, an hour before her date to at least change her makeup.
However, the brunch lasted longer, and she didn't realize that it was almost 7pm until Temi came to pull her out of the mass of people that kept asking about the previous night. Some people wanted to meet Yomi, the protective boyfriend. Fortunately, Mike was no where in sight, for it would have been awkward meeting him after the last night.
When they were both finally able to squeeze themselves out of the hall. Temi squeezed her in an embrace.
“I pray you get some.” She said.
“Tems!”
Temi only replied with a chuckle and blew her a kiss before she scurried inside.
There was barely enough time for Dinma to go back to her suite and get back in time. So she smoothened her hair with the flat of her palm, straightened her dress, and squared her shoulders in confidence.
She wouldn't lie, she was nervous about the date. This was finally a step in becoming a thing with Yomi, and she didn't want to mess it up.
Her phone chimed, and quick glance at it told her that it was a message from Yomi. He would be running late.
Maybe she did have time to properly get dressed for the date.
A few steps later, she felt raindrops fall against her face.
What the heck?
She tried speed walking but she wasn't very good with heels. So she pulled off her shoes, not minding that she might look silly, and began racing. At this point, the rain began pouring heavily, and with the hope that the suite was in view, she kept running.
She ran into the reception drenched from her hair down to her toes. She was fortunate to meet the almost closing elevator, and she ran into it. A mother inside covered the eyes of her little son with her palm, and Dinma knew that it was because her pale pink dress was now see through.
She muttered an inaudible 'sorry' and waited impatiently for the elevator, rubbing her hands that held her shoes, against her body to fight off the cold.
When the elevator pinged at her floor number, she dashed out to her suite. And after a while of rummaging through her purse, she got hold of her key card.
The sight she met when she opened the door wasn't something she would ever envision.
Yomi still dressed in his work clothes was in the room, but that wasn't what made her jaw slacken.
He stood frozen with rose petals in his hands. Rose petals laid scattered on the floor and on the bed. And on the far end of the room was a table and two chairs. The table had lit candles on them.
Her eyes watered at the sight. Then dropping the shoes she had in her hands, she raced to hug him, her hands wounding themselves around his neck, not minding that she was drenched. Then she panicked inside. Was she too forward?
But Yomi spoke. “I wanted us to do this indoors and I'm sorry I didn't tell you on–”
She cut him off with a kiss, a quick one but enough to relay her thanks.
“How did you do this? I thought you were at work?” She took a look around the room.
“I came back earlier”
Dinma hit his chest. “You told me you were running late.”
Yomi took hold of her hand on his chest and gave her inner palm a kiss.
“I wanted to buy more time.”
He held her chin and lifted her face to kiss her. The kiss was one filled with hungry passion, and she found herself pushing his head further into her face.
When they broke off from the kiss, Yomi stared at her with hooded eyes revealing his unmasked lust.
“Do you like it? I mean this.” He gestured to the room.
“Of course I do.” She gave him another kiss. “I love it.”
A knock came on the door and they were forced to break off from their embrace.
“Room service.” Yomi said as he sprinkled the remaining petals on her, causing her to giggle.
“I'm going to change.” She gestured to her dress.
“If not that you would catch a cold, I would have made you leave it on. It's very...see through.”
“Yomi! This guy!”
He laughed.
She could get used to this, she thought as Yomi opened the door while she made her way to her box.
A waiter pulled in a trolley containing different platters and a bucket of ice that held a bottle. When the waiter was gone, Dinma asked from where she was.
“Isn't that much for two people?”
“I didn't know what you'd like, so I ordered everything they had.” He replied with a shrug.
She grabbed a pair of pink shorts and a grey T-shirt, and made her way towards him.
When she got in front of him, she trailed her hands on his chest.
“In case of next time” She said “I like Jollof and croaker fish with salad.” She kissed the side of his lips and headed to the bathroom.
In the bathroom, she placed her feverish head against the cool marble walls. Things were spiralling out of her control.
Wasn't she the one who was worried about Yomi's intentions towards her earlier ago?
Now, she realized, she was becoming more comfortable with Yomi than she had ever been with any male, and the tricky part was that she loved it.
She hurriedly changed into her dry clothes and dumped the wet ones in the bathtub. She would get to that later, for now she had a date waiting.