A/N;
Yo, yo, yo! Wassup earth homies? What's cracking all up in this joint?
Yeah, it's Krystall here again with the weird greeting slangs. (I honestly scare myself with these slangs sometimes. Help.)
QOTD; Who's your favorite Nigerian male artiste(s)?
Mine's Wizkid and Johnny Drille for now. My favourites change all the time.
Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight then.
Lezz get into the story now.
CHAPTER THREE: I'LL TAKE THAT BET
"So, when are we meeting this Derrek?" Mom asked, taking a sip from her glass of water.
"Soon, I guess. He's really busy with work right now." I made up an excuse on the spot. Derrek knew nothing about me, there was no way I was letting him near my family until he knew every single detail about me.
Like on cue my phone buzzed on the table and I picked it up, seeing a text from Derrek.
Derrek: What's your favorite food?
Me: Jollof rice but I also love Rice and Stew. I can't seem to choose between them. Hby?
I quickly sent, placing my phone down to see my mom's curious eyes on me.
I sighed knowing this wasn't going to work. My mother was a very curious and suspicious person. If she suspected something wasn't right, she was going to investigate until she eventually found out the truth which was why I'd suggested Derrek and I texted each other every day, asking random or specific questions in an attempt to get to know each other better.
So far, I knew Derrek wasn't fully Nigerian as his mother was from London while his dad was from Rivers state in Nigeria. He'd spent most of his life in London and had only moved to Nigeria a few months ago to supervise the branch of his company that he had set up here in Lagos. He was the CEO of a technological Company called D-Tech which was passed down to him by his father. He was twenty-seven years old, born on April 10th. His favorite colour was blue and he was a major Wizkid fan.
My phone buzzed once again and I glanced at my mom who frowned, saying something about how disrespectful it was to bring a phone to the lunch table.
Derrek: Don't have a favorite food. I love em all.
I chuckled at this, ignoring the glare I'd gotten from my mom.
Me: Never pegged you as a foodie. Thought you were the picky kind.
I set my phone down once again and this time it was snatched away from me.
"Mommy!" I gasped as she kept the phone on the chair beside her and away from me.
"Finish your food before chatting. You're exhibiting bad manners." She scolded and I stared at her, shell shocked.
"But I'm an adult now. You can't seize my phone." I said in a whiney voice and she eyed me.
"In a mother's eyes, her child is still a small child to her, adult or not." She stated and my jaw dropped down further.
"B-But-"
"But nothing. Finish your food." She cut me off, pointing to the half eaten fried rice before me.
"Yes, mom." I sighed in defeat, taking a forkful of rice.
My phone started to ring and I froze as my mom picked it up, checking the caller ID.
"Derrek." She muttered. "Your fiance?" Her eyes lit up and I shook my head.
"No!" I almost yelled. "He's another Derrek. Definitely, not my fiance Derrek." I lied and she gave me an unimpressed look.
"I know you're lying. I'm not an olodo[dumb]." She stated before picking up the call.
My arms flew to my head as my eyes widened. If Derrek said the wrong thing I was dead.
"Mommy, don't!" I rushed to the other side of the table were she was, pleading for her to pass me the phone but she shoved me away instead.
"My son." Mom spoke up and I felt the urgent need to cry. "What do you mean who's this? Don't you know your mother-in-law's voice again?" She accussed and I groaned loudly, hoping she just hung up or better, Derrek hung up.
Why was she doing this really?
"Why haven't you come to see us?...That's what she says but we need to know who our daughter is getting married to." She glanced at me, winking and giving me a thumbs up and I immediately became worried.
Whenever my mom had something up her sleeves it was never good news.
How did I know?
I had twenty-three years of experience.
"So, Tiara's dad-Tiana ke? Tiaraoluwa now. What do you mean Tiara who?" My eyes widened at this and I mentally cringed. He couldn't have forgotten my name, could he?
Mom glanced at me, gesturing the phone and taping her temple before putting her palm out as if to say 'Is he crazy?'.
"He's joking, mom. He jokes. It's like his second job, it just doesn't pay much or have any audience at all." I forced a laugh, trying to cover up for the man I was going to kill very soon.
"Anyway, Tiara's dad is flying in tomorrow with her older brother and her younger sister will be back from her boarding school by next week, so, we will all have dinner Saturday night." Mom informed and my eyes widened. She glanced at me, giving me a thumbs up and I shook my head, waving my hands in disagreement but she completely ignored me. "Cancel your plans for next week Saturday night." She said in an instructive voice and I let out a shriek of frustration. "Good. I'll see you then. Hold on for Tiara." She said before holding out the phone towards me. "It's your fiance." She informed with a smile on her face like I was clueless to who she'd been speaking with.
I glared at her as I took the phone from her and she glared right back, hers scaring me, causing me to scurry away.
"So, you met my mom." I said nervously as I walked into my room, closing the door behind me.
"Yeah." He drawled. "Honestly, she scares me." He confessed and I laughed, imagining the scared look he must've had on his face.
"She scares everyone, even my dad." I replied and I heard Derrek blow out air from his mouth. "You're not thinking of backing out of this, are you?" I bit my lower lip nervously. If he decided he didn't want to pretend to be my fiance anymore, I was screwed.
"No, no, I'm not backing out. We signed a contract, remember?" He reminded and I nodded in remembrance. "Besides mothers love me." He bragged and I could just imagine the smug look on his face.
"Not my mom." I pointed out, laying on my bed and he chuckled.
"She will when she sees me." He countered and I scoffed, shaking my head at him. "This face is a game changer."
"You really think you're that charming?" This guy was unbelievable.
"I'm good looking too. She'll fall in love with me, I promise you." He said confidently and I rolled my eyes.
"I'll take that bet. I win, you take me out to dinner for a week. You win, all bills on me." I challenged. He was quiet a moment before he answered.
"I win, I get to pick our ship names too." He added and my face contorted in confusion.
"What?"
"For the wedding cards. I pick Tiarrek. Good, right? I worked all night on that one." He said proudly and I shook my head in disbelief.
"I thought you were smarter than that. Tiarrek is horrible. Diara's way better." I suggested and Derrek let out a frustrated sigh.
"Just dress pretty and meet me at my apartment. We can argue that there."
"What? Why? Where are we going?" I asked, sitting up on my bed.
"You're my fiance now, meaning we need to be out together. Plus, I got invited to this movie premiere and I need someone to torture throughout the night." He explained and I frowned, scoffing.
"I'm not here for your entertainment or torturing pleasure. I'm not going." I declined stubbornly and Derrek groaned.
"Don't make me come get you." He threatened and I snorted at that.
"You don't know where I live." I reminded, shaking my head at him.
"You want to bet on that too?" I groaned, throwing my head back dramatically. I couldn't let Derrek come here. If he met my mom, it would've ruined everything. He didn't know enough about me yet to pull this off. He couldn't even remember my name.
"Tiana, really?" I said as the event flashed in my head. "You called me Tiana to my mom?"
"I thought it was Tiana, that's what it looks like in the contract." He said in his defense and I face palmed.
"It's Tiara, Merrick." I purposely called the wrong name. "Tiara with an 'R'."
"You've got really bad hand writing." He mumbled and my nose flared in annoyance.
"Have fun at your premiere, Merrick." I hung up on him and laid back down, groaning. I could tell this relationship between Derrek and I was going to be frustrating cause he was frustrating.
I had to find a way to keep him away from my family for now before he frustrated me into telling the truth about us.
Thirty minutes later, my phone buzzed in my hand and a message from Derrek flashed on the screen.
Derrek: Parked in front of your house. Be down in five or I'm coming up.
Me: You wouldn't!
Derrek: You wanna bet, Tiana?
I rushed to my window and glanced out of it. Derrek's car was right in front of the gate. He was really here, he wasn't kidding.
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Tadaaaaaa!
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Ciao.