12:25pm
Adam, plainly in his khaki shorts, rested his two hands on the wall as he looked down from his window at Ali, the gateman who was thoroughly washing one of the two cars that were parked in the lot, whistling an old tune while he was at it.
Some hours earlier, after Simi had agreed to go on one date with him, over chat though and under the condition that he tells her everything he's being trying not to, which he promised that he was going to 'try my best', he had immediately sent for Ali and directed him to wash his mother's BMW and do it well.
He stood still, still watching Ali but thinking hard, very hard at what his next line of action should and would be. He needed a plan and maybe a plan B, just in case A fails.
He turned back into the room and threw himself on his maroon leather sofa, pondering over and over, a thing we can now freely call his habit. What do I tell Simi? Where do I even wanna start from? Is it Lily? Or should I start with Sam, my brother? Or my bipolar disorder. Oh shit! Or the fact that I'm a father? That I have a son and I only found out this morning ?
***Flashback ***
His phone vibrated next to his head and he woke up to morning, sun piercing into his eyes through the window. He managed to reach for the phone and open a picture message on Hangouts from his friend Dylan in NY that had a very disturbing caption, "What the hell is going on here? Adam is that your son? With Lily? Call me ASAP!"
It hit him like lightning when he abruptly punched his screen to see what he had least expected or in fact, never expected - a rare picture of Lily with a small boy in her car, his own car before the divorce. His resemblance with the boy was plethoric.
His heart skipped a beat and all sort of sleep that still lingered in his eyes automatically cleared and he briskly shoved off the duvet and sat up, letting his feet touch the very cold marbled floor.
Before he could embrace all the thoughts and questions that rushed him, he dialed Dylan who luckily for him was still online. The call connected and it rang for a long time, then it stopped. He tried again, and again until it went through the fifth time.
*** Present Time ***
A knock hit the door that caused an intermission in his brainwork where he laid on the sofa, one hand over his head, eyes closed but not sleeping. The knock came again.
"It's me Tiara. Open the door."
He hesitantly stood up, when he reached it, it happened that the door was not even locked.
He turned the knob and widened the door, "It wasn't locked."
"What have you been doing up here all day?" She bombarded him. "It's almost one and you didn't even come downstairs for breakfast. I've tried calling your number, it kept saying busy. I was hoping to talk to you."
"Yeah about that... now is not a good time Tee-"
"How come it's never a good time with you these days? And clearly we need to talk. I don't-"
"Yeah. But not now. I'm trying to figure some things out and-" He cut her short again.
"Things like what?" She too.
"Tee, can we do this later please? I-"
"A lot is going on with you and you need to talk to someone. You need to let it out, let's know what's eating you up. Jeez, you're my brother and I am your sister, your only sister! You should talk to me."
He sighed, not again. "Sis, I appreciate that and sure we're gonna talk but right now I have something very crucial that I have to think about and fast. I'll come meet you downstairs. What about that?"
Tiara looked fixedly at her brother, hard and longer than normal like he was a stranger, someone she had never met before. Who was this man?
"I know what to do. I'm going to tell Mummy. I'm going to tell her everything. That's what I'm going to do. I can't deal with this madness alone. And definitely won't keep quiet about it." She ran her mouth then she turned to leave the room.
"You don't know anything so you better not tell her anything! Tiara!" By then she had banged the door behind her. Shit! He cussed under his breath.
It just kept getting worse and Tiara's wahala* was becoming unbearable. He had a lot to worry; going back to New York for his son ASAP, deciding what he was going to do with Simi, what he would tell her. And now, he had to worry about his sister too. Isn't my life just great?!
*wahala - trouble
***
6:26pm, Feyisetan's car
"Where exactly are we going to?" Simi finally asked breaking the silence and tension they had managed to sustain in the car since they left the house minutes ago.
"Err I thought I mentioned it," He turned his head to look at her while he still kept his eyes on the road and she shook her head. "Oh I'm sorry. We're going to Bode's hotel. I really thought I told you."
"Hotel? Why are we going to a hotel? I thought you said you wanted to eat out."
"What? Yeah. That was where I first saw you, I thought it'd be nice to go there and besides they have a very nice restaurant and lounge there. He's also expecting us."
"Oh!"
"What were you thinking?"
"Nothing."
"Are you sure? You want to go somewhere else?"
"No no it's fine. Keep going."
He steered to the left and stepped on the gas. He looked at her again and that was when he noticed what she was wearing. A lot has really been on his mind all day and it was hard focusing on anything else.
"You look nice."
"Thank you."
***
6:59pm, D'Hôtel Royale
The restaurant was quite exotic, very peaceful and clean with slow nice music behind the scenes. The aroma that swirled too was very rich and heavenly, the aroma of scrumptious food and floral fragrance.
Bode had already come to greet his guests but he only spent a couple of minutes with them because as a busy man that he was, he had business to attend to and more importantly he could tell that it was a special time for Adam and Simi, so he soon excused himself.
The waitress finally brought in their order and served them respectively, when she was done, she smiled at them then sashayed back behind the counter.
Adam first poured their glasses of the juice while Simi waited for him to break the ice, say something about why they were really there.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked when she noticed his eyes didn't leave her.
"How am I looking at you?" He put her glass in front of her.
"I don't know. Like I just popped out of nowhere and you're trying to figure me out?"
He smiled, "You're smart." He tried the flavor of his glass and she too did likewise.
"We should eat. This looks salivating already and I can't hold in this hunger anymore." He tried to say in a more lively tone as he picked up his fork preparing to get into business.
"Yeah I heard you didn't eat in the house today. Tiara told me." Her own tone was less lively.
He dropped the fork in his hand, "I've just had a lot on my mind all day I couldn't think about food."
"Tell me about it then. Isn't that why we're here? I really don't care about the food."
He looked down at the table and for some seconds he was quiet but he picked up his fork again and rolled out a forkful of the pasta.
"I'm married. Divorced actually."
"What?" She almost choked on her saliva.
"Her name is Lily."
"Lily." She repeated.
"Yeah, she's American."
"Oh."
"Oh? That's all you're going to say?"
"No. I have questions. A lot of questions actually. Like how? Why? When? What happened?-"
"Wait, you're not mad?"
"Mad? Why would I be?"
"Err because ... I don't know. You mean you're okay with that? 'Cos nobody else is, not even me. Tiara found out and she's been acting up, threatening to tell Maami."
"Oh so that's why she's being acting weird too. But why don't you just tell them yourself? Instead of letting them find out that way?"
"Tell them? Are you kidding? I couldn't tell them when I got married, how would I tell them about the divorce? My mother could have a heart attack again. She could die this time around and I can't even risk that. She went into coma the instant she heard about Sam's death. I couldn't."
"Your twin brother? I'm sorry about that. Wanna ... talk to me?"
At first, he didn't know if he wanted to. He was afraid she was like everyone else, she would judge him and blame him, ask questions he had no answers to. That was what everyone did. He was afraid he could lose her too, especially now that he was having real feelings for her. Feelings that were beyond the sex they'd shared, though that was also one of it. Undoubtedly, sex with her was so amazing.
But one thing he could tell, from all the little conversations and moments that they had had, was that Simi was different. She was an odd bird, a pretty odd bird and it was not just her looks that caught his attention, it was more of her calmness, her smarts and rebellious sense of judgement. The lifestyle she chose and the personality she wore. It was literally attractive, a turn-on.
For the first time, Adam was eager to talk about Sam, Lily, his illness, his life, the past and everything without getting angry at anything, anyone or himself, without being judged or questioned. She too eased him into it in a way that he didn't know when he told her almost everything, listening attentively as they ate their food. They barely knew when their table was cleared and they ordered for wine.
Talking to Simi was not as hard as he hoped, it was much better. She made it easy and even fun to talk about the things that always drove him mental. He even found himself laughing at the things that had made him cry.
A couple of hours later, the same waitress brought the check and they left the restaurant.
***
As Adam drove them back home, Simi's music was playing in the background and they talked on. Definitely Adam had a lot to share and Simi showed a lot of interest and listened, trying to understand this man more. She had a lot of questions that she wanted answers to like why he married Lily, when he found out he was bipolar, why he kept it a secret and even more about his brother Sam. There was just something about that story that disturbed her but looking at this man, he needed this moment.The moment of owning up to someone who would not only listen but understand and accept him for who he was without questioning or blaming his actions when he was young and stupid, and that was what she did. Who was she to judge anyway? Everyone had their own stories, she understood that, she had hers and she respected that he could trust her enough to open up to her so she wouldn't blow it.
And besides, she enjoyed listening to him talk about himself. She found him more intriguing than she had thought; the things he'd been through, the battles he was fighting, the scars he had endured, all that made him the 'changed' man that he had become. Also she felt a lot better learning these new things about 'the mystery and misery of Adam' that made her wonder, anyone who saw this handsome man would think he had it perfect, they'd never know who he really was beneath the facade.
Well, she was getting attracted to who he really was and their amazing time together gave her some sort of relief that she felt herself loosen and closer to him than before, like she wanted to know more. His story was sad and miserable no doubt, but at the same time it was interesting and a part of her was satisfied to know she was now a part of it, even if it was the littlest time. Yes, the littlest time because this was going to be the end of it and she would have wished for more but then she remembered, her flight was noon the following day and now was the best time to tell Adam.