"WE DON'T HAVE TIME MADAM." She throughly ignores my question like I never said anything and grabs at my wrist, pulling me towards the house. For someone quite small, she really is powerful.
In my forced hurry, I fail to catch details of the exterior of the mansion. All that my brain registers is that the colour of the walls are cream–almost white, but not truly white.
When we finally enter the house, she lets go of my hand and types away on a small phone. I give her enough space and use the opportunity to study my environment.
The lights in the receiving area are bright, enhancing the butter-like paint that bathes every nook and cranny. I note in distaste that the inside walls almost match in exactly the same colour as that of the outside walls and fence. How boring. I think as I take off my shoes and conclude that I would have done better if I were the one responsible for the designs.
"Do you need to retouch your makeup or something Madam?" I find her referencing to me as "madam" a bit weird but I do not complain as she is fairly younger than I am.
"Yes please if that would be possible." I reply, pleased to get an opportunity to pull myself together and look as presentable as possible before I meet the person I have been meaning to for days.
"Absolutely. Please go right down the passage on your right then turn right and you will see the bathroom." she advices and I thank her and set off on my journey.
"She is finally here." A rich, baritone voice speaks, sending a delicious tingle down my spine that causes me to come to a standstill in the middle of my tracks. My brain fails to recognise the face the voice belongs to but my body knows it quite well as it trembles in excitement and anticipation. I turn around quickly to see the man talking, but my efforts are thwarted.
"Yes sir." The housekeeper says. She is standing in my way–completely blocking my view–and I resist the urge to walk up to her and push her away.
"Thank you Sarah. Please bring her to me in the West wing when you both are done. Dinner will be served soon." The owner of the enticing voice says and disappears before I can catch sight of him. I sigh in defeat as I continue on my journey consoling myself with the fact that I would be seeing him soon.
Making a few extra touches to my makeup which is just the right amount of baked by the way, takes little time and I find myself satisfied with my reflection after some readjustments.
I smile and shoot at the me in the mirror with a finger gun, nodding at her small but flat African nose, her average ears and light brown eyes. "You look good Ada." I say, but I know she already knows that.
"Are you ready madam?" Sarah asks as soon as I finally find my way back to where I first left her.
"Yes." I reply and pretend not to see the worried expression on her face. It is a good thing she doesn't know that most of my time was spent contemplating what passageway to take since I had gotten lost.
"Then let's go."
My jaw slightly drops as she takes me around a bend I did not notice before. The walls have no colour this time but only because they are mirrors stacked high on each other. I watch myself move from one frame to the other and I force down my hand to stop from childishly waving at my reflection.
My eyes follow the mirrors to the roof and I gasp softly. The ceiling is the highest I have ever seen in my life. In fact, stacking three layers of our house in the village would still not be tall enough to reach its height.
"We have to hurry madam. The master will not be too pleased at our lateness." Sarah twirls around to look at me. I agree with her and quicken my pace. I find myself concealing a smile when I note that for every step I take, she takes twice as many.
"Thank you." I say as she opens a door and ushers me in quickly. My eyebrows raise as I breathlessly take in the new view. What kind of mansion is this? I wonder silently. It is almost like each section of the house have been created by different artists to satisfy different tastes.
This room–in stark contrast to the receiving area–is bathed in dark blue. I walk up to the wall beside me and trace my fingers around the patterns. Gold roses as well as the same flower I was gifted in the morning are scattered across the paint in a random fashion.
On a stool next to the wall, there is a vase covered with more flowery patterns. I conclude someone in the house must really love their flowers. Hard, cold tiles which make up the floor are covered in blue, lush rugs that tickle my feet, but I love their soft feeling and reach to run my fingers through them.
The chamber itself is so huge that it makes use of three mesmerising chandeliers hanging from its plastered roof. There is only one of them on and its light shines towards my direction and to the door from which I came in. Sections too distant are buried in total darkness and I purposefully stay far from them. A kidnapper could be waiting for me there or...okay I'll stop.
Chairs and tables sitting in a cluttered manner occupy some spacings. Each of the furniture are covered with knitted tapestries that are extremely brilliant. I however tsk at the sight of not a single bed. It is obvious that the 'West wing' is not supposed to be for sleeping. But really, what is a room without a bed?
"Miss Ada." A voice I recognise as belonging to the 'master' says sharply and I jump, yelping at the same time. "I am sorry. I did not mean to startle you." He apologises but I think I hear a smile or rather a smirk in his words.
"Sure you didn't." I scoff as he steps out of the shadows bordering the corners of the room and into the light where I can fully see him.
He stands a few inches away, glowering down at me from a mountainous height while I stare at him with my mouth wide open in utter astonishment. How could a man be so extraordinarily attractive and somehow also manage to make a suit look like an add-on and not a big deal? I take deep breaths and focus away from his dark brown eyes that could bore a hole into anything.
"Did you receive the message?" He asks without a trace of jocularity in his tone. I must have imagined the smile in his voice before. The man standing in front of me in a matching navy blue tuxedo jacket–that he effortlessly pulls off as a blazer–and trousers, has not bared a fraction of his teeth in a smile nor does he look like he plans to.
"Message?" I ask stupidly, still gaping hard at him. "What message?"
"The message stating what today is to be about." He speaks slowly, enunciating every word with a familiar British accent and sexy low pitch. He sounds exactly like the man I am supposed to be meeting in person, but his physical appearance does not match up. First off, he is too young, secondly, he is way too good-looking and thirdly he seems to be too cold in comparison to the 'Mr Onikosi' I spoke to on the phone a day ago.
"Oh yes." I grab my phone out and read the message. "For Sunday, you are to listen to whatever you are asked to do and keep up with what is required of you. Only then will you be paid in full. It should be noted that there will be no situations that will lead to breaking any of the rules stated in the contract. My secretary will keep in touch with you from today onwards as it will be difficult for me to speak on the phone with you. Do have a nice day Miss Ada."
"Good. You are aware of the protocol, so this should not be hard." He saunters forward carrying with him a majestic aura which leaves me with an inferiority complex that really annoys me.
"What should not be hard?" I follow after him, adjusting the little black dress I have on as I unconsciously feel a little drab and somewhat cheap compared to him.
"Your dress is fine." He halts abruptly and says without turning to me. "Pay no mind to anything else. All you are required to do is play along."
"Yes of course Mister..." I begin to say but I stop, unsure of what I am to call him.
"Eric. Just Eric." He offers his arm to me and I frown, wondering if I had suddenly taken a trip back into the 1900s right smack in Britain.
"Are we supposed to be wearing shoes?" I glance at his feet concealed in expensive-looking leather loafers then at my bare ones.
"You don't have shoes on?" He lours at me and I avoid his gaze. "God! Things just refuse to go right today. Stay here." He instructs then stomps away while I lean against the wall to rest.
He returns with my heels soon enough and even though he is clearly ticked off, he surprises me by bending on a knee to help me with fastening them on.
"No no no no." My words are rushed as I reach to stop him. He however lifts his head to glare at me and I sigh, retracting my hands to my sides while berating myself for continuing to give room for intimidation. One would think I was the one doing the kneeling.
"Done." He rises after buckling my left shoe last. "I think we are ready." He pronounces and I straighten myself, forcing my confidence to return where it is supposed to be.
"Yes." He opens a door that blends surreptitiously into the walls, and we step arm in arm into a dining hall with a table long enough for rollerblading. At the end of the table, a severe faced man and woman sit with straight backs and regal, traditional dressings.
"Hello Chief Onikosi and Mrs Onikosi." Eric greets beside me in a tone that is clearly mocking. The air is thick with tension and I feel the muscles in his arm tighten and become taut.
"Eric." The man speaks first in an angry tone and the woman places a hand on his arm.
"Ada these are my parents Chief and Mrs. Onikosi."
"Good evening sir. Good evening ma." I curtsy as I greet with a smile on my face.
"Mother, father. This is my fiancée, Adannaya." He says and my smile disappears immediately. I can feel the blood draining out of my face and the steady arm that hurriedly moves to keep me in place.