Page 50

Sunlight was streaming in through my window and I was alone. Those were the first two things I realized when I woke up. As I sat up in bed and took note of the clothes neatly folded on my vanity chair, I knew that Nathan was awake.

I dragged myself out of bed and tied one of my black lace night robes and made my way down the stairs.

I heard slight humming and the banging of pans as I made my way into the kitchen.

Nathan was standing there in front of the gas like he belonged.

The coffee machine was already on and as far as I could see, he was frying eggs .

He must have heard my footsteps because he turned to me, “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” the words came out more confused than anything.

Nathan turned off the gas and set a plate in front of me.

Pancakes, eggs and bacon, that was what he made and he slid a steaming cup of coffee in front of me.

Something about it felt so intimate and I liked it.

I liked seeing him shirtless in my kitchen and feeding me breakfast. Other than my parents, no one else has made breakfast for me.

“Thank you,” I said but he waved me off and took the stool right next to me. “What time did you wake up?”

“Seven,”

So he has been up for a while and if he wanted he leave then he would have. He chose to stay and make me breakfast and wait for me to wake up. I felt like I was reading too much into things but at the same time, I didn’t know if I was.

“You’re over thinking again,” he murmured from the rim of his mug. “Why don’t you shut off your brain for once and just enjoy the morning. I wanted to stay and I wanted to do all of this. We don’t have to worry about it if you don’t want to.”

I liked how he somehow always knew what to say even when I didn’t know how to say it. He always knew when I was over thinking or when I was worried. He always had the right words.

His left hand settled on my upper thigh which was exposed by the parting of the robe because of how I sat. He didn’t even glance at me as he did it, it was almost like a subconscious action and I felt a tug in my belly but I ignored it .

By the time we finished eating, I did the dishes even though Nathan didn’t want me to but my mother taught me that if someone cooks then the other person should clean up and that was what I did.

He watched me the entire time and it felt like I was being analyzed.

I know for a fact that his eyes did not leave my body once and by the time I was drying my hands on the towel, I heard the scrape of the stool.

I felt the heat of his body before he even touched me. His hands brushed across my waist and I turned to face him. His eyes searched mine as if he was looking for something and I cocked my head to the side in a silent question.

Instead of responding, he lifted one hand to stroke my cheek softly and then he leaned down to kiss me. His lips had just brushed mine when I pulled back.

“I haven’t brushed.”

“Are you seriously telling me that you ate before brushing?”

“It is a weekend, the order in which I do it does not matter,” I said hotly, “You can’t tell me that you have never eaten before brushing.”

“Never, not even as a kid.”

“Well I’m sorry that not all of us are as routine oriented on our weekends that are set aside for-”

“Shut up,” he cut me off and before I could protest at his choice of words, he kissed me.

I felt Nathan smile against my lips as he pulled back.

“There is nothing I wouldn’t give to know what went on in your mind just now. ”

“I’m not telling,” I pursed my lips. “Some thoughts are meant to be private.”

“Of course,” his warm breath fanned my lips but he pulled back.

I don’t know what exactly it was that had me open my eyes but when I did, I was shocked by what I saw. Olivia was standing at the entrance to the kitchen, jaw slacked holding two plastic bags in her hands.

“Shit!” I cursed and Nathan stopped.

He glanced at me first then followed my line of sight to Olivia. I could only imagine what she was seeing right now. I couldn’t see Nathan’s expression but I could feel the amusement rolling off him in waves as he took in Olivia’s expression and stance.

“Hi Liv,” I was the first to break the silence and she promptly closed her mouth.

“Maybe I should leave,” she began but Nathan waved her off before she could say any more.

“I assume you have a lot of questions.”

“I have a million,” she responded almost in a daze as she kept looking at the both of us as if she couldn’t believe what she had just seen.

“I’ll leave you both to it then.” Nathan pressed a kiss to the top of my head and then he disappeared up the stairs.

I watched his figure retreat but all I could feel was that innocent touch. It was so soft, so feather light but somehow it felt more intimate than anything we had done .

Olivia was still staring at me with careful eyes as I took the two plastic bags from her. In the first was a tub of ice cream and vodka while in the second were groceries.

I placed them in the counter and started to arrange them in their appropriate places when I heard Olivia move her feet from where she was glued to the floor.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” she whisper yelled, “He was in your house, in your kitchen, making out with you on the counter. You never let me sit on the counter.”

“That’s not true, I don’t let you sit naked on the counter.”

“You were sitting practically naked on the counter!”

“It’s my counter!”

“Why are we yelling?”

I buried my head into my hands to hide my laughter and I heard Olivia chuckle as well. By the time I composed myself I looked up at her and her eyes had softened considerably.

“If we exclude the fact that I was just given free porn that has mentally scarred me-”

“Please,” I scoffed, “That was not porn worthy and you know it.”

“Do you even know how long I was standing there? The sexual tension in the room could have killed me.”

“So you admit you were watching us.”

“Of course I was watching,” she said as if it was the simplest thing in the world then she dropped her voice to a whisper. “You look happy and I’m glad.”

“Don’t get too excited, Olivia. ”

“I’m not,” she was hiding a smile as she spoke. “I’m just happy that he makes you happy.” She squeezed my hand, “Now, I came here to warn you that your parents are coming over and it is a good thing I did because you would have given your parents a heart attack.”

I didn’t hear anything after ‘coming over’ and it was my turn for my mouth to fall open.

“Excuse me?” I exclaimed and she rolled her eyes.

“You’re welcome,” she said, “Now, as much as I loved the free show, I don’t think your mum would appreciate the sentiment. They should be here in about two hours. I figure that’s enough time to get your little boy toy out of here and get ready for them.”

“Oh Olivia,” I muttered, then I leaned into her ear and whispered something that had her flushing pink.

I didn’t wait to see her reaction before I disappeared up the stairs.

It took a little over thirty minutes to get Nathan out of the house.

It would have taken a lot less if he was not laughing the entire time while I listed all of the potential reasons why he could not met my parents starting with the fact that my mother would tell all her friends who would start planning my wedding and ending with the fact that my dad would tell embarrassing stories.

Apparently that wasn’t convincing enough for him and when I tried to drag him out I realized that I wasn’t physically as strong as I thought I was. So after ten to fifteen minutes of laughing at me, he kissed me and left.

Once he was gone, I got into the kitchen and started to cook. I would have asked Olivia to help me but she is more likely to burn down my kitchen than make anything decent. When it comes to baking however- she is exceptional at it- I have no idea how that works though.

I made fried rice just because and by the time I was done, I rushed upstairs to take a bath to get the food smell off my body.

My dad hates it more than anything. Growing up he always tell you to take a bath right after cooking or change your clothes because he hated being around people who smelled like food.

By the time I was done freshening up, I noticed my clothes were still folded on the chair so I went to pick them up only to notice that Nathan had left his jacket on my chair.

Now the logical part of me told me to send him a text and figure out how to return it to him but the illogical part had me folding the jacket and putting it in a drawer in my closet.

I put on jeans and a sweatshirt and I went down the stairs in time to see Olivia holding the door open for my parents. My mum sighted me first and she rushed over to pull me into a hug. I greeted my father next and after taking their bags from their hands, they went over to the living room.

“Do you want to eat now or should I bring it later?” I asked.

“What is happening later?” my mum asked, “How will I not eat? Bring the food ejo, let me know whether you have started cooking rubbish.”

“If I cooked rubbish, then that’s your fault because you taught me how to cook.”

“You this girl” she reached over to slap my thigh. “Go and bring food for us, let us eat.”

I laughed the entire way to the kitchen and Olivia helped me carry the serving dishes and the spoons.

I placed it in front of my mother and I watched as she opened the dishes with an upturned nose.

If anyone has ever wondered where I got my flair for dramatics from, they would look no further than my mother.

She served my dad first, then herself and Olivia took a plate. I was the only one not eating, mainly because I ate breakfast not too long ago and also because I find it difficult to eat right after cooking.

“It is okay but the pepper is not enough,” mum hummed from where she was sitting and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes although a slight smile was playing on my lips.

“Leave your daughter alone,” my father joked. “Oni iwo lo ko.”

“Kilode to fi ko?”

Olivia and I shared a look as they continued to banter in Yoruba. We are both used to it by now. The first time they did it, she was so confused and asked me to interpret but I told her I didn’t understand it and we both sat there.

When they were done my father looked me square in the eye and said. “We could have just sold you and you wouldn’t have known.”

Olivia freaked out, I told her it was a joke and I had to explain that my father has a weird sense of humor.

By the time they were done eating, I took the dishes to the kitchen while my father turned the TV on to the news channel. I have a theory that he never actually watches and he just likes the TV playing in the background because I have never seen him actually stare at the TV with rapt attention.

Even growing up he would have his phone in his hands or his laptop opened in front of him but I don’t remember a single incident where I actually saw him concentrate on the news channel .

I was loading the dishes into the dishwasher when I heard footsteps behind me. I knew it was him without looking up. I can be in a room with a hundred people and my father would walk in and I would tell you those are his footsteps.

“I don’t know why you people will be using machine to wash your plate,” he began as he leaned against the counter. “Normal people will use their hand, you will sit down and use machine.”

“You use a machine too.”

“Am I your age mate? At my age should I still be washing plate with my hand? What is wrong with your own hand that you cannot wash plate?”

“E ma binu sir.”

“At least you can say something. You will not completely disgrace us outside.” A small laugh burst out of my chest and I pressed my fingers to my forehead. “Sit down I want to talk to you.”

I pulled out the stools and sat down next to him. He stayed silent for a full minute and I actually started to worry. I have never known my father to mince words or second guess his thoughts but the fact that he is doing so now is a little alarming.

“You didn’t tell us when you came back,” he began. “Olivia is the one who told us that you were not around. Emiade what is happening?”

Translation: He was worried

“I’m sorry,” I sighed. “I was busy and I know that is not an excuse. I could have called or sent a text but I didn’t and I am sorry.”

“I heard you were with one boy. What is his name again?”

“Nathan,” I couldn’t keep the smile out of my voice as I spoke and my dad raised a brow .

“Who is this Nathan?”

“He is someone I work with.”

He made a dismissive sound under his throat. “I have turned to a child that you are lying to. Okay o, don’t tell me today, you will come another day.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I refused to meet his eyes but we both knew that he was right.

Sooner or later I am going to tell him about Nathan. I don’t know whether it would be on good terms or on bad but he will hear about it at some point when I am ready to share.

“If you came to inquire about my love life-”

“That’s not why I came,” he cut me off and I fell silent. “I was looking at videos and I saw people talking about that show you traveled for.”

I shut my eyes and buried my face in my hands. One thing I have tried to do is shield my parents from the harsh realities of the media. I have filtered their search engines and blocked millions of accounts but there will always be that stray video that just pops up and ruins their fantasy bubble.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Why are you sorry?” he asked. “Your dress was fine and Nathan, he is manageable small.” My head snapped up at that, “Is it because I did not call him ugly? I cannot call him ugly until he messes up.”

“I thought you saw something negative.”

“No, it was just one video of you like that. I sent it to all my friends and I told them that you made that dress by yourself. Your aunty in Ondo said you will make her daughter’s traditional wedding dress. ”

I sat up straight, “Dad, please tell me you said no.”

“Now, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I ran my hands down my face as I tried to think of a way to get myself out of the trouble my dad had put me in but all I could do was just laugh.

“I told her you don’t do that, don’t worry,” he assured me and I let out a sigh of relief. “I just wanted to tell you that you have done me well. I’m very proud of you.”

“Thank you, dad.”

“I’m serious o. Plenty people will say they want one son but you, Emiade, you are better than one thousand sons.”

Tears pricked the back of my eyes and I tried to fan them away, “You’re going to make me cry.”

“Your other show is next week right?” he asked and I nodded. “Come, let me and your mother pray for you.”