After the storm (6 page)

Yemi
inhaled slowly. She didn't even remember any of that when they were
together. "He's just a nice guy."

Ada's
eyes widened. "Oh, so it's true? You're really in a relationship
with him?" She was getting more and more excited. "I told Brenda
and Paula that you're much too straightforward to deny if anything
was really going on, but they didn't believe me!"

Yemi
sighed. Brenda and Paula were girls in her department. They were
pretty loud, and that meant many people would get to know very
soon. "I've got to go now," she said to Ada. "I'm really tired.
I've been in the library all morning."

Ada
winked at her. "You don't need to swot anymore. With a catch like
Akeem Kadiri, you're settled for life!" She paused for a moment.
"But wait a minute. What about Sesan?"

"What
about him? I've always told you that he is just a
friend."

"And I'm
believing that story for the very first time! The guy is so hot,
and I didn't know how you could claim to be just friends when
you're always together!"

"Sesan
is just like a brother…"

Ada
grinned. "Save your breath, girl. I'm going after him now that I
know for sure!"

Yemi
shook her head and smiled. "Go ahead. I can even chip in a good
word for you."

She
waved at Ada and continued towards home. She called Akeem and told
him about the magazine. He did not seem surprised at the
news.

"I
haven't seen it, but does it bother you?"

Did it?
She wasn't sure. "I'm just not used to being the center of
attention." She could just imagine the curious stares she would get
at school on Monday.

His
voice was quiet. "I don't really get chased by the paparazzi. I'm
just a businessman, and there are enough celebs to keep them busy.
But I do get photographed once in a while at public functions, so
this can happen again."

Yemi
grimaced. Her life was getting "interesting." She only hoped it
would be "nice interesting." and not the other way
around.

"But
tell your friend I'm the one who's lucky to have you," he added
softly.

Yemi
could not help smiling after the call. Well, so long as he knew
that she did not consider him a big catch or anything like that,
then it didn't matter if anyone else thought so. She would just
smile through Monday and whatever comments her classmates made. She
stopped and bought a copy of the magazine at a shop near her house.
She wanted to read it again when she got home.

Her
parents were not in when she arrived at her house some fifteen
minutes later. She snacked on some cake and pineapple juice and
decided to take a quick nap. But just as she settled down, she
heard a knock on the door and the voice of her immediate elder
brother, Dotun.

"Come
in," Yemi responded wearily. Her brother entered the room. "You
sure know when to come for a visit."

"Someone
is sounding very grumpy. What's the matter?"

"I just
got home from the library, and I'm a little tired." She rubbed her
hand across her forehead. "How've you been?"

"Good. I
decided to come see you. You don't bother about us anymore since
the entrance of that guy into your life, er…what's his name again?"
Dotun asked, pretending to think hard.

"I won't
even answer you," Yemi said, sitting up. Obviously, she was not
going to be sleeping now. At that very moment, her phone vibrated.
It was a text message from Akeem. She read it and smiled. He must
still be thinking she was bothered about the picture in the
magazine.

"From
your smile, I can guess who that is from." Dotun looked at her
amusedly. "Whoa! I can't believe any guy can sweep you off your
feet like this!"

Yemi
tossed her hair. "Deal with it."

"We're
all trying to. Do we have a choice?" Dotun reached for her hand and
pulled her off the bed. "C'mon. Up you get. I came with Shez, and
he is downstairs.."

"Oh,
really? Where did you guys meet up?"

"At the
gym. He was planning to come here afterwards anyway."

"I've
not seen Shez for a while. The guy has abandoned me."

"Well,
his best friend has found a new best friend."

Yemi
poked Dotun in the ribs with her elbow. "Who told you Akeem is my
best friend?"

"Sorry,
my mistake. He's my new best friend." Yemi swatted at him, and he
ducked out of her reach.

"Hey!
What's going on with you two?" Sesan said, standing up as they
entered the sitting room with Yemi still trying to smack
Dotun.

"She's
assaulting me because of her Hausa guy!" Dotun laughed, quickly
moving out of her reach again.

Dotun's
phone rang at that moment, and he signalled to Yemi and Sesan to
excuse him. From his face, Yemi knew it had to be Laide, his
girlfriend. She turned her attention to Sesan, and they began to
chat about school.

Dotun
finished his call a few minutes later and turned towards Yemi.
"Laide's really tripping up. She says you're in some magazine or
something."

"What
magazine?" Yemi asked coolly.

Dotun
was not fooled. "You've always been a bad liar." A frown creased
his brow. "I don't know how you are going to cope with all the
attention this guy is bound to draw to you. I still wonder why Dad
did not make a fuss about you dating him."

Yemi
glared at him. "Excuse me…have you forgotten the fact that I am an
adult?" She turned back to Sesan, who was watching their exchange.
"Shez, dear, would you like some cake?"

"Yes,
please," Sesan replied.

"Hey,
what about me?" Dotun protested, following them into the kitchen.
"I'm not even interested in cake anyway. I need some real food." He
opened the fridge and grinned like a Cheshire cat at the contents.
"Shez, I'm sure you must be hungry too after that workout. Not to
worry, I'll fix us up soon."

"Funny
how some people who don't live here anymore keep coming back here
to eat," Yemi grumbled, as Dotun pulled out a bowl of jollof rice
from the fridge.

Dotun
ignored her and whistled tunelessly as he served himself and Sesan
large portions of the rice. Yemi eyed the heaped plates and
wondered how they could eat so much and yet still have such
impressive washboard abs. Must be all the working out that they
did.

"Exams
are gradually getting closer, aren't they?" Sesan said to Yemi as
he tucked into the food. "Everything just appears to be going so
fast."

Yemi
made a face. "Yeah, it is. I hope I'll be able to go through
smoothly with the grades I need." She had tried to study as hard as
she could but still felt she hadn't been as serious as she should
be with her studies that semester, thanks to Akeem wanting her to
spend so much time with him.

"You'll
be okay; you've been pretty steady all along."

"I'm
sure you'll be fine, Yemi," Dotun chipped in. "Like Shez has said,
you've always been a hard worker."

"First
positive thing I've heard from you today!" Yemi said, rolling her
eyes heavenward.

Sesan
laughed and stood up to get some water from the fridge. Yemi looked
at his muscular frame in the tank top and knee-length cargo shorts
he had on. She could understand why Ada would have a crush on him.
She was occupied with Akeem now, so maybe it was time she helped
matchmake him with someone too.

"Someone's got their eyes on you." She winked at him as he
sat back at the table with his glass of water. "Very nice girl,
too. Hot and all that!"

Sesan
just looked at her without saying anything.

"Maybe I
should introduce her to you," Yemi continued, wondering why Sesan
and Dotun were looking at her like she had grown horns.

Dotun
snickered. "Shez can do his own pulling when he wants. He doesn't
need any help from you."

"I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to my
dear
friend,
Sesan."

"Dear
friend, huh?" Dotun guffawed and then turned it into a cough when
Sesan glared at him. He pushed aside his empty plate. "Can I have
that cake now, please?" he said to Yemi as he sat back in his
chair. "And there is no need looking at me like that. You know you
can't stop loving me."

Yemi
shot him an evil look. "Unfortunately."

"Lucky
guy," Sesan said quietly, addressing Dotun but following Yemi with
his eyes as she made her way to get some cake from the
fridge.

∞∞∞

Yemi
forced herself to focus on the Sunday morning sermon. Her mind had
drifted off halfway during the message. It wasn't her fault; the
reverend always took too long to deliver the sermons. But at least
the elderly people didn't snooze off the way they used to during
the time of his predecessor. Drift off in their thoughts maybe, but
no one could really sleep. The guy was too fiery. He was so
different from their former reverend, who had retired a year
earlier. He didn't seem to take into consideration that their
church was orthodox and that the congregation was not used to
preachers who left the podium and pranced across the
altar.

She
glanced across at Teju, Sesan's older sister. She was sitting a few
seats away and appeared to be listening intently to the sermon.
Yemi wondered what she found so interesting. Teju and some other
friends had started saying they were "saved" about a year ago,
courtesy of the new singles/youth group the reverend had formed.
They had all been pretty much decent girls before, and Yemi did not
understand what they had needed "saving" from.

Nevertheless, Teju was taking her newfound status very
seriously. She had even broken up with her boyfriend, Banji,
because she said he was not saved. Yemi had been baffled by her
decision, because she knew that Teju really liked Banji. She and
Teju had run into him a few weeks after the breakup and she could
see the effect that Banji still had on her, but yet, she stuck to
her guns. Yemi thought it all so weird. She had made up her mind
that she was not going anywhere near the youth group.

Yemi
knew she was a Christian. She had been born one and had grown up as
someone who was used as an example of a nice person. She had always
had excellent peer relationships, and she was yet to meet anyone
that she couldn't get along with.

Her
thoughts were interrupted as her phone vibrated. It was a text from
Akeem, letting her know what time he would pick her up later that
day. She texted him back. She was so looking forward to seeing him
too.

She
turned her attention back to the reverend. He must have said
something funny, because many people in the congregation were
laughing. He continued preaching, and she tried to listen. The guy
was so passionate and exerted himself so much. Small wonder he had
to keep wiping the sweat off his forehead with his handkerchief
even though the church was fully air conditioned.

Her
thoughts switched to Akeem again. He was even more chilled out
about religion than she was and felt people were just emotional
about it. He was a member of some posh orthodox church in Victoria
Island, but he rarely attended services.

"It's
amazing how intelligent people seem to lose all ability to be
analytical when it comes to religion, and that puts me off," he had
told her the last time they had talked about religion.

Yemi
didn't completely agree with him. She didn't want to be like Teju
and her so-called "saved" friends, but she had been brought up to
attend church, and she liked the feeling she got from doing
so. She was definitely going to keep trying to persuade Akeem to
attend services regularly.

∞∞∞

"How did
your game with Javier go?" Yemi asked Akeem as they waited in the
restaurant for the food they had ordered to be packed
up.

Akeem
grinned. "It was a draw. He felt he had a score to settle since I
beat him last time. Pity he couldn't claim a victory this
time."

"Maybe
he would ask for a rematch."

"Probably. Our battle for supremacy goes way back. The guy's
good, though. A very worthy opponent."

Javier
was a family friend of Akeem's. They had grown up together and
attended the same schools. Javier's younger brother, Devin, was
engaged to Nadia, Akeem's younger sister. Yemi had heard that rich
people loved to walk in the same circles, but she did not know how
true it was until she got to know Akeem. He was not very
forthcoming with information about his family, but from the little
that she had heard from him, almost all the people connected to him
were people of means, and they all appeared to have such a strong
network between them.

Yemi
glanced at Akeem and met his eyes. She felt the familiar rush of
emotions that assailed her at the look in his eyes.

"You
look so gorgeous in that dress, and I can't get over the fact that
you made it," he said.

Yemi
bobbed her head teasingly. "Thank you, kind sir." She hadn't had
much time for sewing because of her school workload, but she was
looking forward to picking up her hobby again after her
exams.