by Kiru Taye
“So you say,” Michael chimed in. “But does Ijay think the same thing?”
Paul leaned back, his face screwed up. “We haven’t discussed specifics but we’re taking precautions.”
“Makes sense,” Peter said as his memories went to Naaza and their discussions about family.
His late fiancée had known what she wanted out of life early on. She’d been intelligent and focused but she’d also wanted to start a family soon after they’d gotten married. By now, they would’ve had one or two children running around their home. The dream was lost now.
"I still haven't thanked you for pulling the strings with the Attorney General," Paul said in a sober tone.
"You know it's nothing." Peter dismissed with a wave of hand. "It was the least I could do since I wasn't there myself for your wedding. Anyway what's the point of knowing people in high places if you never use it?"
Among his friends, Peter's family were the most connected with his father's connection to politics. Chief Silas Oranye was one of the kingmakers of Nigeria politics, a member of the ruling party and a wealthy businessman.
The downside to all that was that his father held political ambitions for Peter which he just didn’t want to entertain. Unfortunately he couldn’t totally dismiss it. Naaza had had political aspirations for him. She’d believed in activism and had told him that while it was important to hold the people in power responsible for their actions, it was also important to make sure that the country had great leaders. She’d seen Peter as a potential great leader.
As it was, he’d discarded any political aspirations along with her death.
"Well, your help is much appreciated." Paul fiddled with the gold wedding band on his finger.
"I hope this whole marriage thing is not contagious. First it was Michael proposing to Kasie within a few weeks of meeting her. Then you take it one step further by marrying Ijay and now we have your traditional wedding ceremony next weekend."
"You'll be next." Michael said emphatically.
"You're kidding me right. I haven't even got a girlfriend."
"As if that matters. Look at us." Paul pointed to Michael and back to himself. "Although it took me almost six months to do anything about it, I knew Ijay was special from the moment she walked onto that balcony at the bar in London."
"Same here," Michael concurred. "When I look back, Kasie had me in her snare from the moment she walked into this bar all those months ago."
Peter stared at his friends open-mouthed. He couldn’t believe how open and upfront they were being about their relationships. As a group they didn't really discuss feelings or women in that manner. Business, yes. Sport, yes. Relationships, no way. His friends had suddenly discovered their softer sides. While he seemed to have lost his. He used to be the one all loved up and gushing about Naaza. And they would all makes jokes at him. Now things were reversed.
"I'm not sure what you guys have been taking but enough with all the touchy-feely stuff." Peter shuddered.
"Ol' boy, you're saying that now. Wait until 'the one' turns up. I'm willing to bet a huge chunk of wad that you'll be fighting to wed her in a matter of months."
"Another bet, Michael. Are you sure? Remember you lost the last one and that's how you ended up with Kasie."
"Hey, I got the girl so I'm not complaining."
"I'm backing Michael on this one, bro. I think you're going to fall hard when you meet her. I'll even go as far as to say that you'll be willing to risk everything to keep the girl. Wanna bet?"
Peter considered his friends. They seemed pretty damned sure of themselves if the smug expressions on their faces were anything to go by. He was quite confident he wasn't getting married anytime soon. He had too many other things to deal with. His many businesses for one.
He remembered Tessa, the defiance and desire blazing in her eyes. The way she'd clung onto him on the dance floor and made him forget everyone else.
Need curled low in his gut and his hand tightened around the glass. He closed his eyes as images of Tessa invaded his mind.
It had been this way for the past three days. He’d buried himself in work, determined to forget her. Still, when he relaxed his guard suddenly she would be there taunting him. Daring him.
He shouldn’t have invited her into his suite and allowed her to spend in the night in his bed. He wouldn’t be suffering like this if he hadn’t.
Now she was creeping into his mind. Slowly becoming an obsession he couldn’t shake. What was he going to do? He would have to avoid going to Port Harcourt anytime soon as he wasn’t sure he could stay in the same city and not see her. Not fuck her.
“Peter, are you backing out of the bet? That’ll be a first.”
Peter met Paul’s gaze with a smile. They thought he’d be getting married soon. If only they knew that the only woman on his mind was not a suitable wife material according to normal standards.
"You're on," he said to his friends, his lips curling in a confident smile.
This was going to be such an easy bet to win.
Chapter Seven
Tessa jerked awake, her gaze bouncing around the room in a jerky manner. A scuffing sound outside her closed door made her freeze. The house lay in darkness. Another power cut while she’d been asleep. She held her breath as she tilted her head to listen again. She heard the sound again.
Someone was coming.
Heart racing, she crept out of bed, trying to keep quiet and not attract attention. Perhaps if he didn’t hear her, he would assume she wasn’t here and go away.
The floor under her bare feet was cold and the chill spread up into her bones, making her wrap her arms around her nightie-clad body.
Now that she was out of bed, she wasn’t sure what to do. The only means of escape was the door which separated her from the man who was surely coming for her. The other possible escape route was the window. But it had the louvered glasses, twelve in two columns. She would have to take out each individual pane to be able to climb out of the first floor window. But that would take time not to mention that it was a noisy job. She’d tried doing it once and the hinges squeaked as she tried to slide the glass out.
Another option would be to hide. The room wasn’t big. She had the option of crawling under the bed or hiding in the closet. Neither of those choices would keep her hidden for too long as he always found her.
By now the sound outside became louder as the person thumped against the door.
Her body trembled as her pulse raced. She needed something, anything, to protect herself. Her gaze darted across the room. There was nothing in sight. Not unless one of her stuffed teddies suddenly grew sharp teeth and claws.
The door flew open and slammed against the wall. A shadowed figure stood in the space.
Her heart raced faster as she stumbled until her back hit the wall. She couldn’t see the face of the person but the shape was recognisable. He was wider, taller and stronger than her.
The familiar fear returned and she muttered incomprehensibly as her breathing became choppy.
“What did I tell you about locking your door?” the voice boomed.
She cowered, hoping to make herself small and unseen. To disappear.
Chunky, fleshy hands snatched her in the dark, lifting and tossing her onto the bed.
“Please,” she begged as she wiggled and kicked. But it seemed to bounce off him.
He shoved his heavy weight on top of her, holding her down and making her choke. She tried to push him away but he didn’t budge.
“You know that you can’t escape me. Where ever you go I will find you.”
The top of her nightie ripped and cool air rushed on to her skin just as clammy hands groped her flesh.
Her stomach roiled and bile rose in her mouth. She swallowed it down.
“No! No! N—”
“Tessa!”
A smack hit her across the face and her eyes flew open. A familiar concerned face leaned over her in the room lit by gray dawn light. Anuli.
A hand rubbed her back in gentle upward strokes. She straightened up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“What’s wrong?” Anuli asked.
“Just a minute.” Tessa caught her breath and walked to the shared kitchen where she grabbed a cup and jug of water. She rinsed her mouth out and then went to flush the mess she’s made in the courtyard. The other tenants wouldn’t be pleased to see it. Neither would the landlord.
After she cleaned up, she found Anuli in their room. They lived in a one-room studio where they shared communal kitchen and bathroom facilities with other tenants. Thankfully the others in the building were nice so they never had any problems.
Tessa sat on the small double bed next to her friend. There wasn’t much else in here aside from a wardrobe with their clothes, a desk and small chair in the corner. Next to it was their make-shift larder which had their food provisions, crockery and cutleries. They couldn’t leave those in the kitchen as things tended to disappear.
Anuli sat silently waiting for her to speak. They had a good relationship and never kept any secrets from each other. Anuli knew her deepest, ugliest secrets, just as she knew her friend’s.
“I had a nightmare. The nightmare,” Tessa said, knowing her friend would understand what she spoke about. Or rather what she didn’t say.
“About him?” Anuli asked, as she twisted to look at Tessa, a frown on her face.
Tessa nodded, pulling her legs up bent at the knees and clasping her arms around her limbs with her back to the wall serving as the headboard.
“But you haven’t had that dream in a while. A long time,” her friend was still frowning, her concern palpable.
Tessa didn’t know how she could have survived these last few years without her.
“I know. It’s been at least a year. I thought I was over it. And now it’s back. He’s back in my head.” She rocked her body back and forth, her muscles tense.
“Hey, don’t freak out.” Anuli climbed onto the bed on her hands and knees and crawled over to Tessa, wrapping her arms around her. “You purged him from your head before. This is just a blip. Everything will be back to normal again.”
“I don’t know, Nuli,” she used the nickname she used for her friend. “This nightmare came back because of him.”
“Who?” her friend leaned back, still caressing her arms.
“Peter. I let my guard down with him. I don’t know how it happened.” She shook her head. “From that first moment I stumbled into him, I let him get under my skin. I never do that with anyone.”
“I know.”
“So how did it happen with Peter? And what kind of man gives a prostitute sixty grand and doesn’t ask for anything in return?”
She couldn’t forget waking up to find Peter gone on Saturday morning. Instead he’d left a note for her with a new bundle of cash on top of it. In the note, he’d informed her he’d travelled back to his home in Enugu. He’d thanked her for the company and wished her well.
Just like that. Her initial confusion had turned to frustration. She hadn’t understood his motivations. Still didn’t understand Peter. She’d had the mind to leave the money and walk away. In the end, she’d dropped the cash into her bag, showered and left the suite as soon as she could. The note had said she could order breakfast but she hadn’t seen the point if Peter wasn’t there to share it with her.
“He did ask for something. He asked for you time.” Anuli’s words drew her back into the present.
“Yes, but he paid me for it. Generously. More than anyone else ever paid me. And I actually enjoyed his company so much so that I overslept and didn’t notice when he left the hotel.”
“He was being super generous. I wouldn’t want to leave the place too from everything you told me. I would want to keep milking him for as long as possible.”
“Yeah, I know. But this seemed different. One minute he walked out on me because of my profession. The next he was rescuing me from ending up in a police cell. How do you explain that?”
“And now your nightmare is back.”
“Exactly.”
“It’s an omen, babe. It’s a warning that no man can be trusted. You need to forget about Peter.”
“I do. I can’t let him into my mind. I can’t go back to the nightmare again.” Her voice choked, her eyes misting.
Her life had been a nightmare until she’d escaped it with Anuli’s help. She’d kept men at bay emotionally, choosing instead to use sex as a way to claim back her freedom. It had worked until Peter had turned up with his tempting smile and conservative outlook, showing her a fairy tale she could never have.
She wasn’t good enough for anything else. Not without any qualifications. She was taking care of herself, earning the money for her school fees and other expenses. She didn’t depend on anyone except Anuli who had been by her side through their struggles.
“It’s okay,” Anuli said, still caressing her body as she leaned against her.
Tessa turned her head, her lips only inches away from her friend’s. “I don’t want him in my head. Please, make me forget.”
“Anything you want, babe.”
Anuli leaned in and pressed her lips to Tessa’s in a slow and gentle kiss that quickly morphed into passion as they took each other’s clothes off. Soon Anuli was kissing a fiery path down her body and was settled between her thighs, lapping at her clit.
Tessa moaned as she closed her eyes, arching her body. But as she climbed into orgasm, it wasn’t the image of Anuli that she had between her legs. It was the image of Peter sliding his fingers inside her pussy as his mouth latched onto her clit.
Her eyes flew open as she came hard, her body flushed with heat.
****
Friday night Tessa and Anuli exited the taxi outside the Xtasy nightclub. Peter had given her a nice amount of money which could easily pay for her not to work this weekend. And she’d paid the money into her savings account.
While he might live up in the clouds in his posh penthouse, she lived down in the grimy streets. In the real world problems didn’t go away. She couldn’t afford the luxury of not working. If anything happened and she was ill, then she could tap into the emergency fund. But while she was still able to work, nothing would stop her. Not even the thought of Peter’s disapproval of her job.
At the entrance, she slipped the burly doorman his usual fee for the night. He grabbed her arm and pulled her aside.
“Some guy has been asking questions about you,” he said in a low voice.
“Who?” Anuli asked, standing the other side of the man.
“I don’t know. Just some guy.”
“Describe him,” Tessa said curious about who would be asking about her. Her heart rate picked up when she thought it could be Peter.
“Average height. Dark skin. Smartly dressed.”
That didn’t sound exactly like Peter. He would be smartly dressed but he was above average in height. And his skin was a shade lighter than hers.
“What did the guy want?”
“He wanted to know how often you came here and where you lived.”
“What did you tell him?” Anuli asked.
“Well. I told him you only come at weekends—Fridays and Saturdays. But I don’t know where you live so I couldn’t help him there.”
“Haba. How can you just be giving out information anyhow?” Anuli sounded annoyed.
“He paid me five-K. I had to tell him something. At least he doesn’t know where you live.”
“Good thing too.” Anuli muttered and grabbed Tessa’s hand as they walked into the corridor leading to the main club. The floor vibrated with the thumping base of the muted music.
“Don’t worry about it,” Tessa said to her friend. “It’s probably just Peter asking questions about me. It sounds like something he would do.”
“Wh
at’s wrong with the man? Does he think you guys are dating or something? He’s just a mark for goodness sake.”
Tessa chuckled. “He does seem like a possessive boyfriend, doesn’t he?” That’s if it was him asking questions. “Or it could be that he wanted to know if I’ll be here tonight so he could pay for my services.”
The wishful idea made her heart jolt in her chest. Was Peter here tonight? Would he want to spend the night with her? Her pulse picked up speed. In honesty she wanted to see him again.
What if he still doesn’t want sex?
The thought jarred her out of the daydream. Her fingers tightened around her purse. She needed to snap out of it.
Anuli glanced over, her brows wrinkled and her gaze pained. “If he was here and he wanted you, what would you say?”
Her friend’s question echoed Tessa’s thoughts. Getting involved with Peter could be dangerous. Tessa couldn’t afford to drop her guard. Since she’d done it once with Peter, there remained a high likelihood it could happen again with disastrous consequences next time. Anuli would have to be the one to pick up the pieces afterwards.
On the other hand, she just couldn’t get Peter out of her mind. He seemed to be in her blood now. Even the sex with Anuli hadn’t been able to wipe memories of him away. Usually her friend could soothe her agitation. It had only worked temporarily this time.
She pulled Anuli into a quiet alcove that stood beside the doors leading into the main club.
“Can I really say no to the kind of money Peter flashes? Think about it. Compared to what we usually earn a weekend? Can you imagine if he turned up again and paid me to spend the night with him again? We’d be laughing all the way to the bank. Next time that you’re ill or I’m ill, we won’t have to worry about whether we can make the rent or whether we can buy the handouts or textbooks we need. Come on.”
Anuli brushed a hand over her hair, before smoothing out her skirt. “I know what you mean. We need the money. But I can’t leave you alone with that man, Tess. I’m afraid of what he’s going to do to you. I see the changes already happening to you and it’s only going to get worse.”