Desiree (E1 – E5)

E5- 3 Days to the Wedding

DAY 3

Desire woke up early that Friday morning with a new sense of optimism. Her mind was made up and her bags were packed, she was leaving today. Happy with her resolution, she had a ready smile when John came knocking on her door that morning. It also helped that he had breakfast in his hands.

“I didn’t think you would remember,” she said as they laid the food on the table.

“Hey, when I promised to feed you I meant it,” He brought over a bowl filled with akara, two medium size loaves of agege bread and a big cooler of pap.

“This can feed at least ten people,” she said incredulously.

He just smiled. She would soon find out the reason for that smile was that he had the appetite of ten people.

“So you can’t speak Yoruba,” he asked, with a mouth full of bread.

“Not really but I understand it.”

“Yeah that doesn’t count, I’m not even Yoruba and I can speak.”

“Ohh you’re not?”

“Nope, I’m Igbo but I grew up in the south, I speak more Yoruba than Igbo.”

“I guess I’m not surprised.”

“Why not?”

“Because of your name.”

“My name is John, its English.”

“Yeah but it’s so Igbo, John sounds more Igbo than something like… Emeka.”

He laughed, “Where do you come up with this stuff?”

She smiled widely, “So music, what kind of music do you like?”

He shrugged, “I listen to anything to be honest.”

“Hmmmm, okay, favorite Nigerian artists?”

“Okay… I like Davido, Burna, MI… uhh Simi, Adekunle Gold too…”

“Old or new?”

“What?”

“Old or new Adekunle Gold music?”

“Is there a difference?”

She paused, a spoon full of pap midway to her mouth, “I can’t believe you have to ask that.”

He laughed, “Sounds the same to me.”

“Ohh we have some albums to listen to, you’re in luck because I have pretty much all his music on my laptop, I’ll just get it out now,” she said, dusting her hands into the empty paper used to wrap the akara earlier.

“Uhhh… I can’t, I actually have to go somewhere this morning, right now even. I’m sorry…”

“Ohh” she said trying not to look disappointed, “It’s fine, I’ve got a few stuff to do before I leave anyway”

“You’re leaving?”

“Yep, today, in like an hour.”

“Ohh,” he said.

“Ohh” that’s it?

What did you expect? Tears and a profession of love?

No, just a little more than, “Ohh”.

He stood up and started packing the empty packaging, looking anxious to leave.

Ahh the Desiree effect already in action, you’ve known this guy for two days and he’s already ready to bolt.

“So…” she said, cutting into the awkward quiet, “I… uhh… have to pack…”

“Ohh… yeah…. Of course… I’ll just go now.”

“Yeah…” she whispered.

He walked to the door then paused and turned again, “No… no no no, please don’t leave yet. Not till I get back at least.”

“What?” she said, crossing her arms.

“I want an hour… to spend some time with you before you leave,” he looked a little nervous and noticing that softened her attitude. she dropped her arms to her sides.

“I don’t know…”

“Listen, I booked you at the spa.”

“What? When?”

“About an hour ago, I thought it might make up for yesterday.”

“Ohh… I can’t accept that… no… no, I don’t want you spending anything on me…”

He smiled and shrugged, “I didn’t spend anything, it’s free.”

“Ohh thank you for booking me a free spa session, how very nice of you,” she said in amused sarcasm.

“Well you said you didn’t want me to spend… the spa is closed for the wedding but they are doing special sessions for the bridal train and I managed to convince them to squeeze you in before that. It has everything; a massage, mani pedis, facial, the entire thing.”

“John…” she still felt unsure.

“Please, I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Uhh…” Really who was she to deny a free spa trip? She looked at John, he looked close to going on his knees. That gave her an unhealthy amount of satisfaction, she sighed. “Fine, but you’ll be back by 12 pm right?” she said pointing at him.

“Yes, maybe even before,” he smiled widely.

“Okay.”

John looked like he might jump for joy but he restrained himself. He smiled, nodded and opened the door to leave.

The thought of a massage and a facial to have her all fresh and glowy, was really appealing. She had to admit she was a little excited. So excited by the prospect of a spa day in fact that she started getting ready immediately after John left her room. She didn’t care if she had to wait for them to open shop. She switched her morning playlist from Daniel Caesar’s Freudian to an afrobeats one she put together and had a dance battle with herself in the shower.

Fortunately when she got there the spa was not only but empty as well. She was excited about the solitude. A young woman sitting behind a big desk in the small reception area looked up, “Are you at the bride’s party?” she looked at her watch, “Their sessions start by 12pm.”

“Oh… uhh no, I’m with… I’m alone actually. My name is Desiree, I think my friend booked an appointment for me…”

“Ohh!” The girl’s face brightened, “Miss Desiree, yes, Mr. John said you were coming. Follow me please.” She stood up and led Desire through a small hallway and into an even smaller room, it was split into two. The room was lit by a blinking fluorescent light and a lot of tiny scented candles, there was a nauseating heavy scent of flowers. The massage bed sat alone in the middle, right next to the sheet that blocked her from seeing what was on the other side.

“Alright ma, I’ll get your masseuse,” the girl said but she didn’t leave, she just stood there smiling, “I really like your name, Desiree, I think I will give my child that name one day,” she said.

“Ohh… uhh… thank you.”

“You’re very pretty,” she said, still standing there.

The compliment made Desiree smile, “Thank you… so are you.”

The girl giggled, she finally turned and left the room, “Bye bye, Desiree,” she yelled from the hallway.

Desire smiled at the oddness of that situation, she walked over to the bench bed and sat down.

“So it is you Desiree!”

The voice sounded a lot familiar now but Desire prayed that it wasn’t who she thought it was, she prayed it wasn’t Tola before she turned, “Tola…I didn’t know you were with me in the room,” Tola had pulled back the sheet to reveal a similar looking room. She was in a robe and had a towel wrapped around her head.

“Yeah it was, I thought I would get a last minute facial before my big day tomorrow,” she walked into Desiree room and sat down on the bench beside her, “I need some quiet too, this weekend has been so hectic, i haven’t had a moment to myself since i started planning this wedding.”

Desiree turned to look at her, Tola had her eyes closed, she looked so delicate. Desiree felt a weird feeling rise within her, it felt a little like sympathy, she felt the urge to reach out and touch her in a supportive way. She curbed it, that would be too weird, “Uhh…yeah…that’s understandable,” she said awkwardly.

“I guess you had the same idea,” she opened her eyes and turned to Desiree.

Her stare made Desiree uncomfortable so she looked away, found a random candle in the room to focus her gaze, “Yeah,” was her only answer.

“So.. uhh… are you enjoying the festivities?” Tola asked.

Similar to the question Temi asked her yesterday. The only difference is while Temi had the earnest desire to know, Tola sounded like she was just asking. She probably expected her to gush about everything, “Yes… it’s fun,” she answered, giving as little as possible.

“Yeah, well l wanted to give my guests a memorable experience, I think I achieved that but I will I find out for sure tomorrow.”

Desiree had to give her that, the concept for this wedding was pretty nice and convenient for everyone in attendance. But she wasn’t going to be the one to tell her that. “So the big day, are you ready to take the plunge tomorrow?” Desiree looked at her.

She smiled softly, earnestly, “I think I have been ready since the moment I met Temi, he is just so perfect. You know we got engaged after only six months.”

“Ohh… no I did not,” That was fast.

Maybe she’s pregnant.

“Yeah, we waited a while to do the wedding, we spent a year saving for it but we’ve inseparable from day one.”

Okay, so not pregnant

“That must be a nice feeling,” Desiree said honestly.

“It is.”

Desiree turned to her and gave a weak smile in reply. She wondered if she would ever have that feeling.

“I thought you were bringing your boyfriend for the wedding, Temi said that you RSVP’d for two. Are we still going to see him tomorrow?”

Desiree felt her heart beat weird for a second,“Ohh… no, we…uhh…he’s not…”

“Work?”

Why is she digging in our misery?

“Break up… we uhh… broke up… just some time ago.”

“Oh I’m sorry about that.”

I’m sure.

She really didn’t sound sorry, “It’s alright, it wasn’t meant to be,” she said with a shrug, trying to look a lot more casual than she felt.

“I get it, we’ve all been there.”

Desiree was surprised by the sympathy in Tola’s voice and she hated her for it. She didn’t need her pity.

“Listen,” Tola said suddenly, “We’re planning a last minute bachelorette party, just me and a couple of my girls, you should come.”

“Uhh I…”

“It’ll be fun, you’re not going to say no to a bride before her wedding, are you?”

No? Then how about hell no?

“Okay, of course I’ll come.”

Pssssst wrong answer.

“Good, it’s in the bungalow suit 17, starts by 4.”

“Ohh… 4?”

“Yes, is there a problem?”

Yes, we’ll be long gone by then.

Desiree looked at Tola, “No, it’s fine, 4 is perfect,”

John wasn’t back, it was already 12:30. She texted him and he texted back an apology, she should just pack and leave now. But he begged, he really wanted to spend time with her and if she was being honest she wanted to spend some time with him too. She looked at her time again, 12:31, she would give an hour more and that’s it. An hour and she was gone, with or without talking to any cute, black agbada wearing, Yoruba speaking Igbo boy.

She noticed the pool side was empty on her walk back from the spa so she decided to head there. She did some laps in the pool before laying back and letting herself float. She liked doing that when she wanted to think and she really needed to think now.

Her life was upside down and she didn’t know what she was going to do with herself. She never had any talents or major hubbies, she wasn’t good at anything. So what was she going to do now?

“Can I help?”

A deep voice said, startling her. She opened her eyes to see Jide clad in a pair of too bright orange, boxer short trunks. He looked down at her and she became painfully aware she was wearing a bikini. Suddenly feeling very naked, she brought her hands up to cover her chest as she moved to the edge of the pool, “Help with what?”

He took her retort as an invitation to sit next to her, his legs in the water too, “You looked so deep in thought, I thought I might help get your mind off whatever is bothering you.”

“Thank you but nothing is bothering me.”

Except you.

She began to pull her legs out of the water.

“So you still don’t like me?”

That made her pause, “What?”

“After all this time, you still don’t like me,” he said with a shrug.

“I never said I don’t like you.”

“You don’t have to, you show it enough. Back in school when I would come round you and Temi, you never said a word to me. Now you’re even running away,” He shrugged, he didn’t seem upset, it was like he was just stating a fact. He was right of course, she never liked him but she did feel bad about how obvious she clearly was about it.

“You never really spoke to me either.”

“Well, I tend to keep my distance if I get that kind of vibe from someone, I don’t wanna come and chop insult.”

She put her legs back in the water, “I would have never insulted you.”

“No, you would have just ignored me.”

She smiled, “No, I would have spoken to you… a little.”

“Fine, okay if you say so, why didn’t you like me?”

“I didn’t have a problem with you…”

He raised his eyebrows.

“Fine…” she looked at him, debating whether to tell the truth or not. Who cares, she thought to herself, she was leaving soon anyway, “it’s the way you were with girls, I didn’t like it so I didn’t want to encourage you by being friends.”

“You know I would have never tried anything with you, you were Temi’s babe.”

“I don’t and your reputation begged to differ.”

He scoffed, “I wasn’t that bad.”

She turned her head to the side, indicating her disbelief.

“Okay, fine. But I must tell you that I am a changed man now,” he said confidently.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

She crossed her arms, “What happened?”

“I got married,” he said, then flashed his wedding band in her face.

Wow, it was official, everyone was married or getting married except for her. The thought was depressing, “I have to go get ready for Tola’s party,” feeling the need to be alone. She took out her legs from the water.

“Yeah I have to go change for Temi’s as well,” he took his out too, “I’ll walk you to your room.”

She looked at him suspiciously.

He raised up his hands in defence, “My intentions are innocent, I swear.”

She still wasn’t sure but she didn’t want to be mean so she just nodded and let him follow.

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