February 19, 2020.
Victoria island, Lagos.

"Huh?"

Lara had her hands inside the bowl of rice she was currently washing. An apron was tried to her waist, stopping right under her knees and revealing the flared skirt she had under.

Wide–eyed, I walked to her and put my hands on either sides of her round face. My heartbeat was erratic, breaths coming fast, sweat formed on my forehead. I lowered my voice.

"We're leaving," I told her with a heavy heart.

Her forehead creased and her eyebrows pulled together. She removed her hands from the bowl of parboiled rice and dried them with her apron. When she placed her hands over mine against her face, I felt the softness of them. Her gaze darkened.

"Is everything fi—"

"I'm not losing you, okay?" I didn't mean to shout, but I did. I was practically vibrating from the adrenaline rush in my system. In the background, I heard something move, causing my attention to snap towards it.

"Where are we going?" Lara asked in a soft tone. Her features had softened now. She ran her thumb over my hand in a weirdly comforting manner.

Lara and Bukola could never be the same. Bukola was the kind of person who would snap back at you immediately you raised your voice at her, whereas Lara would only try to calm you down. Afterwards she would tell you how she felt and make you feel guilty unknowingly.

She had a kind soul, one I was willing to protect.

I dropped my tone now, already feeling the guilt eating away at my edges. "Could you book a flight to Paris?" She let her hands fall from mine, jaw dropping as she gaped at me. I blinked. "Right now."

"Ri–Right now?" She stuttered, stepping away from my hold. "It's too sudden. Why do you want to leave so suddenly? Is something wrong? Why aren't you telling me anything?"

As she talked, I let my gaze wander around, searching for the piece of cutlery that I didn't know was a ghost killer. A spoon laid on the sink, glinting in the light. I moved towards it and snatched it up, turning back to Lara who now had her eyes wide. A frown was etched onto her lips as she stared between me and the spoon in my hand.

"I'll explain it to you," I promised, struggling to keep myself calm. "First, book us a flight to Paris. I'll pack up and give Yemi a call."

At first she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned to the side, feigning adamance. I put on a pleading look, letting my shoulders slump as I clutched the spoon in my hand. Lara exhaled, giving in. She united her apron and chucked it at me before sauntering out of the kitchen. I caught the apron easily and hung it over a hook on the wall.

With a sigh of my own, I put the spoon into my pocket and followed her out, drawing out my phone and dialing Yemi's number. He picked the call when I was almost at my room.

"I hope I'm not in trouble, you never call in the evenings."

I flung the door open and marched to the wardrobe to pull out an empty suitcase. Yemi was probably going to try and talk me out of this if I told him what I wanted to do, so, I decided to keep my message simple.

"I'm going to Paris with Lara."

His side of the line fell silent. I paused with a shirt in my hand, turning around. "Hello?"

"I'm still here," he muttered from the other end. Then he groaned. "Why are you leaving?"

My brain searched for the right words while I shoved more clothes into the suitcase. "I need a break."

Deciding that it'd better not to over pack, I zipped the case up and lifted it by the handle, rising to my full height.

I heard him curse. "I hope this has nothing to do with your delusions."

A muscle ticked and I frowned. "I'm not delusional. I know what happened to me. But if you're too ignorant to believe me, just let me go in peace—"

The door burst open and Lara walked in, her phone in her hand and the frown still on her face. I made a mental note to make her smile throughout our flight.

"There are no available flights for the next forty eight hours," she informed me.

My eyes widened. "What?!"

From the phone, Yemi called, "is that Lara? What does she think of this?"

"Apparently, I don't have a say at all. ²Baba wants to package me to Paris just like that," she replied him.

"I'm doing this for your own good!" I exclaimed.

"How?"Lara questioned in a competitive manner. "You're not explaining why you came back home all sweaty and scared and you're being closed off." She paused. "And where's my pack of rice and peas."

I cursed in my head. "It's in the car, okay? You could have it on our way to the airport."

"We're not going anywhere today, all the flights have been booked."

"How is that even possible?"

Lara just shrugged in reply. "Look, just sit down for a moment and tell me what's wrong."

"Oh, so he hasn't told you yet." Yemi snorted from the other end.

Lara gave me a look. "Told me what?"

I opened my mouth, willing myself to tell her that everything was going to be fine and explain the situation to her properly. Yemi cut me off before I could.

"Bukola has returned," he said sarcastically, adding a chuckle at the end.

I gritted my teeth, snarling into my phone. "It's not funny."

"Your ex? Didn't she die?" Lara questioned.

I exhaled. "She did, but she's back and she's threatening your life. She's threatening me." My tone begged her to believe me.

"He's finally gone crazy, marry me while you can."

Lara rolled her eyes at Yemi's stupidity while I totally ignored him. I dropped the suitcase and sank to a sitting position on the bed, putting my head in my hands.

They weren't going to believe me unless they saw Bukola themselves, but I was the only one who could see her. This was messed up, and I was done for.

Lara squatted in front of me, placing a delicate hand on my shoulder. "You saw Bukola?"

"Not just saw her, I talked to her. I would have touched her if my hand didn't go through her," I replied.

Her gaze became clouded with more concern. "What if he's not making this up, Yemi?"

I fought back the urge to tell her that I couldn't just sit and conjure this story in my head. I had work to keep me busy.

Yemi groaned, "Don't tell me you're buying it."

She bit her lip, watching me from under her lashes. Somehow, I felt like a microorganism being studied under a microscope.

"He hasn't ever done this before, and he looks pretty shaken up. It's either he's saying the truth or—"

"He's losing his mind!"

My hands itched to slap Yemi, but he was too far away for that. "I'm right here," I said through gritted teeth. "I'm not going to force you to believe me, but I'm going to do my best to keep you away from danger."

"All the flights are booked," Lara said after a moment of silence. "What are we going to do?"

Unspeakable happiness bloomed in my heart as my eyes widened, unable to fathom the fact that she believed me. My love for her swelled.

The flights were unavailable for the next two days and Bukola had given me a three-day ultimatum.

"We could leave immediately a flight is available," I told her.

She gave me a tight smile and held my hand. "Let's use the time we have to pack then."

The atmosphere around us was silent after, only saturated with lots of emotions. My love for her, her concern for me, my protectiveness of her...and Yemi's anger.

"I'm hanging up," he mumbled. "You two have fun."

Without waiting for a reply, he hung up.