Yinka's POV

9:15 am

Yinka finally peeled herself off her bed after over one hour of lazily scrolling through her social media feeds. She felt even more tired than she did before she fell asleep because she overslept. But it's cool, it's not like she has anything to do today.

She loves her newfound freedom and privacy but living alone is a stark reminder of the fact that she has NO FRIENDs in Nigeria. Making new friends as an adult is extremely hard!

It's not like she has zero friends, she's got some... friends, cousins and associates but most of them are dispersed across the country (...across the world actually) or are busy with work or getting married and having babies or both.

Right now, she has just two close friends in the country. Kaltume Sodangi in Abuja and Nike Alabi here in Lagos. But Kaltume and Nike are more like family friends because their parents are friends so......zero friends of her own really if you think about it.

Kaltume is northerner, that one got married right after university and has two kids already plus she is a Director in her father's Company, they chat often on phone but she needs someone she can hang out with physically.

That leaves her with Nike, but unfortunately (for her) Nike got engaged some months back and is currently busy planning her GRAND wedding. The Alabis do not play with weddings; her Mother throws the best parties in Lagos so she is super busy right now.

It's not like Yinka is jobless herself, she has a lot on her table. She is building her Non-profit organization; GreenCabal. She just FINALLY registered with the CAC and is currently hiring more staff.

She is running an actual organization, so to speak....... from home though, using her living area as her office, one of the reasons why she had to move out of the Bakare mansion in Banana Island.

This is her first place in Nigeria; her Grandfather (Maternal) owns the building. Actually, he owns half the buildings on this particular street lol, he is in the construction business. When she got tired of her Dad and his wahala, she went to rant to her Grandfather and he just gave her this place. Her Dad was furious when he heard about it and even confronted her Grandfather. He claimed it is not safe for her to live here alone.

How is Old Ikoyi not safe?

Anyway, the good thing is those two have never been on good terms so Grandpa sided with her. Plus the octogenarian he gives her anything she wants.

Moving into the penthouse was fun, she had fun moving in her 32 houseplants and decorating the place with sustainable and eco-friendly furniture to her taste.

The building is chill and quiet too. There is just one Tenant on the third floor; a South African expat in his 50s that works for one of Grandpa's Companies. Although yesterday she noticed that new Tenants moved into one of the apartments on the ground floor, the property manager (caretaker) had informed her that they had new Tenants, last week. She had asked if they were also her Grandfather's employees but he said no they are real Tenants.

Yayyyy!

She loves the place so much, her apartment is the penthouse of the 6-storey building, it has massive windows, and it is very airy, almost windy which is a good thing because she doesn't have to put on the air conditioners all the time. This is very important for her precious babies: The houseplants.

Also, Air Conditioners are bad for the environment they are energy intensive and contribute the worst kind of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere so double win there.

Yinka is an Environmentalist and she made some personal commitments in the past 5 years to reducing her carbon footprint, she drives an electric car, she buys recycled clothing etc. But most importantly she has vowed to fight fossil fuel (Oil) companies for the environmental devastation they have inflicted on the planet for the past century. And she is starting with the ones in her home country because here, these oil companies get away with a lot environmental degradation because the Government is either complicit or just plain stupid or both.

She knows this for a fact because her Dear father owns an oil Company too, he built his billions of fortune from oil. She is not proud of it but she will do everything in her power to fix it for future generations to come.

Ironically, when she was younger, she wanted to be petroleum geologist. Her Dad took her with him one time on a helicopter flight over his offshore rig and she was captivated she just knew she wanted to work there. When the Federal Government seized the wells that his company drilled and developed back then, she said to him one morning when she saw him thinking and looking sad;

"Daddy don't worry I will discover new reservoirs (wells) for you in the Ocean" She was like 10yo then lol.

aaaaand that was how they sent her to study Marine Geology so she can come back and discover more wells for Daddy, but Auntie Yinka betrayed her dear Daddy, she made a complete U-turn and switched to Marine Biology and now she is telling him not to drill more wells and to leave the Ocean alone.

Yinka had an epiphany the first time she dove underwater and the more she explored the ocean the more she realized that it needed to be protected and not exploited. The ocean holds so much biodiversity and there is still so much species to be discovered in our oceans but Humans are wreaking havoc on the marine ecosystem and they must be stopped.

**

She opened a pack of pretzel sticks and started munching on them as she made herself a banana and blueberry smoothie. Immediately she stopped the blender, she heard some noise coming from outside so she quickly dashed to the window in the living room. She has been very security conscious since she moved here. It is funny that her Dad thinks she is stupid and cannot take care of herself. She, that has pepper spray and Tasers? no one can try her in this Lagos.

The security men were closing the gate behind a car that just drove in. A black SUV, It was not the South African expat's car this was a new vehicle, she has never seen it here. She monitors all the cars that come in and out of the property.

She squinted to see who it was then she saw the guys that moved in yesterday carrying black boxes and bags out of the trunk. It was those type of serious looking suitcases that are used for packing serious and expensive equipment like filming equipment, DJ set up or.....Weapons! Lol she laughed off the last part.

Nah, her initial guess was filmmakers or Tech guys because of the nerdy looking one with dreadlocks and glasses in t-shirt.

They were a little bit odd but she was not worried, her grandfather would never take in criminals as tenants. Especially not with her living here.

She really hoped they were filmmakers because she has some documentaries to shoot. Moreover, if she starts working with her new neighbours...

They would become friends forever!

The guy that drove in the SUV slammed the trunk door and started talking to the 'tech bro' dude, a female appeared too from the apartment, she shook the guy and they talked for a while as well. Looks like he is the Main guy, are they all roommates?

They looked lively and there were probably one or two more guys but she was not paying attention to them, her eyes were fixed on the one that just drove in.

They started walking towards the entrance, she could swear at this point that this guy was hot just from his frame and there was something in the way the way he moved. Suddenly he paused to say something to 'tech bro' dude again and then both of them looked up towards her flat as 'tech bro' dude pointed at something. She almost ducked when they looked up despite the fact that there is no way they can see her from down there.

She quickly grabbed her Samsung galaxy ultra to zoom in on him with the camera. The phone's zoom feature is powerful; she actually carries it with her for underwater filming to capture sharks (on rare sightings) and other deadly sea creatures that she cannot get too close to.

The moment the camera lens focused on his face her jaw dropped and the pretzel in her mouth fell out. He was smiling at something the other guy was saying and they were looking around. It looked like the other guy was showing him the facilities in the building, she noticed he was pointing towards the pool and gym.

Off course he is interested in the gym! Look at that body!

She smiled wickedly as she thought about the pool because if he lives here, he will be using the pool! 😊

Honestly, it's a good thing she moved out of the house, this is the only way she can make new friends and meet new people. They don't even have neighbours in Banana Island because their house is on a huge expanse of land bordered by the Lagoon, so isolating! no wonder she doesn't have friends.

She is not going to put all the blame on the mansion and her Dad though; she too has been busy with her degrees. In fact her PhD was the final nail in the coffin of her social life because she had to live in remote and isolated atolls and Islands for months on end to study coral reefs and various species of marine animals.

But, she has no regrets, those were the best years of her life. Her PhD was not even tedious or stressful because this is her passion and exploring the ocean gives her life!

Her little spy session was interrupted by a series text messages from her youngest brother, Banky.

Bubba: Yo! How far I'm coming over to crash today.

Bubba: Please I want waffles 😭

Bubba: I 'wov' u

Bubba: such queen and more🎶

Baddest sister to the core🎶

YK baby no underscore🎶

YK Baby: TF!

Look at this boy o! She frowned. She should have moved to Lekki or something because clearly her apartment is not far enough for Banky, he keeps dropping in anytime he likes to eat, 'borrow' her ATM card or sleepover especially on days like this when he wants to go clubbing with his friends because there is a 9pm curfew at home.

She is so glad she is done with that life because how can a grown ass woman be doing curfew. After she has lived on her own abroad for many years.

By the time she finished responding to Banky's yeye messages they were gone.

***

11:25am

She was in the middle of a Yoga pose when the doorbell rang. She kuku packed up the mat because she couldn't even focus, she couldn't get that fine guy's image out of her head. Lol.

The thirst is real.

At first, she thought it was Banky, he is the only one that comes here anyway. But when she checked the door camera screen she was shocked. It was him! That guy... that just moved in today. Her heart started beating fast, she subconsciously moved away from the door then froze.

What do I do now?

She looked like a mess, in fact she was wearing her least favorite Yoga pants. He rang the bell again, jerking her into action. She ran to her room and threw on an oversized tee-shirt, fixed her hair quickly then took a deep breath before she opened the door.

He probably wants to introduce himself as the new neighbor. He really is the Main tenant OMG!!!!!!!

She hid the excitement on her face and faked surprise (as if she didn't see him earlier).

He looked even better at close range and what made him even hotter to her at this point is the fact that he didn't seem cocky...like he didn't even give off that 'fine boy' vibe, he looked almost... naive as though he himself is not even aware he is a thirst trap.

He smiled then said "Good Morning" she almost passed out as the dimples appeared on his cheeks.

Fuck!!!!

"Hello" She managed.

"You're Yinka? Yinka Bakare?" He asked.

"Yes" She answered flirtatiously but......wait a minute did he just say my full name? The smile on her face disappeared first.

"My name is Gowon and I work with Force field maritime services"

What? Is that one of her grandpa's companies?...Wait, maritime?

"Your father has contracted us to provide 24/7 security services for you and our Men just moved into the apartment on the ground floor..... He continued talking but she zoned out the moment he mentioned her father and 24/7 security services. The smile and excitement drained out of her face simultaneously as she realized what was going on.

She slammed the door in his face before he finished talking and stormed to her room. Her hands were shaking as she dialed her Grandpa. How did her father gain access to this building? This is a violation of her privacy; Chief Deji Bakare has no respect for boundaries!

"Don't worry it is only temporary okay" Her grandfather tried to pacify her. Apparently, her Dad had gone behind her back to convince him to rent out the apartment to the security Company so they can 'work properly'.

"This is unfair!" She ranted, cried, and begged she even called her mum to intervene. But they all made a case for her Dad. Grandpa said insecurity is rising, he even assured her that as soon as her father leaves the country for his medical leave he will 'get rid of them' for her.

He pleaded with her to 'just cooperate' so that her father can have small peace of mind "You know he is Ill" He said, then made some jokes about her father's health ending it with "Before he gets another stroke again".

In the first week she moved here, her Dad sent two of his own Bodyguards to watch the house and follow her around, they were always parked out in front of the building. She knew they were from him because she recognized the cars.
She didn't like it, they were giving her anxiety and they were just bringing unnecessary attention to the house so she called the estate security on them. Told them 'There are some strange guys in a car stalking me' and they were arrested lol. They stopped coming since that day.

So clearly, this is her father's plan B, but she is surprised that he even swallowed his pride by teaming up with her Grandfather. Normally the two of them are like cat and dog. At least something good came out of it.

But she is still mad at him!

**

He was still there when she opened the door again with his back turned, he was on a call and he was speaking calmly. He seemed a little bit surprised when he saw her then he hung up and turned to her.

"Sorry about that," She said without looking him in the eye. She was not proud of what she did.

"I was not informed.....about this arrangement beforehand," She added defensively.

"It's okay, I understand," He nodded but his smile was gone.

She sighed, "Please come inside"

A/N: Chapter 2 tomorrow.

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