As Toyin stumbled into her apartment, she kicked off her shoes and struggled out of off THAT cursed dress then rushed to her bathroom.

The bathroom in her bedroom had a bathtub while the one in the guest room had a shower stall. She bathed frequently in the guest room every other day since it was much more convenient and saved time especially on weekdays, but today she decided to augment her regular shower with a hot Dettol soak.

She emptied half of the content of a large bottle of Dettol in the tub. While the water filled the tub she scurried off to the guest bathroom to commence the decontamination process.

She didn't bother with a shower cap, the hair had to be washed too because it had that strong club cigarette smoke smell and she was almost certain that she caught a whiff of his perfume when she tied up the waist length box braids earlier.

She scrubbed her her skin with the sponge harshly, scrubbing harder every time she recalled a scene from last night. She didn't care if the skin peeled off.

When she finished with the shower, she moved back to the tub. The strong minty smell of the antiseptic stung her nostrils but she told herself she deserved it for sleeping with a complete stranger, in his creepy house.

20 minutes into her fussing, she finally calmed down and lit up some candles around the bathroom. The relieving warm bath calmed her nerves and she felt much better, much 'cleaner'.

Her hangover was subsiding too, so she reclined in the tub and rest her head on the rim. She closed her eyes for a few seconds as she let out a huge sigh of relief. She couldn't believe she broke her 5 year celibacy for bus conductor guy.

"Osaze." She said his name out unconsciously then instantly regretted it because those damn images from last night took over her mind again. She sat back up and frowned slapping the water hard, mildly irritated with herself as she cursed inside.

That wasn't enough so she screamed with her mouth shut and submerged herself completely under the balmy water. Perhaps she needs to cleanse her brain of him too.

********

Sofi arrived around 2pm. She brought some greenish organic juice for her, said it helps with hangover.

"My dear something came up at work so I had to go," Her best friend said as she scrolled through movies on Netflix on the large screen TV in Toyin's living room. "I swear, I told that yeye Bisola to put you in a cab before leaving, but the Olodo said she thought you knew the him."

"It's okay babe, I am fine." Toyin smiled as she sipped her green juice. It tasted good, It wasn't sweet or tangy it was just clean and invigorating. Just what she needed. She sat down on the carpeted floor so Sofi could help her blow dry her hair. "Free Bisola, I am a grown ass woman"

Sofi shook her head. "No! She shouldn't have left you there, not after what happened with you and Femi we were supposed to cheer you up last night naw. Speaking of Femi sef, what really happened?"

"Hmmm..." Toyin went on to narrate how her 13 month 'courtship' degenerated into its current state.

She was set up on a blind date with Femi, a banker with one of the major commercial banks in the country. He met her minimum criteria; 'God fearing and Responsible' so she was ready to try something serious with him, but he turned out to be one of those controlling and arrogant unkus. 

He was so full of himself, always going on about how most women these days are just gold diggers and how his future wife must be a very good manager. Ordinary banker o!

He treated her like he was doing her a favour by 'Courting' her Just because he knew she wanted to settle down soon. She cooked for him occasionally, made stew and sent to him on Sundays and the fool would call to thank her then proceed to complain excessively about  salt or maggi.

She broke it off with him for good last weekend because he called her over to come prepare Egusi soup for him. He gave her 5 thousand Naira for groceries and she stupidly hopped a marwa/keke (Tricycle) to the market in his area (Agungi) to shop for the items, adding her own money.

When she finished cooking he started complaining about her being wasteful, how she didn't even return any change then he picked on how she didn't slice the ugwu leaves properly. It was at that point she woke up. She just grabbed her purse and walked out. He didn't even try to stop her and he hasn't called her since then.

Sofi's jaw was on the floor the whole time she was talking but when she finished narrating the final chapter of her failed courtship she bursted out laughing.

"You see eh, I don't blame him. I blame YOU for choosing to become one idiot's house girl" She dragged one intense hiss then continued. "Also if I put in my time to cook for anyone and the person drags my cooking like that, we're done! I don't care who you are friend or family, we are done."

Toyin couldn't say anything. She knew her friend was right. She thought she could tolerate his excesses and just manage him so she never told anyone about his behavior because she was willing to put up with it.

"This is also your fault for bringing yourself down to all these people's level in the first place. Why do you feel the need to hide who you are? Your job? Your success? Like I get it when you do it for security reasons, but when you pretend to be less successful than you are then that's like reverse cat fishing."

Toying laughed. 

"If any man has a problem with your success then he is not a man, what he is, is a smelly gutter rat. Do you want to spend the rest of your life with a gutter rat? You want your kids to have a rat for a father?" Sofi was a whole mood.

"I'm sorry but this Femi guy just sounds like a horrible and sad person, you even tried sef" Sofi hissed as she switched off the blow dryer and started applying coconut oil to her friend's scalp. "Toyin, it's like you still have 'marriage' on your list of things to tick off before you turn 30 right?"

"Not really-" She started but was cut off.

"You need to understand that life does not work that way" Sofi was here to school her today lol. "It's not the same as getting a degree, a job, or purchasing a house. Always remember these 3 facts;" She put down the oil bottle.

"First off, it's not do or die"

"Secondly, you can't marry yourself"

"Thirdly, it's not the end. It is the beginning of a new chapter so why do you want to rush into it? Why are you runnin?"

Toyin laughed so hard at the last question which was a reference to a popular meme.

"Fourthly-" Sofi continued.

"I thought you said three points?" Toyin said laughing

"Take this one as jara my daughter,"

It's funny that Sofi is the one talking some sense into her right now when she's actually 2 years older than the 27year old.

Although to be fair, Sofi was way too mature for her age and had a much more positive outlook on life. Despite having gone through some dark times herself. She has been dumped by her fiancé, she lost her parents in an accident when she was 12, but she always comes back stronger.

"Fourthly when its time you will know it, you won't have to force anything" She said this with heavy emphasis.

"Also you better start enjoying your money. Life is short, people are dying Yo!" She went on to remind her of all the young hardworking people they know, who have died recently before they 'enjoyed' their hard earned money.

Toyin, like most IOC (International Oil Company) employees in Nigeria is very private about her job for security reasons. IOC employees are easy target for kidnappers and other aggrieved parties.

Lagos was relatively safer in comparison to the cities in the south-south region of the country but still, she was a single woman living alone with her whole immediate family based in Port Hacourt, so she didn't take any chances. 

It was only her closest friends who knew what she really did for a living and where she worked. Just 3 months ago a colleague in was kidnapped in Warri, it could be her someday. Even her church didn't know anything about her career she always used a fake work ID for socializing which her father made for her under his Company name.

But the truth is she has come to realize that her main motive for hiding her success was really because didn't want to intimidate and chase away her potential suitors. So she stood up, tied her freshly oiled braids into a bun and said to her friend;

"Come and escort me, I'm buying a car today." 

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