Utianle

Silence descended the car as King drove out of his estate. Emma and Esther were at the back seat, Bluetooth earpiece plugged in with their eyes glued to a cartoon that was playing on the headrest monitors.

The time on the dashboard read 11:30. I cast a glance at King who didn't seem fazed as he stared straight ahead at the empty road ahead of him. Vincent was aware I would be absent today so I wasn't bothered at all. Maybe a bit concerned for King who insisted on dropping us off before going to his office, irrespective of how late he was.

Sparing a look at my kids in the back, I took note of the clothes they were wearing, it was different from yesterday's. King claimed to have bought the extra set of clothes to avoid them repeating the same outfit this morning. I hissed, flimsy excuse. 

Emma's eyes left the screen to meet mine and his lips broadened into a smile that revealed his missing front tooth. I pinched his cheeks, smiled back at him then turned away so he could focus on his movie. I was still pissed but not at him. It was hard to get that image of my innocent Emma shouting, I like nipus out of my head.

Who in their right mind talks to a five-year-old child about nipples?

King. 

The handsome 29-year-old man in blue tuxedo reclining on the driver's seat with a hand on the steering wheel like he was a model shooting a car commercial. That didn't matter, I wouldn't have to worry about that anymore as he wouldn't be seeing my babies again. 

That thought alone sent a pang across my heart and I closed my eyes in hopes that this strange feeling of misery would pass. I tried to console myself with the fact that I was protecting both of us from future hurt but the heaviness in my chest remained. 

Our conversations from last night replayed itself all over again in my head like a DVD player without a stop or eject button. A particular topic stood out the most, his age.

He was younger than me by six years, how was that even possible? I allowed myself to take a long-lasting look at him, it would probably be the last time we would be in such close proximity again.

His side view was just as attractive as the front. My favourite part of this view was his beards, the way his sideburns connected with the hairs on his cheek, above his upper lip and jaw. I could even see a tiny mole behind his ear, blemishing his near-perfect skin.  

"Do I turn here?" His voice broke me out of my reverie.

"Yes," I murmured, going on to add, "you know the way."

My address had been punched into the GPS of his car and I could see the different paths to reach my street displayed on the screen. Asides from the fact that he had dropped me off twice, he shouldn't have turned off the automated voice giving us directions if he didn't recall the route to my house.

His gaze strayed to my face but it was back to the road almost immediately. "Yes. But this is the only way I can get you to talk to me."

Maybe I was giving him the silent treatment but what other punishment could I administer to an infuriating adult male.

"You should have thought about that before giving Emma sex education," I whispered.

"It's not sex education if I only told him about nipples. He was the one who asked."

Pressing my lips together to refrain from talking back at him, I sighed softly. My left hand wrapped around the seatbelt and my head pressed against the window. He didn't get it. Emma being Emma, this new word would follow him everywhere.

"Uti," King's voice was pleading but I chose to ignore him like I had been doing since.

He had already apologised a countless number of times but I still held on to the anger. It was the only emotion that could guide my next actions. Cynthia was right. I was incapable of breaking up with Umoh so it was quite unfair of me to lead King on. 

As if on cue, my thoughts wandered to Umoh, if I didn't feel so guilty about kissing King, I would have returned his calls. But however badly I felt about our kiss, the guilt didn't stop me from wanting to kiss him again the moment I saw him in the kitchen with Emma. It was hard not to think about doing that when he was walking around shirtless looking like an edible.

I shook my head as if it would wipe out my traitorous thoughts. I was exactly like those ladies Faith and I would insult after reading their relationship scandals on Instagram. Umoh was a good man, he treated me the best he could and he didn't deserve a woman who went about kissing any fine man who showed interest in her.

Umoh was also the perfect match for me. He was older by a year, AA genotype, Emma and Esther liked him, he wanted more kids; he was the complete package for me. And now, it was time to fight myself and these unusual desires I was having about King. In truth, I owed Umoh an apology, a confession even but I would let time take care of that.

"Uti." King tried again. It was futile and the rest of our journey continued in silence. 

I was a coward, the least I could do was to tell him to his face that we couldn't keep this up anymore. But I wanted to be in the comfort of my home, far away from him as I typed in the words that I hoped would keep us apart until these feelings died.

I didn't realise I was crying until I felt the warm, salty liquid roll down my cheeks and into my lips. I liked King, much more than I would willingly admit to anyone. Subtly, I wiped the tears off, I shouldn't be crying. What I deserved was a pat on my back for doing what I should have done earlier. 

King turned into a new street, unaware of my inner turmoil. The further we went, the more familiar the buildings lined on either side of the streets looked. 

I could already see Baba Eddy's house with its gate open, probably one of those stubborn car owners who refused to close it after driving off. Now that the rent was settled, Baba Eddy and I barely saw each other and I hoped it remained that way.

No one in our compound drove any fancy cars, hence it was a surprise to see a grey Bentley parked inside. King's car came to a stop behind it. It looked familiar but I couldn't place it. From our position, we could see inside of the Bentley, it was empty.

"Uncle Kiki, thank you." 

"No problems, big man." Emma's chest seemed to puff out on hearing King call him that. It caused me to smile while opening the door for him.

Emma was the first to get out of the car, after a high five from King. With his and Esther school bags, one on his back and the other in his hand, he strutted to the stairs. Esther followed suit with their lunch boxes and the key to our apartment. 

Turning to face King, I noticed the way his eyes lingered on my babies until they were out of sight. He genuinely cared about them and even Esther was starting to like him.

I sighed, this was going to be way harder than I thought. When King finally met my gaze, I plastered on a fake smile but he quickly caught on to it.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

His hands reached for me and I raised a hand to stop him. If I had not done that, he would have cupped my face and I would be lost all over again. "Nothing." 

"Nothing? Uti. I can tell when you are lying."

I could feel the tears threatening to spill out so I shook my head until I felt I could handle talking again. There was no need talking if I wasn't going to tell him the truth. He already figured out my lying tic, a tic even Umoh himself knew nothing about. 

Why did King have to know me so well? It was unfair.

"Thank you. For everything."

His eyebrows drew together in perplexity but I didn't give him a chance to ask any questions before pulling him into a hug. And for the first time since I knew him, he was the first one to break off from the hug. 

Without another word or a glance at him, I stepped out of his car and as the door closed behind me, I could only hope that was the end of that chapter of my life with King.

"Isn't that Vincent's driver?" 

The voice startled me and I yelped, nearly losing my balance. I quickly regained my composure and my head whipped so fast in the direction the voice came from. That voice was way too familiar and then it clicked, the car belonged to Umoh.

Umoh was standing under the staircase, a phone in his hand, probably dialling my number that was switched off. He was wearing one of those his jeans but without the cuts, a white packet shirt with the first two buttons undone and black loafers on his feet. Simply put, he looked dashing.

It only made me wonder what the occasion was, the last time I saw him in something like this was when he returned from a failed meeting with a music producer. 

Today wasn't even our anniversary or was I missing something?

"His name is King," I muttered defensively. Umoh played with his beards while I spoke, nodding like what I was saying was the most interesting thing he has ever heard.

"We are friends now."

"Friends don't look at each other like that." I swallowed a lump in my throat as he drew closer to me to whisper in a slow, seductive voice, "should I be worried?"

My head moved left and right like a pendulum, he smiled, closing the distance between us. I squirmed out of his embrace when his hands lowered more than it should, slightly caressing my buttocks.

"Not here," I murmured, raising his hands back up so it was resting on my waist.

There was no one around, people who worked were probably in their offices and I wished King would do the same instead of attempting to drill a hole into the back of my head with his stares.

"I have good news." Umoh's fingers were stroking my cheek, but his eyes were on something, rather, someone behind me.

He pecked my lips and I tried so hard to remember what his kisses tasted like but I couldn't. Umoh was never one for public display of affection and I knew the man sitting a few feet away from us in that black car had something to do with his newfound habit of placing random kisses on my neck.

"What's the good news?" I asked in a bid to distract him.

"I won."

"Won what?"

I was half interested in what he was saying. My ears were perked, waiting for that unmistakable sound of the engine of King's car as he drove off. But it never came.

"My bet," Umoh responded in a tone that said I should know what he was talking about. That jogged my memory.

"Ten odds to win one million, I'll pay you back with interest."

His words drifted back into my subconscious, my surprise evident in the next question I asked. "You won?"

His head bobbed up and down of its own accord and his lips came down on mine in feverish excitement. Meeting no resistance from me, he deepened the kiss, biting on my bottom lips before switching to my neck and then back to my lips. 

He tasted like oranges, his favourite fruit and his hands palmed my face, reminding me to kiss him back. Kissing him back made me forget all about my surrounding until King decided to announce his presence. He honked nonstop, successfully breaking us apart. 

"What's that guy's problem?" Umoh asked. I could tell he was irritated, prepared to confront King so I kissed him briefly on his lips, holding his hand to keep him still.

"Let's go inside," I said, trying to drag him upstairs. I was still in shock, I didn't expect him to win but I was pleased with myself for giving him the money.

Go away, King. Please.

"No." Umoh's hand easily slipped from my grasp. I sighed again, I seemed to have been doing a lot of that this morning. I was not ready to handle two grown-up men if they decided to go at it, I would probably run. 

"I'm not done."

"Done with what?" I was worried that he would do something petty just to make King feel bad. 

Maybe this was the wakeup call King needed to see that both of us together was a lost cause. But it still didn't feel right, more like a betrayal on my part.

"Can't we do it inside?"

He shook his head in response, interlacing our fingers together. When I thought he had finally made up his mind to follow me up, he got down on one knee.

No, it can't be.

We have always talked about a marriage proposal but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it would take place today. With King a few feet away from us.

Umoh slipped a rectangular box out from his back pocket, holding it out in front of me to showcase the most beautiful diamond ring I had ever seen. Blood rushed to my ears, my heart pounded against my rib cage, my head was spinning so bad I thought I would faint.

Why was this happening now? Was this fate's own way of punishing me?

He cleared his throat to call my attention back to him and my heart pounded even harder, drowning out his speech. I saw his lips moving but I couldn't make out his words, I was afraid to hear them.

"Uti," his other hand wrapped around my wrist and I tried really hard to focus on his touch. "You didn't answer me."

"Y...yes?" His eyebrows raised expectantly and the knots in my stomach tightened. "What's the question?"

"Will you marry me?"

*****

You guys! We are having a wedding party. 🤸🏾‍♀️🤸🏾‍♀️🤸🏾‍♀️
Time for me to put on my dancing shoes, I'll need it cos I can't dance to save my life.

Anyways, I opened a new IG account under the name mara_is_art. It's barely a month old and I post short stories there when I can't seem to figure out what next to write on WHP. 

So, if you want to know what goes on in this author's head or how wild her imagination can be, then check it out. You can even suggest what the next short story should be about.

I'll go now to figure out the next step with King. Moving on ...

Question: Party Jollof rice or fried rice? 

What's your favourite fruit?