*EDITED*

Femi, alongside his dad and his mom, walked into the large mansion, owned by his father's friend. He wore his usual captivating smile on his face, but deep down in his heart he wanted to leave. Before they could ring the doorbell; a light skinned, plump lady came out of the house, with a smile glued to her face.

"Welcome" she greeted and exchanged pleasantries with them.

She glanced over at Femi, who was trying so hard to seem interested in the abrupt visit. Femi, in return, shot her a slightly genuine smile.

"Ah, he is a grown man now oh. The last time we saw each other, he was just a little boy. Look how handsome he has become" the lady praised him and that earned her a chuckle from him.

"Thank you, ma" his bass voice filled her ears and she smiled at him.

"Come in, my husband will be down soon. And so also will the kids, have a seat. You are very welcome" she said, leading the way into the house.

"Thank you so much" Mr. Omashola said to her and she smiled again.

They were soon seated on the couch in the expensively decorated living room with impressive interiors. Femi couldn't keep his smile any longer and wondered why they weren't down yet. He stared at the family portrait on the wall, but didn't have the time to observe it better because he heard the sound of footsteps approaching from the the swirly stairs. He averted his gaze from the family portrait, and fixed them on the newcomer.

"Tobi, so good to see you again!" Mr. Aniobi said out loud, as he got downstairs.

"So nice to see you again too" Mr. Omashola said and got up to give his friend a hug.

"Long time, no see" Mr. Aniobi added, as they broke the hug.

"Yes oh, it's good to see you again" Mr. Omashola replied with a smile on his face.

"Good evening, sir" Mrs. Omashola greeted, smiling as she did.

"Evening ma. So good to see you" Mr. Aniobi replied, with a smile on his face.

"And you too" she replied with her vibrant smile still glued to her chocolate brown face, now baked with makeup.

"Good evening sir" Femi greeted and bowed his head to show respect.

"Evening my boy. Ah, you have grown so tall and handsome. What a lovely young man!" Mr Aniobi praised with a smile on his face.

"Thank you, sir" Femi replied, still managing to place a smile on his face.

"Good, good. Sit down, lemme get you all something to eat" he offered.

"No need, we are-"

"Leave that, what's the need for the formalities. Sit down and let me serve you all something to eat. After all, you have come to visit after a very long time. At least eat something" Mr Aniobi urged and they all nodded in understanding.

"Fine then" Mr. Omashola smiled.

"What will you have? We have pounded yam and okra soup, we also have Fufu and Garri, including Egusi soup and fried rice with chicken and salad, Jollof rice and Ofada as well as chicken and catfish pepper soup" Mrs. Omashola asked and they all made their choices and she went into the kitchen to ask the maids to get the meals ready.

"Please, go and call the girls. They are wasting too much time" Mr. Omashola said to his wife.

"I will" she replied and soon she headed upstairs to call them.

In a few minutes, she was downstairs again, with her daughters by her side. Both dressed in pretty and expensive dresses. Chioma had on a black knee length body hug dress and she also wore her usual light but smokey makeup. And Amara wore a blue flay dress and she had only some powder and lip gloss applied to her face.

"Good evening, sir. Good evening, ma" Amara greeted and Mr. and Mrs. Omashola replied ,with a smile.

"Good evening, my dear"

"Evening, sir. Evening, ma" Chioma greeted with a forced smile on her face.

"Evening, dear" they replied and she offered them her extra fake and forced smile, which they didn't notice.

Femi's eyes grew as big as saucers when he realized she was the exact same girl he bumped into at the entrance of the restaurant. She also recognized him but chose to act nonchalant about it.

So I got all dressed up for them? Now, I really hate being here.

Chioma thought as she sat down next to her mother on the couch and flashed her pearly whites at them. Her father knew that smile all too well and he knew she was faking it. But he didn't care, as long as he fulfills the real reason for this visit.

Femi kept stealing glances at her but she chose to act oblivious of them all, meanwhile, she had seen them all. Now he could see her clearly, well enough to observe her, and he had to admit that she was really pretty but she still wasn't his type. She was way too haughty for him and in his own opinion, that makes her more irrelevant to him.

"Do you two know each other?" Amara whispered into Chioma's left ear. She had been noticing the way Femi kept stealing glances at Chioma and how she tried to act like she didn't notice them.

"And why would you ask that?" Chioma whispered back.

"Cause I can see the way he keeps staring at you and the way you keep raising your head extra high, just so you'd seem oblivious of the looks he's giving you" Amara whispered back and Chioma looked at her with amazement.

"And why would you even think that? We haven't met before. We're just seeing each other for the first time" Chioma lied and returned her gaze back to the phone which she had been texting on.

"Okay oh. Lemme just pretend to believe that. I still know there's something really fishy going on" Amara said whilst tapping her chin with the tip of her finger, and Chioma chuckled at her response.

"Detective Amara. Always looking for gist, gist will not kill you" Chioma teased in a small whisper.

"I can't come and kill myself naw, I gats find gist. Be forming as if you don't know him" Amara teased again and Chioma laughed, almost too loudly, but then she got a hold of her self and coughed to cover up her laughter.

"Laugh naw. I know what I am saying" Amara replied and returned her attention back to her own phone. Chioma shook her head and chuckled once more. She decided to look up to see if he was still looking at her but then when she did, their eyes met and she immediately withdrew her gaze.

Shoot! He wasn't meant to see me!

She thought.

"I saw that" Amara said, wiggling her brows "be forming nonsense" she teased and Chioma feigned a childish glare.

"I was just looking at the wall clock to know what time it is" Chioma lied.

"I know now" Amara replied, sarcastically. "You were looking at the wall clock that is behind us, right? Then why were you looking in front of you, abi can you see a mirror over there that will show you the reflection of the clock? Abeg, sister Chioma, enough with the lies. If you want to learn how to lie, then meet me. You have a lot to learn about the dark arts and skills of lying..." She said slightly patting Chioma's shoulder. "... You're horrible at it" she added with a chuckle and Chioma just rolled her eyes at her and returned her attention back to her phone.

Meanwhile, Femi had been watching the two sisters exchange words in a hushed tone. He admitted the fact that Chioma looked really pretty whenever she smiled or laughed, to him; she seemed like a bitter person - who seemed to never get pleased by anything. He also wondered what they were talking about that made her laugh so much. With the impression she had given him of her at the restaurant, he thought of her as a really rude and bitter person - who seemed to never get pleased by anything... But seeing her laugh, while their parents discussed, made him rethink things.

Maybe she was just having a bad day earlier. I wouldn't want to judge a book by its cover.

Femi thought. But he was snapped out of his reverie when he heard his name being called by his dad.

"Femi, Femi!" He called out and he answered.

"Yes dad?"

"Yes, um, we were just wondering if you'd like to introduce yourself to Chioma here. Maybe the two of you would like to know each other better while I discuss with my friend" he informed and Femi's eyes grew bigger than their usual size.

"But dad, there's no need for that. I can-"

"Don't worry, it's just a little conversation. What's the harm in that? What do you think, Chioma?" Mr. Aniobi said, thereby, cutting Femi off.

Chioma shot her father a look, and he knew that her look said it all.

I think that's the dumbest idea ever!

She literally screamed inside her head.

"Well?" Her father asked, acting oblivious of the looks she was sending him.

"Well dad, I don-"

"Ah-ah, Chioma just talk with him naw. What's the harm in talking? He's a really nice boy oh! And very handsome too... Or can't you see that?" Mrs. Aniobi added and Chioma shot her another look.

You think you know somebody... To think I actually thought she'd be on my side.

She thought, still giving her parents the look.

"Fine" she managed a fake smile and got up. Amara, on the other hand, couldn't hide her giggles. She felt like laughing so hard but then she had to stiffen her laughter and giggle instead. Chioma also shot her a look and she immediately zipped it.

"Let's go" Chioma said to Femi in a sweet but fake kind of way.

Femi also got up but knew that this might not end well. He wasn't dumb, he also knew what his old man was up to. He was shocked cause he considered his dad to be his partner-in-crime, and that's why he was surprised that his dad would even think about something like this.

His dad was well aware that he already had a girlfriend and she was also from a rich family, although they weren't as rich as Chioma's family. But his father knew that he actually liked this girl and she was also Yoruba. But instead he was busy trying to hook him up with his friend's daughter. Someone he barely knew, and not to mention, that they started off on the wrong foot. She was really rude to him back there, at the restaurant and he also demanded an apology for that. In all honesty, he made a mistake by bumping into her, but he apologized and so she didn't necessarily have to be so rude to him.

"Sure" Femi finally replied her and they walked to the balcony to talk as they were instructed. Femi also shot her one of his many fake smiles and she did same too.

They had their own separate thoughts, each gathering their words and trying to seem happy about it in front of their parents. But they both knew they'd have to drop the act when they were out of earshot and actually "get to know each other".

_______________

Ohk, so that's not really a cliffhanger but I fulfilled my promise. This chapter is actually longer than the last one and I think it's more interesting than the last one.

Anyway, what do you think will happen next? Please comment and tell me what you think would happen next and what you thought about this chapter.

And what do you guys think about Amara? I actually like her and I want to make her seem like a really jovial and funny person. Someone that lightens the mood.

PLEASE VOTE AND COMMENT 🙏
I REALLY NEED IT.

Thanks so much for reading this.

XOXO, Chisom 💝
Byes...