The other side of me 2

 

Muse: Oluchi Joan Lambert, my dancer baby 🤗

Nifemi checked the time on his gold wristwatch. It was about 7:30pm. The hangout was for 7:45pm but he wanted to be there before Sara. He wanted to beat her at arriving early. He also wanted to give a good impression, it wasn’t every day Sara Williams asked someone to hangout with her. He took a sip of the drink he had ordered at the bar. He also sat at the bar because he enjoyed watching the mixologist/bartender play with the drinks at his disposal. He watched the pretty waitresses take drinks to the tables. The DJ played soft music which made the evening calm and cool.

Nifemi noticed some of the customers sitting at their own tables, eating fresh fish pepper soup, asun, goat meat, nkwobi and drinking. Some of the men had potbellies and looked older than the ladies with them. Some tables had just females, probably catching up on old times. Other tables had mostly only males, arguing about football or talking about girls. A larger table had shisha on it with lots of drinks, from beers to vodkas to wines and creams. It was surrounded by a group of guys and ladies. Everyone at the bar thought that what they were doing was a cool way to pass the Saturday evening. 

Nifemi was still a bit flabbergasted that Sara had asked them to hang this Saturday and not just anywhere, but at a bar. She had withdrawn from him after Raven had attacked her verbally a few weeks back.  He had tried to butter Sara up, buying her lunch since she wouldn’t go out with him, helping her with some work, dropping some compliments here and there. He even tried to say nice things about Raven, that she wasn’t always annoying. Raven had become very possessive of him that he could hardly breathe. Thank God she was out of town for the weekend but she called morning, afternoon and night. Jeez! 

His thoughts wandered back to the woman he was waiting for. She was a hard nut to crack. He knew nothing about her except what she revealed, which was very little. She never talked about herself and avoided every personal question he had ever asked her. To him, she was an enigma, which he admired and was curious about. Sara was beautiful and smart. She was creative. She was damn good at her job and at being secretive. He had learned to let her be. He was grateful that he was the only one she let get even that close to her in the office, though he thought it was because they were partners. She didn’t have a choice. He wondered if she had friends at all, what she did for fun, her favorite color, her favorite sport, what her real hair looked like… He wondered so much about her that he didn’t understand why he did. He was more than surprised when she came to his desk the day before, smiling genuinely. Sara didn’t smile much.

“Hi Nifemi”, she had said.

“Err, hi, Sara”, Nifemi said, “do you need something?”

“Must I need something to speak to you?” Sara pouted.

“No, I’m sorry”, Nifemi wasn’t sure why he was apologizing, but he did. He always had to comport himself around her.

“Anyways, I was wondering if you would like to get a drink tomorrow, that is if you don’t have plans with Raven or anyone else”, she asked, leaning on his desk. Her purple eyes fixed in him.

“I don’t have plans this weekend and Raven is out of town”, Nifemi didn’t know why he was compelled to tell her that last bit of information.

“Great, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then, Steve’s bar, say 7:45pm?”

“That’s fine with me”, Nifemi said. 

He was curious to find out what Sara did aside work. He was just curious about her. That was what he kept telling himself when his phone rang and brought him out of his thoughts.

“Where are you?” said the voice at the end of the line.

Nifemi hadn’t heard much of it over the phone but he knew that voice, besides her number was saved.

“I’m at the bar, Sara, sitting opposite the mixologist.”

She hung up and in less than 30 seconds, she was with him. He turned around just in time to see her walking towards him. He could only stare. He had seen Sara before and he knew she was beautiful but he wasn’t prepared to see her like this. She wore a purple wig, the same shade of her contacts. Her lips were glossy and she wore a black playsuit that exposed her beautiful, fair laps. Her nails were not too long and polished nude, same with her toe nails. She wore black sandals that were an inch high. She stood in front of him and he couldn’t say anything or move. He caught her scent and inhaled deeply. She smelled exquisite and sumptuous.

“Hi Nifemi, thank you for coming”, she said, looking into his eyes.

Nifemi blinked and came out of his trance, “hi Sara. Wow, you look gorgeous.”

“Thank you. You don’t look bad yourself”, Sara said, taking a seat beside him. Nifemi thought he looked simple in his jeans and cream t-shirt and the black sneakers he adored. But he had taken time selecting what to wear.

He tried not to look at her laps as she sat. He asked her what she wanted to drink, to distract himself. 

“I would like a martini ”, she answered.

“I didn’t know you liked alcohol”, Nifemi said to her.

“Well, you don’t know much about me.”

“True”, Nifemi said. “One martini for the lady and another shot of vodka for me”, he said to the bartender/mixologist. It was gonna be a long night.

 “One martini and vodka coming right up”, the mixologist answered.

                                 ***

Sara had noticed Nifemi staring at her and she was pleased. She was very proud of her outfit. She had read that appearance really mattered when it came to attracting a man. Her perfume was also an additional charm, smelling nice was part of the plan. She almost didn’t show up, her other self, Kosarachi was trying hard to keep her at their safe haven, her home. Kosarachi had tried to convince her that she didn’t need anyone else. She didn’t need to hangout with anyone, but Sara was dominant. She was getting Nifemi. Let someone else take care of her for a change. Besides, he seemed to have started the care, buying her lunch, complimenting her, all he needed was a little push.

“So, why are we here, Sara?” Nifemi asked as soon as the mixologist set their drinks in front of them.

“You’re no fun at all Nifemi”, Sara said sipping her martini.

When he didn’t say anything, she continued, “I want to get to know you more, I’m trying to be friendly. You always tell me to be friendly, this is me being friendly.”

Nifemi smiled. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, he probably only wore them to read. 

“Okay then, get to know me, ask me what you want, but, I’m also gonna ask you cos I want to know you too. So a question for a question?”

“Fine”, Sara said, “why do have a Yoruba first name and an Igbo surname? I am definitely sure that Uzondu is an Igbo name.”

Nifemi smiled, “My mum is Yoruba and I’m closer to her people than my dad’s. Maybe because of the distance from Lagos to Enugu. My dad is from Enugu and my mum is from Oyo. Anyways, Oluwanifemi is my first name. My second name is Chiemelie.”

Sara nodded, satisfied. She had sworn never to visit the East again. That was her past.

Nifemi continued, “I guess it’s my turn. What tribe are you? Your two names don’t give you away and I’ve never heard you speak a native language.”

“I’m Igbo”, Sara simply said, sipping her drink again.

“So, what’s your Igbo name?” Nifemi asked.

Sara couldn’t tell him her real name, so she lied, “Adanne”, she was her mother’s first daughter after all.

“Adanne”, Nifemi tested the name, “I like it. Why don’t you bear it?”

“It’s my turn to ask a question”, Sara evaded the question.

Nifemi smiled and sipped his drink, “go on.”

“Do you like working with me?” 

“I don’t want to talk about work here, Sara. But I’ll answer you because it’s simple. I don’t like working with you, I enjoy working with you. You’re an amazing partner.” He watched her genuinely smile at the compliment. Gosh, he wished he could make her smile like that all the time.

“I enjoy working with you too”, Sara said to him.

“What’s your favorite color?” He asked her

“Uhmm, let’s see; I don’t have a favorite color but I think I’d choose nude. Cos it’s just bare, like our skin. Unique.” She flashed her nails so he could see the color before sipping her drink. She asked him the same question.

“I like blue. No actual reason.”

They talked for a while, about their childhood, their education, their families. They ordered more drinks too, though Nifemi didn’t drink much cos he had to drive home. Where Sara couldn’t reveal the truth, she made up stories. She told him she was an orphan with no siblings. She told him she grew up in Onitsha, with her uncle, which wasn’t a lie. Nifemi had two older brothers and a younger sister. His sister still lived with his parents in Ikorodu while his brothers lived outside Lagos. One was married. Nifemi avoided telling her that he had met Raven through this sister. Sara avoided telling him that she had never been in a serious relationship. They shared jokes and Sara didn’t remember the last time she actually had fun with someone. They left the bar at about 9:30pm.

“Do you want a ride?” Nifemi asked her outside the bar.

Sara thought about it and decided against it. “No, I can get home on my own. I have an Uber booked already.”

Nifemi didn’t like leaving her alone at the bar so he waited for the Uber to arrive before he left.

The first thing Sara did when she got home was take off her wig. She ran her fingers over her gold head. She sighed deeply.

“What are you doing?” Kosarachi asked herself. “He has a girlfriend and you need to lay low. You can’t fall for anyone, you’ll be weak. You can’t fall for anyone, you’ll put them in danger.”

Kosarachi could feel Sara trying to resurface, but she suppressed that part of her. At home she was Kosarachi. She sighed again and went into her room to change. She took off her contacts and had a cold shower. When she came out of the bathroom, her phone beeped. Her phone hardly beeped on Saturdays. She picked it up and read the text she had just received. 

       “I had a great time tonight, Sara. Let’s do this again tomorrow. My treat, games and movies at my place. Tell me what you think…Nifemi.”

Kosarachi blinked. Nifemi had enjoyed her company, well, Sara's company. She quickly replied the text. She was free tomorrow. She had better use Nifemi's free time and enjoy his company before his psycho girlfriend got back to Lagos. She replied that she was free and asked him to send his address.

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The next day, Sara located Nifemi’s apartment at Ojuelegba. She had never been inside someone’s place in a long time. She remembered her University days in Joseph’s apartment as she knocked on Nifemi’s door. It was a bit weird for her and she was anxious that she might ruin the date. It wasn’t a date, was it? Just a hangout. Nifemi opened the door and she forgot about her anxiety. He looked so simple and completely adorable in shorts and a Barcelona jersey. Football fan alert!

“You came”, he said, standing aside for her to come in.

“You sound surprised”, she stepped inside.

“I am, I didn’t think you would. You look like an extrovert but act like an introvert.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you had me already figured out.” Sara sounded astonished.

“You’re messing with me. Please, have a seat. Welcome to my humble place. I’ll be right back”, Nifemi said, gesturing with his hands. He left her in the living room.

Sara sat on his red couch and took in his environment. His living room was different from hers. The walls were painted cream and the curtains were wine red, same as the couches. They also had white pillows. The center table looked like marble. There was a fashion magazine on it with the name Golden house of fab. She wondered what a female magazine was doing there, probably for his sister or Raven. She went through it and actually liked the designs.  She probably would try the designer one day. 

She memorized her IG handle and dropped  the magazine and continued looking around. The TV  was a few inches larger than hers and he had beautiful speakers. She also noticed the console of his game and saw stacks of video games. She didn’t own video games but she knew how to play. The knowledge also came with the job she had. On one side of the wall was a portrait of six people. She recognized only him and figured the rest were his family. His sister looked like his mum, so did he. There were also some art works that beautified the walls.

“You have a beautiful place”, she said to him as soon as he came back to the living room.

“Thank you”, he said. He had a bottle of Amarula in his hand and two glasses.

                                                                                                     ***

Nifemi was a bit nervous that Sara would bail on him. He didn’t breathe well till he opened the door and she was standing right in front of him. She looked good in her ash joggers and wine polo. Her hair was curly, full and black. She wore a sketchers footwear the same color as her polo. She smelled wonderful, like the previous night. He ushered her in and decided to treat her with cream. She had mentioned her love for Amarula the night before. After she complimented his home, he felt he should tell her that her fragrance made staying there even better.

“You smell exquisite, what’s your fragrance?” he asked, pouring her a drink.

Sara smiled softly at that, “It’s Rihanna’s nude. Thank you. And thanks for the drink.” She sipped some cream.

“You’re welcome. Let the party begin!” Nifemi said, setting up the games. 

 They played video games till their fingers were numb. Then they saw some movies and ate popcorn. Nifemi had created a cinema-like scene. After that, they talked again, about anything and everything. Sara had a great time. She had a great weekend with this guy. She left his house at about 7pm. All by herself, in front of her TV, Kosarachi wondered how Nifemi ended up with Raven, he deserved someone better, not even herself. What sort of name was Raven anyways, named after a bird.

“Stop it Kosara”, she chided, “you hate your own name, that’s why you’re bearing Sara.” She focused on the telenovela instead of her life which was taking a new turn. How could she be thinking of other people instead of herself?

                                                                                                 ***

   “Lorena, I'm sorry I lied about my father, but he deserved it. Will you forgive me, mi amor?” Sergio pleaded.

Lorena was dumbfounded, she hadn’t expected Sergio to apologize for what he did.

“Why do you want me back, why do you want my forgiveness? I left you. I should be the one asking for forgiveness. I thought I wasn’t good for you.”

“My love, you are good for me. You make me good. You make me want something good for others and not myself. I want to see more of that kindness, that goodness. Maybe I am selfish, but I want you for me. I am selfish for you. Eres la mujer de mi vida.”, Sergio pleaded.

Lorena couldn’t turn Sergio down. She knew he was right. She was good for him. She realized that when she left, he needed her goodness in his life. Without her, nothing else mattered. Without him too, nothing else mattered to her. She went to him and kissed him deeply. The episode ended there and the Spanish Melody sank deep into Kosarachi’s mind.

She didn’t like that Sergio went back to Lorena but she knew why, he loved her. Lorena was just a self righteous being. She sighed, she and Lorena might be different but they were both bitches. She wasn’t self righteous and she knew deep down that she wasn’t good for Nifemi, but she couldn’t help but think that he was good for her. He brought out something else, another part of her she didn’t know existed. The fun part. He made her smile and laugh. She had to keep up with Sara's plan. Nifemi could bring out more parts of her she didn’t know she had. Maybe she even had goodness and kindness. Maybe she was capable and worthy of love.