The other side of me 3

Picture: gotten from the movie "The photograph"

 The sun rose majestically in the sky and brightened the day. It also stayed glued to the sky till evening, giving the earthlings its light and beauty freely. It was Sara’s birthday and it was also a Saturday. Kosarachi had fabricated this day for Sara, to protect her identity and so, she never celebrated it, or her real birthday. The past weeks had gone by like a blur. Nifemi had begun to trust her but they didn’t get to see outside the office so often. Raven was back and inasmuch as Sara wanted the attention, Kosarachi understood. That’s why she was surprised when Nifemi called her at about 4pm when she was listening to Trey Songz “say ah”.

“Hi”, she answered.

“Happy birthday Sara”, Nifemi said.

“Err, thank you”, Sara replied. When last had someone wished her happy birthday? She couldn’t remember.

“Where are you?” he asked her.

“I’m home”, Sara answered.

“You can’t be serious, it’s your birthday young lady, you should be having fun”, Nifemi was exasperated.

“I don’t do birthdays Nifemi, bad childhood and all.”

“Well, I don’t care about that now. I care about you and I think you deserve a treat. Your childhood is long over. It’s time to enjoy your adulthood. Text me your address, I’m taking you out.”

Kosarachi wanted to object.  She had managed to keep him far away from her home. It was her private space, she never invited anyone but she also didn’t want to turn down Nifemi’s kind gesture. 

“What about Raven? It’s a Saturday and I’m sure she’ll want to see you.”  She hoped talking about Raven would make him forget about his plan.

“Would you just let me spoil you on your birthday.” 

Oh well, she thought wrong.

“Nifemi—”

“Sara, your address. Now!”

“Fine”, she texted the address and started to prepare. Nifemi was so stubborn. She was dressed as Sara before he arrived. It was a good thing that he chose her over Raven, wasn’t it?

                                                                                 ***

Nifemi arrived at Sara’s apartment with a birthday gift at about 6pm. He had had a difficult time picking out the gift because he didn’t know what she liked but he had settled for it anyways. He followed the directions she gave him on how to locate her apartment. He knocked on her door and she opened it. The gorgeous woman wore a black gown that stopped some inches above her knee and it brought out every curve of her body. It was an off shoulder gown that exposed her right shoulder and a glorious part of her smooth neck. Her lips were adorned with a deep red. She wore red heels that fit her slender legs and was the same color of her lips. Her wig was black, long and straight today. She always made his legs turn to jelly all the time.

“Hey birthday girl, you look great,” he said, when he finally found his voice.

“Thanks”, she simply said.

She invited him in but he noticed she wasn’t comfortable with it. 

“You look like you don’t want me here”, he said to her.

Sara didn’t know how to answer that so she used the Raven line. “I don’t want your psycho girlfriend to attack me.”

“Okay, today we’re not talking about Raven. It’s your birthday and we’re gonna have fun. So if you’re up for it, we could leave now. I got this for you by the way”, Nifemi handed her the gift.

“Yes, yes. I’m sorry. I should be grateful that you’re here and that you got me something. And I am grateful. Thanks for the gift, you didn’t have to.” She collected it but she didn’t open it.

He didn’t want her to be more uncomfortable so he offered for them to leave immediately. She placed the gift on one of the cushions in her small living room. He took in her space while she went into her room to do whatever it is she went in to do. Black leather cushions, a glass table in the middle of living room, a flat screen TV, white curtains and urban grey colored walls. She locked up and they left in Nifemi’s black Toyota.

 Nifemi took her to the movies first. They saw “the photograph” and he hoped that wasn’t a bad idea on his part. The movie was perfect but romantic, not what he should be watching with a lady he liked but couldn’t be with because no matter how hard he fought it, he liked Sara. Anyways, she seemed to have enjoyed the movie pretty well with her popcorn. After that, he took her to a nice restaurant for a birthday dinner. He watched her light up at the movies then at dinner. He kept watching her when he thought she wasn’t looking. She ordered fried rice with chicken and salad, washed down with red wine. He didn’t know the girl could eat so much. After that, they danced a little to the music that played in the restaurant. The best part of the night was when he bought a red velvet cake for her and how she jumped on him, smiling from chin to chin. He’d never forget that smile. He was happy she was happy. He thought of Raven for the first time and felt a little guilty. He didn’t know why. They drove back to her apartment at about 10pm just as the smell of rain filled the chilly night and the wind blew across the surface of the earth. The sun's heat had given way to the night’s cold.

                                                                                                    ***

Sara was elated. She was euphoric. She had a marvelous time with Nifemi and she didn’t want it to end. She opened her door and turned to him.

“I had a great time tonight, thanks for making my day special”, Sara said.

“You’re welcome Sara.” He leaned on the wall, with the cake in his hands, looking so handsome.

Sara looked at the cake and said, “I think you should come in and get a piece of that cake.” Without waiting for his reply, she turned back around to open her door.

Nifemi felt going in was a bad idea but he found himself following her into her apartment. Sara took the cake from him and placed it on the glass table. She was about to go get a knife from the kitchen when she spotted the gift she had abandoned on the chair. 

“Well, would you look at that. I had  totally forgotten you also got me a gift.” She picked it up and began to unwrap it on her way to the kitchen. He followed her there and watched patiently as she took off the last piece of the wrapping paper. She opened the box the wrapping paper protected and what she saw made her gasp. It was a pair of shoes; nude colored heels with beautiful gold designs. Sara’s favorite color. It was perfect.

“Nifemi”, her eyes were tearing up now, “no one has given me a birthday gift apart from my mum. No one has ever tried to make my birthday perfect the way you have today. Thank you.”

She dropped the shoes on the small kitchen bench and went into his arms. Uh-oh, she thought. Being in his arms was literally the best place to be in the world. She knew this because she had hugged him earlier that night. She stayed there, resting her head on his chest. He held her and didn’t speak. She raised her head and looked into his eyes for a few seconds before she stared at his lips. Her lips were so close to his right now. She imagined her lips on his, as she always did. That fantasy became a reality as soon as she touched her lips gently on his. He didn’t respond at first and Sara found herself apologizing.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry”, Sara moved a few inches away from him, “I shouldn’t have done that.” Why was she apologizing? Wasn’t this what she wanted?

Just then, lightning shot across the sky and thunder struck. Nifemi hadn’t taken his eyes off her. Neither had she.

                                                                                                           ***

Nifemi kept staring at her. He felt the cold breeze caress his face and he ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t want to think too much. He wanted to be here, with her.

“Ah, damn it, damn it all”, he said and went for her lips like a hungry lion as the first drops of rain touched the earth. She met his lips with the same fire. She sparked something in him and he wanted more. When she parted her lips for him to explore her mouth, he was in ecstasy. His tongue touched hers and his knees turned to liquid. She ran her fingers through his hair as he lifted her up and put her on the kitchen slab. Her legs wrapped around him immediately. He let his fingers caress her laps and her inner thighs; he wanted more of her. He planted kisses on her jaw and went on to savor her open neck. Nibbling slowly. They paused to catch their breath for a minute.

“What do you want Sara?” his voice was husky. He bit on her ear and heard her moan. That sound made him weak.

“You, I want you to kiss me”, she said, “just kiss me.”

And he did. He kissed her lips, her face and every other place she wanted. They made out while the rains became heavier. Their heat was enough to eradicate the cold outside. Nifemi couldn’t go home in the rain, even if he wanted to which he didn’t. He let her catch her breath again and she found the kitchen knife she had initially come for. They went back to the living room to enjoy the cake and the bottle of wine Sara had popped for her birthday.  

They enjoyed each other too, talking, kissing, laughing, caressing. Nifemi did only what she wanted. Sara was so carefree and happy with him. At about midnight,  Sara got blankets from her room and they both fell asleep in each other’s arms on the floor of her living room. Nifemi didn’t hear his phone ring when Raven called.

                                                                                                                                   ***

Kosarachi stirred. She had a dream last night, about Nifemi, holding her and kissing her, about cakes and birthday gifts, about movies and food, about lightning and thunder, about sweet wine and refreshing rain. She smiled with her eyes closed and tried to feel her soft mattress, only she wasn’t on her bed. She opened her eyes and found herself on the floor of her living room and someone’s arm was around her. She swallowed hard. Her dream wasn’t a dream after all.

 She lifted his arm steadily and sat up. She saw her wig on the chair and somehow through the revelry of last night, she had managed to take off her contacts. She saw the left over piece of cake, cups and the empty bottle of wine on the floor. She was still wearing her gown, which looked like a good thing. What had Sara done? Bring Nifemi into her private space. But wasn’t that what she wanted? She couldn’t stop asking herself that and she didn’t even have an answer. All she knew was that she felt vulnerable.

Nifemi stirred beside her and opened his eyes, smiling at her he greeted, “good morning beautiful.”

“What happened last night?” she asked.

Nifemi looked hurt by the question, but he answered anyways, “we didn’t have sex, if that’s what you meant.”

He stood up as Kosarachi exhaled a sigh of relief. She stood too, intending to put distance between them. He studied her a bit, her make up was a bit smeared, her lips were bare, he must have sucked off her lipstick. Her hair, gosh, her hair was gold and beautiful. Her eyes, brown and gorgeous. He finally found his voice, “this is the first time I’m seeing you without your wig or your contacts and the makeup and you’re very beautiful.”

“Nifemi—" 

Just then, a phone rang. it wasn’t hers which meant it was Nifemi’s. He muttered something under his breath as he searched for the phone. He found it and picked.

“Hello”, he said. She stared at him throughout the conversation.

“I’m fine Chika. I said I’m fine… yes, what? I didn’t know that. Ah jeez…okay, okay, I’ll call her. Thank you...I’ll go to church too. Yes I heard you, I’ll call her. Bye.”

“Who was that?” she asked.

“My sister”, he replied, “she said Raven called her to say she hadn’t heard from me—” He must have figured he shouldn’t have said that because he stopped talking and tried to come close to her.

She stepped away from him and said, “maybe you should go.”

“Sara, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t—”

“My name—" she almost blurted her real name. She took a deep breath, “please go, I need some space.”

“Could we just talk about last night.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. Please leave.”

Nifemi looked at her and felt defeated. He left her standing alone in her living room. She exhaled immediately he left. She rubbed her hands over her temples as a headache began to brew. Kosarachi didn’t understand what she was feeling. Guilt? Anger? Love? She didn’t know. Last night was great but reality had dawned on her. It was easier alone. Not thinking of anyone but herself. Now she had let Nifemi into her life and he had no idea who she was, the things she had done to survive. She had gotten what she wanted, he chose her  over his girlfriend, he took care of her for a change, yet she didn’t feel fulfilled. Maybe happiness wasn’t for her. She blamed the movie they had seen the night before. She had to get him out of her life, going after him was a mistake. She realized that now. She’d have to get another job too, it would be torture seeing him everyday. Besides, moving around was what she did best. She didn’t feel like watching “All about Lorena” that day. The stupid movie was all about love and she didn’t want to feel it. She tried arranging her living room before she took a shower.

                                                                    ***

“Well, any news?” he asked Obi on the phone.

“I think we’ve found her boss”, Obi spoke to the man on the end of the line, “she doesn’t look like her but it’s definitely her. I would never forget that face.”

“Good”, said the voice, “I don’t care how you do it, I want her, dead or alive. Preferably alive so I can kill  her myself.”

“Yes sir.” Obi hung up.

The man traced his finger on the scar on his cheek. After years of searching and waiting, soon he’ll get his hands on her and get the revenge he yearned for. He put his nostrils on the white substance on his table and inhaled. He was half way to the moon.