After the storm (18 page)

She
started talking about her spa business. She was obviously
passionate about it, and he liked that in anyone. Passion was
necessary in sustaining any business. Akeem listened politely but
found himself tuning out after a while. He already knew a lot about
spas anyway. His mother owned two of the best ones around, and she
was constantly offering him specials. He had accepted some of them
in the past but had stopped when Leila came back into town. He
didn't trust his mother. She just might appoint Leila as his
special masseuse, and he wouldn't know it until he got
there.

"Maybe
you can drop by my spa sometime when you are in Port Harcourt,"
Coral was saying. "I'll make sure we give you the VIP
treatment."

"Thanks,
I'll keep that in mind." Of course he had no intention of doing so.
He was not interested in Leila, this pretty lady batting her eyes
at him, or any other lady, for that matter.

"You're
just being polite, aren't you?"

Akeem
chuckled. "I didn't know that mind-reading was part of your many
virtues."

"Cute,
but I'm quite serious about the invite. Do drop by anytime you are
in town, and please be very assured that I don't bite."

"I
wouldn't think a lady like you capable of such."

She just
kept looking at him. "I'm not surprised women find you attractive,"
she said after a moment.

Akeem
quirked an eyebrow. She obviously didn't believe in beating about
the bush. In the past, before he got married, he might have taken
her up on her offer, but he was absolutely not interested now. He
looked up and was relieved to see Fadel and Emeka approaching the
table.

"My
invitation still stands," Coral said, just before they got to the
table.

"Noted."
Akeem nodded.

"So
sorry for taking Fadel away," Emeka said as he and Fadel sat down.
"I didn't know our discussion would take that long."

"No
worries," Akeem assured him. "Coral and I had an interesting time
together while you were gone."

They all
chatted for a while longer before Emeka and Coral left. Coral
managed to get Akeem's phone number, but he hardly took calls from
the number he gave her anyway. The phone was permanently with his
personal assistant on weekdays.

"Phew!"
Fadel whistled softly when they were out of earshot. "That lady
likes you, and she is not even bothering to hide it."

Akeem
grimaced. "Yeah…I'm lucky to still be in one piece."

"She's
pretty hot, though."

"Have
you seen my wife?"

Fadel
laughed. "Mine's pretty too, but eyeballing is free, no harm
done."

Chapter
10

Yemi
smiled after she disconnected the call with Abby. She and Abby
always ended up talking for much longer than she planned and of
course, at the end of each call came the inevitable invitation to
one programme or another at Abby's church, a popular Pentecostal
church in Victoria Island. Yemi always made sure she had a ready
answer. She drew the line at Pentecostal churches. She had made the
mistake of attending one or two in the past, and they had badgered
her with phone calls afterwards. Those kind of churches were
certainly not for her. She liked her privacy.

She
curled up on the sofa in the bedroom, switched on the TV, and
clicked to the fashion show she had recorded earlier in the week.
It was the Paris fashion week, and the designers and their models
were lighting up the runway.

Gisele
Bündchen swayed down the runway. The girl rocked! Next was Cerys
Briggs, and Yemi looked on in admiration. She was walking for
Versace, and she smoldered in the floor-length burgundy silk dress
she had on. Yemi was always excited to see Cerys. She was a
Nigerian who had made it big in the fashion industry after winning
a talent show, the MNET face of Africa, as a teenager. Now she
walked for some of the biggest names in the fashion industry
worldwide.

Yemi was
sorry when the show ended. She lay against the sofa, as she thought
about some of the designs she had just seen. That was something she
would like to do: dress women up in silk, satins, taffeta, and
other pretty fabrics that would bring out their inner beauty and
make them glow.

She
clicked to another recorded fashion show. It had just started when
the door opened and Akeem came in from his workout at the gym
downstairs. She allowed her eyes to run appreciatively over his
muscular frame. His sleeveless tank top stretched across his broad
chest, and the outline of his muscled midsection was clearly
visible beneath the thin fabric.

She blew
a low wolf whistle and sat up a little. What a beautiful man; not a
spare bit of flesh in sight. 

"What're
you looking at, woman?" he growled. "Aren't you supposed to be
watching the TV?"

She
winked at him as she hit the pause button on the remote control.
"Um, I just saw something better to look at, and my thoughts are
running wild." She let her eyes run over his long, bare, muscular
legs and pretended to swoon.

"Bad
girl." He came over to her and sat beside her on the sofa. "I
wonder what happened to the innocent girl I married?"

Yemi
shrugged. "Dunno, I moved in with some guy and became totally
corrupted." She ran her fingers over his upper arm, enjoying the
feel of his tightly coiled muscles beneath her fingertips. "Now my
mum won't believe what I've become."

"Let's
not tell her then," Akeem said softly, trailing his finger along
her cheek and putting his other arm around her. "What she doesn't
know won't hurt her."

"Very
true," she said, moving closer to him. "Nice…" she said, breathing
in his cologne. "Tell me, what would it take to give me a son who
looks exactly like you? A lot of work?"

He
smiled slowly, his eyes locked on hers. "Some…but I think I can
handle it." His voice was low and husky as he moved closer to her.
"Beats all those meetings at the office, anyway."

"I knew
you'd be up to it." She touched her lips to his before drawing
back, her eyes teasing him. "Now let me get back to my fashion
show."

"Not on
your life," Akeem growled, taking the remote control from her hands
and switching off the TV. He pulled her back towards him, but just
then, the doorbell buzzed and Akeem groaned. Yemi giggled at the
expression on his face as he reluctantly released her. She gave him
a quick kiss and went to the door.

Kufre
stood there with a crying Aleena in her arms. "Sorry to disturb
you, Ma, but Aleena has been crying for her father."

"No
worries." Yemi scooped the child into her arms and went back into
the room. As soon as Aleena saw her dad, she held out her
arms towards him. 

"Your
girl wants you," Yemi said to Akeem, handing her over to
him.

"What's
up, princess?" he said as he took Aleena from Yemi. He cuddled her
close to him. "Hush, sweetie, it's okay."

Aleena
put her little arms around his neck, and her sniffling gradually
stopped.

Akeem's
eyes met Yemi's over Aleena's head. "Later," he mouthed to her, and
Yemi laughed again at the expression on his face before he turned
his attention back to Aleena.

∞∞∞

"Should
I get you something to eat?" Nanzip, Mrs. Kadiri's housekeeper,
asked Yemi.

"Thanks,
but the drinks are okay," Yemi said with a smile.

Yemi
handed a fruit shoot to Aleena, who was sitting beside her on the
sofa. Aleena sucked on the straw, but her eyes remained firmly
fixed on the TV. She put the drink down a couple of minutes later,
and Yemi smiled at the animated look on her daughter's face as she
began to babble happily to the tunes coming from the cartoon
showing on the TV.

Yemi
glanced at her wristwatch. The maid had gone in to inform Mrs.
Kadiri of her presence some twenty minutes earlier, but Mrs. Kadiri
was yet to appear. Yemi shrugged. Maybe that was part of the
sacrifice she had to endure. She had taken her mother's advice to
try to get close to Akeem's mum. She would just have to grin and
bear whatever treatment was meted out to her for now until Mrs.
Kadiri's cold attitude towards her thawed.

Aleena
got up from her seat and moved closer to the television screen, but
Yemi put her back on the seat.

A few
minutes later, Mrs. Kadiri came into the sitting room.

"Good
afternoon, Ma," Yemi said, standing up. She had wanted to say,
"Mum," but the word always seemed to stick to her throat no matter
how hard she tried.

"Good
afternoon," her mother-in-law replied before turning to Aleena.
"Hello, Aleena," she said, with a slight smile at the little
girl.

"Aleena,
say hello to Grandma," Yemi urged Aleena, who suddenly appeared shy
and moved closer to Yemi. Yemi could not help comparing Aleena's
response to Akeem's mother with how she acted towards her maternal
grandmother; Aleena would have immediately run to Yemi's mother the
moment she saw her.

"Thanks
for the fruits you sent through the driver," Mrs. Kadiri said,
turning back to Yemi. "And thanks also for the kaftan."

"You are
welcome, Ma." She had made the outfit based on her estimation of
Mrs. Kadiri's size, as the latter had not supplied her with any
measurements despite several requests. "I hope the fit was
okay?"

"It
looked so. I have not tried it on yet."

"I can
make you some more if you like it," Yemi offered
eagerly. 

"Thank
you."

Mrs.
Kadiri sat down and crossed her legs. Yemi did not know what to say
next, so the silence dragged on for a few minutes, only
occasionally punctuated by Aleena's giggles.

"I
learnt that Nicole is getting married soon," Yemi finally said.
Nicole was Mrs. Kadiri's niece; Akeem had told her about the
wedding. 

"Yes,
she is. The wedding is in a month." 

"That's
great. I'll be more than happy to help out in any way that I
can."

"I'll
keep that in mind."

Another
bout of silence. Yemi was getting almost desperate to keep the
conversation flowing. "Aunt Kande must be so happy," she said,
referring to Nicole's mother, "since it's the first wedding in her
family."

Mrs.
Kadiri smiled drily. "Every mother is supposed to be happy
when their child gets married. Except for those mothers who have
been told that their opinion does not matter."

Yemi
knew that she was referring to her marriage to Akeem. She felt that
this might be the opportunity to smoothen things out. To make peace
with the mother of the man who meant the world to her. "I know
Akeem may have married me against your wishes…" She began
quietly.

"Oh, so
you know?" Mrs. Kadiri asked, cutting in. 

"And I
am sorry if he hurt you in the process."

Mrs.
Kadiri smiled a little sarcastically. "Are you really sorry,
Yemi?"

"I'm
sorry for any hurt caused. That wasn't our intention."

Mrs.
Kadiri studied Yemi for a moment before smiling derisively. "So
since you brought this up, what do you intend to do about
it?"

"Do
about it?" Yemi was confused.

"Yes, do
about it," Mrs. Kadiri repeated a little impatiently. "How do you
intend to right the wrong done to me?"

"I don't
understand," Yemi stammered, not liking the direction in which the
conversation was headed.

"Well
then, let me explain it to you clearly," Mrs. Kadiri said. "You
invaded my family and married my son against my wishes."

"I love
Akeem…"

"Is that
so? Then prove it."

"How?"
Yemi was perplexed. She was beginning to wish that she had not
come.

"Akeem
going against my wishes, and those of his family, has caused a lot
of awkwardness." Her eyes flicked over Yemi coldly. "You know it
yourself that you do not really fit in, and because you are not
comfortable in our gatherings, my son hardly comes for family
functions anymore." The annoyance in her voice was barely
contained. "We are a close-knit family, and I know my son can't be
happy being at loggerheads with me and other family members, so if
you really love him as you say, then do something about the
situation."

"I don't
understand," Yemi stammered. Aleena seemed to sense that something
was wrong and moved closer to her. Yemi picked her up and held her
close.

"Leave
Akeem." Mrs. Kadiri's cold voice sliced the tense air and
reverberated around in Yemi's head.

"Leave
my husband?"

"You
said you wanted to show me that you are sorry, didn't you?" Mrs.
Kadiri sneered. "I'm telling you the best way to show it. Leave
Akeem, and I will know that you are indeed sorry."

"You
want me to leave my husband? My home?" Yemi was almost in tears. "I
can't do that." 

"Then
you are not sorry." She leaned slightly forward, her cold eyes
boring through Yemi. "You are not the wife I want for my son. You
can leave honorably now, and I will make sure that Akeem takes care
of you financially and I will do the same too. I remember you told
me you were interested in doing your master's degree programme in
England. That is not a problem. I can finance your studies, buy you
a property, and help you to get settled down over
there…"