Tales of a Lagos Babe – Episode 5 [This love sha]

Read Previous Episode [Mr Anonymous]

I was listening to Omoyeni’s gist and answering my whatsapp message at the same time. It was Friday night and I finally had time to see the rugrats. We were seated at the pool side of Ember Creek waiting for Omotunde.

“Why is Omotunde late o?” I asked

Omoyeni rolled her eyes.

“What?” I asked suspiciously

“Labib ambushed her in front of her office”

“What! Like seriously!!! That guy needs to be arrested”

“Wait na, hear the gist first”

I dropped my non-alcoholic cocktail.

“Labib sent someone to her office earlier on with flowers, fresh flowers” she grinned.

I eyed her as she continued.

“He was waiting for her at her office gate when she closed. They are on their way here”

“What do you mean? He is not invited here, if he stays, I’ll leave”

“Take it easy now, Labib is not that bad” I was about to take her down the memory lane when they arrived. By ‘they’, I mean the ‘woman beater’ and my love stricken Omotunde.

“Hello Shalewa, Omoyeni” Labib greeted

Alright, Pause. Labib is every woman’s dream. He is from a respectable Muslim home. He’s an entertainment mogul; a very strong business man with lots of assets, money dey for pocket. He is tall, dark and handsome. Only problem is that he has anger issues, he is very insensitive to her needs, he could go without talking to her for a week, he enjoyed picking fights over little things and after they make up, he would monitor her around like a GPRS, she was not allowed to have male friends.. a very long list of why this ‘molue’ was wrong for her, and yeah, the worst of all, he recently started hitting Omotunde.

I answered with my nose. Omoyeni got up to hug him. I almost hissed with disgust

He whispered into Omotunde’s ear and she giggled while I looked away. Labib left us to enjoy our evening. Phew! Feelings ecstatic, if he had stayed, I would have dialed my own number, picked and tell a lie to the girls my mum needed me at home. Shior!

“So Omotunde, did he offer you a trip to Dubai this time?”

She smiled. “No, we just talked. His mum called me too”. She smiled again “we talked”

“You said that already” I said impatiently “That’s it, I don’t like your tone Shalewa”

“Sorry” I apologized shabbily and rolled my eyes.

“He said he was sorry and he would never do that again. I know this is the 2nd time and I kind of provoked him”

“Omotunde, you know I love you right?”

“Yes” she said with a tear rolling down her eye.

“Don’t cry, please” I got up to hug her

“I love him; I know he is wrong for me. I know he is but he loves me. He genuinely cares. We agreed to see a psychologist to help with his anger issues. I really don’t want you saying anything negative right now. Just be there for me, this is all I ask. I will take care of my own shit, ok?” She touched my face.

I stepped on Omoyeni’s feet expecting her to say something. She hugged us both instead.

I decided to let it go for now and interrupted the ‘hug for stupid love’ moment that was going on.

“Did I tell you guys about the anonymous whatsapp friend?”

“Yes you did, what about him?” Omotunde asked wiping her face with a Kleenex she pulled out from her bag.

“Remember I said I suspected Femi?”

“Yesss” they both chorused impatiently.

I laughed. Gist mongers.

“Turned out I was wrong. I checked his business card and the number did not tally.”

“Obrocho!!! What if he bought another line for this purpose” Omoyeni said.

“Wait na” I smiled and continued “I dialed the number when I was in his office”

“And..” Omoyeni interrupted

Omotunde shot her a ‘shut your trap’ look.

“I didn’t hear it ring in his office. I was thinking the phone must ‘have been placed on silence but few minutes later, while I was still in his office, I got a whatsapp message; it read playing detective Miss Benson?”

They both opened their mouth.

“And Femi was right there in front of you?” Omoyeni asked.

I nodded my head.

They both started to laugh uncontrollably.

I stared at what was left of my drink and smiled at them. My phone vibrated. It was a call from Mr. Anonymous.

“Omg!!! He’s calling”

“Who?” They both asked at the same time

“Mr. Anonymous”

“Pick na” Omotunde said pushing my phone to me

I did. “He.. He.. llo” I stuttered

“Hi Shalewa” I almost passed out. It was sultry, sexy and masculine, strong!

Omoyeni and Omotunde glued their ears to my phone.

“Hi” I whispered as I tried to place the voice. It almost sounded like Femi. Almost. Was it Femi??

“Since I’m a gentleman, I decided to return that call of yours”

“Ok, good for you” I smiled

“Can we meet?”

Omoyeni looked at me and whispered yes. She stared at me like a Mother asking her daughter to sweep the floor.

“sure, when?”

“Now”

“I do not think that would be possible right now” I bit my lips. I was dying to know if it is Femi. I changed my mind in seconds.

“We could meet up” I changed my mind

“I’d love that if it won’t be much of a trouble”

“Where?”

“I’ll let you pick”

Omoyeni signalled “here”

“Ember Creek” I said almost shouting.

“Cool, it’s just 5 mins drive from my home. I live in Queen’s drive. What time?”

“I’m there at the moment”.

“Alright then, I’ll see you in a bit”

I waited for him to hang up and faced the rugrats.

They both started to giggle. I got up quickly. “How do I look?”

“Relax jor, you look good”

I had on Ralph Lauren Polo, blue denim and a medium heel court shoe. My hair was tied up in a bun.

Omotunde’s phone rang and she excused herself to receive the call. Labib obviously.

“Omoyeni Adegbite, what was that?”

“What?” She frowned

“Why didn’t you tell Omotunde the truth? She deserves to be happy”.

“Shalewa, I really hate to see her sad. Labib has his shortcoming, who doesn’t? I am yet to come across a perfect man or a perfect relationship. Most relationships we term ‘great’ are seen that way mostly because the couples involved have found a way to patch things up”

“I know that, but not when a man starts abusing you physically, that’s beyond patching up”

She squeezed her eyes. It was her thing when she was talking about anything serious.

“You heard her say he will see a ‘shrink’. So fingers crossed”.

I was about to make a comment when Omotunde joined us. My phone vibrated, it was Mr. Anonymous. I picked up immediately.

“Hello Shalewa, I’m here”. My heart skipped a beat

Omoshalewa Benson: Tales of a Lagos babe is written by Tobilola ‘Bella’ Agoro (@tobiagoro)