Leah is seated at home, in her living room, reading a magazine when she heard a knock on the door. She waited for some seconds as took a sip from her glass of orange juice, before she stood to open the door. As she opened the door, she saw her two friends Esther and Simi. Instantly her friends shout.
"friend!" Esther and Simi shout. And Leah shouted back the same thing but with a pout on her face. They pulled themselves into a tight hug and remained like that for a while before Leah spoke up.
"you guys are being over dramatic, especially you Simi" she says as she struggles to speak. Simi pinches her and they both hug her tighter. "okay, that's enough hugging" she says as she tries to pull herself out of the hug and after much struggle she succeeds. "thank you for not killing me with hugs" she said to them and they laughed.
"one would think that we have not seen or heard from each other in forever" Leah said to them as they took their seat.
"oh, but it's been ages darling" Simi said, using a British accent, and added a smile at the end of it.
"look at you, you guys look good" Leah says with so much cheerfulness, she felt truly happy to see her friends.
"you look better" Esther said.
"don't mind her, she con dey whine us" Simi said.
"how can you still speak this English and still do a good British accent?" Leah asked, still confused as to why her friend would always like to speak pigin, when she could speak a better and clearer English, even do a couple of accents.
"it's called talent baby. Something you guys don't understand. But you, you my friend, you have started to grasp the meaning of the concept. We've heard about your tale now. Dating in America, engaged in Europe. Then wedding in Africa, honeymoon in Asia" Simi said, hailing Leah.
"that's me" Leah cooed.
"show us the ring" Esther urged, latterly begging with her eyes for Leah to show them her engagement ring. Leah stretches forth her left hand and then shows them. "it's beautiful" Esther said with so much admiration, the glint was in her eyes.
"it is. But I would have expected that if you made the guy fly all the way to London just to propose, leaving his business behind, then he would have bought you a much bigger rock" Simi said, in a playful-serious tone.
"Simi!" Esther called as a caution to Simi, so she would stop speak and watch her words. Simi gave Esther a "what?" look. Leah scoffed and spoke, just wanting to end any more talks from Simi.
"I told him I wanted something simple".
"really? Now I know that your simple is a very expensive diamond ring. You think I've not seen that thing in the market" Simi said, without envy or any displeasure but was just amused by her friend's definition of simple.
"well you can't blame my fiancée for taking no for an answer" Leah said with a hint of pride.
"hmm, Jude money. Jude spending" Simi cheered.
"that's my boo" Leah said with a smile as she waved her hand in the air. They laughed for a while and Esther only spoke again after their laugh had died down.
"speaking of, have you seen Jude… and have you heard?" Esther asked.
"yes to both" Leah answered.
"so, what did he say?" Esther asked.
"well, I busted into his office, all flared up, you know me" Leah said and they nodded, then she continued. "he explained that dad just wanted him to fill the space, that it was temporary" Leah said, as she started to explain her visit to Jude the previous day.
"he did state that it was sort of my fault for not being available, but I reminded him that I had a business before dad wanted to pull me out of it. We got to more talking, bringing up the Texas incident" she says and her friends laugh. "then we kissed, and he just stopped in the middle of the kiss and told me he loved me and I told him I loved him too"
"awn. That's so sweet" Esther and Simi say in unison with a smile on their face, that if they were light skinned, the redness in their checks would have been seen. Meanwhile, Leah smiled sheepishly, partly because she remembered how the kiss was and how the air felt so good at the time her and Jude were together. And mostly because of how her friends were reacting to her love story.
"uh, look at you" Simi said in response to Leah's sheepish smile. "so, what are you going to be doing in the mean time?" Simi asked.
"same question I asked him. He then told me, that he had something I could do. That there's a place I would have to go, it's in Lagos and I can't tell out all the details. Let's just call it a little road trip" Leah said, as she remembered Jude's plea with her to not let anyone know where she was going and what she was doing. It was because he was sending her on an assignment that he was to do, and he didn't want her father to find out that he had not done it till now, given that he said he already had.
"but you just got back!" Simi said, not feeling too excited about the news that Leah was leaving, just two days after she got back.
"what I said! But it's just a short visit I need to make to the mainland, and I'll be back in a couple of days" Leah said. Esther and Simi give a sad sigh, their displeasure in it, evident in their sigh. "It's okay, I won't be gone for long. Once I'm done delivering, I'll be back to you girls" Leah said in an attempt to raise their spirits. She didn't like seeing her friends said.
"where in the mainland are you going to?" Simi asked. She wanted to show support to her friend, even though she was not too happy with the news, to her, that's what friends are for.
"Osodi" Leah said and her friends immediately gave her a look.
"can you survive a day in Oshodi?" Simi asked.
"I can and I will, I'm a travel vlogger for Christ's sake. Don't worry ladies when I get back, we will have a splash, glitz and glam. We, are going to have a blast ladies" she said the last sentence as an effort to cheer up her friends and it worked. Immediately, Simi's countenance changed and her spirit was lifted.
"hmm, friend… that's my friend bi…" Simi was saying, but then got cut short by the look of warning Leah gave her concerning the word she was about to say.
"you want my mother to come down here and kill you?" Leah asked, though it was a rhetorical question.
"sorry, I forgot. Oya Esther, vibe" Simi said, stopping herself from getting a beating or a serious word of admonition from Leah's mom, that's if it was a good day. And with Leah's mom, when it came to these things, there was no telling when it was going to be a good day or not in her own calendar. The rules were very simple, no cursing in her home. Be you stranger or a house member, as long as you are under her roof, you act by her rules.
"friend… friend…" Esther stared. Setting the pace for Simi to enter.
"my friend, my friend. Bad bi…" she is saying again and is cut short by Leah and Esther's look to her. Simi sighs out of frustration.
"how am I supposed to na say this thing? How can I not say it? Wo, we need to get out of your house ooh. Come hope this is not where we are doing all the glam" she says but Leah and Esther laugh. "it's not a laughing matter. Let me know now, so I will know if I will un-invite myself" Simi said, matter-of-factly.
"you are a clown" Leah stated with a smile.
"as in. but friend I want to be like you, when I grow up. Spending should just be oozing out of me" Esther said.
SIMI: see this one. Instead of you to go and be making your own money, you are opening mouth wa, and just be saying what I don't know.
"ahan, Simi what is it?" Esther asked, her and Leah sharing a confused look as to what Simi had said.
"what is not it? What is not it? Instead of wishing here and there, you should be angry in the spirit.
"angry in the spirit?" Leah asked, her and Esther still confused as to where Simi was headed.
"yes. Is it her parent's money she is spending no. Be angry in the spirit. Be angry. Not if wishes were horses. Be angry" Simi said. As realization of what Simi was saying hit Leah and Esther, they began to laugh, then Esther playfully hissed.
"what churches have you been attending?" Leah asks, in between laughs.
"this one that is a church ashawo. No permanent place of worship" Esther said.
"me I like fire o" Simi said which caused her friends and they moved on to catch up on other things they had missed in the time Leah was away.