After the two cars were taken away by the mechanic to the auto workshop to be fixed, Abby went with Tunde with the promise that she would be back in school the following day if she feels better while Emma was left with Leo and Titi
Emma insisted on sitting with Titi at the back seat while Leo sat with the driver at the front. The excuse she gave was that she wanted to get to know Titi better, but who was she deceiving? When she knew deep down inside her that the real reason why she didn't want to seat with Leo was that she's started to feel nervous all over again
The false bravado she was showing before has suddenly left her high and dry, now she was back to feeling nervous wondering what she would say to him if they were left alone with each other
All through the drive to their school, the two girls chatted, truly getting to know each other while Leo had a quick visual meeting with his assistant and Yusuf, the intern that was placed inside the human resources department.
After they were done with the meeting, he asked his assistant to cancel his meeting for the rest of the morning before sending a quick text to Titi
[When the car stopped, no need for you to hang around, just go ahead by yourself, I would like to talk to Emma alone, okay?] Leo texted. If they were going to get married then they needed to clear some, if not all of the misunderstandings between them.
[Okay...] Titi replied to the text smiling at her phone
When the car parked, Leo didn't even wait for Titi to give Emma a reasonable excuse before he swiftly got out of the car. He walked to Titi's side of the car and opened the door for her, practically asking her to hurry out of his car without actually saying it.
"So uhmm... I guess I'll see you later at the hostel..." Titi said and giggled before dashing past Leo who already had an impatient look on his face.
"I should go too... So thank you for helping me out today." Emma said awkwardly when she saw Leo was now sitting beside her. She turned, about to reach for the door handle when Leo called softly behind her...
"Ayinke wait..."
Emma felt warm all over and her heart did a staccato at how sweet her name sounded coming from his mouth. She could swear he even pronounces her name better than grandma that named her. But no matter how sweet her name sounded coming from him, Emma felt he has not earned the right to call her that
"It's Emma..." She managed to croak out, barely stopping herself from jumping into his arms
"Uhh?..."
Emma cleared her throat so he could hear her clearly...
"Only my grandma calls me Ayinke... So it's Emma to you." She repeated her statement, her voice strong and her eyes stared unwaveringly at him.
"Okay, my bad! Uhmm... I just want us to talk. I know that was just a show you put out back at the scene of the accident. We are getting married and uhmm, I would like if we could clear out some issues between us and... Apology!... I mean I know I owe you an apology after what happened between us yesterday..."
"Okay..." Emma promptly agreed to what he was saying
"You mean..."
"You wanted to talk right? So let's talk!"
"Yeah... Okay, thanks..." Leo replied with relief before saying towards his driver...
"Mat, straight to the duplex at Magodo..."
"Wait, wait, wait... What do you think you're doing? Why are we going to Magodo?"
"It's my house..."
"Yeah, why are we going to your house!?" Emma did her best not to sound like a scared little child when she saw the driver was already driving out of the parking space.
'Is he mad!? What does he think he's doing, taking me to his house? Did he want to finish what he started yesterday!?'
"Relax please, we're just going there to talk uninterrupted... We couldn't stay cooped and talk in the car, neither could we talk in your hostel... And since it's too early to go to any restaurant..." Leo shrugged leaving the rest of his sentence unsaid like he was telling her to reason and fill in the blank
Emma looked at him for some time trying to read how sincere he was from his facial expression. What he said actually made sense. They really need to talk and since she couldn't invite a man into her room this early in the morning then she has no excuse not to follow him. They are getting married in two weeks anyway and they would probably live there together
"Just so you know, I know some self-defense. It won't be like the last time... I won't allow you to put your hands on me ever again." She said fiercely, her eyes bored into his
Leo lowered his gaze from hers and sighed deeply. "I'm truly sorry about that Emma... Yesterday was a mistake that I pray would never, ever happen again. I wish I could tell you it was a mystery to me... I know that sounded far-fetched but it's simply the truth... I'm very sorry!"
Emma looked away from him and out the window, staring at the passing traffic without actually seeing anything. Seriously contemplating what he said in her heart...
'What happened yesterday was a mystery to him?' She asked herself, remembering what Abby said about finding ice frost on her at a time when the weather was very hot.
There are so many mysteries in her life recently that she needed her grandmother to really explain to her. The ice frost incident for example and why she must carry around a flask of tea to calm her temper. Her temper has always been the same, it has never changed so why is it now that she needs to be taking the calming tea? Why not before?
The rest of the drive to his house was in silence. Emma's face was turned away from him until they arrived at his house. The gate swung in automatically for them as the car drove in.
It was love at first sight when Emma saw his house. She was truly impressed by the simplicity and yet stylish way that the house was built and couldn't help but exclaimed in admiration when they stepped out of the car
"Wow this is beautiful, I love it... Are we staying here after the wedding?" Emma asked, her eyes twinkling with admiration
Leo looked at her and marveled at how she found it very easy to switch between emotions. He was yet to recover from the hurt he saw in her eyes after he apologized to her and here she was practically twirling around happily like a little girl seeing Disney land for the first time because of a house.
"You like the place that much," He asked and smiled at how truly happy she was at the sight of a house he hardly spend two nights in,
"Yeah... It's simple yet very elegant. Are we going to be staying here?
"No... We're staying at a much bigger house than this... He said, expecting her to jump up for joy. If she could be this happy by this simple house then she would be over the moon at the sight of grandpa's mansion. He was however surprised to see that she was not pleased by that idea. How would she now feel if she found out she would be staying with the members of his family?
"You can have it if you love it so much," Leo said to put the happiness back on her face.
Emma couldn't hide her sadness when she heard she won't be leaving in the house she fell in love with at first sight. She was however surprised when she heard Leo said she can have the house.
"Huh?..." She looked at Leo with mouth agape. "I can have the house?... You're just going to hand your house over to me?" She asked in amazement
"Yeah, it's just a house, what's the big deal... Call it a wedding gift, part of your dowry or whatever" He said as they entered inside.
Leo already removed his jacket by the time they entered inside... "Excuse me while I go change., I've never been comfortable in this..." He said, tugging at his tie to lose the knot while he walked up the stairs.
"Do you mind if I look around?" She asked at his retreating back
"It's yours now, why would I mind?"