Brume stood there looking confused about what just happened as the car drive off. He felt like it was something off of a movie scene because nothing like that would happen in a real-life situation if it wasn't well written. There was trembling in his body, sweaty palms and forehead, and he was sweating profusely.
"What was that all about?" asked Nkechi, standing behind him.
Brume was jumpy when he heard that, and then said, "have you been down all these while?"
"Yes, I have. As soon as you were all out of sight, I followed quietly."
"That was risky of you to do that."
"Well, I can't say for sure, but what was all that about?"
"Just work stuff, nothing more." Brume wanted to save her the stress of knowing anything more because he sensed it'll be too dangerous for her to know.
"Work stuff, and they came to get you forcefully? Why are you even sweating then?"
"Just work stuff." He rose his hand and used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face.
Brume figured if he told Nkechi all that happened, he would complicate things more for himself because he hadn't figured out what it was all about, and the only person he could call to ask for the information was the boss himself, the owner of the Bicycle Palace, but then, he needed to be clear on what Mr Gilbert meant by him not making the same mistakes his predecessor made. He had to try to connect the dots himself, he had been a part of the company and the board for as long as he could remember and he was sure his predecessor died of natural causes, but it was all beginning to change because nothing was making sense for he was about to be a part of something extremely dangerous if he hadn't been a part of it already. He picked up his phone and put a call through to the manager and told him to meet him up where he was, at Silverbird cinemas, in the Central Area of Abuja.
Nkechi saw the concerns in Brume's body language and it made her so curious to want to know more. She wanted to know the kind of trouble he was in, to make men threaten him with a gun.
While they still stood there contemplating, Brume's phone beeped, it was a message from the manager, asking if Brume could meet him at the Bicycle Palace instead, it was better they don't meet in an open place. When he finished reading the message, his suspicions grew.
"How did this guys know where I was? Have they been following me?" he thought to himself.
He held Nkechi by the hand and led her to the car for them to leave because to him, their hangout and date were officially over for the day.
"Who were those men, Brume?" Nkechi asked as the car drove out of the gate.
"Okay, it was my Boss's brother. All that was just a drill, an exercise."
"A drill, an exercise and you had to be shown a gun?" Nkechi wasn't buying his lies.
"Oh that. It wasn't a real gun. The exercise is just to show me the need to have bodyguards and to be alert at all times." Brume sounded more convincing.
"That makes sense now. Okay, but why would a bicycle shop be needing all that if there's nothing more to it?"
Nkechi just said his exact thought about the whole thing, nothing made sense, and nothing was adding up. Brume didn't lie and also didn't say the complete truth because he had to protect her from whatever it was, since he doesn't know what it was yet and had to find out.
-----
Efe was still waiting for Aisha to tell him how she knew his brother, but she wasn't willing to talk yet. She was still in a bit of shock that he was caught up in something and neither of the 3 involved in it was aware. She began to project what would happen if she told him that Brume was the other guy who made her friend Nkechi not want to be with him, and it would have turned out worse if she was the one to give him that information.
"Don't you want to order something, aren't you feeling hungry?" Aisha asked to try to get his mind off wanting to know how she knew his brother.
The gimmicks she resorted to was so obvious to Efe that she wanted to use food as a way to get him to forget about the information he needed, but he played along and called the waitress and placed his order.
"I am hungry, no doubt and I have placed my order. So, tell me what I need to know."
"Look Efe, I am not telling you anything. When your order comes, you eat and we both leave here."
There was something much more she was hiding and he could tell, but he chose to ignore it, acted less concerned and waited for his food to arrive.
"I wonder what we all saw in spaghetti today," said Aisha when the food arrived.
"Well, I wanted to have what you and Shola had. Since there was no complaint about the food, then it must be good."
"It tastes good, o wish I could have more but I am full," said Aisha.
Efe took his first and liked the taste and his stomach growled to remind him how hungry he had been, then he signalled to the waitress to bring another plate of spaghetti for him.
There was a stare of excitement from Aisha, she was pleased that he looked happier and all the pressure he put on himself earlier in the day was something of the past, so she thought, but she never realised Efe was playing all cool for a better time to know what Aisha was hiding. And for that brief moment, she was in the clear of his enquiries, thanks to the spaghetti.
From her observations, Efe was an interesting person who just got caught in something called love and she didn't blame him for not letting it go easily.
"I am happy you are way past your depressed mood now."
Efe turned to her and said, "all thanks to you for forcing me out, and sorry for being ungrateful and walking out on you before."