Nina George Osiri couldn't take her eyes off the bustling Akárá junction as Michael Orji drove the rented white bus, despite her pleas for him to flaunt his own fancy cars from his collection in Aba.
She hoped Michael had driven his latest Lexus so she could show it off to her siblings, who always boasted about their wealthy spouses. She wanted to prove that her fiancé was not just rich but also the finest gentleman she had ever known, just as her parents had always desired.
"Babe, why are you grinning?" Michael asked, glancing at her before returning his focus to the road.
"We're finally tying the knot!" Nina exclaimed, snapping pictures of Michael with her new iPhone that he had gifted her on her birthday six months ago. She couldn't resist sharing them on her WhatsApp status.
"These are the happiest moments of my life. I'll love and cherish you forever," Michael chuckled, flashing his dazzling white teeth at Nina.
"Did you pick those lines from a corny romance series?" Nina teased while recording a video of him.
"Um," Michael sighed, unsure of how to respond. "Please don't tell me you're posting that," he pleaded, covering half of his face with his hand.
"Listen to this! 'He's so handsome. Is that your groom?'" Nina read aloud, going through the comments that appeared during her live stream.
"Oh God," Michael grumbled in defeat. "Oga, can't you see? Watch where you're going!" he yelled at a rickshaw driver who nearly collided with their bus.
"Abeg, carry this carton commot for road," the skinny rag-dressed driver shouted at Michael and drove ahead of their bus.
"Just ignore him, Mike," Kalu, a friend of Michael and his best man-to-be, advised Michael.
"I just can't stand how these drivers act," Sonia Nwanmuo, a light-skinned pretty lady who is Nina's best friend and the chief bridesmaid to her wedding, remarked, flicking a twirl of hair that had stuck out from her wig backwards.
"You really can't find normal people these days," Esther, Michael's employee, chimed in from the back seat alongside Tonia, Chisom, and Otitochukwu, who were nurses in the same lab where Nina worked as a lab technician.
"Sir Mike, can you wind down your screens so I can buy some gala (sausages) and a soft drink?" Frank, a tall fair guy with a thick beard who is the cameraman for their wedding, requested, unzipping the front pockets of his fake Aba-made Versace polo.
"Don't worry; I'll just order food from online vendors," Michael said, picking up his cellphone from the car panel.
"I'm already enjoying this journey," Vicky, an ebony black girl with purple hair extensions, exclaimed loudly, causing Nina to chuckle as she knew they all admired Michael for his wealth. But was she left out? Definitely not. Thanks to her parents, she thought, staring out into the road.
"Her dad, her mum, and Morrison, her little brother, were all treating her fairly now because of Michael.
"Babe, I hope you're not spending too much," Nina asked Michael with concern, thinking he was spending too much on his mates and workmates.
"It's nothing compared to what I pay for my haircut in a week," Michael whispered softly in her ear, causing Nina to roll her eyes; she'd heard enough of his boasting for the day.
"You're showing off again," Nina taunted, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Can you guys stop teasing us already?" Tonia said from the backseat, resulting in laughter from everyone on the bus.
"I'm not single; I'm getting married soon, and you're all invited," Sonia said with a shrug, feeling a hint of jealousy. She said that to make herself feel better, thinking Nina was better and luckier than she was. She was the prettiest, the smartest, and had always gotten the best of everything since their high school days.
"Are you okay, Sonia?" Nina asked, snapping Sonia out of her thoughts.
"I'm... I'm fine," Sonia stuttered, narrowing her eyes at Nina. "I'm just feeling homesick," she lied, forcing a smile on her face.
"Nina, our wife," Kevin, a close friend of Michael, said, stroking his overgrown, roughened beard.
"I'm Michael's wife, not anyone else's," Nina replied with a quirky smile, hoping they would stop talking about her.
"Don't make my wife uncomfortable, Kevin," Michael said, staring at Nina's face.
"Whatever" Kevin yawned.
Finding nothing offensive in the words he had said.