Chapter 1
Teniola Adeyemi lay on her bed, hands behind her head dressed in a flimsy light piece of clothing, the pink singlet lay careless lay on her chest leaving decent view of her bossom as she heaves up and down, her room dimly lit with fan rolling slowly just a over her, staring at the cracked ceiling of her tiny apartment. It was a Saturday and she had decided to take a day off from work.
Her apartment painted in dusty pink with lots of shimmer from the shimmer sand she bought from a vendor on telegram is a single room what we would typically call a self contain but thanks to Lagos landlords and their funny way of managing their land and resources to build houses it is giving a cramped tiny space, well Teni's room is not left out in the funny way, her room is spacious yet not so spacious given the amount of space between her room and the bathroom and kitchen. The buzzing heat of Lagos filtered through her half-open window, but she barely noticed. The real problem sat heavily in her email inbox, overdue bills, pending rent, and a slow business that refused to take off.
Her jewelry brand, Teni Luxe, had once felt like a dream. After winning a business grant in university, she poured every naira into turning her passion into a company. But now? That dream felt like a joke. Sales were slow, too slow. What could have gone wrong? Was she not running ads with the right celebrity? She has spent a lot on Snapchat ads and Instagram ads past few months, or is it her engagement and contents that are not giving what it should give? She had so many questions.
Her fingers hovered over her phone. A WhatsApp message from her landlord stared back at her.
Landlord: Teniola, I've been patient, but you need to pay up this week or find somewhere else. No excuses.
Her chest tightened. Find somewhere else? Where? She buried her face in her pillow. This wasn't how things were supposed to go, She had worked too damn hard, sacrificed too much to end up like this, broke, frustrated, and stuck.
Her phone rang, snapping her out of her thoughts. It was Chisom, her best friend and the only person who hadn't given up on her.
"Babe, open your door," Chisom's voice rang out. "I'm outsideeeee."
Teni groaned but dragged herself up, pushing aside scattered pieces of jewelry and sketchbooks as she made her way to the door, barefooted she strides across the room to get the door, her reflection caught on the full aesthetic mirror just before she got to the door, "damnnn see shape and skin" she muttered under her breathe, she had always swooned over her body shape and skin color, "self love" as her friend will say, the second she opened it, Chisom pushed past her, carrying a brown paper bag and a bottle of wine she packed from one of her friend's birthday bash the day before, stopping mid way to access her friend because of the sniff she caught on her she rolled her eyes and bobbed her head "you this girl will never change, you wore perfume to bed again, it's just 8:45 am and you smell like pure bliss" Teni chuckled, locked the door and stood akimbo, "what's that?" she asked her friend who was carrying a brown bag and holding a wine with her left hand
"Emergency survival kit, grilled chicken and wine" Chisom announced, waving the food in the air. "Eat first, then we find a way out of this mess." Teni let out a tired laugh. "Unless that grilled chicken comes with two million naira, I'm still doomed." Chisom rolled her eyes and sat on the bed. "Your problem is you're thinking small. Have you considered reaching out to bigger clients? People who can actually afford luxury jewelry?"
Teni sighed. "And where exactly do I find rich clients, Chi? They're not just walking around waiting to buy my designs." Chisom smirked. "Actually… I know a way."
Teni raised an eyebrow. She knew that look. She watched keenly and listened attentively to what her friend was saying as they devoured the grilled chicken and washed it down with the wine which was cold now thanks to the ice blocks in Teni's fridge, everything was perfect for the time being she had someone to talk with dragging her out of the shambles she was in earlier. After the meal they decided to see a movie on Teni's iPad, her Netflix subscription still runs till the next month, since it was a lazy day for both of them. Their movie was interrupted by a call from Kemi, Teni's assistant, she dragged before she picked the call giving her friend a knowing look, "I don't know why this girl won't let me have my free day to myself! It's just 3 hours into the day and she's calling already"
"Hello" the call went on for a 100 seconds before the conversation ended, Teni jolted to her feet after the call while Chisom face went pale, with the speed of light Teni was on her way to the bathroom while Chisom was rummaging her wardrobe for some fits to throw on after her bath, the two of them had no time to discuss what happened since they both heard what Kemi said over the phone.