After the storm (4 page)

"I can't
believe I'm going back home in two days," Yemi said, as she worked
the seatbelt around her waist. "The days have simply
flown."

"They
certainly have," Akeem said as he backed out of the car park and
headed towards the main road.

Yemi
chatted on, but she noticed that Akeem was in a rather quiet mood
as he drove through the fairly busy streets. She put it down to his
hectic schedule and was glad she had insisted on taking the train
to his place. About fifteen minutes later, he pulled up to a
nice-looking block of apartments, and they took the lifts to the
sixth floor where his apartment was.

"Mmmm,
this is really nice," Yemi said when they got into his apartment.
She moved slowly around the room, taking in the simple yet very
elegant décor. There was a masculine feel to the apartment, and it
was done up majorly in chocolate and magnolia, but there were also
light touches of turquoise here and there. She particularly liked
the unusually shaped art deco furniture. It gave the otherwise very
modern apartment a somewhat retro look. "Did you decorate
yourself?" she asked as she came to a stop by the oak-finished
dining table.

He
smiled. "I wish I could lay claim to that but no, I hired an
interior decorator."

"Well,
he or she did a really good job." Yemi walked over to the tall
French windows and looked out. "Whoa, look at that view! I could
stand here for hours."

Akeem
walked over to her side. "That was one of the things that attracted
me to this place." He placed his arm around her and turned her
round to face him. "But today you're not going to spend hours
gazing out of the window. I need your full attention on
me."

"But you
have my full attention always, even when I'm gazing out of the
window."

Akeem
looked down at her smiling face for a moment and then tweaked her
nose lightly. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll
miss you too," Yemi admitted. Akeem still had about five days left
in England to complete his work. "But at least we'll talk every
day." She shook her head slightly. "It still seems amazing though,
that I've known you for just ten days!"

"I've
known you forever; I've just been waiting for you to show
up."

Yemi
felt the now-familiar fluttering stirring within her at the look in
his eyes. She had decided to "go with the flow," as Tola had
advised her to. She had no choice, anyway; the guy had completely
taken over her heart. "And to think that we had to meet outside
Nigeria."

He
shrugged. "We could also have bumped into each other on the streets
of Lagos."

She
smiled slightly. "What street? We live miles apart."

Akeem
moved a little closer, his gaze getting more intense. "I feel that
we would have still met somehow," he said a little
huskily.

Yemi
lowered her eyes. The air was getting too charged up. She hoped
that coming to his apartment was not a bad idea. "Have you eaten?"
she asked lightly.

"No, I
was waiting for you before ordering something in."

"You
don't have to do that. I brought some food with me. That's what's
in the other bag," she moved towards the dining table where she had
dropped her bags. "The kitchen is that way, isn't it?" she asked,
pointing towards the open doorway, and he nodded.

They
talked as they ate. He complimented the stir-fried rice with spicy
grilled fish that she had prepared, and she felt pleased. But he
was still in a rather quiet mood and didn't seem as excited as she
was about going back to Nigeria.

After
they finished eating, they did the washing up together. He got out
a bottle of wine, and they returned to the lounge. Akeem handed her
the remote control, and she giggled at the expression on his face
when he saw the chick flick that she selected. He put his arm
around her, and she snuggled close to his side.

"You are
rounding up your meetings now, aren't you?" she asked him a little
while later. "Are you satisfied with the outcome?"

"They've
actually exceeded my expectations," Akeem replied. "I was able to
tie up some stubborn deals that have been lingering for some time."
He played with the tendrils of her hair. "It must be you. Your
presence in my life is helping me function better."

Yemi
puckered her lips and smiled up at him. "That's so
sweet." 

"I mean
it," Akeem said, trailing a finger along her cheek. "And you have
to remain with me so I can continue to do well in
business."

She
smiled cheekily. "I'll think about it."

His
brows furrowed together in a mock frown. "I'll simply carry you off
if you keep me waiting too long." 

Yemi
laughed. "I won't mind being kidnapped by you. You'd find me a very
willing captive."

He
cupped her cheek with his palm. "Don't go back on Monday," he said,
looking into her eyes. "Stay back in the UK until I'm
done."

"But my
ticket is for Monday."

"I can
easily change that and also upgrade it so we can fly back
together."

She
pulled back and looked at him indignantly. "Upgrade? How do you
know what kind of ticket I have?"

He
smiled. "My apologies. I meant I'll upgrade mine to
yours."

She
giggled. "That's better."

"So is
that a yes?"

"But
what will I tell my parents? Besides, my cousin is getting married
on Saturday."

He just
kept looking at her. She lowered her gaze. He was making her feel
guilty. She was very tempted to do what he was asking, but her
parents would want to know the reason why she wanted to stay back a
little longer. Moreover, they were also aware that she had already
spent all the money she'd brought with her. There would be too many
questions, and she didn't want them to know about Akeem just
yet.

"We'll
talk every day, and I'll see you as soon as you come in on Sunday,"
Yemi looked up at him a little pleadingly. "Is that
okay?"

"Do I
have a choice?" he asked wryly. "But things will change very soon.
The professor's consent will not be needed when I want to spend
time with my girl."

"I'm
looking forward to that as well." She snuggled closer to him. "Now,
where were we in this movie?"

He
laughed. "What movie? Have you watched any part of it at
all?"

"That's
always the problem when we are together. We just get so wrapped up
in each other."

"That's
how it should be."

She
turned round to look at him. "Will it always be so?"

"Always." He tipped her chin up gently and kissed her.
"Always," he repeated, before claiming her lips again.

His kiss
was everything she had imagined it would be, sweet and tender,
awakening all sorts of strange emotions within her. He had given
her light pecks on the cheeks and forehead over the past few days,
and she had felt he was deliberately holding back because he sensed
her inexperience. But he wasn't doing so now, and his kisses were
lighting a fire within her.

Yemi
drew back a few minutes later. "Hey, my dad said I should not kiss
any man except my prince," she said shakily, while trying to still
her racing heart.

"And am
I your prince?" Akeem asked huskily, his face inching closer to
hers again.

"Mmmm…I
may need another kiss to convince me." She jumped up as he
lunged at her. "Oh no! I'm convinced; you're definitely the one, my
northern prince!"

"I don't
mind convincing you," Akeem replied softly. His gaze moved to her
lips again, and her heart skipped at the look in his
eyes. 

"I'm
fully convinced," Yemi replied, keeping her distance. "Absolutely
no doubt in my mind at all."

"Pity…just when I was looking forward to helping you make up
your mind too." He patted the seat beside him. "Come back and sit
down."

She
smiled at him but made no move to sit back down.

"Don't
worry, little girl, you're quite safe." An amused smile curved his
lips as he saw the hesitant look on her face.
"Honestly."

She
gingerly sat down beside him again. He laughed softly as he placed
his arm around her and drew her close to his side. "How old are you
again? Twenty-one or fifteen?"

She
giggled. "Almost fifteen."

"Yeah…seems like that."

They
continued chatting and tried to watch the movie intermittently, but
something always came up to talk about until they gave up on the
movie. Yemi felt so complete just by being with Akeem, and it
appeared like they had known each other for a lot longer than ten
days. She still had those moments when she wondered about their
relationship and if things would be the same when they returned
back to Nigeria, but her doubts were gradually getting fewer and
further apart.

∞∞∞

Two days later, Yemi's older brother, Ayo, picked her up at
the Murtala Mohammed airport in Lagos. The heat enveloped her the
moment they stepped out of the airport.
Yeah, I'm back home—the land of perpetual
summer
!

Ayo saw
her face and grinned. "Don't worry, you'll soon get used to it
again."

"I hope
so. Right now, I feel like I'm roasting."

She was
glad when they got into the car and Ayo turned on the air
conditioner. Little beads of perspiration had already started to
form on her forehead; and to think she had only been away for a
month!

"Derin
said she will pop in tomorrow to see you," Ayo said, referring to
his wife.

"That
will be cool. I've missed everyone." She stifled a yawn with her
palm and looked out of the window at the familiar road networks.
Hot weather or not, it was good to be back on her own turf. She
yawned again, and Ayo glanced at her.

"You
must be really tired."

"I am."
She leaned her head against the seat. "I had to get up really early
this morning to catch my flight."

"You'll
feel better after a nap. I have a surgery to perform later this
afternoon, so I'm just going to drop you off at home and head back
to the hospital."

Yemi
smiled at him gratefully. She knew how busy he was. Her parents
were attending a conference out of town, so Ayo had offered to pick
her up from the airport.

When
they arrived at their parents' house, Ayo helped Yemi with her bags
and quickly left for the hospital as planned. Once settled, Yemi
made a call to Tola's parents to let them know that she had arrived
safely. She knew that Tola was attending a job interview and would
not be home until later in the day. She had already texted Akeem
when she was going through customs, and he had texted her back that
he would call her as soon as he could.

Not too
long after her phone call to the UK, Bose, the housekeeper, knocked
on her bedroom door and informed Yemi that her lunch was ready. She
had prepared Yemi's favorite dish: jollof rice and fried
plantain.

"Thanks,
Aunt Bose, you're the best! I'll just freshen up and then eat
later." Bose had lived with them for a long time, and Yemi was very
fond of her. She was not a blood relative, but in Nigeria, every
older adult was automatically called Auntie or Uncle.

Yemi
showered and decided to take a nap. She was already missing Akeem
so much. It was still amazing how much he had come to mean to her
in such a short period of time. She had deliberately not told her
family about him yet. She hated to admit it, but a part of her was
waiting to see if his feelings towards her would remain the same
when he got back on more familiar terrain.

Tola had
Googled him up while she was still in England, and they had read
his impressive business profile. They could hardly believe that it
was the same easygoing guy that they saw practically every day in
the UK.

But
there had also been other bits about his social life, stuff that
had given Yemi a bit of concern. Akeem had been linked with a lot
of beautiful women in the past and even quite recently. Women far
more sophisticated than her, to say nothing of their cool careers
and wealthy backgrounds. Yemi had again had doubts about their
relationship but somehow, those doubts always faded anytime
she was with him.

She sighed and rolled over on the bed. She sincerely
hoped that everything would be okay when he came back. She had
fallen too hard for him and didn't think she could bear it if they
broke up.

The next
time Yemi opened her eyes, it was three hours later. She reached
for her phone and, to her dismay, saw several missed calls from
Akeem. He had also sent her a text saying that he would call her
back later.

As she
padded into the bathroom to wash her face, she heard her parents'
voices coming from the direction of the sitting room. She wiped her
face and went to join them.

"Welcome
back, darling." Her mother beamed as she enveloped her in a hug.
"Good to have you back. This house has just been too
quiet!"