Hidden Currents (Lagos Romance Series) (10 page)

“Monday is one of my father’s drivers.” He
told Ada. She could sense his fondness for the older man in the tone of his
voice. “He’s been with us for as long as I can remember. He is practically a
member of the family.”

Ada nodded and returned Monday’s friendly
smile. “Nice to meet you.” She said to him.

“Welcome.” Monday said. “How was Abuja?”

Ada realized that he thought she and Eddie
had arrived together from Abuja.

“Ada just arrived from Owerri.” Eddie
corrected Monday before she could say anything. He looked slightly amused.

Monday looked a little disappointed but he
kept his smile on.

They got into the car. It was luxurious.
Ada sank back into the soft leather seats and sighed. How the rich lived!

She almost fell asleep. Then a pothole on
the road jolted her a little too roughly and she opened her eyes to find Eddie
looking at her, a very tender expression on his face. She sat up, feeling
suddenly shy.

“You must be very tired.” He observed.

“Kind of,” She sighed. “I shouldn’t be,
seeing as I didn’t lift a finger throughout the weekend. Maybe it was the
pressure at 33,000ft.”

He nodded. “You should rest.” He said. “Are
you hungry?”

She nodded. “Famished.”

He smiled. “How about you come over to my
place and I’ll rustle up something for you to eat?”

She laughed. “Something actually edible?”
She asked.

He looked affronted. “For your information,
I am a very good cook.”

“I’ll have to see it… or taste it to
believe it.” She said, with a doubtful smile.

“Well?” He was waiting for an answer. She
sighed. Why had she thought he was going to just drop her at home and leave her
alone? She didn’t have the strength to argue, or cook something herself for
that matter.

“Okay,” She acquiesced, “Let’s go to your
place.”

He grinned. Ah! Those dimples! How could
she ever say no to him? When ‘Yes’ meant the sight of those darlings on his
cheeks.

It was still light when they got to
Surulere. As Monday maneuvered the car towards Eddie’s house, Ada realized that
she had never been there before. Was she crossing a line by going to his place?
Maybe telling him somehow, that she was now interested, or available?

She wasn’t very aware of the rules or
politics involved in situations like these. When she was younger, the simple
rule had been, ‘Don’t go to a guy’s house alone’. Did that rule still apply at
their ages? Eddie was not an immature schoolboy or a sexual predator ready to
jump her bones as soon as the opportunity presented itself. After all, he could
have tried a couple of times already, at her place, but he hadn’t.

Stop over thinking this, she told herself,
just enjoy his company.

Monday drove into one of those quiet gated
streets lined with evergreen trees. Eddie’s place was at the end of the street.
It wasn’t an apartment as she had thought, it was a house, a detached, two
level house, old, but beautifully restored, from the roof to the exquisite landscaping.

“This is your where you live?” She
exclaimed in admiration as she took in the house, looking very picturesque in
the late afternoon light. “It is lovely.”

“You think so?” He looked pleased. “I
bought it about a year ago, the owner died, and his children live abroad so
they were eager to sell. It was old, falling to pieces, and I thought, why not
make something beautiful out of it?”

“It’s big though, for just one person.” Ada
observed, then almost bit her tongue when she realized how suggestive that
sounded.

“I know.” He smiled. “But I don’t plan to
be alone forever.”

Ada felt her stomach tense at his words.
It. Doesn’t. Mean. Anything! She told herself sternly. Of course, he won’t be
alone forever! He’s going to settle down someday. And don’t start to imagine it
will be with you.

As Monday retrieved their bags from the
trunk, Eddie took her hand and led her along the paved walkway to the front
door.

Some wonderful work had been done here, she
thought admiringly as her eyes took in the shrubs and flowers, the trees, and
the house itself. He had retained elements of the old architecture and
introduced new things as well.

“Did you ever think of selling it?”

He nodded. “I got some really great
offers.” He said. “And I was tempted, but I’d fallen in love with the place
already, and I just had to keep it.” He smiled. “But I discovered a market. I
have refurbished some more houses and made a good profit from the sales.”

Ada rolled her eyes. She already knew about
his Midas touch. He just had to think about something to make a profit out of
it.

The interior was as nice as the exterior.
At the entrance hall, the walls were different shades of white and cream with a
beautiful crystal chandelier hanging from the double volume ceiling. Through an
archway, she could see the living room, a dining room. A couple of doors led to
other spaces while right in front of her a marble staircase led to the top
floor.

“Your house is beautiful.” She said
earnestly. “I wish I had my camera with me.”

“Feel free to come take pictures whenever
you want.” He still hadn’t let go of her hand. It felt warm and sweet to just
stand there holding hands. She smiled at him, he smiled back.

Monday came in with their luggage. Eddie
let go of her hand and went to take them. After Monday had left, with one last
smile and goodnight at her, Eddie came back but he didn’t take her hand again.

“So I would offer you a tour, but I’m sure
you’re too tired.” He walked towards the living room. “Take a seat, and put
your feet up.” He said, doing his best impression of a maître d’homo. “Dinner
will be served shortly.”

Ada followed him into the living room. “So
what are we having?” She asked. “Cheese and crackers.”

He chuckled. “Oh ye of little faith.” He
said. “What would you like?”

“What do you have?” She replied.

He grinned wickedly. “Don’t tempt me.” He
disappeared into the kitchen and came back a moment later. “Rice?” He asked.

She nodded.

After a while, she got bored and went to
join him in the spacious kitchen. He had a rice cooker on as well as a small
pot of stew warming on the cooker.

“Warming food is not the same thing as
cooking.” Ada told him.

“It’s the same thing when I’m warming food
that I cooked.” He smiled at her.

She tried to remember if any guy had ever
cooked a meal for her before. It felt strangely nice. Maybe the way to her
heart was through her stomach as well.

“Now be a good girl and don’t distract me.”
Eddie said teasingly.

“Yes, Mr. Bakare.” Ada replied and left him
alone to his culinary endeavors. She wandered back into the living room and
plopped down on the couch. It was insanely soft! She ran her fingers over the
soft leather and tried to resist the temptation to doze. She switched on the
TV. She was still flicking channels when Eddie came back carrying a tray loaded
with food.

“Are you sure you cooked this yourself?”
She asked suspiciously, as they settled to eat.

He nodded. “Yes! My mother was very
insistent. I had to learn to do everything same as my sisters.”

His mother must be a formidable woman, Ada
thought. Cooking was no longer as important as it used to be, even kids from
families less well off than his, were refusing to learn to cook these days, and
their parents were helpless to do anything about it.

It was delicious. She hadn’t realized how
hungry she was until she took the first forkful and then she couldn’t stop, she
cleared her plate fairly quickly.

Afterwards she joined him as he cleaned the
dishes. He was all apologies, trying to convince her that she shouldn’t bother,
that he would take care of them. He had a houseboy, who usually did all the
housework, he told her, but he had the weekend off.

She ignored him, and stayed at his side until
the kitchen was spick and span. Afterwards they went back to the living room
and sat side by side on the couch, Ada felt full and languorous, her mind was
too tired even to register any alarm at the fact that they were sitting so
close together. She should ask him to take her home, she thought as she rested
her head on his chest, but she was too tired, and it felt so cozy on the couch,
she decided to close her eyes just for a little while.

It was dark when she woke up. She started
in alarm. She was still on the couch. Her head was resting on Eddie’s chest and
his arm was around her shoulders. She tried to move, but he was sound asleep
and he didn’t let go. She instinctively snuggled closer to him. It felt very
nice. She sighed. What time was it? She wondered. Was it too late to go home?
Had she spent the night at Eddie’s house?

Her phone rang, again. So that was what had
woken her up. She stood up, gently lifting Eddie’s arm away. He didn’t wake up,
and in that moment she realized that she could look all she wanted at his
gorgeous face, and his long limbed body. He looked so handsome in the dimmed
lights of the living room. She reached out to touch his face, her phone beeped
again.

She sighed and went get it, she didn’t want
the noise to wake Eddie up and deny her the pleasure of looking at him with no
interruption. In her urgency, she didn’t even look at the screen before
answering.

“Ada baby,” It was Dele Solanke’s hated
voice again. Ada sighed. Of course, he would be the one to spoil the peaceful
moment she was having with Eddie. A glance at a wall clock told her it was
almost 9pm. Why was he calling her so late?

“So you don’t want to talk to me? If it
were that your boyfriend, I’m sure you will want to talk.” His mocking voice
said through the phone. He sounded drunk, Ada decided. And what was he going on
about? What boyfriend?

“Why are you calling?” She asked,
exasperation showing in her voice.

“Why am I calling?” He repeated. “You are
such a pretender.” He laughed meanly. “You like to act as if you are a Virgin
Mary but you’re just like every other girl, aren’t you? Just waiting for the
right price.” His voice rose accusingly.

What was this nonsense? Ada thought
impatiently, why was he calling to insult her? “Look…” She started angrily.

“No you look.” He interrupted. “I met your
boyfriend in Abuja, fine young man, was interested in the logistics of
publishing a book of photography.” He laughed. “I told him it would cost a lot
of money and he said he would be willing to bankroll it.” He laughed again, more
meanly. “If not love what is that eh!” He said. “I had to find out who this
photographer was,” He continued, “because I was sure it couldn’t be my own
Ada.”

Ada felt outrage build in her head until
she could hardly breathe. I am going to kill him, she thought angrily, not
really sure if she was thinking about Eddie or Dele.

“Is the photographer well known, I asked
him,” Dele continued. “Well, she does some great work for one of my old
projects right now, he says. And we both know he is talking about ‘Living
Lagos’ Don’t we? So it is my Ada after all. My Ada won’t drop it for a poor old
man, but as soon as billions of stolen money knocks on her door, she can’t help
herself.”

“Don’t ever call me again,” Ada heard
herself shout into the phone, “Don’t ever ever call me again do you hear me? If
I ever hear from you again I will find your wife and tell her everything you’ve
said to me. You dirty old he-goat.” She almost threw the phone across the room.
She was so angry. How dare he?

“Are you okay?” It was Eddie. So he was
awake. She blinked as the lights became brighter and fuller. He was still
sitting on the couch, looking a little groggy, holding the remote for the light
switch.

In that moment, she could have killed him.

“No. I am not okay,” She said, her voice,
strangely calm.

He looked alarmed. “What’s the matter?”

“What did you do in Abuja?” She asked
calmly. “Who did you talk to about me? What did you say?”

His frown deepened. “What are you talking
about?”

“Did you say anything about me to a
publisher called Dele Solanke?”

His face cleared as realization hit. “Not
about you per se.” He said. “I asked him about publishing a book like yours.”
He shrugged. “He is married to one of my sister’s friends so I know him a
little, and he has a reputation as a great publisher. I just wanted to get an
idea of what it would take to get your book started.”

“Why?” She asked.

He looked puzzled. “Why not?”

Ada breathed. “Did you tell him you would
pay for the publishing?”

He sighed. “Yes I told him I wouldn’t mind
bankrolling someone who was obviously talented.”

“Like me.” She stated.

“Yes like you.” He replied. “I don’t
understand. Did he just call you?”

“Yes he did.” Ada said. “He called to tell
me that my ‘boyfriend’ had offered to pay for publishing my book!” She flung the
words at him.