Hidden Currents (Lagos Romance Series) (16 page)

She stole a glance at Eddie, watching as he
walked further into the hall. She wasn’t the only one looking at him, other
women were checking him out too. Who could blame them, when he looked so good.

He belongs to me! She wanted to announce to
all of them, starting with the girl he had come in with, who was at that very moment
hanging on to his arm like a limpet. Ada studied her. This wasn’t the girl from
Sheraton, she was a new one, pretty and graceful and elegantly dressed, and for
some reason she couldn’t stop smiling up at Eddie. Ada had never felt so
jealous.

She watched as he went over with his date
to greet Sophie and her husband. She watched jealously as introductions were
made and smiles were exchanged. They all talked genially for a few moments. Ada
watched until she saw Sophie point Eddie in her direction, he turned to look at
her. Their eyes met again and immediately she turned away, pretending to be
engrossed in what the artist was saying. She wanted Eddie to come over, but she
didn’t want to be introduced to his girlfriend. She watched form the corner of
her eye to see if he would come towards her. He didn’t, it was hurtful that he
hadn’t even bothered. She made excuses to her companion and made her way to the
bathroom to compose herself.

When Ada returned, the girl was still with
him. Contrary to Ada’s hopes, she hadn’t disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“Have you seen Eddie?” Sophie had walked
over to stand by her. “I know you’ve been looking out for him. You want to
speak with him, don’t you?”

“I don’t want to interrupt his date.” Ada replied
dourly. “Maybe later.”

“Later when?” Sophie snorted. “Now seems
good to me.” She said determinedly. Ada allowed herself to be steered across
the room towards Eddie. His companion had wandered off to look at some of the
artwork. He was standing alone, in front of one of the pictures he had seen at
her apartment, the blind beggar. Blown up, the effect of the picture was much
more powerful.

He turned as Sophie and Ada reached him.
His eyes searched Ada’s face for a moment, and then he smiled at her. “Hello.”
He said.

Just Hello? Ada sighed inwardly. How could
he be so reserved?

“Hello.” She replied.

Sophie smiled. “And hello to you both, I am
going to find my husband.” With that she turned on her heel and them standing
alone together.

Ada couldn’t meet his eyes, so she stared
fixedly at his chest. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but where
would she even start?

“You’re having a good exhibition.” He
observed.

“Yes.” She agreed. “I should thank you for
that.”

“Why?” He shrugged. “I didn’t take the
pictures.”

“Yes but…” She sighed. “But if you hadn’t
told Sophie…” She stopped. She was talking too much. “Thank you.”

He smiled and she drank in the sight of his
dimples as they leapt to life in his cheeks. That smile broke her heart in a
million tender places. “You are welcome.” He said.

They stood silent for a while. Ada
ransacked her head for something to say to him.

“I’ve sold quit a few.” She told him.

He nodded. “I’ve noticed.”

She finally plucked up the courage to look
up at him and saw that he was looking over her head, into the hall. She turned
to look in the direction his companion had gone, the girl was nowhere to be
seen. She turned back to him, hurt by the lack of interest on his face. Was he
so bored, or tired of talking to her, that he couldn’t wait to escape?

“Sophie told me that you travelled.”

He nodded. “I did.’

Would they go on like this? Talking about
unimportant things until the evening was over?

“I wouldn’t have got the exhibition without
you.” She said, then kicked herself mentally for being a broken record.

He smiled. “You’ve already thanked me.” He
said wryly. “As I said before, I didn’t take any pictures.”

He was looking over her head again. He was
definitely tired of talking to her? His date still hadn’t come back. She
swallowed.

“Eddie, I know I said a lot of things, and
I’m sorry.” The words burst out of her in a rush “I’m sorry I insulted you, I’m
sorry I insulted your family and I’m sorry I punished you for trying to help
with my work.”

She stole a look at his face, his expression
hadn’t changed. He was looking at her face, but he didn’t say a word, and he
didn’t look like he was going to. Desperately, she soldiered on.

“I don’t know why I said the things I
said.” She continued. “I don’t know what came over me!”

Her words must have amused him a little
because for a moment there was a small smile on his face. “Ada you don’t have
to…”

“No.” She protested. “I do.” She
sighed.  “Forget what I just said, because I do know what came over me.
You were right, I was afraid.” She moved closer to him. “I was falling in love
with you and I didn’t know how to handle it. I had convinced myself that you
were wrong for me, that you weren’t the type of person I should even think of
being with, I just…. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to handle it.”

She searched his face for anything, any
information to show how he was receiving the things she was saying to him, but
there was nothing. His silence was driving her crazy.

She took a deep breath, she had to show him
that she meant it. Sophie’s words echoed in her mind. ‘Go for it!’ Well that
was exactly what she was going to do. She would get a response out of him any
way she could.

He was still looking at her, waiting for
her to say something else. So before she could think herself out of it, she
moved forward and pulled his face down towards hers.

She kissed him, and it felt wonderful. She
didn’t care that they were in a room full of people, or that his date could
return any moment, she luxuriated in the feel of his lips as they moved over
hers. She had missed those lips. She had missed the smell of his skin, the
coolness of his cologne.

He only hesitated for a moment, because
almost immediately, his arms were around her and he was kissing her back. Ada
exulted in the sensations that filled her body, surely, this meant something,
she thought, even as her senses blurred. It meant something that he could kiss
her like this, here, in front of all these people.

It only lasted for a few seconds, and then he
was pulling away from her, his face set determinedly.

Ada blinked, confused. What was he doing?

He was breathing deeply, but the expression
on his face didn’t change. He put his hands on her shoulders to steady her.
“You’re sorry.” He said, “That’s okay. I forgive you.”

Ada swallowed, there was a lump in her
throat. “But?”

He hesitated for a moment, then he
shrugged, “But I’m here with someone.”

Her heart had never felt so heavy. She was
going to cry, she couldn’t cry, not here, in front of everybody. She started to
say something, but she couldn’t articulate the words in her mind. I thought you
wanted me, she screamed silently. Why did you make me fall in love with you?
and now you don’t want me anymore?

“I’m sorry.” He added.

Why? Why was he sorry? She was the one who
ruined everything. She turned away from him and saw his date coming towards
them. She stepped back from him. “You’re right.” She said, forcing her voice to
come out steady, “Of course.”

He gave her a small smile. “Congratulations
on your success.” He said, before walking away from her, towards his date.

I’m here with someone.

The words followed Ada around for the rest
of the evening. Even after Eddie left, she kept on seeing his face, hearing
those terrible words coming out of his mouth.

I’m here with someone.

The hall thinned out as people went home.
Her friends left after congratulating her again and again. Mrs. Aina informed
her that all her pictures had been sold, that she had been the highpoint of the
exhibition, and that some of the guests had been from one of the oil companies.
There had been tentative talks about a large order of pictures to hang in their
offices nationwide, and for their New Year’s calendar. It would mean a lot of
money.

She could publish her books now, Ada
thought. She would have the money, but she might not even need it. She might
get so popular that the publishers would be competing to offer her their best
deals. She could invest more time in taking more pictures, and she could create
more books if she wanted. She would never have to stand for hours at a wedding
taking pictures again.

I’m here with someone
.

There was a scream building up inside of
her, she wanted to let it out. I am devastated! She wanted to scream at the
smiling faces around her. Can’t you see that I am devastated?

She went home, finally. As she drove
through the empty roads, under the bright orange glare of the streetlights, she
resisted the temptation to stop the car somewhere and weep. An attack from the
area boys would be all she needed to complete her misery.

I’m here with someone.

“I like you Ada, and I am not going to
give up.”

Those were his own words! From not so long
ago, and now, just weeks later, she was just supposed to accept that it was
over, just accept that there was nothing she could do or say, to change
anything. She felt betrayed, angry, empty, sad and foolish. It’s not supposed
to end like this, she thought sadly, it is not.

She tried to remember everything she had
said to him. A lot of those things she would gladly take back now, she accepted
that she had been wrong, irrational and angry, but through it all she had
believed that he would always be there, trying to convince her to change her
mind.

She had convinced herself that she didn’t
want him around, and that she would prefer him to leave her alone, when deep
down what she had really wanted was for him never to give up on trying to make
her change her mind about him.

Well he had changed it. Ada thought. She wanted
him around now. So how could it be that he was no longer interested?  She
remember the concern on his face when she had run into him at the Sheraton
hotels, that look that said that he cared about her, she remembered him kissing
her in his car. Had all that passion disappeared in just a matter of days?

She tossed and turned all night, drifting
in and out of restless sleep peppered with dreams of Eddie rejecting her, Eddie
dancing with someone else, kissing someone else, and telling her that he was in
love with someone else, more than once she woke up with the wetness of tears on
her cheeks.

She got up as soon as the sky started to
lighten to grey. A quick check in the bathroom mirror told her that her face
would tell the story of the night she’d had all day long. Her eyes were red and
swollen and her whole face was puffy. She took a quick shower and spent the
morning on the floor of the living room looking through all her old pictures,
an activity that usually cheered her. However, this time it didn’t, the more
hours she spent looking through frame after frame of people and scenery, the
more solitary, sad and alone she felt.

As soon as the day became brighter, she
picked up her camera and went out. She wasn’t going to sit around her apartment
moping, when she could go outside and take some pictures, that was what she did
anyway, she thought. She had done it long before Eddie and she would do it long
after Eddie.

After Eddie.

The thought of an ‘after Eddie’ made the
tears well up in her eyes again. She didn’t want an ‘after Eddie’. The idea of
it was heartbreaking.

She drove around, looking for things that
would make a great picture. It was a Sunday morning, so the streets were fairly
quiet and empty. As she searched for a view to inspire her, she drove over the
empty bridges and through tiny streets. Apart from a few people going to
church, Lagos felt empty, just like she did.

Outside one of the local churches she
watched people walk in. They wore long white garments and had no shoes on. She
saw an impeccably dressed young man, alight from a bus and disappear into a
side of a building. He emerged moment later wearing his own white garment and
entered the church. Across the town she watched outside another church as
people thronged in, wearing their Sunday best. In their bright clothes and
shiny head ties, the women looked like colorful tropical flowers, beautiful,
bright and attractive, but she never once reached for her camera.

She drove to the beach, and spent a long
time walking across the sand. In her shorts and T-shirt she must have looked
like part of the crowd. She watched as people played all around her. Every now
and then she thought she saw someone who looked like Eddie, her heart would
start pounding and then she would see that it wasn’t him.

She spent the whole day drifting from place
to place, normally it would have been soothing, to spent the whole day in a
solitary activity, doing something that interested her. But it was no longer
enough. Being alone had lost its appeal. Now she wanted to be with Eddie,
because she was in love with him.