Hidden Currents (Lagos Romance Series) (3 page)

“Waste of money,” Zubi said, his eyes
travelling over the white kitchen tiles, “Especially when you’re not even
making that much.” He shook his head. “I’ve just decided to ignore your
stubbornness because I don’t want to quarrel. I still don’t understand how I
would go out of my way to get my younger sister a job in one of the best real
estate firms in Lagos and have her reject it because of a hobby like
photography.” He frowned almost petulantly. “You studied real estate management
for Christ’s sake!”

“Photography is not just a hobby.” Ada
protested tiredly, they had already had this argument a million times, just
because he found fulfillment in his nine to five job he assumed that she would
be also be happy in a job like that, and richer. He never stopped emphasizing
the fact that she could get a good salary working in real estate.

He shrugged and jumped off the counter.
“Stop all this cleaning I beg you. This place is spick and span already.” He
laughed. “You’re just like mummy, aren’t you? You can’t rest until you’ve
chased every speck of dust into oblivion.”

Ada smiled, and for a moment, they grinned
at each other, remembering their mum, who had always seemed to be dusting,
wiping or cooking something. Then they sobered, thoughts of their mum always
sobered them up, she had been dead for more than ten years, but the sense of
loss never went away.

“Your father called me last week.” Zubi
said. He always said, ‘Your father’ when he talked to her about their Dad. His
voice was tinged with the slightly bitter tone it always had whenever their
father came into the conversation, “He was asking if you had found a job yet.”

“Tell your father that I have a job!” Ada
replied wryly.

“Try telling him that yourself.” Zubi said.
“He made it sound as if you were unemployed and hopeless.”

“I’m not unemployed and hopeless,” Ada
said. “I have a good job, and I make extra money from extra projects, I paid
for this house myself, for God’s sake!”

“I know.” Zubi’s voice was quiet.

Ada went quiet too. She understood how Zubi
felt, ever since their father had left, and their mother had died, he had been
determined to prove, to himself and most especially to their father that he
could be the kind of man that people would look up to. He had done it, but even
after he graduated with a 4.4 GPA in Mechanical Engineering, got a scholarship
to the Institute of Petroleum Studies, and got a job in one of the biggest oil
companies in the country, their father still acted as if he were ashamed of
them. Now he had nothing negative to say about Zubi, he used Ada’s reluctance
(or as he saw it, inability) to get a ‘real’ job as a weapon to make Zubi feel
bad. He didn’t even bother with Ada. Since when he left them, he had treated
her as if she didn’t even exist.

She patted Zubi’s arm. “It doesn’t matter
what he says.”

“I know.” He frowned. “I have to go home.
Ify is planning to get her hair fixed today, one of those expensive Brazilian
things, and she won’t let me rest if I don’t get home on time to stay with the
kids before she leaves.”

Ada chuckled. “Please go o! Don’t let her
punish you because of me.”

He surveyed the kitchen for a moment. “You
need to buy stuff to stock your fridge and these empty cupboards.” He paused.
“Let me take you to Shoprite on my way, hmm. So you can buy provisions.”

Ada started to protest, but he silenced her
with the stern look he had cultivated when she had been a stubborn preteen and
he her big teenage brother. “Don’t worry.” He said. “I’m paying.”

Ada rolled her eyes as he walked out of the
kitchen and towards the front door, then she shrugged and followed him.

There is something infinitely uplifting
about shopping with someone else’s money, Ada thought as she pushed a massive
trolley through the aisles of the supermarket, rapidly filling it up with
provisions and whatnot. Zubi had apologized that he couldn’t stay to drive her
back home with her shopping and then handed her a huge wad of cash, with
instructions to take a taxi when she was done. Ada smiled. He was probably
feeling guilty that he hadn’t helped to pay for the flat, but then she hadn’t
asked him to, She sighed, happy to have an older brother.

She dumped fresh fruits, packs of cereal,
fresh milk and some coffee into the trolley. Then she went hunting for fruit
juice, and stopped with annoyance as she saw that, as usual,  the queue
for the fresh baked bread was so long that there was no way to get to the fruit
juice stands. She paused, hesitating to leave her trolley unattended so she
could squeeze in between the people on the queue and get what she wanted. She
wondered, exasperated, what it was about the bread that people couldn’t get
enough of it.

“Hey.”

Ada jumped in surprise. The voice had only
been slightly higher than a whisper, but he had leant so close to her ear from
behind her that she had felt his warm breath on her ear and neck. She turned
around, but she already knew who it was, so the sight of Eddie’s dimpled smile
and laughing eyes didn’t surprise her at all, just annoyed her a whole lot.

However, in spite of her annoyance, her
heart had already started to beat faster. She felt her skin flush. She almost
stamped her feet with vexation when she noticed that her hands were trembling,
and her neck and ears were beginning to feel hot. “Hi Eddie.” She said, giving
him a look that would have made a wiser man issue an apology immediately. It
didn’t even lessen his smile.

Out of every single person she could have
run into, she thought with irritation, why did it have to be him? And why was
she suddenly feeling so self-conscious that she was trying to remember if she
had brushed her hair before leaving the apartment, or if she had looked in a
mirror, and if her jeans and T-shirt looked okay? She looked away from his
smiling face and found her eyes level with his broad and well-muscled chest,
clad in a white T-shirt. Trying to escape that view she looked further down and
found herself staring at his long legs, the upper part of which were encased in
a pair of knee length camo shorts, she looked back up into his smiling face.

“What’s up?” He asked, still smiling. He
looked into her trolley and laughed. “Are you shopping for the end of the
world?”

For a few moments, Ada wondered what to
say? She couldn’t think of a smart reply. He always did that to her, he always
somehow screwed up her mental wiring and made her slightly stupid.

“No,” She replied finally, “Just stocking
up on provisions for a new apartment.” She noticed that he was holding only a
set of screwdrivers, and she rolled her eyes mentally. When he had driven all
the way here just to buy screwdrivers, why wouldn’t he make fun of her
shopping? He probably didn’t have to shop for himself. He probably had
girlfriends who were falling over themselves eager to help with his shopping.

He leaned towards her until he was so
close, that his face was only inches from hers. Her eyes widened as she waited,
wondering what he was about to do. Her heart was now beating so loud she was
sure he could hear it. He smiled, and then reached behind her and took a packet
of chocolate digestives from the shelf at her back. “My weakness.” He explained
as he moved away seemingly unaware that he had almost given her a heart attack.

“What are you doing just standing here?” He
asked with a curious frown, then his eyes went to the line of bread seekers,
and he grinned with realization... “Ah yes don’t tell me, they’re blocking the
juice.” He gave her a speculative look. “Why not mow them down with your
trolley?” He suggested, chuckling as she recovered herself enough to glare at
him. “I’m just kidding.” He said. “Okay tell me what you want,” He offered,
“and I’ll get it for you.”

He crossed over the queue of people and
picked out the items she wanted, constantly looking back to her for
confirmation, she watched as people made way and strangers smiled at him. What
was it, about him, that drew people like bees to honey? She waited until his
arms were loaded with a variety of packs before she signaled that she was done.

He walked back towards her looking slightly
comical with his arms full. Comical but still attractive, Ada noted as she saw
a couple of women giving him admiring glances. He waited as she unloaded the
packs from his arms one by one.  “You’re really shopping for the end of
the world.” He said, sighing with relief when his arms were finally free. 
“Are you done?”

“No, I still have to...” She started
saying, then watched in horror as he took hold of the handles of the trolley
and started to wheel it. “Just tell me where to go.” He told her.

Away! Ada thought desperately, wishing that
he would leave her be, with a combination of aggravation, annoyance and
embarrassment she allowed him to wheel the trolley while she picked items from
the shelves, daring him with her best frown to show even the slightest change
in expression as she threw in some feminine items. Thankfully, he kept a
straight face, even though she was sure that she could see a glint of amusement
in his eyes.

As they moved toward the counter, she
wondered if he would attempt to pay for her things, it wasn’t part of her plan
for the day to accept his generosity. He was her boss, not her benefactor. She
wasn’t like all the other girls he probably took shopping all the time, and she
didn’t want to be. However, for a moment, she allowed herself to wonder what it
would feel like, to be the girl on Eddie Bakare’s arm. It wouldn’t be a place
like Shoprite, of course. He would take her shopping through the exclusive
boutiques of Lagos, buying her anything her heart desired. Well she didn’t want
that, she said to herself, snapping out of her thoughts. As they reached the
counter, she took hold of the handles of the trolley, “I can manage from here.”
She told him, her eyes challenging him to object.

He gave her a thoughtful look, and a
half-smile that seemed to say ‘I know exactly what you’re doing’. Then went
ahead to pay for his screwdrivers and biscuits, smiling charmingly at the sales
clerk as he did so.

Ada watched as the girl simpered and smiled
back at him, ‘Don’t waste your time,’ She thought, almost pitying the girl, he
already has women lined up from here to Timbuktu.

After getting his change, he helped her
load her things on the counter, and waited while she paid, watching idly as a
uniformed sales boys bagged the items and loaded them back on the trolley.

She could only follow him reluctantly as he
wheeled the trolley out of the supermarket, whistling tunelessly. She tried not
to admire the way he walked, or to look at the breadth of his shoulders, or the
light dusting of black hairs on his legs. He had nice feet too, smaller than
you’d expect, slim and remarkably neat. Her eyes skipped to his toes, and she
looked away quickly, embarrassed, remembering what people said about mens toes.
Why am I even looking at Eddie Bakare’s feet? She chided herself, groaning
inwardly.

“Where are you going?” She asked, lost in
her semi-lustful thoughts, she had only just noticed that he was wheeling the
trolley towards the car park.

“To my car?” He stopped and turned to her.
“Sorry, did you bring a car?”

“No.” She replied. “I haven’t got one.”

“Yet.” He corrected. “You haven’t got one
yet.” He nodded towards the trolley. “I don’t think you can fit all this stuff
on a bike.” He said teasingly. “Do you?”

“I was going to take a cab!” Ada corrected.

He shrugged and started to move again. “No
need.” He said, giving her another one of his dimpled smiles “I can take you
home.”

The last thing she wanted was for Eddie
Bakare to know where she lived. She started to protest but realized how silly
and childish it would seem. She followed him silently into the car park,
inwardly seething and wishing she hadn’t run into him at all.

The journey to her apartment was short. He
drove one of those Mercedes Coupes that purred like a cat and moved like a
dream. He drove silently too, nodding his head to the music playing on the
radio and listening as she gave directions. In no time, they were at her place.

She hadn’t planned to let him in, but she
saw now that it would be impossible not to. He was carrying the bags, and she
couldn’t see any reasonable way to get him to leave them by the door and
disappear. He wouldn’t even accept that. Reluctantly she found herself opening
up her new home to the last person she had ever expected, or planned to see it.

“Nice place!” He said as they walked through
the living room to the kitchen. She knew it was true, but as it came  from
him, it seemed condescending. Why would a mini-flat seem ‘nice’ to him, when he
had access to most of the best mansions in the country? She looked at him, he
expected her to say something. “Thank you.” She managed finally, feeling
unreasonably resentful.

“I’ll get the other bags.” He said, turning
to return to the car, his eyes took in the bare walls and windows and furniture
piled in one corner of the living room. “How long has it been since you moved
in?” He asked.

“Two days” Ada replied.

“So you haven’t unpacked.” He commented,
stating the obvious. “I live close by, “He added, “I could help if you need
someone who’s handy with a hammer.”