Hidden Currents (Lagos Romance Series) (4 page)

As if she would let him! “Thanks but don’t
bother.” Ada said quickly, “I already have a carpenter coming soon to help with
all that.”

He soon left, after bringing in all her
shopping. Relieved, Ada went to work, unpacking, hanging up her clothes,
arranging her toiletries in the bathroom, her plates and pots in the kitchen.
The carpenter came and hung up the curtains. There was also a gasman, who came
to fill her gas cylinder, and an electrician to install the lights.

It wasn’t until early evening that she
finally completed all her tasks. Exhausted and hungry, she was cleaning the
last of the debris and dust from the carpentry work when the doorbell rang. She
ignored it, it was a mistake, maybe someone was ringing at the next flat, or a
child was playing. Nobody knew where she lived yet, apart from her brother
and...”

The thought that it could be Eddie made her
momentarily confused, but why would he come back to her flat? She went to the
kitchen to dump the duster and walked slowly back to the living room. It was
probably a friendly neighbor, or the landlord, or maybe Zubi had come back.

She went towards the door and looked
through the peephole.

It was him! He was standing there, just
waiting as if he had every reason to be sure that he was a welcome visitor.
What in heaven’s name did he want?

Ada paused at the door. She could pretend
that she wasn’t at home. There was no reason on earth why she couldn’t leave
him standing outside, well apart from the fact that he was technically her
boss, a little voice reminded her. With a sigh, she unlocked the door and
pulled it open.

He looked fresh. He had changed his clothes
and was now dressed in jeans and one of those short sleeve shirts that always
looked stylish. In a moment of self-indulgence, she allowed her eyes to roam
over his body. She had always thought that she didn’t particularly like
typically handsome men. It was hard to remember that now as she looked at him.

He smiled, letting loose a dimple. “I hope
I’m not disturbing you.” He said.

She folded her arms, suddenly and
uncomfortably aware that while he looked clean and fresh, she was wearing the
clothes with which she’d been cleaning and dusting the apartment since morning.
“No, you’re not disturbing me.” She replied, sure that the expression her face
totally implied the opposite.

He nodded and then reached over. Before she
could react, he had pulled something from her hair. It was a wood shaving. He
handed it to her.

She breathed, frowning slightly as she
tried to ignore the fact that while her heart had practically stopped beating a
moment ago, it was now hammering wildly. She took the shaving from him. What
had she expected, that he was going to stroke her face or her hair?

“Your flat looks good.” He stated, his eyes
moving past her to the living room, she turned to follow his gaze. The rug had
been laid, and the curtains hung, she hadn’t put up her pictures yet, but it
did look good.

“Thank you.” She replied.

“I’m on my way to the Island.” He told her.
“One of my sister’s demands my presence at her house.” He chuckled. “She
probably needs someone to help her watch the kids.”

Ada listened, a little confused. Why had he
told her that? Why was he being so friendly with her? Did he think she was
Sophie, or another one of his close friends? She wasn’t. They weren’t friends,
and they had never been friends. He had no reason to think he could tell her
things like that.

“Anyway.” He continued, not at all looking
as if he minded watching his sister’s kids, “I was thinking that, with all the
things you had to do today, you might not be able to rustle up something to
eat. So…” He handed her a package, and she took it on reflex.

“It’s just dinner for one.” He smiled.

Feeling slightly guilty, she thought about
inviting him in, instead of leaving him standing outside like an incredibly
well dressed deliveryman, but she didn’t want to, she didn’t want to be friends
with Eddie Bakare. What did they have in common after all? How could he ever
understand the kind of person she was, and the things that were important to
her?

“Alright.” He drew out the word, when she
didn’t say anything. “I should get going.”

He started to turn around.

“Wait.” Ada said. “Wait.” She paused.
“Thanks for the today.” She said softly, “Thanks for everything.”

He smiled, more brightly than she had ever
seen. Ada felt her stomach clench as the full brilliance of the glorious
dimpled smile turned on her.

This is why I don’t like handsome men, Ada
said to herself, her fingers trembling as she watched him run down the stairs,
taking them two at a time, and fast. This has to be why.

It was a society wedding. The type where
there were a lot of high profile people, no celebrities or sports people, just
a lot of old money, a few politicians with old names, and their highly indulged
offspring.

It was noisy, but it was a refined sort of
noise, well-modulated voices of society matrons in conversation, their
exclamations as they met the children of their friends - potential spouses for
their children, the deep laughter of men, not too loud, just self-possessed,
the way rich men laughed, not the loud, self-conscious cackling often
attributed to the obsequious poor. Above the din, the live band played,
alternating between old classics and modern sounds.

They were beautiful, Ada thought, these
people. The women, with their expensive laces, sweet smelling perfumes and
beautiful jewelry, - not the loud, heavy jewels of the classless rich, but
subdued pieces of gold, pearls and precious stones that didn’t need to scream
to get your attention. The men, with their distinguished airs, deep voices and
impeccable manners, and their children, young, beautiful and stylish with
musical voices adorned with the best of British and American private school
accents.

Ada had a camera hanging down her neck, but
apart from that, she had dressed to fit in. Her hair had been flat ironed to
fit into a loose chignon, her peach dress was stylish and elegant, as were her
simple jewelry, and she had worn heels, short heels, very comfortable heels,
but still heels. The bride’s mother had been emphatic about not wanting a young
girl in jeans and a t-shirt, spoiling the aesthetics of the wedding.

Well, they were paying a lot. Ada thought
as she took pictures of the bride feeding her new husband some of the wedding
cake. Her hair would go back to its natural state, and her feet would stop
hurting once she took off the shoes. With the money they were paying her, she
would have worn a plastic bucket if they had insisted.

She took some more pictures, the
bridesmaids, all of them on one table, looking exotic in rose colored gowns,
the bride’s mother and her friends all wearing the Aso-Ebi, the official
wedding cloth for family and friends, the groomsmen toasting the groom, wine
glasses raised, and also people just sitting at their tables.  The M.C was
saying something, Ada wasn’t really listening, any moment now the bride would
toss the bouquet, that was one of the important moments, and her camera was
ready.

She neared another table occupied by young
people, the guys in tuxedos and the girls in different colors of gorgeous dresses.
Two guys were flirting with a striking girl in a red gown. There were three
other people at the table, a guy and two girls. As Ada raised the camera to
take a picture, she realized with a feeling of indescribable panic and dismay
that the guy was Eddie Bakare.

He was listening with a small smile on his
face as one of the girls whispered something in his ear, Ada watched, a tight
knot in her stomach, was she his current girlfriend? She wondered. She tried to
imagine what it would be like if it were she sitting there, whispering
something to him, would he be so attentive? Would he look at her with so much
interest? She frowned and shook the thought away. What was her business whom
Eddie Bakare flirted with? She raised the camera and took a picture just as he
looked up, right at her.

And smiled.

That perfect smile! With the dimples, Ada
took a deep breath, trying and failing to keep her knees from going weak. There
is no reason on earth why Eddie Bakare should be able to make you feel this way,
she lectured herself sternly, you don’t even like him!

“Hi Ada.” He said warmly, standing up to
greet her, his eyes travelled from her hair to her toes, taking in her state of
dress with undisguised surprise and appreciation. She realized he had probably
never seen her all dressed up before. “You look beautiful.” He stated with
admiration.

You don’t have to sound so surprised, Ada
thought silently. “Thanks.” She said out loud. “It’s just my work attire.” She
added wryly, eager to get away. One of the other girls at the table had turned
to look at her, probably wondering who on earth she was, and why Eddie Bakare
had stood up to greet her.

The girl who had been whispering in Eddie’s
ear was looking up and smiling at Ada, “Hi.” She said, in a voice that was both
light and sweet and spoke of years in a British boarding school.

“This is my cousin, Lola.” Eddie said.
“Lola this is Ada, she is the star photographer at Living Lagos.”

“Only photographer.” Ada corrected, smiling
at the girl, she was very young, Ada saw now, too young to be his date as she
had assumed. “Nice to meet you, Lola.”

“I like Living Lagos.” Lola said. “I read
every issue when I wasn’t living here. It made me feel close to home.”

Ada smiled, there was something likable
about the soft-spoken girl, but she was eager to get back to work, the girl in
the red dress was now looking daggers at her, probably because one of her beaux
was giving Ada a speculative look.

Eddie was too well brought up not to
introduce her to his friends, so even as Ada was thinking of a getaway, he was
already doing the introductions. “This lot,” He waved in the general direction
of the table, “Are some of my unsavory friends.” He smiled at her. “I have a
lot of those.”

There was a chorus of halfhearted waves and
hellos from the rest of the table. Ada echoed them with the same level of
feeling. “I have to get back to work.” She told Eddie, “See you around.” She
added, with a smile at Lola.

Eddie nodded. “I’m sure we’ll see each
other before you leave.” He said. “You look really lovely.” He added, even
though he had said so before. Ada smiled uncomfortably and made her escape.

Later, after she had followed the bride and
groom as they stopped by almost every table, to greet and thank people, and
took pictures of them with all their friends and relatives, she found a place
to sit and rest her legs. There was still music playing, and people were
dancing, but there would be no need to get up again until the new couple was
ready to leave.

She felt, rather than saw Eddie walking
towards her, his bow tie was now undone, too much dancing? She had seen him on
the floor with his friends earlier. She hadn’t known he could dance like that!
Watching him dance she had found herself trying hard to remember why she didn’t
like him and being unable to come up with any reasons, and now, with his tux so
casually undone, she couldn’t imagine any girl not liking him. She shook her
head at her wayward thoughts. If she had drank anything at all she would have
been able to excuse them on grounds of tipsiness, but it was all him.

He was holding two wineglasses, and a
bottle of wine, he handed her one of the glasses as he sat on a chair beside
her.

“You must be tired,” He observed as he
poured her some wine. It was clear and sparkly, and she took it without
argument, it was about time she had a drink anyway.

She nodded in agreement. “I am.”

He studied her face. “Have you eaten?” He
looked concerned.

Ada shook her head, she had been too busy
to eat, but now that he had mentioned it, she felt the dull pangs of hunger in
her stomach.

Eddie was already signaling one of the
waiters, this one was carrying small dishes of peppered snails. “I’m sure
you’ll like these.” He said, picking up one of the dishes. “Funmi Savage, one of
the girls at my table, ate enough of these to feed an army of elephants.” He
laughed. “She swore they were too good not to eat.”

And that means I’ll like them? Ada wanted
to ask. But she dug into the snails with relish, too hungry to argue. They were
fantastic of course. She found herself silently thanking Funmi Savage, whoever
she was, for eating so many snails and yet leaving some for her.

“Do you do weddings often?” He asked
suddenly, his eyes going to the camera still hanging around her neck.

She nodded. “I get about one a month.”

“It looks like really strenuous work.” He
said with a small frown. “With all that walking around for hours,” He studied
her face for a moment. “Do you like it?”

“I like photography.” She replied.

He nodded. “But not necessarily wedding
photography.” He stated.

She shook her head. “I like scenery, nature
and people.” She told him. “That’s what I’d really like to do all the time.”