Love's Second Chance (12 page)

Efe shook his hand. “Thank you.”

“
We should go out and drink to your promotion, what do you think? Just the two of us,” he tacked on at the end as she was about to accept.

Efe looked up at him in confusion. “What about Kate?”

“
What about her?” he smirked.

Efe just raised her brows.

“
Oh yes, we are not together anymore. But it’s all good,” Stanley said, “It means I can take you out now. What do you say?” The look in his eyes was full of mischief.

She smiled at him. “OK, sounds great.”

“
Yes!” Stanley punched the air. “I’ll call the Blue Martini for reservations.”

And so their relationship started. She thought he was a player who she could use to forget her pain for a while. She guessed he was still in love with his girlfriend, and she would be the rebound girl. It had worked out for both of them at first, but then things had become complicated. Now here she was, about to break up with him again. Efe flicked her hair behind her ear and squinted when a tall figure came into view on her left. It was Stanley. She rubbed her palms over her cropped jeans and tugged her yellow blouse.

“
Hi, babe,” he drawled. He’d called her ‘babe’ since the first time they dated.

“
Hello Stanley…” She stretched out a hand for a shake but he pulled her into a close hug. “Welcome to Abuja,” she finished.

Efe bore his hug for a minute and then wriggled free. She always knew she was not in love with Stanley while they dated, and wondered how she’d ever thought they could have a more serious relationship, or of getting back with him. After being with Kevwe again this weekend, and thinking about their past more than she had in the past few years, some things were now so clear.

She took a deep breath and gestured for them to enter the Papillon restaurant, away from the prying eyes of the lobby crowd. Luckily, there was no event, so the music was muted and slow. She needed privacy and quiet for her speech to Stanley.

“
You look good, Efe.”

Efe took the seat he held out for her. Stanley had his faults, but he was a decent guy. She wished she could untangle her heart from Kevwe and give Stanley a chance.

She smiled at him. “You do too, thanks. So how was your flight?”

“
It was shorter than I thought, and I’m overjoyed to be here with you.” He said, with his flirtatious side on full power.

Efe diverted the subject. “Tell me what you think of my city.”

“
Honestly?” Stanley laughed. “Someone I know called it a ghost town. She says few people live here.”

Efe smiled, “You don’t want it overpopulated, do you?”

“
That’s true… hmmm…but I think I prefer Lagos.”

Efe shrugged. “My parents are there, but I don’t think I can live in Lagos. Maybe I just haven’t ever stayed there long enough. Don’t get me wrong, Abuja is not all about good things.” Efe sat forward on her seat. “There’s lack of dependable electricity and water.”

Efe laughed again as she remembered a conversation with Nneka the other day. “It drives my friends crazy, but thanks to the great place I have, courtesy of Hilton, that’s not a huge problem for me. The outskirts are a different story altogether.” Efe was proud of how quickly she’d acclimatized. A lot of her returnee friends still complained, and some had been living here for years.

Stanley took her hands on the table. “I almsot forgot how beautiful and smart you are.” He smiled into her eyes, “Did I tell you I came back to marry you?”

Efe looked at him in horror. She had expected him to ask to revive their relationship, but not to pop the ‘m’ question. Had he too somehow found out about Kevwe?

“
You can’t be serious, Stanley!”

“
I am. This year apart showed me I missed having you. I need someone like you in my life.”

Efe opened her mouth, but he continued, gripping her hands tight.

“
Please don’t say you don’t love me. I believe love will grow.”

“
Stanley, please stop…”

“
Hello Ms Sagay.”

Her heart stopped at the voice, but when Efe looked up, it was Ofure. “Hi Doctor, how are you?” she asked, taking a deep breath when she saw Kevwe standing to the side.

“
Good, thanks. I hope you’re feeling much better yourself since the last time?”

“
Yes I am, and thanks for your concern.” It wasn’t concern she saw in his eyes, and she hoped he and his twin got her sarcasm too. Kevwe stalked off to an empty table and only then did she extricate her hands from Stanley’s.

Let him stew, she thought. “Why are you at the Sheraton?” she asked Ofure. “I hope you’re not shifting your business from us?”

“
Not yet.” His smile was thin. “I came with Kevwe who has business with the hotel.”

“
Hello, have we met?” Stanley asked Ofure.

Efe had almost forgotten he was there until he spoke, and her hand flapped between the two men as she spoke. “Oh sorry, please forgive me. Stanley, this is Dr. Mukoro, a client of mine. Doctor, this is Stanley. He’s a friend of mine.”

They exchanged a firm handshake.

“
Engineer Mukoro visited Sheraton Lagos on Friday. Is he your brother?”

“
You work with the Sheraton in Lagos?” Ofure raised his brows, his similarity to Kevwe even more striking. He glanced at Efe and then returned his stare to Stanley’s nod. “It must be my brother you saw then.”

“
You sure do look alike,” Stanley said.

“
Yes we do, and I have to join him now. See you.” He glared at her as he moved away.

Efe bent her suddenly hot forehead and shut her eyes tight. Why had she agreed to meet Stanley here? After Kevwe told her he met Stanley, she should have guessed he would come. And he had, business with Sheraton be damned. There was no way to continue the breakup with Stanley, with Kevwe just across the room.

“
So where were we?” Stanley asked, bending close.

Efe was remembering another proposal many years ago, one that had to be sorted out first. “Stanley, I can’t marry you.”

**

Abuja, November 29, 2009. 6.30pm.

Waiting in the car for Efe outside her apartment, Kevwe watched her headlights wash over his rearview mirror as her car turned into the complex. He rarely drove when he visited Ofure, but had asked his brother for the car once they left the Sheraton earlier. The sight of Efe with Stanley had cut him deep and also made him think about yesterday.

He’d not wanted to leave her so angry, but that was what he’d done. Had he also sent her into his rival’s arms?
He couldn’t bear it if so, and this wasn’t just about Stanley. It was about just the two of them. He still loved Efe, and wanted to resolve things so they could start again. There was no use pretending otherwise.

Kevwe stepped out of the car and stretched his legs, the cold harmattan air dry on his face. He licked his lips and marched to her apartment, knocking on the front door.

“
Who’s there?”

“
It’s me, Kevwe. I’d like to talk.”

She opened the door but didn’t let him in, a defiant look on her face.

Kevwe hoped she wouldn’t close the door on him. “I waited outside for you.
I want our promise, Efe. I want to marry you.”

Efe was stunned, and opening the door wider, she walked to take a seat. In her nightmares, she’d often railed against him for breaking their promises. No other words could have been more effective, and he must know it.

Kevwe followed to the settee. Yes, he remembered her words from the first time they met. At
Ofure’s office, he hadn’t been prepared.
Feeling wronged, he’d wanted to protect himself. After their night together, he’d gotten defensive again and attacked her by involving Adetiba in their misunderstanding.

“
I’m ready to talk.
I’ll tell you what happened after our last discussion about your US travel plans.” He took a deep breath. “I had an accident in March 2002. It was terrible, and when I finally left the hospitals, I remained bed-ridden for months. Ofure started searching for you in May, and I continued till I gave up in December. If you doubt me, you can ask Ofure.”

“
I don’t doubt you.” She looked up at him and paused. “But you have to accept your family never told me about the accident. They turned me away because of my tribe.”

Kevwe had guessed as much. “Tell me how it happened.”

Efe exhaled, “After our quarrel when you left for Lagos, I called my parents to convince them to allow me finish at UniBen. They agreed, but said I needed to come to Warri without delay. I had to complete the document processing, or I would miss the visa. They ordered me home, but I couldn’t go, not with our relationship so unsettled.”

Kevwe looked on in silence. How many times had he gone over the series of events that had transpired in Benin seven years ago? With what he’d been told, it always worked out quite simply. Efe already had the visa lottery. With her fiancé incapacitated by an accident, she’d then decided to abandon him and relocate abroad without further ado. He had to accept that somehow, someone had lied to him. Now, the truth would be revealed.

Efe gained strength from the openness on his face. “I was worried when I didn’t hear from you. I made up my mind to go to your apartment in Upper Lawani to tell you about it. It was vacant, making me even more worried. I then went up to GRA to ask at your parents’, but your father turned me away, saying you’d heeded his advice to dump me because I was Itsekiri…” The memory of his father’s cruel words was like a dark cloud, but she pushed past it and continued.

“
I returned to school devastated, but hoping you’d get in touch with me. Then Ovie said she’d seen you with another girl around town.”

Kevwe was unprepared. “That cannot be true.”

Efe cut him mid-speech. “Who is Ugome?”

She watched his face, and the surprise he couldn’t hide. Her heart sank to the bottom of her chest. “You didn’t think I would find out, did you? Ovie provided the details. When did you date her, before or after our quarrel?”

“
I didn’t date her, and surely not while we were together.” Kevwe said. “I know Ugome, but we met while I was recovering from my accident, and I never squired her around town.”

“
Then who did Ovie see? Before I left the country in May, I heard they kept seeing both of you together around Benin. The news of the town was you were to be married to her before the end of the year. It was supposed to be the marriage of the year because she was from
a royal Benin family
.” Efe spat the last, his father’s insults burned in her mind.

“
You’ve got it wrong,” Kevwe said, “They must have seen Ofure. He came back immediately I had the accident, and sometimes he had to go about the city with Ugome for some errands. Yes, she was there, either at my bedside or the house, but not because I wanted her there. My father introduced her to me, and he wanted me to marry her.”

As Kevwe spoke, his father’s hatred of the Itsekiri, and how he’d used the ethnic violence of those days to manipulate everything that had transpired with Efe became clear to him.

**

13

Abuja. November 29, 2009. 8pm

Efe considered Kevwe’s words in silence. It seemed his father’s role in the whole fiasco was even bigger than she thought. His explanation of the Ugome issue made sense in view of what his father said to her then.

She sighed and said, “Well, you can understand, I had no reason to disbelieve what Ovie said then. My emotions fluctuated from denial to anger and then heartbreak. I told my parents my mind was changed, and I wanted to travel to the United States immediately. They booked a taxi to move me home, but on my last day, I just couldn’t leave. I told the taxi driver to take me up to your parent’s house again.”

He nodded her on when she stopped.

“
I already told you what happened. Your parents took my ring, and I walked away believing you were behind it.”

“
I am so sorry,” Kevwe said, rubbing the scar under his ear. He accepted his father had deceived her and regretted his earlier doubts. The next steps would be to get to the bottom of what his parents had done.

“
We have to speak to my mother,” he continued, “but not immediately. My father is dead…”

“
What!” Efe could not believe her ears.

“
He died from a heart attack three months ago.” Kevwe replied, not knowing what the emotions flitting over her features meant.

Efe often thought about meeting Kevwe again, but never imagined Chief Mukoro would not be there. She stared at Kevwe’s face and was reminded of his father by their shared features. The grudge she’d held against Chief Mukoro pushed against her throat, lodging there like a hard ball. Animosity warred with disappointment, and she had to stop herself from screaming. To think he’d been dead just three months.

“
Sorry for your loss,” she said finally. “Your mother?”

“
She misses him a lot, that’s why I was defensive earlier.”

Efe exhaled gustily. She understood he didn’t want to bother his grieving mother. She was also sorry his father was dead, but not because she mourned him. Chief Mukoro had been such a proud man; it would have been satisfying to rub his face in his failure to break her away from his son. She shook her head clear of the vindictive images.