(Episode 8) Late Blooms – A Knotty Story!

Fiyin’s table was full of papers. It was a usual Monday with plenty of things to occupy him. An hour later, he looked up and realized it was 2:15pm.

Oh, my God! He jumped out of his seat and grabbed his jacket and wallet, he had to be home before 3pm, he wanted to be there when Femi came in and he still wanted to stop to get her flowers and chocolate. I will never make it in time now, he thought dully as he ran out of his office toward the elevators

“Dr Arowolo, Fiyin!” Tiwa shouted, coming from one of the operating rooms, wearing her scrubs.

“Yes?” Fiyin called out, trying to be patient.

“Can we talk?” She asked when she got to where he was. “I know I messed up on Saturday and I want to….”

“No, Tiwa, don’t disturb yourself, it wasn’t a big deal.” He quickly assured her.

“Yes, it was, you know it was, this could affect our budding relationship.”

“Tiwa, nothing will spoil our friendship, I promise, okay?” He said as he pressed the button to open the elevator.

“Still, let’s talk, I know…….”

“Tiwa, I’m really in a hurry, can we do this later?” He said as he entered the elevator.

“Sure….” She nodded although the doors had closed and he was gone. She rested her back against the wall and slammed her head repeatedly. “Stupid! Stupid! Tiwa, you are so stupid!”

How could she have made such a mistake? How? When he had called her to come to the games arcade with him and Amanda, she had been so happy, realizing it could mean he was testing to see how she would get along with Amanda. Maybe she had been trying too hard because there was no other explanation for it. Amanda had met her before and although she had been really quiet, she had spoken to her.

On Saturday though, the girl had barely acknowledged her existence and because she didn’t want Fiyin to think she couldn’t connect to Amanda, she had tried too hard and ended up making the girl sad, dull and miserable and Fiyin had noticed. She had just wanted to be her friend, why was the little bitch being so tough anyway?

Whatever the case, with or without Amanda, she was going to get Fiyin and that girl had better sit up because a new government was coming. There was more than one way to catch a man!

==

He made it, Fiyin wanted to scream as he entered the house and realized Femi was not there yet.

“Daddy, what’s this for?” Amanda asked, touching the flowers he brought with him.

“Erm, it’s for your teacher” he said awkwardly as he saw Ose smiling in the passage.

“Awwww, really?” Amanda’s eyes were shining, “did granma tell you to ‘pologise?”

“Yes, she did.” He said, not wanting to drag the drama longer, especially with Ose staring and giggling like a schoolgirl. Then suddenly remembering Amanda’s penchant for repeating everything. “Yes, she did but I came up with the style, you get?”

When Amanda only looked at him, confused, he relaxed. A confused Amanda was better than a knowing Amanda.

He looked at the time, 3:15pm, he hoped Femi was coming, otherwise, he would get to their school the next day. Just then, a knock sounded on the door.

“Miss Femi!” Amanda screamed, abandoning the flowers and chocolate to run to the door. She opened the door and Fiyin craned his neck for a vision he had since missed seeing.

“Amanda darling. How are you?” Femi said.

“Wow!” He heard Amanda say as she opened the door wider for Femi to come in. Fiyin looked at her from the sofa where he sat and decided wow was right. Wow!

Was that Femi? She was wearing a long green skirt that outlined her curved hips and a tight black turtleneck shirt that showed off her tiny waist. Her hair was plaited in a lovely Ghana weaving style, he didn’t know which and she was wearing a new low heeled sandal he had never seen. Gone was the orange lipstick, in its place was a lovely lip gloss that made her lips look sinful, add that to the confident twinkle in her eye and she packed a punch.

“Good afternoon sir” she greeted without meeting his eyes.

“Yeah, Femi, how are you?” He asked, staring at her, quite confused.

Sister Femi, haha! You’re looking yummy, chai! What’s happening?” Femi passed him to go the dining to hug Ose and he got a view of her back. So she had a back like that, he wondered, still staring. Why did she wear all those other clothes? And who knew her waist was so tiny? And her stomach flat? She wasn’t fat at all, just beautifully endowed.

“Miss Femi,…” he heard Amanda pipe up, “…see what daddy bought for you.” She came and grabbed the flowers and chocolate from the chair beside him and he was ashamed to admit that in the past 5 minutes, he hadn’t remembered his own daughter. He adjusted himself on the chair and decided he didn’t like this new Femi at all.

“Awwww, really?” He heard Femi coo as she opened the box of chocolates.

“You sound like me” Amanda giggled. And followed Femi back to the sitting room.

“Thank you sir” she said demurely.

“Yes” he cleared his throat and sat up. “It was an apology for my thoughtlessness last week, please forgive me” He begged quietly.

“Of course” Femi said, excited that he bought her chocolates and flower, but she would not smile at him. She would forgive him but they would not be friends. She would make sure he knew she was beautiful and nothing less than him crawling would satisfy her. “I forgive you, sir”

In the kitchen, Ose couldn’t stop giggling, poor boss, he was looking so lost. She thought as she laughed louder.

==

Femi could barely explain the high she felt as she left the Arowolos that evening. As soon as she got home, she was going to call Ronke and shout a big, fat mission accomplished in her ears. Usually, she came to Amanda from school, today though, she had first gone home to change, for maximum effects before she came and it had been worth it. The good doctor had stared at her as if a cat got his tongue.

Of course she didn’t think that meant he was interested in her, it would take more than a makeover to achieve that but she was gratified to know that she could actually be an object of stupefaction to someone like Fiyin. She had been surprised to see him home today before her, even more surprised by the chocolate and flowers he bought for her. When she had shared the chocolate with Ose and Amanda in the kitchen before she left, Ose told her he had had flowers delivered last week Monday and had even called her Proprietress when she hadn’t shown up.

And when she was about leaving today, he had called her aside to tell her he was sorry for what he had said, he admitted he was wrong and that she was an incredibly beautiful woman and her boyfriend was lucky to have her. More than anything else, she felt touched that he had gone to so much effort to apologise. It made her think he cared about her feelings, that he might actually like her, that she might be falling deeper for him.
Before she fell too deep though, she had better go and see her boyfriend, she thought to herself. Her outfit had been to kill two birds with one stone. The first bird, Fiyin Arowolo and the second, David Bamidele. And although Fiyin hadn’t begged yet, David would.

When she got to his house, a miniflat BQ in Oshodi, she knocked and waited with bated breath for David’s reaction when he saw her. He shouted come in and she went in. She found him sitting in his tiny sitting room, watching a football match.

“Hey dear”, she greeted him.

“Hi” he answered, not taking his eyes off the screen. She sat on the arm of the chair he sat and wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to remember if she had missed him the past week.

“Stop, go, go” he said as he unwrapped her arms from his neck and pushed her aside. “You’ll distract me from my game for nothing. If I leave the game now, you’ll tell me you are not ready for sex” He said, disgruntled, still without removing his eyes from the screen

“Is it sex that is always on your mind?” She asked as she stood up, rather angry and disappointed.

“What else? Am I not a man?” He asked as he finally took his eyes off the screen and looked at her.

She preened a little even though she wasn’t happy with him. “Ki lo ko si?” He shouted and started laughing, dropping the remote he was holding.

“What do you mean what am I wearing? Can’t you see?” She asked, upset.

“Sorry, you just look so funny in it.” He continued laughing. “Don’t wear it again abeg, or if you wear it, stock it up. Your breast looks so tiny in it, like agbalumo seeds.” He laughed at his cleverness.

Femi was so insulted, for a minute, she didn’t know what to say to him. “I think I will go home” she finally said as she picked up her bag.

“Haha,” David complained grabbing her hands. “Don’t go….” he smiled cutely, “…please, I’m joking.” She dropped her bag again and went to seat on the other chair.

“Please, cook something, I beg, I’m hungry.”

“What does that mean?” She asked, angry again

“I said go and cook something for us to eat.”

“I’m not hungry, you’re the one who is hungry, go and cook.”

“Ha! Why will you be here and I’ll be cooking?”

“That’s a sin, abi?” She asked with disdain. “If I didn’t come, nko?”

“But you told me you were coming, that’s why I was waiting for you. If you aren’t coming, I know where to get food from but I cannot be cooking for myself when I have a wife.”

“No, David, you don’t have a wife, you have a girlfriend.”

“What’s the difference, you just like complaining all the time as if you don’t know the duties of a wife. Your aunt is a woman, why don’t you ask her to teach you? Come here, cook, you’ll say no, see my clothes, wash, you’ll say you are tired. Let’s play in the bedroom, you’ll say no, what’s your usefulness, why do you bother coming at all?!” He shouted aggrieved.

You are right, I don’t know why I bothered.” Femi said even as she promised herself she would not cry. “Did you once ask me how my trip went? What I went to do? Who I stayed with? You never give me one word of appreciation, ever. Imagine you asking me about my usefulness, me, David? Let me leave you for your conscience. You want a footstool, a traditional woman abi? I wish you all the best. Me, I am too tired of this relationship, it’s not equal, all you want is a slave and a complaint loader and I have spent enough of my life with other people judging me, no more! I won’t come back here again, goodbye.”

She grabbed her bag and left his house even as he shouted her name. When she got to the gate of the compound, she turned around and wasn’t surprised to see he hadn’t followed her.

==

That night as Fiyin slept, he wasn’t surprised when his dreams were of over 100 Femis dressed in different attires and chasing him about. Femis in bikini, Femis in Ankara, Femis in skirts, Femis in undies, Femis in suits and Femis in wedding gowns. At the end of the dream, he saw the Femi that could save him from all the other Femis. The Femi in orange lipstick and cornrows, wearing a purple shapeless gown. As they ran from the other Femis, her sandals cut and he had to carry her and keep running.

He woke up from his dream, sweating, his heart beating too fast and he acknowledged that he was in trouble.

==

That night as Femi lay on her bed, she tried hard to reawaken the feelings of happiness and pleasure that had taken her through the day but she couldn’t. She realised David had completely eclipsed the entire day with a few short words and she had let him.

She tried to remember a time David had been a worthwhile boyfriend but she couldn’t. She realised that in their 15 months long relationship, he had always been shallow, selfish, demeaning and lazy. She couldn’t remember him saying a good word to her, just complaining all the time. She wanted to be really angry with him but she couldn’t because in her own way, like with Tiwa, she had empowered him to think he could always trample on her feelings.

She knew when she met David at Ronke and Ben’s wedding that he wasn’t her spec. Usually, she liked competent men who knew how to handle themselves but David had been a whiner almost from the beginning. She had agreed to date him because she knew his family, he was Ronke’s cousin and because she was scared of being alone. She had wanted badly to have someone else around when Ronke went to Abuja but David had never filled that role. It seemed like it was when she needed a friend that he needed to rant.

He was always complaining about work, about being broke, about how unfairly he was treated by others because he was short. She realised now that with her low self-esteem, the last person she should have chosen to be with was someone with a chip on his shoulders.

At the beginning though, she refused to count it against him. She had been with someone who she thought was everything she needed a man to be. Strong. Capable. Independent. In the end though, Lanre Balogun had left her at the proverbial altar. Not an altar exactly, he had waited until after their introduction to pull a disappearing act on her.

She had dated Lanre for two years, a civil engineer with a huge construction firm, he had seemed perfectly content to be with her. She lost her virginity to him and hadn’t even regretted the decision, he had made her feel special which was what she had needed. Until he dumped her. Even his family had been stunned by his insistence that he couldn’t continue with the marriage proceedings because they knew how much he loved Femi.

He had never come to talk to her, he had only sent a note through his brother and left her to face the taunts alone. The betrayal had hurt her so badly, it had taken her a while to get herself together and she hadn’t opened herself up to any other relationship until she had met David 2 years later. At the time, his biggest attraction was his difference to Lanre.

Where Lanre was tall, he was short, Lanre had been dark, he was much fairer than she was, Lanre wore glasses, he didn’t, Lanre had been deep and quiet, he was noisy and belligerent. She realised now how stupid it was to pick a man on those basis.

She promised herself after Lanre that she wouldn’t try too hard anymore so all the effort she had put into dressing and looking good, she diminished and started dressing comfortably. When David asked her for money, something Lanre never did, she gave it, she washed and cooked and cleaned because she did not want him to be able to leave her without a backward glance, as Lanre had done.

It hadn’t worked out quite that way though because even though she had walked out, he hadn’t glanced back, not even to call her after she got home. And everything else she had sacrificed in their relationship, her money, time, energy, the clothes she washed, the food she cooked from her own pocket hadn’t mattered because of the one thing she had refused to offer, her body.

And now, she was done with making sacrifices. She was done with managing a man. From tomorrow, she was going to go all out and find herself the kind of MAN she wanted. Lanre or David, none would matter anymore. What she wanted now was a good man who was competent, capable and caring and by God that is what she would get. That was what she deserved.

Question: Hmmm…