After the storm (16 page)

"No way!
I want someone edgy and hot looking, and he needs to have buckets
of money too."

Yemi
pulled out of the car park. "What about qualities like integrity,
strength, honesty, and commitment? What's inside a person is their
true self, and that's what matters most."

"Maybe,
but I have to appreciate the outside before I can see the inside
bit."

Yemi
shook her head again. "Crazy girl!"

∞∞∞

A few
days later, Yemi decided to make use of the opportunity of having
Tola around to see Akeem at the office and take him out to lunch.
She was still not very comfortable leaving Aleena alone with her
new live-in au pair, Kufre, but she felt better knowing Tola was
around.

When she
arrived at Akeem's office, she was told by his personal assistant
that he was in a meeting in the conference room.

"Thanks,
Linda. I'll just wait for him," she said and headed into his
office.

She
opened the door and stopped briefly in her tracks. Mrs. Kadiri and
Leila were seated in there. Yemi felt all the usual stress
reactions that her mother-in-law's presence evoked. Her first
instinct was to turn around and leave, but she forced herself to
stay calm. This was her husband's office. She had every right to be
here.

"Good
afternoon, Ma," she said, greeting Mrs. Kadiri and walking farther
into the room.

"Hello,
Yemi," her mother-in-law answered coolly. Yemi and Leila nodded at
each other.

"Where's
Aleena?" Mrs. Kadiri asked.

"She's
with my cousin. She's here on holidays from England."

Mrs.
Kadiri pursed her lips but did not say anything else.

Yemi sat
down on one of the settees and sent a text to Akeem. There was no
use trying to make small talk. Mrs. Kadiri would only find a way to
embarrass her, and she was not going to let that happen in the
presence of Leila. She opened her Kindle and glued her eyes to it
as Mrs. Kadiri and Leila continued their conversation in
Hausa.

But Yemi
found it difficult to concentrate on the book. She did not
understand what her mother-in-law was up to, but it appeared as if
she had not given up on getting Leila hooked up with Akeem. There
was what looked like a food basket sitting beside them, and she
wondered if they were now bringing Akeem lunch at work. The thought
did not sit well with her at all.

A few
minutes later, the door opened and Akeem walked in. He must have
known that his mum and Leila were there because he didn't show any
sign of surprise. He greeted them before bending down to give Yemi
a peck on the cheek.

"Good to
see you, baby." His eyes flicked over her beige pantsuit. "You look
great," he added softly.

She
smiled at him. "Thanks, I thought I'd surprise you."

"Pleasantly surprised too. Where's my girl?"

"At home
with Tola."

"All
right."

He went
over to his mum, and they spoke for a few minutes. And then, just
as Yemi had thought, his mum handed him the food basket before she
and Leila stood up to leave. On their way out, Mrs. Kadiri
acknowledged Yemi's greeting stiffly. Leila just walked by with a
cool nod towards her.

"So how
has your day been?" Akeem asked, sitting down beside her after they
had left.

"It was
okay." Her good mood was almost spoiled. "Can we go now?" she asked
him a little tersely.

"Yes,
but wait a minute, my mum brought some food," Akeem said, pointing
to the basket. "Why don't we stay in and just have that for
lunch?"

Yemi stared at him.
Was he serious?
She'd rather drink cyanide.
"I don't want
to eat that, and I don't want you eating it either."

He
arched his eyebrows in surprise. "Why not?"

"I just
don't want you eating it."

"Oh come
on, Yemi, don't get paranoid. My mum would rather die than harm me
physically."

But she wouldn't mind breaking up your home so that she could
install her goddaughter
. "I'm just not
comfortable with you eating anything that Leila brings
you."

"I'm
very sure my mum made the food, but it is fine if you want to eat
out. So, where are you taking us for lunch?"

"Pinto's," she said, referring to a restaurant not too far
from his office.

"Cool.
Let me just tidy up some things, and we'll be on our
way."

Chapter
9

"Here
you are," Sara said, handing Yemi one of the plates she had in her
hands. Yemi's eyes widened as she eyed the plate laden with
skewered spicy beef, barbecued chicken, corn on the cob, and a
burger.

"Thanks.
I'm surely going to be waddling by the time I eat all of
that." 

"Skip
breakfast tomorrow," Sara said lightly as she took a bite of her
burger. "I'm just going to forget about counting calories today.
Being outdoors always has a way of bringing out my
appetite."

Yemi
grinned. She knew all about Sara's constant battle with her
weight. She liked her food but wanted to remain stick thin. She
constantly pored over fashion magazines and would groan whenever
she saw the skinny models. Yemi found her very
entertaining.

Yemi
looked towards the pool as she munched on her food. The water
looked so inviting, and she wished she could have a dip. A few
minutes later, she saw Fayona coming towards them. They were all at
her house. She and Hasan had invited them for a
barbecue.

"Hey,
ladies, I brought you some salad," Fayona said as she got to their
table. She placed the plates of vegetable salad on the table and
sat down. "I hope you're enjoying yourself?"

"Very
much so," Sara said between mouthfuls. "Your complexion is looking
really nice, Fay. What are you using?"

"Thanks.
I'm still using my old stuff, but there's this moisturizer that
Shona told me about," she said, referring to Hasan's younger
sister. "I've been using it for a couple of months now."

"Talking
of Shona," Yemi said, "she really did say that she would be here
today, or did she change her mind?"

"She's
still going to come," Fayona confirmed. "She told me that she would
be a little late."

"So tell
me about this wonder moisturizer," Sara continued. "I've been
using mine for some time, and quite frankly I'm not sure it's doing
anything for my skin."

Fayona
began to describe the moisturizer, and the talk turned to the
merits and demerits of beauty products. Yemi temporarily tuned out
of their discussion as her eyes moved over the manicured lawns of
the garden. She looked over to where Kufre was playing with Aleena
on a picnic mat a few yards away. It was amazing how much she had
grown. She was just eleven months old but was already showing signs
that she was going to be a tall girl, which was not surprising,
considering how tall her dad was.

Kufre
picked Aleena up and came over to Yemi. Aleena needed a change of
diaper. Yemi blew Aleena a kiss as Kufre took her into Fayona's
house to change her.

A few
minutes later, Yemi saw Jayden and Akeem coming towards them.
Jayden looked excited as he talked animatedly with
Akeem.

"Hey,
Mum! Uncle Akeem and I beat Daddy and Karim!" Jayden said referring
to Sara's son. "I scored twice, and even Uncle Akeem told me they
were brilliant goals," he boasted.

"Yeah,
they definitely were," Akeem confirmed, winking at Fayona. "Get
ready, you have a budding footballer in the making!"

"That's
lots of money, isn't it? He just has to convince his dad, that's
all," Fayona said.

Akeem
came over to Yemi. "Are you okay?" he asked, taking off his
sunglasses and perching them on top of his head.

Yemi
smiled as she looked up at him. He looked rugged in his polo shirt
and knee-length fatigues. His schedule had been crazy lately, and
she was happy to see him looking so relaxed. "I'm good, having a
swell time."

"Where's
my girl?" he asked, looking around for Aleena.

"Kufre
just took her into the house to change her diaper."

"Tell
her to bring her over to me when they get back. I'm missing my
little 'Miss.'"

Yemi
pouted. "What about me? Not that I'm jealous or anything like
that."

Akeem's
lips twitched. "Of course not." He pretended to examine her eyes.
"But I love the colour of your eyes though, such a lovely shade of
green."

Yemi
giggled. "It must be the sunshine getting in your
vision."

Jayden
tugged at Akeem's hand. "Uncle Akeem, let's go get some barbecue,
and then we need to strategize…" He looked around to be sure that
the women heard the new word he had just used. When he saw them
smiling, he beamed with pride. "We need to strategize on how we can
win the next game."

"Okay,
buddy." Akeem touched Yemi on the cheek and then chatted a little
with Sara and Fayona before leaving again with Jayden.

Fayona
smiled as she looked at them. "Jayden loves your husband. He hangs
on his every word."

"Akeem
has a way with kids," Sara agreed. "I think it's the way he relates
with them without making them feel they are too young or that they
are talking nonsense." She grimaced. "Even when they obviously
are."

Yemi
smiled, her eyes still on Akeem and Jayden as they walked towards
the barbecue stand. She agreed with them. Akeem was a good father.
He adored his daughter and showed it in every way he could. And
despite his busy schedule, he still found a way to make time for
Aleena.

She
absently stroked her belly as she looked at them. Maybe it was time
to start thinking about giving him that little boy he
wanted.

∞∞∞

Yemi
parked her car in front of her parents' house. She undid Aleena's
car seat and carried her in her arms to the front door.

"Hello,
darling!" her mother said warmly as she hugged her before taking
Aleena from her. "And how is my precious little girl?"

"Growing
bigger every day. I'm finding her quite heavy to carry
now."

"I can
see that." Yemi's mother smiled, looking at Aleena with pride. She
cooed at the little girl, who giggled happily.

Yemi and
her mother chatted for a while, and then Yemi dashed off to do some
shopping. There was a fresh fish market close by, and their prices
were a lot better than on the island where she lived. Akeem found
her insistence on price comparisons amusing, but she just ignored
him. She spent the next two hours going around the nooks and
crannies of the open market. It was where her mother had shopped
since she was a child, so she was very familiar with it.

"I hope
you were able to get what you wanted," her mother said when she got
back to her parents' house.

"I did,"
she said as she moved towards the kitchen, her mother walking
closely behind her. "I bought some fresh fish for you too," she
said, plopping two bags of fish on the sink and starting to rinse
them. "I got them scaled and filleted as well."

"Oh,
thanks, dear. Your dad will be very happy. You know how much he
likes salmon."

Yemi
smiled. "That's why I got extra. I hope Aleena didn't give you too
much trouble?"

"She was
as good as gold. She's been sleeping for about twenty minutes now.
I don't see her enough as it is, so it's good to have her here for
a proper visit today."

"Maybe
one day I will drop her off for the weekend." Yemi put the last of
the fish into the freezer and washed her hands.

"Thanks,
dear," her mother said as they went back into the sitting room. "By
the way, I saw your mother-in-law on TV the other day. She was at
some summit, along with the wife of the governor. Something to do
with a new non-governmental organisation the First Lady is
promoting."

"Oh,
that." Yemi couldn't suppress the irritated frown that came across
her face. She had seen it too. Zara and Leila had accompanied her
to the event, and Zara had later let it slip that Akeem's mum had
asked her to fly in from Abuja just for that purpose. Yemi had
tried not to let it show to Zara that it bothered her that she, who
lived in Lagos, had not been invited.

"You
never sound excited when you speak about her." Her mother said
matter-of-factly, but her eyes were trained on Yemi.

Because there is nothing exciting about her.
"She's okay. I mean, she's Akeem's mum…" She
shrugged. She did not know what else to say, and her voice trailed
off.

A frown
played around her mother's brows. "How is your relationship with
her?"

"It's
okay…" Yemi began to say but stopped when she saw the look in her
mother's eyes. It was not the first time that her mother had asked
her questions like that, and she'd always found a way to deflect
them. But she was suddenly tired of evading the questions. "I don't
really know, Mum," she sighed.