After the storm (25 page)

"I will,
Mum," Yemi replied. "Take care, love you."

"I love
you too, my dear," her mother replied. "Drive
carefully."

Yemi
backed the car out of the compound and drove towards the eatery
where she and Sesan had agreed to meet. He had just come to Nigeria
and was staying at his parents' place.

She got
to the eatery and spotted him sitting at one of the tables. He
smiled and waved over to her.

"It's so
good to see you again!" He greeted her with a hug.

"Same
here, Shez!" She looked him over, still the same good-looking guy
with a ready smile.

"How are
Akeem and Aleena?"

"They
are fine, thank you," Yemi said, sitting down in the chair that he
pulled out for her. "I hope you're not rushing back to the UK like
you did the last time?"

He
smiled and shook his head. "No, I'm here to stay this
time."

"For
real?" Yemi's eyes widened. "You've resigned from Goldman
Sachs?"

"Yep. I
got a bit homesick and decided to move back home."

Yemi was
concerned. Good jobs were not that easy to come by. "Nice to know
that you're here for good," she said a little slowly, "but what
about a job? What do you intend to do?"

"Oh, I
got a job with Price Waterhouse. I interviewed with them while I
was in England and will be starting work with them in a
week."

She felt
relieved. "You're one guy who seems to have the Midas touch when it
comes to jobs! Look at all the places you have worked, and you do
it so easily!"

"God has
been really faithful, and I can't thank him enough." He looked at
her face. "I learnt that you're in the process of starting a
fashion design outfit?"

She
smiled. "Who's been talking to you?"

"Oh I've
still got all my contacts," Sesan replied, putting on a mock lofty
expression. "I'm very glad for you, though. I was a bit concerned
when you told me that you were not doing anything at all. That
didn't sound like you."

"Yeah, you know me."
Unlike some
people who thought that they could keep her in the house while they
messed around with other women.

He
grimaced. "Look at me! I got so carried away with the excitement of
seeing you and have not asked you what you'd like to drink or
eat."

"I'm not
that hungry, but some juice will be good, thanks."

Sesan
waved to a waiter and then placed orders for drinks for both of
them.

"I'm
sorry about the baby," he said quietly. "My mum told me about
it."

"Thanks," Yemi forced herself to smile and then changed the
topic. "So are you going to get your own place soon?"

"Definitely. I've already started talking to some agents
about it."

They
talked about possible locations and the challenges that traffic
would pose if he tried to commute daily from the mainland to the
island where his office was situated. After talking for a few
minutes. Yemi noticed that Sesan was talking less and appeared to
be studying her.

"What?"
She smiled quizzically at him. "Is there something on my
face?"

He
squinted and pretended to peer at her a little more closely, and
they both laughed. "Yemi, are you okay?" he asked, sobering
up.

"How do
you mean?" she hedged. "Don't I look okay?"

He
smiled. "You're still just as pretty as ever, maybe a little more,
but…"

"But
what?"

He shook
his head slightly, as if trying to get the right words. "There's
just something very different about you." He looked at her
compassionately. "I know you may still be hurting over the baby,
but you have to let go and allow God to heal you
completely."

She
almost snorted. Too many things about her needed healing, and she
was not sure God was interested. She seldom went to church now,
anyway. "Thanks, but I'm okay," she said lightly. "Maybe I'm
different because I'm older. I'm nearly a grandma now, you
know!"

"Grandma
indeed! Some of your mates are not even married yet."

"Some of
my mates like you," Yemi eagerly grasped at the opportunity to
change the topic. Sesan knew her too well. She was not surprised
that he could see beyond her forced gaiety, but she didn't want to
discuss her marriage with him. "C'mon tell me, when are the bells
ringing?"

"What
bells?"

"You
know what bells I am talking about. Anyone special?"

A smile
tugged at the corner of his lips. "None, I'm still very
single."

"Now
that you are back home, I'm sure that you will soon get hooked
up."

"Maybe,"
Sesan replied, still smiling, and then he looked serious again.
"Yemi, you know you can talk to me anytime, right?"

"I know,
Shez," Yemi replied quietly. "Thanks."

Chapter
14

Yemi
opened her fashion design store, Matrix Kreations, on a popular
street in Victoria Island two months later. Akeem had asked one of
his business development managers to work with her on location and
her business plans, and she had found him very
helpful. 

She
employed a tailor, whom Sharon had introduced to her. Ken was a
good-natured, confident guy, and he and Yemi hit it off
immediately.

She had
a launch party to generate publicity and also help towards building
a decent clientele base before the official opening. Despite her
preparations, she was still jittery on the day of the launch. It
was not until she heard the applause, as model after model came
out, that she was able to relax.

"I'm
sure you are going to go places, Yemi," Sharon congratulated her
afterwards. She had helped Yemi with ideas towards the launch, and
Yemi was grateful for the useful tips. "I just keep wondering what
kept you back all these years."

Yemi
could not answer that question herself. Stupidity? Naivety? She
didn't know which, but that was something she was never going to
let happen to her again. Never would she allow herself to weave her
life around Akeem again.

Work
started for her after the launch. The people who used to badger her
to make clothes for them in the past were happy that she had gone
commercial, and they placed orders with her. She also got orders
from some of the guests who had attended the
launch. 

She
genuinely loved what she was doing, and that was her motivating
factor. The money that came along with it was a bonus. She had
never really appreciated mass production and for the time being,
she just wanted to be bespoke. She considered each outfit an
advert, and her attention to detail never failed to please her
customers. She made designs based on body shapes and would gently
tell a customer who was insistent on a particular style to trust
her to make something else for them. It was a risk she took, but it
paid off; they were nearly always happy with the designs she made
for them, and gradually many of her customers came to trust her
judgement.

∞∞∞

"You, my
dear friend, are getting me quite worried," Sara said, looking at
Yemi with narrowed eyes as she sat across from her in the office
about two months later. "Why were you not at the opening of your
mother-in-law's new spa?"

"Oh,
that," Yemi said with a bored expression. "I didn't go because I
was not invited."

"What do
you mean by you were not invited? You don't need an invite. You
should have showed up, even if just for appearances'
sake."

"Maybe I
don't give a hoot about appearances anymore," Yemi replied
nonchalantly. "Trying to please her hasn't done much good, and
frankly, I don't really care anymore." 

Sara
stared at her. "I'm not asking you to be your mother-in-law's best
friend, but you can't snub her so openly either."

Yemi
shrugged. "Well, I don't see it like that."

"But
you've got to take your rightful place beside Akeem. You should
have seen the way Leila was parading herself all over the place and
playing hostess to the guests, not to talk of flirting shamelessly
with Akeem."

Yemi
snorted. "That's up to her, but I thought she was dating that
senator guy, or have they fallen apart so soon?"

Sara
giggled. "Poor chap. She's still with him, as I heard, but she
never misses out on an opportunity with Akeem."

Yemi
looked disgusted. "It beats me how a woman can put her life on hold
for so many years. She's despicable."

"Maybe
Akeem's mother has been assuring her that there is still hope,"
Sara replied. "And that's why you've got to be around your man.
Leila was not the only woman batting her eyes at him." She looked
sternly at Yemi. "Don't let these terrible women move in on
him."

"Drop
it, Sara." She was not going to spend the rest of her life clinging
to Akeem and monitoring his every move.

Sara
eyed her. "You're worse than me now, and I'm not sure I like it.
Akeem is sorry about what…"

"How far
are you with your plans to open a department store?" Yemi cut in,
changing the topic.

Sara
stared at her. "This is not you, Yemi…" She stopped when she saw
the frown on Yemi's face. "Okay, I'll back off," she said, holding
up her hands. She inhaled slowly and shook her head as if she
considered Yemi a puzzle.

Yemi
half listened as Sara talked about her plans to open a store. She
had just wanted her to stop talking about Akeem. It didn't matter
what anyone else thought; there was no way she was ever going to
allow him to mess with her emotions and life again.

"By the
way, this place looks a little different from the last time I was
here," Sara remarked while looking around.

"It's
the flowers and the feature wall. Shona did it up for me a couple
of weeks back." Hasan's younger sister had a passion for interior
decorating; she had not liked what the professional interior
decorator had done, so she had offered to do Yemi's office again
free of charge. Yemi had to agree that she had done a good
job.

Sara
looked round appreciatively. "That girl is so talented. I wish she
would turn her talents into a proper business. I mean, look at you.
Sewing was just a hobby, and now you've gone global!"

"Hardly!" Yemi laughed. "But that was the very same thing I
told Shona. I wasted so much time playing good little wife, and it
didn't get me anywhere."

∞∞∞

"Mrs.
K," Ken said as he came into Yemi's office. "There is someone here
to see you."

Yemi
raised her brows quizzically. "Who?"

"She
said her name is Kelly Sola-Davies," Ken told her. "She insists on
seeing you."

Yemi
shrugged, and a few minutes later, a woman walked in. She looked
oddly familiar as Yemi exchanged pleasantries with her, but she
could not quite figure out how she knew her.

"How may
I help you?" Yemi asked, after she had served her a
drink.

"I saw
some of the outfits you made for my friend, Dara Awosika. They were
really lovely, and she gave me your address."

"Thanks.
That's good to hear," Yemi replied. Ayo was the wife of one of
Akeem's business associates.

"I'm on
the campaign trail for the next elections, and I need a new
wardrobe," Kelly said, looking at Yemi.

It was
then that it dawned on Yemi where she had seen Kelly. She was
running as a senator in the forthcoming elections and was featured
regularly in advertisements on TV. She could not help wondering why
she had come to her, but she soon got her answer.

"My
fashion designer is getting too big for her boots." She mentioned
the name of the fashion outfit, and Yemi deliberately kept her face
bland. It was one of the big names—almost at par with House of
Tetra. "She actually gave my clothes to her staff to make the last
time I ordered clothes from her, and they almost messed me up. I
made up my mind never to go back."

Yemi
made a mental note never to do that with her.

"But
like I was saying, I need a new wardrobe," Kelly continued. "While
campaigning in the cities, I've got to look chic, but my dressing
must be toned down in the suburbs, otherwise I would look too far
removed from the people I am speaking to."

She went
into more details, and Yemi listened attentively, taking mental
notes as she spoke. Kelly wanted three outfits almost immediately
for different events, and would decide if she would continue with
Yemi depending on the outcome. "You're new in the fashion
industry," she said, eyeing Yemi as if wondering if she was making
a mistake or not. "But I liked Dara's clothes, and that is why I'm
here. Do you think you can help me?"

"I
believe I can," Yemi said simply. Her mind was already working on
what designs she could possibly put together.

After
describing her campaign schedule in more detail, Kelly asked, "You
said your surname is Kadiri?" She frowned slightly, as if trying to
recollect a memory. "You are not by any chance related to the
Yohanna Kadiri family, are you?"