After the storm (36 page)

"I'm not
talking about Akeem. I'm talking about you." Abby stopped and
stared at Yemi. "Yemi, I've tried not to put pressure on you, but I
believe you should take steps to deal with the issues you've been
through."

"Maybe
the first step I should take is to get a divorce from Akeem," Yemi
muttered. "Come to think of it, he'd probably be relieved. That
will free him up to marry his girlfriend."

"So why
do you think he has not instituted divorce proceedings against
you?"

Yemi
frowned. "Maybe he wants to be able to tell Aleena that the
decision was mine."

"I don't
think so, but anyway, I think the first step you should take is to
ask God for healing concerning all the hurt in your heart, and then
you can take it from there."

∞∞∞

Yemi
pondered over her conversation with Abby, but when she saw pictures
of Akeem and Lois at some function a few days later, she felt
herself getting angry all over again. She looked at his impeccably
fitted tuxedo and the comments the papers had made about him and
Lois. They were supposed to be a power couple because of their
wealthy backgrounds, and the papers said they would make an ideal
match. Of course, to make the story juicer, they went onto write
about Akeem and Yemi's fairytale-like wedding a few years earlier
and how gutted they were that the marriage had not
lasted.

Yemi was
angry at the story and shrugged off her feelings of guilt over
Deji. She wasn't doing anything wrong, after all. Akeem was the
adulterer. She just had a nice friend around her.

Deji
invited her to dinner a few days later. She accepted and, because
of her mood, went out of her way to look really good. She knew she
had succeeded when she looked at herself in the mirror, and the way
Deji's eyes widened in admiration later on that evening confirmed
it.

"You
look absolutely beautiful!" he told her as he took in her
one-shouldered, Sapphire blue, Grecian-style evening dress with a
floor-grazing skirt. The dress lightly skimmed over her, showing
off her slim figure to full advantage.

"Thanks,
Deji. You look great too."

"I'm the
lucky chap here, escorting such a beautiful woman to
dinner."

Yemi
smiled. She wished he had met him eight years earlier, but then
again, he was happily married back then. She sighed inwardly; life
could be so complex

She
looked out of the window as Deji drove them towards Victoria
Island. She loved the island at night. The dazzling array of
multiple lights coming from every direction lit the evening skies,
giving it a fairytale-like look. It was a very different look from
the manic place it could be during the day.

About
twenty minutes later, he turned into the parking lot of a
restaurant. She looked curiously at the sign in front of the
restaurant: La Crae. It appeared to be a new place.

"Hmmm…this place looks very nice," she said as he opened the
door for her.

"I'm
trying to impress some lady, you know." He smiled. "I'm hoping this
may help me score some brownie points with her."

"I'm
sure she'll be really impressed," Yemi said, nodding solemnly. "I
mean, she's just got to be. Taking her here must cost a few
pennies."

"She is
very special and worth every single penny." He held out his arm to
her. "Shall we go in, my lady?" Yemi laughed and took his
arm.

She
looked appreciatively at the interior of the restaurant. A waiter
led them to the VIP section, where Deji had booked a table. They
ordered drinks and the waiter left them with the menus.

"This is
a lovely place. I'm already loving it," Yemi remarked.

"Does
that mean that I'm definitely scoring some points,
then?"

She
pretended to think about it. "A few," she conceded.

"That's
not fair, but I'll keep trying to improve my ratings. I'll get
there soon."

She
smiled at him. "You don't need to try, Deji. You're a great guy
just by being who you are."

He
reached across the table and squeezed her fingers lightly. "Thanks,
that's the nicest thing you've ever told me."

"Is it?"
she teased. "Stick around, and you'll hear some more."

She
regretted the words when she saw the hope that flared in his
eyes.

"I
intend to," he said softly. He seemed to sense her discomfort and
changed the topic; very soon she was laughing at his jokes. She
didn't know how he could relate such stories while maintaining a
straight face himself.

"Whoa,
this trout tastes so good," Yemi said, savouring the taste of the
fish when they were served their main course. Every bite of it was
simply delicious. "I wonder how they did it." She flipped a piece
over, trying to decide how it was made; it was definitely baked.
She would try to do it at home sometime.

"If you
remain all smiley like this, I will order some takeaway for
you."

She
smiled and took a sip of her wine. "Is that smile wide
enough?"

"Hmmm."
He pretended to consider it. "Nice, but a little bit more will do
nicely."

She
giggled. "Can't smile any wider than this, but this is straight
from the heart, so it should do."

"I love
it when you smile," he said softly, looking into her eyes. "And
yes, you will definitely get some takeaway, but you have to keep
the smiling face up all night, otherwise you lose
points."

"Well, I
can't let that happen then, can I?" She took another sip of her
wine and glanced casually around the room. There were a few other
diners in the section where they were. She almost did a double take
when her eyes collided with Akeem's. Her smile froze. He had
obviously been watching her. He was with a lady, but Yemi could not
see her face because her back was towards Yemi.

"Are you
okay?" Deji's voice seemed to be coming from far away. She tried to
compose herself.

"I'm
fine."

Deji
looked slightly puzzled by the expression on her face. "No, you're
not fine. What's going on?" he asked gently, taking her hand in
his.

"Nothing, just that Akeem is here. He's seated about three
tables away," she told him. Deji's back was towards Akeem, so he
would not be able to see him. "But please don't look in his
direction."

Deji
seemed to tense up a little, but he continued to stroke her hand.
"He is not alone, is he?"

"No,
he's with someone."

"So
let's ignore him and concentrate on our dinner. We're here to have
a good time, and we'll do just that."

He was
right, Yemi thought to herself. Why should Akeem's presence bother
her? She glanced in Akeem's direction again. He was still looking
at her. She lifted her chin a little defiantly before looking away.
He could think whatever he wanted. She took a sip of her wine and
concentrated on what Deji was saying.

Deji
talked to her about a course he was attending in a few months. She
kept her eyes on his face and a smile on her lips, but she was only
half listening because it seemed like someone somewhere was bent on
having fun at her expense that night: the classical jazz music that
had been playing in the background since they arrived had suddenly
changed, and the next thing she heard was the strains of the song
"I knew I loved You" by Savage Garden.

That had
been their favourite song. Memories she didn't want to remember
contended for a place in her mind. Newly pregnant with Aleena,
lying back on the recliner on the balcony outside their bedroom.
Akeem by her side, stroking her hair and singing along in his deep
baritone voice to the music playing softly in the background. The
warm evening breeze whispering softly around them as she looked
into the eyes of the man she thought she would spend the rest of
her life with.

She
looked towards him. He was looking at her too, and somehow she knew
he was remembering as well. She forced herself to concentrate on
what Deji was saying but knew the evening was getting spoilt for
her.

A few
minutes later, she looked up to find a familiar figure walking
towards the section where she was sitting with Deji. She was more
than a little taken aback when she saw that it was Justin, Shona's
husband. Just great! Another person she knew, she thought to
herself gloomily. She wouldn't be surprised if her mother-in-law
walked in next. Maybe she should have just given out invites to the
Kadiri clan and friends!

She
averted her eyes, hoping that Justin would not see her, but luck
was clearly not on her side. He stopped midstride when he noticed
her and began walking towards them.

"Yemi,
what a pleasure to see you here!" he said, smiling warmly at her.
"You're looking beautiful as usual. How have you been?"

"I'm
fine, Justin. It's good to see you too," she lied, mustering up a
bright smile. She introduced him to Deji and they shook hands. "Are
you here alone?" she asked him, wondering where Shona
was.

"Yes,
I'm at work actually. I own this place." He smiled at the look of
surprise on her face. "I opened it about three months ago," he
added.

"Oh
really? Congrats! It's a lovely place," she replied, wondering why
no one had mentioned it to her. Not even Sara aka her freelance
news broadcaster who took pleasure in giving her updates on
everyone connected to Akeem.

"Thanks,
you're kind. I was told by my staff that Akeem was around, and I
came out to say hello to him," he said. "I hope everything is to
your liking?" Yemi nodded. "Well then, I'll see you before you go,"
he added and then smiled at Deji before moving on.

"His
wife was the one who did up my office," Yemi explained to Deji
after Justin had left. "They're close friends of Akeem," she added
a little lamely.

Deji
changed the topic. She tried to follow the conversation, forcing
herself to make comments and willing her eyes to stay on his face,
but it proved to be a struggle.

Justin
was talking on his walkie-talkie by the time he was done with
Akeem. He gave her a signal as he left the room, indicating that he
would see her before she left. She nodded and gave him a small
wave. She was relieved he had not come over again. She could see
Deji was not comfortable with his connection to Akeem.

"Rule
The World" by Take That, another favourite song of theirs, began to
play a few minutes later. She thought it was a coincidence until
"Everything I Do" by Bryan Adams came on immediately afterwards,
followed by "Our Love Will Last Forever," and then "I Knew I Loved
You" came on again. She felt sure it was no coincidence. Those were
their songs. She was not too sure how he'd done it, but she felt
strongly that Akeem had something to do with the choice of music
playing. From the corner of her eye, she saw the woman with him
stand up and say something to him before walking away. Yemi
recognised her; it was Lois. Yemi looked at her as she made her way
across the room. Nice dress. Nice figure. Who cared?

Her eyes
strayed towards Akeem again. His eyes were on her. She still could
not shake the feeling that he was responsible for those songs. She
felt he was playing with her, willing her to remember their time
together while she was with another man.

She
didn't realise she was frowning until Deji's "Are you okay?"
brought her back. He was looking at her face with
concern.

"Not
really." There was no use pretending anymore. The evening was
ruined for her. "Is it okay if we skip dessert and
leave?"

Deji
inhaled deeply. "Because of him? Why do you have to be the one to
leave?"

"Somehow
I don't care about that right now," she said a little tightly. "But
we can stay on if you want to."

"No,
it's okay. I'll just settle the bill."

He took
her for a drive afterwards. That lightened her up a little. She was
sorry she had spoilt the evening he had carefully planned for them,
but she was also angry with herself for not being able to sit
through the songs coolly without giving Akeem the satisfaction that
he had gotten to her.

Maybe
Abby was right. Perhaps it was time for her to start dealing with
all the baggage from her past.

∞∞∞

Akeem
finished his meeting and headed back to the office. The meeting had
gone well. Everyone seemed motivated and charged up about making
Ka-Tell a household name.

Profits
were at their highest yet. The network was expanding across the
different states, and Ka-Tell was getting excellent reviews from
the media. Life appeared good, so he should be in a good mood, but
he was not. He had not been for a while.

Everything seemed flat and empty to him. What was it all for?
The constant money spinning, the drug-like high of a new
achievement. What did it all amount to when all he felt inside was
nothing but emptiness?

"There
is a delivery here for you, sir," his personal assistant said as he
entered his office. "I left it on your desk."

"Thanks,
Linda," he said, striding into his office.