 
Skyline

By

Nia Eze
Skyline

By Nia Eze

Copyright 2017 Nia Eze

All Rights Reserved.

Cover page Art courtesy of www.nairaland.com

Digital Edition

ISBN 9781370754441

Without limiting the rights under copyright preserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright holder and the publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

MEET THE CREW

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 37

EPILOGUE
MEET THE CREW

ALERO BEKERE –She's ambitious and driven. She wants what she has lived in the midst of all her life but never really had; affluence. The kind that seemingly makes you as impervious as an igneous rock

BANJO ADENIRAN – Brilliant, scion of a legacy and Alero's love interest.

EMILY OLAOYE - Lawyer per excellence. She is truly her father's daughter.

KENNETH RUEBEN OKORIE - CEO/President of his own company and conglomerate and Emily's love interest.

MAUREEN OKWARA - also known as Maggie by her cronies. She is an international model. BFF of Alero (the kind that will give you the shirt off her back, her family are long standing friends with the Adeniran family. She is very vocal.

OLIVER (OLLY) OKWARA – He is Maggie's older brother and Banjo's very good friend. He has had a crush for Alero for years even though he never did make his feelings known to her.

QUINN ROBINSON- He is Maggie's fiancée and later, husband. .He caused quite a rave among her family and friends.

PATRICIA ADENIRAN \- Banjo's younger sister. She is soft-spoken and unassuming. She idolizes her elder brother but is intent on making her own way even though she had a very sheltered upbringing.

CHIEF MRS ADENIRAN (BANJO'S MUM) - is a widow and is reputedly a bit snobbish. She has had to bear down under the weight of circumstances. She is the Boss-lady in charge of the family's chains of businesses. Her husband had been openly and spectacularly unfaithful to her during his lifetime. Life hasn't always treated her kindly.

MAZI OKORIE - Kenneth's dad. Extremely proud of his son, widower, single parent, never remarried. He paid the bills for his son's success as a company man. He is a contented man. Enjoys the perks his son's wealth affords him.

DR. AND MRS. BEKERE \- Alero's mum and dad. They have been married happily for just over 30yrs. They are proud of their daughter but also wary of the pitfalls of modernity on her behalf

ALERO'S SIBLINGS - Toritseju, **Oritsegbegbemi, Oritsejeminetemi (also known as Toju, Gbemi and Temi) all i** dolize their big sis.

BOLANRE OLAOYE - Emily's dad, solicitor per excellence, founder of chambers. He has never been married legally and enjoys his bachelorhood to the hilt.
CHAPTER 1

"He graduated magna cum laude from the American university he attended."

"He. Is. So. Cute!!"

"Oh my goodness! They're like...super wealthy."

"My elder sister used to date one of their cousins."

Alero placed a hand to her forehead. It was official. It she heard one more thing about the Adenirans and their golden son, she was just...

"Alero! I've been looking all over for you." Maggie, Alero's best friend for years and years scolded as she sashayed towards her.

"Was right here." Alero smiled. "It was getting somewhat stuffy so I came out for some fresh air."

Maggie cut her a skeptical look that communicated her patent disbelief.

"You were a bit overwhelmed." She chided. Alero began to deny it but Maggie cut into her. "They are a bit much. You get used to them though." She continued. "Give it time." She admonished.

Alero shrugged her shoulders. It did not matter to her one way or another. She was probably not going to ever be friendly with the Adenirans. The only reason she was at this party was because she had been at Maggie's place for the week and it would have been awkward to leave her at home while the rest of the family went out for the evening and so she had tagged along.

"Come on. I want you to meet Banjo and his sister. They're pretty nice people so no worries." Maggie said as she pulled Alero along, half dragging her actually.

Sensing that there was no escape, Alero relented and followed docilely feeling like she was being led to slaughter.

"Hey! You guys! Don't you dare start without me!" Maggie yelled as they reached the group hanging around Banjo. It was a pretty exclusive circle of super rich kids. Alero had indeed met some of them before while hanging out with Maggie.

She had never really gotten comfortable with this clique. She had met Maggie on the playground of the nursery school they had both attended and it had been love at first sight for both of them. They had been best friends ever since. Over the years, Mr. Okwara, Maggie's dad, had made a killing in the financial market. Money had become available to them in abundance and the Okwaras had moved up in life. They had relocated from the Average middle class neighbourhood where Alero and Maggie had grown and moved to the highbrow enclave reserved almost exclusively for the supper rich with the occasional high ranking government official thrown in. It was a testament to the love between both girls that their friendship had withstood the rigours of cross-city visits and the really wide change in their social status.

"Where did you get off to Maureen?" someone asked.

"Had to go get Alero." Maggie responded.

"Hey Alero!" Mide, one of the guys sitting in a loose circle around the star of the moment hailed. She had met him a few times at Maggie's as he was good friends with her brother.

"Hello Mide." She responded, a shy smile touching her lips.

"It's been awhile since we saw your pretty face around these parts." He commented. "Asked Maggie after you and she was babbling something."

That earned him a hard rap on the arm from Maggie. "I do not babble. And stop making those gooey eyes at my friend! Alero ignore him. He's an inveterate flirt!"

Alero wished the ground would open and swallow her up right that moment as it seemed to her that all eyes turned to the 'intruder'. The girls seemed to eye her up as if she were a potentially dangerous rival that had snuck up on them unsuspected while the guys seemed to look at her again just to be sure they hadn't missed something.

"So you're Maggie's friend we've heard so much about." A voice drawled.

Had Alero been told that a body could react sexually to a voice, she would have insisted that it was not possible. Her pebbled nipples would have mocked that belief. She turned slowly, mortified at her own body's reaction to face the speaker. It was Banjo. She knew that. She had just spent about half an hour outside with girls that had giggled every time he walked by or looked in their direction.

"Ally, the dude here is Banjo." Mide indicated with his thumb. "Banjo, Ally."

Alero had to smile at that. Only Maggie and their families called her 'Ally'. To everyone else, she was Alero. What did Mide mean by calling her Ally just now? She peeked a glance at him and he winked at her in response. She quickly averted her eyes back to Banjo, Adebanjo Adeniran of the great Adeniran dynasty. She had to disagree with those girls, he was not cute. Cute, was something two year old boys were and this specimen, was definitely older, much older than two years old. She began to smile a greeting at him when the look in his eyes stopped her cold. Gone was the drawling, charming young man and in its place was...disdain. Alero resisted the urge to look down at herself to see if her embarrassing reaction to him was on display.

"Hello." She said coolly.

To which he responded with a nod and continued his conversation with his friends. Clearly, she had been dismissed. Alero looked around till she spotted Maggie holding court at a corner of the living room. The parents were at the swimming pool area at the back of the house carrying on with their own party leaving the young adults all to themselves indoors. Alero slowly made her way to where Maggie chatted vivaciously with her friends. For the first time in all their years of friendship, Alero felt resentment for her friend. The burn of the snub she had just been given seemed too much for her to bear. It hadn't been the first time. There had always been subtle shade thrown at her over the years as she had become Maggie's 'tag-along' friend but she had never let it get in the way of her friendship with Maggie. But suddenly it mattered! Oh, how it mattered and she had had enough of it.

She tapped Maggie on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey Ally. I thought the guys intended to keep you for a bit there. They all...."

"Would it be alright if I went on home...to your house?" Alero interrupted. Maggie's smile immediately extinguished.

"Why? What's wrong?" she asked, concern marring her beautiful features.

"I just...I'm feeling a bit dizzy. Perhaps I just need to lie down for awhile." Alero finagled.

"Did you eat something...? Did something happen over there?" she indicated the group Alero had just left with a jut of her chin. Alero felt her head turn involuntarily and her gaze clashed with Olly, Maggie's elder brother. The slight frown of concern on his face was the final straw for Ally.

"I can go on by myself. You don't need to leave on my account. And it isn't that far. I know my way home...to your house."

"Ally?" Maggie asked her frown of consternation deepening.

Alero just waved away her concern and left. As she stepped outside, it felt like the slight breeze washed away the bitterness and pain of the burn she had just been dealt. She may not have realized it then, but in that moment, a few things shifted in her mind that would significantly shape her perspective of life.
CHAPTER 2

Alero's laughter into the phone was pure joy. The thrills of shared mirth and happiness echoed back from the other end.

"Oh Maggie! I'm so excited for you!" she exclaimed. "Do you need me to pick you guys up?"

"And my mother will let you, how?" Maggie laughed. "Just meet us back at the house. Quinn will be glad to see you again. He couldn't stop raving about you to his boys here. Actually, a few of them are quite looking forward to meeting you. You know I rub off on you in a good way."

Alero felt the now familiar twinge that such comments elicited. She knew Maggie meant no disrespect but she couldn't help but feel slighted.

"Okay, okay. We'll see at house. Girl, it will be soooo exciting! I really have missed you guys." She thrilled.

"And whose fault is that? Cancelling on me at the last minute like that. I should be really mad at you, you know." Maggie scolded and then chuckled girlishly. "You know I can't stay mad at you for long. Between you and Quinn, I'm just a sap!"

Alero looked up at the clock hanging on her wall. "Maggie I've got to go. I have a meeting in a few and if I hope to be any kind of prepared, I need to hang up now!"

"You work too hard!" Maggie whined.

"Says the pot calling the kettle black!" Alero responded sharply with a smile in her voice. "Love you girl! Keep me posted!" she said and made kissy noises into the phone before clicking the disconnect button. She shook her head wryly. Maggie could go on for days. That girl never seemed to run out of conversation fodder.

The intercom phone on her desk rang out and she picked it up even as she went through the papers on her desk. Her secretary's voice came through. "Your 10 'o' clock is here madam."

"Oh. Ah...give me a few minutes and then send her in." Alero instructed.

"Yes madam." The phone clicked off.

Alero sorted through the papers she needed for the interview she was about to conduct and collected herself mentally. It was a huge compliment from her director that she was left alone to conduct this interview for a prospective hire. When she had joined the firm of architects and civil engineers, she had been not only the youngest but also the only female architect on the team. There had been a couple more female hires since then but they had not stayed on longer than a couple of years. It would be Alero's sixth year with the firm in a few months and she was scrabbling to make junior partner. She hoped that by her tenth year, she would be a senior partner in the firm.

So many people exclaimed at how 'lucky' she was to be a part of Skyline Architectural. She scoffed softly. Lucky indeed! She had busted herself up to get to where she was today. She had no friends other than her family and Maggie and lately, Quinn. Every other moment was consumed with Skyline and her big dreams for it and for herself. If she had anything to say about it, and she had a lot, this generation would know Alero Bekere's name before she was through.

There was a soft rap on her door followed by the sound of the door opening. A young lovely looking lady walked in closing the door smartly behind her. Alero put on a smile as she stood to welcome her.

"Good morning Ma'am." The young lady greeted with a decidedly American accent.

"Good morning," Alero peeked at the papers on her desk, "Patricia. Sorry for keeping you waiting a bit." She indicated the seat in front of her desk as she took her own seat.

"It was no problem." The young lady demurred.

"Thank you." Alero said as she turned to pick up the file on her desk. "I have been looking at your submissions and I have to say, I am impressed." She smiled. "Tell me a bit more about yourself."

And so the interview began and lasting for the better part of an hour. Alero had been so rarely impressed by colleagues and the young girl seating across from her had blown her away over the course of the past one hour.

"If you ask me," she concluded, "I'll say you're ideally suited for this firm but, the final decision is for Mr. Wanigo."

Patricia nodded her understanding.

"I'd like to say, welcome to Skyline though. I have a feeling that this interview was just a formality. He seemed very impressed by you when we spoke earlier."

"I'd be really excited to work here." Patricia gushed before she could get a hold of herself.

Alero stood to shake her hand and formally end the interview. As she walked around her desk to show her to the door, Patricia turned to her.

"I don't mean to be forward but I wonder if you know Maureen. Maureen Okwara." She asked a surprised Alero.

"Yes, yes I do." Alero answered wonderingly. "Do you know her?"

"Our families have been friends for years."

"Oh really? It's a small world." Alero said.

"That it is." Patricia responded. She made to turn and stopped at the last minute. "Will you be at her place then? She's coming into the country with her fiancé this weekend."

"Definitely. She'd probably be upset if I didn't show. But how did you know I knew her?" Alero asked.

"You used to come to her house when we were much younger." Patricia answered.

"Oh my goodness!" Alero exclaimed. "I am so not good with faces! Oh dear! Don't tell me I met you there and then I just went and forgot your face!"

Patricia chuckled. "We never exactly met per say. I just used to come visit Jacinth." Calling the name of one of Maggie's younger siblings.

"Oh dear, oh dear! I'm so sorry." Alero apologized.

"Ah! I wasn't exactly...you know, we were younger, Jacinth and I."

"I'm so not good with faces." Alero reiterated ruefully. "So till the weekend then or maybe even before."

"Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your day." She greeted and walked out of the office.

Alero settled back down to work on her desk only to find that she couldn't see properly as the light coming into the office seemed to have dimmed. She looked to the window and realized that the weather had changed to cloudy during the course of the interview. In fact, a good thunderstorm was imminent.

She stood and walked to window to adjust the slats that directed sunlight into the room. She wondered briefly how Patricia was going to fare if the rains started before she could exit the building. As she made to turn away from the window, she noticed her figure walking briskly towards a car that was parked in the visitor's car park. A male figure got out of the car and enveloped her in a hug. They spoke briefly and Patricia indicated the building as she spoke to him. He looked up and Alero was glad for the slats that would shield her from his view. Adebanjo Adeniran!

She gasped in surprise as she watched him get back into the car and call out something to Patricia. The memory of the burn from that long ago day some ten years before skittered through her mind. Suddenly it clicked into place. Of course! Patricia Adeniran. She was his kid sister.

Alero did not know how she felt about that.
CHAPTER 3

Emily patted at the sweat trickling down her face. She had been trying to reach Banjo all day to no avail. It was either a busy signal or no response at all. She listened as the phone rang out for the umpteenth time that day.

She began to gather her things together from her desk. It was almost time to call it a day anyway. She would go by his house. If she saw him face to face, he would be unable to avoid her.

She had just made it to the door when it swung inwards to reveal her father with a thundercloud expression on his face.

"Good evening dad." She greeted. "You don't look at all happy."

Her dad huffed and stormed past her into her office. She had no option than to shut the door and go back to her desk.

"Where you on your way somewhere?" he asked.

"Yes I was...going to go by Banjo's place."

"Oh. I had no idea you had a date today." Her dad commented.

"No I don't." Emily replied "And you don't always know when I have plans for the evening dad!"

"Says who?" her dad chided. "Believe what you may Emily but that's not why I came to your office." He slammed a bunch of files he had been holding in his hand on top of her desk. "Nobleson." He announced with all the angst he could summon.

"Nobleson?" Emily asked as she came forward to pick the files from her desk. "What's the problem with them?"

"None at all." Her father said wryly. "They want these papers sent over to their office pronto." He said.

"Why is that a problem? A dispatch rider can go deliver it." Emily said as she browsed through the documents.

"Ordinarily, yes, however, this young man, the CEO, didn't get to look over the contract before and so, he wants to review it now, when he has barely forty eight hours to do so."

"This is for the petroleum deal they are entering into with the Asian company right?" Emily asked as she snapped the file she held in her hand shut.

"Yes it is."

She looked up at her dad, a sly smile playing on her lips. "Aannnndd...?"

"Don't sass me young lady! That young man gets on my nerves. I don't know what he thinks he is, something precious apparently but I have had as much of him as I can handle for the week." He complained.

"Daddy, you want me to go meet with him instead because you have a date." Emily chided.

"Young lady, is this how you talk to your dad?!" her father's eyebrows shot up to his hairline as he tried on a stern expression for size.

"Dad, I'll go have this meeting for you but I really would need to go by Banjo's today."

"Has he been avoiding you again?" her father asked sympathetically.

Emily sighed. "I don't know what to think." She raised her hands up in bewilderment. "We...everything seemed fine! All of a sudden...I just don't know!" she turned to look at her dad "Perhaps he's just extra busy." She said quietly, her voice clearly unconvinced.

Her dad shrugged and opened his arms to her for a hug and she walked into them for the comfort she knew will be waiting for her there.

"Never chase after a man Emily. We don't respond well to being idolized." He said even as he ruffled her hair.

"Aww daddy!" Emily shrieked. "Now I have to take the time to straighten it out." She checked her watch as she hurriedly fumbled in her bag for a comb. "And it's almost close of business!" she whined.

"Pfft!" her father dismissed. "Young man is a workaholic. He'll probably be waiting still if you even took an hour."

Emily checked that she had straightened her hair properly before replying. "We are professionals! We do...."

"Spare me the lecture." Her dad said as he walked towards the door. "I trust that you'll handle it excellently." He paused at the door and looked back at her. "If I did not believe that, you can be sure that you wouldn't be representing us at Nobleson." He smiled as he stepped out of her office shutting the door behind him.

When she recovered from the surprise of that compliment, Emily danced a small jig to the thrill of satisfaction racing through her. 'Legal Luminary, here I come!' she thought as she walked briskly out of her office, battle ready.
CHAPTER 4

Emily shut off her cell phone. Again, Banjo had not picked up the call. She sighed as she checked her reflection in the rear view mirror one more time before exiting the car.

She looked up at the imposing building in front of her and took a bracing breath.

As she walked into the reception lobby and approached the receptionist, she could not help but admire the ambience of the entrance lobby around her. This was what she hoped that Olaoye and Co. would be able to afford in the not too distant future.

"Good afternoon. How may I assist you?" the smartly dressed receptionist asked her.

"I...good afternoon. I would like to speak with the president?" Emily requested.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"I imagine so. Olaoye and Co. Legal practitioners." Emily responded.

The receptionist consulted the computer in front of her and turned to Emily with a smile.

"You do. In five minutes. Please use the elevator to the fifth floor. There will be someone to direct you once you get off." She directed.

"Thank you." Emily said as she made her way toward the bank of elevators tucked away at the end of the lobby. The receptionist barely acknowledged her greeting as she was back on the phone apparently directing someone else.

On exiting the elevator at the fifth floor, she was met by a dapperly dressed young man who asked her to follow him. They went down the corridor making a couple of turns before entering yet another elevator. Emily felt her eyebrows rising. She wondered at the reason for all the security controls. 'Hey! Who's after his life?' but on second thought, she guessed one could not be too careful at his level of success.

The elevator noiselessly came to a stop and slid open to a wide space even more breathtaking than the lobby she had so admired below.

"Good afternoon Ms. Olaoye." A genteel looking lady greeted in very cultured tones. Before Emily could respond to the greeting, she continued. "Your father had called ahead and Mr. Okorie is expecting you. This way please." She directed. Soon, Emily stood in front of a wide double door, a little intimidated at this point.

"You may go in now." The lady said as she turned and went back to her desk.

Emily rapped her knuckles on the door and walked into yet another beautifully appointed office. And oh my! The view out of the floor to ceiling window! She had been to this place a few times but had never realized that there was a large expanse of property at the back of the building. Someone had paid good money to have it beautifully landscaped.

She turned now to look at the 'person' who controlled the big bucks with her most professional smile plastered on her face. Her smile almost stuttered. She had no idea what she had been expecting but it was not him. He was...ordinary, almost plain to look at. He was not ugly but neither was he what you could call handsome. But he held himself with such dignity that for all his plain looks it somehow projected that you were in the presence of 'someone'.

"Good evening Sir." Emily greeted unable to help herself as she stared at him with undisguised curiosity.

"Good evening. You have the contract with you?" he asked. Apparently he was economical to the point of gruffness with his words.

"Yes I do." Emily responded and moved forward to hand over the file she had retrieved from her briefcase to him.

"Please sit down." He said. His voice was coarse and a bit gravelly. It was a distinctive voice and such a contrast to his physical appearance that Emily had to smile at it.

He remained standing behind his desk as he thumbed through the papers in the file. He then took out the first one and walked over to an arrangement of settees that faced out towards those beautiful windows.

"I'll just go through and we can finalize this." He said and proceeded to do just so.

Finding that he did not immediately require her attention, Emily turned back to admire her surroundings. The softness of the plush rugs that seemed to invite her to lie down, the marble that peeked through the scattering of those rugs, the huge 'in-your-face' desk which surprisingly looked like it was really a workstation not just an ode to ostentation, the artwork strategically displayed on the wall and around the office, she was sure she recognized the works of an up and coming local artist that was making a name for himself both locally and internationally.

She had not realized that time had indeed flown by until Mr. Okorie got up and walked back towards her.

"I...this should be fine. I made a few adjustments. Have it sent back to me for signing tomorrow. Before twelve noon." He instructed as he handed over the file back to Emily. Emily glanced at her wristwatch and was amazed to discover that she had spent almost two hours at his office.

She got up, thanked him and made her way out of the office. She supposed that she should be bristling. Her father had made it sound like she was going to have to explain and argue some points with him but she found that her enjoyment of the scenery doused any irritation that she may have been wont to feel.

As she made her way down the elevator, she briskly went over the adjustments he had made. She had to admit that he was a keen businessman. He definitely seemed to know what he wanted and how to get it.

It had begun to rain while she had been making her way down and it was pouring cats and dogs. She would have to wait for the rain to subside before she could reach her car at the back of the parking lot. As she waited, it began to get dark and yet, the rain just kept pouring. She was just about to go in and ask the receptionist for an umbrella when the swing doors behind her opened and the lady herself stumbled out clutching a cell phone to her ear.

"No Sir. He hasn't arrived." She responded to someone on the other end of the line. "I'm outside sir." "No, I can't see him." she sighed softly. "I'll do that Sir." She announced as she turned to stalk back into the building.

Emily toggled the wisdom of going after her in her mind and decided to wait out the rain. She sighed and leaned against the columns at the side of the canopied entrance.

"You are still here." The receptionist said as she came back out of the building.

Emily lifted her hand to indicate the rain by way of response.

The young lady made some non-committal sounds that sounded like commiseration or something just as polite.

Her cell phone rang again and she picked it up.

"Yes Sir." She answered. "I'm standing outside." "No Sir. Just the lady that came to see you earlier this evening." "From the law firm, yes sir." "Oh! Okay..." she turned to Emily, "Did you come in a car?" she asked.

Emily nodded her head in intrigued stupefaction.

"Yes, she did Sir." She listened for a moment and nodded. "Alright Sir." She clicked off the phone.

"Please, if you don't mind, can you wait for my boss to come down here?"

"Alright." Emily shrugged. What difference would it make? She obviously was not going to make it to Banjo's house this evening anyway.

In no time at all, Mr. Okorie was standing beside her.

"I was wondering if I could catch a ride with you?" he asked.

Emily peered at him in the gathering dusk to determine how serious he was. He was peering back at her!

"Ehm...Okay." She answered dubiously.

Kenneth sighed. "My driver is stuck in traffic somewhere and I need to leave now." He turned towards her more fully. "I really...can you help me?" he asked.

"Oh! Okay." Emily said. Luckily, he had an umbrella with him which he opened and held over both their heads as they made their way to the car. It was while he tried to fit himself into her car that Emily came to a startling realization. He was a big man physically as well. Somehow, that had escaped her notice at the office.

"Ah...you'll need to fasten your seat belt." She admonished as she turned the ignition on the car. Kenneth scrambled around his seat a short while before he was able to snap the seat belt on. He peered through her windscreen and then turned to peer at her. A small frown appeared on Emily's forehead.

"Is there a problem Sir?" Emily asked.

"No. Why?" he answered his eyes going owlishly wide.

"Ah...it's nothing. Where do you live?" she asked in turn.

"Shoreline." He responded looking back as she backed out of the parking space.

"I really do know how to drive." Emily remarked in a conversational tone. He turned to her in surprise, a small smile flitting around his lips.

"Obviously. You drove yourself here didn't you? And through rush hour traffic."

"I just wanted to reassure you."

He huffed out a small laugh and settled back in his seat.

"I would have wondered." He said softly, his voice more gravelly for the softness.

"Wondered what exactly?" Emily asked amazed at her own boldness.

"If you were really Bolanre Olaoye's daughter." He replied.

It was Emily's turn to huff out a laugh. "Indeed I am." She smiled as she drove out into the street. She noticed him peering out the windscreen again.

"Why do you keep doing that?" she asked.

"What?" he asked an eyebrow raised in an expression so boyishly cocky that it almost made him handsome.

"Peering, squinting at my windscreen."

He was quiet for a moment and Emily thought he was not going to respond.

"I forgot my glasses at home today." He said and Emily turned in amazement to look at him. Fancy that! The Almighty Mr. Okorie was shortsighted! For some reason, it was so incongruous to Emily that she burst out laughing hysterically over it.

"And it's amusing because?'" he asked in a mildly offended tone.

"Of all things, it was just the last thing I would have thought. Short sighted?" she hiccupped.

He did not bother responding to her, just turned back to look out the windscreen a puzzled frown and a small smile playing across his face.
CHAPTER 5

Banjo watched Emily's face for any clue of what she was thinking after he had finished his rehearsed speech. He had finally done it. He had been itching to do this for almost a year but had not known how to broach the subject. He had been surprised that Emily had not seemed to notice his gradual withdrawal from her over the past year but if her earlier questions and comments were anything to go by, she had. She just had not said anything about it.

"Emily, please say something." he entreated.

"What would you have me say?" she responded in a quiet voice, a wounded voice. They lapsed into silence once again. The noise of the party seemed jarring in Banjo's ear. He wished they were somewhere more private than at a welcome party at the Okwaras' for Maggie and her beau.

She jerked up from her seat and began to walk away. Banjo let her go. He did not know what to say to her and to be honest he was relieved that she was not creating a scene. He had fully expected her to throw some sort of tantrum. He leaned back on his chair and contemplated how soon he could leave the party. He had said his hellos to the Okwaras and especially Maggie and Quinn. He seemed like a nice enough man. He was happy for Maggie. She looked as though she were floating on a cloud.

"You have the looks of a man in deep contemplation." Olly boomed as he took the seat beside him. "Planning your escape already?" he continued.

Banjo held out his hand for a bro handshake. "Not exactly." he smiled, "Just thinking about the possibility."

Olly snorted and took a swig from the bottle he was holding. "So what do you think?" he nodded towards where Maggie and Quinn were chatting with a group of their friends or rather, Maggie was holding court and Quinn and all the others were just part of the retinue. Banjo smiled wryly. While Maggie was as lovely inside as she was outside, she was a bit much to take in one large dose. She'd go straight to your head like extra mature brandy. He hoped Quinn would be able to keep up. So far, he looked like he was hanging in there nicely.

"He seems like a cool dude. If a bit of a...it's not the right word but, dandified?" he turned to Olly as he shrugged wryly. He figured Olly would get what he was trying to say.

"Yeah." Olly nodded his agreement. "I wouldn't have thought he'd be Maggie's type."

Banjo pondered that comment for a moment and frowned mildly at his friend. "Maggie has a type?" he asked.

Olly gave him an 'are-you-kidding-me' look. "What do you think? Doesn't everyone?"

Just then, a pretty dark skinned lady joined the group gathered around Maggie and Quinn. Maggie's squeal of delight could not be masked by the thumping beat of the afro-centric music booming around them.

"Wondered when she would show up." Olly commented dryly even as he tensed in his seat beside Banjo. Banjo eyed him and took his tense posture and the tone of his voice in as he said.

"She looks pretty familiar. I can't seem to place her though. Who is she?"

"Ally. Alero, Maggie's friend." Olly responded a strange emotion in his tone as his eyes remained locked on the young lady even as she took a seat that Maggie had squeezed out beside her.

Banjo looked across at the young lady, her features falling in place with the memory of the young girl in his mind. Why had he not realized that she would grow up some, just like he had done?

He whistled his appreciation. "She grew up nice." he said as he looked at her sitting primly beside Maggie while the other went on about something, her mouth, hands and shoulders all moving in cadence with whatever she was saying. Alero was nodding and smiling and laughing out occasionally as she let her friend go on and on. She turned and smiled at Quinn including him in the conversation that Maggie was having.

"They are still friends then? I thought they had drifted apart when she stopped coming around." Banjo commented as he took his eyes away from her to look at his friend. He found that Olly had been watching him speculatively. There was something else lurking at the back of Olly's gaze but Banjo couldn't quite put a finger on it. He raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

Olly drew a deep breath and took another swig from his bottle. He shrugged as he got up from his seat and stretched his taut muscles. Olly had grown into a real bear of a man. He could be a teddy bear when he was in a good mood or a grizzly when riled. He was good looking though, and if the numbers that constantly flung themselves at him were any indication, he had the right pull with the ladies.

"I'm going over to say hello. You want to come along?"

Banjo shuffled his options with lightening speed in his head. Did he want to get sucked into Maggie's orbit or did he make good his escape now? Just as he was about to decide to leave, Alero looked towards them, apparently drawn by Olly when he had stood to stretch. Her eyes took in the picture Olly made as he stretched in his snug t-shirt and well fitted jeans. It was a fine picture. She looked at Banjo as he shifted on his seat. Her eyes had widened slightly and then she gave him a cursory once over and looked away disinterestedly, or not. There had been a sheen of something decidedly interesting in her eyes as she had flicked it away from him back to Olly. She smiled cheerily at Olly as he finally abandoned his friend and made his way over to her. It was her that Olly was making his way over to. Not the group, but her.

Banjo cocked his head interestedly and stood to follow his friend towards the group. He suddenly needed to see how this played out.

At another corner of the lounge area, another pair of eyes tracked them with unwavering intensity as they made their way over to the group.
CHAPTER 6

Alero listened with half an ear to what Maggie was telling her about hers and Quinn's holiday at the Bahamas with his family. She had been surprised to learn that she was as well acquainted with them as that. Apparently, she had gone over with Quinn for an extended stay earlier in the year when she had taken some time off her hectic schedule rather than come home to Nigeria. Alero wondered how her parents had felt about that but she made no comments. No need to rock the boat if the waters were calm enough.

She noticed when the fine specimen of male seated across from her stood to stretch and she turned to admire his physique. She was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Olly. As she watched him, she noticed there was someone seated next to him. She extended her gaze lazily to him as well. Olly had always had good looking friends. If Maggie had expressed her love for beautiful things by taking the fashion and modeling world by storm, Olly had done his own expression by way of his collection of friends. Olly had the most astonishing collection of eye candy as friends. Her breath hitched when she realized who she was looking at. She would have imagined that after the years that had passed since she had last seen him, she would have been...maybe mildly surprised to see him but not this shocked. It was the pain of the pent up breath she was holding that forced her to start breathing again. She removed her gaze from his as calmly as she could focusing on keeping her breathing even as she tried to focus her scrambled senses on something else. Her eyes latched on to Olly as he made his way towards her. She smiled widely at him in relief that was quickly replaced by tension when she realized that Banjo had unfolded himself from his seat and was coming after Olly.

"Hey Ally! So this is you?!" Olly's loud voice exclaimed as he got to them. Ally stood up as he reached her as was soon wrapped up in a warm hug. She sank into that hug and was overwhelmed by the feeling of nostalgia. In a lot of ways, Olly had been the older sibling she had longed for when growing up. There had been times when life had been pretty overwhelming to the shy, introspective girl she had been. Those times when she had longed for a not-so-older someone to take the pressure off of her and Olly had always stepped in where he could.

"You ran away from us because Maggie left." He reproved mildly as he slowly disentangled them and held her away to eye her critically.

"Yes, she's taking good care of herself." Maggie quipped from beside Alero as she dragged her back down to sit with her, answering the unspoken question his assessing look had seemed to be asking.

"I wasn't talking to you." Olly reprimanded his sister as he went to sit on the handle of a chair close to Alero. The female occupant of the seat squealed in patently feigned affront which Olly turned to assuage with a debonair charm.

Maggie's gasp drew attention to her again as she jumped up and went to say hello to some long missed friend who had just walked in leaving an empty space beside her which Banjo promptly slid into.

Alero stiffened as his sides bumped into her. She tried to look unaffected as she turned to him. "Hello." she said abruptly and turned away.

"Hello yourself." He responded sounding mildly amused. Alero turned a sharp gaze on him at his tone wondering if he was laughing at her. His face seemed bland enough and so she relaxed into her seat and proceeded to 'ignore' him.

"Didn't think you still hung around these parts." he commented as he leaned forward in order to make room for her on their shared seat and turned back towards her.

"Oh." she responded nonplussed for what to say when he continued to talk to her. "I still do from time to time." she said with a small, polite smile.

He nodded as he hunched over as if intending to settle into a long conversation with her.

"When Maggie is home." he said just as Olly interrupted.

"So Ally, what's happening with you these days? I hear you're the next big thing at that firm of yours."

Alero turned a relieved smile to him. "You heard from where exactly? Have you been listening to gossip?" she chided jokingly.

Olly scoffed at her. "Men do not gossip." he stated emphatically at which it was Alero's turn to scoff. They kept up the banter amongst themselves as other friends and acquaintances from their growing years joined in. Maggie and Quinn also found their way back to the group and everyone shuffled around to make room for them. Banjo remained fairly quiet by her side, occasionally laughing out loud at some of the funnier comments but not contributing much to the conversation otherwise. She had begun to relax when he suddenly tensed up beside her. She could feel his muscles go rigid against her.

"Hey Maggie, I'll be leaving now." a sweet, quiet voice spoke into the bantering voices. Alero looked up even as Maggie jumped up to acknowledge the young lady who had spoken. She was neat looking, was the thought that sprung into Alero's mind. She could not remember her from the early days, but then she had the sort of features that would not jump at you in a crowd. As Maggie led her away chattering a mile to a minute, she felt Banjo's muscles slowly lose their rigidity. She turned to look at him curiously but he was surreptitiously watching the pair of Maggie and the young lady as they walked towards the main entrance. She shrugged inwardly as she wondered at Banjo's strange reaction to the young lady who had looked non-threatening enough. She looked around the group and noticed that Olly was staring questioningly at Banjo who was trying hard not to look in his direction.

Presently, Maggie came back into the lounge and was hijacked by another group of departing guests. Alero checked her wrist watch and realized that the night was indeed far spent. She made to get up but was checked by Olly's voice.

"Leaving so soon Ally? I thought you were at least going to spend the night."

"Hah! In whose room? Madam over there..." she began only to have Olly stand and hurriedly put a finger to his mouth in a shushing motion.

"Don't let my mother hear. As far as she is concerned, her daughter is innocent." he reprimanded jokingly at which Alero laughed out loud.

He held out his hand to help her up from her seat. Alero took it and allowed herself to be pulled up.

"I don't have any change of clothes." she said.

"So? You can steal some of Maggie's. She probably won't even realize they belong to her." Olly said.

"Deceive yourself! Maggie? Not recognize her own clothes? You're just a joker." she teased as they walked hand in hand to find Maggie.

Banjo watched the pair as they made their way towards where Maggie had just exited. They were a fine looking pair. As he wondered if she would make just such a fine pair with him, he spluttered.

Where had that thought come from?
CHAPTER 7

"Coming!" Alero yelled as she dashed for the door wondering who could be leaning on the doorbell so early in the day. She swung the door open ready to tackle the person on the other side verbally only to see that it was Maggie, Maggie almost bursting at the seams with excitement. She brushed past Alero buzzing the air beside her cheeks as she stepped into the living room.

"Oh wow! Like these new furnishings." she said as she went over to a sofa and sat down.

"Good morning Maggie. Yes, I slept well in case you were about to ask." Alero chided as she shut the door and came over to join her friend in the sitting area.

"Good morning Ally." Maggie responded in dulcet tones. "And why wouldn't you sleep well?" she asked seemingly nonplussed.

"Have you really stayed so long in America or are you just being deliberately obtuse?" Alero asked coming to a stop beside the sofa Maggie had chosen.

Maggie made a dismissive wave with her hand. "I have gist!" she said excitedly motioning Alero to take the vacant seat on the sofa. Alero sat down curious as to what had Maggie so excited, not that it took a lot to set Maggie off.

"What's the emergency?" Alero asked.

"Banjo broke up with Emily." She announced with all the pizzazz of a journalist giving a Nobel-prize winning performance.

Alero squinted at her and cocked her head to the side. "And this is world changing news because?" she asked in befuddlement.

"What do you mean it isn't worl...okay, so not world changing but...IT'S A BIG DEAL!!!" she said as she stood up in agitation, paced a few steps and slumped back down on the seat. Alero shook her head in consternation at her friend.

"Why? People get together and break up all the time?" she said in bewilderment.

"Yes, people. But Emily and Banjo have been together for so long! I think they started dating as far back as secondary school! Everyone thought they would be thinking of heading to the altar any moment now and instead Banjo is breaking things off with her?" Maggie sounded as bewildered as Alero felt. She turned to look at Alero for confirmation that perhaps all was not right with the world. Alero stared back at her in confusion as to how she was supposed to react.

"Maggie," she began in a quiet, soothing tone. "It might have escaped your notice that I don't really know these folks all that well. At least, not as well as you do!" she defended at Maggie's raised eyebrow. "It's sad, I'm sure, what has happened but is that why you drove all the way from the Island?"

"Not exactly." Maggie sighed. "It was Olly who mentioned it last night and he said a few things that have me a bit bugged."

Alero settled into her seat. "Bugged? How?" she hugged a throw pillow to herself.

"Did something...? Olly thinks...argghh!!" Maggie groaned.

Alero burst out laughing at her friend's discomfiture. "Okay, out with it already." she said gently pushing at Maggie's shoulder with the throw pillow.

"Olly...you do realize he has always had this crush on you?" Maggie blurted out. Alero could feel her jaw drop in shock. "Really? You had no idea? And you'd call me obtuse!" Maggie chided.

Alero shook her head as if she hoped the action would unclog her brain somehow.

"Well Olly says that Banjo had just been coasting along in the relationship for awhile. That he had not known how to break things off with her. Okay so, he did at my welcome party. But now, Olly says he has been asking questions about you. You didn't tell me that Patricia was coming to work with you guys." she accused.

"It didn't come up." Alero defended even as her brain seemed to become even more clogged with confusion. "Why would he be asking after me? Did his sister say something to him?"

"I don't know. I thought you would have some answers." Maggie threw back at her.

"What sort of questions is he asking?"

Maggie eyed her cynically and said "What other sort? Is she seeing anyone? Did she used to date so and so? Those sorts of questions. Did you guys talk about anything like that that night of the party?" Alero shook her head in the negative her confusion mounting even as she felt a thrill go through her body.

Okay. So she was still as mind-bendingly attracted to the man as she had once been to the boy. Still did not make sense why he was asking after her.

"Ally?" Maggie called out. "Did you hear me at all?"

"No. What were you saying?"

"Do you think that he might want to ask you out?" Maggie repeated her question.

Alero stared at her friend in confusion. "I have no idea." she replied.

"Hmm!" Maggie frowned in thought. Just as suddenly her expression cleared. "Well, there's no need borrowing trouble. Let's see what is happening. It might actually be nothing at all." she said her voice getting more cheery as she went on.

"What do you mean, borrowing trouble?' Alero asked.

"Ah! Family issues. You know how these old moneyed people behave. They act as if their children can't ever, fall in love and marry outside of their clique. You should hear some of the remarks I have heard about Quinn. What do his parents do dear? Oh! Where exactly do they live? We met some really nice folks at the Polo club we stayed at when we last were there!" she mimicked the tones in which those questions had been asked. Alero did not know whether to be amused or dismayed. She knew Maggie well enough to know that she may have skin as tough as a rhino when it came to herself but for her friends and loved ones, her skin was as soft as a newborn baby. And she loved Quinn. Alero needed no further convincing on that score.

"So you think that should he be planning on asking me out, they would have a collective heart attack?" Alero asked her nerves thrumming with a tension that she did not want to examine too closely.

Maggie waved her hand dismissively. "Not all of them. But seeing as how they've been the sweetheart couple for so long...like I said, we are not even sure why he's asking those questions. It's just Olly thinks he might be interested? Don't know why I pay him any mind!"

"Because he's your brilliant big brother?" Alero teased at which Maggie scoffed.

"What's for breakfast? I left before I could have some and I'm hungry!" she said as she got up and walked towards the kitchen.

"I'm surprised you were able to drag yourself away from Quinn to get here this early." Alero said as she followed her into the kitchen.

"Wash your mouth! You want to give my mother a heart attack?!" Maggie jokingly rebuked.

"You can't honestly believe that your mother thinks that you and Quinn are not shagging?" Alero asked a naughty note in her voice.

"Hiahn! She doesn't know o! And we'd like to keep it that way please." Maggie finished on a mischievous smile. "I can see ripe plantain there in the store. Do you have the makings for egg sauce?"

Alero shook her head in wry amusement as she set about making breakfast. She figured she could as well make enough for everyone for when they eventually woke up.

"You don't get to stand there and order me about. Get your knife!" she commanded to which Maggie responded with a cheeky salute and a search for a suitably sharp knife among her mother's collection.
CHAPTER 8

It was a dreary Monday morning and Alero was quite cross at the weather. It had rained all weekend and had quite spoiled the plans she, Maggie and Quinn had made. They had less than a week left in Nigeria and Alero had wanted to treat them both to a fun weekend before they left. Her father had laughingly said to her, 'It's the season. Let it rain!' Alero still felt like sticking out her tongue at her father as she remembered his hilarity at her angst.

"Good morning." came the quiet greeting as Alero rushed into her office. She was a bit late and had less than fifteen minutes to prepare for a meeting. She turned to acknowledge the greeting in passing but came to a skidding halt when she saw who was greeting. Patricia Adeniran. It clicked in Alero's mind as she pasted a welcoming smile on her lips. Yes, she was to resume today. She had been marking the date for almost a month now, since her boss had told her that he had decided to hire her. 'Imagine forgetting all about it today.' Alero thought.

"Hey, good morning." she greeted cheerily. "So how...you know what? Let me catch up with this meeting. We'll talk when I get out." She said as she rushed on into her office. Time always seemed to speed along when you were short of it she noted. She had barely ten minutes left to grab her things and join the meeting. She picked up her notepad and grabbed a handful of pen and pencils that she kept handy on her desk. She was contemplating the sense in taking her digital notepad as well when Patricia walked in.

"Is there something I can do to help?" she asked in that quiet voice of hers. No wonder she had not readily come to mind when Alero had first met her in her office at her interview. Later on, Alero had remembered snaps of moments when they must have met back in the days. She had indeed been a regular at the Okwaras to visit with the younger kids.

"Nah!" Alero replied as she decided to pick her digital notepad as well after all. "This meeting usually lasts about an hour, more if there are contentious issues to clarify." she explained as she walked back out of the office. "Mrs. Ajala should be here very soon. She will put you through our basic processes and then when I get back we can talk some more." She smiled to which Patricia nodded and sat back down on her seat. She walked briskly down the corridor with a soft sheen of sweat on her forehead. Her stomach roiled with unusual tension as she strode towards the meeting room. What was it about these Adenirans that discomfited her so much? She wondered. She was about the last person through the door before the meeting started. She sighed inwardly in relief at her close shave. If there was something Mr. Wanigo could not stand, it was him or any of his staff being late for an appointment. The man was a stickler for punctuality.

"Good morning everyone, I trust you all rested well over the weekend and are feeling refreshed for the week. And what a week it is shaping up to be!" Mr. Wanigo began. The entire table went quiet at that cheerful opening remark. The buzz of anticipation was electric around the table.

"We have a new client." he announced with aplomb. "Apparently, Chief Mrs. Adeniran, the CEO of Adeniran Holdings is hoping to renovate and extend their head office complex and we've been contracted, exclusively, to perform the contract."

The chatter around the table was immediate. There was elation and there was gut-churning nervous tension in that chatter.

"Let's quiet down please! Let's behave like the professionals we say that we are." Mr. Wanigo's chided, his voice taking on the satirical edge it often did when he was unimpressed about something.

"Yes, it is possibly the most visible contract we've gotten to date." he acknowledged. "So, to ensure that we bedazzle, I have decided that we will have a presentation later on this week. Bring your ideas and let's come up with something stunning. I think it's such a compliment that we've been picked, exclusively. Let's not betray that confidence that has been reposed on us." Someone snickered softly close to Alero but she refused to turn to see who it was. She sat ramrod straight staring at Mr. Wanigo and trying to put the pieces of the puzzle presenting to her in some semblance of order.

The meeting went on as usual from there on and they were able to conclude it in just over an hour. The group that shuffled out of the meeting room was a bit tense. They had their work cut out for them. They had to come up with unique and acceptable ideas before Friday morning and have a draft ready to go over with the Chief Operating Officer of Adeniran Holdings before close of business hours that same day.

She stomped into her office on a nervous high and came face to face with Patricia, her head bent closely to Mrs. Ajala over some drawings on the desk. Mrs. Ajala may be her secretary, but she had a very keen mind and had worked long enough with the firm that she had become rather well versed in technical drawings and draughtsmanship and could critic with the best of them. Alero kept that fact a closely guarded secret and indeed Mrs. Ajala did not seem to mind. Perhaps one day, she would have a conversation with her on that.

They both looked up at her with some curiosity when she stepped into the office.

"Good morning Madam." Mrs. Ajala greeted as she and Patricia adjusted their seats.

"Good morning Mrs. Ajala. How's the family?" Alero responded politely.

"They are very well, thank you for asking."

Alero stepped more fully into the office and shut the door firmly behind her.

"We have a bit of a challenge. How far along has Drafting gone on the Quad project?" she asked Mrs. Ajala.

"These just got in from them." she indicated the drawings on the desk. "We were just going over them when you came in. You look a bit worried. Is there a problem?"

Alero took a deep breath as she walked up to the desk to review the drawings herself. "Not really but we may have to slow down on these for this week."

Mrs. Ajala's eyebrow shut up in surprise. It was indeed an unusual occurrence for Alero to break her stride once she was rolling with any project.

"Patricia, I'm sure you have an idea what's cooking?" Alero addressed her. Patricia nodded her head a bit sheepishly.

"Any ideas?" Alero challenged.

"I have a few." Patricia answered almost timidly.

"Let's see them!" Alero said as she swept up the drawings from the desk and stalked the rest of the way into her office.

Patricia did come up with some brilliant ideas and seeing that she had a better understanding of the current structure than most anyone else in the firm, Alero felt confident that they had come up with a fairly solid plan by the end of the day.

"We'll fine-tune it as we go. It has to be ready for Friday morning and we need at least preliminary drafts to show the COO by Friday afternoon." Alero spoke in the brisk way she often did when she was feeling a rush of a job well done in spite of a tight schedule. She paused as something occurred to her.

"Who's the COO? Do you know him personally?" She asked Patricia thinking that an insight into the person would possibly help her presentation.

"My brother." Patricia answered diffidently.

"How many brothers do you have?" Alero asked cautiously.

"One." Patricia looked nonplussed.

"Oh." Alero said softly as she leaned back on her seat.

The nervous tension that had been roiling through her system all day ratcheted up. She would be trying to impress Adebanjo Adeniran come Friday afternoon. She was very tempted to blow her Friday morning presentation just to get out of it.

Almost, but not quite. She was a professional after all.
CHAPTER 9

Emily sat, waiting patiently on the seat she had been shown to. She tried to compose herself into a picture of calm competence and professionalism. She wondered if she was succeeding. Truth was she was a little frantic. It was the nervousness that had her seated in the waiting room of a rival law firm some fifteen minutes early for the appointment.

Nobleson was closing the deal with the Japanese company today. For some reason, Mr. Okorie had wanted her in this meeting. She had argued with her father on the necessity or not of her presence but he had insisted. Clients always won in situations such as this.

"You are early." she jolted slightly as she turned towards the speaker and came face to thighs and then face with Mr. Okorie.

"It would seem so." she responded as she got to her feet consulting her watch as she did so. "You are pretty early yourself." she commented and then remembering her manners, she greeted, "Good morning."

"Good morning yourself, and thank you for helping me out the other day." he responded as he took a seat next to her. Someone else walked up to them and she saw that her father had finally arrived. She gave him a one sided smile in welcome which he returned.

"Good morning. Please if you would come with me to the meeting room." An efficient sounding voice invited the group.

They followed the sweet looking lady to a meeting room that had its door slightly ajar. There were four men of various nationalities seated at one half of the table. Two were obviously Asian while one was a Caucasian and one African.

The two Asian stood up spryly as Mr. Okorie walked into the room ahead of the rest of their group while the other two men got up a little less quickly obviously caught off guard by the briskness of the Asians.

After they had dispensed of pleasantries and introductions, they all settled down to the purpose of the meeting.

Emily felt a buzz of exhilaration as she mostly observed the proceedings. She had never been a part of a team brokering an international contract and she found all the nuances exciting. At the end of the meeting, everyone at the table seemed to be content with the agreement they had reached. Signatures were placed on the documents and hands shaken all round with polite smiles on every face.

Emily felt strangely deflated as they left the room. It had been so exciting being a part of the meeting that she felt a bit nostalgic already now that it had ended. She realized that she might be interested in participating in just such another meeting in the future.

"I can almost feel the excited waves coming off you." Mr. Okorie said in a mildly amused voice as the doors to the elevator closed and they began their descent to the ground level of the building.

Emily smiled demurely at him. "I had never attended an international closure meeting before today. It was exciting watching the business cultures blend." she commented.

Kenneth smiled as he stood straighter. "So you'd be interested in attending another?" he asked casually.

"Yes I would actually." Emily quipped as she turned to watch the numbers on the console as they descended. Finally they were on the ground floor and they all exited the elevator. At the exit, her father and Mr. Okorie shook hands and exchanged parting pleasantries. Kenneth turned to look at her and thrust a card at her. She reflexively brought up her hand to collect it and studied the embossed card.

"Call me whenever you'd like to attend another of these. I'd see what I could do." he smiled his cute-boy smile, the one that made his face handsome and then stepped down into his waiting car leaving a gaping Emily staring after him.

When Emily collected herself, she turned to find her father watching her.

"What was that about then?" he asked.

Emily shrugged. "I said I enjoyed today's meeting and he offered to invite me to another should I be interested." she answered.

Just then, their car came up to them and they got in for the ride back to the office.

"Another one in what capacity?" her father asked when they had settled and the car had moved off.

Emily shook her head. "He did not say." she responded.

"And you did not think to ask." her father reprimanded.

"I was caught off guard." Emily defended herself.

Her father sighed. "Try to have your wits around you with the clients Emily. In business, it's always best to have clarity so that you understand what exactly is on offer and how it can best suit your purposes."

Emily narrowed her eyes in thought at him. "Purposes, Dad?" she asked. "I just mentioned that the..."

Her dad cut her a reprimanding look. "Purpose, Emily. You are a grown woman and a pretty one at that." he commented and gave her a meaningful look.

Emily wore a look of puzzlement for a moment and then as understanding dawned, a smile touched her lips. "I don't think he was trying to hit on me, Dad." she said.

Her dad shrugged as he brought out his copy of a newspaper and began to peruse the headlines.

"If you say so Emily, if you say so." And they rode out the rest of the way in a companionable, if a bit thoughtful silence.
CHAPTER 10

Banjo was having a bad case of the 'fidgets' as he sat waiting for the presentation at the Skyline offices to commence.

His sister had told him about the process that had led to the presentation he was about to receive. He had a few ideas about what they would be presenting to him since Patricia had gone on and on about it. That was not what had him nervous though. It was the thought of seeing Alero again.

He hadn't seen her since the night of Maggie's welcome back party. They had both been pretty frequent at the Okwara residence in the following weeks before their departure but somehow, they had never managed to be there at the same time again. It was as if fate had contrived to ensure that they did not meet each other there again, fate or Oliver and Maggie.

He suspected that the siblings had been alarmed by his interest in Alero following the night of the party. Olly's alarm he could understand, the man liked Alero a lot more than he was letting on but Maggie? That was baffling to him.

Presently the senior partner of the architectural firm, Mr. Wanigo walked briskly to him and held out his hand for a handshake. Banjo stood up to receive the rather vigorous handshake.

"It's such an honour that has been done us by your company. We are all so delighted here at Skyline." he enthused as he led him to the meeting room where the presentation would be taking place. Banjo wondered absently if Patricia would be joining them.

"And here is one of our brilliant stars here at the firm." he introduced as Alero walked into the room closely followed by Patricia and another lady. "Miss Bekere, this is Mr. Adeniran. He is the COO of Adeniran Holdings. Mr. Adeniran, our very own Miss Bekere. Her work has been featured in architectural journals on several occasions. We are quite proud of her growth here at Skylines." Mr. Wanigo said with all the airs of a proud parent.

Banjo noticed the eye roll that Alero tried to hide from everyone and smiled. Somehow, that eye roll immediately put him at ease and he was able to mumble a few appropriate words with panache as he took his seat.

"Good evening Mr. Adeniran and you're welcome. We have a few ideas that we think will suit your purposes." Alero said as she efficiently set up her presentation tools and began to show him their ideas.

Banjo had to admit that he found what they had put together on such a short notice interesting. As the presentation wound up, he was able to look more closely at Alero. She had on dark colored lady's trousers and a cream colored blouse that was so fluffy it seemed like it should be transparent. It was not though and Banjo found that his mind had wondered to areas of thoughts he had no business thinking so he brought his focus back to what she was saying as she closed.

"If you have anything you'd like to adjust, you can always contact us." She motioned to someone behind him and a small brochure was slid on to the table in front of him. "We will make ourselves available to you any time of the day." she concluded.

"Thank you for that presentation Miss Bekere. I think our client is suitably impressed." Mr. Wanigo said as Alero took a seat at the conference table with the others.

Banjo nodded at her, his eyes twinkling with humor at the situation. "I am Miss Bekere. I had no idea that...let me just say that I am impressed."

"Thank you Mr. Adeniran." Alero accepted the compliment graciously.

"Please, most people just call me Banjo. Mr. Adeniran makes me feel rather old."

"Banjo." Alero said with a polite smile, testing the weight of the name on her lips.

Banjo smiled again, this time an intimate smile, like he was sharing a joke that only both of them should be in on. Alero looked away sharply from the discomfiting smile, fiddling with the papers in her hand. Patricia watched the interchange with a curious smile as she gathered up the papers that she had brought along with her from their office.

"Well done Alero. Banjo, we look forward to hearing from you." Mr. Wanigo stood, effectively dismissing Alero and her team even as he shook Banjo's hand and led him out of the conference area.

The ladies gathered up the paraphernalia of their presentation and went back to their office.

As the day ground on, Alero reviewed the details of the presentation over and over in her head trying to review what she could have done better. She felt antsy every time she remembered the smile he had given her as the meeting closed. She wondered if the others in the room had noticed. She wondered if Mr. Wanigo had noticed and if it would reflect poorly on her suitability for the job. He had been known to reassign architects for even the smallest breach in what he considered proper professional decorum.

She was almost chewing her fingernails down to their roots when a knock sounded on the door and it opened almost immediately to reveal Mr. Wanigo. He shut the door behind him as he walked in and took a seat.

"Why did you not tell me that you know Mr. Banjo personally?" he asked abruptly.

"Because I do not really know him." Alero answered simply. Then she explained, "I have met him before, we have mutual friends but that's as far as our acquaintance goes."

"Really?' Mr. Wanigo asked skeptically. "It seemed like you guys are more acquainted than that."

Alero shook her head softly. "No, we aren't."

"Hmm!" Mr. Wanigo stood up and adjusted his jacket as he turned to leave her office. "If any problems should arise, let me know. Keep me informed with each stage of the developments." he instructed as Alero hurriedly rounded her desk to escort him out of the office.

"Yes Sir." Alero agreed as he shut the door behind him.

'Phew!' she thought. He had noticed and that was him putting her on check.

A small knock sounded on her door. She knew even before the door opened that it would be Patricia at the other end. She walked in and smiled diffidently at her.

Alero consulted her watch. "Its closing time already!" she exclaimed. "I lost track of time. Are you ready to leave?" she asked Patricia as she walked briskly back around her desk.

"Yes I am." Patricia answered as she moved closer to the desk. "It was a brilliant presentation." she complimented as she came to a stop on the other side of the desk from Alero.

"Thank you!" Alero smiled her appreciation of the compliment. "Your brilliant ideas contributed to that. You must let your brother know that you contributed substantially to the design." she encouraged.

"Oh, he does. I have talked of nothing else it seems." she smiled.

Alero decided that she really liked this girl in spite of who her brother was.

"So I'll just say good night then." she continued and turned to leave the office. At the door, she turned around back to Alero.

"It's my birthday this weekend and I'll be having...that is my mother will be inviting a few people over to celebrate. It's my twenty fifth birthday." she gabbed.

Alero raised her eyebrows in surprise and wished her a happy birthday. "We could have got you a cake or something if you had mentioned."

"It's alright." Patricia shrugged shyly. "I was wondering if you'd come to the party. I think I have gone on so much about you that my mum would be pleased to meet you."

Alero felt her heart thud at that notion. She had asked around about Chief Mrs. Adeniran and was a bit frightened at the persona that had emerged from the answers she had gotten. She searched for a polite way to turn down the request but found that she could not win against the hopeful expression on Patricia's face.

"Alright, what time is the party?" she asked.

Patricia perked up immediately. "I'll send the details to your phone. Mrs. Ajala has already agreed to attend too." she said excitedly as she dashed off. "Good night!" she called out, banging the office door on her way out in her rush of excitement.

Alero shook her head in consternation as she collapsed back on her seat. She supposed she would be seeing Banjo a lot sooner than she had anticipated.
CHAPTER 11

The party was in full swing as Emily pulled into the drive way. She asked herself again why she was here. She checked her makeup one more time with her compact and then alighted from the vehicle.

She felt a mixture of dread and anticipation as she walked up to the house. She was looking her very best. She knew without being boastful that she was slaying it today. What she hoped to gain out of it? Perhaps, she needed to see Banjo wonder about what he was missing. Perhaps, she needed to gain her dignity which, she admitted was a bit torn up by how cavalierly she had been treated by Banjo and the Adenirans. She had never felt like she was 'good enough' in their estimation and that had pushed her to try to be things that she was not. Things she now wondered if they had been a major reason of why her relationship with Banjo had stalled. Had she become boring? Who was she? Who was Emily Olaoye?

She tucked in her stomach as she stepped into the pool area where the guest had gathered. She admired the handwork of the event planner as she made her way over to where the celebrant and her friends were, greeting friends and acquaintances as she went.

"Happy birthday Patricia." she greeted as she got up to them. Patricia squealed excitedly, surprising Emily with her enthusiastic welcome. It wasn't that they were not friendly with each other, but Patricia had never been quite enthusiastic about her as Banjo's girlfriend.

Some of the girls gathered around her said their hellos and they settled back into whatever conversations they had been having before she turned up. Emily felt herself becoming uncomfortable with just standing around so she made her way round to one of the buffet tables that had been set up around the pool. As she made her selection, she scanned the guests as they partied, laughing at some of their antics. She was trying to scout out a less occupied spot where she could go to eat when she spotted her, the lady that Banjo had been staring at the night of the party at Okwaras' house.

She felt a sting of tears come to her eyes and blinked it away hurriedly. Apart from the fact that she was loathe to ruin her make-up, she really did not want to give the Adenirans any reason to pity her. She straightened her spine and walked to the corner where she had spied an empty seat. So intent was she on getting to the seat that she did not notice the young man who stepped into her path with a small smile on his face until she had bumped into him. She yelped loudly as she felt the damp of her drink spilt down the front of her dress.

"Oh dear, I did not see that happening." he said in his distinctive voice as he held her by her arm to steady her.

Emily looked up into the face of Kenneth and felt her blooming frown relax into a wide, if slightly discomfited smile.

"Mr. Okorie! What... wow! Imagine seeing you here!" she stammered out.

"You are friends with the younger Adenirans?" he asked in his usual direct manner.

"Something of the sort."Emily answered. She was sure if she was light skinned enough, her blush would have been apparent. Again, she wondered at the wisdom of turning up today. Yes, she had been invited but that was before Banjo had broken up with her.

"Hm! An interesting response." He said as he conducted her to a table on the side. He motioned to one of the servers hanging around and asked for a cloth napkin.

"I'm hoping that was water?" he asked as he indicated the front of her dress with a subtle nod.

Again, Emily felt the heat in her cheeks and was immensely thankful for her dark skin tone as she nodded shyly at him. He smiled his nerve wracking smile again and turned to look around him cursorily.

"Is your father here then?" he asked her.

Emily began shaking her head but decided to try her voice instead. She cleared her throat, trying to not be too gauche about it and said, "No. No he is not."

"Do you have to hang around for long?" he asked next, raising one eyebrow in such a boyishly debonair gesture that Emily found her lips stretching into an amused smile.

"Not really." She answered on a shrug.

His face shifted to a considering frown. "When you say sort-of-friends with the Adenirans, what exactly do you mean?"

Emily felt her breath whoosh out of her lungs. He, Mr. Okorie knew how to get to the point. She had seen firsthand his no-bullshit-negotiation style in a board room.

"It's a long, long story..."

"Simplify it." he said shortly and then as if he had just remembered his manners, "Please."

Emily rolled her eyes and then cringed at herself. How was it that this man reduced her to the antics of a really gauche sixteen year old? She was a full grown woman with an up and coming career in one of the best law firms in the city. Her actions should be more suave than this.

"We used to date." she blurted out and at his questioning look, "Banjo and I used to date. In fact, we only just recently broke up." she said.

He was quiet for a few seconds and then he said rather than asked, "He dumped you didn't he?"

Emily felt the huff clawing up from her throat and tamped it down viciously. She would act her age. She shrugged as carelessly as she could feign even as the pain and indignity she felt at being so summarily dumped pinched at her.

"If...So why did you show up today?" he asked, his face a weird mix of consternation and annoyance.

"How do you know the Adenirans?" she asked. "The invitation to this party was pretty exclusive." She fiddled with the cutlery in her hand and eyed her food longingly. Even though she really liked her selection, her stomach was too tense for her to eat it with any enjoyment. She felt a bit like a slow, recalcitrant student at the principal's office.

Kenneth shrugged as he replied. "I guess I have hit the exclusive list then." He watched her face closely as he took a sip of his drink. Emily felt a shudder go through her and hit her right in the spot. She carefully placed her cutlery down by her plate and picked her glass of water for a drink.

The server eventually showed up with the towel but she waved him away. Her dress had gotten somewhat dry in the interim.

"Are you going to eat that?" Kenneth asked, eyeing her plate of food.

Emily stared down at the plate of seafood finger foods she had made up. She really should be enjoying this. She often did not have the time to indulge and since she did not like taking herself to a high end restaurant, she hated to miss these opportunities when they presented themselves.

"What if I promised you something better if you skipped out early with me?" Kenneth offered his voice almost sugary in its proposition.

Emily cocked her head to the side as she considered his offer and looked down at her plate.

"It is a dilemma?" he asked with what she saw was patently caricatured expression of surprise. She laughed at his goofiness and nodded as she stood up clutching her purse.

"Let's blow this joint before I change my mind." she said smilingly.

He watched her for a few moments with a small smile playing on his lips and then he stood and held out his hand to her. Emily hesitated a scant second as she tried to consider what putting her hand in his would convey and then she thought, 'What the heck!', put her hands in his and allowed him lead her out of the party.
CHAPTER 12

'So!' Banjo thought as he watched Emily leave the party with the Kenneth Okorie. 'Oh well, he would get his introduction some other time.' he thought as he turned to look at the spot where he had last seen Patricia's boss, Alero.

He had been heading towards her to personally welcome her to the party when he had spied Kenneth Okorie sitting down at a table to the side of the pool. He had been surprised to see that he had been chatting rather intently with none other than Emily. He wondered how he and Emily would have met. He could not imagine where that could have happened but they had looked very familiar with each other. He shrugged mentally as he tucked his hands into his pockets and walked over to where Alero sat sipping on a drink, as casually as possible.

"Hello there." he greeted as he got close to her. "So glad you could make it."

Alero smiled politely at him and turned to look around at the guest. "It looks like a great party." she answered mildly still maintaining that small smile on her lips when she turned back to him.

Banjo took an empty chair from another table and placed it beside her. "May I join you?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

Alero smiled wryly as she responded, "Please make yourself comfortable." He laughed out loud at that as he sat beside her. He hailed a passing server and asked for a drink.

"Are you by any chance enjoying yourself?" he asked as he settled in his seat.

Alero turned to look at him more fully in the face. "Don't you need to go mingle with your guest?" she asked with some curiosity.

"Not really. I have said hello to those that count and the rest came here to celebrate Patricia and not me." The server arrived with his drink which he took from him. He turned to see that Alero was still watching him intently so he shrugged. "They should celebrate with her." He took a sip of his drink.

Alero turned from him with some consternation. She did not know what to make of Adebanjo Adeniran. While he was all charm and polish, she could not but sense the undercurrent of something she could not quite name underneath it all.

"Do you enjoy your work?" he asked into the silence that had settled uncomfortably on them.

"I do." Alero answered. "Are you hungry?" she asked.

Banjo looked over at one of the nearer tables. "I guess I could eat something." he responded. "Would you want one of the servers to bring something over?" he asked.

"I have a better idea." Alero said as she stood up. "Why don't we go over ourselves and do that."

"We really could get a server to do it you know." Banjo replied not moving from his place.

"Yes I know but I may miss out on something I might have liked if..." she tapered out wondering if she sounded hungry.

Banjo stood up. "Okay, let's go pick it out ourselves." he said as he started towards the buffet table he had looked over. Alero stood in place, mentally debated following him to that table or going off to another farther off table that was still laden with food.

"Are you not coming?" he asked halfway to the table.

Alero looked longingly at the other table. "Would you rather we went to that one?" He asked, a pinch of exasperation permeating his tone.

Alero turned towards that other table "It has a wider selection it seems." she responded over her shoulder. She really did not have to put up with him did she? She stalked off not checking whether he was following her or not.

After she had made up her plate, she returned to her seat and began to eat. Banjo came over shortly after with his own heavily loaded plate and a bottle of water. She felt her eyebrow rise in surprise at the water.

"What?" Banjo asked when he noticed her expression as he took his seat.

"Just surprised that you have water." she said.

"Why is that surprising? You have a bottle of water." he said

"Yes, I do but guys..." she shrugged her shoulder in an uncertain gesture.

"Guys?" Banjo queried.

"I was thinking you would have a beer or some wine, that sort of thing." Alero admitted.

Banjo smiled and began eating. "I do drink the occasional bottle of beer and wine." he said.

"Oh."

"Oh?"

Alero looked up at him and put on a face of innocent consternation. "Yes, oh." she shrugged. "Like, that-explains-it oh." she said.

"You are wound up pretty tightly." he commented.

Alero shook her head, "How do you mean?"

Banjo stared at her for a few more moments and continued with his meal.

"You don't say something like that and then not answer my question." Alero scolded quietly as she placed her cutlery on her plate and placed her hands on the table.

"That you're prickly." he indicated her posture with his fork.

"I am..." Alero huffed and picked up her cutlery but she only played around with her food as her appetite had fled. "I'm not prickly." she said, her voice contemplative.

"You are, with me." Banjo stated and set his cutlery down. "Why is that?" he asked.

"How am I prickly around you?" she wondered.

"You keep your answers as short as possible and you do not extend the conversation beyond the necessary..."

"I am conversing with you." she said.

"I have to drag it out with a crowbar though and I'm not sure we are conversing. More like we are sparing verbally." he said.

Alero dropped her cutlery and pushed her chair back gently. "I think I should leave." she said.

"Why? Do I make you uncomfortable? You don't like the conversation we are having?" He challenged, pushing his own chair back with some more force than she had hers.

Alero shook her head in disbelief at how badly the situation had degenerated. "Have a good day Mr. Adeniran." she said as she made to stalk off.

"Why do I feel that you just hate my guts?" Banjo asked loudly enough so that some party goers began to look at them oddly. Alero stood transfixed staring at him. For the life of her, she would never have imagined that Banjo Adeniran would be one to cause a scene.

"I...I...don't ..."

"Hate my guts?" he asked, his tone was milder, softer.

"Mr. Adeniran..."

"Banjo. I promise it won't make your tongue fall out."

Alero heaved a sigh, "Banjo." she conceded and quickly sat down. "Can we not create a scene?"

Banjo sat back down and looked around at the openly gawking party goers. "People need to mind their own business more." he said in passing and he focused on her.

Alero sighed noisily and put a hand to her suddenly aching head. "You do not...I do not hate your guts." she felt discomfited by the lie.

"You do. What I want to know is why?"

Alero stared at him nonplussed. "I don't know you well enough to hate your guts."

"And yet you can barely stand me."

"Banjo..."

"Let's begin again. Hi, I'm Banjo." He held out his hand for a handshake. Alero stared at his hand for a few moments and shook it.

"I'm Alero." she played along with him, a puzzled frown across her brow.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Alero. Can we eat in peace?" he asked with a cheeky smile.

Alero smothered the laugh that rose suddenly to her lips and looked down at her plate. She picked up her cutlery even as she peeked at him through her lashes.

"Fine, Let's eat." she said and put a forkful of food in her mouth.
CHAPTER 13

The phone on Alero's desk was ringing shrilly as she rushed into her office. She hurriedly dropped her bag on her desk and dived to pick it up before the call could disconnect.

"Hello. Alero Bekere's office." She struggled to control her panting breath.

"Hello." And just like that, Alero was transported to the very first time she heard his voice and she reacted exactly the same way.

"Mr. Adeniran." She smiled into the phone.

"Would that be me you're referring to?" he asked in an affronted voice.

"I...Banjo then." She said on a sigh of surrender. It was just too early to get into one with him. He had proven during the party and on subsequent phone calls in the following week that he did not back down quietly.

"See! So what's good?" he teased.

"Good? I'm...alright I guess." Alero stumbled around for a response, blushing like a school girl and exasperated with her fluster.

"Why are you calling me at work? And so early too?" she asked.

"I needed a pick me up. It's looking to be one of those days." he responded.

Alero frowned a little. "When...How long have you been at work? You are at work aren't you?" she asked.

"I am. We had a bit of a crisis, nothing that can't be handled. I've been in since 6am or there about."

"Wow! Life of a CEO I guess."

"Well, that's my mum really. I'm just the COO remember."

"Titles, Titles!" Alero joked as she smiled into the phone. They were both silent for a while.

"Hey..." he started.

"Do you..." she began.

They both stopped and huffed out a laugh.

"You go first." he said. "Ladies first and all that jazz."

"I can't believe you just said that!" Alero exclaimed in mock indignation. "I really need to get off the phone." she said regretfully. "Some of us just got to our desk when you called."

"Sure. Thanks for cheering me up." he said. "Are you by any chance free for this weekend?" he asked after a short pause.

"Why?" Alero asked.

"Typical! You'd answer a question with another question." he remarked.

"Typical what?" Alero queried. "Look..."

"Ally, just answer the question." his voice sounded husky over the phone.

"I'll need to check my calendar." she snapped. Why did she suspect he was laughing at her?

"Okay. Do that. We'll talk later." he said, this time his mirth more apparent across the line.

"Why are you laughing? I need to..."

"Have a great day Ally." He interrupted and clicked the phone connection off. He was not fast enough to stop Alero from hearing his guffaw of laughter as he cut the connection though. She dropped the phone back on its cradle with conflicted emotions.

She wondered if her wellbeing could survive Adebanjo Adeniran. The man always managed to leave her in knots more often than not.

She booted up her computer and dove headlong into her day. She had too much to do to spare all that time thinking about Mr. Adeniran.

Emily paused in surprise as she walked into her office. There was a flower arrangement on her desk, a rather conspicuous, expensive looking, and real-life flower arrangement on her desk. It could not be a company thing. It was not that they could not have given her one if they had to, but that was just it! It was not her birthday and she had done nothing to garner such a sweet gesture.

She stepped closer to her desk, the door swinging shut behind her as she dropped her hand bag and satchel on the desk all the while staring curiously at the flowers. There was a card so she plucked it from the blooms and opened it.

'Thanks for a memorable day. Would you do it again?' The card read and it was simply signed 'Kenneth' with a mobile phone number under it.

Emily collapse to her seat as her knees gave way. She knew she must have the most ridiculously wide smile on her face but she could not have stopped it from blooming at that point.

She had been in awe of how informed he was on almost any topic she had thought to bring up during their lunch...date? Had it been a date? It had felt like one, but when she had not heard anything from him all of last week, she thought that she had let her imagination run away with her as usual.

She twirled the card and debated in her mind whether to call him or not. Who was she kidding? She was going to call him. It was more a question of 'when' not 'if'. She searched her hand bag for her cell phone and when she found it, she saved the number on the card into it. She kept the card in her desk drawer and began to organize herself. Try as she might though, she could not settle into her rhythm. Finally, she gave up and dialed his number. He picked on the second ring.

"Hello." His voice sounded sharp and a bit distracted. Emily found herself wondering if it had been a good idea to call so early into the day.

"Ah...Hi. It's Emily. I can call back." she stuttered into the phone.

"Don't you dare hang up on me now." he said with a smile in his voice. There was a brief moment of silence but before it could get awkward, he continued.

"You called!"

Emily smiled. "I got the flowers. They're so beautiful so I'm not going to say 'you shouldn't have'."

"Good, good! Glad you are enjoying them." There was another small stretch of silence. "So?" he asked.

"So?" Emily responded a bit nonplussed.

"Would you...do...go..." It was him stuttering now and Emily smiled wider.

"Yes, I would." She decided she had best put him out of his misery. She heard him sigh over the line and her smile widened even more into the realm of 'foolish'.

"Where would you like to go?" he asked.

Emily twirled a strand of her hair in her hand as she tried to think of an appropriate place to suggest. As her silence lengthened, he suggested.

"Okay, you know what? Since we did the seafood the other time, let's do...Chinese?"

"Chinese sounds good." Emily agreed.

"Soooo I'll call you with details?" His voice was beginning to sound distracted again.

"Sure!" Emily agreed. There was a smaller pause.

"Alright. Enjoy your day." he said and the line went dead so abruptly that Emily took it away from her ear to look at the display screen just to assure herself that she still had a network signal on.

She shook her head wryly. Men! There was no understanding them.
CHAPTER 14

Emily checked her reflection in the mirror for what had to be the fiftieth time before she finally picked up her handbag and satchel. She was trying for a look that would translate nicely from day/ work wear to date wear. She was not sure she nailed it but she decided she looked presentable.

She sighed as she trudged down the stairs. She really should update her wardrobe somewhat but it was bursting full already with clothes that she had worn just once or twice but never seemed to have the opportunity or the courage to wear again.

"Are we leaving together?" Her father asked as he picked up his jacket from the sofa where he had laid it.

Emily paused at the foot of the stairs and gave it a split second thought.

"No. I'll drive. I may need my car later on."

Kenneth had not told her any more detail than "Dress nice! Will send a car for you at about 7pm. Is that okay by you?" The young man really needed to improve his social skills.

"Alright. I may be home a bit late." Her dad said as he shrugged his jacket on.

Emily nodded as she made her way towards the kitchen.

"You look...nice...more so than usual." Her father said as he looked her over consideringly.

"Thank you Daddy." she said not breaking her stride.

"Are you going someplace later?" He persevered.

"Maybe." Emily quipped as she slipped into the kitchen. She waited with baited breathe to see what he would do. When the click of the front door closing sounded, she let out her breathe in a long exhale.

"Good morning Emily." Their housekeeper greeted. Emily jerked towards her in surprise. She had not realized that she was in the kitchen.

"Good morning Kome." She greeted as she went over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.

"Will you want something other than cereal this morning?" Kome asked.

"No. I'll just...never mind. I need to get going." Emily said as she backed out of the kitchen, bottle of water in hand.

"Breakfast should not be skipped." she scolded mildly.

She was possibly a decade or so older than Emily and had come to work for them since Emily was a precocious ten years old. Their relationship was a mess of 'big sister/little sister, surrogate aunt/niece, employer's child/housekeeper/nanny'. It was complicated.

"And enjoy your date." She said.

Emily rolled her eyes at her as she escaped from the kitchen. That was another thing about Kome. As far as Emily knew, she was clairvoyant. She knew everything and all without once asking for information. It had to be that she heard people's thoughts.

As she drove to the office, she tried to review what she had to do. It was going to be quite frenetic to keep all her appointments as it was a Friday and it seemed there was an unspoken rule that offices, especially government establishments closed early on Fridays.

She was surprised when she turned the car into the parking lot of her building. She had practically driven by route subconsciously.

She hurried into the building and would have crashed headlong into her father had he not held her by her upper arms to stop her.

"What's ...watch where you're going Em!" he exclaimed.

"Yes Dad. Sorry Dad." she gasped. His eyes squinted at her in a perplexed look.

"Are you sure everything is alright?"

"Yes Dad, it is." she said as she side stepped away from him and walked briskly to her office. On reaching it, she shut the door behind her and placed a hand on her chest, taking large gulps of air as she did so.

She needed to pull it together fast. She could not go through the day bumbling like an idiot because she had a date. She had had dates before. Maybe not in the past one... okay, nearly two years that her relationship with Banjo had begun to...slide? Settle? Float away? Her shoulders slumped as she pulled away from the door and dragged her feet to her chair.

When had her relationship with Banjo begun to peter out? How had she not noticed until those last months? She may be a lot of things, absent-minded for one, but no one had ever managed to call her a fool. She still cringed at the way everything had gone down. She wondered if perhaps she had been too forward, too seeking, too available to, not just Banjo but to the entire Adeniran clan. When she remembered some of the iyawo comments that had been thrown her way by various members of that family, she blushed from the roots of her hair to her feet.

She picked up a pen from her desk and dragged a notepad towards her and began to scribble in it. She had lots to do today and she had a date.

The smile blossomed slowly on her lips. She had a date, an honest to goodness date with the Kenneth Okorie.

'Banjo, eat your heart out!' The thought filtered into her head and she would have slapped herself silly if she could.

"Eat your heart out indeed!" She mumbled in a disgruntled tone as she continued with her work.

"The car is outside your building." His voice came smoothly over the phone. 'Well as smoothly as his gravelly tone could manage', thought Emily as she glanced at her wristwatch.

"Oh wow! I'm...erh...I'll be done shortly."

"Do you need some more time?" he asked, a bit of exasperation leaking out of his voice. She supposed he was entitled to it. After all, he had told her to be ready for 7pm and she had agreed.

"No, I don't." she said struggling to keep any heat out of her voice. "I'll be there in five." she said and pressed the disconnect button. She hurriedly gathered up her things and rushed out of the office. She met her father in the corridor just stepping out of his as well.

"In a rush again?" he asked wryly as he adjusted his already immaculately donned jacket.

"Sort of." Emily answered as she made to go past him hurriedly.

"Is there something you're hiding from me?" he asked in concern.

Emily shook her head vigorously. "Not exactly. I got to run Dad. See you later." she said as she made a mad dash for the door.

"Oh! Kome called." she stopped as she remembered. "Something about her not being available for the evening or something."

Her father nodded and waved her away absently as he picked desultorily at the mail the receptionist had left in his cubby hole.

"Bye Dad!" she sprinted for the car park. She skidded to a halt when she saw the car waiting. It was a latest something, she was not sure what brand of car it was but it was...a status symbol. She looked down at her outfit and back at the car wondering for what must have been the eightieth time that day if she had indeed dressed appropriately. She took a deep breath and walked more sedately towards the car. As she approached, a chauffeur got down and came around to open the door for her.

"Good evening Miss Olaoye. My name is Victor. I'll be driving you this evening."

Emily felt a lump of spit go down her throat. 'Oh dear! I'm in way over my head' she thought as she smiled and nodded at the man and then hurriedly got into the car. The man shut the door with a soft thud and went round to get in.

"We'll be joining Mr. Okorie at the restaurant." he informed her and again Emily could only nod. The car smelled rich. Leather, newness and expensive perfume mingled together to form a heady scent.

'Oh dear, oh dear.'

She was tempted to press some of the knobs and buttons just so she could see what they would do. And she had given the owner of this car a ride in hers! She would have put her hands over her face in mortification if she had not remembered that she had a fully made up face and destroying it now was not an option.

The car purred through the city streets, cool, air-conditioned air keeping her from sweating in what was most likely a rather warm evening.

As the car pulled up to the gates of the Hotel Imperial, Emily swallowed down a gasp. She was going to embarrass herself, she just knew it. She should have known that billionaires would play differently from others. Why had she not remembered that Kenneth was in a different stratosphere than she was used to?

Soon, the car had passed through security checks and was pulling up in front of the hotel's main entrance.

She had heard all about this place but had never had any reason to visit it. It was one of those places that had garnered such an intimidating reputation that it had become the exclusive preserve of the super-rich. She wondered if any other person she knew had ever visited.

The chauffeur had gotten down and was coming round to open the door for her. One of the doormen came to stand by the door as she alighted from the vehicle.

"Good evening. Welcome to Hotel Imperial." he greeted as he escorted her to the door and held it open for her.

"Thank you." Emily managed to murmur. It seemed the ride over had settled her nerves somewhat. As she stepped into the lobby, her eyes went as if drawn by a homing device to where Kenneth stood looking down at his phone with studied intent. She walked up to him, trying to keep her steps as casual as possible even if her nerves were all over the place.

Somehow, in this rarified setting, she saw a different man from the almost brusque one she had met in his office and the almost sweet one she had met at the party and went to lunch with. This man was in his zone. He gave off waves of supreme confidence. This was a place that would make men seem small and insufficient but not this man. He fit right in. Emily was not sure she had ever met anyone who fit quite so well with the opulence surrounding her. It was not even because of his outfit, she thought as she looked him over, even though it was one of those suits that were so understated but so well made that you knew it could only be the very top of the range. He just fit.

Emily felt a thrill of excitement go through her as she approached him. And he was here for her.

"Hello Kenneth." she said, her voice more squeaky than she would have liked.

He looked up from his phone and gave her what he must have thought was a surreptitious once over.

"Good evening Emily. You made it in one piece I see." He smiled as he held out his hand to her. She slipped hers into his and he led her out of the lobby.

Emily smiled back at him, feeling a little bit giddy. "You bet I would in that car!" she joked. "That was quite a ride!" She chuckled.

His smile widened a bit. "I'm glad you like it. I like it very much too." His smile turned very tongue-in-cheek.

Emily giggled as she let him draw her into one of the hotel's restaurants.

"They have the very best Chinese cuisine I have ever had in this place. And that includes in China." He smiled. Emily was not sure that he was not exaggerating but she could care less. It was thrilling the way he was trying not to stare at her but seemed not to be able to help himself. She realized that they were actually flirting!

The _maître d_ ' led them to their reserved seats and handed them menus before withdrawing.

When Emily opened the menu, she was assailed by so many options that she immediately snapped it shut. Kenneth raised a questioning glance to her.

"I think I'll just let you surprise me." she said indicating his menu with a jerk of her head.

Kenneth nodded and signaled to the _maître d_ ' that they were ready to order. He came over and took their orders while a waiter served them with glasses of water.

"You look really lovely." Kenneth said as he relaxed on his seat.

Emily felt a blush come on as she smiled. "Thank you. I was a bit worried that I under dressed." She confided.

Kenneth shook his head in rebuttal. "You look just fine." He assured her.

"So how was your day?" he asked and it wasn't long before Emily forgot all about her nerves as Kenneth drew her into conversation.

It was indeed the best meal she had had in possibly all her life but she was not certain that the company in which she was eating it had nothing to do with it.

After a good meal and a lot of laughter and relaxing conversation, they both got into the car and were chauffeured back to Emily's office. As the car slid to a stop, Kenneth lifted her hand from her lap and raised it to his lip in a soft, barely there kiss.

"I can't remember when last I so thoroughly enjoyed myself." he said musingly. "We should do this again sometime."

"We should." Emily agreed with a depreciating moue even as she thrilled in her spirit.

He indicated with a jerk of his head that they both should get down from the car and then he came round to watch her get into her car.

"If I had known, that day when I gave you a lift that you drove something like this one, I doubt I would have been able to drive you with any sort of comportment." she commented as she slid into the driver's seat.

"Why not? It's a car, an expensive one I agree but a car none the less." he said as he stood with his hands tucked into his pocket.

Emily smiled up at him. "I had a lovely evening. It seemed unreal." "Thank you for such a nice time."

Kenneth nodded as he shut the door on her. She wound her glass down. "We'll follow you home in the car." he said as he turned to get back into his.

"You don't need to." Emily exclaimed.

"Yes too. It's late and I'd rest easier if I know you got home safe." He insisted.

Emily turned on her car and shifted the gears as he got in and slammed the door of his. For all the force, it only thudded softly. Emily shook her head in amused appreciation of a well made car as she drove off.

Indeed they followed behind all the way to her front gates parking across the street until she had driven into the compound. Then they reversed and tooted the horn. She tooted back a response and they sped off.

Emily sat in her car for a few more minutes savoring the memory of the evening. It was when the lights came on in the living room that she stepped out.

Her dad met her at the front door.

"A date?" he asked "You should have mentioned." he reprimanded. "Why didn't you?" he asked mildly.

"I..." Emily shook her head trying to find an acceptable reason.

"Who was it?" Her father jerked his head towards the road behind her.

Emily took a deep breath. "Kenneth." she answered as she went past her dad into the living room.

"Kenneth?" Her dad asked as he joined her. "Do I know him?"

"Kenneth Okorie, Dad." Emily said in a huff as she turned to face him. Her dad stood quietly, looking at her intently for a bit.

"I hope you know what you're doing." he said quietly.

"It was just a date Dad." Emily said even as her heart argued that it had felt like more.

Her dad looked her over again and drew his shoulders up.

"Alright then. Good night Emily." he said as he walked up the stairs towards his bedroom. "Please be sure to lock up behind you." he instructed.

"Yes Daddy. Good night." Emily sighed in relief.

That went much better than she expected. She turned to lock up behind her as she had been instructed.
CHAPTER 15

Banjo dug out his phone from his pocket and peered at the display screen before accepting the call while motioning at Olly for some quiet.

"Hello?" Alero's voice came over the phone.

"Hey babe." Banjo said in a deadpan voice while his expression showed the strain of holding his laughter in check.

There was a pause on the line and then her voice came over even more tentatively. "Hello? Can I speak to Mister Adeniran?"

"Mister Adeniran speaking." His smile was clear the phone. "How are you doing Alero?" he chuckled.

He heard her sigh and mumble something under her breath. He did not see the momentary scowl that marred Oliver's feature before it cleared away.

He could almost hear her struggling to bite back a caustic comment. Eventually, professionalism won out and she cleared her throat mildly before saying.

"I am well Mister..."

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Banjo reprimanded playfully. "My name is..." He waited for her to fill it in.

"Good morning Banjo. And how are you?" She said with drawling sarcasm.

"I am well, better for having heard your voice." He responded.

"Whatever!" she said and Banjo guffawed with laughter.

"So to what do I owe this unexpected but not unpleasant surprise?" he asked.

"I wonder if we could fix a meeting sometime in the coming week. The preliminary sketches for the renovations just came in late yesterday and..."

"Tell me you're not spending your weekend working."

"I...Really Banjo! You'd complain about that?" she asked in an exasperated voice.

"It's the weekend for a reason. Let yourself relax? Relaxation? Letting your hair down? Is that a concept you might be familiar with?" he asked in teasing tones.

"I...know how to relax!" she fairly shrieked over the line.

"Okay. Tell you what? You're at home I hope?" When she grunted a response that sounded affirmative to him, he barreled on. "So what if I swing by and we look over the drawings and then head out to lunch or something?" he suggested.

The line was quiet for awhile and then she asked. "When you say lunch do you mean tha...like a business lunch?"

"Alero, can we hang out after we look over the drawings?" Banjo asked directly. The woman was making him work for this.

"That won't be necessary Banjo. Bes..."

"Alero, I thought we had become friends of some sort."

"Well, yes we are..."

"Good! Friends hang out Ally. Hang out with me. Make my Saturday special."

The line was silent.

"What say you?" he asked surprised at how nervous he was by her continued silence.

"Sure. I'll hang out with you Banjo. As a friend."

Banjo felt a small frown mar his expression but he straightened it out. "Okay then, friends. I'll be by in an hour or less." he said

"Okay. Till later." The phone disconnected in his ear.

He put the phone away from his ear slowly. He wished he could understand this woman and what made her tick.

"Sorry Olly. We've got to reschedule this visit. Duty calls." Banjo said as he hefted himself out of the chair he had been lounging on.

"Duty or pleasure? That was Alero right?" Oliver asked, trying really hard not to sound as out of sorts as he felt.

"Duty and pleasure. The girl is...a hard nut to crack." Banjo said wryly as he hustled his friend through his house to the front door and grabbing his car keys from the TV console on his way.

"When you say 'nut to crack' what exactly do you mean?" Olly asked as he allowed Banjo hurry him out.

"It's one step forward, four steps backwards with her." Banjo answered cryptically.

"One step what?" Olly asked planting his feet to prevent Banjo's inexorable push out of his house.

"Guy move! I have a date!"

"With Ally?" Olly eyed him skeptically. "Is it serious then?"

"Not as serious as I would like but then I need to get moving." Banjo pulled a surprised Olly out and slammed the door shut behind them. He did a light jog to his car and as he opened the door to slide in, he turned to Olly who stood where he had left him staring open mouthed at him.

"Sorry bro. I'll make this up to you okay. Need to go get this girl." He grinned like a little boy and slid into the car and drove off in a spray of gravel bits.

As he drove through the gates, he looked at Oliver, still standing in front of his door, hands in pocket and staring after him.

He wondered again if Olly liked Alero more than he had let on and if he did, why had he left it so long to make his move?

Well, he was making his, now, no matter what Olly's issue with it was.

Alero slammed the pencil down on the sketch pad that she had been diddling on. Her concentration was shot to pieces as she waited for Banjo to get here. Some less nervous part of her mind remembered that he had not asked for her address.

She picked up the pencil in a nervous twitch and dropped it back on the desk. The jangle of the doorbell had her shooting up from her seat. She would have chuckled at herself if she had thought it at all funny. She made her way to the front door but her father had beaten her to it. She had not even realized that he was at home. It was a rare day that Doctor Bekere was not at his clinic during daylight hours.

She heard the rumble of their voices, her father and Banjo, and if she had been less nervous, she would have appreciated the depth and grit to those two voices combined, weaving with each other in conversation.

She reached the living room and looked at both of them standing just inside the door as they introduced themselves and sized each other up.

"Daddy, I did not realize you were still at home." She called as she approached them. Both men turned to her, one set of eyes questioning and the other...staring.

"I was on my way out when I heard the doorbell." he replied.

"Ah...I needed to go over a few things with...Banjo...eh." She fumbled with an explanation.

"So he says." Her father responded, his face a mask of bland amiableness. "I'll be on my way then." he said as he stepped out and shut the door behind him.

Alero released a pent up breathe she had not realized she had been holding.

"Hey! How did you know where I live?" she asked Banjo by way of greeting.

"I've never seen you dressed casually. You dress down nicely." Banjo responded.

Alero shook her head in mild exasperation as she offered him a seat.

"It's a compliment. You should say thank you." Banjo said as he took the seat she had offered.

"Thank you." Alero responded pertly. "What can I offer you?"

Banjo raised one eyebrow, a smile lurking around his lips. Alero sighed.

"By way of refreshments." She enunciated.

His eyebrows went closer to his hairline and his smile peeped out a little more.

Alero harrumphed. "I'll just go and get those drawings!" she exclaimed and stomped into her room.

Banjo relaxed into the sofa and looked around the room. It was a family room. There were pictures of her parents together, of the whole family, both candid shots and posed ones. He got carried away looking more closely at each shot.

"So here they are." Alero announced as she walked back into the room with a thick roll of paper.

"How many kids are you?" Banjo asked.

Alero carefully dropped the roll on a low table and looked around the room at the pictures. "Four of us." she replied and sat on an arm chair adjacent to his sofa. "Two sisters and a brother."

"It must have been boisterous growing up." he commented.

"It was, at a point." Alero opened up the roll and laid it out before them.

Banjo decided that he could play along with her reticence for now. "So what do we have here?" he asked as he turned his concentration to the drawings before them.

After about an hour and some minutes, Alero rolled up the drawing papers with the necessary annotations and adjustments made on them.

"So on to other things. How would you like to spend the rest of your day?" Banjo asked.

"Ah...I was...a..."

"No, you're not backing out!" Banjo shook his head."A deal is a deal. Professional as you are, you should appreciate that philosophy." He argued.

"I really don't remember making a deal with you." Alero retorted.

"You said 'Okay.'" Banjo quoted. "In my books, that means you made a deal. With me." he had a cheeky smile on his face.

Alero sighed as she stood to go keep the roll of drawings back. "It has to be some place laid back." she said as she went. "I'm in no mood to dress up." Her voice faded as she left the living room.

Banjo sighed partly in relief and partly in exasperation. He wondered why he was allowing himself remain here while she jerked him around. He could not remember ever working so hard to get a woman's attention.

"And we can't spend all day out. I've got other things I need to do as well." she announced as she came back in.

"Did you spend some time in front of the mirror practicing that?" Banjo mumbled under his breath as he stood and held out his hand to her.

She eyed his hand and walked past him without taking it. "I hope you were not insulting me under your breath." she commented as she opened the door and waited for him to step outside.

"Jeez, Lady!" Banjo exclaimed. "Let's not do this today!"

Alero snapped the door shut. "What?"

"I like you." He said it blandly. Alero stumbled to a stop as shock made her loose her footing. She turned to him in blatant surprise.

"I really like you a lot." he shrugged. "Do you think it's possible you could like me even a little?"

"I never said I didn't like you." Alero whispered, her shock had stolen her voice.

"I'd like for it to be more than you do apparently." he responded wryly.

Alero smiled and then chuckled. "What do you want from me Banjo?" She decided to be as direct as he had been.

Banjo looked at her intently for a moment and then responded. "Would you...would you date me?" He laughed. "That sounded so juvenile!"

Alero could not have responded either way as she stared at him open mouthed.

"Shut your mouth Ally." He put his fingers on her chin and gently pushed it up to shut her gaping mouth. "We don't want you catching any flies."

Alero blinked at the sensation his fingers on her chin caused. Why was this happening again? Didn't she know better than to set herself up like this?

"What are you thinking?" He asked. "I can see the wheels turning in your head."

"Why? Why would you ask me that?"

"Why not you?" Banjo asked a slight frown of consternation on his face.

"I'm not of your ilk." Alero replied.

"What's that? How would you know what my ilk is? You refuse to hang out with me or even give me a chance to get to know you or you know me."

"To what purpose?!"

Banjo stared at her in surprise. "Why do a man and a woman decide to explore a friendship with a hope for something more?" he asked.

"Something more Banjo?" Ally asked.

"Yes, Alero. Something more." He stepped closer to her and drew her into his embrace. Alero allowed herself to be pulled jerkily even as she felt something crack and then shatter inside her. She gasped as a moment of blinding clarity revealed what had just happened to her.

He had hurt her deeply. That first time that they had met, as incongruous as it sounded he had touched off some place deep enough within her that his snub that day had hurt her deeply, had wounded her to her soul. To have him chasing after her as he had been, and mean it, was a healing balm to the wound he had unknowingly caused all those years ago.

She allowed her being accept and revel in warmth of his embrace, of his need that was so apparent in the way he held her flush against him, of...

"I hope you both realize that you are standing entirely too close to each other and that we have nosey neighbors. At least, you should Alero." Her mother's voice interrupted her reveling.

"Mummy!" Alero gasped as she disentangled herself from Banjo's embrace. Banjo reluctantly released her from his embrace and turned to look at the older woman who was standing beside a car, car keys in hand.

He bowed slightly at her as he grinned. She was so obviously related to Alero. From the pictures he had seen in the living room, he knew he was looking at Mrs. Bekere.

"Good..."he looked at his wristwatch. "...afternoon Ma." he greeted.

"Good afternoon." she replied, her head cocked at a contemplative angle. "And you are?"

He stepped forward instinctively pushing Alero a step behind him. Mrs. Bekere watched all these with a mildly amused look in her eyes.

"Banjo Adeniran, Ma."

Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked more closely at him. Banjo tensed wondering what her recognition of his name would portend.

"I see. How do you know my daughter?"

"Ah...we kind of have mutual friends."

"Maggie and Olly. I met him at their house." Alero piped up.

"Oh." Mrs. Bekere responded. "So you are...?"

Banjo mentally scratched his head trying to come up with an answer that would fit.

"My friend, Mummy. He's my friend." She was looking steadily at Banjo when she said this. Banjo returned the stare, searching her eyes for some meaning, some sign that she was saying what he wanted so badly to believe she was saying. She blinked and turned to her mother.

"And we are going on a date." she finished.

"Ah!" Mrs. Bekere said and unlocked her car.

As she got in, she spoke over her shoulders.

"Have a great time." When that did not elicit the expected response, she poked her head out of the window to say, "I'll need both of you to move so I can drive out." and she gunned the engine to buttress her point and the gateman rushed to open the gates.

Banjo gently pulled Alero to the side, his hands and arm over her shoulders. Mrs. Bekere backed out of the compound throwing a small polite smile at both of them. Alero stared at her mother in befuddlement.

"I like your parents." Banjo said like he was making a public general announcement.

Alero looked up at him and back at the open gate through which her mum had just driven out, her look, patent disbelief and a dash of confusion.

"Come on." Banjo coaxed his arm still over her shoulder. "Let's hit the road and you can tell me all about the look." he signaled her facial expression.

Alero cracked a smile.

"I think you must have bewitched my parents." she stated.

Banjo smiled. 'Major step forward.' he thought.
CHAPTER 16

Olly was stewing.

He tossed the throw pillow away from himself in agitation and picked up his cell phone again. He tried first one number and then the other as he had for at least ten times in the past three hours and as usual for the past three hours, neither calls were picked.

He got off the sofa in agitation and stalked to his bedroom. If he could have seen himself, he would have seen that his mien was that off an angry grizzly that had been denied something he wanted very badly.

He looked around his bedroom like he was looking for something and then sighed as he flopped down on his bed. It was a good thing that it was a solidly built bed because it made an ominous creaking sound and then settled.

His mind filled with images of Banjo and Ally having a good time in all manners of way. He eyed his bed like it was an offensive object and then sighed again. It was entirely his fault! He could not blame anyone else for his current predicament. Neither could he in all good conscience accuse Banjo of breaking the guy code.

He had had years to make his move but he had not and Banjo had. Now he was in agony imagining what moves Banjo was currently making.

He loitered around his house moving listlessly from one room to the other, picking up objects absent-mindedly from one place and depositing it in another in a daze.

It was the ringing of his cell phone that snapped him out of his daze. He dashed crazily to the bedroom where the sound was coming from and grabbed it off the charging point.

"Hello?" he panted into the phone.

"Wow! You must be really excited about my latest shoot. No wait! It can't have hit the net yet. What's up bro?" Maggie's voice chattered down the connection.

Olly sighed. Though he was always happy to hear from his younger sister, he had really hoped it was someone else or the other.

"Hah! What a sigh! What's up?" Maggie asked, concern tingeing her voice.

"It's noth...I was expecting a call."

"Ookaayy!" she drawled in a way that asked a question.

"From Ally or Banjo."

"A strange pair to be expecting a call from." Maggie commented. When Olly said nothing else, she began.

"Are they..."

"Do you thi..."

Olly laughed softly while Maggie chuckled.

"You think they are dating." She concluded.

Olly sighed. He had always enjoyed his connection with his sister. He suspected that it was because they were both a bit older than the rest of their siblings and so had been particularly close while growing up.

"I think he is in love with her." He said carefully and heard Maggie's answering gasp.

"That's a pretty strong emotion to suspect. Why do you think so?" Maggie asked.

"I've known Banjo for what? Fifteen years or more. We've chased after girls together. Partied together. Schooled...so much that we've done together."

"And?"

"He...He..." Olly rubbed his hand over his face. "He's chasing her so intently. He has never done that you know. Banjo would go after a girl and if she even hinted at being too hard to get, he'd just back off."

"So maybe Ally is not playing at being hard to get." Maggie said.

Olly snorted. "Really Maggie? Ally, our Ally is the definition of hard-to-get."

"I didn't mean that she wasn't. I just said she might not be taking that route with him is all."

"But she is! Banjo said so himself. If he's to be believed, she's playing even harder than usual at it! And he's chasing her Mags! Chasing!" he exclaimed.

Maggie was silent at the other end of the line for a while and if it wasn't that he could hear her breathing, Olly would have wondered whether she had dropped the call.

"Are you upset that he's chasing after her because it denies you the opportunity to do so now or because you had not thought of it before or you are only just realizing that you've always liked her a bit more than as Maggie's friend...?"

"I have a headache Mags." Olly interrupted her.

Maggie sighed across the line. "You know it does put me in the spot." she said.

"You'd rather she be with Banjo than me?"

"I'd rather she be happy, whoever it is that she chooses to be happy with." Maggie rejoined.

"Have you spoken to her lately? Did she mention anything about it?"

"No. She never did talk about it. That's why I think they aren't dating, at least not yet."

"Well, Banjo is trying to make that happen. I have been trying to get a hold of either of them all day but they aren't picking their calls."

"Why is it important you get a hold of either of them today?" Maggie asked.

"Because, they might have gone on a date today."

"Really?"

Olly wished the malevolence of his glare could communicate effectively across the voice call connection.

"Alright Olly. I'll try to get a hold of Ally after I drop this call." Maggie soothed with a chuckle.

Olly shook his head at himself. 'Guy! Now your younger sister has to run interference with a girl for you. Sorry o!'

"Olly?"

"I heard you Mags. Thanks."

"You're welcome." she quipped. "So how's work? Anything interesting happening there?" Maggie asked.

They spent several minutes catching up on each other's news and by the time Olly dropped the call, he felt a lot less agitated than he had been when he had picked it. In fact he had a smile on his lips as he tossed the phone back on his bed and made his way to the kitchen.

Little sisters were the best! And his sister Maggie was the best of them all.
CHAPTER 17

"I thought you said you were just acquaintances!"

Alero jolted halfway out of her seat when her door was forcefully thrown open and her boss strode into her office, his face a mask of barely controlled fury.

"Sir?" she asked even as her brain made the quick connection that her weekend 'outing' with Banjo had something to do with it.

"Don't you even 'Sir' me!" he said sharply, his voice the consistency of sharp nails being released from a nail gun.

"Si...what happened?" she asked.

"This!" Mr. Wanigo's bark was a compressed yell.

Alero picked up the magazine that he dropped on her desk. She would not ever have imagined that her boss even knew that such glossies existed talk less of get a hold of a copy.

"Where did you get this Sir?" she asked in a surprised voice. There were almost two pages worth of pictures of Banjo and her hitting the spots on Saturday. She would have imagined that there were other more interesting things that they could have dedicated two pages to but no! There it was! A two page spread of her day out with Banjo.

"Where else Alero? From the vendors!" Mr. Wanigo answered as he took a seat on one of the chairs provided for visitors to the office.

"What's going on? Is he leveraging on the contract to..."

"Sir!" Alero gasped out her dismay. "I should hope you expect better from me!" she said as she sat back down marveling at how good she and Banjo looked together in those glossy pictures.

"Then what is this about?" he asked his voice climbing a notch.

"Sir, your voice is carrying quite loudly down the hall." Patricia's quiet voice sounded from the door way. She looked quite resolute too as she held on to the door handle in preparation to shut the door.

Alero cast a surprised but grateful look at her. She might have expected that Mrs. Ajala to do something like that but not Patricia.

"Thank you Miss Adeniran." Mr. Wanigo said his voice a lot less angry than it had been a mere second before. Patricia quietly shut the door with a small nod.

"Sir, like I said, Ba...Mr. Adeniran and I know each other through some mutual friends. We met on Saturday to review the drafts that had just come in and there after we hung out together. I'm amazed that it would generate this sort of attention!"

Mr. Wanigo sighed. "You know that this project was fiercely competed for." He said in more placating tones. "Already, there are murmurs that it had been unfairly awarded." He cast a glance to her closed door to indicate just what he meant. "It would just be a bit more difficult to control the talk if it turned out that there was any other relationship you know, between the supervising architect and a member of top management at Adeniran Holdings."

Alero bit her lips in embarrassment. It had not even occurred to her that dating Banjo could be a problem when she had agreed to go on Saturday. 'What had she agreed to?'

Alero huffed out a breath of air. "I'll try to be more circumspect about my relationship with any member of that family. Although with all due respect sir, we are eminently qualified to take on this job." she argued.

"You and I know that. They don't."

Alero nodded her head in conciliatorily. "Crystal sir. I will try not to let this happen again."

"Good, good!" Mr. Wanigo said as he stood up. "I knew I could count on your sense of professionalism." He beamed widely as he walked out of her office.

Alero collapsed back on her seat and put her hand to her head to rub at the dull ache that had begun there. Mr. Wanigo had left the magazine on her desk so Alero picked it up and began to browse through the story such as it was. It was one of those magazines that believed in 'a picture being more than a thousand words' and if that were so, these pictures were worth a million at least.

She looked closely at one picture and then the next. So intent was she in her perusal that she did not hear her door open and Patricia quietly slip in.

"I think you both make a striking couple." she said, her voice almost a whisper.

Alero's gaze swung up to hers in surprise. She carefully closed the magazine and looked up again at Patricia. She contemplated making light of the speculation that the story had stirred but decided against it. If Banjo's relationship with his only sibling was even remotely as close as hers with her sisters' was, then Patricia already knew that something was going on between her and Banjo that defied all logic.

"There may be a conflict of interest." Alero said calmly.

Patricia shrugged. "It'll only be for while the contract last."

"True." Alero agreed. She drew a long deep breath and exhaled. "Let's get back to work. We can't do anything about what journalists, and I use that word very lightly, decide to write in their columns." She shifted her chair closer to her computer and peered into the screen.

Patricia correctly took the hint that Alero did not want to talk anymore about it and returned quietly to her desk.

Alero's phone chimed a message notification and she picked it up.

Good morning Beautiful. I hope there are no storms on your horizon?

Alero felt a smile widen her lips as she sent off a quick reply.

Nothing that hasn't been handled.

As she flipped from one page to the next on her computer, her phone chimed again.

Attagirl!

Alero's smile, which she realized hadn't completely left her face, widen even more.

Alero dug out the phone from her handbag and threw the bag down to her bed. The phone had begun ringing almost as soon as she parked her car in the driveway and had continued ringing intermittently as she had rushed into the house to relieve her distressed bladder.

Bladder relieved, she had come out of the bathroom to hear the phone ringing again.

She checked the display screen and smiled at the caller name displayed.

"Hey Stranger! Long time no hear!" she teased.

"Hey Stranger yourself! So...this is how you'll forget your dear friend when you become a big woman ehn?" Maggie scolded in her inimitable way.

"Mags, Mags!!! Any runway gist? Let you girl live vicariously nah!" Alero chuckled.

"Oookayy!!!! You're teasing me aren't you? You, who are dating the hottest bachelor in town, are looking for who she can live vicariously through abi?"

"Hey!!!! You sef have heard about the magazine pictures?" Alero asked in surprise.

"Welcome to the global village." Maggie responded sarcastically. "But you sef! You mean you and Banjo started doing coded things and you couldn't let me, your darling Megito, know?! Is this good?" Her voice assumed theatrical proportions.

"Megs it's not like that o!" Ally said as she flopped down on her bed. "I don't know how it happened o! I can't explain it without blushing all over."

"Hah! That is serious!" Maggie responded. The line was silent for a while. "So, it's serious then?"

"It feels serious. I can't understand why it feels so serious. It's just been this one extreme date."

"You know what I think?" Maggie asked. She did not wait for Alero to respond but bumbled on. "I think you've liked him for much longer than you have acknowledged."

"Why do you say that?"

Maggie sighed loudly over the line. "I've been sorting through stuff in my head lately you know and I remembered some things."

"Like?" Alero dragged out the word.

"You do know Olly has always liked you?" Maggie asked rhetorically. "Well Banjo blew him off that Saturday to come spend time with you."

"Oh! I didn't know that. He could have come along. Why didn't he?"

"Because Banjo wouldn't have let him anyway. He has his sights on you and it seems he is making his move."

"Why do I get the feeling you are upset about the date?" Alero asked warily.

Maggie sighed again. "Maybe because I just might be...a little... unbalanced about it."

"Why? I thought you guys liked him. I mean, apart from the family friend thing, I thought you all really liked each other."

"That's it right there!" Maggie exclaimed.

"What?" Alero asked bewildered.

"You remember that first time we went to the Adenirans with you? That party when Banjo graduated from college?"

"Yes." Alero answered carefully.

"What happened between you and Banjo?"

Alero rolled her eyes. It would be just like Maggie to have picked up on Alero's hurt and then respect her decision to not talk about it till now.

"And don't tell me nothing happened. I knew something was off that day but...you just pulled away. I was scared you know, especially when you didn't turn up for a visit for a whole month."

For the first time, Alero realized that her withdrawal to lick her wounds in private may have hurt Maggie a lot more than she had ever let on too.

"Aww Mags!" she sighed.

"What happened? Is this a rebound thing?" Maggie pressed.

"A rebound thing?" Alero asked, again bewildered.

"Like maybe he must have done something to hurt you and...I don't know! What's going on? One moment you couldn't care less if Banjo existed and the next I see a whole spread of you two loved up on a date!"

Alero remained silent as she tried to sort out her words.

"Ally?"

"I'm here. I don't know how to explain it dear." She shifted to a more comfortable position on her bed. "I think...okay, I know I was attracted to him that first time, but he snubbed me and that put me off. Do you believe that you can fall in love at first sight? Or should I rather say 'first meet'? "

"You think you might have been that attracted to him but was put off by his snobbish behavior?" Maggie asked incredulously.

"You see! I said it was confusing!"

Maggie was quiet for awhile. "Perhaps then, you should date him till you sort that all out." she said and then she chuckled, "It had to be quite the impression he made! You never looked at any other since! It's like Sleeping Beauty put to sleep by the prick of the prince's snobbery! It's like...."

"Maggie? It's not even funny." Alero deadpanned while Maggie burst into gales of laughter.

"Oh Ally! You never could take a joke!"

"I'm not even laughing." A small smile cracked through her lips.

"I guess Olly is going to have to stew or move on right?"

"Maggie!!! Olly is like a big brother to me! It'll feel like incest!" Alero shuddered at the thought.

"How is he? He's been scarce lately." Alero asked and Maggie launched into the story of all Oliver had been doing lately.

The sharp ping of the tennis ball on the board sounded as the two players rallied the ball over the net ferociously. Then the ball was dropped by one of them and they both gasped in a release of suspense and the clatter of dropped bats hit the board on each side.

"You're getting harder to beat! Why is that?" Banjo asked Patricia in mock chagrin.

"You are getting old big brother!" Patricia retorted smartly as she picked up the ball and placed it with her bat in a serve posture.

"I'm beat!" Banjo raised his hand in surrender and stepped away from the table. Patricia relaxed her stance with a puzzled frown on her face.

Banjo wiped his face with the towel that hung around his neck as he walked back into the house. Patricia dropped her bat and carefully put the ball in the pocket of her short shorts and followed him inside.

He was guzzling down water straight from a bottle when she walked in. She stood leaning against the door frame for a while watching him and debating her decision in her mind. Because she was quite a bit younger than he was, she suspected Banjo had never really understood in his heart and sometimes his head that she had been old enough to notice things for a long while now, long enough to notice that he had been pretty hung up on Maggie's friend when they had all been much younger.

She had been astonished that day she had gone for her interview at Skyline and come face to face with her, Alero. She had also not been shocked, only surprised at how fast it had happened, when her brother had broke it off with Emily shortly after. She had always felt like Emily was a place holder for something else that Banjo was looking for. The day of her birthday party, after she had seen him with Alero, she had known without a shadow of a doubt that she had been what he had been waiting for.

"You want one?" he asked her, holding out a water bottle to her. Patricia pulled herself from her comfortable slump against the door frame and walked towards him. When she got to him, she plucked the bottle from his hand with the kind of cheeky grin that only a well-loved-and-I-know-it kid sister could give. He grinned back and turned to look into the fridge.

"There isn't much in here but if you want to put together lunch of some sort, I'm sure I have enough that you could manage a meal." he commented as he shut the door to the fridge.

"What about you? Won't you eat too?" She asked as she moved past him to open the door he had just shut.

"Nah! I'm thinking of taking Ally out so I'll probably eat then." he said.

Patricia cocked an eyebrow but continued to look through the content of the fridge.

"I think my boss is trying to talk her out of dating you." She mumbled into the fridge.

"What?!" Banjo asked in surprise.

Patricia pulled her head out of the fridge. "You guys are dating right?"

"Why would your boss be talking her out of dating me?"

"Conflict of professional interest and all that good stuff. You do know that we are handling a project for the company?" She asked wryly.

Banjo stood frozen as he contemplated how that could be used by Wanigo.

"Do you think she's buying it?" he asked his sister. Patricia shrugged.

"Alero likes to be professional. I don't know. She wouldn't talk about something like that with me."

Banjo felt the dread pulling at him but he tamped it down. Panicking was not an option.

"Maggie." Patricia reasoned.

"Maggie?" Banjo inquired and then understood. "Yes, Maggie! She would talk with Maggie. They are still really close."

Patricia shrugged her shoulders again as she arranged the makings of a really big sandwich on the counter. "It can't hurt to try." she quipped.

"Thanks for the heads up sis." Banjo said and enveloped her in a hug.

"Ew!!! You're sweaty!" Patricia complained.

"So are you!" Banjo said laughingly as he half jogged, half walked out of the kitchen.

"I need to go shower though." he said over his shoulders. "I'm supposed to go pick Ally up in about an hour."

Patricia rolled her eyes. Men in love were gross, grossly sweet. She smiled as she went to work preparing her lunch.
CHAPTER 18

Emily shut down the computer on her desk as she gathered up her things from around her. Her face was blotchy and the ache she had banging away in her head showed through her wince every now and again. She wondered how she was going to be able to drive in the state that she was in. She decided that she might be better off leaving her car in the office parking lot. It would be safe overnight there.

She pulled herself gingerly out of the chair and minced her way slowly out of the law firm's offices. It was rather late and everyone else had left for the day. The only reason she was still here was because a 'helpful' friend had sent her a link that 'she thought might interest her'. On seeing what the link contained, she had burst into tears.

She had cried a flood of tears. She had cried in resentment for all the years she had spent wondering why Banjo seemed distant only to be assured by everyone that it was normal. She had cried because she had let them 'waste' her valuable time investing her emotions in a relationship that she could now see with the usual 20/20 clarity of hindsight, was never going to work out. She had cried because in all the years that she had been with Banjo, they had never looked like that together. He looked...absurdly handsome and happy with this girl by his side.

And in all that crying, she had fallen behind with her schedule and had spent the rest of the day playing catch up.

Truthfully, she had not expected her reaction to the pictures of Banjo frolicking with that girl, the girl from that night of the party. She had found out her name, Alero Bekere, whiz architect. Emily shook her head at herself wryly. She had cried!

Cried! Over Banjo! She laughed a wry bitter laugh that earned her a strange look from the security guard standing and holding the door open for her.

"Good evening Aunty. You stayed late today o!" he said in his usual amiable gregariousness.

"Good evening." Emily smiled politely. She never managed to remember his name or whenever she thought she had, she would discover that she had called him by the wrong name. So she refrained from calling him by any name.

"You don't look well Aunty. Hope no problem sha?" he asked a look of concern on his face.

His concern was strangely comforting and embarrassing all at once. Emily smiled a little less politely.

"I'm alright." she responded. "I'll need a taxi though if you can help me hail one." she requested. It was late. She had not realized how late it was.

"Okay Aunty. Please manage our chair!" He pushed a chair closer to her and walked off to the road. A few minutes later, he came back. "Aunty, I've gotten one." he invited her. He made to pick up her hand bag but Emily politely clutched her bag closer to her. He shrugged and led her to the taxi he had hailed for her. She thanked him profusely and soon the taxi was whizzing towards her home address.

She slunk down in the seat, exhaustion and a strange sort of lethargy eating at her. The fresh air seemed to have helped with her headache though. It had reduced significantly in intensity since she had stepped into the nighttime air.

Soon, the taxi came to a stop in front of the house. She settled her bill with him and stepped out of it. The gateman, who had been peeping through the peep hole since the taxi had stopped in front of the gate, rushed to open it on seeing her alight from the cab.

"Ah Ah! Good evening Auntie Emily. Wetin do your motor?" He asked in surprise, his eyes roaming as if he expected to see her car appear somewhere behind her by means of teleportation.

"I couldn't drive." Emily answered as she walked as briskly as she could through the gates.

"You no well? Daddy dey house." He announced. Emily nodded her understanding as she continued into the house. She was tired and not in the mood for more concern from her father's staff.

As soon as she got in, she made her way to the kitchen for a bottle of water. As she leaned against the counter, her mind resolved a few things. She had not so much been in love with Banjo as much as she had been in love with the idea of being in a 'settled' relationship, and with an Adeniran, the Adeniran too. She smiled a wry smile.

There was a shuffling noise coming from the living room area. Emily had not turned on the lights when she had come in as she knew her way around from living in this house practically for all her life. She wondered who that could be. She quickly turned to the sink to splash some water on her face. Just in case it was her dad, she did not want him to see that she had been crying. There were questions that she was not prepared to confront with him until she had had the chance to confront them herself.

The door to the kitchen swung open as she made the first splash on her face.

So many things happened all at once. The overhead lights came on, the sound of a giggle and a murmur and then a gasp. The thumping sound of her heart and the sound of something hitting a surface as she turned in wonderment to confirm with her eyes, what her mind was trying to assure her she had deduced with her ears.

Her father had his arms around Kome's waist in an intimate embrace and he had been in the act of nuzzling her neck, while Kome had her hand on his cheek and a very tender look on her face, when they had both seen her and froze.

"Em!" Her father seemed to recover first. "I...erh...when did you come in?" he stammered. Kome seemed to have lost not only her speech but also all ability to move.

Emily stared wide-eyed as her father and Kome disentangled themselves from each other. The pounding in her head had resumed with renewed ferocity.

"Dad? When...are you...what's..." Emily shook her head which only seemed to worsen the ache there.

"Emily, it's...we were planning on saying something at some point. We wanted things to be in place. We wanted to be sure that it would work out between us before saying anything."

The words seemed to tumble from her father's mouth. Emily stood there as he made his way towards her with his arms held out to her. Kome remained just inside the door watching the tableau with shuttered eyes that Emily would recognize anywhere. She did not want to be hurt. She was hedging, she was holding back just in case.

"Dad stop." Emily said quietly though her eyes remained on Kome.

"I did not realize...I should have suspected something." She pushed off the counter. "It says a lot to me that I didn't." Emily smiled sadly at her father and picked up her bags. As she passed by him, she stopped to buzz his cheeks with a kiss.

"I hope I'm a big enough girl to wish you well." she whispered and continued on her way. When she got to Kome, she stopped directly in front of her and looked at her, really looked at her, her nanny/big sister/aunty/housekeeper. There were so many memories she had that had Kome in it. Friend/confidant/shoulder-to-cry-on.

"I wasn't paying attention." she said brokenly to her. Kome opened her arms in invitation and Emily fell into it, the tears flowing again.

"What is it?" Kome asked, rightly deducing that something else had started off the crying. Emily shook her head on her shoulder still sobbing.

She felt her father walk up to them and stand awkwardly behind her. Kome gently ran her hand up and down Emily's back in a soothing gesture.

"I'm okay." Emily sniffled as she straightened up. She turned to include her father. "I'm so happy for you, the both of you." she insisted. She gave each of them a hug and carried herself off to her room.

As she tossed and turned on her bed that night, she made certain decisions about her life from then on. As dawn's light touched the sky, a different, newer, older Emily rose to greet it.
CHAPTER 19

"Good morning mum. You asked to see me?" Banjo poked his head around his mother's door.

"Come in and stop acting so juvenile." she snapped but her bark lacked conviction.

Banjo stepped fully into the office and subconsciously readjusted the jacket of his suit as he stepped forward to his mother's desk.

"What is this I hear about you getting your pictures splattered in the magazines?" she asked as she continued to read through the papers on her desk.

"What exactly did you hear?" Banjo stalled.

His mother's head came up to give him a sarcastic look and she turned her attention back to her papers.

"I went on a date with a...friend, a really good friend and some journalist took some pictures and someone thought it was news worthy for whatever reasons."

He remained quiet as his mother continued reading. To someone who did not know Chief Mrs. Adeniran, they would have imagined she had barely heard what he had just said, but Banjo knew his mother. Had loved her all his life, for as long as he had memories and he knew that she had not only heard, but that she was carefully weighing his words.

"Sooo, is she the newest flame or is this a bit more serious?" she asked.

"I don't do flames Mum." Banjo reprimanded as mildly as he could manage.

His mother dropped the pen she had been twiddling with as she read and looked up at him squarely.

"And Emily?" she asked.

Banjo scoffed his disbelief. "Emily?" he asked. "Mum you could barely tolerate her even though I don't understand what the girl ever did wrong to you!"

To Banjo's surprise, his mother seemed a bit discomfited by his tirade.

"I had nothing against her. She's a perfectly well behaved girl." she rebutted.

Banjo sighed. "Mum, I was not in love with her. I liked her well enough but even...even that kind of faded. I never quite managed to engage with her on any deep level." He tried explaining.

Mrs. Adeniran remained silent as she got up from her swivel chair and walked to her expansive windows with its breathtaking view of the city.

"I have been very angry for a very long time." she said quietly, reflectively. She turned away from the view outside and looked carefully at her son.

Banjo looked back at his mother sensing that he was about to gain an insight into a part of her that she had not let many people see.

"When I realized that your father was an inveterate womanizer and that nothing I did would keep his interest at home, I think a part of me died." She laid a hand on her chest as if it hurt. "It just shriveled up, froze and died." She walked back to her seat and sat down.

"I had never felt so humiliated as when all those women would flaunt their relationship with my husband in my face and nobody...nobody rebuked him or them for it. Everyone seemed to think it was acceptable. I couldn't wrap my head around it. I guess I needed someone to blame so that I could live with myself. I blamed Bola, Emily's dad. He and your father were so close and they were partners in crime."

She continued on a sigh. "Perhaps, I disliked Emily because you are not at all like your dad in that regards. It was like God wanted to pay me back for all the pain I had been through. You were perfect. You took the very best of him and somehow managed not to take the worse in him. You were a dream come true. And I resented that it would be Bola's daughter to have all this...all that I had made myself believe that he had denied me in my own marriage by his continued association with your dad."

Banjo was speechless in remembered and shared sorrow. He had been old enough to see some of the dynamics of his parent's relationship. He had not always understood but with his mother's speech came clarity on some points that had always had him stumped.

She shook her head sadly at Banjo. "No one can truly make you what you are determined not to be." she said. "Your father did not want to be faithful." she sniffled. "It was as simple as that. It was no one's fault but his." She leaned forward to emphasize. "It was never Bola's fault. It was never Emily's fault and I shouldn't have made it theirs." She searched Banjo's face earnestly and then continued. "If my...anger or behavior towards Emily was in anyway responsible for your breaking it off with her, I would like for you to reconsider, please."

Banjo smiled sadly at this woman who had birthed him and had practically raised him and his sister all by herself. He understood again in that moment that he loved this woman beyond the reasons why.

"No Mum. It wasn't you. It just never quite clicked." He reassured her. His mother breathed what sounded like a muted, much muted sigh of relief.

"This girl, this Alero..." she began and Banjo smiled just a little wider, 'Chief Mrs. Adeniran!' He thought. Of course she had done her research!

"Is it serious with her then?" she asked and then smiled mischievously, "Have you managed to connect with her on some deeper level?"

Banjo chuckled. "I believe so." he replied, savoring flashes of memories in his head.

"Hm!" she nodded and shifted some papers around on her desk. "When am I going to meet her?"

"Soon Mum, soon. But you have to promise me something." Banjo prompted.

His mother cocked her head in question.

"Give her a chance. Don't scare her away before...you have a chance to know her."

Mrs. Adeniran cocked an eyebrow at her son.

"If she is so easily frightened, then perhaps she won't be able to cut it as an Adeniran." she stated emphatically.

"MUM!!! I just said no snap judgments!" Banjo mock wailed.

Mrs. Adeniran held up her hands in a sign of surrender. "Okay, Okay! I will try not to make any snap judgments." she said.

"Thank you Mum!" Banjo breathed out in relief.

"I am not an ogre! I don't appreciate you trying to make me out as one!" she snapped.

"Yes Mum. I know Mum. You are the 'bestest' mum in the whole world." Banjo teased.

Mrs. Adeniran sighed in mock despair and rolled her eyes. "And to think what we paid for an Ivy League education." she mumbled just loudly enough for him to hear. "'Bestest!'"

Banjo exited her office with a smile and a lightness of step that mirrored his lightness of spirit.
CHAPTER 20

"I wondered if you would come out with me...attend a function, an occasion with me next week? Saturday?"

The mere fact that Kenneth Okorie was stumbling over his words was enough to perk Emily's interest in what he had to say. She smiled at that. A more self assured man she had yet to meet.

"Saturday? Next week you say?" she teased smilingly. However, Kenneth had no way of seeing her smile through the phone as he waited on tenterhooks for her answer.

"I think I can swing that." she drawled laughingly. "Why? What's happening on Saturday next week?"

"A series of events." Kenneth tried to control his rush of relief. How had this girl slipped so...quietly under his skin? 'When had her company become so important to me?' he wondered.

"A wedding. A meeting. Some family involved." he said as lightly as possible.

Emily jolted up from her reclining position on her bed. "Did you just say family?" she asked breathlessly.

Kenneth listened for her tone. "We don't bite. Honestly." he teased.

"I never said you did!" she scolded and Kenneth chuckled.

"We've been dancing around each other for some time now." He said.

"And?" Emily asked.

"I thought it was time for us to move a step forward." He stated implicitly.

Emily would have sworn that her whole body ignited at his implacable tone. She smiled a little foolishly.

"When you say 'a step forward'" she minced, "What do you mean?"

"Emily?"

"Yes."

She heard him chuckle across the line. "You're not my lawyer trying to understand the facts of the case." he chided.

"What has that got to do with the question I asked you?" asked a baffled Emily.

"A step forward means, I want to define what exactly it is we have between us. Are we going to be just friends or are we trying for something more."

Emily was quiet for a while as she turned his words over in her mind.

"Em?"

"I'm here." she responded.

"What's going through your mind?"

Emily blew out a mouthful of air.

"Em?" he questioned. "Right! Are you trying to worry me?" he asked.

"I like you, a lot." Emily said.

"Okay! I kind of knew you did and I like you, really like you too." he said, his smile in his voice.

"I think I am frightened."

"Frightened?"

Emily sighed. "I think I'm projecting Banjo and I...you know that whole mess unto you."

Kenneth was quiet for a while.

"Ken?"

Kenneth's sigh was long and deep across the phone.

"I'm not Banjo, Em." he said quietly.

Emily scoffed. "I know it." she sniffled. "Doesn't mean that I'm not frightened to be in a new relationship. You guys tend to hold all the aces in this thing."

There was another span of silence and then Kenneth asked the thing that shattered all her defenses, defenses she had not even consciously realized that she had been building up.

"What can I do to make you feel that you can trust me? How can I make you more at ease?"

Emily nearly choked on her own saliva.

"Talk to me Em."

Emily felt her lips stretch into a ridiculously wide smile.

"It's okay. I'm not scared of you." she said.

"Good." Kenneth rejoined. "So see you on Saturday next."

"Really? Till Saturday next?"

"Yeah! I have to take a short trip. I will be leaving tomorrow's evening and will probably be away for the rest of the week. And it will be a bit crazy next week. I have a few deals I need to close so...I just might not get to see you till Saturday. Saturday, I'm all yours! Cleared up everything so..."

Emily smiled into the phone. "Saturday next then, except I can work something out."

"If you can, I'd really like that." she could hear his smile in his voice.

Emily giggled. "We sound like...a couple...making plans." she said with barely constrained excitement.

"We are a couple making plans." Kenneth opined making Emily's already ridiculous smile stretch even wider.

"I'll miss you during your trip." she said.

"I'll call every day. Or at least regularly." Kenneth promised.

Emily burst into laughter at that. "Alright. I'll hold you to it. I'll whine and complain for any day that you miss." she threatened in hilarity.

Kenneth was quiet for a heartbeat and then he said, "Fair enough."

"Good night Ken."

"Good night Em."

Emily clicked the phone shut and squeezed it tightly as if she could squeeze out some essence of Kenneth from it.

"I think I'm falling in love with you." she whispered to the empty room that had darkened in the course of her conversation with Kenneth.
CHAPTER 21

Kenneth slammed the door of his car shut as he drove off to the office. His dad had arrived the evening before from their hometown to attend his cousin's nuptials. Kenneth had been excited to have him come a few days early because it would afford them some more time to visit each other.

Ever since his mother passed away a few years ago, he and his father had bonded over shared grief and his father's loneliness. He had always been close to his parents, being an only child tended to do that to you, but they had become closer still.

This was the first time in as long as he could remember that they had disagreed so vehemently over anything.

'And it had to be a woman!' Kenneth thought as he slammed the brakes to avoid hitting a jogger who had stepped off the side walk to avoid a woman with a large basket on her head and a baby on her back, probably on her way to a marketplace. He muttered under his breath as the jogger waved an apology and continued on his way.

Kenneth mentally instructed himself to calm down and continue to drive more sedately towards his office.

He shook his head as he remembered his father's main premise of argument.

"She's a yoruba girl?!"

He had sounded like he found it incomprehensible that his son would actually consider not talk of being in a relationship with a girl from another tribe.

"Yes, she is."

"Kenneth my son, you will not marry a yoruba girl!"

"Dad! Not this! You haven't even met her!"

"I know all I need to about anyone from that tribe! They are two faced!"

"This again Dad?" "At least meet her first and then decide if she's two faced or not."

"Hah! Yoruba daughter-in-law! Hiahn!"

"Dad, this is...Are we really having this conversation?"

"You mean of all the girls you have met, you did not see any Igbo girl you liked enough to marry, it is this yoruba girl?"

"I did not even think of her tribe Dad! I like her! Her, not her tribe! I don't really care about where she's from! I..."

"You have to care! We are a product of our origins! Our environment!"

"To a large extent Dad but you're the one who always said the same hot water that softens an egg is the same hot water that hardens the yam."

"What has that to do with what I'm saying to you?"

"So she's yoruba. You've had a few bad experiences." His father had scoffed at that. "But those people are not representative of every single yoruba person. So what of our brothers who have been caught in drug or gang related crimes overseas? Are they representative of everyone from our tribe?"

"Is it only people from our tribe that have been caught in drug related offenses?"

"Is it all yoruba people that you have met that have proven to be two faced?"

"And lily-livered!"

"Including the agberos that you are so jittery around?"

"Those ones are just badly brought up children. Which is part of what I am saying..."

"You know what Dad? I think this is where we draw this conversation to a close before we say some things we both will regret. I'm off to the office. I'll see you in the evening."

He had dragged his briefcase from the table and stormed out of the house. He rubbed his chest now, where an ache was beginning to coagulate. He had never argued like this with his father and it hurt. He felt oddly bereft even as he mentally prepared to do battle.

He was not going to give Emily up. That left only one other option, he had to convince his father that Emily was just right for him. He was not going to give either of them up for the other.

Emily stared at the display screen on her phone and smiled.

"Hello!" she thrilled into the earpiece. "Are you finally back?"

"Yes o! I am." Kenneth responded.

"Yipee! Hope your trip was good?" she asked "And successful?"

"It was. Actually, it was very good."

"That's great to hear." Emily said. "Where are you right now?"

"At the office. Just finished one meeting. Gearing up for another one."

Emily could hear his tiredness in his voice. "Sorry dear." she said gently. "Is there something I can do?"

"As a matter of fact, there is." he responded with alacrity.

"Okay! What?"

"Come for dinner at my place."

"When?" Emily asked in surprise.

"Today." Kenneth answered. Emily sighed.

"I've never really been to your place."

"You have too."

"Not inside." Emily argued.

"So come to dinner." Kenneth cajoled. "Besides, there's someone I want you to meet." he said.

"Yeah? Who?" Emily asked.

"My dad. He's in town for the wedding soooo I want you to meet him before the wedding proper."

"Ooookaay!" Emily said. "Tonight?"

"You know what? Drive on home. I'll come by to pick you up."

"Do I need to dress fancy or anything?"

"No, no, no! Just be comfortable. It'll be just the three of us."

Emily nodded her head and then on remembering that Kenneth couldn't see her over the phone, voiced her consent.

"Alright. See you tonight. I've got to go." Kenneth spoke in a rush.

"Alright. Have a good one."Emily said.

"You too."

Emily heard what sounded like a kissy noise but she couldn't be sure and the line went dead before she could ask.

CHAPTER 22

Alero stood at the edge of the site watching as the workmen trudged and scurried around. They were breaking the ground today on the Adeniran Holdings project. It wasn't really necessary for her to be here but she had wanted the opportunity to see her creation come 'alive'. It always gave her a high unlike any other to see her drawings being translated into 'living, breathing' buildings.

And then she had wanted to see Banjo. Alero smiled to herself as her stomach did a small flip. She had gotten here more than an hour ago and she was yet to see him. The engineers in charge of the project had gone in to see the CEO when they had arrived much earlier in the day but had been told she was not on seat but that the management had been notified of their intentions to break ground today and had given their full support and permission.

She glanced at her watch and decided she had lingered long enough and went to find Chidi, the lead engineer on this team to tell him she was heading out back to the office. One of the workmen pointed to an enclosed space when she asked where Chidi was and she hurried towards it.

She could hear the rumble of male voices as she approached the spot and did a quick survey of her clothes. Those men made her self-conscious with their overt maleness.

"Hey Chidi." she called out as she stepped into the makeshift office.

"Hey!" Chidi called out in response as he turned from a table where they had spread out sheets of technical drawing. "I was hoping you'd stop by before you headed out." he continued as he motioned her up to the table. The other three men gathered around the table mumbled various greetings at her.

Alero stepped up to the table as she acknowledged their greetings.

"What's good? Things are going well outside." she said.

"Yeah but we have a few questions we need to ask about some spots." he said as he secured the paper with some weights and began to point out the spots that were as yet unresolved by the team. After almost another hour of arguments and counter arguments, it seemed they had reached a consensus of sort. Alero knew that it was more a truce than a cessation. There would be more unresolved issues popping up before the project would be completed. It was all part of what went into making a building.

She took her leave of them and began making her way to her car. She waved at the guys who were working under the sun and had begun to break out in sweat. The sounds of the earth moving equipments in use blending with the symphony of the lighter tools also being used. It was quite the cacophony but to Alero, it was like music, a well played orchestra.

As she gained her car, she turned to look up at the tall building. It must have been dazzling in its time but age had begun to mellow some of its 'shininess'. It was still a beauty to behold, but she hoped that the work they would do here would bring it into the new era with grace.

She saw one of the security guards/parking lot attendants walk briskly up to her as she unlocked her car and made to chuck her protective gear unto the back seat.

"Please...Good afternoon Ma...Aunty." The man greeted haltingly.

"Good afternoon." Alero greeted as she eyed him in puzzlement.

"Erm...please Aunty are you Miss..." he brought out a piece of paper from his pocket and peered at it. "...Bekere?" he concluded.

"Yes, I am." Alero answered her puzzlement increasing.

"Ah!" The man's relief was palpable. He pointed his finger back towards the building. "Our Oga wants to see you before you go." he announced like he had just achieved a great feat.

"Your Oga?" Alero asked.

"Oga Banjo, I mean, Mr. Adeniran."

"Alright."Alero said locking her car and turning back to go into the building.

"Thank you Ma!" The man called excitedly and Alero wondered at what that meant.

She walked up to the Reception Desk and made enquiries on how to get to Mr. Adeniran's offices. Apparently, they had been expecting her so she was ushered to a lift and escorted to his office.

On getting to his office, it seemed that a meeting was just ending as its participants trailed out of the office just as she and her escort reached it.

"Good afternoon Ma, Sir. Miss Bekere is here with me." she heard her escort say.

"Right! Send her in please." she heard Banjo's voice and a smile lit on her lips. She had never seen him in his office before.

Her escort waved her in and continued towards the lift. Alero stepped into the office, shutting the door behind her.

Her eyes went directly to the large desk behind which sat Banjo in a very sharp-looking suit and looking very much like the executive that he was in this place. Her smile widened and softened as they both took a few precious moments to look over each other as if to assure their hearts that the other looked well.

"Hey!" she greeted smilingly.

"Hey yourself!" Banjo greeted as he came round his desk towards her beaming.

"Mum, this is Alero. Alero meet my mum."

Alero could barely contain the surprised gasp that came to her lips as she turned towards the low slung sofas that were arranged to one side of the office.

Lounging on one of the sofas was a woman Alero would have recognized even in her sleep, she had read up everything that she could about this woman both on print and electronic media. She had a small, polite smile on her face as she sized Alero up quite blatantly. She was a good looking woman, well put together and wore her wealth subtly but with the power and efficiency of a stealth weapon of mass subjugation.

"Good afternoon Ma!" Alero cringed as her voice came out with breathy nervousness.

Mrs. Adeniran nodded and inclined her head politely. "How do you do Alero? I have heard quite a bit about you."

Alero's eyes darted to Banjo questioningly and then back to his mum.

"I'm fine Ma." Alero responded wondering where to put her hands as she fidgeted in front of the woman.

"Mum..." Banjo began to say something but his mother waved at him dismissively as she got up from her seat.

"I need get back to my office. I'll speak with you later." she said and as she passed Alero who was gawking at her in some trepidation, she smiled charmingly. "It was a pleasure," she said with a thoughtful look in her eyes, "to finally meet you." She gave a nod and walked majestically from the office.

Alero released the breath she had holding and turned wide-eyed to Banjo.

Banjo took one look at her face and chuckled. "Yeah! She's a bit much." he said.

"She..." Alero searched for words. Banjo cocked an eyebrow in question.

"Is mind-blowing!" Alero said. "I don't think all those publications and magazine interviews quite capture her essence."

Banjo's chuckle became full blown laughter. "If she could bottle it up, we'd be set for decades here at Adeniran!" he guffawed. "But we make do with having it envelope us every day for the day."

"I'd say!" Alero exclaimed as she allowed Banjo steer her into a seat on the sofa. As she sat, she took the time to look around her. It was a nicely appointed office, well suited to an executive in a flourishing company.

She turned back to Banjo with a smile.

"You look really good. I'd never seen you in a suit before." she commented.

"You're a sight for sore eyes yourself." Banjo responded not to be outdone.

Alero felt a blush come to her face.

"I'm a little roughed up. I've been on site trying to make some...you know, adjustments." she said.

"Oh? Nothing too major I hope." Banjo said as he came to sit beside her with a bottle of water and a glass. As he opened the bottle and poured he continued. "I quite like the design as it is."

"Nah! Just some restructuring so that the design can hold while it looks good for you." Alero teased as she took the glass from him and sipped her water.

"Good!"

Alero dropped the glass back on the coffee table and asked. "So did you have some other reason you wanted to see me about or..." she trailed off with a huge grin.

"Or. I just wanted to see you, sweaty and all from site work." Banjo replied. "Seriously!" he insisted at Alero's incredulous look. "I wanted to see this aspect of you. You love this so much so I wanted to see you in this mode." At Alero's continued incredulous look, he asked. "Am I, like, weird?"

Alero burst into laughter as she wiped the look from her face. She shook her head as she gasped to a stop. "No. I was curious too." she looked around the office once again and took in the sight of him against that backdrop and nodded smilingly. "You fit."

"Why, thank you ma'am!" Banjo joked sarcastically, eliciting another giggle from Alero, who then stood up from her seat.

"I need to leave now." she smiled ruefully as she opened her arms for a hug. Banjo willingly stepped into the embrace.

"You do remember you just called me sweaty?" she teased.

"Yes and you smell nice with it."

"Now I know you're weird!"

Banjo gave her a light tap on her back. "I'll show you weird!" he mock threatened.

They stepped apart and stood starring at each other, each seemingly reluctant to break the connection.

"I don't want to keep you longer than necessary." Banjo finally said. "I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure." Alero answered as she stepped out of the office.

"Thanks for having me stop by. I like seeing you in your zone." she said as the lift came and he handed her into it.

"I liked having you." Banjo smiled like a thrilled schoolboy. "Enjoy your day." he said on a wave as the lift door snapped shut. Alero leaned against the wall of the lift with a sigh.

'Love is exhausting.' she thought. She was constantly breathless around this guy. Still she walked out into the sunlight with a bounce in her steps.
CHAPTER 23

As Alero got out of her vehicle, she was knocked back against it by flying human bodies and excitable shrieks and chatter.

"Ally! You look..."

"I missed you!"

"My sis! My sis!"

Alero could feel the grin tearing at her face.

"Na wa o!" she chided laughingly. "Una for gree me enter house nah!"

The triplets laughed and let up on her allowing her find her way slowly into the house.

She looked over each of them as they crowded her barely letting her put one foot in front of the other. She slumped down on the nearest sofa, tired of trying to bear their combined weight and the weight of her bags.

"So how was school this term?" she asked and got an excited babble of response. She shook her head fondly as she chided.

"If you'd all take it one at a time, I'd be able to hear what you all are saying."

Temi nudged Gbemi who in turn nudge their brother Toju. After looking themselves in the eyes for a split second, they all turned to Alero with wide, radiant smiles.

"We missed you Sister Ally." Toju spoke for his sisters too.

Alero felt tears come into her eyes. She could not have loved them more in that moment if she tried. Her younger siblings had come after an excruciating twelve year wait by her parents. Her mother especially rarely spoke of that trying period in her life but though Alero had been really young, she had been old enough to empathize if not totally understand the pain and hurt that her mother had been through.

She was a female child and when her mother had not conceived for years after her birth, there had been pressure from her paternal relatives for her dad to remarry and bear more children. It had been a period of embarrassing fights, sometimes in public between her parents and sundry relatives.

And then in the midst of all that struggle and drama, just when hope was fading and nerves had been frayed to breaking point, her mother had conceived again.

Alero remembered with teary eyes the joy that had engulfed them all when her parents had discovered that they were having twins and the ecstasy when twins had turned out to be triplets at birth.

Her mum used to say that 'God did my detractors 'shut up!' with these ones!'

Alero completely understood that sentiment.

"I missed you all too!" Alero said laughingly. "Hope you all managed to return with at least one travelling box each this time!" She jokingly referred to their penchant for having misplaced 'all their worldly goods' each term when they returned from boarding school.

"Ah ah! Ally! We are seniors now o! We came back with almost everything." Temi responded with her shy smile while Gbemi nodded in agreement.

"Allow your sister get into her room you these people!" her mother scolded as she came into the living room making shooing hand motions at the triplets. They obligingly got to their feet and began make their way to other rooms.

"Ally, I want to ask you something later." Gbemi said as she bounced off towards the kitchen.

"Yes. Later." Temi agreed with her sister. Toju shook his head as he headed out the door, mumbling something about 'tetefo sisters'.

"Good evening Mummy." Alero greeted her mother while trying to hold in her mirth.

"My dear!" was her mother's response. "Meanwhile, I too want to talk to you. But first go and change out of these clothes." Her mother wrinkled her nose as she looked over Alero's outfit.

"Alright Mum. What is it though?" she asked even though she suspected what this was about.

"I know you are not obtuse. Let's talk later." her mum responded sarcastically as she marched back towards the kitchen calling out for her two younger daughters.

Emily felt a flutter of nerves assail her as the car turned into the gates. She remembered that first evening when she turned her car through these same gates. She could never have imagined, that night, that there would be a day like this. She was going to 'meet the parents'. A part of her, the part she loved to call her more sensible part scolded at her other part, the more frivolous part that it was just dinner but no amount of scolding had been able to tamp down her excitement. It seemed to all her parts that tonight, her relationship with Kenneth would turn a new corner.

"You're very quiet. Nervous?" Kenneth's voice seemed to boom at her.

Emily shivered at his question as she turned to look at him.

"Trying not to be." She sighed in admission.

Kenneth nodded his head and asked. "Is it working yet?" There was a smile in his voice that barely showed on his lips.

"No!" Emily dropped her face into her hands and would have rubbed it if she had not remembered her full make-up at the last minute.

"Hey!" Kenneth tried to pry her hands from her face with one hand. "Come on! My dad is certainly not an ogre. I promise you that." He said half jokingly as he tried to humour her out of her nervousness.

Emily pulled her hands from her face and tried to take a deep, calming breath. That too did not work. She looked over at Kenneth questioningly as she noticed that he came to a stop just shy of driving into the garage. He put the car on 'Park' but left the engine idling.

He turned more fully to her and studied her for a long moment. "You are nervous." He pronounced with a look of mild surprise and consternation on his face.

Emily felt the tears sting her eyes unbidden and her breaths turned shallow with the release of the pent up panic in her system.

"I've never done well with the family!" The words burst out from her.

Kenneth raised his eyebrow in exaggerated surprise and questioningly. He put his hand on her back and rubbed it in circular motions until her breathing regularized.

"When you say never...you are talking of the Adenirans aren't you?"

Emily nodded. "I don't seem to...I felt they never quite liked me...like I didn't quite...meet requirements or something." She let out a loud, tired exhale and turned and looked to Kenneth whose gaze was locked on her.

"One day," he said reflectively, "We'll have to talk about the whole Adeniran debacle, but not now. Right now, we probably have a mildly anxious parent trying to peep through some curtain somewhere to spy on us and see why it's taking us so long to come in." he deadpanned. Emily, who had gotten used to his style of humour, giggled at the joke at his father's expense. She could not imagine Kenneth's dad, from all that she had gleaned from Kenneth about him, being anything but slightly too dignified to stoop to spying on them. He'd more likely storm out of the door and berate them for keeping an old man waiting.

One thing Kenneth's comment had done though was turn off the tension that had been ebbing, but only very slowly, from her body as he had tried to humour her out of her nervousness. She realized for the first time since he dropped the dinner bombshell on her that she was not going to be the only nervous person at the table. She supposed that to some extent, they were, all three of them, a bit nervous about this dinner. She drew a bracing breath and tapped Kenneth's hand a bit impatiently.

"Come on. Let's not give him a dislike of me before he's had an opportunity to meet me." She scolded mildly.

A wide smile lit on Kenneth's lips and he nodded and re-engaged the gears, sliding the car smoothly into its parking space and pressing the button that automatically locked the garage doors.

There was a pervasive sense of desperation in the air. Every movement, every breath taken, every glance was furtive.

The group of people huddled together in the room. All the curtains were pulled close and the door was locked. Every sign of movement outside the house caused varying degrees of nervous reactions in the room's occupants.

They were trying to take turns bathing and carrying out various household chores as quietly and unobtrusively as possible. Everyone's nerves were already shot to pieces and the last thing they needed was to draw undue attention from the authorities by any sort of outburst.

A little girl whimpered as quietly as she could while her mother tried to shush her as quietly as she could. Another woman lay beside her sleeping daughter, a little one of perhaps three years or so. She stared at her features with anguish drawn vividly on her face.

It had happened, the Rapture. Oh, she had known it would happen. They had all known it but why had they imagined there was yet time to...repent.

She was torn between shame and panic in extremes. She wondered who else had not made it. She mourned the missed opportunity and the certain knowledge that this could only end in one of two ways, her physical death or her spiritual death. She worried for her precious daughter. She was so young and wondered why she did not make it. She was ridden with guilt that she might have been responsible for this baby not making it. Tears stung her eyes and she wiped at it in surprise. She would have imagined that she was all cried out of tears but no, there apparently was still some more.

Suddenly, the door burst open from outside and a storm of soldiers and vigilante rushed into the room. The room which had been so somnolent a few moments before erupted with panicked noise and activity. There were screams, shouts and wails. There were flurries of frenzied movements as occupants of the room tried to escape but were apprehended and dragged to the centre of the room with brutal and often unnecessary force.

The woman kissed her baby daughter's forehead as she silently said her goodbyes to her, her heart breaking all over again for her. 'Father please save her! I did this to myself but what has she ever done God?! Have this one mercy God! Let her die peacefully Lord! Don't let them have her! Please Jesus!'

There was a shout as one of the rounded up occupants of the room made a dash for the front door. He did not get very far. The burst of machine guns echoed in the room for a few seconds and when the yelling and wailing quieted down, the man, he had been one of their pastors, lay dead in a pool of his own blood. But it was not just his body laying there dead, the woman held her little girl in her arms, rocking her gently and humming a lullaby tearfully as the lifeblood bled out of her child. The little girl did not get the chance to wake from her sleep before her breath stilled in death.

The charges against them were called out. The woman looked around the faces in the room as she listened to the charges. They had been accused of 'hoarding', she was not even sure what that meant, and helping treasonable offenders. It was a joke but it was too incredible to laugh at. They had committed 'treasonable offences'? These people were some of the least treasonable people she had known all her life.

It was in the haziness of a daze that they were all loaded up in vans and transported away to destinations unknown.

She was led into a hall and as she watched, a woman stood before a man seated on a chair that had been so extravagantly built that it looked like a throne.

The accused was pleading her cause and as the woman got closer, she heard what was being said.

"I have denied him! I am no longer one of them!" the woman pleaded piteously.

"What of your daughter? You had her with you before. What has happened to her? What did you do with her?" A man who stood beside the one seated on the throne seat asked in mocking accents.

The woman was silent for a long moment and then she began to plead again. "But I have taken up your ways! I am no longer..."

"Kill her." Came the quiet instructions from the man seated on the throne-like seat. It was so quietly said that at first, the impact of his terse command did not make sense but oh when it did! A surge of horror such as she had never known went through her being as the man beside the seat called out.

"Heart and then vertical."

The staccato of machine guns rang out with a short bark. The accused lurched as the bullets hit her, her face a tangle of disbelief, worry and terror. Then she began to sink to the ground as if in slow motion, the man beside the throne like seat mockingly moving his hands jerkily like he was a puppeteer as she slumped to the ground in silent agony. There was another sharp report of the dreaded guns, a bit longer this time.

When the woman, who had jerked her eyes shut at the burst of shooting, opened them, she saw that the accused had curled into a fetal position and that her back, along the length of her spine, was punctuated with bullet holes where the bullets had met their mark. She was dead. The woman felt her head swoon with the horror of her day. 'Thank you Jesus for sparing my daughter. Please pity me and show me mercy'.

Alero jerked awake. It had been a dream! She began to sigh in relief but hiccupped into tears. It had seemed so real.

'Oh God! Show mercy to me!' Her heart echoed the cry of the woman.

She looked toward her window and saw through the slit in the curtain that it was bright outside. That meant she had overslept but she could not seem to work up the energy to get up from her bed. She contemplated calling in sick but felt her very soul shudder its rejection of the idea.

It had been a wake-up call. That dream! She needed an overhaul of her priorities.

'Oh Lord, Mercy I pray You!'

Her mind was still clinging to the terror of her dream.
CHAPTER 24

Banjo stared at his phone in confusion as the call was dropped for the fifth time that morning. He held out the cell phone as if to better peer at its screen or as if he could decipher by looking at it again, why Alero had not picked any of his calls that day or even deigned to return them.

He picked up the phone on his desk and began to dial out the number for her desk phone at work. He usually would not call her desk phone except he had some official issue or the pretext of it to discuss with her but desperation was eating away slowly at him. It was odd for Alero to not pick multiple calls and then to not return them hours after.

Her desk phone began to ring and after it had rang awhile without her answering he started to settle the receiver back into its cradle when he heard the click of the call connecting. He snatched the receiver back up to his ear.

"Hello? Alero?" he said sharply into the phone. There was no immediate response and he began to wonder if the call had really connected when he heard a subdued response.

"Hey Banjo. Yes it's me."

His worry and upset mood erupted at the quiet response.

"Great God! You had me worried! Why haven't you been picking your calls?!" he fairly bellowed into the receiver.

He fathomed that he could see her cringe at his tone but he had past caring at about the third call of the morning.

"Alero? Are you still there?"

"Yes, I am." was her even quieter response.

"Is everything alright?" he asked as worry began to sneak back in on him.

He heard her sigh over the phone. "I suppose so." She answered.

Now the worry kicked into high gear for him. "What's wrong?" he asked as the ire in his voice was replaced by his re-burgeoning worry.

"I'm not sure I can explain it properly yet. I'm...still trying to sort...trying to figure stuff." She finished. Her voice sounded tense and stressed.

"Can we see this evening?" he asked worriedly.

"Okay." She acquiesced. For some reason, that worried him even more.

"Ally?"

"Yes?"

"Are you... take care of you alright? See you this evening."

She mumbled something he did not quite catch and the connection was abruptly cut. He looked at the receiver he was holding like it had committed some unforgivable offense and then made to slam it on its cradle but gentled his hand at the last minute to settle it quietly in its place.

He looked up to see his mother standing by the door to his office and watching him intently. He had not even noticed when she had slipped in. So intent had he been on his conversation with Alero.

"Is everything okay?" His mother inquired as she came up to his desk. At his blank stare, she continued. "I did knock but when you did not respond and I could hear you were agitated from the hallway...What's the matter?"

Banjo shook his head as if shaking off a fog on his brain. "I don't know. Something is up with Alero though."

"She didn't mention what was wrong?" his mother asked as she took a seat opposite him.

Banjo spread his hands to indicate his confusion. "She said as much but she did not mention anything in particular." His voice showed his angst so clearly.

Chief Mrs. Adeniran studied her son's features with a considering look on her face. "You really do like this girl. Are you falling for her?" she asked.

Banjo returned his mother's considering look. "It feels like it." He responded simply.

His mother reached across the desk to pat his hand. "Try not to worry so much. It should all work out well. Who knows, by evening, whatever had her worried might be all sorted out."

Banjo nodded as he shuffled some papers on his desk.

"Did you come to have a look at the projections we talked about?" he said going into business mode.

"No. Actually, I came to talk about something else entirely." His mother said as she adjusted herself on her seat.

"Oh?" Banjo asked with a bit of surprise.

"Yes!" His mother retorted.

"Mum?" Banjo prodded.

"What would you say if I told you that I wanted to hand over the reins of Adeniran Holdings to you?"

Banjo heard his harsh gasp leave his mouth. He stared at his mother in shock.

"Mum?! Are you okay?"

"Hold that thought!" his mother rebuked. "I am not ill and I do not have some midlife crisis thing going on. I just...I have been thinking about it for a while now. Yes, I am officially the CEO but the truth is you've been running this business for the last couple of years really. I just look over your shoulder." She cocked her head to one side as she studied the emotions rushing through her son's seemingly stoic face. She was his mother though and she knew what to see when she looked at him.

"You must have known that the day would come Banjo. It can't be this much of a shock to you." She chided.

Banjo sighed and rubbed a hand over his face as he leaned back on his seat.

"I guess I did. It still is surprising though." He answered quietly.

"So?" His mother asked.

Banjo gave a long look and then nodded. "Okay mum."

His mother beamed at him and stood from her seat, going around the desk with her arms outstretched to give him a hug. Banjo enveloped his mother in a hug of his own and they clung to each other for a heartfelt moment. After they had both settled back into their respective seats, she continued.

"As much as I am loath to admit it, your father would be so proud of you." She smiled wryly.

Banjo felt the lump in his throat as memories of his late father blazed through his mind.

"What are you going to do with yourself?" he asked his mother both out of concern for her and in a bid to cover up the depth of his surging emotions.

"I..." his mother began and then she smiled diffidently, almost like a shy teenager. She cleared her throat and seemed to get some grip on herself before she continued.

"I would love to...I want to donate some of my time, more of my time...to charity." She finished.

Banjo who had been nodding along with her meandering talk finally hung his head in surprise.

"What?!" his mother exclaimed in exaggerated affront. "I have been donating more and more of my time to such matters if you had only but taken notice of it!"

Banjo inclined his head thoughtfully and then shook it.

"I can't say I have noticed." He commented and then looked closely again at his mother. "I have always admired your knowing of your own mind." He said.

"It's something that has been pressing on my mind for some time."

"Don't tell me you found religion and we didn't notice." Banjo said in a voice that was oddly mixed with chiding and alarm.

"What if I did?" His mother challenged and when Banjo held her stare with a hard one of his, she sighed.

"My son, my precious, precious boy now a man!" she smiled dreamily at him. "Perhaps, I have done you and your sister a great disservice. Maybe the time has come for me to tell you a bit more of what went on between your father and I."

"Are you saying that there was more to it than met the eye?" Banjo asked.

His mother sighed deeply again. "It's such a simple but then convoluted tale. I have wanted to bring it up especially in the last few years but I never knew how to tell it without making us seem foolish or villainous. We both made horrific and simply ridiculous mistakes, your father and I. Perhaps in the telling of it, I could learn to come to terms with it all. It has robbed me of my peace for long enough."

There was a knock on his door as one of the managers poked his head around the door and almost broke his neck snapping it back swiftly on sighting mother and son together.

"Mr. Bams!" Banjo called out. The destabilized man answered from behind the door.

"Please wait. I'll be with you shortly." He instructed.

"Yes Sir." was the response as the door clicked shut.

Mrs. Adeniran stood up from her seat and smiled a small sad looking smile at her son.

"Come for dinner soon." She cajoled. "There's a lot we should talk about before you step into your new role."

Banjo stood to walk her to the door. "Certainly mum, certainly." He said and as he held the door open for her, he continued with a small smile of his own. "Enjoy your day."

"You too." She said as she stepped smartly into the corridor waving slightly at his very surprised secretary who was returning to her seat from the rest room just off to the side from her office.

He then motioned the stupefied Mr. Bams into his office and shut the door behind them.
CHAPTER 25

"When is Emily coming to visit me again?"

Kenneth smiled a small sly one at his father's casually asked question.

"She's a working woman Dad. She can't come visit you as often as that."

His father was quiet for a few moments as he tried to turn the page of his newspaper as nonchalantly as possible.

"She can come visit her future father-in-law though." He mumbled.

Kenneth laughed out loud at that one.

"Really Dad?!" he made his tone as incredulous as possible.

His dad looked up from his newspaper and threw him a sarcastic look that told him he was not impressed by his attempt at making fun of him.

Kenneth chuckled as he adjusted his tie and his grip on his suitcase.

"Not teasing now Dad, I'm glad you like her. I told you, you'd..."

"Like her. I know, I know!" His dad dropped the pretense of reading his newspaper. "I'm glad I was wrong." He admitted, making his son's eyes soften at him.

"Good." Kenneth said as he picked his suitcase off the dining table and began making his way out the door. "I'll tell her you're missing her." he called over his shoulder, the teasing lilt back in his voice. "She'll be very thrilled. She asks after you all the time now." He turned back in time to catch the thrilled smile on his father's lips before he could wipe it off. Kenneth chuckled once more.

"If...nah! Enjoy your day Dad." He shut the door behind him but not before he could hear his Dad trying to splutter some kind of come back. He chuckled once again.

Life felt really good. He settled into the plush back seat of one of his town cars as he exchanged a greeting with his driver and instructed him to head to the office.

As the car made its way through the gates, he pulled out his cell phone and typed out a quick message to Emily.

'Dad's missing you. If I were of a jealous bent, I would be really worried.'

He chuckled again as he put the phone on the seat beside him. It took just a few moments before a ping announced the arrival of a message.

'Considering that your dad is a whole lot more mature than you are, you should be worried! :-P'

Kenneth guffawed with laughter at that and typed out a response.

'Nah! You love me the way I am!' He clicked the send button.

It was just as the message was sent that he reviewed what he had typed out in his head and groaned. What had he been thinking of? Would she think he was fishing for a declaration of love? Was he? He blinked at his phone and there was no response. What was she thinking? What had he been thinking to send that? The phone pinged with a response and he grabbed at it eagerly like it held a miracle cure.

'Yeah! There is that.  Have a great day."

His breathe began to whoosh out of him in relief and then hitched as his brain kicked in again. Did she...? What did it her message mean? He sighed and tossed the phone on the seat and then picked it up again and replaced it in his jacket.

He would have to have a heart-to-heart with her soon. Till then, there was no use his killing himself or going slowly insane. They would talk and they would place all their cards on the table.

He blew out a breath and settled his suitcase on his knees. Pulling his laptop out of it, he booted it up. He may as well respond to some mails and send a few out himself. If he did not occupy his mind, he just might lose it before his day even started.

Alero woke up with a gasp. She looked around her wildly and then sighed worriedly. It was a dream, again. She threw off the covers from her body and made her way over to the bathroom. She sighed again as she sat on the toilet bowl. Her stomach was churning but she was not certain if it was dread or an actual call of nature so she just sat there with her shoulder slumped.

This time, she had dreamed that she was in some big compound with a building smack in the centre of it. She had been in that building for some reason that she could not now remember when chaos had descended. She was not even certain how it had all began but when next she had looked out the building, large crowds of people had gather and were waiting for some kind of coronation or inauguration thing. She had known that she had wanted no part of it instinctually and when she looked around her, some men dressed in military camouflage were forcing people around her to join the crowd waiting outside. She had taken off running from one exit to another, looking for one that was not so heavily guarded that she could escape through.

Finally, she had opened one that had miraculously been unguarded. As she burst through the door, she began to fathom why it had been unguarded. It was like stepping into a fairy tale world. There were all sorts of playground instruments artistically arranged all around the large plot. Large bouncy castles and slides with what looked like fairy lights were all over the place. On another day when matters were not so pressing, she would have stopped to gawk and exclaim over the place. It would have been any child's idea of paradise, but she was too panicked to properly appreciate the beauty and artistry of the place. The chant in her head was, 'Get out! Get out! Get out!'

She ran around the playground and caught sight of the main gate into the compound and began pounding towards it. There were shouts by some people standing around and she responded that she had to pick something real quick and that the event was about to start so they should hurry on. Gratefully, they believed her and went on towards the crowd leaving her free to hightail it towards the gate. As she approached, a guard stood to block the gate but emboldened by her previous success in evading detection, she motioned to him to move away panting that she had to pick something very critical to the success of the event. On hearing her panted out words, the guard moved away and threw the gate open for her. As she surged through the gates, she took in a huge gulp of air in relief and kept running. She was safe had been her thought as she ran, but for how long?

Alero shook her head as the memory of the dream receded making her aware of her present state, hunched over the toilet bowl with her stomach releasing its content in a watery rush of diarrhea.

She heard her phone chime the tune she had set for her alarm. It was time to get dressed for work anyway. She leaned back against the toilet cistern and placed a hand on her forehead. It was sweaty and felt slightly sticky. She felt vaguely ill and wondered if she had been working too hard lately. She had been having these dreams every night this week and by morning, she would be so sapped of strength that all she wanted to do was crawl back into bed and pull the covers over her but she had not, not even once. She sighed again. Maybe she needed a break from work. She shook her head. She'd go a little crazy without the distraction of work especially if the dreams continued. Deep in her spirit, she felt she knew that they were not mere symptoms of stress. She had lived through more stressful periods at work before. Truth be told, she thrived on stressful situations at work. They pushed her to produce her best work.

"Ally?!" She heard Gbemi call from her bedroom door.

"Yes Gbemi." She answered tiredly. She heard the door push open and click shut.

"Where are you?"

"In the loo." She answered. Gbemi soon appeared at the connecting door.

"Good morning." She greeted with a sleepy smile.

"Good morning. What are you doing up so early" Alero asked her. "You are supposed to sleep in. You're on holiday." She chided as she rolled up some tissue to clean herself up.

"It's when we usually wake in school. I guess my body has adjusted to it." Gbemi responded as she sat on the edge of the bathtub.

Alero stood up and flushed the toilet then made her way to the sink to begin her morning routine. When she had washed her hands and pressed some paste on her toothbrush, she turned to Gbemi and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Are you and Banjo Adeniran really like dating?" her sister asked.

Alero sighed and continued brushing her teeth. She took the time to think about her response. By the time she finished brushing her teeth, she still had not figured out an answer to that question.

"I don't know." She answered.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Gbemi asked in consternation. "You either are or you are not."

"It's not as straight forward as that." Ally shrugged getting testy.

Gbemi thought for awhile and then asked again. "Do you...Does Banjo think you guys are dating? Does he act like it?"

Alero looked at her baby sister in surprise. The question was not something she would have imagined her asking but she supposed that she should not be so surprised. At sixteen, the triplets were not really babies anymore.

Alero sat beside her and blew out a long breathe.

"A week ago, I would have said, yes, yes we're dating. But now, I don't know." Alero explained.

"Why? What happened between then and now?" Gbemi asked.

"It's...I don't know! I have been having these really weird dreams and I feel they are a warning of some sort."

"What are the dreams about? Do you see Banjo in them?"

"No." Alero shook her head and tried to gather her thoughts. "I see things...like the world is ending, like the rapture has taken place and I'm still here." She turned to look at Gbemi and saw that her sister was staring at her with something akin to horror on her face.

"Do you think it is a vision?" she asked in a stilting voice that betrayed her alarm.

"I don't know but I have hardly slept a night this week without dreaming one thing or the other?"

"Have they all been about rapture? Gbemi asked and when Alero nodded, "All of them?" Again Alero nodded. This time it was Gbemi that sighed.

"So what has this got to do with Banjo and you?" she asked.

"I...I don't know. I think I need some space. From everything. I need to think. And pray. You know, some soul searching. Reorder my priorities." She looked at Gbemi as if seeking for some understanding of herself in her sister's suddenly wise eyes.

"Are you scared?" Gbemi asked.

Alero shrugged. "About what?"

"You know...entering into Banjo's world. The Adenirans...that's a whole different stratosphere than the one the rest of us live in."

Alero was silent for a while. "You know, I never really thought of that. I guess it's just been about me and Banjo for now so I did not..." she stopped abruptly and then shook her head.

"No. Our relationship...I...We haven't really progressed that far."

Gbemi eyed her doubtfully. "Those pictures did not say that." She quipped.

"How did you guys see those pictures in school?" Alero asked in angst.

"Ah ah! Sis, internet functions in our school too o!"

"How did you access it? I thought mobile phones are prohibited at your school."

"Ehn! Doesn't mean some people won't sneak it in though." Gbemi responded snidely.

"Hah! Secondary school has changed o!" Alero commented dryly.

"Not true! Didn't you guys sneak in contrabands during your own time?"

"Not mobile phones!"

"But then how many people had mobile phones when you were in school?"

Alero shook her head and conceded that point to her.

"You've changed the topic." Gbemi commented quietly with a wry smile. She got off the edge on which she had been sitting. "It's getting light out so I guess I've delayed you enough." She made her way out but turned back to her at the last moment.

"You know that God does not intend for your life to be joyless just because you're serving Him?" she asked her sister. Alero nodded, an amused smile playing on her lips even as her ears perked and her eyes went keen.

"Good. Just bear that in mind whatever you decide." She slipped out the door and shut it softly behind her.

Alero shook her head with thee smile still on her lips. 'The young do indeed grow.' She thought as she continued getting ready for work.
CHAPTER 26

Banjo watched as the dishes were cleared away, his dinner table conversation with his mother stalling as they waited for the domestic staff to finish their work. He could sense his mother's impatience and knew that in another time, in another place she would have dismissed them all and cleared her dishes herself. Patricia had not joined them for the meal. Apparently she had gone out for a night of entertainment with friends.

Finally, the dining room was blessedly empty of everyone but his mother and himself and suddenly he felt nervousness creep on him. It was not that he had not been off-kilter all week. What with Alero acting all weirdly and cancelling every single date he had tried to set up and he being so swamped with work that he had been unable to charge over to her place and demand answers.

His mother took a sip of water from her glass and set it on the table with a quietly definitive thump.

"For years, I have wondered what and how I would say what I have to say when we would eventually have this conversation."

Banjo remained silent stealing surreptitious glances at his mother. He could not have explained why he was suddenly so nervous.

"You father and I...we met when we were at university. I was a member of the SU group on campus." At Banjo's questioning quirk, she explained "Scripture Union. It is a Christian group." Banjo's eyes widen a little in surprise. It was not that he did not know that his mother was a born-again Christian, she just have never seemed to be pushy about it. She was not the sort that was in church every day of the week. He knew she was somewhat active in her church, but she had never imposed attendance on them children.

"Isn't it a rather radical group? I seem to remember jokes about no earrings or make up and such." Banjo commented.

His mother nodded and drew in breathe to continue her story.

"Your father was THE big boy on campus then." She smiled at some memory in her head.

"I was surprised when he began to show an interest in me...it started with the little things. He'd borrow my notes since we had some classes together. He'll ask me about some assignment or the other, things like that.

Soon, he'd show up at my room or waylay me on my way from church or fellowship to ask ostensibly for some school related thing. People, my brethren from fellowship, my roommates, my friends...everyone had one question on their lips concerning us, where we an item or not?" That odd smile touched her lips again.

"I fell for him." the smile widened. "Oh, I wouldn't have admitted it to myself at that point. How could I, born-again spirit filled Christian that I was, fall in love with the party boy?" she scoffed at herself and then turned a teary nostalgic gaze on her son. "But I was." she sighed.

"Oh I prayed! How I prayed that the feeling would go away but no, it didn't. It just stayed there, refusing to budge. Then your father surprised me one day by telling me that he liked me." She laughed out really loudly at that. "To say that I was shocked would be an understatement! If had been at all prone to fainting, I would have fainted dead away that day." She shook her head. "But he asked me out and we began to court, as we called it those days. He would buy me the most outrageous gifts and it wasn't long before people began to talk. First, it was my brethren at the SU fellowship. There was all manner of talk that I had compromised my faith, I was no longer standing in the Word, I had been seduced by worldliness and riches... there was no end to it.

Slowly, but surely I began to pull away from church activities, from friends, from everyone basically. It was class and hostel and Keji. I was tired, tired of fighting, tired of defending us so I just stopped. I'm not sure it was a conscious thing, it was just reflex.

We both graduated within a year of each other and after youth service, we both planned our wedding. Our parents were supportive, especially his much to my surprise. I had thought being as wealthy as they were, they would have reservations about their son marrying from a middle class family.

We were married in this huge society do and things went on well for a while you know. It was really good. Keji had always been a party boy. By then I had all but dropped all extracurricular activities. It was all about Keji and our young family for me. He allowed me slow him down for a while but then...ah! Bola and the rest of the crew would not allow it. They'd turn up at our place with girlfriends and what not and it'd be an impromptu party, all night long. It was exhausting. There I was, a young wife thrust into a social status higher than she was used to and not really knowing her left from her right and with a young baby! And they were having all night parties at her house.

Keji would explain and ask me to bear with him. He'd assure me that things would slow down in a while. That his friends just needed a little time for it to all sink in that he was married. But it went on, even till after I had Patricia. It wasn't long after her birth that I realized that we were bickering at each other frequently.

He must have complained to Bola, he was closest to him. And one day, I walked in on him and Bola having words. I had never seen or heard both of them fight till that day and I was so surprised that I stopped by the threshold. I did not mean to eavesdrop but there was no way I could have escaped their conversation at the decibel they were shouting at.

Bola called me a 'hoity-toity stuck up prude who thought that she was the only Christian there was.'" She laughed bitterly at that.

"Anyway, that argument marked the beginning of everything falling apart. Your dad began to keep late nights. I'm ashamed to say I retaliated by getting more involved in Church activities. I was in every group that I could join in church. If one had asked me then, I would have said that I had rediscovered my faith. But it's been long enough now for me to understand what it was. I was acting out. Oh, I hadn't stopped loving God or serving Him, He...I had just placed Him second after Keji. Even starting back church activities had been about Keji and not about Him.

It backfired spectacularly. Keji got upset. He felt I was punishing him for having a life that did not start and end with me. And you know, after all these years, I've come to wonder if he hadn't been right. He began to stay out really late. Sometimes he wouldn't be home for days on end and then when he did come home, it would seem that he had hardly settled down before he was off some place.

We were at an impasse and we were both to indignant at each other to make the first move to break it.

Bola...Bola called at our house one day. I hadn't seen him in a while at that point and was surprised to have him call. He said he wanted to talk to me but I guess I was so bitter against him and Keji and all their friends at that point that it quickly deteriorated to an argument.

He told me off! He told me that I had single handedly taken the love that Keji had for me and killed it over nothing. He told me about the girls, the other women, that I was not woman enough to handle his friend and that I had turned Keji into something that he was not.

It hurt! My Keji and other women! Me, suddenly not woman enough for Keji! I froze." She rubbed her chest like it hurt. "Something died in me that day, something critical...essential."

She looked at Banjo. "Our marriage collapsed that day. It had been well on the way to collapse before then but that was the day it fell over completely. I broke and I refused to be put back together. It took the Lord to call me out on it one day.

I had been praying...desultorily like I used to at that time and I heard God clearly confront me on my relationship with my husband. We had words, God and I! He accused me and He was right, of acting the child and sulking. I pointed out that Keji had not acted any better and He pointed out that I was the one who was His daughter and that perhaps if I had set a better example, Keji would have had a visual picture of what Christianity was all about. I was heartbroken. I had lost my husband and I had lost my witness. I cried and cried in those days. I also began to pray earnestly again. I prayed for Keji and I. I prayed for you and your sister. I prayed about everything. I prayed. And it was working you know. Keji began to stay at home more than before. It wasn't much more but at least it was better. We began to talk to each other again, make plans, and talk about you and your sister, life, family, friends. I began to pray about ways to...an opportunity to witness to him.

Things were almost as good as it had been at the start.

I will never forget that day, the day..." she broke down in tears. Banjo got up and went round to her. He lifted her body that had become limp with grief and led her to a more comfortable seat on the sofa and then sat beside her.

"It's okay Mum. I understand."

She shook her head vehemently. "I never got to talk to him about God and salvation." She sobbed.

Banjo sighed. "He changed a lot." He said quietly. "Those last few years," His mother looked up at him with tearstained cheeks. "He became more the father I had always wanted him to be." He rubbed a soothing hand on his mother's back. "I think...it turned out okay somewhat."

"Somewhat? I need to know that I'll see him in Heaven when I get there. These days, I understand what it means when Paul spoke of his joy being complete. I want my joy to be complete. I really want to open my eyes in eternity and see your father there, with me, in Heaven." She sobbed.

Banjo was quiet not knowing how to console her. He just held her in his arms as she cried. When she had cried all she could, she sniffled and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her dress. That was so out of character for his mum that it had Banjo's eyebrows shooting up again.

"What happened with Alero?" she asked suddenly changing topic lanes.

"Alero?" Banjo asked in surprise. Then he sighed. "I don't know Mum. She has been...avoiding me? I can't deal!" He shook his head. "I think I'll swing by her place tonight. It's not too late yet and besides I'm getting desperate."

His mother patted his hand. "I keep you in my prayers. It'll work out alright." she soothed.

Banjo marveled again at this iconic woman who had given birth to him. Today, he had seen vulnerability that she did not let many see these days. He felt that he knew her better than he had ever known her before because of it.

"I really wish I could stay longer Mum but if I hope to stop by Alero's tonight, I have to leave now." He explained as he carefully extricated himself from their embrace. "Will you be okay?"

His mother nodded. "Yes dear. I will. Go talk to Alero and keep me posted."

"Yes ma'am." Banjo saluted smartly and then smiled. "I love you Mum." He said.

She nodded again. "I love you too my darling. Will you think on all I've said today?" she asked somewhat tremulously.

"That I will do. Thanks for telling me Mum. I don't love you or Dad less for it." Banjo said.

Chief Mrs. Adeniran smiled. "That is such a relief." She said and Banjo kissed her cheeks before taking his leave of her with a promise to call once he got home.
CHAPTER 27

It was a lot to think about. Banjo drove a little distractedly to Alero's house. He was a little surprised when he found himself pulling up at her gate.

He contemplated the option of calling her on her cell phone and inviting her to meet him outside and going up to knock on their gate. He pulled out his cell phone and punched in her digits.

"Hey Banjo..." she picked up on the third or fourth ring.

"I'm outside your gate. Are you coming out or do I come in?"

There was no response from her for a few moments and then she answered rather breathily.

"I'll be out soon." The line went dead in his ear and Banjo felt a spike of annoyance at that. A less disturbed part of his mind argued that he was being unreasonable. She would need to drop the call in order to come out and meet him right?

A few minutes later, the sound of the gate being unlocked drew him out of his thoughts. He watched through the rear view mirror as Alero stepped out into the street and made her way towards his parked car. He studied her face and her body language almost subconsciously, looking for signs of what going on with her. She looked worried, maybe even a bit distraught and Banjo felt his unease ratchet up a notch. She pulled at the passenger door and Banjo released the locks to let her in.

"Hey! She plastered what was patently a fake smile on her face. Banjo said nothing in response to her strained cheer. He just continued to watch her as she settled herself in comfortably. When she turned a curious glance to him, he asked her.

"Care to go for a ride?"

She slowly shook her head as she considered his request. "I don't...think that's a good idea."

Banjo raised his eyebrow sardonically in question at her.

"I'm tired. I have had a rather rough week at work." She responded to his unspoken question.

"Oh?" Banjo queried, some of his belligerence leaking into his tone.

Alero eyed him slowly, taking in the nearly blank expression on his face, only the agitated tic just below his jaw line revealed that he was not as relaxed as he looked.

"What's th...are you mad at me?" she asked quietly.

"Should I be?" Banjo retorted back.

"Is...If there's something wrong, I'd appreciate if you'd just say what's on your mind. What's with all the passive aggression?" Alero snapped.

"Are you avoiding me?" Banjo asked, his question taking the wind out of Alero's sail. She shifted uneasily on her seat telling Banjo more than words could that she had been avoiding him. Now he wanted to know why.

"What's wrong Alero? Why are we doing this back and forth dance? I thought we had passed this."

Alero seemed to cringe as he spoke and Banjo felt his air becoming thinner and thinner.

"Alero?"

"Banjo it's..." her voice came out as a barely there whisper. "I don't even know how to begin explaining this to you. I'...I've...I don't think I've fully processed it myself."

"What's the matter? Is your boss being difficult about our relationship?"

Alero turned to him in surprise. "Mr. Wanigo? No! Why...he was a little concerned but that's not it." She responded and then slumped despondently on her seat.

"Banjo," she started turning in her seat to face him more fully. "I am Christian."

Banjo looked at her oddly for a few minutes and when he realized that she was expecting some comment from him, he responded. "So am I."

"Yes but I AM A CHRISTIAN. I am...a born again Christian." She tried again.

"Okay? What's the...are you going somewhere with all this?" Banjo asked as a tension headache started to split his head.

"Yes I guess I am." Alero sighed as she turned to look out the windscreen. "I have been drifting for awhile now though."

"Drifting how?" Banjo asked still not following her conversational trend this evening.

Alero shrugged her shoulders. "I've been bogged down with stuff. Work, friends, Career! I haven't really paid as much attention as I should to my faith." She turned to him again. "I think I got a wake-up call. I need to sort my head out."

Banjo sighed in part relief and part exasperation. At least they were talking. They should have done this talking all week if she had not dodged him at every turn.

"How far along with that are you? Making headway?" he asked as he settled more comfortably into his seat.

Alero shrugged again and smiled wryly. She looked out the side window this time, seemingly gathering her thoughts.

"What do you need to do? Do you need to do some meditation stuff or a retreat?"

She laughed out at that. It was not a really amused laugh. She turned to look at him again.

"Maybe, I need to take a break from everything for a while, until my head is sorted out." She said gently.

"Ah mehn! Ally this is...wow! It would have been such a great opportunity for us to go away together, but I can't right now. Work is crazy and guess what?"

Alero quirked a surprised eyebrow at him.

"Mum is going to hand over the Executive position to me soon!" he said animatedly.

"Wow!" Alero said, pleasantly surprised at his news. "Wow! That's such a...congratulations!"

Banjo pulled her in for a hug. She went in willingly enough but he could sense the hesitancy she tried to cover up. Just like that his feeling of unease was back. He pulled away and looked closely at her face.

"You're acting spooked Alero. What's the matter?"

"Banjo I need some time away from everything including you." Alero blurted out.

Banjo drew a sharp breathe that whooshed out of his lungs as fast as he drew it in. He felt a bit light headed as he slumped into his seat. Alero remained agitatedly upright on her seat watching his reaction and chewing on her lips.

"Banjo?" she called his name softly and flinched when Banjo flinched.

"Why?" Banjo asked, the conversation he had with his mother earlier replaying in bits in his head.

"I...I need some time..."

"Away from me. Why? Do I do something that interferes with your faith?" He looked at her suddenly and Alero felt the tears sting her eyes. He was furious!

"No Banjo."

"Have I pressured you in any way to do anything that you'd find distasteful to your conscience?" he fired.

"No Banjo." Alero answered shaking her head. "Banjo..."

"Ally what is this?" Banjo said slamming his hand on the steering wheel. The blare of the horn had both of them almost jumping out of their skin.

They were both silent after that, their stressed breathing the only thing that could be heard above the low hum of the well tuned engine that had been running silently in the background.

"You know what? Take your break Ally." Banjo looked at her fully in the face. "But before you do, let me just tell you a few things."

"I love you Ally. I love you." Alero gasped but Banjo prowled on. "I hope that you'll sort whatever it is that's going on with you right now and still see a way for both of us to be together." He seemed to lose some steam after that and searched around for words to convey what he was feeling. He shook his head sadly.

"I understand how important faith must be to you. My mum has struggled with that for a while. I've only, just this evening, began to understand the depth of some of that struggle. I just don't see why that precludes our being a couple. I believe in God too. I believe that Jesus did come to die for all our sins. I grew up in a Christian household! I don't think that you..." Suddenly he sighed. "You know what? Take your time." He shifted the gears into drive and looked at her pointedly.

Alero placed one hand on the door while looking at him. "Banjo, just a little time." She pleaded.

"You know what I think it is?!" Banjo shouted making Alero jerk back towards the door. "You're scared! You're scared to let this love happen to you! You're scrambling for reasons to not even try! You're... Get down from...Ally just...go! Take your time! I'm tired!" When Alero made no move to get out of the car he repeated himself, his cracking voice exposing the depth of his emotion.

Alero got out of his car, tears streaming down her face as she turned to shut the door.

"I'm not scared to love you." She said in her own emotional voice. Banjo scoffed and refused to so much as even glance her way.

"Good night Alero. Please shut the door." He said quietly still not looking at her. Alero hiccupped on a sob and banged the door shut. She ran away from the car like there were hounds chasing her but even as fast as she ran, it seemed to her that Banjo sped off faster. She collapsed on the ground once she was inside the compound crying like her heart had shattered.

It felt like it too. Surely doing the right thing should not hurt so much. What was the right thing? Suddenly, she was not so sure of this road she had taken.
CHAPTER 28

Emily gasped as she caught sight of the newspaper headline screaming red at her from the front page of one of the dailies.

HEIR TO ADENIRAN HOLDINGS IN GHASTLY MOTOR ACCIDENT!!! In critical condition at undisclosed hospital.

She was jolted back to herself by the blare of horns around her as traffic moved on and she did not. She quickly engaged her gears and drove the rest of the way to the office, her mind in turmoil of questions.

As soon as she got into the building, she headed straight to her dad's office, forgetting her manners and opening the door without knocking.

"Dad! Have you seen the headlines?!" she asked. Her father looked up from a newspaper that was spread out in front of him.

Emily hurried to his desk and snatched the papers up. She scanned the news story and almost groaned in frustration at how scanty the details were.

"What could have happened? Have you been able to reach his mum?" She asked worriedly.

Her father eyed her wryly. "You say that like you really think she'd speak to me even if I had her number to call."

Emily huffed in irritation. She could not understand the lingering nastiness between her father and Banjo's mum after so many years. One would think that after all that time and the fact that the Adenirans did reconcile before Uncle Keji passed on, the bad blood between them would have abated.

She pulled out her cell phone to call Patricia and saw that another call was coming in. Kenneth's.

"Hello." She answered before the first ring was out.

"Hey! That means you've seen the dailies." Kenneth said his voice laced with concern.

"We are looking at it right now." Emily choked on a sob that caught her by surprise.

"Emily, I am sure he'll be alright." Kenneth soothed.

"How?!" Emily wailed, surprised at how strongly she was reacting to this news.

"Em, do you need me to come over?" Kenneth asked. Emily sighed.

"You must be busy and..."

"Not so busy that I can't come round to see you now. I can move things around you know. I'm the boss." He joked mildly. Emily felt a smile touch her lips and marveled that in the midst of her turbulent emotions, this man could wring out a smile from her like by magic.

"Okay. If it won't be too much of a bother, I'd like to find out what's going on." She said.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. An hour tops." He said.

"Alright." Emily answered suddenly less apprehensive than she had been when she had pulled out her cell phone.

"Stay calm darling, alright? I'll be there soon." He said and the phone clicked off.

A small smile still played around Emily's lips as she scrolled through her contacts for Patricia's number.

"Darling?" her father asked in mild tones. Emily jerked in surprise as she realized that her phone had been on speaker. She looked up at her father and quickly bent her head back to her cell phone.

She shrugged her shoulders delicately.

"Is there something that you need to tell me?" Her father persisted.

"Dad! I'm a grown woman. I think I can choose who to date or not." She answered matching her father's tone.

"I have not said you're not grown. I just asked if there was something you ought to have told me about."

Emily sighed. "Dad, Kenneth and I are seeing each other. No, I didn't tell you but it wasn't a conscious decision not to. It just didn't come up." She finished and pierced her father with a steady look which he returned for a few long moments, searching her eyes for something. Abruptly, he nodded his head and turned to the papers on his desk. After shuffling a few he dropped them and folded his fingers into a steeple.

"I hope that you know that I would never stand in the way of your happiness. Never." He said feelingly as he pierced her with an earnest look.

Emily looked at him, surprised at his earnestness as well as his words.

"I know that Dad." She answered quietly, trying to communicate her trust and belief without saying the words. He smiled at her and nodded.

"Keep me posted on Banjo's condition. Perhaps, I'll try to get a hold of Abike. She must be distraught." He said soberly.

Emily nodded as she gathered up her things and made her way to the front lobby. She knew that she was in no frame of mind to work so she did not bother with her office. Her secretary, whom she shared with another lawyer in the chambers, on sighting her made her way over to enquire if everything was alright. Emily nodded listlessly and instructed her to reschedule her appointments for the day and where not possible see if there was one of the junior lawyers that could hold brief in her absence. Her secretary nodded and went away to see what she could do leaving Emily alone with her thoughts as she waited for Kenneth to show up.

She smiled again at the memory of the concern in his voice when he had called earlier. Her smile quickly cleared up though when another lawyer walked in with a newspaper in his hand and the headline peeping through with the name 'Adeniran' emboldened on it. They exchanged polite greetings and the man went on to his office.

Emily began to fidget on her seat as she thought of what must be happening at the Adeniran's household. She pulled out her cell phone again and scrolled to Patricia number. She pressed the call button and listened as the phone rang and rang out. There was no response after several more attempts. She was beginning to think that she might have to take a cab over when she saw one of Kenneth's cars pull up right in front of the glass entrance door and he jumped out of the vehicle. She quickly got up and walked briskly towards him, relief flooding her system at the sight of him.

Yeah! She was in love with this man. And if she was not mistaken, he was, if not in love with her, then well on his way too. The knowledge of this brought a radiant smile to her lips.

"Thank goodness you're here!" she beamed at him as they met each other at the door. Kenneth pulled her into a hug that enveloped every part of her body and every fiber of her being.

"How are you holding up?" he asked as he deposited a small kiss on her forehead uncaring of who was watching them. It was a small kiss but it made Emily melt all over.

"Much better now that you're here." She responded truthfully.

"Come on let's head out. I was able to learn the location of the hospital." He said quietly as he pulled her with him towards the car where Victor stood waiting to hand her in. She smiled a greeting at him as he went round to the driver's side seeing as how his boss was fussing over her like she was a delicate flower.

Soon they were on their way, the car cutting through the busy traffic with befuddling ease.

"You know..."

"Emily..."

They both began at the same time. Kenneth motioned for her to speak first.

Emily smiled and shook her head in her amusement. "I was just thinking that it is ludicrous, you, rushing over to help me out with my ex's accident. I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to do once we get there."

Kenneth caressed the hand he had not let go of since he met her at the entrance to her office building, in soothing circles.

"I guess it's what men in love do." He said in his usual bald way but with a wry undertone to his comment.

Emily turned sharply to look at his face searchingly. She smiled at the truth she saw there.

"You do know I love you like crazy." She said her eyes and voice soft.

Kenneth responded with a wide smile, that handsome one that she liked so much and kissed her firmly on her lips. He then gathered her close as the car sped on to the hospital.

Alero sat despondently at her desk, staring unseeingly ahead of her. There was a knock on her door and Mrs. Ajala walked in quietly.

"Just a heads up. Mr. Wanigo is on his way in!" she whispered urgently. "John just stopped him to review something in the hall way. He should be in soon!"

Alero stared at her with a blank expression on her face. She had heard her clearly but her brain had refused to coordinate the rest of her body into the necessary action required.

Banjo? In an accident? In critical condition?

"Have you gotten Patricia?" she asked Mrs. Ajala in a cracked up voice. Mrs. Ajala nodded her head with eyes full of sympathy. Alero was too befuddled to wonder at the look in her eyes.

"What did she say?" Alero turned in her seat urgently.

"She says he's stable now. She seemed a bit harried so she said she'll call me back when things are calmer."

Alero deflated again and turned to stare at her screen saver blankly.

Mrs. Ajala quietly left the office. Several minutes later, another knock interrupted Alero's scattered thoughts and Mr. Wanigo walked into the office. Alero took a hold of her mouse and moved it around to awaken her screen. Her eyes were glassy and she could not for the life of her make out what drawing was on her screen.

Mr. Wanigo quietly took a seat in front of her desk and watched her silently for a few minutes.

"I thought you said he was just an acquaintance." He said quietly.

Alero sniffled as she tried to blink away the moisture from her glassy eyes.

"Alero?"

She turned her face tiredly towards him not responding otherwise to his comment.

"Go home. Or wherever it is you need to go now to get yourself together. Once you feel able, return to work. In the interim, I'm pulling you from the Adeniran Holdings project." He plowed on in spite of her sharp intake of air. "I will not tolerate a conflict of interest in one of our biggest contracts ever!" he reprimanded.

Alero drew in her lower lips to hold in the sob that would otherwise have escaped.

"Alero, what is your relationship with this boy?" Mr. Wanigo gentled his voice from his officious tone.

Alero sniffled nosily and shook her head.

"Apparently he is a lot more than a mere acquaintance. Tell me...was this before the contract or after?"

Alero shook her head wildly. "No Sir! He was just someone I knew before. It...later on, we...we were sor..we were dating."

"Were?" Mr. Wanigo cocked his head to the side.

"We had a row...last night." Alero broke down in tears. Mr. Wanigo sat stiff with discomfort as he allowed her cry and blubber into a hastily grabbed handkerchief.

"Tell you what Alero, it's Friday. Go on. Leave early today. Work all of this out and then come back on Monday fit to work." He said not unkindly. "If you find that you need a little more time, let me know." He finished and got up to leave the office. He nodded at her gently and shut the door on his way out leaving Alero in the same near catatonic state she had been in when he had first entered.
CHAPTER 29

Banjo woke up slowly, the indecipherable sounds becoming clearly spoken words from familiar voices. He recognized the voices speaking and from the conversation, gathered that he must have been in an accident. There was a flash of memory where he had been thrown against the dashboard of his car and had seemed to be in an upside down position?

He squeezed his eyes tighter as if doing so would bring the memory more sharply into focus. Instead he felt a twinge of pain all around his face. His eyes shot open and he took in the room around him.

"Mum?" he called out. His voice sounded like it had been put through a grinder which had spat it out in shards. It hurt too to speak. How badly had he hurt himself?

"Banjo!" his mother gasped. "Praise God! You're awake!" she exclaimed joyfully and then her face was over his as he lay on the bed. The suddenness with which she appeared made her face blurred for a moment before becoming clear.

"Mum, what happened?"

"You can't remember?" She asked, concern coloring her voice.

"I seem to remember the car flipping over and being thrown around the car."

"Thank God you weren't killed!" his mother exclaimed. "When I saw the car on my way here, I thought for sure that..." she bit off her words and clamped her hand to her mouth to stifle her sob.

"Thank God you are alive and not as badly hurt as we thought." His sister's voice sounded from the other side of the bed.

Banjo turned his head towards her grinding his teeth against the sharp pain.

"Don't move around so much!" his mother gasped. "The doctors are still checking for any internal injuries."

Banjo let his body sink deeper into the uncomfortable bed as he let go and let it all hit him whatever way it willed, pain, discomfort, tiredness...everything.

"How bad is it?" he asked in his cracked voice. Neither his mother nor his sister answered for a heartbeat but then Patricia asked him.

"How do you feel?"

"Battered." Banjo answered succinctly and then a thought occurred to him. "Did the papers get a hold of this?"

"You shouldn't exert yourself so much." His mother interjected. Banjo took that to mean that the public had been made aware of his accident.

"How long have I been out for?" he asked looking directly at Patricia.

"All morning. It's almost lunch time now." She answered checking her watch.

Banjo sighed. "Has Ally been...?"

There was a short rap on the door which then opened very slowly. Almost as if the person was frightened to open it fully. A head poked around and sighed in relief when she saw that his eyes were open.

"Thank God!" she said breathily as she came fully into the room.

To Banjo's surprise, his mother went to her and pulled her into a sobbing hug. 'Look at that!' he thought. 'Women are strange creatures.' And just like that, the memory of his and Alero's quarrel returned.

He turned agitatedly to Patricia who was watching the drama of his mother crying all over Emily with a curious expression on her face.

"Has Ally been here?" he asked her quietly. She turned sharply to him and eyed him with a baleful look. She shook her head in answer and turned her attention back to other pair in the room.

Banjo was silent for a second and then he ventured again. "Does she know where to find me? Where's my phone?"

"She tried to call me." Patricia said still keeping her eyes trained on the pair in front of them. Emily had managed to settle his mother down and was watching them with some curiosity as they whispered their conversation between themselves.

"And?" Banjo asked.

"You may not remember, but you called me at some point last night." Patricia started finally turning to look at him fully. "I'm tired of her treating you like...what?! Are you the first guy to like a girl? Why is she jerking your strings all over the place and..."

"Patricia! If you won't stop this right this minute, I will have you thrown out of this room!" her mother spoke authoritatively half rising from her seat with alarm all over her face.

Banjo sighed tiredly and turned away from Patricia who was glaring at him.

"Hello Emily." He greeted.

"I'm glad you weren't so badly hurt." She said as she came closer to the bed. "The pictures on the internet are worrisome."

"There are pictures of me on the internet?" Banjo asked in surprised alarm.

"No. Just of the car. It looked like you totaled it." She continued.

Mrs. Adeniran harrumphed her agreement and lifted her hands heavenward again in an expression of gratitude to God.

"I guess it's thanks to God that I'm alive." Banjo said. He felt a bit out of sorts with God. It seemed like He was out to get him all of a sudden.

"I hope that is not sarcasm I hear in your tone young man." His mother scolded and got to her feet.

"Come." She motioned to both Patricia including Emily in her hand motion. "Let's leave your brother to his rest. We give God thanks that he is alive and already recovering as far as I can see." She bent a stern look to him, reprimanding him still for his irreverent tone. "I'll go by the doctor's office and let him know you're awake. No unnecessary exertion! I'm sure I don't need to tell you that" she emphasized.

"Yes mum." Banjo answered cheekily.

His mother eyed him and looked at the IV line attached to him.

"You must be doped up pretty badly." She conjectured with her own sarcastic tone. She herded the ladies out of the room but popped back in almost immediately and dashed toward his bed. She held his hand gently as she reached his side.

"Father thank You for Banjo! Please accept our thanks in Jesus Name, Amen." She planted a kiss on his forehead and slipped back out the room.

Banjo stared bemusedly at the shut door as he tried to sort the events of the past few minutes in his mind. He felt a wave of gratitude as his gaze slid down his form as far as his eyes could go.

'I suppose I should feel grateful.' He thought. He just wanted to see Alero though.

'Does she know how to reach me?' he wondered. Why was Patricia being difficult? He wished he had had the presence of mind to enlist Emily's help. But how do you tell your ex to get a hold of your current? He sighed noisily and jerked to attention as his door opened again.

It was only the doctor and a nurse. 'Not Ally.' He thought disappointedly.

"It's great to see you awake, Mr. Adeniran." The doctor greeted jovially as he made his way to him and began to examine him while asking him questions and making notes in his chart and speaking to the nurse.

"You were really fortunate."

"Cut me some slack Doc!" Banjo said in an exasperated voice.

The doctor smiled at him. "That tone is very promising. Let's keep you for some observation. There's some swelling around your face and neck that's a bit worrisome. We'd like to be sure that it doesn't indicate some trauma that we've not been able to trace. Other than that, it's mostly bruises and scrapes." He gently patted Banjo's shoulder.

"Get some rest. You busy CEO types don't often do that." He nodded as he left the room.

The nurse adjusted his IV line and straightened a few odds and ends in the room before she left also, leaving Banjo with some very uncomfortable thoughts.
CHAPTER 30

Alero had been parked in front of the building in the ultra exclusive neighborhood for the better part of an hour. She blew out a shuddering sigh as she stared at the building again. If she had not double checked the address, she would have believed she was not at the right place. It did not really look like any health facility that she had ever been to with its landscaped grounds and contemporary architecture, but then, this was the Adenirans.

She had never really been this far into this part of the city. Even the air felt rarified, like she might have to take permission to breathe it in. She smiled wryly at the silliness of her thoughts but then the remembrance of why she was here at all wiped the smile off her face.

There was a tap on her window making Alero jump in surprise. A security guard stared at her with a frosty expression and motioned for her to wind down the glass to which Alero complied.

"Good day Madam. Are you waiting for someone?" he asked briskly.

"Ah...Ah..." Alero found herself stuttering as she floundered for an appropriate response. "I'm here to see someone." She finally settled on a response.

"Is the person meeting you out here?" the guard persisted.

"No. I...ah...I'll just find a place to park and go in." Alero was genuinely flustered. She contemplated driving off but her need to know how Banjo was doing held her in check. Patricia was still not picking her calls. In fact, when she had last tried to call her number, she had been informed by the network that the phone was switched off.

She slid her car smoothly into a marked parking space and turned off the engine. She slumped back on her seat as she was once again overtaken by the nerves she had wrestled so hard to bring under control. Sighing loudly again she got out of the car and began walking haltingly towards the main entrance of the building. She was almost clear of the car park area when the main doors opened and Mrs. Adeniran came through it with two young ladies, one on each side of her. A man followed behind them and they were all intent on whatever conversation they were having. Alero ducked back and leaned against a car, her head and heart suddenly pounding heavily. The sound of the piercing alarm jolted her already distressed system into overdrive and she yelped really loudly as she jumped away from the car. She took a peek at the entrance hoping that she had miraculously escaped the notice of the quartet that had been standing there. No. No such luck.

All four of them had turned to see what the alarm had been for and were currently looking at her with varying looks on their faces.

Mrs. Adeniran looked mildly surprise with something else less certain lurking behind her eyes.

Patricia's face looked blank at first glance but a closer look showed her disdain and the hurt that she was trying to mask with it.

The man looked at her with a small frown of inquiry.

The other girl, Banjo's ex looked at her with an expression that Alero recognized clearly from even this distance. Pity.

Alero's breathe hitched as she recognized that emotion and she turned and fled back the way she had come. If she had taken the time to look back, she might have seen the change her action had wrought on the various expressions.

Mrs. Adeniran's mildly surprised expression turned to confused alarm.

Patricia rolled her eyes and mumbled "Typical!" with such angst that Kenneth turned to look at her in surprise. In the short minutes he had spent with them, he would never have pegged Patricia for anything than sweet and quiet.

Emily breathing stuttered with her shock and she made to run after her but jerked to a stop and instead stared at her retreating form.

They all watched in silence as drove past them and out the gate.

They could not have known what it had cost her to make that drive with all of them watching. Alero cried all the way home, a fair hour's drive away. She supposed it was dumb luck that no traffic officer seemed to notice how distressed she was and pull her over. 'At least, I have some luck going for me still.' She thought as she parked in front of the gates to her father's house and got out to open it. She hoped her luck would extend to her not seeing anyone from here to her bedroom.

Her luck held.

Abike Adeniran watched her son slurp his meal hungrily. She knew the food tasted good even if she was the person saying so. She had prepared it herself when the doctor had given the all clear for him to eat something more substantial.

While her mother's heart rejoiced at all the signs that he had not managed to make himself permanently disabled in any way, she could not help but notice his restlessness and his malaise.

"Is that okay for you?" she asked conscientiously.

Banjo nodded as he cleared off the last of his meal. "That was really good Mum." He said as he swallowed down the last bit. "I haven't eaten something as good in a long while." He smiled as he wiped his mouth with a wet napkin that his mother had thrust at him.

Mrs. Adeniran smiled her satisfaction.

"How are things at the office?" he asked as he always did for the past three days he had been on admission.

"We are coasting along nicely Banjo." His mother chided. "I did run things there before you so stop! The company is not going to crumble if you take some time to recuperate." She huffed.

"I know mum. I just want to know what's going on. There are so many things that need tidying up..."

"If, God forbid you had died, wouldn't we have found a way to cope and move on?" His mother interrupted.

Banjo sighed as he leaned back against the head board of the bed. "I didn't die." He said simply.

"Praise be to God. Now rest." His mother commanded as she got up to pack up the dishes and utensils he had used for his lunch.

"Mum?" Banjo began. His mother turned an enquiring gaze to him. He sighed and shook his head. "It's nothing." He said on a shrug and adjusted the pillow to a more comfortable position.

Mrs. Adeniran quietly zipped up the bag with which she had packed lunch for her son and sat back down on her seat. She looked at her son as he rested. The doctors hoped he should be able to leave in a couple of days. The worrisome swelling around his head had reduced tremendously since that first grotesque day. Mrs. Adeniran closed her eyes as gratitude again coursed through her.

"Why hasn't Alero been here?" she ventured with a delicate lilt to her voice.

At first, she thought that he must have fallen asleep when he did not answer her.

He sighed long and hard.

"We fought." He answered simply almost belligerently.

Mrs. Adeniran adjusted herself in her seat and leaned closer to him.

"What about?"

Banjo sighed with exasperation. "I...Mum let's..." he fell silent as he shook his head repeatedly.

Mrs. Adeniran reclined in her seat and let the conversation stall. They stayed there in a rather tense silence for a few minutes.

"I told her I love her." Banjo whispered. His eyes opened and he seared his mother with an intensely hurt look before he turned his head to look out the window.

"I'd never said that to any woman." He shook his head depreciatingly. "I don't understand what happened! I could have sworn she...loved me...or at least liked me a lot." He sighed and flung his arms in exasperation. "This radio silence is killing me!" He turned back to his mum. "We left things hanging. Or I thought we did but now when she hasn't shown up? I wonder if I was the only one who thought that."

Mrs. Adeniran debated for a few moments within her and then came to a decision.

"She did show up." She told her son.

Banjo stared at her with a confused look. "She did?"

"That first day." Mrs. Adeniran nodded. "Though I am not sure I understand what happened. She was here. I thought she was coming to see you but then she took a look at us as we all came out of the hospital and...I guess she seemed really disturbed by something. She just ran back to her car and then drove off just like that." She turned her equally confused gaze on her son.

"What did you fight about?" she asked him again.

Banjo huffed out a laugh that was in no way amused.

"God." He answered.

His mother looked expectantly at him waiting for him to go on. Banjo returned her look.

"God what?" his mother asked.

"God. We fought about God." Banjo answered.

"I don't quite follow you." His mother said.

"I'm not sure I follow it myself." Banjo half joked.

"What do you mean, God?" Mrs. Adeniran asked.

"She said some inexplicable things about how our relationship and her faith where not aligning. Something about space and sorting her head out. You know what Mum? I'm just tired! How does that figure?!" he asked agitatedly.

Mrs. Adeniran sighed tiredly. "Were you pressuring her for sex?" she asked.

Banjo's look turned incredulous. "Mum!"

"Don't 'Mum!' me! You think I was born yesterday or that I don't know that you aren't unsullied?" She asked, her stern tone undermined by the mirth and relief in her eyes.

"We are not having a conversation about my sex life!" Banjo said stubbornly and with not a little embarrassment.

"Well, if you say so but I think I can explain some things to you."

Banjo turned an expectant look on his mother.

"She loves you too more likely than not. You are a bit...you're on a different trajectory spiritually than her perhaps and..."

"Let me summarize this. She's born again", he made quote signs in the air, "and I'm not by her definition."

His mother sighed out her agreement.

"Mum, I am a Christian. I may not like the way that some people who term themselves born again go about their born again ways but it doesn't mean I have rejected Christ. I just don't want to be associated with those people!"

"Me?" his mother queried mildly. "Because, I do term myself as 'born again'."

"I said some Mum." Banjo deadpanned.

His mother nodded. "I understand what you mean." She began with a small smile.

She was quiet for a short while as she gathered her thoughts.

"See, everyone has their own path that they must walk. Everyone's is different." She breathed in deeply.

"Some folks, they take off their jewelry and leave themselves looking unkempt but there's nowhere in the scripture where it is said that that is expected of them, but it is how they want to lock in on God. And then some withdraw from the world and modernity in the fear that it would corrupt their walk with God and they take it to such extremes that it seems that they've disengaged from life itself. Different strokes for different folks I guess." She turned wise eyes to her son.

"She probably is having a bit of a crisis of faith. I'm not sure what might have brought that on," she gaze became skeptical on her son as she said that while Banjo rolled his eyes at her "but give it some time. If it's meant to be, it will all work itself out. In the meantime, you may take the opportunity to do some soul searching yourself. See if you are still in good standing with God." His mother shrugged her shoulders delicately at him.

Banjo remained silent with introspection.
CHAPTER 31

Alero heard the door to her room swing open and click shut. She heard the tread of determined footsteps that marched right up to her bed. She felt the dip of the mattress as the intruder took a seat uninvited. Then there was the silence of waiting. There was the itch of a determined stare of someone who would not be ignored and the scent of lilies.

The sound of the door opening again had Alero whipping her head around, all effort at ignoring her mother's intrusion forgotten. Today, she was apparently bringing out the big guns. Her dad walked into her room, a heartwarming mix of caution and concern on his care-worn face.

"Your mum is concerned that we might need to get you to a therapist." He said with a smile.

Alero could not help the answering chuckle. Her father so rarely allowed his humour through that it was always a pleasant offering when he did let it loose.

She shook her head to refute her need of a therapist. The mattress dipped again as he took a seat beside her mum on the bed.

"Are you coming out of hibernation yet?" he asked.

A smile touched Alero's lips again. She opened her mouth to respond and found she had to clear her throat and that her voice had cracked from the disuse of the last few days.

"Were you sacked from work?" her mother asked.

"No!" Alero answered sharply. "I just took a few days off."

"All week?" her mother asked in surprise. "What's the matter with you?"

"Dear." Her dad's tone was cautionary. "Is it the Adediran chap that has you so down?" he asked Alero.

Tears stung Alero's eyes unbidden. She swiped at them with unwarranted venom. She thought she was all cried out.

Numb.

That was how she had felt all week. She had gotten in from the hospital that day and cried like she had never cried before in all her life. She had felt gutted by what she had seen at the hospital.

Pity.

The other girl, Emily Olaoye, daughter of legal luminary Bolanre Olaoye and a lawyer herself, an up and coming star in the profession. She fit the bill better.

Alero ruthlessly suppressed the sob that threatened to burst through. She could not understand what had happened. Had she, Emily, and Banjo been seeing each other secretly? What had happened?

She made a shrugging motion as if doing so would drop the heaviness that weighed on her heart.

"Some of it." Alero responded. "I just needed a break."

"She has been moping since before the accident happened." Her mother interjected as if to buttress to her father that it could not be Banjo at the root of her moroseness.

"Have you been to see him then?" her father continued.

Alero sighed as she shook her head. "I tried to but...I guess it wasn't necessary in the end." Her face became so forlorn that both her parents looked at each other in some alarm and then turned back to her.

"How isn't it necessary to visit a hurting friend?" her father asked. "I thought that you are both friends at the very least."

"I'm not sure what it was we were doing." Alero answered in a voice full of tragedy.

"Haba! How can you say you are not sure what you were doing?" her mother asked. "You were dating him were you not?" she queried.

"Dear, are you trying to help or do you want to make matters worse?" Doctor Bekere asked his wife who huffed and drew her mouth into a tight line.

"Did you two have a disagreement?" her father asked gently.

Alero sighed. "It's not as straight forward as that." She said and then gave a summary of what had gone on from the night of the accident to when she had driven out of the hospital grounds.

"So you saw his family with his ex-girlfriend and you just drove off like that?" her mother asked incredulously. Her father gave her a quelling glare and turned back to Alero.

"Did you at least try to speak to any of them?" he asked.

A prickle of unease had begun to climb along Alero's skin even as she shook her head shamefacedly.

Doctor Bekere sighed. "That was too hastily done of you." He rebuked gently.

"Hah! Alero! You are always hot! Your body is always hot! You are too quick to..." her mother had started in on a rant.

"Ochuko! Please go! Leave me and my daughter to talk!" Edosio Bekere barked.

"Have I said anything untrue? She always has been the child to react first and think later. To jump into things with both legs at the same time. No caution what so ever. No..."

"Ochuko! Leave!" her father nearly yelled. Her mother left in affront and Alero would have thought her totally insensitive if she had not seen the sheen of tears in her mother's eyes as she slammed the door behind her.

"Funny." Her father mused. "You get the very traits she berates you for from her." he chuckled. "Your mother worries. Sometimes much more than she should." He patted Alero's hand soothingly, apologizing for his wife's outburst. Alero could have told him it was not necessary. This was her mother they were talking of. The woman had been a rock and bulwark to her children too many times, much more than they could ever count. An occasional lapse could never erase that.

"What do you feel for that boy?" her father asked his voice more brisk, as if he were now coming to the point.

Alero thought for a short moment and then lifted her face to her father. "I love him." she said grudgingly. "I wish I didn't. It might have been so much easier if I didn't."

"Why? Is he such a distasteful character?"

"No!" Alero refuted, surprised at her father's deduction.

"Then why do you say it would be easier if you didn't love him? Why is loving him so difficult?"

"It's not. That's...He...I don't think he..." Alero floundered as she tried to find the word to explain what she was beginning to fear was folly on her part.

Her father patted her hand again. "Start at the beginning." He advised. And so she did. Beginning from the very first time she had met him at his coming home/graduation party to her feelings of misgiving after she had dreamed her dream. Her father listened carefully with nary a reaction till her tale was complete. Even then, he remained silent a few minutes more until Alero began to fidget.

He drew in a deep breath and turned to look at her more fully.

"It never did run smooth, the path of love." He shook his head and took a peek at her. "You did say that you love him didn't you?" he asked in clarification.

"Very much." Alero agreed. "I did think. I have done nothing else but think all week. I love him. I wonder if God would have allowed this love to grow in my heart if it were wrong. I have searched and searched my heart and...it's him. It's not anything that he or his family represents. It's not the money or the fame or the connections or any of those things. They are a part of him. He'll always be an Adeniran. He grew up with all the privileges that coming from such a family could bring but he is still human. He is still Banjo." She turned an impassioned look on her dad. "Am I even making sense at all?"

"More sense than you've made since I walked into this room today." Her father smiled at her. Then his face got serious again. "Do you think he'll forgive you?"

Alero sighed. "I...what if he was toying with me dad? What if he decided Emily is a better fit for him?"

"I know I only met the young man briefly and have only seen him irregularly, but I think I have a knack for reading people." Her father smiled depreciatingly. "If he said he loves you, he doesn't strike me as the sort of man to say such things carelessly." Her father concluded.

"So you think I was too hasty?"

"I don't think you were too hasty, I know you were! You did not show me my 'Alero' spirit at all." He teased in mock exasperation. "It does not mean that you had no cause to be alarmed. Obviously you had some underlying misgivings that you needed to resolve in your own mind, but you could have kept your cool and heard it from him definitively first. But if you want my honest opinion, I think you've wronged that boy gravely. I hope that you both can work it out but if not," He drew his daughter against him in the warmest of hugs, "you pull up your big girl trousers and move on. No matter what, we'll all be here for you." He assured. Alero sniffled against his chest as the enormity of what she could possibly have done hit her.

Her father patted her back and murmured soothingly to her. The embrace went on for a while as each of them resolved to take certain actions in their mind.
CHAPTER 32

Banjo walked with extra care towards the exit. His gait bellied his impatience to get to through those doors. The week he had spent in this hospital was stretching the limits of his tolerance for enforced inactivity.

His mother and his sister carried on a lively conversation on each side of him. He blocked out the cheeriness of their tone. For some inexplicable reason, it made him even more depressed than he was. Then, he remembered what had him in such a sour mood.

'Not even a phone call!' he railed against her in his mind. Did she not care if he lived or died? Is that what this rededication to God taught her?

He felt his mother tug on his arm and realized that he must have tensed up. He smiled reassuringly at her and continued walking. The door swung in just as they reached it and Banjo had to step quickly out of the way to avoid it smacking him.

"Oops! Sorr..." Banjo felt the breath knocked out of him as he stared at the widening eyes of the person.

"So you finally decided to show up!" Patricia drawled sarcastically from his side. He could feel his mother stretch her hand and smack Patricia's in reprimand at his back.

Alero just stood there staring at him mutely. The expression on her face was a study in emotional turmoil. Banjo felt he could spend all day trying to decipher and analyze everything that was writhing there.

"Why..." Banjo began and then fell silent.

"I was scared." Alero answered his unfinished question. "It was so foolish of me but I was scared and I'm sorry."

Mrs. Adeniran tapped her son's shoulders and motioned to her daughter.

"If you are not in the car in the next ten minutes, Jamieson is coming to get you." She instructed. She glanced at Alero but said nothing to her as she marched her younger child out. Patricia kept turning back and casting baleful glances at Alero and her older brother.

"Should you be standing so long?" Alero asked in a fit of concern.

Banjo huffed out an un-amused laugh. "Alero! One week! You couldn't even call talk less of showing up?!" he asked with all the incredulousness and bewilderment that he had stored up all week. "Is that how little I matter to you?" he asked in a very low tone.

Alero stepped closer to him shaking her head vigorously. "No! No, Banjo. You are not unimportant to me. I'm sorry. I behaved immaturely. I'm so sorry." She took a tentative hold of his hand and flinched when Banjo angrily pulled his hand from her grasp.

"Banjo I am so sorry." She pleaded. "I can't excuse it. I was shattered but it does not excuse me. Please Banjo, I am sorry."

Banjo stood staring at her. He had no words. All the while he had lain on his hospital bed, he had imagined the words he would say to her when she eventually showed up, if she eventually did. Now that she had, he could not make a cohesive sentence to say to her.

He took in the sheen of tears in her eyes and the look of remorse on her face and sighed.

"I don't want to do this now." He said and continued out the door into the waiting car. It was only as the car drove off that he turned to look at her. She stood motionless just inside the glass entrance door staring at him. He thought that he saw the sheen of tears running down her cheeks.

The drive home was completely silent. It was as if his family knew or at least sensed how raw his emotions were and anticipated his need for absolute silence. He remained consumed by his thoughts until he noticed that the car had turned into the tree and shrubbery lined street where he had grown up. They were heading to his parents house.

"Jamieson," he called to the driver, "After you drop off mum and Patricia, take me home."

"Is that wise?" his mother questioned. "You just got out of hospital. At least spend the weekend with us before you return back to your place." She cajoled.

Banjo shook his head. "I'll be okay mum. I'm barely in any pain and even so, I have the medicines the doctor gave me and a new phone." He jiggled his newly acquired phone at her. He had been able to have his previous number restored to him.

His mother shook his head and Patricia opened her mouth as if she would have liked to say something and then changed her mind and clamped her mouth shut.

The car pulled to a stop in front of the house and the two ladies got out of it. Patricia just slammed her door and walked briskly back into the house without so much as a 'by-your-leave'. His mother lingered, peering at him through the window of the car.

"Are you sure?" she asked, concern coating her voice.

"I'll be fine mum." Banjo answered feeling suddenly exhausted. He just wanted to get home and fall in bed.

"Call if you need anything at all." She instructed gently.

"Yes mum." Banjo answered in tired exasperation. His mother sighed.

"And Alero..."

"Mum." Banjo's tone warned.

"I just wanted to say she looked so sad. Think about it. We are all foolish sometimes." She continued doggedly.

Banjo sighed. "Bye mum." He answered as he slunk back on his seat and pressed the button to shut the window. The car smoothly slid into motion and he leaned his head back on the seat, closing his eyes and allowing his thoughts to take him wherever.

She fiddled with the remote in her hands as she channel-surfed looking for something that would grab her attention and keep it. When she had gone through the channels twice, she dropped the remote on the sofa with some irritation and lay back down. This sofa was luxurious! She smiled to herself but quickly sobered up when her mind strayed back to the Adenirans...and the new girl, Alero.

Emily recognized that look, the look she had seen on her face as she ran from them that day at the hospital. Hurt, a feeling of not being included, of not quite fitting in. She marveled that a woman as accomplished as that could feel so. That a woman such as her could be intimidated by...what? The veneer of class? She would have scoffed had she not remembered the days where she had wondered if perhaps the problem with her and Banjo's relationship had been that she had not measured up to their lofty standards.

With hindsight, she realized that not one of them, Banjo and his immediate family had ever tried to make her more or less than she was. They had just been distant and now, she understood that it had never been because she did not measure up, it had always been because intrinsically, just the way you know the mind of someone who is in a close relationship with you, they had all known, even her if she were being honest, that Banjo had never been that into her.

If she had had any doubts in her mind, her relationship with Kenneth dismissed it. Now, she had a clear picture of what had been missing in her relationship with Banjo. The difference as they would say was clear like 7up.

The door was swung open from the outside and some heat from outside breezed in to mingle with the cooled air in the room.

"Emily?" she heard Kenneth call as he walked into the room.

"Yes. In here." she responded from the depths of the sofa.

"Hey!" he smiled widely as he came around and lifted her legs to sit on the sofa. He placed her legs on his thighs as he settled in comfortably.

"I'm not so sure my feet are as clean as all that." Emily warned even though she left said feet exactly where they were.

Kenneth shrugged. "I saw your car parked out front." He said in a thrilled voice. Emily responded with a smile. This smile glowed all the way from her soul. How could she have ever imagined that someone would be as thrilled as this to see her?

"I missed you." She responded simply.

Kenneth gave her a cork eyed look that had both of them laughing out loudly like naughty children.

"Have you had anything to eat?" he asked.

Emily shook her head.

"Weren't you hungry?" he asked.

"Not really." Emily smiled.

He lifted her legs off his thighs and stood up holding his hand out to her.

"Come on. I'm hungry. Let's go eat."
CHAPTER 33

Alero checked her phone for what seemed to her to be the umpteenth time since...Banjo walked away from her.

There was no notification on her phone. No missed calls, no messages, no chats, nothing. She fancifully imagined that the whole world had judged her and found her guilty. She had sent him a simple text after hours of waiting on him to call her to no avail.

'Can we talk?'

Still there was no response from him. She supposed he had every reason to be angry with her. Had he given up on her?

She walked into her office with equal measure of trepidation and hurt but then paused in surprise. There was a young man sitting in the seat where Patricia usually sat. She shut the door behind her and the young man glanced up from the computer screen he had been peering intently at and jerked to his feet.

"Good morning." He greeted smartly. Alero allowed a small frown of consternation to collect on her fore head.

Mrs. Ajala walked back out from her office holding a sheaf of papers.

"Oh! Good morning Ma." She greeted cautiously.

"Good morning Mrs. Ajala. How has the office been?" Alero asked with a calmness she did not feel.

"We've coped really well I think." She smiled kindly as she moved to her seat. When she saw the quick side glance Alero gave to the young man, she coughed lightly.

"Oh. Sorry. This is Mr. Haruna. He is a new staff and he'll be replacing Miss Patricia." She introduced.

"Oh." Alero said in a small voice. "I see." She smiled a small sad smile and continued in to her office distractedly.

"Is there anything I can get you?" Mrs. Ajala called after her. Alero waved her offer away.

She dropped her work bag on the desk and booted up her system as she took her seat. She pushed thoughts of Patricia coldness away from her mind even as she worried about what that meant for her and Banjo. Could there still an Ally and Banjo? She wondered.

The ringing of the alarm she had set on her phone reminded her that she had a meeting to attend in less than twenty minutes. She had been away for just a week but felt so out of sync with her usual routine that it seemed to her that at least a year's worth of event had passed since she was last at her desk.

She quickly gathered up her things and strode back out of her office.

"I'm off to the meeting. We'll have a little chat when I get back. See how much catching up we need to do. Thank you Mrs. Ajala for holding the fort." She smiled her gratitude at her. Mrs. Ajala inclined her head and a pretty blush stained her face. Alero decided then and there to thank her more often. "Mr. Haruna welcome to this unit. We'll talk more when I get back."

She walked out of the office and to the meeting room with serenity she did not feel in her gait. The meeting room was empty when she walked in as she was the first to arrive. She paused at the door and marveled that this was a first for her. She wondered whether that was a good thing. Taking a seat at the far end of the table, she began to lay out her notes and stationery for the meeting. There was a model of the Adeniran Holdings building on a smaller table near the head of the conference table they usually sat at. Curiosity got the better of her and she strolled towards it to take a closer look. She smiled as she took in the sleek lines and modern look of the building. It looked even sleeker than she had envisioned it. She hoped that Chidi and his team would be able to replicate the sleek lines of the model. It would be a cynosure of all eyes if they did. She turned to go back to her seat and almost stumbled in discomfiture when Mr. Wanigo walked in at the same time.

"Good morning Sir." She greeted a bit sheepishly. In all the time she had worked with the firm, she had never behaved as unprofessionally as she knew she must have seemed last week and she was embarrassed to face her boss and mentor.

"Miss Bekere." He acknowledged her greeting. "It's good to have you back." He said. It seemed like he would say more but other heads of teams and units began to file in for the meeting.

A few minutes later, Mr. Wanigo called the meeting to order. Alero listened attentively as the meeting progressed hoping to glean enough information to come up to speed with the events that she had missed in the past week.

The meeting proceeded at the brisk pace that was the mark of meetings at Skylines and soon Mr. Wanigo was wishing them all a pleasant day. Alero stood with the rest of her colleagues as she gathered up her things.

"Miss Bekere, I would like to see you in my office." Mr. Wanigo's voice rang out as he strode out of the meeting room.

Alero heard the snicker but she could not say who it had come from. The culprit had done a good job of tamping it down.

She consciously held her head up and walked out as regally as she could. She could only imagine what wild stories had made the round in her absence. She would not allow it get to her. She contributed her fair quota and then some to the stature of this firm and she refused to let anyone make her feel ridiculous because she was human.

Her resolved was sorely tested when she saw the familiar figure of Patricia walking out from the copy room and opening the door to Chidi's office. As Patricia turned the handle, she turned her head towards where Alero had come to a surprised stop. When she recognized that it was Alero, she opened the door and walked into Chidi's office and closing it firmly behind her.

Alero continued on her way to Mr. Wanigo's office with a little less bounce to her steps. She constructed what she hoped was a polite expression on her face and walked into Mr. Wanigo's secretary's office. She was one of those secretaries who were as powerful, maybe more so, as their bosses. She smiled kindly if reservedly at Alero and waved her through. Alero gathered a little more air into her lungs and knocked on Mr. Wanigo's door.

"Come in." she heard his brisk invitation and pushed the door open.

"Good morning Sir." She greeted, a bit discomfited for the first time in years in his presence.

"Good morning Miss Bekere. Sit down please." He invited. He had not turned to look at her fully since she walked into his office as he kept typing away on the computer keyboard in front of him. When he had made one last click, he turned away from the screen with a satisfied smile.

"That's done!" he said and eyed her critically. "Are you alright?" he asked pointedly.

"I am Sir." Alero answered with as much poise as she could. She needed to erase the memory of her break down from everyone's immediate memory. She would not stand for people snickering at her.

He gave her a long look and nodded. "Good. We need to leave for Adeniran Holdings within the hour." Alero could not stop the sharp gasp from escaping her lips. Fortunately, Mr. Wanigo continued crisply like he had not heard a sound from her.

"There are a few details on the project that need immediate resolution so as not to stall the work and I thought it wise that you be included in this meeting since it was originally designed by your team." He finished.

Alero tried to speak and found that her voice was stuck in her very dry throat. She tried to clear it as quietly as she could but even the small sound she made seemed unnaturally loud to her.

"Sir, with all due respect, I should point out that Miss Adeniran was an integral member of the team that worked on that design. Seeing that she is still on the team that...."

"Are you calling my decision to include you into question?" Mr. Wanigo's quietly asked question interrupted her as cleanly as a sharp blade would slice through tender flesh.

"No Sir!" Alero spluttered in surprise, her eyes widening and her lungs struggling for air.

"Good. Please be ready in an hour or less." He instructed and turned back to his screen. Clearly he was through saying what he wanted to say and she was dismissed for now.

"Yes Sir. Thank you Sir." Alero said quietly and got up on shaky legs to leave his office.

"Alero" Mr. Wanigo called as she turned the handle of the door. Alero turned to meet him steeling her features to not betray her panic.

"Please maintain your composure. I do not want anyone, and I mean anyone calling my decision to recommend you for partner into question."

It took Alero a minute for the import of what he had just said to sink in. When it did, she gasped loudly and clamped her hand on her mouth in an effort to restrain her emotions.

"Thank you Sir!" her voice came out in a ragged whisper. "Thank you so very much Sir." She repeated as she struggled to keep the tears of joy from spilling from her eyes.

Mr. Wanigo nodded with a wry smile of his and indicated his door with a small nod of his head. Alero nodded her response and made her fumbling escape from the office.

She dashed straight to the restroom and tried to compose herself. She drew long harsh breaths as she struggled for equanimity.

"Are you okay?" came Patricia's quiet voice from a stall just behind her.

Alero jumped and gasped again in surprise.

"Are you all conspiring to give me a heart attack or what?" she asked in some agitation.

Patricia's concerned expression hardened to a scowl.

"Oh! My bad! I'm sorry I cared." She said sarcastically as she began washing her hands at a sink.

Alero sighed as her heart rate settled.

"Good morning Patricia." She greeting quietly. "That did not come out quite as it should...I've had...quite a morning so I probably sounded sharper than I intended." Alero tried to explain.

Patricia turned to look at her fully in the face for a moment and then pulled at some paper towels to dry her hands.

"Why did you do it? Why did you act like you did? You could have killed him as surely as if you had run him over with that car." She asked in clipped, bewildered tones. "I thought you guys were happy."

Alero sighed. "It's a convoluted tale Patricia." She made a show of washing her own hands and pulling at the paper towels too.

Patricia leaned against the sink as if waiting for her to speak. Alero mirrored her stance and folded her hands across her chest as she tried to explain what she could to her.

"I'm a very spiritual person." She began. Patricia did not make any comment either way and Alero felt encouraged to continue.

"I guess the best way I can explain it is that I was in a struggle in my spirit. There were aspects...that I needed to resolve in my head and heart to..."

"Banjo may not have come to certain realizations about his relationship with God, but he is a believer." Patricia cut in.

Alero stared at her in surprise and Patricia scoffed mildly.

"You can't have grown up with my mum and not believe." She said by way of explanation.

Alero felt her mouth form in a surprised 'O'.

"You could have talked to him rather than just sprung a break up on him. My brother...I think he's in love with you. I have never seen him like this."

Alero shook her head as tears sprang unbidden to her eyes. She sniffed to clear her suddenly clogged up nostrils.

"I...I thought you loved him too." Patricia continued.

"I do." Alero whispered brokenly.

"Then why are you torturing each other?" Patricia asked in exasperation. "What if he died?" she asked and then continued, ignoring Alero's sob. "If you love him that much, then don't do this... whatever it is you are doing to yourselves. I was angry! So mad at both of you but I have had some time to simmer down." She moved unexpectedly to take hold of Alero's hand.

"If you both love each other, then do it. Not so many people have the blessing of such an all-consuming love and they make do with what they get. Don't you think God may have spared him just so you both could get this second chance?"

"Why?" Alero asked with an unsteady voice. "I thought you all must hate me."

"I almost did." Patricia answered candidly. "But I had I long talk with my mum. She's rooting for you by the way." She rolled her eyes as she said the last bit.

Alero felt her lips stretch in a smile.

"I missed you at your desk." She commented.

Patricia shrugged again. "Yeah! Mr. Wanigo thought that it would be better....you know how he is about professional behavior." She made a funny moue that cracked both of them up. When they had both gained some control over their hilarity, they stood for a few moments staring at each other.

"Thank you." Alero began. "I needed that."

"You're welcome." Patricia said with a diffident smile and scurried out the restroom mumbling about being away from her desk for too long and Mr. Chidi having her head.

Alero turned to look at her image in the mirror. She had her game face back on.
CHAPTER 34

The air in the conference room seemed stifling to Alero. Every inch of her seemed to be in rebellion against itself as she sat there and tried to focus on what was being said around her. She had hardly said a word to anyone since they all sat down to this meeting. Banjo had barely glanced in her direction for the past hour as well as the hour and half they had spent inspecting the sites of renovations. She felt like bawling like a child and yet she could feel the stirring of anger in her spirit.

Perhaps, she needed to chuck all this up to life's experience and move on.

"I think we are all in agreement," Banjo's voice cut into her thoughts and her head snapped around to where he sat at the head of the table, "Unless you have a different opinion Miss Bekere. You've hardly contributed to the conversation." He challenged.

Alero narrowed her eyes at him as she tried to figure what he was about.

"I believe my colleagues have a firm grasp on my thoughts on the project. We have always discussed extensively." She responded trying to tamp down the heat she could hear in her tone.

It was Banjo's turn to spear her with a narrow eyed look of his own. Alero held his glance in challenge until he was obliged to nod and gather up his notes and officially bring the meeting to a close.

Alero gather up her notes and drawings and stuffed them into the satchel she had brought them in. She jerked in surprise as she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Mrs. Adeniran.

"Good morning Ma." She greeted wonderingly. In all the meetings they had had, she had never sought Alero out or singled her out. In fact, she had only ever stayed long enough to ascertain that her wishes were clearly comprehended by everyone but left the nitty gritty of the actual process to Banjo. It was surprising that she had stayed all through this one.

"Good morning dear." She replied with a kind smile. "I understood from Patricia that you were under the weather. I hope you're fully recovered now?" She finished on a questioning note.

"I am alright now Ma. Thank you so much for asking." Alero returned her smile. Banjo glanced at both of them as he made his way out of the conference room talking with Mr. Wanigo and Chidi.

"And thank you for including Patricia on this project. She was so excited to cut her teeth as it were, on it in particular." She murmured sotto voice and Alero fell in love with her.

"It has been a distinct pleasure." Alero affirmed.

Mrs. Adeniran inclined her head and made to walk away but turned around at the last minute.

"Talk to him." she instructed quietly. Her mouth moved like she would like to say more but she must have changed her mind because she just smiled and walked away.

"Miss Bekere?" Mr. Wanigo poked his head back into the conference room to call.

Alero smiled an apology and walked up to join the others at the elevators. Somehow she was standing next to Banjo who had elected to escort them down to the lobby. She felt the thrill of attraction, desire wind its way around her body as she breathed in his scent. She felt itchy with her discomfort and his continued silence. She was immensely relieved when the doors swung open and she could step out of the confined space. Banjo and Mr. Wanigo had begun a conversation on golfing which she listened to with half an ear.

Soon they were all standing at the stoop of the entrance and the company car that had brought them to the meeting slid smoothly in front of them. Alero was sorely tempted to climb hurriedly down the steps to the car but she had promised Mr. Wanigo that she would comport herself and she would do it even if it killed her.

"Mr. Adeniran, it's always a pleasure." Mr. Wanigo said as he held out his hand to Banjo who took it in a firm handshake which was extended to Chidi. Finally, he turned to Alero and looked her full in the face. Alero could not help looking him over. There were signs of strain around his eyes, like he was not getting enough sleep.

"Have a good day Mr. Adeniran." She said and Banjo nodded not even saying a word.

Alero decided she had been sufficiently dignified for one morning and she made a swift exit even if it might not have been as graceful as she would have wished.

The car was half way to the office when her phone finally chimed with a notification that a text message had been delivered. Alero pulled out her cell phone from her hand bag and checked. There were actually two messages. She checked for the name of the senders and blinked in surprise. One was from Maggie and the other...was Banjo's. She slid the phone back into her hand bag. When she read these texts, she did not want to be anywhere around her office environment. Even if her private life was disintegrating, she was not going to bring it to work with her ever again.

It was a rush the rest of the day as she swung back into the rhythm of work. Her phone felt heavy every time she picked it up but she refused to read those messages. It was a relief when she finally logged off from the system and shut down her computer at the end of the day. Mrs. Ajala poked her head through her door and bid her a good night. Alero answered cheerily, including Haruna who had also poked his head through beside Mrs. Ajala, in her greeting.

Her phone chimed again with a text message notification and Alero eyed it like it could bite. For some inexplicable reason, she suspected that this text was one she did not want to read in the office but she allowed herself to be overcome by curiosity and picked up her phone to open it.

'Can we talk?'

Alero re-read the text and the sender's name one more time and pulled up a response bar. Before she could type out a response though, another message came.

'This evening. I can pick you up at home around seven. It's been an age.'

Alero shook her head fondly at the sender. She typed out her response.

'Sure. Seven good. See you soon.'

She made her way out of the office hoping that the traffic out would not be so bad. She barely had thirty minutes to make her commute home and still be on time for her date.

It took her some fifty minutes to navigate the craziness that was the late traffic. She supposed she should be thankful it had not taken even longer but she noticed the strange car parked in the compound as she pulled into it. It meant that Olly had gotten here already. She hurried into the house with anticipation and wariness warring within her. She heard his voice as he chatted with her mother before she had even opened the front door.

"And look who's here!" He boomed, his face writhed with a wide smile.

"Hello Stranger!" Alero greeted jovially as she allowed herself to be pulled into a big hug. "It's good to see you! Where have you been hiding?" she asked as she went over to her mother to give her a slightly awkward hug in greeting. While they had both decided not to speak of her mother's outburst, they were still skirting gingerly around each other.

"Good evening Mum."

"Welcome dear. How was your day?"

"It was better than I expected I guess." Alero answered frankly and felt the conviviality of the atmosphere diminish.

"What happened?" Olly asked as he plucked another apple from the bowl on the low table.

"Ah...just some stuff but it's all good." Alero shrugged it off and then her eyes brightened. "Mr. Wanigo says he recommended me for partner!" she squealed.

"Oh my daughter! That's fantastic news!" her mother exclaimed and jumped up to hug her in congratulations.

"My! Ally keeps bursting those ceilings." Olly smiled as he stood for his own hug.

"Thank you!" Alero thrilled "You are all so kind!" she said in her best interpretation of a posh lady's voice.

"So do you need to freshen up before we leave?" Olly asked.

Alero made an expression of regret as she asked "Could we hang out here? I'm exhausted."

"Then you need to freshen up so we can leave and still get back in good time." He wagged his finger at her as she made to protest. "It's been medically proven that it is bad for you to go to sleep exhausted."

Alero and her mum looked at him in consternation. "Really?" Alero asked.

"Really." Olly deadpanned.

Alero groaned and made her way to her room complaining loudly about inconsiderate friends who didn't care that you were exhausted. When Olly did not take bait, she glanced over her shoulders at him only to see him carrying on a furtive conversation with her mum.

'Hm!' she thought as she went on to her room. 'What is that about?'

A few minutes later, she was out and hustled into the car with Olly.
CHAPTER 35

The place Olly took her to was a hang-out that had newly opened not too far from her house. As he pulled into a parking lot, she teased him about his extensive knowledge of hang-outs and clubs. He took the ribbing like the good sport that he usually was and Alero felt the tense set of her shoulder relax gradually.

After they had grabbed seats and placed their orders, Olly turned to her with a serious expression on his face.

"So? How are you really doing?" he asked.

Alero shrugged, not wanting the conversation to take the turn it seemed Olly wanted to take it.

"Okay I guess. I haven't heard from Maggie in a short while." She responded, trying to steer the conversation to more comfortable topics.

"She's good. Busy with a rush of jobs but happy as far as I can tell."

"That's good. I should try to get a hold of her soon." Alero smiled, genuinely pleased that her friend was doing okay.

"She was worried about you though." Olly started and Alero sighed with the knowledge that she had not succeeded in diverting the conversation to less treacherous grounds.

"I'm fine." At Olly's skeptical look, she insisted, "Really!"

Olly nodded clearly not convinced by her insistence.

"So how are things with Banjo?" he asked quietly.

Alero huffed out a large sigh. "I suppose he is fine. I saw him earlier today and he looked fine."

Olly raised a surprised eyebrow. "You saw him earlier today?" he asked, his incredulity apparent in his tone.

"Yes, I did." Alero answered in a self satisfied tone.

"So you guys are good? You've sorted your quarrel?"

"Olly..."

Alero started but clamped her mouth shut. What would she say to him? She remembered Maggie telling her that his feelings for her might have run deeper than she had ever suspected.

She looked into his face and saw that he was staring intently at hers as if trying to decipher something he could see written on it.

A server came up to their table with their order and began to place plates of food and drinks before them with deft and economical motions. When he had finished he left them to it.

"Olly, I....Banjo and I aren't dating anymore." She said quietly. The usual jumble of pain, sadness, hurt and grief ran through her as she used a fork to push around her plate.

Olly let out a long sigh.

"What happened?" he asked as he dug into his own food.

Ally shook her head. "I'm not even sure myself anymore." At Olly's questioning look she continued. "It just went crazy."

"Why did it go crazy? You guys seemed good the last time we hung out." There was a flash of something in his eyes as he bent to his food. It had been so quick that Alero could hardly guess what it had been.

"You know Banjo pretty well." Alero said and Olly nodded still not looking up into her face.

"Do you think he...see...You know me pretty well too. Do you think we suit?"

Olly's head snapped up to hers an incredulous expression on his face.

"What is that about?" he asked.

"I...I asked Banjo for some time to sort out a few things in my head. He got upset at that...well, he had that accident a few hours later so...I think I messed up." Alero finished furiously blinking back the tears that were threatening to fall again.

"Give me a run down. The two of you will not be the death of me!" Olly exclaimed as he put down his cutlery and gave her his full attention.

Alero sighed in relief as she spilled it all out. After she was done, she took a peep at Olly to see if she could read his expression. His face was a study of emotions that made it inscrutable.

"Eat up." He said quietly.

Alero sighed. She really needed to get over this. Why she had ever thought a relationship between her and the likes of the Banjo Adenirans of this world could thrive, she would never know!

Oh but she knew! She knew and her heart bled with the pain of a dream disintegrating in the harsh light of reality.

Would any man ever have a pull on her being the way that Banjo had? She really could not fathom it and did not know how she was ever going to settle for less now. Now that she had had this love and lost it.

She and Olly ate the rest of their meal in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. When he dropped her off a little while later, she thanked him for the evening out.

"It was good to hang out with you." He smiled a little sadly.

"No. I was maudlin but it's kind of you to say that." She smiled back at him.

"Good night Ally. Don't forget to get a hold of Maggie. I swear you modern girls make a guy's head spin with all the balls you insist on juggling." His goofy smile took the sting out of his words.

"Thank you Olly and good night." Alero smiled widely, her heart filling up with fondness for this dear man who had been a better friend to her all these years than she could ever had guessed.

He threw her one last cheeky grin and rejoined the light traffic going down her street.

It was not until she was in the middle of her nightly routine that she pulled out her phone and opened her messages.

Maggie's was chatty, asking her about what was going on and telling her to reply 'ASAP'. Alero smiled as she closed that message. She would respond when she her headspace was in a better place. In the mean time, she knew that Olly would tell her that he had seen her and she was not suicidal in the least.

Her fingers were a little shaky as she opened the second message. The contents had her blinking in confusion, or the lack there of, because the message was blank. Alero clicked on the return button and reopened the message. It was still blank. She huffed in a mix of bitter amusement and self derision and threw the phone on her bed. Banjo would not turn her into a crazy person. She scoffed at the phone as if it were the offending culprit. She turned and looked at the image reflecting back at her from the mirror. She acknowledged the sadness haunting that young lady's features. She shook her head at the image and the image shook its head back at her. Alero smiled and the image smiled back.

"You'll heal." She said to the image. The image mouthed words back at her. "It'll get better." She assured her image and then she got into bed, a nostalgic mix of grief and determination.
CHAPTER 36

Banjo hustled up to the door irritated by the insistent knock that was being pounded on it. He knew very few people who would dare pound on his door like that and quite frankly, he did not want to see any of them.

He swung it open and stopped in surprise when he saw Olly leaning against his lintel. Yeah, he supposed Olly would be one of those people who would beat his door down. It had just been a while since he had done so.

"Hey bro!" Olly greeted as they gave each other a shoulder bump and Olly sauntered into the house. Banjo smiled, he had always admired the ease with which his friend carried himself. For a man as largely built and as brawny as Olly, he moved with what could only be described as feral grace.

"Haven't seen you in this hood in a while." He half accused as he followed his guest to his living room. Olly had sprawled on his long settee with his eyes closed and his facial expression blissful by the time he joined him.

"Can I get you anything?" Banjo asked. Olly popped open an eye and shot him a look of derision.

"I know where and how to entertain myself. Why would I let you measure out my drinks when I can get them myself?" he derided.

Banjo put his hands up with a wry smile. "I was just offering, good host that I am. By all means, help yourself." He flung his hand outwards to indicate that he could feel free.

Olly looked at him intently from his sprawled position. "How are you?" he asked.

Banjo shrugged as he bent to pick up the TV remote. "Much better. Hardly any pain left. Weaning myself off those painkillers." He tossed his friend a carefree smile. There were few people he could be carefree with and for a while when he had first started dating Alero, he wondered if he would have to give up one of them. Fortunately, he had not had to.

Olly nodded as he adjusted himself into a more upright if hunched position. "Good, good." He said and then clasped his hands between his knees as his brows furrowed in thought.

Banjo watched his friend as he realized that this was not a simple visit as he had thought.

"What's up?" he prompted his friend.

Olly swung his head from side to side and then looked at him.

"What's going on between you and Alero?"

Banjo sighed and slumped back on his chair. "See bro, I don't want to talk about it just yet." He complained.

"When then?" Olly confronted not backing down.

Banjo just shook his head in response.

It was Olly's turn to sigh as he hunched a little deeper on his frame.

"See Banjo, you are my bro any day but I've got to be straight with you, sometimes, sometimes I really want to deck you a big one."

Banjo turned a surprised expression to him.

"'Deck me' why?" he asked a mildly scowling Olly.

"Do you love Alero?"

Banjo chuckled. It was not an amused sound.

"Well do you?" Olly persisted.

Banjo was quiet for a long moment before he turned a glare on his friend.

"What do you think?"

"I think that you quit too early every time." Olly responded adroitly. Banjo cast him another look of surprise.

'What does that mean?"

Olly sighed. "Do you remember when your parents threw that welcome home bash for you?" he asked and then continued before Banjo could respond. "You had badgered me for days about Maggie's friend and if she was coming to your party and if she had a guy and slyly checking out what my relationship with her was?" Olly trailed off and looked at his friend to see if he remembered as clearly as he did himself.

Banjo looked steadily at him. "The point of all this being?"

"You quit before the games have even started every time." Olly announced enigmatically.

Banjo shook his head in exasperation. "I don't get it. Can you come to the point?" his voice turning fierce with each syllable.

"I remember Olumide jerking your strings that day. I don't think you realized how transparent you were. You liked this girl. Your guard had dropped over this girl. You, our suave, cool and collected friend was asking questions about a girl incessantly. It was enough to throw us off loop. And so Olumide jerked your strings about it you know. And what did you do? You backed down." He cast him a look of pure irritation.

Banjo stared blankly at the floor as he cast his mind over those events that Olly tried to bring to the fore of his memory.

"What are you implying?" he asked his voice harsh with introspection.

"Do you love Ally?" Olly asked him again.

Banjo sighed. "What does it matter what I feel? The right question would be, does she love me?" he turned pained eyes to his friend.

"We'll come to that shortly." Olly blustered. "So?"

"It was...I don't understand Ally. I love her alright but I don't know what she wants of me. I'm just a guy...doing the best I can to be with her but..." Banjo trailed off an intense scowl marring his handsome face.

Both men sat in almost identical hunched positions as they ruminated over the same thing from their own perspectives.

"Why did you let it all go? Are you done with her?" Olly asked.

Banjo smiled. He could hear the hope his friend was trying so hard to keep out of his voice. If he said he was done, Olly would make a play for Alero and he would not stop until he made her his. Banjo knew it with a certainty that suffused his soul.

"I guess I just needed to sort a few things out."

"You're far along on that?" Olly inquired in overly polite tones. Banjo cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Look Banjo, I can't deny that I've had a thing for Ally for a long time now. But I backed down so that you could make your play because you seemed so intent on her. So if you are not going to carry through, I need you to make up your mind." Olly laid it out baldly before him.

Banjo had already come to a decision. He allowed the truth of it wrap around his being as he stared at the floor in front of him. After a few long and tense minutes, he heaved a sigh.

"Olly, you are a very good friend bro. One of a kind." He began.

Olly raised an eyebrow at him. Banjo tossed him a feral grin. "I love you men for real." He continued. Olly kept his expression neutral as he tried to staunch the pain blooming in his chest even as an answering feral smile bloomed on his lips.

"But I will not stand back and let you move in on my girl." Banjo stated emphatically.

"Your girl you say? You have some way with holding on to your girl." He scoffed with a snide smile.

"We are all allowed a bit of stupidity." Banjo smiled as his mum's defense of Alero came back to him. "But I'm done with foolishness. I love that girl." He said with a wry headshake. "If I have to shake some sense into her...but I won't just stay here and watch another man move in on her and be her husband. God forbid!"

Olly burst loudly into laughter. "Okay bro! I'm convinced. You have me convinced." He chuckled.

"Go get her man!" he smiled at his friend, his pain temporarily forgotten. It would return, he knew. It would sneak up on him when he least expected it. But he would be okay someday. He knew that too.

For today, he would just be happy for his friend. And he was.
CHAPTER 37

Banjo pace the length of his room anxiously.

He had been pacing unconsciously for more than thirty minutes.

He still had no clear cut strategy for winning Alero back now that he had gained an audience with her.

His mind rewound his earlier phone conversation with her.

He had sent her several text messages that evening after his chat with Olly. She had not responded to any of them. He had tried calling her cell phone number next. The calls had gone unanswered. He had been at his wits end and quite ready to barge into her house irrespective of the 'welcome' that would await him there when it had occurred to him to call her direct line at the office.

One, she did not have caller ID so there was no way she would know who was calling before picking the call, and two, he was counting on her innate curiosity and sense of responsibility to work in his favour this time.

He had put a call through to Chidi before he lost his nerves. He and Chidi had become fast friends of sorts as they worked on the renovation project. When he made his request of Chidi, the other man had agreed without asking too many questions and Banjo had thanked him and wished him a great evening.

The morning could not have come soon enough. He was out of the house and on his desk earlier than he could ever remember getting there after a basically sleepless night.

Shortly after eight am, he had received his text prompt from Chidi. He waited a few minutes and put the call through to Alero's desk phone as they had agreed. It had rung for a while and Banjo had worried that the plan was blowing up in his face when he heard the click of the phone being picked.

She had been silent for a minute before her wary voice came over the line causing a shiver to go through him.

"Hello?"

"Ally. How are you doing?"

"I'm well." her voice had sounded testy.

"Erh...you said you wanted to talk."

There had been a prolonged silence on the line and then a spurt of laughter.

"Oh you have a nerve! Both of you! Really Chidi?!"

Banjo had heard the rumble of Chidi's voice and the sound of a door shutting. He suspected that Chidi had just beaten a hasty retreat and that he had been on his own from there on out.

"One week after? Really Banjo? You really are trying to respond to a text I sent almost two weeks ago? After you snubbed me at your office? After you wouldn't return my calls? And oh let's not forget the blank message...what was that? You know what Banjo? I'm done!" he heard her voice break at that and he took his opportunity. He had prayed for help and dove in.

"Ally, I'm sorry. I know you don't want to hear this now, but I love you. I was angry and I should not have sulked like I did. It was immature of me. We both behaved immaturely. Please let's not continue in this immaturity. Yes! I want talk. Please."

He has heard her sighing breathe shudder across the connection.

"I'm tired Banjo. I don't want to go crazy."

"I love you Ally."

"Banjo..."

"Can I come over?"

"No!" she had shrieked. "No." she had repeated in more modulated tones. "I don't want this to interfere with my work again. I'll see you at home. At your place. My parents will be home this evening and I doubt they'd let you in talk less of letting you speak to me for any length of time."

Banjo had felt the breath he had not realized he had been holding whoosh out of his nostrils in relief.

"Should I come pick you up?" he had asked.

"No. I'll drive over. I...I'll drive over. I need to go now. I've...it's going to be a busy day for me." She had said.

"Okay Ally. I'll see you later this evening. I'll be home about six pm." He had rambled as tension slowly ratcheted up his skin again.

"Bye." She had said and had disconnected the call with a click.

Banjo checked the time on his wristwatch again and just as he decided he was going to drive over to her house anyway, he heard the dingdong of his door bell.

He almost fell down the stairs in his haste to get to the door. He wrenched the door open and drank in the sight of her standing there a little wet from the light rain he had not noticed had begun falling.

"Hey!" he pulled the door wider and stepped out of the way to let her in. She shivered a little as she walked in past him.

"Let me get you a towel or something." He offered as he shut the door and followed her into the living room.

She nodded and he noticed that she was holding herself a bit stiffly as if warding off cold.

"I'll get something warm to drink as soon as I get that towel." He said already taking the stairs two at a time to retrieve a dry towel for her. His last image of her was of her sinking like a boneless doll into the settee. He picked up his pace and returned in record time with the towel. She was shivering by the time he got back.

He wrapped the towel around her as alarm raced through him. She was not wet enough to be this cold but her skin felt like it had just got off a block of ice.

"You're so cold! What happened?" he asked in an alarmed voice.

Alero could only shiver in response.

"Let me get you something warm to drink. Hot chocolate?" He asked already rising to go to the kitchen. Alero's nod was indecipherable in all her shivering.

He quickly put water to boil and prepared two mugs of the hot drink. By the time he got back to the living room, she had stopped shivering as she had wrapped the towel very tightly over her shoulders and the upper part of her body. She had also taken off her shoes and tucked her feet under her body for more warmth.

"Here we are." He announced as he handed a mug to her and placed the other on the low table in front of the settee. He took a seat beside her and pulled her body closer to his for warmth. She felt less cool to touch than she had earlier.

"What happened? You were shivering." he asked.

"Third time round with the rain today. I got really wet the two times before." she said. "I think my body finally had enough."

"Site visits?" he asked and Alero nodded sipping her hot drink gratefully. When she had had enough, she set the mug down and pulled herself from his embrace. Banjo let her go reluctantly wanting to respect her wishes even though his arms suddenly felt bereft.

"You said you wanted to talk." She said in a small voice.

'I do." Banjo agreed even as his mind drew a blank. He had no idea where to begin.

He turned to peer into Alero's face only to find her staring at him, looking him over really.

"You look tired." She said. "Shouldn't we have this talk some other time?"

"And loose my nerves? Or have you grow more distant from me? No thank you."

She smiled. "You sounded like your Ivy-league education right there."

"Was that it?" Banjo asked. "Was it the Ivy-league education? The trappings?"

Alero was quiet for a moment. "Yes and no." she responded thoughtfully.

"What does that mean?" asked a consternated Banjo.

"It means that at first, it was pretty intimidating but as I got to know you better, it didn't really figure that much in our relationship."

Banjo heaved a sigh of relief.

"Okay. So it wasn't that." He said.

Alero continued to look steadily at him and Banjo returned her frank gaze with one of his own.

"When you say you love me, what do you mean?" she asked.

Banjo looked away and his brow furrowed as he considered how he might answer her question.

"Olly came to talk to me." He blurted out and Alero corked her head to the side in surprise.

"He said a few things that I've been thinking about since." He looked at Alero and then turned his body to face hers.

"I'm sorry I did not fight for you that first time, the time when we first met at my parents' all those years ago. I'm sorry that I have the penchant for letting stuff take away from us. Most of all, I am sorry it has made you doubt how much I love you." He took hold of her hands and gripped them firmly in his. "I really do Ally. This time, I'm not letting stuff come between us. This time, I'll willing fight for you. Even against yourself. Because, I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering if some bloke is treating you right when it should be me. Me, taking care of you, loving you and our children if the Lord so blesses us." He tugged her a little closer and Alero felt herself slide closer to him.

"I only asked for time. I..."

"I'm sorry I over reacted. I just came off a really revealing conversation with my mum about things that went on in her relationship with my dad. I guess I was still strung out over it and I took out my angst on you. I'm sorry I didn't hear you out."

Alero stared at the leather of the settee between them and then cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry too." She whispered and Banjo pulled her flush against him and she went willing too.

"I let my fear, my insecurities come between us. I've had a lot of time to think and you were right. I was afraid to love you. I was afraid of how much I loved you. I was worried what people would say. I was worried how I would fit in with your friends, your society. I was worried also that...I was worried about so many things. And I let all of that keep me from letting you in all the way. I should have trusted you with my fears and concerns. I should have talked to you. I'm sorry I did not."

Banjo sighed as he rubbed her back.

"You know what? Let's wipe this slate clean and begin again."

Alero smiled "Or get a new one entirely."

"Nah! I like this slate. It has character." Banjo said half seriously. They both chuckled. "Seriously, I don't want to forget how easily we came close to losing each other. I don't want this to ever happen to us again."

Alero turned solemn eyes towards his and he returned her intensity in his gaze.

"I love you Banjo Adeniran." She said a smile lighting her lips.

"Thank God." Banjo whispered reverently and sealed it with a kiss.

EPILOGUE

Emily stared in mute shock at the photo spread in the magazine open in front of her. When she got over the shock of it, she burst into laughter, chuckling at the coincidence.

The fashion magazine had done a pictorial of the über fashionable wedding of Maggie Okwara to her beau, Quinn Robinson and the wedding dress by an up and coming designer who was currently all the rage was the highlight of the pictorial. The wedding dress, which was exactly the same design as the one currently in her closet awaiting its day.

'Fancy, even my wedding dress is being upstaged!' she thought laughingly.

"What's so funny?" Kenneth asked as his warm body came up flush against her back. Emily leaned into him and snuggled. She loved how his body felt against hers.

"My wedding dress." She responded.

"Oh?" he asked wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. Emily sighed and turned on the mattress to snuggle more fully into his warmth. Then she lifted the magazine to his face. Kenneth stared at it uncomprehendingly for a few moments and then turned a questioning look to her.

"The dress she's wearing looks very much like mine." Emily supplied her explanation stabbing her finger lightly at Maggie's gown.

"Oh. I wondered if I was supposed to be looking at your ex's girlfriend." Kenneth remarked.

Emily looked again at the pictures. It was not that she had not noticed her in her bridesmaid gown or the sparkling ring on her engagement finger or Banjo standing so proprietarily behind her in one of the pictures. It was that it longer had the power to hurt her as it would have not too long ago.

"They look happy." She commented to Kenneth. Kenneth took a peep at the magazine over her shoulders which he was currently nuzzling.

"You're obsessed with their happiness." He said with a note of complaint.

"No, I'm not." She refuted. Kenneth threw her a look that clearly said 'Really?'

"I'm not!" Emily refuted even more adamantly.

"Okay, If you say so." Kenneth acquiesced and continued on a slow languorous path across her shoulder. Emily sighed in bliss and relaxed into him even more.

After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and asked.

"Am I really obsessed about it?"

"Mmhmm." Was Kenneth's only response.

"I don't mean to be."

"I really don't want to talk about Banjo and his girlfriend right now. I'm trying to do something here." He said as he upped the tempo of his caresses and kisses. Emily felt her senses swim at his onslaught.

It was some time later before she could think clearly again. She tried to remember what point in particular they had been bantering about before and could not quite hit on it. She peeped at Kenneth whose eyelids were drooping drowsily.

Nah! There was no reason to disturb his sleep because she had an itch on her brain about that conversation. Her poor baby had had a long day and she would let him sleep.

She settled more comfortably against him and went to sleep herself.

THE END
