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 stratosph
ere 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.