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
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