9/10
HE SAID NO
EPISODE 9
“Welcome, my son,” Mrs. Robert smiled, as soon as she opened the metal door, George was exquisitely dressed, he was putting on a black tuxedo suit on a white shi-t, his feet was graced with a pair of dark brown Italian shoes and his left wrist was adorned with a Rolex wristwatch.
“Good evening mummy,” George greeted bending slightly,
“How are you, my dear?”
“I’m fine ma,”
“How are your mum and dad?” she smiled,
“They are doing very well ma,”
“I am happy to hear that, sit down my son. Why are you standing like a visitor?”
“I would have loved to ma, but I’m actually here to take Amifel out and it’s getting late ma,”
“Oh oh, no wonder, I have been asking her that ‘where are you going oh?’ but she did not answer me, “she chuckled, “That’s great, let me get her for you,” she said, as went to get Amifel,
Amifel was standing in front of the mirror, adjusting her makeup when her mum entered,
“Your husband is here oh,” Mrs. Robert announced excitedly, before her generous bu.tt0cks hit the be-d with a thud, “So you and your husband are actually going out and you did not tell me?”
“Mummy, I am not a kid, and I don’t have to tell you about everything,” she replied bluntly,
“You are my kid as long as you live un-der my roof, “she said as Amifel ignored her, “Anyway, don’t keep him waiting. “Mrs. Robert stood up to leave when she noticed her shoes,
“Don’t tell me you are planning to wear that flat shoe,” she said, pointing to the clean black suede flat shoe that was placed close to the door,
“That is what I am wearing,”
“No way, what happened to your heels? My friend, change that shoe before I change it for you there!” she ordered,
“That is what…” she paused as she watched her mum walk briskly to her neatly arranged shoe rack, she proceeded to re-move her pair of n.ude heels which she dropped directly in front of her,
“The heel of this one is just moderate. A man of clas-s nee-ds a woman of clas-s, if you don’t want my trouble, just wear this one,” she said with authority as she left for the sitting room, without waiting for Amifel’s response.
“She will soon be here my son, are you sure you don’t want to sit?” She asked George who was still standing while glancing at his wristwatch at regular intervals,
“No ma, I am fine. I’d just prefer to stand,” he ba-rely got to complete his statement when Amifel walked in on them, she looked stunning in her straight wine go-wn, her hair, nails, and light make up all complemented her beautiful features. She clutched a black purse un-derneath her arm alongside a small paper bag and of course, she was putting on her n.ude shoes, just as her mum ordered to avoid drama,
“Hello George, sorry for keeping you waiting,” she apologized,
“Its fine dear, you look amazing!”
“Thank you, you look great too,”
‘Thanks, dear, shall we?” Amifel nodded as they turned to leave,
“So, you have seen Amifel now, you won’t even say bye to your in-law,” Mrs. Robert tea-sed, she was seated on one of the dining chairs and they had completely forgotten all about her, Amifel was obviously tired of her mum as she just walked out without saying a word,
“It’s not like that ma,” George chuckled,
“Don’t mind me, I was only pu-lling your legs. You guys should enjoy yourselves oh,”
“Yes ma,” he giggled as he made his way out,
Amifel was waiting for George in front of his red Lexus jeep, it was the only vehicle in the compound as Amifel’s dad had gone on a trip. George promptly opened the door for her to enter before settling in the driver’s seat, Amifel was looking lost as she waited for George to start the car when he didn’t start the car immediately, she looked up,
“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking up at him,
“Is anything the matter?” George asked ignoring her question,
“I’m fine, why do you ask?”
“You don’t look happy or don’t you want to go out with me?” he asked,
“Of course, I want to, George plea-se st©p all these questionings and let’s go, it’s getting late,” she said impatiently,
“I am not moving an inch until you tell me what the matter is, Amifel, you have not even as much as smiled since…”
“See, I’m smiling now, “She interrupted, giving him a really wi-de grin,
“I am not convinced,” George said stubbornly, as Amifel gave a tired sigh,
“I don’t know how else to convince you, George, my mum just tries to get on my nerves every time, and you know that can be a mood spoiler, but I’m fine George, I mean it,” she said in a bid to convince him,
He seemed to be convinced because he turned on the ignition almost immediately, Amifel gave him a genuine smile before removing her black flat cover shoes from her paper bag, she swiftly pu-ll-ed off her n.ude heels before sli-pping into her black shoes,
“Don’t mind me, I had to wear the nûd£ shoe to avoid my mum’s drama, but I am more comfortable in this one, hope you don’t mind?” she asked,
“Your mum is such a vibe,” he chuckled, “It’s fine, you are beautiful in either of the shoes my dear,”
“Thank you, George,” she smiled as he zoomed out of their compound.
“Do you mind if I pl@ya song?” he asked,
“Sure, plea-se go ahead,” she faked a smile, she didn’t really care if he pla-yed a song or not. He pla-yed ‘I found love’ by Major, she gave him a weak smile as the song pla-yed solemnly. She was lost in thought as they headed to George’s surprise location. He refused to tell her where they were going as he claimed it was a surprise.
“God plea-se save me from this mess I have found myself in,” she prayed silently,
Amifel hoped that he wasn’t planning to propose again,
“If he does, then I would have to decline it outrightly, my heart is so unsettled. I nee-d my peace back,” she thought to herself,
Of a truth, living outside of God’s will robs you of your peace, is it really worth it?
Episode 10
Amifel tried to feign excitement when they entered Li Wuan Chinese restaurant, it was one of the best in Naijel state where they lived, it looked as exotic as its name portends. She was supposed to be excited, as she loved outings, especially surprise outings like the one she was in. But her mind was too crowded to think straight.
George must have spent a fortune to secure a sp©t for them at Li Wuan Chinese Restaurant, George held her hands as they walked on, occasionally looking at her face, he wanted to see the excitement in her eyes, he wanted to know that she was impressed.
Amifel noticed and she tried not to disappoint him, she cat-walked throu-gh the beautiful hallway with smiles on her face and questions on her mind, she took a quic-k glance at the handsome young man who held her fragile hands tenderly, she could tell that he loved her and she loved him too, and that was what made everything ha-rder.
He led her to a table for two, sited directly in front of a window, and there stood before her, the most beautiful garden she had ever seen in reality.
“Wow, this is beautiful,” she commended, he must have felt like a fulfilled man because his face shone like someone who just hit a jackpot,
“I’m glad you like it, babe,” he said, pu-lling out one of the chairs for her to sit, the glas-s table was beautifully decorated with a bunch of roses in a cute flower vase which was placed at the center of the table.
“Like? I love it, Thank you George! “she said in a shrill voice,
“I’m really happy to hear that sweetheart, I’ve been planning this d@t£ for about 2 weeks now” he replied as she sat down still wowed by the sight in front of her.
“Wow, wow! I’m amazed, ”
“Anything for you my love,” he said as she smiled, they both picked up the brown ha-rd cover menu placed on the table in front of them. The menu contained a list of various Chinese recipes including Fried shrimps with cashew nuts, Kung Pao chicken, Yangchow fried rice, br@ised pork ba-lls in gravy, Sichuan pork, and more,
They were glancing throu-gh the ha-rd cover menu when a Chinese waitress interrupted them, she had the regular round-shaped face of a Chinese, she was putting on a well-ironed navy blue straight go-wn on black stiletto shoes and her long lvstrous hair was packed into a ponytail.
“Hello ‘sirrr’ end ‘marrr’” she greeted, obviously trying to sound Nigerian but was given away by her Chinese accent, “May I harve your ordies?” she continued.
“Yeah, sure.” George answered, “I’d have Fried shrimps with cashew nuts and fresh fruit jui-ce, how about you babe?”
“The dishes on this menu sounds funny, I hope they don’t taste as funny as they sound,” she said, as her eye ran throu-gh the menu. She was yet to try any and was quite in a fix.
“They ‘arrr oll’ nice,” the Chinese waitress ch!pped in,
“I’m not sure what the recipes would taste like, maybe I’ll just have the fried shrimps he ordered too”
“Fried shrimps and cashew ‘nats’?” the Chinese waitress asked,
“Yes plea-se,” they answered almost at once.
“Would you love to have fresh fruit jui-ce too?” George asked,
“I’d have preferred coke; or do you have coke?” Amifel asked the Chinese waitress who looked confused, she meant it to be a sarcastic question.
“Do you have ‘Kele’?” George asked, leaving Amifel to wonder what he was up to,
“Oh ‘Kele’! yeah, is that ‘oll’?” She asked,
“Yeah, for now. Thank you.” George concluded as the waitress walked away, Amifel sh0t George a puzzled look,
“Get re-ady to have two drinks because I am not taking your ‘kele’ or whatever you call it, ”
George laughed lightly before responding to her,
“Didn’t you say you wanted coke?” he asked, to which she nodded, “’kewe’ is the Chinese word for coke,” he announced, still laughing,
“Oh, I didn’t know that,”
“Now you know babe,”
They had a light chat till the Chinese waitress brou-ght their orders in less than 20 minutes, just as they were about to dig into their meal, they heard a sound of people cl@pping and chattering close by, as they looked behind them, they saw a fine white young man on his knees proposing to a lady as-sumed to be his woman, with a glistering diamond ring as people cheered them on. The beautiful dark-skinned lady nodded in response, obviously mesmerized as she looked to amazed to say a word, her eyes were we-t with tears of joy. George smiled, joining in the cl@pping as the man sli-pped the diamond ring into her slender f!nger before lifting her up in a Hollywood fashion and planting a k!sson her forehead. At this point, George was alre-ady on his feet, cl@pping, ma-king funny sounds, and nodding all at once
Amifel was glued to her seat as she suddenly felt cold shivers run down her spines, she imagined George trying to propose to her, right there in the public, and she felt terrified,
“Dear father, plea-se give me this last chance, plea-se don’t allow George to propose here. I beg you, George doesn’t deserve this right here, right now, plea-se father,” she prayed with desperation.
The couple had created quite a scene as people were seen chatting excitedly, it was obviously a lovely beginning for the beautiful duo.
“That was a boss move right there,” George commended, stealing occasional glances at the couples who were still mushy,
“Yeah,” Amifel said coldly, trying to fake a smile while digging her cutlery into the food on her plate, she couldn’t tell whether the food was delicious or tasteless as the crispy nuts dropped on her ton-gue. George chewed on his food hurriedly, he seemed to be enjoying the meal.
“Hope you like it, babe?” He asked, still focused on his food, Amifel nodded as she gulped the coke in her glas-s cu-p. The evening crept in swiftly and the couples were still around when they were leaving the restaurant.
“Congratulations once again,” George greeted stretching out his hands as they pas-sed by their table,
“Thank you, man,” the man greeted, his almost white skin made him look like a non-Nigerian,
Amifel gave them an awkward smile as she seemed in a hurry to leave the premises. The journey back to her house was a rather quiet one, she wondered what was going throu-gh George’s mind, he was not the type to keep quiet especially after a d@t£, thankfully there was no traffic and as George st©pped at the front of their gate, she felt like she just escaped a fiery furnace as she felt the evening cool breeze on her soft skin.
“Thank you, George, I had a great time,” she said, looking exhausted, she obviously had the opposite,
“You didn’t seem to happy with the engaged couples, do you know any of them?” George asked instead,
“What, no! I don’t know either of them, I was just feeling a little dizzy,” Amifel said, taken aback by his question, she alre-ady carried her bag and was about getting down from the car,
“Okay,” he said, but he wasn’t looking okay, “Have a plea-sant night rest,” he said,
“Alright babe, drive safely and call me when you get home,” she said as she ban-ged the car door,
George was definitely bothered about her reaction to the newly engaged couples but it wasn’t what he thought it was,
Hope he isn’t going to take this too far?
Written by Sodamade Olamide Tolulope.
TO BE CONTINUED