Saved by Love
By Olufunlola Adeola
Episode 7
Adara told Akinlolu about Mrs. Williams and the cheque and he was genuinely happy for her. He advised her to start her business and that weekend, they both drew a layout plan for the shop and work started immediately throu-gh phone calls. She got a suitable building that week but she nee-ded to redesign the building to fit the plan she had for the shop. Fortunately for her, the building was along the road side in a very busy main street . And other shops and houses were around, so it was not solitary.
Two weeks later, Mrs. Williams called her, she was in the sitting room with Akinlolu, she picked up,
“Hello, good evening ma.”
“My dear, how are you?”
“Fine ma. How are you and everyone?”
“Fine o. I am calling to specially invite you to the welcome back p@rty I am having for my daughter tomorrow.”
“Ah, ma, I can’t make it.”
“Why?”
“Nothing ma.”
“Come on, talk to me.”
“It’s just, I don’t want people seeing me yet.”
“Ohkay, come on, you can’t hide forever and don’t worry there will be no paparazzi pres£nt. It’s just family and friends and I alre-ady promised my husband you are going to be around
. Also, if you are so worried, during introductions, just stick with your first name.”
“Okay ma.”
“And bring that friend of yours too.”
“My friend? He might be busy.”
“It’s a he? Hmm.”
“It’s not like that o, ma.”
“I am just teasing. The two of you should come. I can’t wait to see your beautiful face tomorrow. I will s£nd you the address and time as soon as possible. Take care.”
“You too ma.” Adara replied and dropped her phone.
“I take it, that’s Mrs. Williams.” Akinlolu said with his face glued to his new system.
“Yeah and she wants me to come to her daughter’s p@rty tomorrow with you.”
“I am free, at least we can finally go out as a couple.”
“Akinlolu!” Adara rebuked, frowning at him,
“I was just pu-lling your legs but just as a reminder, my feelings for you has not diminished by an inch.”
“I know, st©p stating the obvious. I told you I am not re-ady, don’t spoil this beautiful thing between us called friendsh!p.”
“Okay ma, what’s for dinner?” Akinlolu replied changing the t©pic.
…………
The next day pas-sed like a whiff of air and soon it was 04:30pm, Akinlolu earlier but he promised Adara he will be back early so they can leave the house by 05:00 pm or thereabout as the Williamses house is forty-five minutes to one-hour drive. She started getting re-ady. She put her br@ided hair up in a bun and picked out her dress for the evening, a sleeveless black and white attire. She did her make up quic-kly, taking her black purse and made her way out of her room.
Akinlolu was waiting for her. ‘He must have been back while I was getting re-ady’ She thought. He was wearing a black attire and looking good. As she stepped out, his eyes appraised her, and she said,
“You can take a picture, that’s permanent.”
“Whatever, you look good.”
“You don’t look bad yourself.” She said and they left the house.
Soon they were at the Williams’. Akinlolu rang the bell and it was opened by Mrs. Williams herself.
“Oh, Adara, you c@m£.”
“Yes ma. Good evening ma.” Adara said and they hvgged and k!$$£d each other’s cheeks.
“And this must be…?”
“I am Akinlolu Coker ma.”
“And I am Tiwalade Williams. Now, I have no choice but to believe the saying that the Coker men are one handsome species when it comes to the male group.”
“I am honoured to live up to the name, ma.”
“I like this boy alre-ady.” Mrs. Williams said looking at Adara and they all laughed.
“plea-se go in. Make yourself comfortable. I will be with you shortly.” She said again and stepped aside giving them room to go in after which she went out.
True to her words, it was just a family and friends thing. And no paparazzi. The get-together started and everyone was discussing taking pictures and swirling a glas-s of wine in their hands. Soon, it was time for meet and greet and everyone was introducing themselves. Mrs. Williams took Adara and Akinlolu to meet her husband. He thanked her and said prayers and told her she was welcome into his home anytime and that he was glad to have a second daughter because she is no longer a friend to the family.
After that, someone probably from work, who happened to know Akinlolu hijacked him from her and she had to stand around alone when she heard a voice at her back,
“You must be the SU Mum has been going on and on about.” Adara turned to see a younger version of Mrs. Williams. ‘This must be Mrs. Williams daughter; I have to keep my calm.’
“SU?”
“Yea, you know the Caribbean Sk-irt and long slacks, all flesh covered kind of girl. I use to believe those are the only 21st century females that can you know do the kind of miracle that occurred in my house.” She said and Adara ti-pped her head back and laughed,
“But you are not, you are just like every other person in this room, how did it happen? Tell me, by the way, I am Omobolade Williams.”
“Yea, I know you. I am Adaramola Zamani. You can call me Adara. Well, as a Christian, you have the power to speak and for it to come to pas-s, you just nee-d to believe and live in that realization. But that day, I didn’t do anything, I only prophesied and it c@m£ to pas-s because God is not a liar.”
“I nee-d ladies like you in my life. Where have you been hiding?”
“I don’t know but I nee-d ladies like you in my life too.” Adara said and they laughed.
“Lol, what’s so special about me?”
“A lot, I was going to ask for an appointment with your Studio when things fell ap@rt in my life.”
“Really? Are you a Model?”
“Was. I had a fashion sto-re with the label ‘Zamani’ and was modelling p@rt time.”
“Zamani?! I was thinking about that name immediately you mentioned it but I didn’t place it. You are Sunshine FM’s daughter!”
“Yea, you say it like it’s a big deal.”
“Of course, it is a big deal. You are a celebrity. I heard you travelled out; did you just get back?”
“That’s a long story for another day, I’m sorry.”
“Okay but you must tell me later. So, that handsome man of yours…”
“Back up, I gat no man.”
“Sister, my eyes are wi-de open. You c@m£ in here with a fresh bobo.”
“Oh! That’s…”
“And what are you girls discussing?” Mrs. Williams interrupted,
“Adara was just about to gist me about her man.” Bolade answered,
“He is not my man.” Adara replied,
“Yeah, but his eyes can’t keep from following you around.” Bolade commented and Adara turned and she met Akinlolu’s eyes on cue from across the room. She raised her glas-s to him and he smiled at her.
“See? He is not your man at all.” Bolade said as Mrs.
. Williams stood by watching them, they looked good together. She knew Adara will help her daughter spiritually. The girl nee-ds good friends. She asked,
“You are staying with him, right?”
“Yes ma. He is like a brother to me. He has been there for me since I left home.”
“That’s good of him.”
“Yes ma.”
“But I think when you can afford it, get a separate ap@rtment so that people won’t be thinking something else.”
“I un-derstand ma, I have been thinking about it for a while now.”
Bolade joined in the conversation, “Whatever, if he asks you out, you must accept. Why decline a brother this good?”
“Bolade!”
“Seriously Mum, that’s the truth.” Bolade insisted and her mother shook her head a little and left. “Did you design this dress yourself, Adara?
“Yea, though it’s not a new…”
“It is beautiful. Let me have your phone.” Bolade said and Adara gave her, her broken screened phone wondering what she wanted to do with it and if she was going to comment on the screen.
“Here, that’s my Studio address and phone number in your memo. I want you to come by on Monday. I would like to do a few sh0ts with you.” Bolade said returning her phone and then her Dad called for a toast and soon they moved to the dining room for dinner after which everyone left
Saved by Love
By Olufunlola Adeola
Episode 8
Around past ten in the morning, Adara found her way to Shades Ph0togra-phy Studio. When she got there, she met with the receptionist who asked,
“Welcome to Shades Ph0togra-phy. How can we help you ma?”
“I would like to see Bolade plea-se.”
“You can’t see the boss without an appointment ma. If you nee-d our services, I have a form for you to fill.”
“No, thank you . Let me just call her.” Adara said and she brou-ght out her phone from her purse and called Bolade. She answered on the second ring.
“Good morning, this is Adaramola… Yeah… Okay.” Adara ended the call. Almost immediately, Bolade appeared and after crushing her into a ti-ght hvg took her into the building. It was a one sto-rey building with comp@rtments for face beat, studio settings, two offices, changing room and a rest room. After the tour, Bolade set to work with Adara and they both had fun. She made sure she left in time to prepare dinner for Akinlolu.
Adara went in a couple of times for different ph0toshoot and then two weeks after, Bolade s£nt Adara the pictures on WhatsApp and said she would like to upload it on her website and social accounts but Adara kicked against the idea. They later agreed to let it go online after her shop was re-ady.
……
Three weeks before the shop was scheduled to be re-ady, Adara called her former co-worker on a weekend,
“Good afternoon, am I speaking with Meraola Anifowoshe?”
“Yes? Who is on the line?”
“It’s Adaramola, Former Zamani Label.”
“Adara! Where have you been? I have been trying to contact you for a long time now
. Your social media accounts are just dead. And your Dad keeps saying you are out of the country, where are you?”
“Well, I am at Ibadan pres£ntly and it’s all a long story but what do you do now?”
“I am with Mayday Couture.”
“Okay, I am looking for at least two ladies that are willing to work in Ibadan as a fashion designer and another lady as the sales manager and the other lady as a cashier.”
“What are you saying? I am re-ady to work with you. I will stay with my big Aunty maybe that’s where I will meet my Mister Right. I will try to check out ladies I know that stay in Ibadan to see if we can get anyone.”
“Mera, you are such a darling.
. Thank you. Call me on this number and I will also be calling you from time to time to upd@t£ you on the progress of the shop.”
“Okay boss. Talk to you soon”
“Yeah, later. Thank you.” Adara said ending the call. God was definitely in support of this project because things are just working out easier than she expected though there were occasional holes of discouragement yet things are turning out excellent.
………
With God’s intervention and friends’ advice and supports, two months after another label hit the market and it was so dazzling and different that within four months, Incognito Label was the trending t©pic in the fashion world. Everyone in the media world was looking for the Couturier so as to interview him or her as the case may be but Adara was able to go unnoticed.
Within the first month, Mrs. Tiwalade brou-ght her friends over to come pick their choice and Bolade also c@m£ over a couple of times to buy some dresses.
The whole Fashion Shop was Ombré Fashion House and it has a boutique in one p@rt that is open to customers and both Incognito and other clothing line was being sold there. The other p@rt of the shop houses her office where she designs and then they sew. Her boutique has the name Ombré Fashion Sto-re. Then to make it easier, she opened a website where you can check an online catalogue, choose and order what dress you want then she listed Ombré as one of the Distributors.
Adara was consistent with her tithe and as more jobs c@m£ in, she decided to move into her own ap@rtment because she thought sooner or later the media will find her out, they will start publishing both things that are true and false. She went to check one nice self-contain ap@rtment (a kind of suite) not very far from her shop and after talking with the agent she had to wait while the place is painted and redesigned to her taste
tbc