Chapter 16 BACK OR FORTH?

S E G U N

Cackle Titter titter

Where is that noise coming from?

I look around wonderingly, until my eyes zone in on Eve.

Her eyes are squeezed shut in concentration and she's got a hand firmly slapped across her mouth.

It takes me some seconds to realise the sound is actually coming from her.

Looks like she's . . .

"You're laughing?" I ask incredulously.

At this, she removes her hand from her mouth and let's loose a dam of sputtering laughter.

Am I missing something here?

I look around, trying to figure out what the big joke is about, but we're the only two people standing around in the dark.

Maybe it's something in the sky.

So I stare up at it, but I see nothing, except the moon beaming down at us and a few stars twinkling away.

I look back down at Eve, only to find out she's doubled over, a hand wrapped firmly around her middle.

She's even doing a drunken walk.

That bad?

Is she having a seizure or a mental breakdown, or something much worse?

Should I be worried?

Now she's standing up a bit, pointing at my face and spluttering out laughter in between snorts.

Is there . . . something wrong with my face?

My hand flies up to my face to check, and . . .

SMACK!

The sting that engulfs the right side of my face is annoying.

When I glance at Eve, once more, she's staring at me with barely concealed glee, trying valiantly to hold in her giggles, but they still come filtering out, anyway.

Hold up!

Is she laughing at me?

And she doubles up again, this time, she falls to the ground, all the while giggling uncontrollably.

Now I'm angry.

"This isn't funny, princess. Time to stop."

At this, she kicks her feet like a two year old having a meltdown, and continues giggling like it's going out of fashion.

Can you believe it when I tell you I'm standing here looking at her and wondering if I need to take her to Yaba left, or somewhere more appropriate.

"Y . . . y . . ." She haltingly points a finger at me, all the while trying to get the words out, while still rolling on the floor.

So I stalk off from her, hoping this will break the hysteria gripping her.

This seems to do the trick, because soon after, I hear footsteps following me. I turn around, just in time to see her smiling mischievously.

Once we're safely buckled up in the car, I glance at her once more to ascertain if she's not going to pull a laughing gas move on me, but she seems stable . . . for now.

As I navigate through the dark streets that are now quiet, the only noise that keeps popping up now and again, is Eve's on-and-off chuckling, coupled with the glances she keeps throwing at me.

"You looked verrrry scared earlier on, while facing my dad." Her voice comes out quiet and soft. "I mean, sometimes, I get scared of him too, but you don't need to worry, he's actually a good sort, he won't harm you." She chuckles at her last statement, and that's when I realise the reason for her initial hysterical laughter.

She knew I was scared shitless while standing in front of her dad, and her seeing me that way, set off the giggles.

It was a form of release as well as a relief for her. She had to do it, or break. In as much as I can't completely understand what she's going through, I definitely empathise with how she's feeling.

What upsets me most is the fact that I'm the cause of it all. The big bad --- okay, not wolf, but I'm the big bad man, rather Mr. Faseun is.

Never. going. to. call. him. my. father. Ever.

Never. Gonna. Happen.

I get lost in my thoughts, and I know she does as well, because she remains quiet for most of the drive. Instead of taking us towards Lekki, to my place, as I initially planned, I decide on a hunch, to drive to a neutral place, somewhere that won't act as a trigger for her.

Almost half an hour later as I drive into the car park, my car headlights swings an arc across the dimly-lit area, leaving shadows in it's wake. It's quite understandable that no cars are present at this time. It's a little after midnight and I know Bowl-N-Spoon is closed. My hands close over the key in my pocket. I'm silently happy I decided to bring it along.

"This is Tina's place." Eve turns to me with barely concealed surprise in her voice. "I thought you said ----"

"Yeah, true." I smile at her, noticing how she unconsciously moves close to me. "I felt it'd be best for me to take you elsewhere that won't remind you of ----"

"Thank you." Her smile is full of sincerity as she gazes up at me. A dimple decides to pop up and say hello, and I gaze in wonder at it.

It's been too long since I last saw it. Mesmerised, I'm drawn to her like a moth is to light, and just as I'm about to cup her chin, she draws back, with a frown marring her face and looks outside the window instead.

"We should go inside," she says nervously, and begins unbuckling herself from the seat.

My hands which were frozen in mid-air, drop onto my sweats. I feel regret surge through me as I watch her come down from the car.

I can't help but wonder if this is how it's always going to be with us from now on.

Wierd and Awkward.

I decide here and now to work hard to make things work between us.

She stands to the side, silently watching me as I approach her. When I get in front of her, I search her eyes as she gazes up at me. She looks sombre and serious, both at the same time.

Still gazing at her, I take her hand in mine. At first she resists and pulls back a bit, but not long after, she clasps my hand loosely as we begin walking towards the front door. As we get close to it, her hold on my hand tightens and I smile to myself, luxuriating in my little victory.

Looks like there's hope for us, after all.

_@_

E V E

Once l place my palm inside his, the familiar tingles begin at my fingers and shoot up ---- straight into my arm. A slight tug from him sets me back to reality, and so I shake off the tingly feeling that's begun darting into other parts of my body, and concentrate, instead, on putting one foot in front of the other.

We step across the threshold and into a corridor completely enshrouded in darkness.

"Don't be scared, princess." Aurey whispers into my ear, and I shiver as the tingles begin racing up and down my spine, this time more relentlessly. He feels my reaction, but interprets it as fear, so he draws me close and puts an arm around my shoulder.

There's some ruffling noise and the sound of a key being turned inside a lock. This is quickly followed by the flick of a switch, and everywhere is suddenly bathed in light.

I step through the door and begin to walk slowly inside, all the while gazing at everything in awe.

Dejavu has never seemed so memorable as it does right now.

The bar stools, the high tables, the colourful-looking bottles, the round tables and the high Gilt chairs, the juke box in the corner, even the paint ---- everything, and I mean everything, brings back memories of the first time I was here with Aurey.

The kiss that started on the chair which later transported me up against the wall, and the nail that brought me back down to earth again.

I still have a red mark on my back till this day as testament to that episode.

But what would have happened that day, if we'd gone all the way?

With all the drama going on now, maybe the better question would be; what would have happened, if we'd never even met?

Would I have remained drama free?

Somehow, I think our paths were meant to cross.

I turn around slowly, taking everything in, until I spy Aurey in the corner, leaning against the edge of the counter with an elbow on it, legs crossed at the ankles, eyes on me.

Natural, laid back pose, but the look in his eyes say otherwise.

It's a wierd look, and I can't quite put a finger on the emotion they're trying to portray.

Does he feel it too?

All the memories we made here?

As if in reply to my silent question, a smile curves at his lips as memories begin swirling in his eyes.

I turn away from him, when his eyes practically bore into me with hot, soul-searching intensity.

You'd better believe it when I tell you I don't want to be caught napping with gooey eyes directed at him. So not wanting to get into that particular vibe, just yet, I turn away from him, and move to sit in a chair.

I hear his footsteps recede and I turn to look outside the window. It overlooks the car park where everything is dark, save for the dim light projected from the security light.

Suddenly, the window dissapears, and in it's wake, small drizzles of water begin to fall from the top, startling me, but when I try to touch it, I feel the solidness of the window stopping me.

Oh I see! A fake backdrop. Yet it looks so real, just like how my relationship with Aurey feels right now.

The realisation startles me, drawing tears to my eyes, but I shake my head and will it away.

Earlier on, while Tom talked to me about his relationship with Ronke, I'd stared at him like a zombie, until he came to the realisation I wasn't listening to him and stopped talking altogether. He'd taken one good look at me and decided to leave me alone.

He must have suspected things were not right with me, but instead of coming outright to ask me what was wrong, he'd murmured unintelligible words, and left me to my wondering thoughts.

And so I'd sat, zoned out of my head, not able to stand up, not able to think, not able to do anything. I'd just stared, and that's how dad found me.

According to him, he'd knocked on the door severally, but not hearing anything, decided to come in.

Dad took one look at me, opened his arms wide and I'd rushed into them, where he rocked me silently, as fierce sobs tore through me. Thankfully, not a word slipped forth from his lips as he held me.

After I calmed down, I'd moved away from him and mouthed a silent thank you to him.

"Do you love him?" His question had come out of nowhere. I hung my head in shame and nodded, but he cupped my chin and tilted my face up to meet his searching eyes. "You've got to do better than that, sweetheart."

I'd smiled then, and given him the answer he wanted to hear. "Yes Dad, with all my heart."

His next question had thrown me off. "Wanna bet?"

I'd frowned, not understanding what he meant.

So he'd repeated his question, this time, going into more detail. "Wanna bet your Romeo will be here within the hour, maybe less?"

"Princess!" Aureliano's voice wrenches me away from my thoughts and anchors me firmly back to the present. I stare at him, blinking away the remnants of the conversation I had with dad.

He sits across me, solemn brown eyes fixed worriedly on me. "Are you okay? You zoned out for a bit."

Since this whole debacle started today, with him, I'd been zoning out pretty much.

Suddenly, I can't hold back any longer as I blurt out. "Three months! It's been three months since our baby was lost to us, Aurey."

It's his turn to hang his head. Not long after, he raises it and looks at me, eyes shining with intensity. "I day-dreamed of a cute little girl with almond-shaped eyes like yours." As he says this, he stands up and comes to stoop in front of me. "Dents on either side of her cheeks, just like yours." His fingers begin skimming my face, feathery soft strokes that rope me into closing my eyes. They caress my cheeks, and land on my chin, cupping and drawing me close to him. "Full pink lips, just like yours." He thumbs my lips, tracing and parting them.

I open my eyes, just in time to see him closing his and swallowing hard, his adam's apple bobbing up and down. Without warning, he comes close and takes me by surprise, as his lips land on mine with a fierceness that see's me parting my lips to allow his tongue delve inside. It strokes mine, sending thrill upon thrill racing throughout my body.

Things get a little heavy when his hands begin roving. And as suddenly as he started, he stops, and leans his forehead on mine breathing heavily. "I need you now, princess. Please don't stop me." He takes my head in-between his hands and gazes into my eyes, and I see our breaths mingling as he continues staring at me.

I feel the need for oneness with him drawing me close.

My body definitely aches for him. For his touch. For his hands to work their magic on me.

My eyes instinctively slide to his lips. His whole bottom lip is tucked firmly inside his mouth, except for a tiny edge which he's biting on in anxiety or anticipation, I can't really tell.

I decide to draw out the silence a bit to make him squirm. His eyes graze mine. Checking, searching. Waiting for approval. So I decide to close my eyes to avoid the raw emotions he bares to me. I hear him groan and feel his fingers leaving my face.

He thinks he's lost.

It's time to tell him how I feel.

Why fight a loosing battle?

"I won't stop you." I say quietly, my voice echoing in the stillness of the room.

And then I open my eyes to see him staring at me, his eyes flashing with raw lust. Then they dim into something more gentle. "I love you, baby." He whispers, right before he hefts me up and wraps my legs around his waist. We resume kissing, and I feel myself being carried and set against the wall.

His touch becomes more rough. Persistent. Rogue.

I'd forgotten just how wild and untamed he can get in the throes of passion. I moan as he paves a pathway down my body, sliding off my shorts and revealing nothing else underneath.

With my legs still around his waist, he bevels me against the wall with his body, and slips his sweat pants down his legs with one hand.

Dejavu rears it's head again, when I remember how he had me up against this same wall. In this exact same position, except now there's no nail to stop us.

He's definitely trying to achieve what he didn't set out to do that day.

And I'm going to let him.

I zone out, for real, this time, and concentrate only, on the feel of him inside me.

Our groans and moans reach a fevered pitch, and just as I'm about climaxing, the door handle jiggles, and without any warning, it opens to reveal a woman.

She stares at us with horror-fiilled eyes, mouth agape, and suddenly let's loose an ear-piercing scream that shocks us into freeze mode.

This woman must be bat-shit crazy, because who grins after such a blood-curdling scream?