Chapter 49 THE MEET

S E G U N

IKOYI REGISTRY

Lagos, Nigeria.

Tracy telling me Eve is still alive right before I inform her I don't want to get married to her has got to be the biggest fucking irony in history.

Unless I'm being punked.

I look around me. First at Dipo whose face is impassive. Dude has learnt to school his features into a semblance of perfect neutrality.

I look over to Femi who looks just as confused as myself, and then I search for Eve's parents, only to notice they're looking at everywhere except at me.

Matter of fact, they look like they're trying hard not to look at me.

Does it mean . . .

I swing confused eyes back to Tracy. She's looking at me imploringly, so I break away from her and stride to where Eve's dad is about walking off.

"Is it true?"

He sighs heavily and turns round to look at me.

"Yes, it is."

I stagger back, shock spiralling through me.

"You knew all this while and you made me suffer? You made me believe she was gone forever?"

"It's not like that, you don't understand -----"

"How long have you known Eve is alive, and where is she?" I'm still very much confused as to why they kept this away from me. "TELL ME!" I scream.

Eve's mother speaks up.

"Listen, Segun, I think it's best the way things are. My daughter went through a tumultuous time all because of you, and I don't want ---"

"Oh this is just great! And here I was thinking we had settled whatever issues we were having, and you don't hold a grudge against me."

"Look, son ---" Eve's dad makes to put his hand on my shoulder but I shrug it off and walk over to where Tracy is.

I take a deep breath and gather her hands in mine. "Look Tracy, it's not my intention to hurt you, but let's be quite candid. You and I . . ." I swing a finger in between the space between us. " . . . not going to work." I watch as her face falls. Tears immediately pool in her eyes but I'm not able to stop speaking. "They say life gives you two loves." I move closer to her and wipe away the tears that are now spilling like dew drops onto her cheeks. "Not me." I shake my head as tears also begin dropping onto my cheeks. "I only ever loved one woman, and that's Eve. Thanks for telling me she's still alive, but now I need you to tell me exactly where she is because I need to see her."

At my admission, Tracy bursts into tears and I take her into my arms.

The court house suddenly erupts with noise as chairs scrape the ground. With stiff shakes of their heads, snap of their fingers and raised shoulders, people begin walking out. From the corner of my eyes, I see Eve's parents following the throng of people but I don't stop them.

Tracy continues crying and so I lead her to one of the chairs where I sit her down and take her into my arms once again.

She seems inconsolable as she cries her heart out.

At a point, the registry empties totally, leaving only Tracy and I.

The court clerk comes to meet us and informs us another wedding will take place in the next twenty minutes. I tell him to give me just ten. That should be enough time for me to get all the information I need on Eve's whereabouts from Tracy.

I sit Tracy up and stare deep into her eyes. "Listen to me. You never really loved me. I was just someone for you to conquer, just like you did my father. You need to move on now, find someone who genuinely is interested in you. Someone who can stay by your side through thick and thin. And when you find that person, take things easy, let him do the chasing. Relax and enjoy being chased. Don't ever feel you're not good enough because you are, most especially to the one who loves you." At my words, her eyes begin to pool again with tears, but I shake my head. "You've cried enough, it's time for you to wipe those tears and move on in life. So please, do me this last favour and tell me where my soul mate is."

It takes a bit of time and I begin to get worried I won't be able to pry any information on Eve's whereabouts from her, but she suddenly raises her head and smiles tremulously at me.

After a few sniffles, she nods, as if making up her mind.

"Alright, I'll tell you what you need to know."

TEN HOURS LATER

London, England.

Touch down into London is smooth, and after going through the usual airport routine and seeing as I don't have any luggage to wait around for, I soon find myself on the sidewalk outside the busy airport, thumbing down a taxi.

London sits dismal and dank. Not a spark of sunlight can be seen. Buildings, people and general life have been seemingly obliterated by the foggy haze which now hangs thick in the sky like a heavy cobweb. It fills the air, blocking my view, except for a few feet in front of me.

I hunch over as a sudden gust of wind blows, almost knocking me off my feet.

If someone had told me I would be in London in my wedding tux without any luggage and not wearing any top coat in the peak of Autumn, I'd have probably told the person to get his head examined.

Yet . . . here I am doing the exact thing and not regretting any moment of it.

A taxi screeches to a stop in front of me, shocking me into silence. The driver bends his head, assessingly, probably trying to figure out if I'm deaf as well as blind seeing as I haven't reacted to his arrival.

He presses his horn impatiently. "Come on, mate, I haven't got all day. You going somewhere or not?"

Breaking out of my stupor, I shake my head, clearing it of the cobwebs and bend to the window level of the taxi. "Green lake street, please."

"You're in luck, I'm actually heading that way. Hop in!"

This time, I grab the handle of the door with a vigour that wasn't initially present in me, and practically jump inside the back seat.

My hands have begun to freeze, so I cup them against my mouth and blow air into them, but that does little or nothing.

"Cold, mate?" The driver stares at me from the rear view mirror, pity lacing his eyes.

I nod, suddenly feeling drained.

"I'll turn up the heat for you."

"Th . . . th . . .thank you." My teeth have begun to chatter.

I'm cold as fuck and the jacket I'm wearing isn't doing much in the way of protection.

"I know it's none of my business, but where's your luggage?" He stares at me through the rear view mirror once more.

Not in the mood for small talk, I look out my side of window, not bothering to reply.

Unfortunately, this guy isn't letting up anytime soon.

"Alright, let me guess. You flew in for a business meeting?" Once again he looks at me through the rear view mirror, so I decide to humour him and shake my head. "No? You're here for a wedding then?"

I shake my head once again.

"Hmm!" He rubs his chin thoughtfully. Suddenly his eyes flash with mischief and he raises his forefinger in the air. "Ah! I've got it." His fixes a gaze on me and I can tell from the triumphant smile he's got going on, he thinks he knows the answer. "It's a woman. You're here because you finally found your long lost love."

I whip my head up so fast, I know I'm going to get a creak in my neck later.

How did he know?

"From the look on your face I see I'm correct." He sighs deeply and keeps quiet. Without being told, I sense the sudden change in his mood.

I know I wasn't in the mood for small talk initially, but with what he just said, I need him to keep talking.

"I know what you're thinking." He shakes his head. "No, I'm not a soothsayer, just a lover scorned."

And throughout the rest of the journey, he regales me with a love so great - a love that was not meant to be. He travelled all the way to Spain to surprise his girlfriend who was attending college there, only to find her smugly ensconced in the arms of another man -- a man that obviously wasn't him.

As you can imagine, that was the end of his great love affair.

After he finishes his story, he lapses into silence, no doubt trying to quell the bitter sour sting of his ex-girlfriend's unfaithfulness.

Once we get to green lake street, I pay him and come down from the taxi, my heart sinking to my feet.

Would I find Eve in the arms of another man?

I shake off the dark cloud looming over my head and gaze round at the surrounding.

The fog seens to have cleared a bit, enabling me realise with a sinking feeling, I'm in a quiet suburb. That means no one to ask directions from. The streets are quiet and desolate looking. The bungalows are all painted in the same pasty yellow colour. They sit, almost squashed together, like tight matchboxes begging to be set apart to breathe.

Metal suddenly clangs, making me jump in fright.

Relax! It's a harmless mailbox.

When did I become this jumpy?

I'm guessing it's because I honestly don't know what I'll find once I come face to face with her.

Will her dimples be on show today as she welcomes me warmly, or will her mouth turn down sourly in distate on seeing me?

Mentally shaking off the sudden tightness in my chest, I try to figure out where to start looking for 23b as I will my feet to start moving.

After a few minutes of walking to the end of the street with no sign of the number, I bring out the piece of paper from my pocket which has the address Tracy gave to me on it.

I glance at it, and then look up at the houses, my eyes searching. I see a 22a, but the next one is 24a and b. I go back the way I came and begin the ardous walk down the long, winding street, but by the time I get to the end of it, the annoying truth stares me in the face.

Tracy played me.

Cold and frustrated, irritation begins to build up inside of me.

Seeing as there's no one on the street for me to ask for directions, I slump against a light pole, breathing heavily.

I'm not going to give up. I didn't come all the way just to come up empty.

I must find Eve.

I suddenly sight three white kids walking towards me kicking a football, so I push off from the street light and approach them.

"Hey guys, I'm looking for number 23b. Know where it is?"

They all stop and stare at me penetratingly, assessingly. None of them speaks. And then the one in front looks back at his two friends, taps one of them on his chest and then looks back at me with a smirk on his face.

Even before he opens his mouth, I know he's not going to say anything nice.

"I hear people in Africa live on trees. Must be your first time seeing a house." His pinched accent comes out like he's talking through his nose, and it's all I can do not to laugh. Instead, he does the laughing and throws a look at his other two friends who also laugh along with him.

I lift a brow and gift him with a smirk of my own. "You're quite right. Want to know something else?"

Their whole stance changes. Their eyes become more alert. Animated. Curious. Their mouths fall open and they unknowingly move closer to me.

Seeing as I've gotten their attention, I stoop to their height and curl my lips in a sinister manner. "Humans with long tails at their backs move around without clothes on." I stop to drive my point home, and take my time to fix a chilling gaze on each of them. ". . . and they eat naughty children like you as punishment."

Their eyes round to almost saucers as they shake their heads furtively and shuffle backwards. They turn round, almost falling all over themselves in a bid to get away from me.

I stand up and grin, as I feel the cold seeping into me once again.

That will teach them to stop poking fun at people.

Sighing tiredly, I close my eyes, mentally readying myself to keep looking for 23b.

"Send me a sign, Lord!" I whisper.

Once I open them, I see something black tucked on the side of a building. It's almost unnoticeable but it's there. My steps quicken as I walk towards it. Sure enough, it's a number sign. The closer I get to it, the more I'm able to make out the number 2. The number 3 is almost falling off the building.

Exhiliriation surges through me as I stand and gaze at the building where my princess is in.

The more steps I take towards the bungalow, the more I realise I could easily have missed it and gone around in circles instead.

"Thanks, God!" I whisper, looking up at the sky.

With renewed vigour I stride to the door, fist raised, ready to break it down if possible, but then I hear voices and I pause.

The voices stop, making me think I imagined them.

Call me curious or stupid but as I lift my hand once more ready to rap on the door, voices sound off again, making me back away and follow the source.

They lead me to a window.

The curtains are pulled back and I'm able to make out the image of a man and woman talking. They're both backing the window, but I can clearly see the woman is distressed. The man immediately gets up and goes to hold her.

His arms remain around her for an inordinately long period of time. That's how long I stand staring through the window like a fucking creep.

I remind myself this isn't Nigeria, and I could easily get thrown in jail for being a peeping Tom, but as I back away, the man turns round, giving me a perfect view of his face.

My blood runs cold as I recognise the person stooping to whisper into the woman's ears.

Now he's giving her a kiss . . .

No! Not on the forehead!

That must be Eve he's smooching.

So she ran away to London to be with Nathan.

Anger laces through me hot and sharp . . . and I let it, because I didn't stay away for two long suffering years only to get blocked by another man - Nathan to be precise.

Throwing caution to the winds, I move back to the door, and rap on it like I own the whole damn building. I don't stop until someone opens up.

"Taye?!"

The surprise in my voice is evident as I stare up at her.

She cocks her head to the side as a frown inches across her forehead.

"Who are you?" The ridges on her forehead deepen as she looks at me from head to toe. Seconds later, it clears and in it's place, a thunderous anger takes root. "You must be Segun."

Okay! So she isn't Taye.

"What are you doing ---"

"The door opens wider and someone else joins the woman who looks like Taye, at the door.

Once her eyes settle on me, her face breaks into an ear-splitting grin.

"Well look who the cat dragged in. The one and only man with two different confusing nationalities."

The real Taye stands beside her look-alike grinning like someone high on crack.

And me . . . I stand confused and lost, staring at two people who are almost identical.

Then it dawns on me.

They're twins.

"You're Kehinde!" I say stupidly, pointing to the woman I mistook as Taye. She doesn't seem pleased to see me though. Her face keeps undergoing some muscle tick. I'm willing to bet she's fucking livid and it's directed at me.

Taye thankfully diffuses the situation by teling me to come in.

Still in a daze, I put one feet forward, when Kehinde lets out a resounding. "NO!

The door opens wider still, as someone else joins the circus.

"What's all the ruckus ab---"

Her words cut off immediately she sets eyes on me.

For the first time in my entire existence, I understand the meaning of the phrase 'rendered speechless.' I'm living that very truth right now as I stare at the woman before me.

Alright, let me just say this. I know my princess is beautiful, but the woman before me now is hot damn!

She's practically spitting fire from every pore.

Her eyes were a beautiful light brown shade before, but now there are flecks of gold embedded in them. They look like the eyes of an exotic tiger. She's obviously wearing contacts, which makes me wonder. She's never been a vain person, what's changed?

She's wearing a long loose - fitted dress, leaving her shoulders on display. There's an extra shine to her caramel skin. She's glowing. She doesn't need to wear form fitting clothes for me to realise she's still got an amazing figure going on underneath, if memory serves me well.

Silence so profound reigns as we gape at each other. That's right - 'gape' is a very fitting word for what we're both doing.

My bottom jaw is practically hitting the floor, but I gotta tell you, her's is doing same as well.

After what seems like ages, she gathers herself -- leaving me to snag first place in the gaping contest -- and a look quite similar to Kehinde's steals across her face.

In a voice dripping with cold anger, she addresses me. "What are you doing here?"

I gotta tell you at this juncture I've pretty much turned into stone. I flap my mouth like a fish out of water and continue gaping at the most beautiful woman ever to grace the earth.

Something flickers in her eyes and anger gives way to uncertainly as one of her hands glide to the short baby curls on her head and begin to twirl.

Her beautiful natural locks - it's all gone.

Her eyes shift downwards and settle at a pebble at her feet. She refuses to make eye contact with me. It hurts witnessing her reaction to me, and even though we didn't part on a good note two years ago, has she forgotten about me so soon?

My throat clogs up. No matter how much I try, I can't put into words what I've been rehearsing saying on the plane ride here.

Sudden movement at her feet distracts me as the folds of her dress part to show a little girl with sun-kissed skin. Her light brown eyes are big and round as they stare up at me with beguiling innocent eyes. Something about her draws me to her, and I find myself reaching out to touch her, but the spell is broken as she looses interest in me and turns her attention to Eve's leg and taps it.

"Mummy!"

I'm still trying to understand if she's referring to Eve, when a second child joins the show on the other side of Eve's leg. A male this time with similar big brown eyes as the girl's. I honestly don't need a soothsayer to tell me they're twins. The only difference is his skin colour is chocolate brown. Where the girl had looked up at me with open curiosity, the boy doesn't even glance up. He chooses instead to tap Eve on her leg, mouthing the same words as his twin sister who is still clutching Eve's leg.

Not giving me time to absorb what is going on, someone else joins the parade at the door.

He immediately puts a protective arm around Eve and draws her closer.

Fucking Nathan!

I don't know what irks me more. The fact that she lets him hold her, or that they look like one big happy family.

The picture suddenly becomes clear as I stagger back.

They actually are a family.

Eve, Nathan and their two kids.

Taye suddenly begins to cackle, eliciting dirty looks from Kehinde.

"You married him and have kids as well." It comes out as more of an accusation than a question, but I don't care anymore. I didn't sit on a plane for six hours only to witness my soulmate hitched to another man that isn't me.

This can not be happening to me right now.

"Hello, brother!"

Nathan's lips curl, whether in distaste or a smirk, I can't tell.

This time I double up, as if an invisible hand just dealt me a deadly blow in my gut.

It might as well have, because I'm wondering if I have in some inexplicable twist of fate or bad grace, stumbled through the gates of hell.