Kike sprawled on her mattress and buried her head under the pillow.
She knew Uche wasn’t sure whether she was pregnant or not. He only came to challenge her and use boldness as a way to scare her, but thank God he failed.
She removed the pillow from her head and turned around on the bed, facing up.
She wouldn’t tell Desmond about the whole issue. He might end up running for his life and encouraging her to go back to Uche, but she didn’t want to end up with Uche.
She wouldn’t get tired at this point. She would stick to her word that she wasn’t pregnant and at least he wouldn’t come to her wedding to challenge her over pregnancy, she thought.
Feire had already narrated everything to Stella and left her stunned that a man could actually do such a thing to her.
She wouldn’t say men were wicked because it was a lady who also left her brother, so it had never really been about gender. It had always been about the individual.
“You said the lady’s name is Kike, right?” Stella asked again.
Feire nodded.
“What if it is our own Kike?”
Feire chuckled.
“It crossed my mind too, dear. But you know we have many Stellas in this world just like we have many Kikes.”
Stella grinned.
“I know right. So what is your plan?”
“Mosun and I are planning to attend the wedding.” She replied.
“That is your birthday, Feire. Wouldn’t it be better to just celebrate your day and leave all those craps?”
“How else would I make him know he is a crap? I can only do that by going there.”
Stella flicked her wrist to check the time on her watch.
“I can’t believe we have been talking here for the past three hours.”
“I haven’t even planned what I will air on my show tomorrow.”
“Can I join you tomorrow? Not necessarily to speak, just to be in the studio with you.”
“Sure, why not?”
“Feire, peradventure everything you have been hearing and suspecting about Desmond turns out to be true, would you give Fola a chance if he comes?”
She chuckled.
“I don’t know, Stella. I honestly don’t know.”
Stella sighed.
“I understand. Don’t worry, I won’t trouble you anymore. I just want you to think about everything properly and pray too. Trust me, I believe in prayer.”
“Thank you, Stella.”
Stella winked.
“I am going to wait for Mosun to come back before I leave. I want to see the picture of this Kike and be sure it isn’t what I’m thinking. If it is, then we are all attending that wedding together.”
“Guy, this issue is not about sending mails.” Subby stood up and walked to another chair to sit down.
Desmond had gone to visit his friends again after getting no response to the mail he sent them.
“Why would you leave one girl for another girl? Why would you be sleeping with another woman while in a relationship already? Why?” Bayo attacked.
“I made a mistake, guys. I never knew it would turn out this way. I am sorry for everything.”
Subby smirked.
“You know if sorry solved all problems, there would be no police stations, no court, no death sentence. Guy, sorry doesn’t solve every issue. How do you think that lady would feel when she eventually gets to know you are marrying another woman and never told her anything?” Subby clasped his hands together.
Desmond sighed.
“I have opened up to her.”
“Really?” Bayo dropped his phone immediately and focused fully on him. He suddenly looked more interested than before.
“Yes.” He nodded.
“So how did it go?” Subby asked.
“She was very angry with me, just as expected. I didn’t expect anything less. I just kept begging her, sent several text messages and she completely shut me out.”
Subby rubbed his eyes tiredly.
“You see why it is difficult helping you now? Anybody who sees us together would assume we are all the same. They would think we knew about everything from the beginning and just flowed with you. How many people do you want to explain this story to the same way you explained it to us? So we stand as the groom’s friends and people start pointing fingers at us too?”
Bayo nodded slowly.
“That is true, Desmond. Very true.”
“Just save me this last time, guys. I can’t go and hire friends, I would only complicate things further. Please help your guy this last time.”
Subby and Bayo glanced at each other and smiled.
“How much is aso ebi?” they chorused.
“Hey ladies.” Motun stepped into the house and greeted Stella and Feire who were seated watching a movie.
“Welcome Motun.” Feire greeted. “How was work?”
She nodded.
“Fine.”
“Welcome.” Stella greeted too.
“Thanks Stella. How are you doing?”
“I am fine.”
Motun dropped her handbag and removed her wig.
“Hope this goat beside you hasn’t been disturbing you?”
Stella grinned.
“She has actually been lovely.”
“Only goats like Motun would think such a lovely person like me is a goat.”
“Didn’t you bring out your archived attitude yesterday? Who else behaves like that if not a goat?”
“I was not just myself. Show us the picture of your Oga.” Feire replied.
“Who is your Oga? I have told you she is not my Oga. You know her name already.”
“Do you have her picture? I would love to see it.”
“Oh, so it is even you that needs her picture? Let me show you.”
Motun stood up, pressed a few buttons on her phone and handed it over to Stella.
“She’s the one!” Stella announced in shock.
“Really?” Feire moved closer to look at the phone too.
Desmond left his friends happily.
He never expected everything to turn out that way. He had thought they would insist on not participating in his wedding with Kike, but at last they agreed to save him from shame.
He didn’t know how the lies kept flowing naturally. He simply couldn’t stop anymore.
It has always been true that once you tell one lie, you would need a thousand others to cover it up.
As he drove, it crossed his mind that he hadn’t called or seen Feire for days now and she also hadn’t tried reaching him again.
Had she gotten to know already or was she simply tired of him?
He picked up his phone and dialed her number to hear from her and probably pay her a visit.
He still wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to tell her everything. Not because he wanted to hide it, but because he was scared of hurting her.
He didn’t know how she would react and he didn’t want to inflict pain on her while he went ahead to get married and enjoy himself the following week.
Everything was just complicated because keeping her in the dark also meant he was still leading her on and she might still be expecting him to marry her.
“Hey baby.” He greeted as she picked the call.
“How are you?” Feire asked.
“I am where you left me, Feire. Is this how angry you are because I didn’t call into your program that day?”
She laughed softly.
“I have even forgotten about that. I just decided not to disturb you because you might be busy and since you also decided to stay on your own.”
Desmond laughed.
“Work has been very stressful. I was even thinking of paying you a visit.”
“Really? I am presently unavailable, Desmond. Or would you like to come greet me at Motun’s place?”
“Oh no. What about you coming to greet me—”
He stopped immediately after remembering he had already packed out of the apartment.
“I don’t think that would even be necessary. We can fix another time so I won’t stress you, darling.”
“I understand. So how has everything been?” Feire asked.
“Everything has been fine. I have been okay. What about you?”
“I have also been fine.”
“Work?”
“It has been going smoothly. What about yours?”
“See, I have a lot to tell you, dear. Maybe when we see physically, I will explain many things to you.”
“Is anything happening?” She suddenly sounded concerned.
“Don’t worry dear, I will explain everything soon. I love you very much.”
“I love you too. So we talk later, right?”
“Yes.” He replied and ended the call.
“That’s him.” Feire told the ladies.
“It can’t be true, Feire. He still told you he loves you?” Stella asked.
Feire nodded with a faint smile.
“He even added ‘very much.’”
Motun laughed.
“He is a bastard.”
Feire frowned immediately.
“Please stop.”
“What?” Mosun hissed.
“I still don’t feel completely detached from him yet. The love I have for him still makes me jealous whenever you call him names.”
Mosun hissed again.
“You better shine your eyes.”
“I am not talking about still loving him enough to continue all this. I just mean… see, I don’t even know.”
“Some people can really be dangerous in this life. So this guy is set to wed Kike this coming Saturday, right?”
Motun grinned and nodded.
“He is about to get married. Wait, that reminds me. Ladies, Uche came to the office today.”
“And who is that?” Stella asked.
“Kike’s ex.” Motun explained. “He accused her of rushing into marriage because she is pregnant and insisted the child belongs to him.”
“How did you get to know all these?” Stella asked.
“This one goes to work just to eavesdrop on her boss.” Mosun laughed.
Motun laughed too.
“I didn’t exactly eavesdrop today. Their voices were loud enough already, although I stayed around longer to hear properly.”
“Do you think this guy impregnated Kike and now Desmond is trying to marry her behind you, or maybe she is carrying another man’s child and Desmond is helping her?” Stella asked.
Feire shrugged slowly.
“But it still wouldn’t make sense for him to marry a woman carrying another man’s child. He has to be the father if she is truly pregnant.”
Motun hummed thoughtfully.
“That phrase is actually important, Feire. ‘If she is truly pregnant.’”
“Exactly. It is possible she isn’t even pregnant, right?” Stella reasoned.
“It is possible.” Feire agreed.
“But what exactly does this lady stand to gain? She left Fola, dated Uche or whatever his name is, and now your own guy again? What exactly is going on?” Stella bit her fingernail.
“Whatever it is,” Motun winked, “we are all attending that wedding on Saturday.”
“That one is certain.”