BELLA'S MEMOIRS (ENTRY #2)

POOL PARTY FIASCO

Dear Diary,

My first impression of people is almost always accurate, yet every time I meet someone I should just avoid, I find myself always trying to do that whole “innocent till proven guilty” thing and then I give the person the chance to prove me wrong…most times it just blows up in my face. Now about Okechukwu…

After our shocking second meeting at Aunt Linda’s house, you’d think I’d know better. This was what happened.

She introduced us by the pool, we just stood there looking at each other. I was wondering if I was supposed to mention that we had met barely an hour ago, and I figured he was wondering the same thing till he broke the silence.

Okechukwu: Hi Ms. Bella nice to meet you.

He stretched out his hand for a hand shake. Aunt Linda was staring at us expectantly. I shook him, his hand was cold…like his heart probably was.

Aunt Linda: Bella why don’t you stay here and hang out with Okey and his friends. You’ll probably have more fun here than staying with the kids.

Me: I don’t mind Aunty. I promised to help with Oladunni and Kitan.

Aunt Linda: Don’t worry darling. If Anjola needs you, I’ll tell her where to find you.

Aunt Linda is one of those people who just know how to get what they want. I knew I couldn’t argue too much without it becoming awkward especially as the Okey in question was staring at me as though I had sprouted another head. Aunt Linda walked away and I wished the floor would open and swallow me, I was extremely uncomfortable and he kept staring! He wouldn’t stop staring!

Okechukwu: So you’re Aunty Anjola’s step daughter?

I nodded.

Okechukwu: Gosh! She is too hot to be stepmom to someone as old as you! Your dad is so lucky to have a wife that sexy at his age.

Me: You’re repulsive!

I wasn’t about to be insulted by a tight jeans wearing, afro rocking, ill-mannered boy who obviously had a crush on my stepmom and had just called me OLD! I spun around on my heels to walk away, unfortunately a waiter was standing a few inches behind me balancing drinks in a tray on his left hand. I crashed right into him, we both lost our balance and fell right into the pool.

The waiter couldn’t swim and as I tried to swim towards him to help him, I felt a big splash beside me, Okechukwu had jumped in and within seconds I saw him drag the struggling waiter to the pool steps.

Thankfully, only a few people had seen the little fiasco as the party was happening far away from the pool. We got out of the pool and he took off his dripping wet shirt…he had a nice body and I felt myself blush at the sight of his well-built chest. I was admiring the view until he looked at me and said

“nice view” , I didn’t have to be told what view he was referring to. Underneath my dripping wet white hello kitty t shirt was my bright pink unmentionable which was now very visible.

Me: You should come with a warning sign, being around you is very dangerous.

Okechukwu: You have no idea how dangerous baby, but you’re about to find out.

I rolled my eyes at him, mustered what was left of my dignity and walked away. That was the end of the party for me… obviously!

I hate Mondays…ok let me be fair to Mondays, I hate my job and so Mondays are pretty difficult for me because they just remind me of the fact that I have to endure a whole week of torture. I am currently serving in the accounting department of a multinational telecoms company. Considering that I majored in Finance it should be a good career move but I hate every minute of it. The only thing that makes my job bearable is Sammy my crazy colleague who just enjoys teasing me!

Sammy: Bella, the receptionist just called. You have a delivery she wants to know if she can send the delivery guy up

Me: A delivery from…?

Sammy: Didn’t ask because I am sure it’s from your number one fan… Chief Showunmi.

I let out a long hiss, Chief Showunmi was the chairman of the company where I worked.

Me: I don’t know why you think it’s funny that a man who is almost the same age as my grandfather is hitting on me. It’s so disgusting!

Sammy: You are pretty uptight for a girl who grew up in Yankee. Are you sure you weren’t born into a convent or something?

We both laughed. I called the receptionist back and asked her to send the delivery guy up.

Sammy was right, I was uptight and I just couldn’t help it. I had been raised by a single mother who sacrificed so much to give me the sort of life she felt I deserved. My mother till her death never got over loving my father and I saw what raising me by herself did to her, I vowed very early in life that success would always come before sex, money before men and my legacy before love. This is the reason why at twenty one I haven’t ever really been in a long term relationship and I am still a virgin.

The delivery guy came upstairs with a box of Hello Kitty themed cupcakes and a card that read:

“We are so dangerous, we make your tooth ache”

–          Your Cupcakes!

I laughed out loud, the cupcakes were obviously from Okechukwu. I was sure Aunt Linda had told him so much about me, he not only knew where I worked, he probably knew where I lived, made my hair and the number of shoes in my closest.

I didn’t have his phone number or anything so I couldn’t acknowledge that I had received the cupcakes.

After work that evening, I walked to the carpark and met a big surprise. Okechukwu was sitting on my car…waiting.

Me: Hi

Okechukwu: Hey Miss. Long day at work? You look tired.

The guy has no boundaries!

Me: Don’t you know how to communicate in a civilized manner? You do not tell a woman she looks tired! A woman only looks beautiful every other opinion apart from beautiful should be kept to yourself!

Okechukwu: Roger that!

I rolled my eyes

Me: What are you doing here?

Okechukwu: What do you mean? We have dinner plans.

Me: Sorry? No we don’t!

Okechukwu; Yes we do, I sent you a message this evening asking you to have dinner with me and you said yes.

I was finally convinced that the boy was just a nutcase! He obviously had me confused with some other girl.

Me: May I see the message I supposedly sent you?

He pulled out a gold plated phone, searched through his messages and handed the phone to me.

Okechukwu: There! You see!

I checked the phone number and it wasn’t mine even though the contact was saved as Bella…Bella Pool!

Me: That is not my number, you mixed my number with another girl’s and you saved my name as Bella Pool!

Okechukwu: There are like three other Bellas on my phone! I needed a code name for you.

Me: And that was all you could come up with? “Bella Pool”!

Okechukwu: Ok my bad. I am changing it to Bella Wet T-shirt.

I was so mad at him for taking me for granted and mad at myself for actually wanting to have dinner with him. It was a whole lot of “mad”.

Me: Please get off my car I need to leave.

Okechukwu: Take a chill pill babe. Tell me your last name and I will save your name properly!

He didn’t even know my last name! I had spent the whole of my Sunday cyberstalking him and he didn’t even know my last name. I had looked for him on Facebook, twitter, Instagram, snapchat… I knew his best friend’s name, knew he had a dog named Trojan. I knew he had just returned from vacation in the Dominican Republic, that he was a Manchester United fan and that he was addicted to Jay Z and D’banj’s music yet he didn’t know my last name.

Me: Get off my car now!!!!

He jumped up at the tone off my voice. I got into my car and started the engine. As I drove off, I heard him say:

Okechukwu: You look so sexy when you’re mad.

Arrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhh!!!!

——————————————————————————————————————————————

I didn’t hear from him for the rest of the week, I pretended not to be affected by it, but each time my phone rang I found myself hoping it was him calling. The weekend went by and still no word from him and before I knew it, it was time for Sunday dinner at the Villa our family tradition.

My dad and stepmom arrived with my half siblings, followed by my dad’s sister Aunt Tomike. My dad’s only brother and his family had moved to Canada for a while and so Sunday dinner had become a lot less crowded especially since my grandfather had stopped attending since he moved out of The Villa. His seat at the head of the table was always empty. No one sat there and often I found The Duchess staring at the empty chair with a nostalgic feeling.

We all ate in silence until The Duchess spoke:

The Duchess: Anjola I think you should ask your brother and father to join us for Sunday Dinner whenever they are available. They are a part of the family.

I smiled. A couple of months ago, my stepmom’s father was not welcome at The Villa or anywhere The Duchess had control over because of a long standing feud between the two families which had since been resolved. My phone beeped I looked at it, it was a text message from Okechukwu…finally! It read:

“On my way to yours. Put on jeans and comfortable shoes…we are going for a ride”.

He was so forward and ill-mannered but I was really excited about the thought of seeing him. I didn’t even realize I had a huge smile on my face until my stepmom asked

Ms. A: Bella would you like to be excused from the table?

Bella: Yes ma’am.

I jumped out of my seat, gave my dad a hug and kiss said goodnight to everyone and practically flew up the stairs to get dressed. Thirty minutes later, my phone rang

Okechukwu: Are you coming out or what?

Me: How about you just let me know when you are here, there’s no need to be rude!

Okechukwu:  Ok madam, I’m here.

Me: I’ll be right down.

He was outside leaning on a power bike. He had on a black jacket, black jeans and a pair of black gloves…he looked like he had just rolled off the cover of GQ. My throat was suddenly dry and I realized that I was very attracted to him…physically. In a way I had never been attracted to anyone. I just wanted to wrap my arms around him and inhale his intoxicating perfume.

Okechukwu: Gosh! You’re beautiful! Your skin is so flawless, your features are sharp and dainty…your nose is cute and pointed, your lips are so pink, can’t place it but there is something about your looks.

Me: My mum was Fulani, I look a lot like her.

Okechukwu: Hmmm your mum was Fulani, your dad is Yoruba, and I am Igbo. Our children would be real Nigerians wouldn’t they?

I blushed…the thought of having children with him was not what was making me blush. It was the thought of the process of making the babies that had me flustered.

He handed me a helmet…

Okechukwu: Put this on, I am about to take on the ride of your life.

Me: I hope you know how to ride this thing properly.

He came closer to me, so close I could feel his breath on my face. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest, he could probably hear it.

Okechukwu: I wasn’t talking about the ride tonight baby, I am talking about you and me. It’s going to be a crazy ride. I’m everything they warned you about yet you’re going to become so addicted to me even I would not be able to save you from myself. I am not making any promises to you Bella because you will fall fast and hard but always remember that…no promises, just adventure.

I wanted to slap him for what he had just said but I wanted to kiss him more. It was like he read my mind.

Okechukwu: Not tonight baby. When I kiss you, you’d beg for it.

He was crazy, exciting, daring, and bad for me…very bad for me but I wanted “bad”. I knew I should just go back inside and put an end to it before it even started but I couldn’t help myself. I climbed behind him on the bike and put my arms around his waist. As we rode off into the evening, I knew he was taking a piece of me with him that night. I closed my eyes, inhaled the cold Ikoyi air and I prayed to God that when he broke my heart he’d do it gently.