HER BABY’S SECRET
EPISODE SEVEN
Arike’s POV
_Phone Conversation_
“Ahhhh..babe..I am surprised o. Bamidele is g.ay! One would never imagine it!” Busayomi exclaimed.
“At first I thought Dayo was joking about it. Like he wanted to use it to make me stay away from Bamidele.”
Busayomi sighed. “Hmmmm…what are you going to do now?”
“Sister mi, I don’t know o. Like I don’t even know how to approach him. As in he was embarrassed.”
“If I was in his shoes,I would have prayed for the ground to open up and swallow me. Ah! Poor boy…I can imagine Adedayo spilling words on him.”
“As if you were there. What do you think I should do?”
“Have you tried calling him?” I sighed.
“No, I haven’t called or texted him I am afraid that he won’t want to pick up or reply the texts.”
“I feel bad for him but we have to be sure he isn’t g.ay anymore.” She said.
“So I am thinking -” I paused.
“What are you thinking?”
“I don’t want to avoid Bamidele because of his sxuality.”
“I suggest you set up a meeting with him. I feel there’s a reason for being g.ay.”
“You think so too?”
She hummed a positive response. “Okay… I’ll text him.”
“Please do and get back to me.”
“Okay sister mi.”
“Take care.” I disconnected the call. I should text Bamidele on WhatsApp, fortunately he’s online.
“Can we talk about -” I paused. No, I shouldn’t send this. I concluded on deleting it.
“Do you remember what happened at my place?”
Of course he would remember! I shouldn’t start like this. Think! think!
“I’ll like to see you so -” I paused again. It doesn’t sound right as I read out loud.
I sighed in frustration after three attempts what should I type? How do I make it less embarassing?
Oh! Yes! I have an idea! I picked up my phone again and began to type.
“Good afternoon Bamidele, I hope you’ve been good? Well I think I need your help on a case I am working on. Let me know when you are less busy so I can bring the files to you.” I read it three times before pressing the send button.
I hope he replies my message soonest. I understand that Bamidele might be feeling ashamed but I don’t want to stay away from him because of his sxuality. Aside from him being g.ay, Bamidele was a very good attorney. He has been a great help to my cases since I met him.
I reached for my phone Immediately it beeped hoping it was a message from Bamidele. But I rolled my eyes when I read the message from Adedayo.
“Let’s have dinner together today.”
Having dinner with him means Adedayo is coming over to my place and might sleep over again. No! I don’t want Shalewa’s trouble again. The last time Adedayo spent the night at my place, she called the next morning and said some mean things to me. She asked if I would be happy if my fiance was sleeping at his female bestie house. To be honest,I wouldn’t accept it! But come on! It wast my fault! I am in no position to kick him out of my house at that hour. And she kept asking if he said anything about her to me. Hello! Is everything okay? I have a feeling something is wrong with their relationship! But Adedayo doesn’t want to discuss with me.
A ring on my phone jolted me out of thought. Adedayo was calling again.
“Hello.” I said.
“Did you get my message?” He asked.
“So rude, you can’t even say Hi!” I hissed.
“Oh sorry…Hi.” he said.
“Good I got your message.”
“So should I come over?”
“No.”
“Why?” He asked in a surprised tone.
I hate to admit it but I think Shalewa was right. I shouldn’t give Dayo the chance to be spending the night at my place again. If I don’t stop it then I won’t he able to prove to Shalewa that Dayo and I aren’t having an affair. We are just bestfriends. And if he get married will he be coming to my place?
“Arike are you there?”
“Yes…Yes..I can’t have dinner with you anymore.”
“Why?”
“You’re getting married soon. You shouldn’t be going out with me but your fiancee.”
“Oh come on Arike, we are best friends.”
“Yes I know but it’s really a different case if you’re single.”
“Okay so how about you come over to my place?” He requested.
“Dayo…”
“Don’t say no.”
“It’s a no from me.”
“Why?”
“I have lots of work to do.” I lied.
He was silent. “You’re lying.”
“I am serious.”
“No I know you. Arike when did work become an excuse to not see me? Did I do something wrong?” He asked in a low tone.
“No Dayo, you didn’t do anything.”
“Perhaps did Shalewa call or meet up with you?” He asked but I didn’t reply.
“I take your silence as a yes.”
“No, she didn’t call me.” I said sharply.
“What did she say to you?”
“Nothing..I.. I haven’t talked -”
The call went off.
Oh my God! I hope he doesn’t do something stupid.
I tried calling him back but he didn’t pick up. A message notification popped up at the top of screen.
“Where do you want to meet up?” Bamidele replied.
“Should I come over to your office?”
“No..I am not at the office.”
“Where are you?”
“I am not feeling well..so I am home.”
“Oh sorry…how are you feeling now?”
“Getting better, I just need to rest.”
“Maybe I will bring the files later. Get enough rest okay?”
“No, it’s alright. You have to solve your case anyways. Let’s meet at the office shop not far to your office.”
“No you don’t need to stress yourself. How about I come over to your place?” I asked.
“If it’s fine by you.”
“And you?”
“Not bad…”
“Okay fine…text me address. I will drop by at your place before heading home.”
“Okay.”
Bamidele sent his address few seconds after I dropped the call.
****************************
“Good evening.” I greeted once Bamidele opened the door. He hummed a response as I walked into his apartment,my eyes scanning the whole place.
“Nice apartment.” I commented.
“Thank you.” He replied without meeting my gaze. I could feel that awkwardness between us due to what happened at my place.
“Please take your seat.”
“Thanks.” I settled on the couch.
“What would you like drink?”
“Water please.”
“I’ll be right back.” He left the sitting room only to come back some seconds later with a bottle of chilled water.
“So how are you feeling now?”
“Better…I just need to take my medications and have a good rest.” He responded.
“Oh..okay.” I managed to smile.
“So about my case…” I handed him the files.
“It’s a murder case. A woman was found dead in her apartment. And the cause of death is strangulation. No suspect at the moment..”
“Arike…” Bamidele called my name in a low tone.
“Yes..”
“Don’t act like everything is fine here.”
“Ahm…erm..” I stuttered.
“I know you wanna know more about me being gay. You want to talk about what happened at your place but you don’t want me to feel embarrassed.” He dropped the file on the table.
“Bamidele, it’s not -”
He interrupted me. “I understand.”
I looked up at him. “I am sorry about everything Dayo said to you.”
He chuckled. “I have always known Dayo to be a sharp mouthed person. His words are like thongs on ones flesh. But I don’t blame him,he is only trying to protect you as a friend because of what I did to him in the past.” He said soberly.
“Bamidele -”
“I admit that I was very wrong. And I have tried apologizing to Dayo but he claimed to have forgiven me but he would never forget what I did to him. And I should have fulfilled my promise of telling you about my sxuality.”
“Are you still g.ay?” I blurted out.
“I was g.ay…” He replied. “I stopped being g.ay after I passed the bar exam. I knew it wasn’t legalized in our country.” He sighed.
“It was really hard for me to get over that feeling of loving another man. My past keeps coming at me and I am afraid that it might ruin my career someday just like what is happening now.”
“Perhaps if I may ask since when did you notice this feeling of loving another man?” I asked.
I could see tears at the corner of his eyes when our gaze locked buy he looked away quickly.
“This is a really long story.”
“Sad right?” I asked.
He shook his head. I stood up and sat beside him and held his hands in mine. Eversince the incident at my home, a thought hasn’t left my mind that there must be a reason why Bamidele was g.ay.
“Do you want to talk about it?” He looked down at my hand on his. “I am ready to listen.” He flashed me a small smile.
“You shouldn’t be here after everything he said about me.”
“To be honest, I was shocked and disappointed but something keeps telling me that there was more.”
“You don’t hate me?” He asked a serious face.
“I can’t hate you because you are g.ay.”
He withdrew from my hold and stood up from the couch.
“Arike you should obey Dayo. You should stay away from me.”
“Why?”
“He’s right. You deserve a better friend than me.”
I went to him, stood in front of him with my arms folded.
“What if I want your kind of friend?”
“No.”
“You are a good attorney, Bamidele.”
“You’re the best attorney.”
“No,you have helped me solve cases I couldn’t work on.”
“You’re also good at what you do.” He replied.
It clear Bamidele is fighting an internal banter. He’s pondering if it was a good idea to share the mystery behind him being g.ay. He doesn’t trust anyone.
“You know what? I will just drop the case file for you to review it..then call me if you find anything.”
There’s no need to force words out of him if he wasn’t ready to discuss it with me.
“Bye bye.” I picked my bag from the couch and motioned towards the door.
Click 8 below to continue reading
