By 2pm, she made her way to Fiyin’s office. She had been by earlier and was told by Ozioma that he had a surgery that would end at 1:15, she gave him time to rest and write his report before coming. She waited while Ozioma informed him she was around and was relieved when she was invited in.
“Hi.” she said as she entered.
“Hey, Tiwa” Fiyin smiled at her but didn’t get up. He motioned for her to seat in the visitors’ seat. She couldn’t explain her fear when she realised he had just treated her the way he treated every other member of staff who came to his office.
“So, what’s up?” He asked, without looking up.
“I was hoping we could talk about Saturday, you said we would talk.”
“Oh, yes, I did, explain yourself” He said but she saw his eyes had hardened.
“Yes, thank you. Femi is my cousin, my dad’s sister’s dau….”
“Yes, she told me.” He cut her short, “Tell me why you attacked her at my house on Saturday.”
“Oh, that?” She laughed nervously. “Are you guys dating? I need to know, please! Why was she there?”
Fiyin sighed, “Yes, Tiwa, I’m dating Femi, we have been dating for a while now.”
Tiwa closed her eyes against the despair his words brought her. She felt like someone was ripping at her insides. She took time to gather herself together while Fiyin stayed silent.
“Is there a problem?” He asked when she was still closing her eyes 10 minutes later.
She opened freshly determined eyes. She had been prepared for this. Not for the pain his words would bring but for the confirmation of her thoughts. Now, she would play her game well. All along, Femi thought she had seen her worst but she had only just begun. She would not loose Fiyin to that fat, shapeless Amoeba!
“Okay, I saw her with you and I was concerned. You see, Femi has a thing with men. You see, her former fiancée, Lanre just woke up one day and said he wasn’t going through with the marriage proceedings.”
“They were getting married? I thought they broke up.”
“No, not the last guy, she dated Lanre years back, he wanted to marry her but then he caught her cheating with his brother.”
Fiyin was disturbed, “Really, Femi? She doesn’t seem like someone who will do such a thing.”
Tiwa grabbed his hand over the table, looking sympathetic “Well she did. But, you can’t tell her I told you. After the whole breakup, her conscience overwhelmed her and for a while, she wasn’t very sane so we promised not to talk about it ever again. The truth is I have never really liked Femi, she might have told you that.” She smiled when she saw Fiyin nod, obviously, the b—h had tried to paint herself as some kind of a saint.
“It’s because she’s a very good pretender, she will lie to you for years and only the grace of God will help you catch her. She has always been jealous of me, because I was brilliant and beautiful. She used to resent the hell out of me and when I won that scholarship to study abroad, by the time, I came back, she was sleeping with my boyfriend. You can only imagine how broken up I was.”
“You know her brother killed her parents, right?” She asked Fiyin and was pleased to see his eyes recede in shock.
“Nooo! He croaked.
“Well, he did and till date, they haven’t found him. My dad calls her a bad seed in private, as in she brings bad luck to people. When I saw her with you, someone I really care about, I was worried she would destroy your life and family and you aren’t alone, you have a little girl to consider. That’s why I attacked her, I swear.”
“I shouldn’t have, I know but I couldn’t control my fear, I am sorry, I will apologise to her if you want, I bear her no ill will. Truly.” She finished, satisfied.
Seeing her words had gained the desired effect, she stood up to go. “Fiyin, I didn’t tell you this to hurt you, just so you can be careful. You can’t tell her these things, after the fiasco with Lanre, we chose to bury it permanently and if it was any other man, I wouldn’t say a word but it’s you. Just be careful.” With that, she turned and left Fiyin staring but not seeing.
************
Seun had gotten a nanny for her 4 year old twin boys, they were always disturbing her especially when her soap operas were due to start. She loved her soaps as much as she loved gossip and she never missed an opportunity to watch them. Her husband complained about it all the time but she never disturbed him about his addiction to football and polo. To each, his own.
Tonight though, after getting out her popcorn and ice cream, she had to forego the pleasure of finding out who Alassandro’s real mother is so she could listen to her brother’s tale of love.
He sat down slouched in the chair, his hands covering his face, deeply disturbed. His usually upbeat mood very low and she suddenly wanted both Femi and Tiwa out of the planet.
“Look, why don’t you ask the Femi girl the truth?”
He sighed, “Because Tiwa said she could go crazy if I did.”
“Isn’t that a little too convenient?” She wondered aloud. “You say something about a person no one can confirm or deny because you can’t ask the person, why not ask the parents then?”
“Tiwa said they buried everything…”
“And she dug it up abi?” She asked as she threw popcorn in her mouth.
“You sound like you think Tiwa is lying, I thought she was your friend.”
“Fiyin, she is, everybody is my friend, I like her and she’s brilliant, I don’t even know this Femi from anywhere but Tiwa wants you badly though and when she wants something badly, she becomes manipulative” She laughed when she saw her brother’s shocked face. “Like you didn’t know? She was fighting every female in the hospital over you.”
“She was? I knew she liked me but I didn’t think it was anything too serious! How come no one told me?”
“It was fun to watch, trust me and it gave me plenty of laughs. My point is Tiwa is desperate and she is not above making up stories about her cousin, stories you can’t confirm. So you have 2 choices, no 3 choices, choose Tiwa, choose Femi or let the 2 of them go.”
Fiyin groaned, “Number 1 and 3 are not choices at all.”
“There you have it…” She said as she dropped her empty popcorn bowl, “….you have made a choice.”
“You are right, I may be wrong but Femi is a really good person, she’s kind, diligent, protective, you should see the way she is with Amanda… I don’t think she’s faking it and if she is, well, I will deal with it but until I see proof of meanness or deceit in her, I’m not giving her up.” He finished, determined.
“Aww, my big brother is in love!” Seun laughed. “I need to meet this 2 faced woman!”
“Hahahaha!” Fiyin burst out laughing, “You are crazy, very crazy. Thank you for listening and for putting everything into perspective. I love you.” He said as he stood up to hug her.
“I love you too!” She hugged him back. “Oya, go, let me see if I can catch up with my Indian soap now that you have let me miss my Mexican series.”
“Thank God Femi doesn’t like these things!” He said disdainfully as he picked up his phone, car keys and wallet.
“Says who?” His sister asked, “If Tiwa is right about her, she could be waiting for you to marry her before she shows you her true self.”
“Ha hah haah! Goodnight, kiss the boys and Engineer Nnabuife for me” He said, speaking of Seun’s husband and sons.
“Alright, send my love to my Mandy girl.” She shouted as he went to his car.
As he entered his car, he examined the feelings rolling within him, Hope. It was Hope. Tiwa was wrong, this thing with Femi was one of the best things that ever happened to him and he was going to fight for it.
If Tiwa was right and Femi really did those things, then he was sure she had learned from them and was a better person because of it. And if she hadn’t told him yet about her past yet, she soon would.
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