Playing House

NINETEEN

"Bathe with cold water" She added. She didn't believe him the heater was fine jor.

"Please. I had too much coffee and I'm having trouble sleeping, but I need to sleep now because I have to wake up for a virtual meeting by 3am"

"Shey you are Canadian, cold water shouldn't be a problem for you" She said mockingly.

"Please...e jo, e ma bi nu" He begged with his funny Yoruba

"What do you mean your water heater is not working, all the heaters and ACs in this house are new, abi you didn't switch it on on time and now you want to come and bother me?"

"I swear the thing is not working, its been on for 30mins now" He begged.

She had to go to his room with him to confirm that he wasn't lying. She didn't trust him. She suspected he was up to something. They've not had any drama in the past few days because they've both been too busy but she suspected he might have concluded the project he was working on and probably wants to resume his mischief.

"Hmmmm what did you do to this heater Osaze? Are you sure your village people have not reached here" She said as she touched the water from his faucet.

He shrugged weakly. Normally he would clap back with something funnier but he looked like he didn't even have the strength to even respond to that. She figured he was truly tired. His eyes were sunken and dull. As she stepped out of his bathroom she noticed he had setup a new desktop. He had one of those super PC thingy that looked like servers and now there were two monitors on the table.

"You have 5 minutes" She said to him.

"Thank you" He smiled.

"Don't splash water everywhere o!" She called out as he shut the bathroom door.

On Saturday Sofi came to visit. She brought their asoebi as promised. Sofi was not aware she had a man in the house. One of the conditions she gave Osaze was that she didn't want her friends and family to know he was living with her.

Luckily he was not around today. He said he was going to Yaba to meet up with some other programmers so she just sent him a text to let him know her friend was around.

At first, he didn't understand why she needed to hide it from people but she told him that unlike him she didn't have the societal privileges men have that affords them the freedom to do whatever they want and get away with it without any judgment. Easy for him to say, he is not a single Nigerian woman living alone in Lagos under heavy scrutiny from everyone even your gateman.

"Why do you have men's shower gel in your bathroom?" Sofi came out of the bathroom holding Osaze's shower gel looking at her suspiciously.

Shit! How did he forget it there and why didn't she see it earlier.

"Its mine. I like the fragrance" She lied through her teeth

Sofi looked at her in shock not fully convinced. "You are so weird" She said as she returned it.

She hadn't even seen him since that night. His must have fixed his shower problem because he didn't come to use hers again. Immediately Sofi left she returned his shower gel with speed. She didn't even enter his room she just dropped it at his door.

Unfortunately for her, on Monday morning she woke up to prepare for work but her own water heater packed up too. She had a major meeting at another Company by 9am. She considered bathing with cold water but she couldn't bring herself to do it because she slept with the AC on and it rained heavily overnight.

She even considered boiling hot water in the kitchen but she was not in the mood for that struggle. This is not uniport campus hostel, this is her dream apartment and she was going to get her standard hot shower. Isn't this why she has two bathrooms why would her squatter intimidate her. She got up, put her sponge and soap in a small bath bag and tied her bath robe.