YOU FOUND ME

CHAPTER 8-PART 2

TENIOLA ADAMS

    It was a hot Sunday afternoon. One of those afternoons when there was no electricity and all you wanted to do was to lie on your back on the mat outside, longing for a wave of cool breeze or better still, switch on your generator if you had one.

    Thankfully, I wasn't about to spend my afternoon alone as my friends were coming over for lunch; and I had just prepared the famous 'Sunday jollof rice' with chicken and coleslaw.

   I stretched out to make myself comfortable on the mat while I fiddled with my phone, scrolling through my messages.
The sound of a car honk blasted in front of the gate.
I stood up from the mat and reached out to wear my feathery flip-flops; the kind you usually saw at the popular 'Eko' market, which came in different colours.
I opened the gate to see a familiar red Toyota Avalon car.
'Teniola! We don arrive o!', Nonso cooed from behind the wheels. Moji sat in front beside her, with Esther at the back seat and signalled to me with a wave of their hands.
'Obviously. When I'm not blind or deaf, better stop blasting those horns like that!", I said with a laugh.
I opened the gate wider so she could drive the car into the compound. With the car parked in front of my flat the ladies alighted, wearing warm smiles on their faces.
It was always a delight to spend time with them. We got into our group hug as usual.
'E don do... Me I'm hungry o....let's go inside', Esther beckoned to the rest of us.
Moji and I switched on the generator outside before we went in.

*********

   I had that satisfied feeling that came with having shared a wonderful meal with some of the most important people in your life.
My friends loved the meal as always.
Proud chef!

   We sprawled like kittens on the rug in the living room, engaged in our usual ladies' banter.
"And you know the funny thing is that she didn't even bother giving me an explanation. Imagine !"
Nonso was telling us how she decided to stop sales on credit to some of her customers, the one in this case who happened to be her aunt.
My friend, Nonso Adichie was a light-skinned beauty who owned a huge fabric store in Ikeja that was really doing well, besides her regular job as a bank accountant.
"One has to be careful, especially when family comes into the picture. Before you know it, you'll become the topic of discussion at the next family meeting", Esther added.
"You're right", Moji nodded. "This is why I'm skeptical about going into business; all this stress is not for me".
Everyone laughed in unison.

     Moji was the 'no-stress' queen, who preferred a stable job with a decent pay rather than to go through the life of the typical Lagosian with many side hustles.
The only daughter of University Professors, her life revolved around the world of academia and I must confess that her mental prowess was indeed enviable. She worked as a senior lecturer of Chemical engineering at the University of Lagos and I was more than proud of her.
"Ehen...Ladies", Esther signalled to catch our attention.
"Don't forget what we planned to discuss about", she said with a wink. "We got a wedding to plan!"
My eyes lit up in excitement.
'Yes o!', I screamed while doing a funny celebration dance.

     Nonso's wedding was around the corner. It was great that one of us was joining the 'married women's club', yeah I just made that up.
I was more than happy for her.
We had gone window shopping to check for her preferred wedding gown just last week. The ceremony was in a month's time so a lot of things still had to be sorted out especially since we, the bridesmaids, had not even decided on what to wear yet.
"Let me get a pen and paper so I can jot down the salient points we'll be discussing", Moji offered.
"That'll be great", I replied.

    Nonso was smiling sheepishly as we began to brainstorm.
She was elated about her upcoming wedding especially since it was something she had looked forward to for a long while now; six years of a relationship was no joke.
Although she was such a carefree sweetheart and only cared that her friends would be around on her special day.
We on the other hand, wanted everything to be perfect. Don't blame us, Nonso was the first of us to get married, so we were excited.

  "I don't like purple, I'll prefer a more solemn color like peach...and even lilac won't be too bad either", I suggested.
"Shey you know we have to be popping on that day?", Esther asked eyebrows raised. "All those colors are too dull!"
"Esther has a point though. But we should also consider the theme of the decorations for that day too", Moji added.
We kept on going back and forth with the suggestions before we finally settled for burgundy dresses; though not my favorite color by the way, but we'll definitely have to make it work.

    Life sometimes was about compromise, especially for the people you love.

Thanks for reading!!!

What do you think about Teniola's friends?

I'll love to read your thoughts in the comment section!

Please vote and share🤗

Much love♥️♥️♥️