{COMPLETED} "This is the sequel to The Wrong Crowd."
"I have not broken your heart - you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine." - Emily Bronte.
Following the acceptance to Dami's proposal, Ore begins to slowly realize that not a...
Ore woke up feeling hungover. She was having a splitting headache and an urge to vomit. She flung the fluffy blanket from her body and rushed to the bathroom sink where she heaved her stomach contents. Her leg was shaking and her vision was in a daze.
She turned on the tap and rinsed her mouth before flipping the light switch and staring at her reflection in the oval mirror. Her bed hair was shooting in different directions and she had dark circles under her eye. Her face looked sullen and her lip cracked. Ore leaned her weight on the sink as another wave of nausea hit her.
She threw up, emptying the fried rice and salad she had eaten the previous day. Her body was quivering. Before she could slide to the marble tiled floor, Dami was there patting her back and wrapping a sturdy arm around her. He rubbed slow circles on her hand and pulled her to his chest as they retreated to the bedroom.
He wrapped her in a blanket because of the way she was shivering and dashed to get a pain relief drug from his dresser table. He popped two pills in her mouth and gave her a cup of water to swallow the drug. Ore gulped weakly and leaned on Dami's shoulder for support.
Dami traced his fingertips on her arm and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. Her breathing slowed and she found herself drifting to a deep slumber.
Ore's eyelids fluttered open and she took in her environment. It was the same classic bedroom she had been in for two nights in a row. She yawned loudly and did a stretch before patting the other side of the bed for her phone. Her stomach rumbled and she immediately abandoned her search.
She winced sharply as she heaved herself from the comfy foam and slipped her feet into a pair of flip flops. Ore straightened the bed cover and wandered down the long hallway. She dug her toe nails into the comfy slippers as she whisked down the stairs and called out for her baby boy.
A mouth watering scent wafted through her nostrils followed by the scraping of a skillet. Ore briskly walked past the dining section and entered the kitchen. Dami was in a sports shirt and short with an apron tied around his waist. He was frying egg and at the same time whipping a cup of coffee.
"Ummm," Ore breathed deeply as the hungry worms in her stomach danced for joy. Dami flipped the egg he was frying sunny side up and threw Ore a concerned look.
"Are you okay now?" He queried with a hand on his waist. Ore nodded and eased into a chair by the gleaming countertop. She wiped the surface with her hand and not a speck of dirt was visible.
"Do you usually clean up?" Ore asked out of curiosity.
"Nope," Dami replied using his spoon to scoop the brown egg from the fire into a plate. "A maid comes in every Tuesday and Friday to clean up the place."
"Waoh," Ore muttered. Her mind was racing with different possibilities and she couldn't help asking, "Are your parents that rich that you live in such a big house and change cars so often?"
Dami laughed and turned off the gas cooker. "Something like that," he answered. "My dad owns a couple of hotels and clubs and is also into real estate management." He put a spoonful of sugar in the black coffee and silently debated on whether to add some milk or not.
"Care for milk?" He asked lacing his own coffee with cream and sugar.
"Yeah. Gad, I am so hungry," Ore moaned and squirmed.
"You must be 'cos it seems you had a lot to drink last night." Dami's bass voice faded away as he headed for the dining table with two plates and a cup placed on a saucer. Ore trailed behind and seated beside him. She didn't waste time in buttering two loaves of bread with egg.
While Dami munched slowly on his food and watched her in wonder.
"So, how did your matriculation go?" Dami asked placing a tile on the scrabble board. He hadn't played the game in a while and he wasted no time in engaging Ore in one, the moment he discovered that she was a good player. Ore shrugged as she shuffled her tiles on the rack.
"It was okay I guess, I had a lot of fun with my roommate though."
Ore thought for a while before placing six of her letters on the board at once, earning her a double word score plus three bonus points.
"Waoh," Dami clapped in admiration. "I never knew you were that good." They were almost an hour into the game and Ore was in the lead with a hundred marks. There were few more turns to conclude before the game would come to an end.
"Thanks," Ore muttered. "It's what I used to keep myself company back at home." A tinge of hurt flashed through her eyes as she remembered the days her mum locked her in the house whenever she was dropped off from school.
Dami watched her closely and swallowed hard at the way her face was contorted in barely concealed fury. "Is something wrong?" He linked hands with her and shifted closer.
Hot tears brimmed in her eyes and she sniffed trying to hold the flood back in.
"Nothing," she replied. "It's just, I remembered something."
Dami pulled her in for a hug and encircled an arm around her waist.
"It's okay baby, don't cry," he chanted patting her back.
Ore couldn't hold it no more, she let the tears of pent up frustration pour out.
Ore scrolled through the soft copy pictures of her matriculation, her face beaming with smiles at the memory. She was resting on Dami's lap as he watched the pictures with her, snickering at the hideous face she kept in most of them.
"This is so cute," Dami stated zooming in on the second to last picture. Ore was squatted on the grass with an arm around a dark skinned girl's shoulders. She was in her matriculation robe and the cap was hanging loosely on her head. Her bronzed cheek caught in the golden rays of the sun made her look ten times prettier.
"I know right," Ore sat up and leaned closer to his warm body. Dami was shirtless and his sculpted stomach was too sexy to resist snuggling up to. "That's my roommate, Martha," she pointed.
Dami marked the picture and told Ore to send it to him later on. His phone rang and he excused himself to the guest room to take the call. Ore watched him with beady eyes, the disturbing thought that her boyfriend was cheating on her slowly crept up in her mind.
"I just hope he isn't doing anything bad," Ore muttered reaching for her milkshake on the glass table. She took a long sip and scrolled through the remaining pictures before sending Martha a quick text for her to collect the hard copies from the photographer.
Martha was luckily online and sent a text back for Ore to send in her cash for her own copy. She quickly sent her account number along with her bank name and Ore responded with a laughing emoji. Igbo people and their love for money, Ore snickered in her mind.
Ore waited for her roommate's reply before Dami came rushing into the sitting room fully clothed. He took his car keys from the table and hurried out the door without uttering a word. Ore stared at his retreating back with mouth agape.
Author's note: What do you think is up with Dami? It seems he is in some sort of emergency.
Side note: Dami can be very loyal sometimes. Isn't that cute?
