Four
Falling in love is like dying. You never know when the time to die is ripe. The feeling and moment just sweeps in on you and vroom… you are gone – Anonymous…
“Alright, you win Mr. Adeolu. I will have a drink with you on two conditions; we won’t be staying long and two I don’t sit in bars. Lest I forget, I am not Pretty, my name is Omolola. Friends and acquaintances call me the shorter Lola. Can we leave here please?”
“Another bravo for me! Thumbs up for me!” Adeolu said to himself.
“Lola, please can you step ahead and lead the way downstairs? After all they say a gentleman puts ladies first in all things.”
She smiled.
“Ladies come first but that is after men. Why do you want me to go first.”
“Just as I said before, I am a gentleman or at least I am learning to be one. You just obliged me your name after a while of preliminaries. It will really be ungentlemanly to jump in front of you and say ‘come after me’. Rather its better I watch from behind you and guide your steps. Being at your back protects you better than staying in front of you. That is the main reason gentlemen stay behind their ladies.”
Really Lola was just too stunned to believe her ears, this guy here will surely know how to treat his women right. He has swept her of her feet in just a few minutes of agreeing to have a drink with him. But she is not one to give in to her inner feelings easily. If he will get her eventually, he has to sweat some more for it. For now, let the drinks come first.
“Mr. Adeolu the gentleman, I shall lead this time cos you seem to have won but I should think it shouldn’t be for long. My legs are beginning to complain and I believe I can make do with some sitting to rest them.”
Lola led the way and Adeolu followed suit. They got to the head of the elevator and Adeolu took his time to take in the black beauty in front of him as the machine slowly but surely grinded and rolled taking them to the foot of itself.
She was of slim lady of average height, couldn’t be more than five feet. She was dressed in a pink dress which was a little above the knees with a pair of black sandals which felt as if they were glued to her feet. Her hair was not plaited but beautifully combed, parted and bound with a shiny oink ribbon which matched the dress. How elegant she looked in that outfit!
Her skin was brown – chocolate brown – her hair was really black – jet black. He loved dark-skinned ladies. Although he had no specific taste in colour, but a dark-skinned lady would make him spend his last saving before he could do same for a light-skinned one.
Lola was one of such ladies. He remembered how her face looked like in those minutes they were talking. Her not-too-large brown coloured eye balls with white background were set in an oval-shaped face which was free of blemish and pimples. Her slightly-pointed nose like a small bridge over a river sat well on the face with nostrils which were free of dirt. Her chin – slightly point-tipped – sat below naturally coloured pink lips, which covered a set of sparkling white teeth. The not-too-large teeth sat beautifully on dark gums and the upper set of front teeth had a slight gap which would make a fasting man break his fast on the eve of the holy month.
She was endowed in the right places – the front had the right volume of flesh and the back agreed with it. The two endowments also agreed with her shape and complexion. Her jet-black hair, by Adeolu’s estimate, would be shoulder-length when unbounded and combed. She had long hair. Her legs were straight – as straight as a ruler – they are so thin and mean that Adeolu wondered if they would break. She had flesh in the right places but not such that would be called fat or big, she was just perfect in mould.
“Ori mi ti pe ju. (I am intelligent). I get the right and beautiful ladies all the time. I have good eyes and eyes for good things. But I am also not bad myself, so why won’t I get good things,” he praised himself.
By the time he would complete his assessment of Lola from head to toe, they were almost at one of the eateries lining the passages of the Mall. He walked closer to her and asked where she would like to sit.
“Mr. Adeolu, you are the one making the choice, I will go with whatever choice you make today.”
“Lola, cam we drop the formality please. Call me Adeolu and not Mr. Adeolu. You would have noticed I had done away with the Miss immediately I got to know your name. kindly be free as I am free with you.”
“Okay Adeolu, you choose where we sit.”
“No! Not at all. The ladies come first and their choices must be respected says the first rule in the first page of the book of being a gentleman. Kindly name your choice. Eateries abound here and we also have ice cream parlours. Take your choice.”
She knew she could not keep up with him in this argument and in fact she was getting tired of standing and a prolonged argument won’t help her cause. It seems he doesn’t even feel the pain of standing and talking for such a long time. It was also getting dark and she hates staying out too late at night.
The best place she could think of was Cold Stone. How she loved their ice creams! She had been dying to have one these past months if not for the yeye cold that has refused to leave her all these while. Whether the cold likes it or not, she will indulge herself in a Cold Stone Special today.
“Okay let’s get two cups of ice cream at Cold Stone and talk over that.”
“Your wish is my command. And to the best specialised ice cream shop we head,” Adeolu joked.
She smiled revealing those killing white gapped front teeth and dark gums.
They got there and Adeolu located a free table which had two chairs. He pulled one out for her, brought out his handkerchief and cleaned it for her. She was really grateful for that.
“Mi Lady, here, have your seat,” Adeolu said as he curtsied. Lola smiled and Adeolu concluded that she must be a free-spirited person because she smiles very often.
She sat down wondering for the umpteenth time what kind of man Adeolu was he was too funny. She was expecting him to sit down opposite her but he didn’t rather he came beside her curtsied again and bent to an acute angle. She was wondering what that was for when he spoke.
“Lola, sorry if I am too close for comfort. But I wouldn’t like anyone to hear what I had to say. That is the reason for this.”
“What is so secretive that you are keeping from public glare and ears that you came this close.”
“I just want to ask for your choice of ice cream and I know it will be a top kept secret that you would mind if I asked so openly that everyone had access to it.”
She made a small hiss and smiled. “What is a secret in my favourite ice cream that he would make such a scene. This guy will be full of dramas,” she thought in her head.
“I have no favourite ice cream but there is this mixture that Cold Stone does. They say it is their Special That is what I take each time I come for ice creams.”
“And Special it is!”
His favourite ice cream has always been plain vanilla but today he would take what she took. He ordered for two Cold Stone Specials and in less than 15 minutes, the mixture of a variety of flavours and M&M was ready. He paid and took the two large cups to the table. As he placed hers in front of her, he noticed the excited look she had, which told him she really loved what she saw in the cup. He settled himself into a chair and watched for thirty seconds as she took a mouthful of the cold substance in front her, savouring the taste it gave to her buds. He took a spoonful and felt the taste. It was really Special!
“I can see why this mixture is called Special,” he said.
“It is really special Ade – can I call you that?”
He nodded in the affirmative as the ice cream was doing well in his mouth.
“The secret must be well kept or else if I should grab it, I will make millions out of it – that is if I don’t eat all the ice cream I made myself. Thanks for this cup.”
Ade knew the conversation will flow. Give a woman her favourite toy, and the best kept secret in her life will spring forth before she can close her mouth.
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