Dapo sauntered towards Ame, where she stood, waiting in line for her plate of food. He could not help admiring her. Though conservative in her style of dressing, he gave it to her that she was a power dresser who knew her combinations well, and he doffed his hat to her in that aspect. He had been stealing furtive glances at her all day long as the meeting proceeded. They were at the Thao Exclusive, an intercontinental hotel which was hosting an international celebrity who was on a world tour on the cause of alleviating the suffering of the economically-deprived children in the developing parts of the world. The company promoting the celebrity had sought out several multinational companies like that of the Adejares and Obasogies to work with as a result of their proven integrity from the records of their dealings in past times.
Ame and Dapo were each representing their respective companies. Ame, who was seeing Dapo for the first time since the incid
Ame was beside herself with grief. She refused to be comforted. It was well over four weeks now that Philip had left the shores of the country and he was yet to get in touch with her. Her father had made enquires to ascertain that there had been no plane crash and even though there had been none, Philip had not yet reported at the Charles Darwin University, where he was on a full tuition paid scholarship to study neurosurgery for three years. It was as if he simply vanished from the face of the earth.About five days after Philip's departure from Nigeria, when Ame had not heard from him, it had taken the combined efforts of her father, Segun and even Osahon, as well as Ego, who was calling incessantly from London, to stop Ame from jumping into the next available plane and heading out to Australia in search of her lost love. Only Rosa had been unaffected. As far as she was concerned, Philip's absence was a good riddance to bad rubbish. She pretended to empathise
It was almost a year now since Philip had been incarcerated in the maximum prison in Palau for a crime he knew nothing about. Despite his insistence on not knowing anything relating to the wraps of cocaine as well as the heart of a human being found in his bag, nobody had listened to him. Even the lawyer that the state had given him had muddled everything up along the way and had even caused a scene when he had shouted at Philip in court as the latter had disobeyed him by pleading 'not guilty' in court during the trial."I told you to plead 'guilty'!" he had shouted at Philip when the latter had looked at the judge in their kangaroo court and had pleaded 'Not guilty' to the several counts leveled against him, 'possession of drugs and murder', being a couple of them."But I am not guilty!" Philip had insisted passionately from where he had stood at the dock. "I can't agree to what I have not done! I don't know anything about what was found in
"Gee!" The sound of Julius' voice roused Philip from his dreamless sleep and he got up slowly from his narrow bunk. He had just managed to sleep after a tiring day mending roads. Less threatening inmates like him were taken to the highways, albeit under heavily armed security, to mend the roads."Gee, there is good news!" Julius exclaimed as he banged the bars of Philip's cell. Philip became alert as he came quickly to the entrance of the cell. "Tell me about it!" he said eagerly."Omar has agreed to visit!" he laughed happily. "Cut the rakit, wila!" somebody shouted from down the hall and Julius said something in an apologetic tone as he looked in the direction of the voice, then he reduced his voice into a whisper as he turned to face Philip again."I believe Omar is the deliverer, eh? Our modern Jesus, eh?" he asked delightedly as he smiled hopefully at Philip."Are you sure?" Philip asked his friend. He was ready to grasp any chance he could, no matter how slim, as long as it wou
"Quit this nonsense, man!" Dapo said, coughing. He slapped the smoke from Dare's cigar off from his face.Dare smiled lazily as he continued to puff out the smoke from his Cuban cigar audaciously at his friend's face. "This is for the big boys, sugar!" he drawled as he reached for his cocktail."Cut it, Dare! And I am not your sugar!" Dapo retorted, looking glumly as he got up and sat some paces away from his chimney of a friend. They were in one of Dare's houses on the mainland. It was a portable bungalow tucked away in the heart of Surulere, a secluded place in Lagos where Dare carried out his illicit, clandestine affairs. He had invited Dapo over to celebrate his 'latest hit', having recently been paid off by his 'sugar mama', the wife of one of the police inspectors whose husband had been away from the country on an overseas training for two months. Dare had promptly booked his weekends with her at his 'love nest' and had 'serviced' her night and day till her husband's imminent r
As Philip took the phone receiver on his own side to speak with Omar, he heard Ame's voice distinctly cry out his name. He paused, as he was momentarily shaken, then he looked around him briefly, hoping, in his wildest imagination, that he would see her behind him, but only the prison guards hovered not too far from him so he only shrugged as he faced Omar, who frowned slightly in concern as he studied Philip."Everything okay?" Omar spoke into his phone receiver, carefully appraising Philip who looked at him from the other side blankly, not answering. "English?" Omar asked further.Philip nodded and smiled apologetically at Omar. "Yes, I'm sorry, please. My name is Philip.""Omar," came the reply at the other end. "I'm a lawyer, Philip," he began. "Pueba told me y..." he continued but Philip cut him short."Pueba?" he asked, looking at Omar in sheer confusion.Omar shook h
Osaro's head was bowed with worries as he headed back to the bedroom but he stopped short, shocked, to see Rosa leaning like a sentinel in the bedroom doorway, looking like an angel sent to him with a message.He didn't have to wonder how long she had been standing there."Is our daughter now sleeping with Dapo?" she asked calmly as she folded her arms across her breasts.Osaro hastened to her, his arms outstretched. "God forbid it, my love!" He reached her side and tried to lead her back to the bed but she declined."Let's talk about it now!" she insisted stubbornly, not budging as she looked at her husband in the dim interior of their bedroom."Alright," Osaro conceded, leading her towards the living room. "Let me make a little snack while we talk, okay, my love?" He said as he helped her into a seat comfortably.He headed for their little kitchenette
"I don't think that Ame slept at Ego's place last night," Osaro began as he sat, facing his wife. Rosa looked on silently as her husband continued. "Now, I don't know whether Ego is covering up for her or not, that will be sorted out when I speak with Ame myself." He looked up at his wife and smiled. "That is all there is to it, my dear, so there's no need to worry, you see?" He spread out his hands in a sideways gesture."Then where did she sleep, Osaro?" his wife asked him.Osaro shrugged. "Only Ame can answer that, my dear."Rosa frowned. "At least with this Philip out of the way, she can concentrate on better and more promising relationships," she said."Ah, Rosa! Ame won't thank you for that!" Osaro scolded his wife. He ate one of the sandwiches too.Rosa looked at her husband seriously. "Osaro, I don't like the idea of Ame sleeping out in a man's house. It doesn't show that
Abiola Adejare gave her husband a warm, welcoming hug as he entered their private living room."Welcome, Otunba," she greeted as she took in his unsmiling demeanor.Chief Adejare collapsed tiredly on one of the plush leather sofas in the room and closed his eyes as his wife knelt on the seat near him and smoothed his brows for him.He heard the sound of a knock at the door."Enter," his wife commanded.Chief Adejare turned his head slightly as a uniformed maid entered with a tray of fruit drink and an ice pack. She genuflected to him and his wife respectfully as she placed the tray of drink on a side stool that his wife pointed to.The maid soon left after being given some instructions by her madam.Abiola brought the drink to her husband and made him drink it from off her hand."E pele, oko mi, take
The early morning sun smiled down warmly as Amenaghawon Obasogie made her way out of her father's limousine and into the grand Cathedral. She floated down the aisle on the arms of her father, who was dressed in the full traditional attire of a Bini chief. Philip and his best man, Julius, waited patiently at the level ground before the altar. When his bride reached him, Philip was expected to lead her upwards to the altar, where they would be joined in holy matrimony before a holy God and man.Julius, now a law student in a prestigious school in America, where he and Omar had since relocated to, had flown in all the way from America to grace his best friend's wedding. Omar too was in attendance, having flown in from Liberia, where he was attending a world summit Leadership conference.Even Philip's surrogate family members were also in attendance, with two of Amanda's children also there to give their support. Chief Adejare, who was still in America with his
"What?!" Ame began to shake violently. Segun quickly grabbed her and tried soothe her. Femi held her hands more firmly. Osahon moved closer to them as well. Between them, Segun and Femi did their best to calm her down.Ame found it hard to believe that Philip Omagbemi, the man she had loved almost all her adult life was alive! He had been alive all these while when she had cried out her heart sore, pining for him? He had been alive all those harrowing months when she had gone through the traumatic experience of the after effects of being raped, and then the gruesome torture of a loveless marriage to Dapo Adejare as a result of being found pregnant by her rapists! Oh, that her Philip had been alive, and walking the surface of this same earth as she had given herself up, albeit unwillingly, to a passionate experience in the arms of another man!The tears flowed down her cheeks unhindered and none of the men in the room made any effort to stop them. A sudden h
"Nah wah o! Things are happening in this our hospital o!" a nurse retorted."Are you telling me!" was the reply her partner gave.The two nurses sat conversing among a cluster of trees near the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Ward, just idling away as they were on their break period."Who would ever believe that Obasogies's daughter would ever be brought to our hospital?!" one of the nurses asked as she turned to her friend, her eyes wide with an awesome wonder.Her friend gave a short, mirthless laugh as she rolled her eyes. "Babe con see security! It was her former husband's father that visited her the other day o, after her child died!" The nurse informed her friend as she shook her head sadly."Eyah!" Her partner swept her hands to cover her mouth in pity. "No wonder! Chai, that woman don suffer! I pity her o!" She shook her head sadly. Then she looked at her friend as she asked curiously, "But why did her husband not come to visit her, at lea
A group of medical persons comprising of doctors, nurses and attendants was already converging when Dr. Philip Omagbemi made his way to the wide doors leading to the emergency theatre of the hospital. From the snatches of hurried conversations around him, he gathered that it was a critical case involving multiple patients; a case of 'hit and run' involving a mother and her child, who had been brought into their hospital as a last resort, having been rejected by the hospital nearest to the scene of the accident.Dr. Omagbemi carefully washed his hands in the bowl of antiseptic liquid held before him by one of the attendant nurses. He went forward and another nurse decked him in the operating theatre garb, complete with the cap. Other surgeons were being attended to in the same manner somewhere in the large corridor.Soon, some nurses wheeled in two gunneries on which the bloody forms of the mother and her child were placed. The Chief Surgeon chose a handful of med
Osahon parked his vehicle near a cluster of trees by the sidewalk. It had been a herculean task digging up Dr. Philip Omagbemi's whereabouts as he had had to go 'solo' mostly, seeing that none of the elderly ones around him would approve of his schemings, but he wanted what was best for his sister. He had to make this right by her; he had to seek out her old love."Excuse me, please I'm here to see Dr. Philip Omagbemi," he told the pretty-looking nurse at the reception desk.The pretty nurse looked up from the file she had before her and flashed a sweet, welcoming smile at Osahon."Do you have a previous appointment sir?" she asked him sweetly, giving him all her attention.Osahon briskly shook his head as he turned on his charms."I'm afraid not, Miss. You see," He leaned in closer to her as his voice dropped into a whisper, which the nurse strained to hear. "This is a surprise visit of sorts!" He laughed as if he had just divulgeded some kind of
Nurse Bolanle was idling by the reception desk and having a light banter with the nurses at the reception desk when Philip's name came up."Enhen, how far with you and your bobo, nurse Bolanle?" One of the nurses asked and all eyes feasted on nurse Bolanle for her answer."Don't try me o, nurse Benedict! My plans are going to be put in effect asap!" Nurse Bolanle laughed lightly as she batted her eyelids at her colleagues. Everyone laughed at her comic display then one of them asked a question."Abeg, which one be 'asap' again o?!"Before Nurse Bolanle could even reply, another nurse hissed loudly and then retorted, "Mumu, like you! Must you show your stupidity?! Who doesn't know that 'asap' means 'as soon as possible'?!""Is that the reason you should insult me then, madam 'know it all'!" the insulted nurse attacked back as she gave her colleague a withering look."Enough, both of you! My bobo is heading this way!" Nurse Bolanle quietened the squabbling nurses. She adjusted herself as
Nurse Bolanle was idling by the reception desk and having a light banter with the nurses at the reception desk when Philip's name came up."Enhen, how far with you and your bobo, nurse Bolanle?" One of the nurses asked and all eyes feasted on nurse Bolanle for her answer."Don't try me o, nurse Benedict! My plans are going to be put in effect asa
Philip descended the short flight of steps from the plane onto the tarmac. He looked around him and took stock of his surroundings. The Murtala Mohammed International Airport; the MMA, had not changed much in the three years and four months that he had been away. Happy tears blinded him as he thanked his God for bringing him back to his homeland. But for God's mercy to him, he had never thought that he would see his beloved country again.He knew his surrogate mother was wrong when she had said that Nigeria had nothing to offer him anymore. His beloved Ame walked on the very soil of this land, and though her father's re
Femi sat tensed on the single seater where he sat, not moving. He was oblivious to the tears that ran, unchecked down his face. Ame sat before him, dry eyed and seemingly looking unbothered but he knew she had been through hell and back. He could not begin to fathom how she had single-handedly gone through the ordeal she was now narrating to him.He had flown her and her daughter out of Ibadan over to his place in Jos, to offer her respite from the ordeal of the unpleasant publicity which her separation from her husband, Dapo Adejare, had caused.