3: Chills

After a five-hour flight in turbulent weather, we arrived in Lagos safely, and I headed for Banana Island, where I lived with Lyon. On my arrival, I saw how the workers and maids warmly welcomed me, and it warmed my heart. It was a Friday, and so I expected Lyon to finish work earlier, but Yao, his driver, informed me of an ongoing deal at work, which was still ongoing.

He asked if I wanted to wait for them to finish and come home, but I had travelled seven hours to surprise him, and I knew I didn’t have the patience to wait.

“Take me to him,” I said, and his brow narrowed at me.

“You just got back and still look stressed out. Are you sure you don’t want to wait for him?”

I nodded in agreement. “I know, but patience has never been my strongest virtue.”

He knew that, and a few scars I had since childhood attested to the fact. “Alright then, let me grab the keys.” He said this and departed from the living room.

Two minutes later, he returned and nodded at me. I fell in line with him, and he led us to Lyon’s Lexus. He opened the door for me, and I flashed him a smile before entering, and the door shut. I connected my headphones to my phone and wore them over my head. Then I played ‘Shiver’ by Ed Sheeran and bobbed my head to it while we drove inside.

Ten minutes into the drive, Yao’s phone rang, and he answered and placed it on loudspeaker. I lowered the volume of my headphones, and I heard Lyon’s voice say, “We are waiting.”

“Yes, sir. I am on my way.” He replied, giving no hint of who he was coming with. As much as I was excited to see Lyon, interrupting his very important meeting didn’t sit well with me. But knowing the meeting was out of the way added to my excitement.

I noticed Yao staring at me from the mirror, and my cheeks warmed up in embarrassment. “It’s okay. Mr Biggs has missed you, too.”

That was indeed nice to hear.

We arrived at the Biggs industry’s headquarters on Victoria Island, where Lyon had his office, and Yao opened the doors. I stepped out and made my way into the building, my heart thudding. I took the elevator and pressed on the sixth floor, where my father’s office was situated. Getting out of the elevator, I approached his office. The security and secretary already knew who I was because I’d been here many times in the past, so no one thought to check me in or ask questions, and I approached with ease and freely.

I slowed down when I heard merry laughter coming from Lyon’s office, and I knew he wasn’t alone. Then I remembered he had told Yao ‘we were waiting,’ the ‘we’, meaning he had company.

“If I’m being honest, I didn’t think they were going to take the deal,” Lyon said through laughter.

“Why not? You already had them by the balls. They had no other choice but to give in. They wouldn’t get a better offer from the competitive market.” Jace answered, his voice coming off as cocky but firm.

“I never got to say this before the meeting started, but I am glad you mad—”

I walked to the door, pushed it open, and stepped in. Lyon’s eyes wandered from Jace’s, moving over to the door where I now stood in silence, and his big brown eyes lightened up at the sight of me. His happiness has always been my happiness as well, so I wasn’t surprised when my face also broke into a grin.

“Estelle.” He breathes, disbelief still lingering in his eyes. Jace, at the mention of my name, turns around, and his adorable amber eyes rest on me, and it took all the strength to not break my gaze with Lyon and give him my undivided attention.

Lyon strode from his desk over to me and took me into a bone-crushing hug. Seizing the opportunity, my eyes travelled to Jace, and I found him still staring at me with acute concentration. There was also a smile on Jace’s face—the one I have missed for the past three years and the one I wanted to see most. The one fate had robbed seven months ago because of the death of his wife. His perfect sets of teeth were on display, and that hypnotising dimple of his flashed at me. His physical features were alluring, but he also had good qualities that made him so adorable in my eyes.

He was in a black long-sleeved shirt tucked into his grey trousers, two of his favourite colours, and, if I remember correctly, I had gifted him the black long-sleeve T-shirt on his twenty-eighth birthday. My heartbeat skipped in my chest. It was a warming feeling to know that he cherished the gift despite the fact that it had been years since I gave it to him.

I tore my eyes away from his, in fear of giving off too much reaction and making Lyon suspicious.

Lyon pulled away from the hug, but his eyes were still wide from disbelief. “When did you leave?” he asked.

“Seven hours ago.”

“You should have told me.”

“I wanted to surprise you, and the look on your face right now makes it worth it,” I revealed with a mischievous look on my face.

He grabbed my cheeks and pinched them, something he had done since I was a child, before placing his arms around my shoulder. He turned to Jace, who now had his arms folded across his chest, flexing his gym-built body. “I’m not this stubborn, am I?”

“I could say you’re not, but that would be a lie.” He answered, chuckling.

Lyon gave him the middle finger, and Jace burst into tingle-erupting laughter.

“Yao told me you have a late business meeting,” I said, staring up at Lyon, who still had a glare on his face aimed at Jace.

He nodded. “We made an offer to a company in Spain hoping to partner with us, and they came today to seal the deal. We couldn’t go home. Jace had to leave Port Harcourt over here.”

“It was worth it.” Jace shrugged it off casually.

The phone on Lyon’s desk began ringing, and he walked over to the desk and picked it up. “Hello, Neera.” He said it in a rather charming voice, and Jace turned around to give him a knowing look.

I immediately knew what that look meant. It was the look you give a friend who is starting to like someone. It was the same look I gave Darcy when I thought she liked her course representative. Lyon had a crush, and Jace knew it, and from the drop in his tempo, I knew he had a crush on whoever was calling. He rolled his eyes and walked out of the office to continue the conversation with the one called Neera, leaving me alone with Jace.

I chewed on my bottom lips and tried to stare at anything that wasn’t Jace. This served as a way of sailing through the silence until Lyon returned. There were a lot of things I hoped to tell him back in Oxford, and for a few months I pondered them in my mind, but now I stood before him with all those thoughts gone.

“You’ve grown taller than the last time I saw you.” He said it, snapping into my mind and yanking me out of my thought, and I find his eyes raking over me from head to toe. “Soon you will be much taller than me.”

I laughed; the awkwardness reduced, and I glanced at him. “I stopped getting taller after I turned sixteen,” I answered him, glancing down at myself and then at him.

He scoffed and took a step towards me, making my heart skip a beat. “You’re sure about that? Because the last time I saw you, you were barely past here.” He placed his hand on the space below his chest and said, “And now you are here.” He put his hand on his shoulder. “Soon, you will be taller than me.”

“For your sake, I hope that’s true,” I answered, still laughing.

“Welcome back, kiddo.” He smiled, and his amber eyes glittered as he stared down at me. Before I could reply, he pulled me into a bear hug.

I melted into the hug helplessly and wrapped my arms around what I could of his massive body, and we stayed that way for a while. When he finally pulled back, I almost whined.

“Thank you,” I said, and my words were for the hug he just gave me and not a response to his words.

His large hand came to stroke my face, and I almost leaned into the touch. Keeping my eyes from fluttering also became an almost impossible task. His touch was brief, and he withdrew his hand before I knew it.

Although his touch was brief, it was enough to cause havoc within me. My nipples were rock hard in my bra, and my legs were barely holding onto the floor.

Three years apart didn’t make things better; it instead multiplied how I felt.

“I know it has been a few months since her passing, and I never got to say this in person, but I am sorry for your loss.”

His amber eyes flickered with vulnerability for a split second before he took control of them and flashed me a grateful smile. “Thank you.” 

I felt a vibrant chill run through me, knowing that he had remembered the loss and still smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“So, how long will you be staying with us?”

“About eight weeks.” I would undergo clinicals at St. Judith’s Hospital on the west coast of the island, as it is affiliated with the University of Oxford.

I might be wrong, but I saw his eyes sparkle at my response, and that sent tingles through me.

Calm yourself, Estelle; he’s probably happy he gets to see his friend’s daughter around for a little longer and nothing more.

Even if there was something, I doubt he would ever let it show.

I couldn’t fault him. I was his best friend’s daughter, the one he shouldn’t desire.