Travesty (6)

"There's only one side to every story in this city and don't tell me you think the slut may have a valid point. How can someone just heartlessly destroy another person's happiness?" Funke asked dazed. "Where has the child been? She obviously didn't need Desmond before now so why did she steal poor Susan's joy?"

 

Lara nodded as they entered the elevator, all the while her heart thumping in her chest and her mind praying that Tolu had not returned from wherever she went. Funke sounded and looked like she'd kill them both if she found her in her flat. The elevator doors opened to a spotless living room. Lucy must have moved her suitcases into one of the spare rooms.

 

"Good afternoon madams," Lucinda said hurrying towards them. "The food is ready, I was just setting it out."

 

"It's okay, we are not hungry," Lara said dismissively, carefully looking for signs of Tolu and praying for none at the same time. "I'm going to my parents house earlier than normal," she said and Funke stared at her confused.

 

"I hope you are not going earlier to tell them what I've just told you," She said and crossed her arms. "That information is the definition of confidential."

 

Lara grabbed her arm and led her out of the living room, scared Tolu may appear at any minute, "Let's go to my room."

 

Funke jumped on her bed and smiled, "I love your bed. It always smells like what I imagine heaven smells like," She said and sniffed her pillows.

 

Lara forced a smile and changed out of her church clothes. "Surely they are not going to announce the annulment of the wedding yet. That will be too shameful,"

 

"You disappoint me constantly, Lara." Funke said and pouted. "Don't you know where you are. Of course not. Apparently they agreed to fake the marriage for two years. Susan is relocating to New York next month since Desmond can't leave his business in Lagos and she doesn't want to be in the same country with him,"

 

"Wow! My best friend is really a gossip whore," Lara said and pulled one of her silver evening dresses over her head. "There is no way I'd know all this information if you were not my best friend."

 

Funke shrugged. "All is ask in return is that you pray for long life for me." She said and rolled unto her tummy. "It'd be such a pity to die young, life is too wonderful and there is still so much to experience," She paused and studied her friend, "Are you sure you are alright? And isn't it a bit too early to be getting reading for tonight?"

 

"Yes and no. Yes, I'm fine and no, its not too early to be getting ready." Lara said and re-did her make-up in the mirror. "I need to get there early so I can speak to my father alone," She turned to face Funke, "are you coming tonight?"

 

"As much as I would love to, I literally don't have anymore strength in me to smile my way through a three hours dinner," She replied and rolled her eyes. "But don't worry, I'll make sure Tim is there," She gasped and grabbed her phone from her bag, "Speaking of which, I'm sure he'll tell me he has forgotten if I don't get home now and lay out his suit for him like his little maid." She rose from the bed and groaned. "Boys are babies, never forget that and your marriage to Ade may just be successful,"

 

"Boys are babies," Lara repeated. "Got it and thank you for the mighty words of wisdom."

 

Funked laughed and pecked her cheeks, "You know I love you honey, but I really must go now."

 

Lara breathed relief, "It's okay. Just tell Samuel to drop you." She pecked her best friend and watched her leave her room gracefully. She stood still and waited to hear Lucy say goodbye. Once she was sure Funke had left the flat, Lara crept out of her room in search of Tolu.

 

"Lucy, has my friend arrived?" She asked when she saw her clearing the dinning table of all the unused cutlery and uneaten dishes of yam, eggs and beef stew.

 

"No, ma." Lucy replied and Lara exhaled. "She hasn't arrived yet but I have set up Mr Danteta's room for her,"

 

"Why did you do that?" Lara asked with irritation. "She can't sleep in Ade's room, move her upstairs."

 

"I'm sorry ma and okay, ma, I'll do that now,"

 

"Once Samuel returns, let me know, I am going for dinner earlier than normal,"

 

"Yes ma," Lucy replied and Lara left her and went back to her room to finish getting ready. 

With all my love,

Dara Rhodes

Travesty (5)

Elizabeth smiled at her daughter and squeezed her hand back as the pastor ended his prayer. 

"Amen!" They all chorused. 

 She was immediately torn away from Lara by all the people that wanted to 'greet' her and Femi, the same people that 'greeted' them every Sunday. Lara watched her parents smile and laugh with their friends and wondered if they ever got tired of playing the almighty king and queen.

 

"Let's get out of here before those lost causes swamp us with their vile invitations."

 

Lara spun round to face her best friend and couldn't help herself but laugh. "Don't be so mean Funks" She said. "The least we can do is collect the invitations."

 

Funke dragged her arm and led her towards the door, "Well, not today. We have things to discuss."

 

Lara looked back at Timothy talking to some of his friends, "Funks what about your husband? Are you just going to leave him?

 

"What about him? Is he a baby? We came in different cars and I told him I was leaving with you."

 

Lara shook her head when they reached the door, "Don't you want to at least say goodbye?" She knew the moment Funks left her, all the people she didn't want to talk to, would pounce on her and start silly conversations but she didn't feel it was alright for her to just leave her husband.

 

"That's your problem," Funke said as she stopped and looked at her, "You are a hopeless romantic. The children are not back till tomorrow evening so we don't have to eat together tonight." She grabbed her arm again, "Come on, let's go."

 

"To where? You just keep saying let's go. Where are we going?"

 

"To your flat of course. We have things to discuss."

 

Richard rushed to them as they descended the church stairs amid the 'paparazzi' frenzy. Lara leaned in closer to Funke and whispered, "Like what?" while maintaining her smile.

 

"Shhh. Not here," Funke replied. "God forbid somebody hears what I'm about to tell you."

 

They both slid into the back seat of Lara's car and once they were out of the church compound, she turned to her friend but Funke pointed at Richard and Samuel in front and shook her head. "Not here either. Wait till we are in your room. I promise you, it'll be worth it." Lara thought hard about what Funke could have to say but came up clueless.

 

"My God, I love Lagos," Funke said suddenly. "The energy, lies and scandals in this city are unmatched."

 

"Don't taunt me." Lara replied dryly. "We are nearly at my flat."

 

Funke smiled playfully and put her hand over Lara's hand. "Alright, I'll tell you now," She glanced at the driver and body guard and moved closer to her friend. "You know Desmond Dorset?"

 

Lara nodded. "Yes, Susan married him yesterday. I was there without you remember?" She said and smiled.

 

"Now is not a time to be sarcastic, Lara. This is very very serious" Funke scolded.

 

Lara sat up in her chair and tried to feign seriousness. "You are really full of it, Funks. Just spit it out already."

 

"Okay, well, the wedding you attended yesterday is already on the rocks." Funke said smugly and blew her manicured nails.

 

Lara furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you mean? They seemed happy and in love."

 

"And if there's anything you know better than anyone in this city, isn't it that looks are very deceiving?"

 

Lara nodded and swallowed, "What happened or what is happening?"

 

"Well, it turned out Mr Dorset, isn't as single as he claimed."

 

Lara put her hand over her mouth. "No way. Please don't tell me he has a wife and three point five children in London"

 

"At this point, that might even be better." Funke said and smirked. "On the bright side, at least now we know why Tolu Abebe is in Lagos."

 

Lara froze. "Oh my gosh! Is he married to Tolu?"

 

"No honey!" She exclaimed and then whispered, "Tolu has a six year old boy for Desmond."

 

Lara's jaw dropped and she stared at her best friend. "That is impossible."

 

"Close your mouth honey, that is so un lady like. And this is Lagos remember? Nothing is impossible."

 

Lara shook her head vigourously. "Oh Lord, please tell me this isn't true,"

 

"It is darling. And the worst part? Desmond never told Susan so when that little bitch Tolu sent the undeniably cute baby's pictures to their hotel room last night along with the DNA results, in typical Susan manner, she exploded and told her mother to annul the wedding. So that has either already happened or is probably happening right now,"

 

"oh no. This is terrible."

 

"I know. I don't like that Susan girl but my heart goes out to her, nobody should have to go through this. God help that useless Tolu I ever lay my eyes on her, I will kill her. Lara, ha! The heart of man is desperately wicked oh. Apparently, she is very loose, you should hear what the boys are saying about her, all of them had met her somewhere in the world. I guess it's only us girls that wondered where she was all these years."

 

The car pulled into Lara's garage and she felt like throwing up. She stepped out of her car and her legs felt like jelly, the most hated girl in Lagos was probably in her flat right now.

 

"Are you okay?" Funke asked. "I know you like that Susan girl and that was why I wanted to wait till we were in your room, so you could cry for her freely,"

 

"I am fine." Lara replied. "And I am sure there are two sides to the story."

 

With all my love,

Dara Rhodes

Travesty (2)

Lara stepped out of the bath and dressed in her yellow lace iro and buba quickly, it was already eleven thirty and the reception started at noon. She never got anywhere early because of all the preparations she always needed to do and because traffic is synonymous with Lagos. She walked into her spacious monochrome living room with her red gele under one arm and saw her make up artist, Kemi sitting in the leather arm chair beside the white grand piano with three suitcases of make-up by her feet. Kemi rose immediately Lara walked in and greeted her nervously. Lara acknowledged her greeting and sat on the long black sofa. She laughed at Kemi to herself because even though she came to her flat every Saturday, she still behaved like every time was her first time.

"Who chooses yellow and red as wedding colours?" Lara asked jokingly trying to make her feel slightly more comfortable.

"Ma, I think they are nice colours," Kemi said as she put the base for foundation on Lara's face.

"I guess so," She replied and smiled. "Those shades of orange and blue the Adebisi's used for their wedding last week was so much more horrendous, right?"

Kemi cracked a laugh and Lara smiled again, she had accomplished her mission. She didn't say another thing till her face was done and her gele firmly tied on her head. Lucy kept peeking into the living room and Lara pretended she didn't see her every time she did. She treated Lara like her little baby and while some times, Lara was grateful for her watchful eyes, most times, she could do without it. An hour later, Lara was finally ready to leave her flat. She had a private elevator that opened into her living room and a guard who seemed like he was always in it. She put on her red soled pumps and her little black Chanel bag hung on her shoulder as she stepped into it. The guard greeted her like he normally did, stiff and a little too formal for someone she saw everyday and she returned his greeting warmly. When she stepped out of the elevator and into her private garage, her driver, Samuel, was waiting by her Bentley. He bowed immediately he saw her and her bodyguard, Richard, who was already sitting in the front of the car, jumped out, greeted her and opened the back door for her.

She slid in and the mobile police car that preceded her everytime she went to formal events, started moving. They pulled out of the dark garage and the sun shining bright in the sky blinded her eyes. She dug out her sunglasses and Ade's package that she stuffed into her bag before she left her flat tumbled out of it. She quickly put on the sunglasses and opened the brown packaging to reveal a tiny blue Cartier box. Shaking her head vigorously, she opened the box with more force than intended and inhaled sharply when she saw the huge diamond ring encrusted with about one million tiny ruby stones staring at her. She studied it as it glistened in the sun and a lone tear rolled down her face. Then she immediately grabbed her phone and called Ade who answered on the third ring.

"Hello babe," he said, sleep etched on his voice. Lara opened her mouth but no sound came out of it. "Hello? Babe? Did you get the ring? So will you marry me?"

Another tear ran down her face and she used her silk handkerchief to wipe it away carefully before it messed up her make up. She shook her head and looked out her window, little children begging were pressed against it. She turned away from them, breathed in and spoke, "Adelowo William Danteta, this is not the way to propose to a girl," She exhaled. "Didn't Eton or Harvard teach you that?"

"I should have known you'd find a problem," He replied flatly. "You always do. Well, I have proposed, what else do you want from me now?"

"What has happened to you Ade? What has happened to us?" She said, her voice shaking.

"Look Lara, I was asleep." He replied and sighed. "I had a rough night and I have a meeting tonight so I need sleep. Can we talk about this some other time?"

"I can't believe you Ade," She replied quietly. "I was actually dreading speaking to you. I should have called earlier but I really didn't want to. Can you imagine that? How can I be dreading speaking to the person I am meant to be marrying and I didn't even know this is what you were planning."

"Alright Lara," he breathed out. "You have too much drama for one human being. I am coming back to Lagos in three days. Do you think you will be able to survive without committing suicide till then? We'll talk about everything then but right now I'm too tired for you. Do whatever you want to do with that ring, I'll bring another one with me. I got a reminder that today is Susan's wedding so I'm guessing you are on your way there, send her my best wishes and I'll talk to you later," He said and hung up without waiting for reply.

Lara threw the phone and ring unto the empty space beside her and folded her arms. "Unbelievable. Un- freaking- believable. Ade has really outdone himself," She said to herself. She looked out her window, they were in traffic again and the children begging surrounded her again. She opened her bag and pulled out her white envelope filled with crisp clean notes that she was meant to use on the dance floor of the reception and wound down her window and handed it to the first hand she felt against hers. She knew she wasn't meant to ever do that, but the anger surging through her strangely exhilarated her. The children fought over it immediately the envelope left her hand and her car lurched forward like Samuel was trying to get her away from the scene and she smiled to herself.  She didn't feel like going to the wedding anymore but she had gotten dressed and there was no where else she could go looking the way she did.

"We are nearly there, ma," Richard said and Lara sighed and looked out at her city. The hawkers, beggars and the roadside sellers all looked so terrible with frowns on their faces, as they chased after cars and sweat dripped off their bodies like oil. Paradise and hell sat side by side comfortably in Lagos, great affluence and great poverty were best friends in this city but somehow, she'd only ever seen one side.

To be continued tomorrow. 

P.S: I just realized I haven't said this. Please bear with my writing. I wrote this quite hurriedly because I didn't want to miss/forget the important parts of what was unfolding before me. Also please note that this is the first story that I'm letting people read which hasn't been edited by an editor or copyeditor so try not to be too harsh in your judgments and just try to enjoy the story. Merci! 

Have a great day, y'all!!

With all my love,

Dara Rhodes