Page 28 of Jade: Chance Are

“That, I found out the hard way, when I needed to use it badly. I started opening doors and of course, each room was a color-coded living room. To this day, I don’t understand the need for each colored living room but what do I know, I’m just a girl from Lagos with no idea about rich royal life.

I finally open the door to the room where Naseer lay in a plaster cast with that scowl on his face. He laughs. “I asked him for the bathroom. he pointed with the finger, not in a cast. I remember racing in not caring to close the door. I was at the brink of peeing on myself which would have been a social suicide, no way was I ever going to live that down.”

“Absolutely not around teenagers,” he says laughing. “Please continue.”

“I used the bathroom and when I came out, not sure why I paused to speak with him, but I did. At first, he didn’t say anything to me just as I was about to leave, he spoke and said three words I’ll never forget ‘Sit with me’ Those three words would change my life.

I didn’t want to sit but the look on his face had changed from scowl to sad, like he hated everything about himself. Let’s just say I didn’t like the look and felt like changing that to give him something possible, besides a few minutes away from the group that was probably mocking me wouldn’t hurt. They had rejected all my ideas and treated me like I was senseless. I wasn’t in a hurry to return to them.

So, I stayed to talk with him. Not sure how it happened but we laughed together. It felt like we could both wash each other’s pain away. He was in physical, emotional, and mental pain and I was a fully loaded missile emotional grief-stricken teenager. The one thing we both didn’t have was the launch code for our loaded missile. In that emotional chaos, I’ll say we clung to each other as a lifeline.

He brought me out of a zombie state of rinse and repeat and I like to think I brought some color and laugh to his days of being in the same spot.”

“You did if no one ever told you. I am telling you now, that you brought him out of the darkness. He refused to see or speak to any of us and one day out of the blue. He invites Brian over.”

I chuckle while taking a sip of my drink. Just as the waiter brings our food. We began eating.

“How did you and Naseer meet?” I asked him.

“Naseer and I were roommates in college. I was a computer science major, and he was in finance. His grandfather, the late king, brought him to school. At first, I thought he was all pompous and annoying, which he can still be sometimes.

We didn’t say much to each other, Brian, my cousin, stopped by to invite me to a party. I wasn’t in the room but somehow, he and Naseer got talking and they hit it off.

From there on, he and I got better. Josh was Brian’s roommate, so we all tagged along together.

It was always fun and wild. Until Rilwan joined as his bodyguard, we couldn’t do whatever we wanted because Rilwan would report to Naseer’s grandfather and as you probably know.

Rilwan is very dedicated to protecting Naseer. We still pulled some pranks, but I wished. Rilwan was there the day Brian and Naseer decided to challenge each other.”

“How come Rilwan wasn’t there?”

“Because the night before we’d found a way to put sleeping pills in his drink, so he would sleep in. While we checked out early morning to race our bikes. It was all fun. Until Brian and Naseer decided on the crazy challenge. Josh and I tried to talk them out of it, but they are both stubborn. You know what happened next.”

“Yes, I do,” I answer as I continue to eat.

Ken and I spent the next few hours talking more about him, Naseer, Josh, and Brian in college. I had so much fun laughing with him.

When he asked for another evening to continue our talk. I agreed.

When I arrived home, I changed and noticed several missed calls from Naseer which I didn’t return. I spoke to the twins, then got in bed in Naseer’s shirt, with his smell on it. The bottle I took had run out, so I pleaded with Taimani to help me source it. She thought I was crazy of course but I told her Mira loved the scent. Which is the truth, so she got it for me. How I don’t know. I was just thankful. The shirts are of course worn and faded but I don’t mind. As long as I’m sleeping in the shirt and scent. How do you plan to sleep when you marry Knox? Haven’t thought that far yet, will cross that bridge when I get there. Until then. I’ll maintain the status quo.

The next day at work went by fine, Lucy told me Naseer called twice, and each time I told her to make an excuse that he couldn’t question.

After work, Ken and I went to a seafood restaurant that he wanted me to try. We spent the day talking about my college days and how I dated Naseer, under the radar.

We talked and laughed more, then planned another night. Since I didn’t want to eat dinner alone in my unit. I agreed to go to another restaurant.

We talked and laughed again but this time, I have no idea how I made it home.

twenty-one

Ken

I stormed right into Josh’s office, without knocking. I pull a chair and sit. I’m jittery. He lifts his head from his computer and stares at me waiting for me to speak but I have no idea where to begin.

She warned me about getting too curious, but I blew it off. Even Josh had warned me about getting too close to Naseer’s girl, but I was greedily eating from the buffet of information, I couldn’t stop. Now I know more than I should know, and it has my mind scared shitless. Some things are best left unknown. I’ve crossed the line.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong or do I need to kick you out so I can get back to work.”