One
Mae Buba turned lazily on the bed. It was quarter to 5; an hour to her usual wakeup time. This wasn’t new, as she usually woke up before her phone alarm. She tried going back to sleep but her mind had other things it wanted to do. She threw off the blanket and got out of bed.
Mae, the first of five children, had finished her National Diploma in Entrepreneurial Studies five years prior. But as she brushed her teeth and got ready for the day, Mae remembered her parent’s shock when she had told them she was not ready to go back to school immediately. It wasn’t that she didn’t like school; in fact, the opposite was the case.
Mae had seen and admired students who sponsored themselves through school doing one business or the other, and though her parents were not overly rich, she and her siblings were comfortable. Her parents made sure they had all they required with a bit of extra, so they wouldn’t be tempted by others. Still, Mae felt the best way she could push herself to be more is if she cut the strings of comfort that tied her to her parents. When she got the job at Bibi’s restaurant she was a fresh-faced ND graduate, though there has not been much of a ripple in her life, she had grown and matured over the years.
With the her parent’s help she had been able to secure a three-bedroom accommodation with two other girls, Uzo and Joy. A decision which had benefitted the three girls mutually, making them close-knit friends turned family.
Remembering her two friends brought a smile to Mae’s lips. Her flat mates/friends were the reason she kept and lost her sanity sometimes. They all came from varied backgrounds that, thankfully, complemented rather than clashed. They had their moments but they were family.
Mae laughed, lathering her body as she recalled their first week in the house. Her parents, Uzo’s overprotective brothers, and Joy’s parents had all come to see the house and to make sure they were not moving in with a bad influence. They could see no reason why any of them had to move away from home or live alone as single girls.
Between the three families, they had covered everything; from furniture to cooked food that could last weeks. Joy’s brothers had made friends with the neighbourhood security, tipping them to keep an extra eye on the girls and their house. This overprotective nature was exactly why they left the house and even the State in the first place; in the case of Mae and Uzo. Joy’s parents lived within the city. But it was the only way they could get their family to leave them alone, for a while, that is.
Joy, the bookworm among the trio, was on her third degree. She always had a new course she wanted to study and working in a research institute was a good fit for her insatiable appetite for knowledge.
Joy was quiet, intelligent with a quick wit and ready to slay dragons for friends and family. She was a neat freak who cleaned to keep her creative juices active and flowing, whatever that meant. But as such, the girls always looked forward to her seminar and examination periods, or when she had a paper to submit for one of her numerous courses. The house and their laundry were not spared. Mae, who detested doing Laundry, lived for those days.
Joy was in a steady relationship with an amazing guy who was ready to settledown. But being meticulous; she had a lot of things on her list she needed to tick off before the marriage number.
Then there was Uzo; the spoilt, pampered, scattered only girl and last child among three boys and four children. Her brothers doted on her and fell over themselves to ensure she was okay and prepared for the world. She could outshout and fight dirty or fair, depending on what her opponent was dishing out.
Pretty and fair with an innocent mien that could suck you in, she made things look beautiful without trying. She was the creative one among the bunch who had a new business idea every month. She had been everywhere and done everything. She was the house chef, on the few occasions they cooked; not that they ate much at home. Mae ate at work and sometimes brought food home.
Mae tall, dark and shapely, loved heels, despite her 5’9inches height; what she didn’t have in the looks department she made up for in her physique, a striking figure in an ordinary face. Her cheerfulness and friendly personality quickly made people careless about her not-so-striking face.
As she slipped on her shoes, she let her mind flashback to the night before, when Uzo had come home with another ‘brilliant idea. Mae and Joy had rolled their eyes. Joy had stood up with her plates, her body language screamed, ‘not interested’. But mischievous Uzo had grabbed her and sat on her till she finished, with both of them kicking and screaming.
Mae had laughed at their antics. She knew Uzo wouldn’t listen to anyone with an opposing view. She always says, ‘I have acquired the superpower of selective deafness and vision. I choose what I see and hear.’
When Mae asked, ‘how did you acquire this gift?’ She dramatically answered in a staged whisper. ‘The same way you learned to care what people think…consistent practice.’
Mae shook her head in fond exasperation at her friends. She was the interior designer and stylist of their circle. She chose the colour and furnishings for their bedrooms and the entire house. Mae could not stand mismatch of colours, this nearly got her in trouble with Madam Bibi but in the end, it worked in her favour.
Madam Bibi, the owner of Bibi’s Place where she worked, was known to be a lady of good taste. She chose the furnishings for all her restaurant chain. She had lost her husband ten years prior and her two daughters were with their families in Sweden.
So Bibi’s Place had her complete attention. She travelled regularly around all her restaurant’s branches to make sure the standard was being kept. She was feared because she spared no prisoner, but she treated all her staff with fairness. This was why Mae did what she did.
The restaurant usually underwent a facelift every two years. When the time came again for it two years back, Mae was prepared to seize the opportunity. Before then, out of her salary, she had been adding little touches to the restaurant that were not obtrusive or expensive but made a whole lot of difference. From scented candles to changing frames, tasteful artworks, throw pillows and little knick-knacks. Sometimes, she changed the sitting placement to help the Fengshui of the restaurant; she had learned the term from her numerous YouTube interior decor videos. She was saving to attend the Sixth Sense Interior School and fashion school.
Mae wanted to go to both because she usually came up with ideas and clothes styles that fashion designers/tailors never understood. One tailor had told her, ‘madam go learn sewing because I no Dey understand all these styles wey you dey explain.’ She wanted to be able to produce samples for reproduction.
So that day, two years ago; when Madam Bibi had called the manager to prepare the restaurant for a facelift, Mae put her plan into action. With the help of Uzo and Joy, she had prepared a proposal with pictures. She was
off duty for two days and she planned to make something out of it. She travelled with Uzo who loves travelling and came up with the excuse of looking for more customers, and Joy who they practically had to drag along.
She needed her friends to stand as her team members and make her presentation look more professional. Mae had picked their clothes and packed their bags for the trip because she couldn’t trust them to pick appropriate clothes. Mae had a motto which is; ‘don’t dress like your mates. Dress like the seniors whose places you want to take.’She had read it somewhere and adopted it.
When they got to Abuja, they stayed at Joys’ family house, to her parents’ delight, and left in the morning to see Madam Bibi at Maitama, where she was overseeing the facelift of the Abuja arm of Bibi’s place.
Chef Kate had helped Mae schedule an appointment. Madam Bibi heard her presentation and read her proposal with satisfaction in her eyes. ‘Young lady, I will agree to your proposal because I have heard and seen what you have been doing for our Plateau branch. I am impressed that a young girl like you, rather than spend your money on girlish frivolities, is spending it for the interest of your workplace. Fengshui right? Hmmm, let’s see what you girls can do.’
That was two years ago. But Madam Bibi had been so impressed that she put the girls in charge of subsequent facelifts for the different Bibi’s Place branches in the country. She and her friends had quickly started their company by the side, with Joy handling the paperwork; while still keeping her government research job. Uzo handled the sewing, alongside their social media pages with clients’, while Mae handled the décor and organization.
Madam Bibi had also recommended them to her friends, and business had been good; though they couldn’t expand much because they had been saving for Mae to attend the prestigious Sixth Sense Interiors School in Lagos.
Mae still kept her job at Bibi’s; handling the social media and customer care unit. Madam Bibi had allowed the friends to create a space for themselves, which also doubled as their office during the week. On holidays or off-duty days, their home served as an office. It was all exciting. Now two years had gone by. Mae was not looking forward to work that morning. Bibi’s place was an upscale restaurant with the romantic mien and constant flow of couples and families, who constantly reminded her of her single status. It didn’t bother her most times but it was Valentine’s Day, and to put it kindly, there was no valentine; there hadn’t been one in a very longtime. Who had time for a relationship when all her time was booked?The relationship could wait …but then.
‘Hmm, ’Mae sighed as she pouted to put on a quick dab of lipstick, trying not to get bothered that she was the single one among her friends. Shaking the cobwebs off her thoughts, she admired her knee-level Ankara flared out gown in the floor-length mirror. Her rich virgin hair was wrapped into two doughnuts in front, and the other at the back.
It was 7:30 AM when she grabbed her handbag and headed out the door. Too impatient to order an Uber, she flagged down a cab. The next thirty minutes saw her stepping out of the cab and into Bibi’s Place. Mae sharply inhaled the woodsy and lemon scent of the entrance and smiled in pride. She was still luxuriating in the pride of being part of creating this beauty when a loud bang, followed by loud hysterical laughter, jerked her back to her environment.
‘Ahn Ahn now, ’Mae shouted angrily when she saw it was Chike, their gym buff waiter. He was in his gym attire, as he always came to work directly from the gym. Then he goes to the staff restroom at the boy’s quarter for a shower and a change of clothing.
‘Where is everybody?’he said in-between laughter while waving his hands at her in apology.
‘I don’t know, ’she said hissing as she dropped her bag and went to crosscheck the valentine themed décor they had done the previous day. She knew she was being extra touchy, but she wasn’t ready to be nice yet.
Done with the inspection, Mae traced loud voices to the kitchen; the hub of the restaurant. Everyone seemed to be gathered there as it was still early for customers. Chike’s voice was above everyone else’s. She opened the door just in time to hear him tell them of an incident that happened on his way to work.
‘…The bus seats were full, so I had to stand on the bus aisle. Suddenly I felt a hand on my butt. It was a pickpocket; he was going for something to steal. He didn’t know I had torn out the inside of the pocket. Besides, who keeps money in their back pocket on the bus these days? When I felt the cold hand on me, I turned and he froze. I decided to be mischievous, so I gave him this very wide smile and with a wink, asked shey e soft?’
‘You should have seen the way his eyes widened, bulging like they wanted to fallout of their sockets. He pushed everyone aside without caring as he ran to the door and jumped down at the next stop. He was running and looking back like someone was chasing him, till he was out of sight. Yeye. he wants to steal?’
Everyone was in stitches. Mae could not help joining in as she imagined the poor guy and crazy Chike, traumatizing him.
They were still laughing at the story when they heard someone calling their attention. Shade, the cleaner, went out to meet the person. She came back a few minutes later with a package.
‘Mae, na for you, ’she said, looking the package over as if trying to see what was inside, before handing it over. Mae was not expecting anything. In fact, she was surprised. Everyone shouted, ‘Valentine ooo, we go love!’while she tried to peer into the package in her hands.
It was a bit heavy and had a stick-it note bearing her name. She opened the box and a card fell out. There was a poem written on it that read.
My green suits her ash,
I dare you, spill the drink,
Maybe throw cutlery if I am fair,
Say mea culpa and watch as the lips widen in answer.
Meet me if you can,
Where the rich and savoury fills the palette,
At the stroke or before midnight,
Find me and these gifts are yours,
Failure means forfeiture,
Can you find the valentine of your dreams?
‘Bring them here let me see, ‘Chef Kate said, pushing through the others. ‘Mae, who is sending you gifts?’
Mae, looking perplexed, answered, ‘Chef Kate, I don’t know fa.’
‘What’s inside?’she asked, curiously. Mae opened the rest of the package to reveal a gorgeous set of red-heeled shoes, an application form for Sixth Sense Interior Design School, two tickets to Zanzibar, a gorgeous Ankara dinner gown with perfume and lotions.
Mae quickly took snapshots of the items, including the card, and sent it to her friends. Everyone tried explaining the poem and its meaning. Uzo and Joy called her through WhatsApp video call to ask what was going on. Joy explained, the poem says she should know the sender of the gift by midnight; else she would forfeit the gifts. ‘Ha!’Everyone exclaimed. Even Mae was bemused at this mystery.
‘What is going on here? Where is everybody?’Madam Bibi’s cultured voice came from the dining room. Everyone quickly dispersed to their duty posts.
TWO
There seemed to be no time to come up with a plan as activities for the day kicked off. The restaurant was fast filling up; the valentine themed décor was coming out nicely, giving off a perfect ambience. Mae joined the waiters, though she would have preferred to spend time finding who her anonymous admirer was, ‘what does ‘my green suits her ash even mean? ‘Mea culpa …?’She muttered surreptitiously checking the note for clues. Mae could feel a headache coming on trying to solve the puzzle; it was more difficult because she had no suspect.
The noisy entrance of Mr. Tarkur and his family reminded Mae of her duties. The Tarkus’ was Bibi’s faithful customer for three years running. He always came in with his wife and three lovely daughters on Valentine’s day; it was their thing. But today Mr and Mrs Tarkur came with their children, spouses, and grandchildren. Mae led them to the window seat and passed the menu round, Tarkur ordered for everyone, demanding the chef’s special delivered by Chef Kate herself. It was a ritual between the Takers and Chef Kate; Chef Kate usually came up with new and exotic dishes on days like this. The Tarkus who were unapologetic foodies always listened to her new inventions with pleasure and Chef Kate did not disappoint as she regaled them with stories about these inventions. Last year had been melon (egusi) Jollof and sorrel sauce with egusi bread. Mae shook her head in wonder, momentarily forgetting her mysterious admirer.
Bibi’s place was fast becoming a thing for its unique food; there was no ordinary for Chef Kate. She always added a twist to any food she made and madam Bibi gave her creativity room to breathe. There was a chef special every Friday night, and for the last Saturday of the month, she had a taste and story session where she swapped recipes, stories and tasting sessions with the participants which ended with suggestions for the next month’s chef special. Chef Kate recorded these sessions for her YouTube channels.
The monthly event had started with an offhand comment from Chef Kate’s husband which she had taken literarily and turned into one of the must- sees of Bibi’s place. So aside from the amazing and ever-changing décor, Bibi’s place was also known for its mouthwatering food and keen attention to details. The staff prided themselves on this and had no plans of compromising.
Mae looked up to see Joy and Uzo rushing in through the back. She knew they won’t wait till she got home. After taking the orders of a couple who just came in, she went back to the kitchen, gave the orders to one of the kitchen assistants before joining her friends. Chef Kate was filling them in while she deftly turned a stuff like goo while squeezing lemon juice on it because Mae had tasted Chef Kate’s finished work countless times, she had no doubts that what she was seeing will turn into something edible as only a word described chef Kate’s finished product, ‘food porn.’
When her friends saw her, they started shouting, and making a tooting train sound ‘chuchu the latest babe in town!’Actually, Uzo did most of the shouting while Joy did a funny shuffle dance. ‘Shh …!’Mae and Chef Kate simultaneously shushed them. ‘Madam Bibi is in her office!’‘Oh sorry!’the girls exclaimed and quietened down immediately. ‘So, what’s up? Let me see the mystery package.’Uzo continued in a calmer tone.
They tried solving the puzzle, Joy the bookworm was the one reading the poetry, while Uzo kept oohing and ahhing over the gifts. ‘I think this is saying you will lose these gifts if you don’t find the owner by midnight; also the owner is the person who smiles at you when say mea culpa after you spill something or throw cutlery.’
‘Ha! We are not returning anything back at all, but wait o, hope this is not some twisted kidnapping stunt? With all these stories flying around, you can never tell.’Uzo butted in.’
‘Huh!’Mae exclaimed while Joy elbowed her with a droll look. ‘Order up!’Chef Kate interrupted sharply ending the conversation. Mae entered the dining, delivered the order and looked around to see if any customer required attention, there sat a man casually dressed in jeans and shirt going through the menu; he had a neat moustache and a full head of hair, shoes with no scuff marks or dust on them. This man is ticking all the boxes Mae thought in admiration. Sensing her scrutiny, he raised his head and smiled directly at her. Well, let’s go ‘Mea culpa’ this one, we may be lucky. Mae thought as a shiver ran down her spine at the boyish smile that creased the manly face,
‘Hello, good day sir, I am Mae have you been attended to? Mae asked with a megawatts smile. Just as Mr. boyish smile opened his mouth to answer; Mae surreptitiously pushed the cutlery and bottle of water onto his lap with the tray she held. ‘Mea culpa!’Mae exclaimed with a fake look of astonishment on her face. She had checked to make sure the bottle was shut, Mae cringed inwardly as the cutleries clattered as they fell on the floor, then she hurried to pick them but in her haste, she bumped her head on Mr.
boyish smile who was also bending to pick the fallen cutleries. This time Mae was mortified, ‘sorry, mea culpa, ’she said again. Then without thinking she held his jaw to check if he was okay. She heard someone clearing their throat beside her, ‘if you have finished caressing my husband’s face, can I have it back?’
Startled, Mae quickly dropped her hand as her heart thudded in dread; she felt it was loud enough for all the diners to hear. What have I gotten myself into? She thought to herself as she turned and stammered an apology to a stunning woman coolly regarding her. Then she heard the man laughingly say, ‘at ease tiger.’The woman laughed loudly and sat down. ‘So …’the woman said in a laughing voice, ‘you like what you see?’ Mae didn’t know what to make of the question, ‘sorry ma’am, I didn’t mean anything. I bumped his jaw while trying to carry the cutlery and …’she stammered and stopped, not sure what to do next. Then the couple started laughing again at her confusion. ‘I am actually trying to solve a riddle, someone gave me a parcel and I am to find the sender by midnight or lose the gifts inside.’She finished in a rush, trying to quickly fix the embarrassing situation.
The lady with a raised brow said, ‘Oooh, secret admirer with a sense of mystery. I love it already but sorry doll, it’s not this table. This mystery man is all for me she said as she blew a kiss at the man who looked besotted.’ The man butted in, ‘Baby do you remember the time you …’Mae took that as her cue as she beat a hasty retreat, while the couple continued with their story down memory lane.
Meanwhile, her friends were in the kitchen trying to solve the mystery by going through the list of Mae’s admirers. Immediately Mae came in, Uzo said, ‘Babe Nawa o, we have been trying to guess the likely culprit but we no even know your toasters. When last did someone ask you out please?’ Mae who was still trying to calm her racing heart ignored the eyes on her and filled a glass with cold water, hoping the cold drink will calm her down. ‘Talk na, cat got your tongue?’Joy asked when she remained silent.
‘Aha!’Chef Kate said clapping her hand, ‘what of David?’Everyone turned giving her a blank stare before realization dawned. ‘Oh, David everyone echoed. ‘Why didn’t we think of him?’Uzo asked. ‘Who is David?’Mae asked, clearly the only one lost. A waiter came in, ‘David is here with a date and is asking for your special Chef Kate.’‘Oh that David!’Mae exclaimed and chuckled in amusement. ‘I told you guys there is nothing between us, he is just a friend.’Everyone rolled their eyes and ignored her. David was a regular at Bibi’s restaurant who she had fun teasing because of his shy and reserved nature; he took it all in strides. Sometimes the three girls had him take them home but they all insisted his constant presence was for Mae though she did not see anything to prove that was true since he treated them all the same.
‘Mae confirm his request’Chef Kate interrupted her thoughts; ‘I hope you heard he came with a date?’She replied, not ready for another embarrassing scene. But they pushed her towards the door ignoring her protests.
She saw David before he saw her; he was a fair slim and tall man. Mae had issues with fair guys; she believed they were cheats and fake. Though she hadn’t met any fair and fake guy she couldn’t shake off the feeling. He was a lecturer at the National Open University of Nigeria. When he saw her he waved and smiled broadly, could they be right? Mae thought. But if they are right, what was he doing bringing another girl to the restaurant, besides why hadn’t he said anything.
‘Happy Valentine and welcome to Bibi’swhat can we offer you today?’She said at their table, nothing was going to make her ‘Mea Culpa’anyone else today. Whoever sent the parcel could come and take them back if he wanted to and if it were David, she will give him a piece of her mind. She said inwardly fuming as she waited for their orders.
‘Hello Mae, ’David replied ‘please can you get Chef Kate, we want to order directly from her.’
why will he dismiss me like that because of some girl? Mae fumed as she looked the girl over. She was a smallish pretty lady with flawless skin and the confident airs of someone comfortable in her skin. If this is David’s spec then I guess I am not his type, Mae thought.
‘She’s busy’Mae replied with a frown. ‘Then we will wait, ’he answered calmly. ‘by the way, this valentine theme you and the girls did is beautiful, well done. How about the design school you were interested in? ‘It’s fine’ Mae answered sourly, not understanding why he wouldn’t face his date and allow her to leave in peace. ‘Have you gotten the forms?’he asked, ignoring her short answers. What has gotten into David Mae wondered, she usually was the one who initiated the conversation whenever he was around, and it was always a challenge to get him to talk because he always gave her monosyllabic answers. The girls always laughed at her because they said he talked just fine with them.
His date who wore a wide smile all the while looked at both them, ‘Dee, won’t you introduce me?’she said in an amused tone.
‘Excuse me’ Mae quickly answered leaving the table before he could reply, muttering to herself as she left, ’yeah, I know you are his date and he took you out for valentine you don’t have to rub it in my face. ‘Hold on, Mae’
she heard David calling her or is it, Dee? She thought as she felt tears prickle her eyes. Why did she even care, what is wrong with me she thought, why should it bother me if he’s with someone or not? Maybe it’s the adrenaline of the whole day. I think I need to go back to my office and forget this whole drama.
She went to the kitchen and removed the apron. ‘I will be in the office if anyone need me, I am not cut out for this detective duty, there are lots of works to do, and Chef Kate, David aka Dee requests your presence. Maybe he wants to give his hot date a royal treatment. She said and felt the prickle of tears again. Mae hastily left the kitchen before they could ask questions. She was hard at work when Uzo and Joy came in an hour later.
Mae looked up briefly and continued what she was doing. ‘Why are you hiding here, when you are to find your mystery admirer?’Uzo teasingly asked,
‘Abeg leave me, I am no longer in the mood.’Mae replied not bothering to raise her head. ‘David has been asking of you, ’Joy said sitting on the table where Mae was matching her patterns. ‘Why is he asking of me, when he came in with a hot date, abeg I don’t want any wahala’ She replied. This time, the prickle was not only in her eyes but there was a tremor in her voice also.
Joy and Mae pulled her away from the table to the sofa, she felt the tears falling fast
‘What is wrong?’they both asked alarmed.
‘I don’t know, ’she said as she angrily brushed the tears away. ‘It’s not as if I like the stupid guy, and that hot girl he brought calling him Dee, besides who gives someone a gift with a clause attached to it? What sort of silly joke is that? Allowing me to Mea culpa someone’s husband, thank God I did not get a slap for being a husband snatcher.
‘Wait …what? Hold up. Which guy, hot girl, someone’s husband…What are you talking about?’ Uzo and Joy wore an identical look of confusion.
‘AhnAhn, Mae, we thought Uzo was the only one with drama in her life obviously you have been having quite a share.’They all burst into laughter,
‘it’s not funny jor’ Mae said in between tears and laughter.
There was a knock on the door and David walked in, ‘hello girls,’ he called in greeting
‘Hey David.’Joy and Uzo chorused. ‘So we heard you came with a hot babe, who is she?’Uzo asked. ‘What hot …oh, Mina, She is hot right?’He said laughing. Well as to who she is, you can go ask her, she is in the kitchen with Chef Kate. But first, can I talk to Mae alone please?’
‘Huh …Why?’Mae asked as Joy pulled Uzo out of the office and they shut the door behind them.
‘Hot date huh?’David said with a smile as he sat down beside her on the sofa. ‘I don’t know what you are talking about; please what do you want to talk to me about?’
He stretched out his long legs, crossing them at the ankle. He was taller than Mae, almost dwarfing her even in her heels. She kept stealing glances at him, ‘well before I tell you what I have to say, that’s actually my younger sister, her boyfriend broke up with her last week, he said he wants to find himself, I don’t know what that means but I didn’t want her to think much about it which is why I brought her today. She’s a foodie, so I felt Chef Kate will distract her with all those recipes she comes up with.’David explained.
‘That’s nice, ’Kate muttered as she went to sit down behind the desk. She didn’t understand why he was telling her all this but she felt restless sitting on the sofa alone with him. ‘Why are you telling me? It’s not my business.’
He stood up and sat on the table in front of her . ‘Maybe, maybe not’ David continued. ‘I love what you and the girls are doing, especially you and how you go for what you want. I like your bubbly personality and the way you have goals and dreams so big it’s amazing. I see you achieving great things and I want to be part of your story.’
‘Huh? You want to partner with us?’Mae asked not wanting to jump into any conclusion. David took her hands from where it laid on her lap and held it.
‘No, not us but you, will you be my valentine? I have watched you for a long time and I see in you someone I can share my life with. The way you tease me or pull me out even when I’m not in the mood, I come here every other day because I want to see you and the way your smile lights up your face. I try not to come every day because that will be like stalking. I like you and want you to be apart of my life if you don’t mind.
‘Wow! I wasn’t expecting that’Mae answered surprised at the turn of events. ‘Hold on, were you the one who sent the valentine package?’
He looked at her blankly, ‘What Valentine package? No, I didn’t send any package.
‘Are you serious?’Mae asked. ‘Yes, I am, ’David replied.
‘Oh wow, I thought that mystery was solved, I got a package with a poem telling me to guess the owner or forfeit the gifts by midnight.’
‘Okay, so what do you say? Can we go on a date on Saturday?’He asked.
‘Can I give you a reply later, today has been an emotional one and I don’t want to rush into anything. Let me pray and think about it, please?’Mae requested.
‘Alright, I respect that. Let’s go check on Mina and Chef Kate while you fill me in on your mystery parcel and the clause attached to it.’ At the Kitchen door, David was about opening the door but Mae heard her name mentioned within and motioned him to hold on.
‘Are you minding that my brother, men can be slow sometimes, he comes home every day to Mae did this …Mae is a genius and so on, tell her how you feel he said he’s waiting for the right time; Joy that mystery package idea was a great one, though I didn’t know my brother will steal our thunder by asking her out today. It worked out though if he had not told me about her dream for Sixth Sense Interior school; I wouldn’t have known to get the promo form and tuition for her.
‘We were planning and saving for three years time before she enrols, we didn’t know God was working in the background chai, ’said Uzo.
‘Wait how did you people pull this off again or even meet in the first place?’ Chef Kate asked in wonder. Mae and David, who were both looking shocked at these revelations pushed the door. ‘we both want to know too, ’they both said firmly in unison.
The people in the room turned with a start looking guiltily at the pair.
‘Hey big bro, ’Mina said.
‘Don’t hey big bro me, I don’t understand, were you trying to ask her out for me, how did you ladies even come up with this? David asked.
‘No, I was just trying to smooth the way before you get to ask her out. We met when I saw the promo and scholarship for the Sixth Sense Interior School. I remembered you had said something about it in your Mae stories. So I decided to checkout who this Mae was, that was how we met, they came up with the idea of surprising her with the form and tuition, I invited myself along. When you brought the idea of coming here it was a perfect excuse for me to be here when she figures it out.
You guys! Mae squealed in excitement. I hate you, how could you …’ she said as she pulled them into a group hug, crying and laughing at the same time. Joy and Uzo were laughing and apologizing while they returned the hug. She turned and smiled at Mina, who was smiling and watching the exchange.
‘hey you, ’Mae said stretching her hand towards Mina when she held her hands, she pulled her into the hug and pulled them all close while repeating, ‘thank you! thank you! but wait, the tickets are only two …’Joy with a mischevious smile pulled an envelope out of her bag and wiggled it.
Chef Kate who was watching the exchange misty-eyed suddenly cleared her throat and shooed them out, while David who has been quiet shook his head and followed them out of the kitchen as they all kept trying to talk at once, Mina was holding her own with them, blending in like one of them he thought happily and sighed resigning himself to the long wait at the diner, but he didn’t mind much because he could bet his last card on the fact that his single days were over and his lone ranger sister just got herself not one but three friends. He couldn’t wait to celebrate this valentine’s package.
Raising his hand he called, ‘waiter!’
