Time of Love

Date Night

"Hey...uhm, you look amazing." I say, a little speechless. What's wrong with me? Stuttering?!

She wore a long green shimmery dress that went all the way to her ankles with long sleeves and her neck and shoulders were exposed allowing me get a good look at her beautiful, black skin.

I'd always loved the sight of a woman's shoulders, especially the collar bone area.

Lola doesn't say anything, just gives a lopsided half smile.

"Please sit." I say, going to her to draw out her chair.

I'd chosen a quiet corner of the restaurant. The Manor was one of the best hotels in Lagos and even though I'd never stayed here, I came here often when I had business meetings and so it was the best place I could think of to bring Lola.

"Thank you." She says, a little shyly.

"You're welcome." I say, going back to my seat. The waiter comes over then and asks us if we're ready to order.

"Can I have an iced tea please? Thank you, Tayo." She says, making me blink in surprise. The young guy smiles at her and for some reason, I want to punch that smile right off his face.

"What?" She says, when she catches me staring at her with one eyebrow raised.

"I'm just a little surprised that you know the waiter's name." I say, shaking my head.

Lola smiles and I have to swallow because my mouth just goes dry.

"I worked here for a few years while I was in uni."

"Mmm. So tell me, Lola, what's been going with you? What happened after you left West Harmony?" I say, pausing as the waiter returns with her drink.

"Well, I transferred and finished secondary school. Then I got admission to the University of Lagos to study law, which is what I wanted. I graduated from law school two years ago." She says, her hands moving animatedly as she spoke.

"That's really cool. I'm happy for you." I say, with a smile at her.

"What about you? Did you finish at West Harmony?" She asks, stirring her iced tea.

I can't help being drawn to her hands. Her nails were well kept, filed and painted a lovely gold color. Her fingers were long and slender, her hand is so tiny.

"Mayowa?" She says, bringing my eyes up to hers. And once again, I'm hit by just how pretty she is.

"Yeah, sorry...no, I didn't finish from West Harmony. I left soon after you actually. I took the GCE exams and transferred to a school in London. I went to Manchester University where I got my Bachelor's and Masters degree in business administration." I say, sitting up straighter. I'd always been proud of my profession and accomplishments.

"Wow. That's really amazing." She says, with a smile but for some reason, I think she's just being polite.

"What's wrong? Not flashy enough?" I say teasing her but she obviously doesn't see that. She starts waving her hands and says,

"What? N-no, that's not what I meant..." She says, frantically waving her hands and then...crash!

She accidentally knocks her glass of ice tea off the table and it shatters on the floor.

I look at Lola and her eyes widen so much, I think they're going to pop out.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking." She says and moves as if to pick up the shards of glass but I stop her hand and keep her seated just as the waiters come running. They clear up the mess and Lola keeps bowing and apologizing in English and some other language I think is Chinese... definitely Asian, though.

One of the waiters offers her another drink but she quickly declines, apologizing again.

Once the waiters are gone, I take a look at Lola to see if she's okay and she looks like she's about to cry.

At this point, we're getting stares and murmurs from the other people also having dinner at the restaurant and Lola notices this. She looks like there's nothing she'd like more than to just disappear.

"Do you want to leave?" I say in a whisper, looking up at her face as I place my hand on hers to comfort her but she swiftly pulls it out from under mine, you'd think I touched her with a hot iron rod.

She realizes what she did and says sorry with her eyes before nodding and I nod back at her to let her know I understood.

We stand up to leave and I stop to pay the bill. I walk out of the hotel and see Lola walking away...it looks like she's calling someone.

"Lola, hey, are you okay?" I ask, genuinely worried about her.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm so sorry about all this. That was so embarrassing. Sorry for wasting your time. I have to go." She says, not looking at me but I can see tears in her eyes, just about to fall.

She goes back to her phone and keeps walking. I jog up to her and grab her hand.

"Wait! Where are you going? Didn't you bring your car?" I ask but it doesn't look like she's listening to me.

"Lola!"

She just wrenches her hand from mine and goes back to her phone.

"Just wait! I'll take you home."

"No! I'll just get a cab." She says and keeps dialling but it doesn't look like she's getting through.

I grab her phone and hold it away so she can't reach it. I'm 6'2 and she was probably about 5'5 in those heels. She wouldn't be able to reach it and she knows this.

She stares angrily at me and through the tears, for the first time, I can see a spark of something like power in her eyes.

"It's fine if you don't want to have dinner with me anymore but I'm taking you home and that's final." I say, daring her to say anything more.

She stares at me for a while and mutters something in that language again that sounds very much like swearing.

"Fine!"

I grin at her and say, "This way, my lady.", gesturing her to my car.

We get in and she gives me directions to her house. We ride in silence for a while until she asks for her phone back and I hand it to her now that I know she's not going to try calling anyone.

"I could have just called a cab, you know." She says quietly, looking out the window.

I just look at her and smile, "I know."

I continue to drive straight on when she says,

"Wait! Where are you going? That's the way to my house."

"I know. I wanted to take you somewhere first." I say. There's no way I was just going to let this day be ruined because of a simple mistake. Hehe.

I laugh when she narrows her eyes at me and says,

"You're not a kidnapper, are you?"

"No, Lola. I'm not a kidnapper."

I say and smile at her to reassure her.

We continue to drive and finally, after about twenty minutes, we get to our destination.

We get out of the car and I hold out my hand to her. She stares at it for a while before slipping her small hand into mine. It felt absolutely right.

We walk up to a high rise building and she says,

"Are you sure you're not a kidnapper?", making me laugh.

I could see why she would think that. From it's outer appearance, it looked like an abandoned building. It was dimmly lit but there were noises coming from inside if you listened closely.

We walk into the building and through the hallway to an elevator that takes us up a few floors. As the door opens, we're met by loud music and flashing lights.

"Welcome to Zirconia." I say to Lola and I feel my heart flip over in it's place as she tightens her hold on my hand. I swallow and look at her from the corner of my eye and she looks a little scared. I squeeze back to let her know that it's okay.

We're stopped at least a dozen times as we make our way though the throngs of people dancing, by people saying hi to me, and giving back slaps and fist bumps all in greeting.

We finally get to the bar and I roll up a paper napkin on the counter and toss it at the bar man.

"Yo Z!" I say, with a grin at Lola's expression of shock at the huge guy when he turns around.

"My guyyyy! Mayo!" He says loudly as he jumps right over the counter, surprising Lola and pulling me into a huge hug, knocking the breath out of me but I just laugh. He really was a big guy, with all those muscles. Guess, he didn't give up on his weight training.

"My guy, I no know say you don dey Naija na(I didn't know you were back in Nigeria.) Welcome back to Lasgidi(Lagos)." He says, opening his arms out with a huge smile on his face. His arms, push Lola a little and she nearly falls off the bar stool when Z holds her.

"Sorry about that." He apologizes.

"Thanks bro." I say, giving him a handshake.

"But the lady you just yeeted is Lola." I say with a laugh.

He sounds around so fast he almost knocks me off my seat but I'm sturdier.

"Apologies miss. It's a pleasure to meet you." He says, charmingly and Lola smiles and accepts his hand.

"Lola, this is my friend, Zachariah and he owns this club." I say, introducing them.

"It's nice to meet you, Zachariah."

She says, shaking his hand.

"Oh please, it's Z. It's only this goat that still calls me Zachariah. What can I get you guys? On the house." He says as he head back behind the bar.

"Just the normal, Z. " I say and look at Lola.

"How about you, Lola?" Z asks, drying out some glasses.

Lola bites her bottom lip in thought and I pretty much lose my mind. Her dark pink lips looked so full and soft. I wonder if they'd feel that way.

"I don't know if you'll have it..." She says, trailing off before looking at me.

I raise my eyebrow at her, wondering what she could possibly be asking for.

Lola then stands up on the foot rest of the stool and gestures to Z to lean forward. She then whispers something in his ear and the man just smiles.

I, on the other hand, frown at the sight of them. I don't know what I was feeling but I definitely didn't like Lola whispering things to any guy and definitely not if it made him smile.

"You'd better watch your girl, man. She's a wild one." Z says, and walks off to make our drinks.

"I'm not his g..." Lola starts to say but Z is already at the end if the bar.

"So I'm learning." I say, and Lola whips her head around to me.

"So...you brought me to a club? Don't you think I'm a little overdressed for that?" She asks but I just smile.

"Yes, I did and no, you're perfectly dressed." I say, letting my eyes run over her beautiful shape and back to her eyes. Lola doesn't say anything but rather, looks away.

Weird.

A few minutes later and Z returns with my beer and a cocktail glass containing some blue liquid. That must be what Lola asked for.

"One beer and one..." Z says, waiting a bit and winking at Lola "... roundhouse tequila mockingbird."

"What's a roundhouse tequila mockingbird?" I ask, never hearing of the drink.

"It's like a regular tequila mockingbird but it's infused with cucumber and aloe and it has a shot of whiskey and two shots of soju so it packs a pretty mean punch. Hence it's name, roundhouse as in roundhouse kick." Z explains. "Enjoy" He says and leaves to attend to his other customers.

Lola takes a sip of her drink and it must really sting because she shakes her head and lets out a whoop making me laugh.

"You sure you can handle that?" I ask, wondering what it tastes like.

Her little pink tongue darts out to catch the little bit of liquid on her lip and I swallow as my throat suddenly goes dry.

"You'd be surprised." She says, with a small smirk.

Hmm...there was a lot to learn about the beautiful Lola Adeniyi.

"Come on." I say, getting off my stool and taking her hand again.

"Where are we going?" Lola asks but follows me still. I hold on tightly so that she doesn't get lost in the sea of people. Or at least, that's what I yell myself. Either way, I wasn't letting go. Too many guys had their eyes on her and she was was oblivious to it.

"You'll see." I say, and lead her to another elevator and press the button for the roof.

As we step out of the elevator and onto the roof, Lola gasps a little and that small sound makes me so happy and I don't even know why.

"Wow...this place is amazing." She says, a little awe-stricken.

Apart from the club downstairs, Z had a small, private restaurant upstairs and only a few people were allowed up there. It was very exclusive and I was one of the VIPs, you could say. The restaurant was wide open with only a see through wall separating the kitchens so that people could smell the food. It was a pretty smart strategy. It had a casual feel to it but it was very professional. Small light bulbs dangled from wires above the restaurant and there were lights on the walls as well. The tables were arranged far enough away so that there was privacy and a wall had been built up around the edges of the roof so that no one would fall off and people could admire the view.

I steer Lola to a table a little ways from the wall, a bit more secluded and the minute we were seated, a waitress was at our table. She handed us the menus and said she'd be back after we'd chosen.

Lola was still admiring the view and I took a minute to observe her face. It was small and cute. Her deep brown eyes were the focal point of her face. Very expressive, you could see her awe right in them. Her small slim nose and pert lips were also beautiful. Those lips! I could do more than stare at them, if I had time.

"This place is beautiful. And I love how open it is." She says, closing her eyes as a light breeze waves around her. The lights on the table mimicked the glow of candlelight and they played beautifully with her beautiful melanin skin. Her skin was like polished ebony.

I clear my throat, and thoughts, and say, teasing her carefully this time,

"Better than The Manor?"

She looks up from under her lashes and giggles,

"Better than The Manor." She says and I smile at her.

"I thought since we didn't get a chance to get dinner, you'd appreciate a different scene." I say, going through the menu.

"Thanks. And I'm really sorry about what happened back there." She says, her voice soft.

"It's okay." I say just as the waitress comes back around.

"What will you been having, Miss, Sir?" She says, politely.

"Uhm, I'll have the Jollof rice and chicken along with the plantains and a coleslaw, please." Lola says, closing her menu. I take it from her and hand both the menus to the waiter.

"Two servings of that, please." I say.

"And drinks?" The waitress asks again.

"Wine, Lola?" I suggest.

"No, thank you. This is more than enough alcohol for me. I'll just have a Sprite, thank you." Lola says, pointing at the drink she brought from the bar.

"Two Sprites, please. Thanks." I say, and the waitress leaves.

I turn back to Lola and she has a little frown on her face.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"You don't have to have what I'm having. You can have wine if you want to." She says, stirring her drink.

I just smile at how adorable she is and say,

"Well, I happen to love the Jollof rice here and I have to drive later, so it's best I stick with a Sprite."

"Okay." She says and smiles.

Right then, the waitress brings our food out.

"That was fast!" She says and smiles a thank you to the waiter.

"Yeah. Z wouldn't have it any other way." I say and we start eating.

"How did you meet him?" Lola asks, before placing a spoonful of rice in her mouth and I have to consciously drag my gaze away from her lips.

"Uh, Z and I? We met in University through a mutual friend in freshman year. He was an engineering student but only because his dad wanted him to be. It wasn't his calling. What Z loved to do most in the world was entertain people. He loved to throw parties! And he threw some of the best parties ever. He was able to get Stormzy to come to one of his parties once and it was the best thing ever!" I say on a laugh, remembering.

"Anyway, he dropped out of school in his second year and came back home to Nigeria. His dad couldn't believe he actually did that and disowned him saying that he would never amount to anything. But Z didn't let himself be discouraged by anything. He worked hard, hustled hard for the next two years and when he had finally saved up enough, he bought this building. It was going to be demolished so he got it at a steal and had enough to renovate and design the club. He opened it after about six months and opened this place last year. After the economy picked up, this place became a prime location and so many developers came knocking, asking Z to sell it but he wasn't going to get rid of his legacy. This was his proof to his father that he was more than a dropout. Right now, Ziconia is one of the most popular clubs in Lagos and while it's not exclusive, Z has more than his share of exclusive clientele." I say, smiling to myself. I was really proud of the man.

"와! 진자 대박!(wow! that's really awesome!) Lola says, almost to herself.

"What does that mean? I was going to ask. What language is that? You spoke it back at The Manor and at the airport too when you were with those Chinese guys? Did you learn Chinese or something?" I ask, digging into my chicken.

"Yeah, I was just returning from Korea when we met at the airport. It's Korean I was speaking and I was with my Korean friends." She says taking a sip of her Sprite.

"Wetin you go find for Korea? You no see America or the UK, na Korea loun loun( Why did you go to Korea? Wasn't America or the UK good enough? Why Korea of all places? Is it like part of your bucket list or something?"

I say, on a laugh.

Lola slowly lowers her glass and all of a sudden, I feel a chill.

"I went to study and because I wanted to. What's wrong with that? Isn't it a place just like America or the UK? 근데 뭐?!( But what?) Am I not allowed to go where I want?!" She says angrily. There's a glint of steel in her eyes and I can't say I liked it being directed towards me. I must have touched on a nerve. I sober up and say,

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ridicule it, I just wanted to know why you went there." I say, defending myself. She obviously didn't appreciate my joke.

"Yeah, well, there's other ways of asking that. I don't think you'd appreciate it if I ridiculed your decision to go study in London or why you chose "London of all places"." She says.

I sit up and say,

"You're right. I wouldn't. I'm sorry." I say, sincerely.

Lola waits a beat, her eyes finally softening until her anger is visibly gone.

"It's okay. I'm sorry for taking it so seriously." She says and I quickly say,

"No, no, I was talking crap about something you care about and you were right to call me out on it." I say.

Someone else might have let me get away with it but she didn't. And she even apologized when she wasn't at fault. Who is this woman?

Lola just smiles at me and the mood slowly lightens as we get back to eating.

We finish our food and the waitress returns to clear out the table before offering us the menus again to choose a dessert.

I have an ice cream sundae and Lola orders the apple pie blitz.

"So...what is it you said in Korean about Z?" I ask, carefully.

"I said that his story was awesome." Lola says, digging into her dessert.

And then she does something I was not expecting and was not ready for...I don't think I'd ever be ready to hear that sound.

She moans.

My hand freezes mid-move to my mouth and my eyes dart to Lola's face. Her lips are closed around her fork and she moans again licking her lips.

"This is spectacular! Better than I expected. Oh my gosh, it's lovely!" She says but I don't hear a word.

"Mayowa?" She calls out.

"Hmm?" I say, transfixed on her lips which still has a little dot of cream on it from her food.

"Are you okay?" She says before licking it off.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." I say and tell myself to get it together.

"So, you went to Korea to study law?" I ask, eating my icecream with hopes that it would cool my insides.

"No, I went to study Korean and I've always wanted to go but not as a part of my bucket list because I always knew I'd go one day." She says and her eyes brighten as she speaks.

" Sorry. That's actually pretty cool, you speaking another language and all. How long were you there for?" I ask.

"A little over a year but I'll probably go back soon." She says and eats another forkful of her dessert. I swear the woman was trying to kill me. Eating shouldn't be this provocative.

I ask another question to distract myself from her mouth.

" So you speak Korean and you're a lawyer. Do you work at the embassy or a private law firm or something because that's a hell of a resumé." I say, with a smile.

Lola shakes her head and says,

"I don't."

"Oh, so where do you work?" I ask, finishing the last of my icecream.

"I don't practice. I'm a baker." She says, quietly and looks up at me, making eye contact for the first time since she got mad at me.

"You're a what?" I say, catching myself. "Sorry, I don't mean to be rude. I mean, you're a baker?" I say, correcting myself.

"Yeah. I didn't practice after being called to bar. My degree is just sitting in a shelf in my room, gathering dust." She says, with a grin and I believe the woman was happy about it.

"Okayy...mind explaining?" I say, laughing a little.

"Well, I started baking in my first year of University after trying my hand at a cake for my friend. It turned out pretty good so I decided to take it up as a hobby. I became really really good at it and it was a little extra money for me as a student so it worked out well. Fast forward a couple years later and by my fourth year at university, I opened my bakery on fifth avenue in central Lekki. It's my baby and I love baking more than anything else in the world." She says animatedly and I can't help smiling as she talks. I loved the way she spoke, she had some sort of accent. I'm guessing she picked it up while she was in Korea and I loved how she moved her hands around as if they were helping her tell the story.

And then it clicked.

"You own Lola's Sweet Treats?!" I say, shocked.

"Yeah, why?" She asks on a nervous giggle.

"Because it's the best bakery in Lagos!" I say and Lola smiles so brightly...my heart be still.

"You know it? I guess my reputation precedes me." She says with a smile.

"Everyone knows it! I had a business meeting last week and they were some pastries available. I asked my assistant where they were from and he said it was from your bakery. My brother is getting married in a few weeks. That's why I came back to Nigeria. His fiance was going to have your bakery provide her cake but when she found out that you weren't available, she picked someone else. I had no idea that you were that Lola." I say, completely surprised at the coincidence.

Lola is even more shocked than I am, if that was possible.

"Wow...that's amazing. It's really a small world. Which of your brothers is getting married?" She asks.

"Tunde. He's definitely not going to believe this." I say, running my hand through my hair still amazed my the. chances of Lola and I meeting and her being my sister-in-law's preferred caterer.

"Well, congratulations to them. I wish them a happy marriage." Lola says with a smile.

"No way. That won't do...Lola, how would you like to be my date to my brother's wedding?" I ask, my heart in my throat because I have a feeling she was going to decline but I wasn't taking no for an answer.

"What?! I'm sorry, I can't go. I don't even know them that well and I wasn't invited." She says, flustered and waving her hands again.

I move the the glasses a way from her hands and gesture for the waitress to come clear them away. Even after the waitress is gone, Lola is still making excuses for why she can't go.

"Who cares about that? This is Lagos, do you know how many people attend weddings they weren't invited to?" I say cheekily. " Besides, you do know Tunde and I just invited you. Besides, Melody would kill me if I didn't invite her favorite baker to her wedding. So, you don't have a valid reason to say no." I say and grin as Lola frowns at me.

"Fine but I thought this was just a one-time thing. To catch up, as old classmates." She says and I'm a little confused.

"Why would this be a one-time thing?" I say and she seems taken aback. she must have really thought I asked her out just to catch up.

"I asked you out because I wanted to go out with you." I say, slowly.

She seems to digest that a little before nodding.

"Is that a yes?" I say, already grinning.

"Yeah." She says on a laugh but she looks flushed.

"Yes!" I say, punching air.

"I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." She says, standing up.

"Sure. I'll be right here." I say and pick up my phone. I shoot a quick text to Tunde and Melody on the group chat about the incident.

I wait for a few minutes and when Lola doesn't return, I go to look for her but the ladies' room attendant says that no one is in there and that no one had been in the last ten minutes. I make my way down to the club to look for Lola when Z calls out for me.

"What are you still doing here, man? I thought you'd already gone." He says.

"What? Why?" I say, not understanding what was going on.

Your girl said you were waiting for her downstairs." He says, also confused.

"s**t!" I say and run out the club taking the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator.

I get out just in time to see Lola get in some car and I call out to her,

"Lola!"

What the heck just happened?

I get a text and see that it's from Lola.

"Sorry... I had to go. Thanks for tonight, it was lovely. And, I'm sorry. I can't go with you to your brother's wedding."

I can't believe what I'm reading.

"Lola!" I call out again but the car is already gone. I think about following her but that's just crazy man behavior.

Come! Wetin dey do this woman?!( Wait a minute! What's wrong with this woman?!)