Two Princes and a choice

Chapter Eight

WILL heard the door closed and looked up from his pouring and almost spilled hot coffee on him. She looked gorgeous dressed in that blue baggy night shirt and shorts that bared her long pale brown legs. Trisha’s clothes suited her far than it did its real owner. He looked back to his coffee.

‘Is it okay if I wore this?’ she asked her voice small and uneasy. He looked at her. She was wringing her hands. ‘I didn’t see anything else than this.’

‘It’s okay; it suits you better than it did Trisha.’ He moved to her and handed her a mug of coffee and then walked to a couch and sat down. She followed and sat on the other couch. Its upholstery was soft and sinking.

‘Is it okay if I wore this? I mean won’t Trisha mind that another girl is wearing her clothes?’

Will read the meaning in her words, she thought Trisha was his girlfriend. But Trisha was just his house keeper’s daughter who had forgotten some of her clothes with him and went off to some catholic school in Ibadan as a boarding student. She had tried to seduce him while she visited but he did nothing. He didn’t want trouble with her feisty mother.

He watched her with hooded eyes and unconsciously ran his lips over the stud below his lower lip. She was quietly sipping her coffee eyes roving around his home. She was probably wondering how he could manage to leave in such luxury without working. He imagined thoughts filling her beautiful head and also questions. Was he a drug dealer? A gangster? Was he from a rich family? If he was why was he working? His grinned and his gaze wandered over to her hair. Tiny long braids falling over and about her face to her shoulders and her back. Numerous and moving as she shifted her hair. They intrigued him.

‘Is that attachment?’ he asked. She looked up at him her eyes widened in inquisition. ‘Your hair,’ he gestured with a lift of his mug. ‘Is attachment added to it?’

She shook her head, the braids moved as she did so, ’It’s my natural hair.’

‘Was all that plaited in a day?’

She shrugged. ‘It depends on the time my mum has to spare sometimes it takes two days or three to finish.’

‘Your mum plaits your hair?’

She nodded. ‘Hmm hm, since I was born. She doesn’t believe in going out to plait hair she could handle.’

‘That’s good,’ he set his mug on the table and stretched exposing the ring in his belly button. ‘It suits you.’

He saw her look at the window. The rain was still falling outside and was still as fierce as it had been.

‘I think I’ll turn in,’ he told her and she sprang to her feet.

‘I’ll sleep on the couch all I need is a blanket.’ She told him.

‘You can sleep in the other room,’ he told her and with a smile added. ‘Trisha won’t mind.’

‘Okay, thank you.’

‘Good night.’

‘Nice night,’ he watched her walk to the bedroom door; he turned and gathered the used mugs and went to rinse them before turning in.

Darryl was a jumble of nerves when he awoke the next morning. He had fallen into a non- fitful sleep of a few hours. He rubbed the stubble on his chin yawned stretched and stood up head for the bathroom. He shaved off the stubble and entered the shower. The cold water cleared his head and he stepped out feeling refreshed but his thoughts were still on Hayley. Was she safe?

Picking his mobile he saw he had ten missed calls from Tunde. He ignored them and speed dialled Anne’s number. She picked up almost instantly and when he asked of Hayley she told him she wasn’t around yet. He told her to call him if she returns asked after Andrew, Hayley’s father and ended the call. Then he tried Hayley’s number. Sorry, the number you are trying is currently switched off please try again later thank you. Darryl grunted in frustration. Hayley, where are you? The mobile rang and Darryl jumped at it with high hopes. He was disappointed. It was Tunde. He let it ring and thought of what to do.

He would go to her work place and wait there for her. Yes, he would do that. She was sure to turn up if there’s anything she can’t do without its work. He would start at the pizza parlour. It was Thursday and she will be working part time there but if she wasn’t there he would go to her other places of work till he found her.

Hayley did not remember going to sleep. She remembered drinking coffee with Will saying goodnight. Entering the spare room, going to the bathroom to spread her clothes and removed the mobile from her shorts’ back pocket and tried to call her mother only to find to her dismay that the battery was flat and she didn’t bring the charger along. She remembered all of these but not getting into bed.

The mattress was soft, the sheets pressed and crisp. It smelled nice. She burrowed further in, not wanting to stand up. The rain had stopped outside and the air carried heavy moisture. How long had she slept? She did not know and was too tired to calculate. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. Her eyes roamed down to the pink floral wall paper and at the wall clock. It was seven in the morning.

Hayley sat up with a jolt all laziness vanishing but her head reeled and she was double for a moment. It was seven and the pizza parlour opened at nine. She thrust aside the covers and jumped out of bed. She hurried into the bathroom.