Amidst Temptations

Episode 23

“Rachel is dead” Rebecca said coming into the room I turned from the mirror to look at her, she had just returned from the market that saturday while
I applied my make-up
“Rachael..you mean Sister Rachael the
secretary”my blood went cold “how?”
Rebecca came in and took off her bag, pulled
her slippers and sat on her bed,hands on her
forehead she sighed then
“Yes..I was told by her former roommate as I
was entering school”

“Are you serious..what could have killed her?”

She was silent then
“Heard she had an abortion”
“What..?’

” yeah…died on the table.. Its so sad”
“But why would she have an abortion, didn’t the father take responsibility?”

She shrugged “who knows”
I remembered my sister and got very sad, “That’s just sad..a big blow to the fellowship”I turned back to my make-up, powdering my face

“Yeah you should tell Martin, they were quite
close”Rebecca said

I frowned “I’m not in the mood for that..I have a date”

“Martin is now ‘that’…did you guys breakpoints?”

she sounded like she had been waiting for it
“You just like gossip, who knows if what you are saying is even true”I scoffed
Rebecca tsked”okay now..because I’m telling you sef, so where’s Sean taking you?”

“He hasn’t said, but I guess around” I said trying to apply the mascara, though I felt I was doing it wrongly, I wanted to look good for Sean, those girls around him always had heavy makeup on,
Rebecca hit me with a pillow
“You so happy..never seen you blush this much”.

” No I’m not” I turned to snap and she burst out laughing at the poor job of a makeup I did

“Well..guess I have to clean this off” I took up the wiper

“Didn’t even know you had a makeup set”
“Was a gift from Erica on my birthday”
“Aww..who knew it would be handy..here let me help”

She took the eye pencil from me and drew a
better line, I looked better “thanks” I said and took up my purse”I ll bring you chicken”
“Yea rii…just have fun”she said going to light her stove.

I didn’t know I was grinning like an idiot till I got outside and saw myself in Sean’s mirror..omg..I got in the car and he leaned over and kissed me for long before he leaned back and took me in
Turning on the ignition to drive away he said
“you look good”. I smiled as my cheeks turned redder, I’d chosen a blue skinny jeans and green top, with sandal heels
“So where we going?”I asked
“Its bad luck to know where we’re going”he
replied

“Okay”, I took out my phone and checked my messages and true to form Rachael was late, it was all over my fellowship page and on
facebook..oh god, poor girl she must have been confused like my sister, glad my sister didn’t end up like that..God was merciful to my family but
why would she do it, she had been a dedicated

Exco member before she graduated from
business administration, I had imagined she
would be serving now, what could have gone
wrong in her relationship, why would she choose to remove the baby when she could easily marry the guy?, why was she even sleeping with him?.

Martin was calling me again, he had left so many missed calls on my cell I lost count, I didn’t want to think I was cheating on him because I hadn’t necessarily done anything wrong..yet, well I needed time and space away from him to think,

spending time with Sean would give me the
closure i needed, i needed to decide who i
should be with once and for all, though with the way I was feeling, I knew I might break up with him and throw caution to the wind, I loved Sean with all my heart and admitting that out loud felt right, I was in bliss, I was in heaven, it was
something I couldn’t explain..I felt like I was
finally able to spread my wings and fly.

“Hm let me guess, you taking me to watch a
movie” I said as we drove into a complex

“No”
“Uh..”I wanted to try again
“I’m taking you to an art gallery” I gaped at him,

we walked into the building, there was an
exhibition going on and people were there, his
work wasn’t there but he normally liked to draw inspiration from great artists and collect them for antics, we stared at a beautiful painting
“I think your work needs to be seen” I said
He nodded”I hope to get something like this in future, just my work”he said

“You not gonna practice law?”I turned to ask

“No..I’ve finally decided to follow my passion, I’m
an artist, it’s in my blood”

“And your father?”
“After my mother’s death, he no longer cares…”

he looked down, I placed my hand on his arm
“I am so sorry…about your mom, I never got a chance to say that”

“That was my fault…I pushed you too hard”
I looked unsettled, were we going to talk about
it?

“I understand Emilia, you are a Christian, and as much as i want you and i know you want
me…your faith comes first”he said
Was he saying he was going to wait?, I wetted
my lips

” What if i don’t want to?”I asked, he smirked and walked away to another painting, I couldn’t
believe I just said that.

We got to meet a lot of persons he was
acquainted with, and I felt happy being a part of his world, but that was the beginning of the date,

next we went to the movies, I had picked the
movie but it wasn’t looking interesting
“Told you”he said
” shut up”I said throwing him popcorn, he
laughed, he had wanted us to watch another
movie but I had insisted
“how come you can’t swim?”he said taking my
hand up in his

“Cos i can’t, I never learnt”
“I ll teach you…if you want”he said kissing my fingers I scoffed”You just wana see my undies”
He burst into laughter, so people turned in the
theatre

“I can’t believe you just said that”
“You know its true”
“No its not”he said, eyes still sparkling in
laughter “I ll teach you anyway”he said
I discovered I couldn’t wait.

We decided to ditch the movie and go sit out
somewhere, he told me about his travels and
where he went for a year to chill, he had gone to South Africa when his mother died, said it was
her favorite place and he just wanted to connect, i thought it was amazing and I wished I had been there for him during that period..

“So what about Tania?”i asked, she had been on my mind ever since, if I was going to make the
decision to date him, what about her?, he stared at me like he was surprised I had even brought
her up,

“What about her?” he asked
“She was all up in you the last time?” I sounded like a jealous girlfriend but I didn’t care
He just shrugged, not a bit bothered

“I was just tryna be nice, it was her first time in benin”he paused ” why, you thought we were dating?”he asked with a smirk at me
“You did it on purpose”
“Did what on purpose?”why did he find everything
funny

“Youguys were all..” I paused, “Did you sleep
with her?” Did I just ask that, but I needed to
know
He chuckled, then laughed, kept laughing, i
frowned, why did he think it was funny, when he controlled himself he said

“You so funny Emilia..no…I couldn’t.”his eyes trained on me

” you do not know how special you are to me
Emilia, there’s no one else for me, I’m all yours, you don’t have to be scared of anything”
I looked at him and sighed, I didn’t know what we were, it was confusing how i so wanted to be with him but was still skeptical because of the
kind of person he was, i didnt know if he
was…safe.

“You hungry?”he asked standing up, I took his hand and nodded, as we went to the eatery. I
ordered my usual, he drank his wine as he
watched me eat

“What?”
“Can’t wait for you to carry my babies”
I swallowed, only Sean would up and say that, I took up my wine and sipped, then cleaned my
mouth with the napkin
“Don’t go getting ideas, we just hanging out” I said not looking up, I was still dating Martin and till I broke up with him officially I couldn’t say
yes to Sean, he stared at me
“We are?” He circled the rim of his wine glass,

“So I have to get a ring for you to say yes?”
Why did he enjoy making me uncomfortable, I
cleared my throat and changed topic
“Why didn’t you order anything?”
“Cos I’m not hungry”
“you are never hungry”
“I don’t eat out” shouldn’t I have noticed?

“Why..?”
“When are you breaking up with Martin?”he
asked suddenly I looked up and met his gaze, I knew that was
coming, i just didn’t expect it to be this soon, but I needed that closure, i couldnt lead both on for so long, I had to make that decision, even though it was going to hurt someone
My lips were dried, I swallowed, finished my wine then said,
” Soon”