My Instagram Love

Episode 22

Afterward, she redirected her steady gaze from the dashboard to my face and spoke softly. “Thanks.”

I nodded in the affirmative. “Anytime.”

The blue jeep in front of my car moved a little. I steered the wheel and moved too, getting fed up of the intense traffic.

“I thought you left the mall about 15 minutes ago?”

“No. Well, yes.” She replied, searching for something in one of the customized nylons she’d placed on the dashboard. “I didn’t actually leave when I went out of the VIP section. Me and my friends hanged around in the theater for a while before we left the mall.”

“Where are they now?”
“They’re both blood sisters. They took a taxi back home after my car got messed up in the middle of nowhere.”

“I see.” I said, nodding slowly. “I’m sorry about your car, though.”
“Yeah. Thank you.” She grinned sweetly. “I’ll get it fixed in the morning.”
“Good for you.” I smirked again, losing interest in the boring conversation we were both having, which I was sure was heading nowhere in particular.

“Do you remember my name?” She asked, still searching for whatever it was that she’d kept in those nylons.

“Yes. I do.”
“Tell me.”
“Susie?”
“What the–” She trailed off with her eyes wide open in utter disbelief. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me crystal clear.” I shrugged a shoulder, struggling to keep my eyes and attention on the road. “Wasn’t that what you told me back there at the enclosed section?”

“Hell no!” The lady gasped dramatically, placing her hands on her b0s0ms. “How could you possibly forget my name?”
“You told me Susie. I remember it vividly like the back of my palms.”
“My name is not Susie!” She complained, making a funny grimace.

I looked up at her face and it only took the grace of God and a lot of determination for me not to laugh. “I’m sorry. You have every right to be mad at me right now, but I’d prefer if you kindly do me a favor and remind me what it is!”

“No. I’m not telling you just like that.” She pouted her lips the same way Alice does all the time, then she added: “I want you to take a wild guess this time around.”
“Okay. Cool.” I agreed, shrugging a shoulder again. “This should be easy as pie. Let me guess… It’s definitely Isabella!”

“No.”
“Fiona?”
“Uh-uh!”
“Veronica?”
“That’s lame!”
“Patricia?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Samantha?”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Miranda?”
“Do I look like Mirinda soft drink to you?”

I laughed it off when I understood the sarcastic reference she made, cleared my throat and continued guessing: “Yetunde?”

“God forbid!”
“Naomi?”
“Like seriously?”
“Jennifer?”
She laughed hysterically. “Dude, just stop this! Don’t make me die of laughter right here.”

I stubbornly ignored her mocking remark and continued speaking: “Delilah?”
“Not even close.”
“Jezebel?”
“Over my dead body!”

We both burst into laughter because of her weird facial expression and how silly she sounded—just like a toddler. I gave up eventually, swallowed my pride and asked softly: “On the most serious note now, what’s your name? I’m sick of guessing.”
“T-O-N-I-A.” She spelt it out for me, laying emphasis on every letter of her name, loud and clear. “Does this ring a bell? Or do I still need to write it on a cardboard paper for it to stick in your head?”

“As much as I would’ve loved to see you do that, I don’t think I’m game for now. I’ll pass.”

“You’re sure about this?” Antonia asked, pouting her full lips again. “I don’t want you to forget it again. I might just kill you.”
I gave her a reassuring smile and said, “Trust me, I’m sure I won’t forget it any time soon.”

“Better.” Tonia sighed with relief and took something out of a particular big nylon, uncovered the wrap from the surface and whistled playfully. “Food is ready. Pancakes in the building!”

I shook my head and bit my upper lip, not knowing what to say to her. She was a very playful fellow and a very nice one at that, but as much as I was starting to enjoy her company already, I still couldn’t fathom if she had any ulterior motive behind her niceness or she was just naturally jovial and free with people. Though it wasn’t a bad quality for a lady to possess at such youthful phase of her life, I just didn’t feel too comfortable around her. She was such a tender and sweet lady who just happened to be a chronic fashion freak, and her outward appearance had pushed me to judge her wrongly at first sight. She was quite gentle, surprisingly considerate and free-spoken to a fault. I was beginning to see the good in her.
“Are you hungry?” Tonia grinned, waving the food in my face. “I don’t even have to ask. I know you are!”

“You do realize I’m driving, right?”
“Sure, but for crying out loud, we are in the middle of a stupid traffic jam.” Tonia answered, shrugging. “A little bit of pancakes would do us no harm. Trust me on this one!”

“As you can see, my hands are on the steering wheel.”
“Does it matter?” She made a similar face like the one she’d done back then at the VIP section when she bit her lower lip in a sexy way, then she continued speaking, changing the tone of her voice to a very sleek and seductive tone. “I can feed you so well if it’ll make you feel better.”