My Instagram Love

Episode 45

“Lola.” My father was virtually standing midway across the wide open door, refusing to come inside. He was shirtless and barefooted as usual, having nothing but his boxer shorts on his waist, and the sight of his paunch almost made me laugh—mostly because of the partially swollen black navel that looked like my big toes right at the base of it. But I managed to comport myself and answered politely:
“Sir?”

“First of all, thank you for the delicious meal you made.” Daddy said, winking at me. “It was a blast! So amazing. So fantastic!”
“Thank you, pops.” I smiled, twinkling my eyes back at him. “I see you have a great taste for good food. No wonder you have a monstrous potbelly right there.”
I pointed at his paunch for emphasis, strictly on the grounds for basic sarcasm, but Mr Deola didn’t smile at all, much less reveal his dentition for a good laugh which I expected he would’ve done. However, he didn’t keep silence for too long. He continued speaking in the same calm and collected manner.

“Well, that’s your problem.” My father said coolly, rubbing his beloved paunch with so much affection. “As I was saying, there’s someone waiting to see you—downstairs.”
“Someone?” I swallowed hard, widening my eyes, surprised. “Who?”
“Come and see him for yourself.”

“Him?”
“Yes, it’s a man.” My father affirmed, retrieving his right leg from the carpet that covered and decorated the cemented floor of my room so that he could go out and close the door. “Don’t waste his time, sissy. He seems to be a nice gentleman.”
With that, my father turned around, closed the door and walked away without even giving me a chance to air my opinion. I was astonished when Mr Deola announced about the person who was waiting for me downstairs, mainly because I hardly ever had visitors in the house, other than Jessica who was more like a trustworthy sister from another mother, a godsend and a soulmate to me. If Jessica were to be the actual visitor he had told me about, I was absolutely positive that she’d have climbed all the way up until she got to my room because she was so familiar with every nook and cranny of the house and needed nobody’s assistance or directions to guide her steps, but interestingly, Jessie had travelled for an urgent test in her school and she wouldn’t be coming back until next week Tuesday, which left me wondering who the unknown visitor would be.