His Suitable Bride ✔

Prologue

New York, USA.

Toni wrapped the jacket securely around herself as she hurried into the lobby of her apartment. She was seemingly glad that today was the last day of shooting and that she could finally go back to Nigeria. One thing Toni has never been able to cope with in New York is the weather. She much preferred the Nigerian sun, which bakes a person, to the chilly New York weather, which freezes almost everything it touches.

  She smiled at the receptionist as she got to her desk. This was her usual stop since this was where she kept her key. She shared the apartment with her boyfriend, Dare, and ever since he lost his keys, they had started this crazy routine of dropping keys at the reception. "Hi, Lilian."

   "Hello, Tee." Lillian smiled. Most people here call her Tee since they usually pronounce her name wrongly.  "Still can't cope with our weather?"

  "Obviously," she said, pointing at her too many attires. "I'm so glad I can finally return to Nigeria now."

  "Ouch," Lillian said, feigning hurt. "You know fully well you'd be back here before the month runs out."

  Toni nodded. It was the truth; Omotoni Davies might be a Nigerian at heart, but her home was wherever her job takes her now, and it was basically here in the USA. "I know."

"Well, your boyfriend is in, so your key ain't here."

   "Dare is here?" Toni asked, quite confused. She could remember he told her he would be too busy and would likely come home late. She shook her mind off this, as it would only mean they would get time to spend with each other. She gave Lillian another bright smile. "Thanks, Lillian."

   "You're welcome, Tee. Don't forget I still want your autograph before you return to Nigeria."

  "Nah, I won't." Toni laughed, walking over to the elevator. She got into the elevator and pressed the button for her apartment floor with an unmistakable smile. She couldn't wait to see Dare.

   Toni knew what would happen after this: She and Dare would finally go back to Nigeria, and hopefully, she would be going home with a ring on her finger. Toni had heard Dare talking over the phone last week, and she discovered that he was planning a surprise proposal; who knew it might be today? Maybe that's the reason he was home when he said he wouldn't be.

   Pretending to be surprised when she already knew wouldn't be hard to do since she was a pretty good actress, and finally, her mother would get to meet her fiance; maybe then she would stop pestering her to come back home and settle down. It was in cases like this that Toni didn't understand her mother; she was barely twenty-five and was already at the top of her career; it's not like she'd suddenly go into menopause.
 
  She shook her head, waving thoughts of her mother away with a smile on her face. She did miss her mother and couldn't wait to see her.

  Toni pushed open the door and walked into the apartment to meet with the greatest shock of her life, but it wasn't the shock of the proposal; rather, it was the shock that spelled to her that she and Dare had no future together.

  "Dare!" She screamed. And immediately she did so, the two naked bodies that were entangled on her couch dispersed. "How could you?"

   "Look, babe, I can explain," Dare said as he hastened to get into his boxers.

  As expected, he'd use the cliche 'I can explain' line, then switch to 'let me explain,' and after that, he'd move to 'it's not what you think.' But Toni didn't have that kind of time to spare.

   "Explain what?" Toni asked, feeling the tears burn her eyes. She tried to calm herself down. She had once made a promise to herself to never cry because of a man again. We're done, you hear me! Done!" With one last look at Dare and the brunette he had been sleeping with, she walked out of the apartment with a promise to stay away from guys, especially the Yoruba demons from Nigeria.
  

 
What do you all think?

Leave your thoughts behind.

Would you have reacted the same way if you were in her situation?