3.1 | Undead

12

February 23, 2020.
Victoria island, Lagos.

The house was relatively quiet now. Yemi had left shortly after Stephan, saying that he needed to go home and get drunk enough to forget today entirely. It wasn't going to work, I knew it.

Since our escape plan had now been thwarted and we were at a risk of danger now, Lara and I decided to offload our things back into the house. Currently, she was folding my shirts and arranging them neatly into the closet while I sat and watched her with a far off mind.

First, I had her wellbeing to think of, which I wasn't doing too good a job at. I just wanted her to be safe with me. I just wanted a normal happy life for once.

Second, I had the attraction towards Bukola to handle. I mean, I was only human. Before she died, I was going to propose. If she hadn't died that day, she'd probably be the one folding my shirts in Lara's place. It wasn't like I didn't love Lara, but Bukola was my first. "Killing" her for Lara's sake felt kinda extreme. And I was certain the guilt would eat me up eventually.

What was all this?

The sound of the closet doors being shut snapped me out of my thoughts and back to reality where Lara had her forehead resting against them. She sighed and turned to me, a sullen look on her face.

Feeling as though something was amiss, I asked, "what's wrong?"

A small, cracked up laughter escaped her lips, a teardrop running down the side of her face. She flicked it away with a sniffle and came to sit beside me before I could stand up. I put a hand around her and pulled her flush against my side, kissing her forehead for comfort. If I could offer any. Though I could guess what was bothering her(hint:it was probably Bukola-related), I still asked her about it.

"The wedding planner called," she said simply, staring at the floor. I parted my lips, eyes widening.

Our wedding!

God. Through all the madness going on, I'd totally forgotten about the wedding. And it was supposed to be a few weeks away.

I squeezed her shoulder. "I'm sorry. With everything happening it escaped my mind." My heart sank when I heard her small sobs. She was shaking in my grip, leaning all her weight on me. I felt so stupid. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," I kept apologizing. "I promise, I'll fix everything. I'll—"

"I told her to hold the preparations." Lara sniffled, finally looking into my eyes. I felt my heart constrict painfully.

"You did what?"

"The wedding should be the least thing on our minds right now."

"But—"

"No, Jacob." She took my free hand that wasn't around her and held onto it while I struggled to comprehend what kind of a woman she was. Weren't weddings supposed to be the most important day for women? "I understand how it must be for you. After seeing Bukola today, I know that it's not easy for you. I just don't want to add more problems to the ones already at hand."

Problems? She saw herself as a problem to me? Heck no!

"You're not a problem, Lara. This wedding is more important to me than Bukola is."

She nodded at me, smiling sadly. "I know. I know. But we can't plan a wedding and fight a ghost simultaneously. It's important that we—"

"You're more important—" I cut her off and got interrupted by her as well.