No More Mistakes #Projectnigeria

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

OMOLARA'S POV

Things have been going smoothly for Ayodeji and me, I never knew things could get better between the both of us but they did.
Every day Ayodeji would tell me about work and have conversations that we never had the first time we met. We spoke about the most random things and turn them into jokes. I had seen him stare at me a couple of times and anytime I catch him staring, he would smile and look away. It was hard trying to not fall for him but remembering that he wasn’t sure if he loved me made me keep my guards up. When things get smooth again for him, he might go back to being the Ayo he was before.

“Lara, what are you doing?” I asked myself as I sat in my store. Eriayomi played with her toys beside me.
I had just a few customers today and it was already 5 p.m. I was thinking of locking up the store and going home for the day.
“Hey” Ayo showed up at the door. He was smiling as he walked in.
“Why are you smiling?” I asked. Eriayomi saw her dad and his face lit up immediately. He went to carry her.
“If I say I missed you, will you believe me?” He asked.
“No” I replied.
“Well, I did. I didn’t have much to do at work. The goods that were supposed to be shipped to the company arrived yesterday and were sorted out too” He said. Ayodeji spoke about work more.
“Oh, I had a few customers today. I was planning on coming home early” I told him.
“Okay, let’s go home then.”
We walked home. I was quiet or thinking rather. I didn’t know what this thing between us was and I didn’t want to get heartbroken by the same guy again.

“Lara, tell me the last thing I just spoke about” He said. He must have noticed I was not listening.
“What?” I asked, looking confused.
“What is on your mind?” He asked.
“Nothing” I didn’t know if I should ask. Maybe I should.
“Lara, please tell me”
“Ayo, what is this between us?”
“I don’t understand”
“Ayodeji, if I’m just somebody who you come to when things go south but you forget about me when it’s smooth, tell me. I don’t want what happened before to happen again” I said and his expression changed.
“We’re close to the house. We will talk when we get inside” He replied and remained silent.

We reached home. I entered and stood, waiting for him to say something.
“Omolara, do I act the same way I did before?”
“No, you don’t but I’m not sure.”
“Lara, I am making all the efforts I can make and you know it but you still doubt me, why?”
“Because I don’t know what you feel towards me. Look into my eyes and tell me what I am to you. Ayodeji, do you love me?” He looked me in the eyes. He was confused, he didn’t know.
“Yes, I love you”
“You're lying, Ayodeji. You don’t know what you feel” I wanted to walk away but he held my hand.
“Why do you do this? I want to be with you”
“Ayo, why? Why do you want to be with me?”
“I feel something for you and it’s all new to me, I know it’s a strong attraction”
“If it was that strong, you would have felt it since. I have lived with you in this house for so long and this attraction was never there until something bad happened to you”
“Because I didn’t want to feel any attraction towards anyone. I was heartbroken too, I…I, Lara, please.”
“Ayodeji, what do you feel for me?” I was not going to be moved by the broken expression on his face.
“You remember when I first met you….”
“Ayodeji, don’t you dare do that! I want an answer. Ayo, what do you feel for me?!” Eriayomi was startled and started crying.
“I love you! I love you, Lara. I’m sorry I didn’t feel it earlier, I’m sorry I hated you before, I’m sorry I realized it when things went south for me.” He was now crying. The number of times I’ve seen him cry this month was the highest number of times I’ve seen anyone cry. “I know, I know I’ve become more attracted to you, I paid more attention to you and realized I messed up” He was looking into my eyes. I felt bad making him cry like a baby but I needed to hear him say what he felt. I walked to him, collected Eriayomi, and kept her on the floor. She was also still crying. I hugged him tightly placing my hands on his back.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m sorry” I spoke softly into his ears. I removed my head from his shoulder and looked into his eyes then I kissed him. He didn’t hesitate to deepen this kiss but I had to break it. He was silent.

“Will you do anything for me?” I asked and he nodded.
“Come to church with me on Sunday. I want you to meet someone” I said, he looked at me as I smiled at him.
“Okay, I will” He replied. He cleared his throat. Eriayomi had stopped crying by now, he went back to carrying her.
“Let me make dinner” I said and walked to the kitchen. I cooked noodles and boiled eggs. We ate in silence, I cleared the table and fed Eriayomi. I left her with her dad and went to my room.
I opened Whatsapp and a call from my friends came through.
We greeted ourselves as usual.
“Hmm, I fell today oh during tug of war at the camp” Amanda said causing us to laugh.
“I can imagine” I replied.
“Omolara, how far?” Bisi asked.
“How is Ayo?” Rita asked.
“Hope he’s dead” Amanda said.
“I am fine, he’s great and very alive”
“Wait, he’s great?”
“Yeah, Ayo is changing and for good this time” I replied. I told them what happened to him.
“So, Rita’s advice worked?” Bisi asked.
“I don’t know but I met a very good person in the church. She helped me” I replied
“But he only noticed you when things got bad, won’t he change back?” Amanda asked. She didn’t want to believe he was changing.
“I felt that was too but he changed after tonight”
“Wait oh, Omolara tell me you have that guy’s mumu button. I swear if you have it, I’ll start believing in love” Bisi said.
“Well, maybe I do have his mumu button now, see eh, now I like what I have with him, it’s different from before ” I replied
“Okay, but he has AIDS?” Rita asked.
“He doesn’t. We went to the hospital to get him tested, he doesn’t have AIDS” I replied
“Omo, I never thought I would see the day. You actually look very happy” Bisi said.
“My own is if he tries any nonsense, I won’t hear anything oh. I will break glass on his head” Amanda said. We all laughed. We spoke for some time before we said our goodbyes before we ended the call.
“Today was good” I said as I went to shower, dressed in my nightgown and laid in my bed. When Ayo gets tired, he would bring Eriayomi to the room. The next thing I knew, I fell asleep.