“So which should we pick?”
“Hmm.” Olumide looked up from his phone.
Dami and Vicky stared at him. Dami held up two envelopes while Victoria sat on the high stool by the corner of the wine bar. Why did they need him to intervene in their marriage preparations? Weren’t two heads supposed to be better than one?
“What’s the question.”
“Which of these invitation cards should we use?”
Olumide shifted in the black settee of Vicky’s living room. One half of the whiteboard behind Dami’s tall frame was marked with different coloured squiggly arrows pointing to different things. The other half had a checklist.
“He wasn’t paying attention.” Vicky turned away from him.
“Just give me a second.”
Olumide scrolled down the page to view the conversation on his Instagram page. Of all the pages carrying Romola’s picture, this one had the most pictures. It even had pictures of Romola that the had never seen before. Some of the older posts had a price tag in the caption for those who wanted private pictures.
He stared at his message to the owner of the page:
OJMakinde: Hey do you still have pictures of this girl?
Ajayi_matt _023: Which one?
OJMakinde: Romola
Ajayi_matt_023: Why do you want to know
OJMakinde: Do you have pictures or not?
Ajayi_matt _023: It depends.
OJMakinde: On what?
Ajayi_matt _023: How much will you pay?
OJMakinde: What do you mean? It’s either you have or you don’t. Do you know where I can find her?
Ajayi_matt _023: OG that one is classified information oh. But I see your benz for you page. Shey you be yahoo boy? Abeg, help you boy cash out na.
OJMakinde: What do you know about this girl?
Ajayi_matt _023: Drop money first
Olumide’s hand hovered over the keypad of his Iphone. He didn’t just want pictures of Romola. He wanted to know where she was. Who she was with. Where she lived. If he hadn’t been so careless with the paper Naomi gave him, he wouldn’t have to go through all these hoops to find her. He didn’t dare to ask Naomi about the phone number and it seemed like the new intern had been avoiding him. He couldn’t meet either woman without arousing suspicion.
His fingers taped on the screen of his phone. How much would be enough to find information about this woman? 5,000?10,000?
He knew pictures of Romola were not in demand. The owner of the page was only searching for something to whet his appetite. Would it be better to ask for an exact figure or just send something to the boy?
OJMakinde: Send your account numb—
The phone flew out of his hand. He jumped to his feet as Dami ran away with the phone.
Every cell in his body feed his scream. “Give me my phone!”
He charged towards Dami but Vicky stood in his path.
“No. You people will not fight in my house. Dami, can you just give him his phone and let him go. He isn’t interested in being here.”
Dami’s head hung over the phone but he stood in a place now. He shook his head, looked at the phone, then at Olumide then back at the phone, shaking his head. “I can’t believe this.”
Olumide tried to walked around Vicky but she slid in front of him. He made as though he was going to her left, she followed then, he did a quick dive to the right and caught up with Dami, snatching his phone out of Dami’s hand.
“You have nor right to do that.”
“When did you become this?” Dami met him eye to eye.
“I do not know what you are talking about.”
Dami’s face remained straight. “You were about to send him money.”
“It’s not what you think it is.”
“Oh.” Dami opened his mouth. “So I have suddenly developed the inability to understand English right?”
“Babe, what’s going on?” Vicky walked up to them.
Both men stared at each other eye to eye, unmoving, unblinking. He wasn’t obligated to tell Victoria anything and he would kill Dami if he so much as opened his mouth.
Dami gave him a hard stare. “You should tell her yourself.”
“I don’t have to tell her anything.”
Dami walked away from him to sit on the sofa. Olumide averted his eyes from his friend’s gaze, choosing to focus on the French doors that led outside to the neatly kept lawn. Everything about the house was small and neat like Vicky.
“Will somebody tell me what in the world is going on?”
“Olumide is obsessed. That’s what.” Dami gave a mirthless chuckle, putting his fingers together and leaning forward on the seat.
“You don’t even know what you are saying.”
“You know,” Dami gave him another hard stare. “Yetunde mentioned something about you asking about Romola but I didn’t want to believe it. I thought you were over her.”
“So, all of this about Romola?” Vicky’s pony tail bounced as she returned to her seat. She sat upright crossing her legs. “What about her now.”
Dami shook his head. “Like I said, it isn’t my story to tell.”
“I just want to know where she is.” Olumide began.
“So you can’t hire a proper investigator to do it? It doesn’t even matter, I’m not sure she wants to be found anyways.”
“I know where she is.” Vicky stared at her sandaled feet.
Olumide’s face snapped to hers. “Don’t joke with this Vicky.”
“She doesn’t remember me.” Vicky snapped her fingers. “I keep saying it. She never regained her memory.”
“Why are you still defending her?” Olumide’s brows narrowed. “She’s a liar!”
“I told you that there was a chance that she wouldn’t remember anything.”
“Well, she remembered me. She saw me and insulted me before running off.”
VIcky’s eyes widened but Dami responded first. “When did that happen? When did all of this start?”
Olumide ran his palm down his face. “A few weeks ago. She came to Pillard on a referral for an interview. She remembered me all right. Said I was poison. Can you imagine that?”
“I’m telling you Olumide, she doesn’t remember anything.”
“Vicky. She probably lied to you too.”
“I know what I saw.”
“Well. I know what I heard.” Olumide continued.
Romola was the tender spot between him and Vicky. He’d wondered if he was wrong abuout his assumption that Romola had lost his memory. If in a desperate need to be right, he had alienated Vicky from his life because of how bad Romola played him. Her action at the interview confirmed it. He wasn’t sure she could tell the truth even at the threat of death.
“So what now?” Dami’s words were lowly and slowly spoken. “What will you do when you find her?”
Olumide took some air through his mouth to still his nerves. “I don’t know.”
YOU ARE READING
Scars (Romola 2)
Roman d'amour"Then maybe you should have stayed in schoool. Instead of trying to be an elevated secretary and teaching me my Job." - - - - - Beyond managing Iya Tobi's store and pursing a shadow of an education, Romola's plate is full. It's been two years since...
