...that keeps giving

VI

TGIF fam. Here's a new chapter .

Thank you so much for being here," Naomi whispered to her friend tugging on her hand as they were led into the vast mansion by a middle-aged woman dressed in black pants and a fitted shirt. Her hair had been packed in a bun and her face slightly made up. She wondered if they were always dressed as such or if it was a one-off uniform because of their August visitors. The woman introduced herself as Mrs Lawrence.
"Please have your seats," she directed pointing at the black leather sofas in the receiving room. "Your host will join you shortly."

"Thank you, madam."  Naomi's mother responded.

"While waiting,  we have a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to offer you. Your..."
"Thank you for the offer madam, we are okay for now, " her father interrupted, looking round at the visitors in the room to confirm his choice of words to which they all nodded.

Naomi was trying to calm her nerves by fiddling with her phone.
Her mother kept glancing at her at intervals as if to gauge her emotions. She had deliberately refused to discuss it with her since her father dropped the bomb weeks ago. She was trying to extricate as a culprit but Naomi insisted that She should have convinced her father not to make such a decision without proper consultation.

"Do you want a shot of Vodka to shake you up a little" Naomi smiled as she read the text on her phone and looked up at her friend sitting on the sofa beside her.

"If the guy sees you like this,  he will beg you to stay behind" She whispered at her. 
Naomi glared at her trying not to burst into a laugh.
Seun shrugged and just kept typing on her phone,  probably cooking up another mischief.
A young girl walked into the room with a tray of bottled water and set one each beside the visitors while bending at the knee to greet,  while another walked in with assorted beverages on her tray which she set on a centrepiece.
Naomi was not in the right frame of mind, else she would have taken time to admire the lavishly decorated room.  There was no family picture in the room which signified that it was likely a place to hold guests for a while especially if they do not deem you worthy of their sanctum. 
Her friend squeezed her hand in assurance and continued to hold her hand.
Seun had tried her best to make her look beautiful for the occasion even though she was not mentally up for the whole charade her parents considered marriage.

In the few weeks since the news of the betrothal,  she had consumed every literal information she could find about Abisade.  She even learned that she has a brother in the course of her research.  She tried not to dwell too much on what gossip blogs and sites had to say about his lifestyle. Her focus was on his prowess in the business world and from all indications,  he seemed to have a good head on.

As promised before their visit, Seun put a lot of effort into her make up and the result was worth it even though was not used to spending so much time altering her looks with "paint".  Gwen had gotten her a red strapless dress for the event but Seun insisted they got something from her sister's new designs. She won the cloth debate.

Even though it wasn't her usual buy, the fit and fabric was worth every penny spent on it. The short dress glided over her figure and the colour suited her skin tone to perfection.  The green colour of the dress was a darker shade but it had a glossy feel when looking at it.  She accessorized with a silver necklace with a pendant and earrings to match that Gwen insisted on lending to her. 

Naomi sighed again. She wondered why her father had insisted that they come to their house instead of the other way around. It was the proper thing to do for the male's relatives to visit the family of the woman they were seeking to engage.

Her parents sitting on the double sofa at the other end of the room were whispering to each other while she tried to scroll through her phone to see if there was anything that would interest her again.

The next time the door opened it revealed a young girl with a tray of glasses and assorted snacks. Followed closely behind was a tall woman who looked more fifty than sixty by Naomi's calculation.  Her high cheekbones were framed in a bob made from expensive human hair.
She was all smile as she walked up to the couple in a floor-length silk Kaftan

"Good afternoon everyone" She hugged her mother first and shook her father's hand.

"I am sorry we had to bring you all the way here rather than visit, my husband has been under the weather and doctor's orders say not to leave the house.  It was either that or being admitted to the hospital,  we picked the lesser of the two evils.  "Apologies my dear," she said in Naomi's direction

"No offence taken ma," she responded as she moved forward to kneel and greet the fascinating woman.
Naomi was yet to decide how to classify the elegant woman.  She seemed warm yet standoffish or maybe the opinion was based on her presumption of people with vast wealth.

"Good afternoon ma, " Seun greeted from her spot.

"Hello dear,  your second daughter?  She asked in the direction of Naomi's parents.

She's my daughter's friend. My other daughter and son are in school and couldn't make it home this weekend.

I guess... We'll meet them during the nuptials then. 

Please come with me.

My husband and sons are waiting for us in the living room.

Naomi's thoughts about the space was just confirmed.

She followed behind her parents like a lamb to be slaughtered.

"... the doctor then advised that we shouldn't allow him to leave the house,  but you know your friend, " she chuckled,  "it feels like a prison and he's been looking forward to today as a form of reprieve."

Naomi could hear bits of the conversation as she was in her world. No matter the number of people here to support her, it felt like her first practical class in Medical school, "all man for himself".

It was daunting despite in-depth theoretical classes.
Like that day,  she prepared her mind for the worst.