Entranced 18+

Thirty

Zubby had gotten a call from work and it must have been very important because he got on the first available flight and left. He'd tried to convince Ijeoma to leave with him but Mrs. Nwafor had invited the girls on a spa date and Ada had practically begged Ijeoma to stay claiming she needed the girl time. This was good news for her because she was trying to put as much distance between her and Zubby. She needed time to reconstruct the walls that the man kept tearing down. There was just something about the man that got to her.

The spa date had been nothing like she could have imagined; rich people sure did things differently. Everything was fun and she even came back with new clothes from the shopping spree Ada's mother had dragged them on. The woman was immediately becoming her favorite person. But none of those luxuries compared to being back in her space alone.

She'd barely had time for herself recently. Her relationship with Zubby was like a whirlwind, and so much kept happening that she felt like a different person. Being in her home alone, without having to pretend or lie to herself was relaxing. She ignored all the things that reminded her of the man, focusing on centering herself. It was what she was still trying to do when her phone rang. It was the one person she didn't want to talk to.

"If I knew this was how you'd keep calling me, I wouldn't have quit working. At least I'd be getting paid for putting up with you," she snapped.

Madam Ini laughed and she could almost see the woman in her mind. "How did you manage to keep that sharp mouth shut all these years?"

Ijeoma rolled her eyes. "What do you want?" She no longer wanted to play these games with the woman. She'd paid in one way or the other for every form of help Madam Ini had offered and long after quitting, it seemed she was still paying.

"To finish our conversation of course."

"I don't know what games you're playing but I don't need your help. I want to do this my way."

"You've had time to do things your way. How is that going for you? I don't think it's going all that well."

Ijeoma rolled her eyes but remained quiet. There was always a reason behind every thing the woman did, maybe it was just best to let her get to it.

"The incident with your sister happened so many years ago. I don't think a smart man like Mr. Ejiofor would keep something that would incriminate him after all these years. Those records were wiped clean a long time ago."

"I know that." She gritted her teeth. Of course she knew that. But was the woman expecting her to just fold her hands and move on with her life? Her sister had died and there was enough circumstantial evidence to point at Azubuike but no one had wanted to take it on. She'd been a young, powerless girl then, not anymore.

"Hanging around him and hoping for him to slip up will probably not happen. Unless you confront him, which I expect him to deny, you're just wasting your time there."

Ijeoma knew all that. She'd thought about the futility of her plans for so long but she couldn't just pretend like nothing happened. Her sister was dead for Christ sake. "We discussed this before. You know I can't just give up."

"Unless your reasons for being with him has changed," Madam Ini continued like she'd not heard a word Ijeoma uttered. "I have to admit that he's a fine catch, trying not to fall in love with him would be a difficult feat. So I can understand if your goals has changed."

"You know they haven't," she snapped. "Just tell me what you want and stop dancing around it."

"If you have leverage on him, something that can actually ruin him, you could use that to get him to confess to what he did to her. And I think I might know what that leverage is."