Beyond Desire

35- What am I really getting myself into?

The room stayed silent long after I had dropped the call, my thoughts were still floating, buoyed by the butterflies the moment had left behind. I just lay there staring at the ceiling, his voice still tangled at the forefront of my mind. The way he spoke with so much calmness, so little effort, and then calls me like I was far away. God, my fragile heart was absolutely unprepared for this. I rolled around in bed like a fool, giddy to the point of embarrassment.

The feeling lingered longer than it should have and I embraced it with no sense of dignity until it slowly began to loose it hold on me. Bit by bit, my heart eventually slowed, the flutter easing into something normal. Reality crept back in. The ledger, the address I found just when Khalid called, and my little investigation.

I exhaled slowly and pushed the pillow aside, pulling myself off the bed. Distraction was a luxury I couldn't afford right now. Whatever warmth Khalid left behind faded as my mind returned to the unfinished trail glowing on my laptop screen. I crossed the room and went back to my desk.

The address stared back at me. A street I knew too well, it was at least thirty minutes away. The longer I looked at it, the more unreal it felt, like it belonged to someone far braver than I was. Was I really about to go looking for a man based on nothing but suspicion? A name in a ledger that felt wrong, money that didn't make sense and suddenly I was playing private investigator? Since when did I become that person?

I shut the laptop and pushed myself up, grabbing the book with the address as I moved. I had a mission, and if I stayed here any longer, I would continue to overthink it, talk myself out of it before I even tried.

A quick shower helped to clear my head, and I wiggled myself into loose-fitting jeans paired with a fitted graphic tee. I was aiming not stand out or draw attention. I pulled my hair back, threw on a cap, grabbed my keys, and headed out before I could second-guess myself.

I just raised my hand to let the security know I was going out alone, then slipped into the car and drove off.

Abuja moved with me as I drove through the streets, everywhere busy as usual. Cars were honking, people crossing roads as they owned them. It felt almost strange, carrying something heavy in my chest while the rest of the world went on unbothered.

I got to Katampe barely twenty minutes after leaving the house. The street near my cousin's house looked the same as always, but only this time I wasn't here for her and I couldn't risk anyone in her family finding out I was around. That's when it hit me how stupid I'd been to come in my usual car. I could have taken any of the others at home.

I drove past estates, private houses, and diners, while scanning signboards and house numbers. By the time I reached the address, my palms were slick with sweat on the steering wheel.

I have no idea what I was expecting but it definitely wasn't.....a house.

The house sat behind tall gates of dark metal stretching higher than necessary, the walls were flanked by trimmed hedges that looked too perfect to be natural. It has a certain stillness to it and a kind of wealth that didn't need to announce itself.

It makes me wonder why someone with that much money would take more from my dad. According to his profile, he was a businessman, but as far as I know, my dad isn't into any business. That's exactly why I was so curious about the money exchanging hands between them.

I parked a safe distance across the street and stayed in the car, keeping my eyes on the gate. Now that I was here, I had no idea what to do next. It wasn't like I could just walk in, demand to see the owner, and ask why the heck my dad had been sending him money. So I stayed put, waiting... for what, exactly? I had no clue.