Isabella

45| Miss. Nwankwo Can Not Cook

Joshua

The headquarters of Stevens Industries was located in the upper east side of the city. Bella and I had come to shoot a commercial for the soap we recently produced. Steven Industries was known for products like perfumes, soap, body lotions. Out of all the models and actresses in the country, I chose Isabella because I had other things in mind for our trip.

I stood behind the set and watched Bella pose for the pictures during the photoshoot. She was a true beauty. I couldn't understand why my mom and Amanda hated her so much. If only I could remember what had gone down between us in the past. Although Stephanie had told me the basic things I needed to know about me and Bella's history, I felt like I needed to know the details. The facts.

The whole thing took the entire day. Shooting the commercial took so much time and I could've simply left since the manager of my company was there to take care of everything, but, I wanted to stay. I wanted to spend more time with Bella. Don't ask me why.

So, after the director was finally satisfied with everything they'd done for the day, we finally left the company exhausted and famished.

"Are you hungry?" I asked Bella who was walking next to me in the parking lot. She was strangely quiet and I assumed she must've been really tired.

"Yeah, I'm starving" she said. We both got into my car and I drove off.

"Why are you so quiet?"

"I'm tired" she mumbled looking out the window.

"Well, luckily this was a one day thing. You can go back to L. A tomorrow if you want" I informed her with my eyes still focused on the road.

"Nah, I think I'll stay for a few more days and besides, I'm supposed to help you recover your damn memory" Bella smirked wearily.

"Wow, she has a kind heart after all" I joked making Bella roll her eyes.

"You know, sometimes, I wonder if it would be better if you didn't remember anything" said Bella. At first, I thought she was joking but she looked and sounded serious.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, it would be nice to just start afresh you know," she said, "And not remember all the horrible things that happened in the past"

I didn't know what to say. It almost felt like she was talking in proverbs.

We finally got to the restaurant where we would have dinner before heading back to our hotel.
"Couldn't we have just eaten at the hotel?" Bella asked after we'd walked into the huge African restaurant.

"They serve African dishes here, I thought we could eat some ewedu" I grinned at her before walking towards a table for two.

"I'm more of an egwusi soup person, though" she said after settling down in the chair opposite mine. We picked up the menu and scrutinized it.

"Egusi, how does that taste?" I asked after I saw it listed on the menu.

"It's egwusi" Bella corrected, "And it's delicious. Most Igbos prefer it to any other soup" she said without taking her eyes off the menu.

Not long after, a tall waitress walked up to us to take our orders. "We'll have two plates of egusi and pounded yam--"

"No, I'll have akpu" Bella interjected. The waitress nodded before walking away.

"Akpu... Doesn't that stuff smell... Bad?" I asked squeezing my face.

"How come you remember all these things and yet you can't remember faces or what happened?" she looked directly into my eyes as if searching for answers.

"I don't know" I simply said which was the truth. I kept asking myself that same question but I couldn't come up with an answer. Even the doctors couldn't.

After the waiter had served us, I stared down at the soup in front of me. It looked really delicious and the aroma was nice too.

"Yuck... This is rubbish" said Bella just as I was putting the first spoon of pounded yam and egwusi into my mouth.

I tasted and swallowed before coming to a conclusion that the soup was amazing. "This is actually really delicious" I complemented before eating more.

"Wow, the accident also affected your taste buds too?" Bella joked making me laugh a little. "This is not egwusi soup. If I prepare egwusi soup for you, after eating it, your life will never remain the same"

"Do you even know how to cook?" I chuckled. Bella looked like someone who didn't step foot in the kitchen.

"Are you trying to insult me?"

"No, I mean--"

"I'm a chef, you know" Bella bragged.

"Wow, okay" I said in amusement. I knew she was lying and that made everything much more interesting. "So what are the procedures for preparing egwusi soup?" I asked her while I kept eating my delicious meal.

"That's simple" she said before sipping from her glass of wine. "First of all, you... Em... You boil the meat... Yes, you boil the meat" she sipped her wine again while I kept nodding with a smile, waiting for her to continue. "The procedure is long, it's not something I can explain now"