The Masked Identity

CHAPTER NINE

Few metres away from the club, Belinda and Sylvia could hear the sound of music blaring from the speakers. The taxi they entered pulled over in front of Sky club and they alighted after paying the taxi driver.

When they stepped into the club, the atmosphere was lively. Sylvia looked around and realized the girls in the club wore skimpy dresses. She followed Belinda when she saw her moving towards a table with three empty seats.

"Hi, girls! Welcome to my party," Cheryl said.

"Happy birthday, Cheryl!" Sylvia and Belinda said at the same time, presenting a box to Cheryl and taking turns to hug her.

"Thanks," Cheryl said accepting the gift. "Sylvia, i am very sorry for my action in class the other day. I was in a bad mood before you stepped on me, that was why I acted without thinking. I thought you wouldn't attend my party because of that but you have proved me wrong."

"It's fine. I didn't take it to heart. Cheers to more years in good health and in wealth," Sylvia said raising a glass of wine and clinking it with Cheryl's glass.

"The lipstick she wore is quite much," Belinda said laughing as soon as Cheryl left their table.

"If that's the reason you are laughing, then you are a bad person." Sylvia said not looking pleased with her friend.

"Yeah, I am a bad person. Without being told, she should know that the lipstick is much." Belinda said frankly.

"I am glad you know that you are a bad person," Sylvia replied sipping her wine. "This wine tastes really good."

"Yeah!" Belinda concurred. "Who is this handsome dude walking towards our table? His eyes are all over me. I bet he is coming here to ask me to dance with him. I'm in love with him. Sylvia, do you believe in love at first sight?" Belinda asked dreamily.

"No, I don't. I just hope your love for the opposite sex won't put you into trouble. The other day in class you were crushing on a young lecturer,  and you couldn't pay attention to what he was teaching," Sylvia answered without turning to look at the person Belinda was talking about.

"Hello, beautiful ladies!" Someone said sitting on the empty seat beside Belinda.

"Hi, handsome!" Belinda flirtatiously replied.

Sylvia was yet to look at the person greeting them, but she could tell that she had heard his voice somewhere. She raised her head and her eyes locked with his sapphire eyes for a split second. "Joe!" She called out.

"Sylvia, I thought you wouldn't recognize me," Joe replied in a relaxed manner. "I have been watching you keenly since you entered this club. Is she your sister?" He asked pointing at Belinda.

"No, she's my friend and course mate,"  Sylvia answered. "But we are just like sisters."

Belinda stared at the both of them confused. "Who is he and how did you get to know him?" She asked Sylvia.

"Hmm! He's my friend," Sylvia replied. "Remember I told you sometime ago that someone showed me the ICT building, he is the one that gave me directions."

"Oh! Ok. Call me linda— it's short for Belinda," Belinda said stretching her right hand towards Joe for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you! You are extremely beautiful, just like a goddess," Joe said shaking hands with her.

"Stop flattering me," Belinda said smiling broadly. "Since you are my friend's friend, you have automatically become my friend and friends ought to check on themselves always. So, may I have your phone number?" Belinda inquired.

"Sure," Joe answered receiving her phone from her and inputing his phone number in it. "Sylvia, i haven't been able to call you since i collected your phone number because I lost my phone. I'm very happy to see you here."

"I wanted to ask you why you haven't called, but when I saw the phone with you I decided not to ask because the phone is different from the one you had the last time out. I figured you had gotten a new mobile phone and lost my contact," Sylvia said.

"Wow! How very observant of you," Joe replied.

"Who invited you to this party?" Belinda asked

"Cheryl did. She's a family friend." Joe answered.

"Hmm! Ok," Belinda said. "I'm off to the dance floor."

Joe and Sylvia watched Belinda as she danced and swayed her hips to the rhythm of the music.

"A certain someone does not know how to dance, else she won't be here watching her friend," Joe said smiling devilishly.

"Who is this certain someone?" Sylvia asked tweaking his ear playfully.

 "Ah! I didn't mention your name. Joe said pretending to be in pains. "Since you think you are the certain someone you can prove me wrong by coming to the dance floor with me.

"Now I know your aim." Sylvia replied. "Let's go to the dance floor, take the lead."

Suddenly, everyone in the club stood in bewilderment watching Sylvia who was twirling and twisting her waist; she was dancing crazily. It was visible to all that she was a talented dancer.

After a while, Sylvia stopped dancing when she realized joe who had challenged her to dance was not dancing, rather to her astonishment all eyes were on her. Then it occurred to her that she had stolen the limelight in Cheryl's party. She ran out of the club feeling bad about it.

"Sylvia, stop right there!" Belinda commanded panting heavily. "Where are you running to? Do you know anyone around here?" She asked.

"No, I don't." Sylvia replied. "I feel really bad for getting the attention of everyone when I am not the one celebrating the party. I shouldn't have agreed to dance when Joe challenged me."

 "You didn't steal anybody's limelight! You are a great dancer. Why didn't you tell me about this talent of yours? What else do I need to know about you?" Belinda asked.

"You don't expect me to go about telling people that I am a talented dancer, do you? I don't even see it as a talent. Let's go back to your hostel, I am tired." Sylvia said.

"You want us to go back to my hostel when we haven't spent up to two hours here," Belinda said unhappily. "It's alright, let's go."

********
The next morning, Sylvia received a call from Joe and they chatted for about an hour. He told her that he was impressed by the way she danced at Sylvia's party. They talked about school and about life in general. She got to know that just like her, he lived in an apartment outside the school environment, and his apartment was just two streets away from hers. Sylvia and Joe were unwilling to hang up but they eventually did because they had to get ready for school since they had lectures that morning.

 After getting of the phone with Joe, she held her pillow smiling. She didn't know why she was smiling broadly, but she only knew she looked forward to hearing from him again.

On the other hand, Belinda was pondering whether to call Joe or not as she didn't have any reason to call him and she didn't want him to see her as a pest.