Zara || A Nigerian Lesbian

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚗

𝚉𝙰𝚁𝙰
━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

I was in my office going over paperwork at the end of the day since this was my first day back at work. I had a lot of catching up to do. I looked at the clock and saw it was already four o'clock. I realized that it was time to at least go home and have some rest, and save Lolia the trouble from giving me twenty missed calls. A knock on the doorframe raised my eyes.

"What are you doing?" Fred, my business partner, asked.

"I'm trying to round up here, and then I can head home."

The only time Fred came to my office was when he wanted me to sign off on an investor or take a look at a couple of Softwares that needed to be updated.

"I brought you this file to go over," said Fred, plopping her folder down on my desk. "Just in case you feel like you need to know a little more about Ms. Ogechi Nnamali. She will be with you soon."

"Nnamali? That name does ring a bell."

"Zara, don't tell me you don't know her?"

I shook my head.

"You are a tech guru, but you don't know the who and who of the society. You better impress her. This entire company's future depends on her investments."

"Don't worry. I will do my best to impress this Ms. Nnamali. Whoever she is."

"We've got to take this seriously, Zara," she told me. "I don't want to be out of a job, and I don't think you want to lose your company either."

"I am taking it seriously," I replied, picking up the folder and scanning it. I knew my absence from the company, due to a near-death experience, cost us a fortune. We needed an investor, and maybe, just maybe, this Ms. Nnamali was the right person.

"You better," he finally said, strutting out of my office.

The file didn't say what this Ms. Nnamali looked like or where she was from. It only stated what company she was working with, and how much they were willing to invest in my company. Google had to be my friend at that time, but all I could see was Senator Mercy Nnamali's image plastered all over the internet.

She had a daughter who bloggers noted had been sent away due to the child's bad attitudes. "Nigerian mothers," I muttered to myself.

"Knock, knock," came a voice at my door accompanied by a light knocking on the metal frame.

I recognized that voice. Looking up from the screen, I saw Bella standing at my doorstep in tight black jeans that showed her curves, overlarge sunglasses, probably to hide her face. "What the hell Bella."

She quickly shut the door behind her and grabbed a chair to sit down. "I am sorry. I didn't know how else to meet you. You weren't picking up my calls or responding to my messages."

"You freaking tried to kill me. Do you want me to report you to the police?"

She held my hand, but I quickly drew away from her.

"I have a meeting. Please leave. I don't have anything to discuss with you."

That evil smirk I saw before she shot me, appeared on her face. "I am your investor. I pretended to be someone you would not suspect, and it was also an opportunity to meet up with you."

Shoot me already. For a fact, this was going to be one of the worst days of my life. I was having a meeting with a psycho who almost cost me my life—typical con artist.

"Zara I didn't mean to shoot you. I was aiming for your girlfriend."

I was supposed to be upset, but I was relieved that she didn't want to kill me. "What do you really want? I am not paying you for any dirty deeds you have done. You almost ruined my life."

"You broke it off with me. You didn't even care to ask if I had feelings for you," Bella retorted.

It was so like Bella, I thought, always having the right words on standby. She was right. I never bothered how she felt because I only thought about what people would say and how society would see us. Hell, I even thought about getting caught and thrown in jail.

"I know someone willing to invest in your company, though. But I will give you the person's details, only on one condition."

I sat back and smiled. Bella was going to rip me off because she knew I needed the funds. "Whose condition is this, if I may ask."

Bella tossed her head back and laughed. "Who else? Let's have dinner this weekend at your place."

I scoffed at her. She was really high on some cheap drugs. "Then what? If I don't agree, you'll kill me?"

She let out a chuckle. "I don't kill those I love," she told me. She didn't wait for a response; she just got up and left the office.

I was amazed. Does Bella love me? "But she tried to kill me," I reminded myself.

After taking the time to wrap up at the office, I got into the car and drove home. The lights were still on, meaning Lolia was still in my house. I didn't know how to tell her that she was no longer needed, I was doing fine now — so her hospitality wasn't needed anymore.

I walked into the house and could see from a distance that the table had been set with dinner plates and whatnot. I took a deep breath and put down my handbag and laptop.

Lolia walked out of the kitchen with an apron still on. "Hey Z. Welcome home, I prepared dinner. Your favorite afang soup and pounded yam. I also prepared a bubble bath with..."

"Lolia, stop," I cut her off. "What's all this? Did I tell you I was hungry? I thought we talked about this? Nothing you do now will change what happened. I have forgiven you, and that's it."

She smiled at me, putting down the bowl of soup she carried. "So why did you allow me to spend nights in your house?"

"Because you are too stubborn! You see this thing you are trying to force? It won't work. At all!"

"Zara..."

"You know what, leave my house."

I took the spatula she was holding, picked up her phone, and handed it to her. She didn't say a word but strutted out the door. I was tired of all this charade and her thinking we were going to be anything more.