IZIGORA

Chapter 28

Sotonye stepped away from Izigora's door where she had stood for the past two minutes. It hadn't been her intention to eavesdrop but she'd been crossing to her bedroom when a strange voice caught her attention. It didn't sound like someone was put on speaker. Pausing she had been hit by fragments of the conversation.

'You can relax, Kobs. I'm not going to fling myself across the room and steal your virtue. You are clearly tired and I wouldn't want you falling asleep on me before we get around to doing anything serious, as tempting as the sight of you is. Damn, you are a tall glass of water after one has been in the desert for weeks.'

'Well, I'm pleased to meet you, Kobs,' she smiled. 'I would have stretched out my hand for a handshake but I can't trust myself not to pull you to this bed and ravish you completely. And since Izigora and I share this body, I wouldn't want to complicate your friendship with her, sad though it would seem.' She gave a dramatic sigh and continued. 'My presence essentially is to protect her. I can't have her hating me, but it beats me how she can look at you and see a big brother – I mean how can she allow another woman have access to all this package that should have been hers?'

'Izigora is my dear friend.'

'Yes. Boring. You even look at me like I'm your naughty little sister. Total waste. Even more unfortunate is the fact that I can't jump your bones.'

Waoh!' Sotonye had thought as she realised that this was Izigora although that voice didn't sound anything like Izigora's and the Izigora she knew wouldn't be so bold as to tease Kobi in that manner. 'That's weird.'

Under different circumstances, Sotonye would have been really amused by the vision of her favourite cousin squirming under Izigora's flirting.

At least he got her to talk, she thought as she stepped away from the door. Why she's imitating a British accent I have no idea. Well, he's the doctor, he should understand better.'

She returned to her bedroom where she picked up her pyjama top and shorts and walked to the bathroom. Kobi was still with Izigora by the time she was back in the living room. She looked at the clock in the room and locked the door. There was no way Kobi was driving home tonight.

He'd looked bone tired with bags under his eyes. He might be under 40 but that didn't mean that stress couldn't get to him. He'd been in surgery when she'd called earlier and so hadn't returned her call until a few hours later. She thought about her friend Major Adeniran who was a doctor at the Military Hospital. The hospital had lots of doctors so she figured the stress would be a lot less than what Kobi had to deal with.

Kobi hadn't taken a real vacation in a long time. Apart from the few days spent in Enugu for the Christmas holidays (part of which was also spent volunteering at the health centre), Kobi acted as though if he took a day off work, a potential patient might be in need of his services and something might go wrong if he wasn't there to at least assist. If all medical practitioners were half as dedicated, there would be less medical crisis in the land. Well, his dedication to his job was admirable but his health was more important. He would be of no use to anyone let alone himself if he slumped.

She set a place on the centre table with a tray of semovita and native soup with lots of stockfish, meat and fish, just as Kobi loved it.

Kobi looked harassed when he finally put up an appearance. What had Izigora done to him between the time she had stopped eavesdropping and when he came out of the room? Anyway, she stretched out her right hand to him and he received a much-needed hug, careful not to lean into her left shoulder because of the dislocation.

'Thanks,' he told her.

'Don't mention it,' Sotonye smiled as Kobi finally extricated himself from her arm. 'Now eat, darling coz. You need to get enough sleep so you can drive home in the morning.'