Playing House

FOUR

As Toyin stumbled into her apartment, she kicked off her shoes and struggled out of off THAT cursed dress then rushed to her bathroom.

The bathroom in her bedroom had a bathtub while the one in the guest room had a shower stall. She bathed frequently in the guest room every other day since it was much more convenient and saved time especially on weekdays, but today she decided to augment her regular shower with a hot Dettol soak.

She emptied half of the content of a large bottle of Dettol in the tub. While the water filled the tub she scurried off to the guest bathroom to commence the decontamination process.

She didn't bother with a shower cap, the hair had to be washed too because it had that strong club cigarette smoke smell and she was almost certain that she caught a whiff of his perfume when she tied up the waist length box braids earlier.

She scrubbed her her skin with the sponge harshly, scrubbing harder every time she recalled a scene from last night. She didn't care if the skin peeled off.

When she finished with the shower, she moved back to the tub. The strong minty smell of the antiseptic stung her nostrils but she told herself she deserved it for sleeping with a complete stranger, in his creepy house.

20 minutes into her fussing, she finally calmed down and lit up some candles around the bathroom. The relieving warm bath calmed her nerves and she felt much better, much 'cleaner'.

Her hangover was subsiding too, so she reclined in the tub and rest her head on the rim. She closed her eyes for a few seconds as she let out a huge sigh of relief. She couldn't believe she broke her 5 year celibacy for bus conductor guy.

"Osaze." She said his name out unconsciously then instantly regretted it because those damn images from last night took over her mind again. She sat back up and frowned slapping the water hard, mildly irritated with herself as she cursed inside.

That wasn't enough so she screamed with her mouth shut and submerged herself completely under the balmy water. Perhaps she needs to cleanse her brain of him too.

********

Sofi arrived around 2pm. She brought some greenish organic juice for her, said it helps with hangover.

"My dear something came up at work so I had to go," Her best friend said as she scrolled through movies on Netflix on the large screen TV in Toyin's living room. "I swear, I told that yeye Bisola to put you in a cab before leaving, but the Olodo said she thought you knew the him."

"It's okay babe, I am fine." Toyin smiled as she sipped her green juice. It tasted good, It wasn't sweet or tangy it was just clean and invigorating. Just what she needed. She sat down on the carpeted floor so Sofi could help her blow dry her hair. "Free Bisola, I am a grown ass woman"

Sofi shook her head. "No! She shouldn't have left you there, not after what happened with you and Femi we were supposed to cheer you up last night naw. Speaking of Femi sef, what really happened?"

"Hmmm..." Toyin went on to narrate how her 13 month 'courtship' degenerated into its current state.

She was set up on a blind date with Femi, a banker with one of the major commercial banks in the country. He met her minimum criteria; 'God fearing and Responsible' so she was ready to try something serious with him, but he turned out to be one of those controlling and arrogant unkus. 

He was so full of himself, always going on about how most women these days are just gold diggers and how his future wife must be a very good manager. Ordinary banker o!