Chapter Eleven

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open and her still form shifted on the bed. She looked to the other side of the bed, it was empty.

She sat up, groggy from all the sleep as she looked around the room. She was alone. Femi must have made his way out of the room some time while she had been sleeping.

She was still naked and her body ached from all the rounds of sex she had gone through all through the night. Her muscles felt like rubber and she just wanted to go back to sleep. But she did not lie back down, instead, she pushed herself to her feet and got down from the bed.

On shaky legs, she made her way to the bathroom where she freshened up. She brushed her teeth and took her bath, by the time she was done the sleep was gone from her eyes and all she felt was this ravenous hunger that had settled deep inside her belly.

The events of the night had really taken all of her strength, and she had done it on an almost empty stomach. Seeing as she had not eaten any solid food since her plane had landed in Lagos. Except for the snacks, she had gotten from the supermarket. And that was now gone.

She needed food or she was going to die of starvation.

She walked out of the bathroom after toweling herself dry, picking up her phone she checked the time.

“Fuck!” She groaned, it was past noon. She had slept throughout the morning. What the hell had Femi done to her? She also checked if she had missed any calls, but there were no notifications to that effect. Femi was supposed to call her; she wondered idly why he was yet to do that. How would he just fuck the living daylights out of someone and vanish just like that? What the hell was he thinking?

And so, she dropped the phone and picked the remote instead, she turned on the television and put it on the music channel. And while the voice of Rudeboy filled up her room, she made her way easily to the wardrobe where she picked the clothes she would wear.

Seeing as she was not going far, she chose not to wear undies for the trip. So she wore a white polo and blue jeans. She checked her reflection in the mirror, the imprints of her nipples could not be seen on the polo.

She did not apply any makeup, all she did was touch a little powder to her face and some little lip gloss to make her lips sparkle and that was done. She grabbed her purse from the desk, and made sure it had her ATM card in it. Then she took her phone and made her way out.

The bellboy from yesterday had told her there was a restaurant nearby, she was going to look for it. Or anyone at all that she could find. The hunger that was disturbing her was not going to have patience for an ultimate search.

The passage way was deserted as she made her way down it, and this was something she had gotten accustomed to. Everyone stayed in their rooms, minding their business and they only stepped out when they had a tangible reason to do so.

Her footsteps echoed along the hallowed hallway, her footwear slapping against the tiled floor as she walked. There was a faint smell of an air freshener lingering in the air. It smelled familiar to her, it took her a moment before she realized it smelled the same as the one that her father used in his office and in his cars.

The ones they used at home were different though, it was her mother that chose those.

She stopped before the elevator and pushed the button. As she waited for it to come, she leaned against the wall wondering just how long she could endure this hunger. If she had been at home, she would have simply cooked. She could also place an order and have it delivered to her room, but she had stopped that a long time ago.

A few years back, when she had still been in school, she had ordered a meal, and the way the dispatch rider had handled the food had just destroyed her appetite and hunger immediately. She was not going to put anything in her mouth that had recently been in that their box. Unless that thing was manufactured in a factory and had a standard wrap or a can, then she was good to go.

Moreover what she wanted right now was solid food. Not snacks or anything like that. She wanted to eat something that will fill her up for real.

The elevator finally opened up before her, someone exited. It was a man, he walked by her gave her a smile, and then walked past.

Walking through the door of the elevator, she turned and watched him until he got to his room. It was the one directly beside her’s.

“Oh boy…” she muttered as the doors slid shut.

She had no idea why she was reading any meaning into it. This was a bloody hotel, and so there would always be someone on both sides of her room. That was unavoidable.

But then she could not help but wonder just how noisy she had been last night when Femi had been giving it to her. She knew she had been quite loud, but exactly how loud? Was that why the man was smiling at her? Had he heard her last night?

“Shit! Oh fucking stop it, Ada!” She told herself, reminding herself that the rooms were soundproof and there was no way anyone could have heard anything. Just as she had also not heard a peep from any one of the rooms beside her last night as well. Everyone was just minding their businesses.

She let out a deep sigh, she was just scared that this thing would blow up in her face. Now that she had started, there was no way she was going to stop it now. It was really good and she was going to see it to the end so that she could achieve the end results that she was after.

She was a woman on a mission, and she would get it by all means.

The elevator cruised down, letting out soft music as it taxied towards the ground floor. It stopped at a few floors along the way, picking up and dropping off some people until eventually, it touched down on the ground floor.

It opened for the last time and all of them stepped out, Adaeze included.

The air freshener was stronger here, and there were more people also as expected. At the counter, there were those who were checking out and those that were checking in. It was just an endless cycle of clients for the management.

She made her way through the lobby of the hotel and into the sunshine. After being indoors for so long, the glare of the sun was harsh against her eyes that she had to squint. But in a few seconds, her eyes got used to it. She then made her way across the parking lot of the hotel and walked through the massive gates and into the busy roads of Ikeja.

The first thing that greeted her was the blaring of horns as cars tried to move on the blocked road, the road was still packed up and cars were still moving one inch at a time.

Was it always like this in Lagos? This was one reason she would never live here. People were just too many in this Lagos State, that was why there was always so much traffic. In the east the story is different. Until the festivities arrive and everyone comes back home from all over the world.

Remembering the bellboy’s direction, she turned to her left and began to walk down the road, looking out for a restaurant.

As she made her way, the first thing that caught her eye was a pharmacy.

“Oh fuck!” She gasped as she suddenly remembered that the sex she had last night had been unprotected. And Femi had released inside her all through, that was the only way she wanted it. She needed to feel him inside her when he came.

But she did not want to end up getting pregnant for him now, did she?

She walked into the pharmacy, at the door she paused and put on her nose mask. This was mostly for disguise than to protect herself.

Inside, a young girl was on the counter fiddling with her phone. She looked up when Adaeze walked in, “good afternoon.” She greeted.

“Good afternoon,” Adaeze replied as she leaned against the counter. “I would like to buy Postinor 2”

The girl paused, then her eyes widened as she looked at her.

Adaeze did not find that impressive at all, “what? You guys do not have it?”

“I am sorry, we do.” The girl hurried away and walked to a shelf where she searched for a while before she pulled out a green rectangular packet.

Adaeze recognized it, she even had a full one back at home because she used it with her fiancée. There was no way she was getting pregnant until she wanted to.

The girl slid the packet across the counter and called the price.

Adaeze did not bat an eyelid at it, even though it was almost double what she paid for it back at home, “can I pay with POS?”

“Of course,” the young lady replied and pulled out the POS machine.

In a matter of minutes, the payment was done and she took the drugs and shoved it into her purse. After eating she would take it.

She was back in the sun soon after, walking in the same direction she had been going earlier. As she kept walking, going past shops and other hotels and dodging cars, she finally saw a restaurant climb into view.

This had to be the one the guy had been talking about. As she went closer, she could see the name of the restaurant embossed on a huge banner on the body of the building: Eugene’s Place.

“This is it, alright.” She muttered as she walked through the gates and into the compound.

This compound was cemented neatly, with barricades to show where cars could be parked. It did not have as much compound as Sharone Hotel and Suites did, but at least there was enough space for people to chill and snap cool pictures. Which she could see people doing at the moment.

She walked into the building, and just like the first time she had entered the hotel, she felt as if she had entered into another world entirely. The noise had been left outside and all that could be heard here was the civilized mutterings of the customers and staff.

The restaurant was built in a hall-like way, giving it this wide and spacious feel. There was even a floor above with glass walls that looked out into the street below. She went there at once. Here, instead of chairs and tables, there were booths. She preferred those seeing as they gave more privacy. And she could feast her eyes on Lagosians while she ate.

All she wanted was to eat without disturbance.

The moment she settled down, a young man appeared beside her placing a menu in front of her.

“I want swallow,” she told him pointedly. “Do you guys sell swallow here?”

“Yes ma’am.” He replied, “which form of swallow would you like, and with what soup?”

“I think semo would be best,” she told him. “You have egusi soup, right?” When he nodded she went on, “good. Two wraps of semo and egusi soup. I would also like that smoked fish I saw in the show glass and then one chicken lap, with one chilled pack of 5alive.”

“Okay…” he muttered as he hastily took her order. “You will be getting your order soon.”

Then he walked away.

She took her phone from her purse and went through it, half expecting to see a text or call from Femi. But nothing came up.

Hmm… had she really been that bad that he was ghosting her? She had really thought they had a connection and he would have been looking forward to their next bout. Well, she was not going to hang around the phone hoping he would give her a ring. Hell no, she was way past that. If he was not going to call her, then that was his business because she was not going to call him either.

But then, she still could not get the events of the previous night and even this morning from her mind. Especially this morning. The man had been like a stallion, going so hard at her without stopping. When they had finally cum, she had been so weak she could barely move. If they had not been on the bed, she would have passed out wherever it was they had done it.

In that her weakened state, she had felt as his cum dripped out of her soaked pussy soiling the bed. It had been the best feeling in the entire world. Was it bad for her to want to feel that way again? Why the hell was he acting like such an idiot?

Femi had shaken her world last night, and she badly needed him to do it again.

She picked up her phone again and dialed her friend’s number, the lady whose wedding she was also going to attend.

She picked up the call on the first ring, “Hello Ada! Please tell me you are in Lagos!”

Adaeze laughed, “yes Abike. I am in Lagos, I got in a little late last night. Sorry I have not called you.”

“No problem babe,” she replied. “I know what it is to be jetlagged. Where are you staying?”

“At this hotel in Ikeja, I booked it for a week.”

“A week? You this girl! You could have come and stayed with us na.”

“Nah… did not want to impose. Moreover, with the wedding coming up your house will be filled up with family and relatives.”

“Well, it is kind of true sha. You do have a point, there is no more space in this house to even walk. I can’t wait for this wedding to be over and done with. Let all these people just find their square roots.”

“Believe me, I totally understand. It is the same scenario back at home. But then, once you say I do then it will all be over.”

“Come to the house na,” Abike said brightly. “We have quite a lot to catch up on.”

“Yeah, we do right?”

“Come joor. I have been working since, I just want to do nothing and talk.”

“Okay, I will be there. I am eating right now, the moment I am done I will take a ride down to your place. Send me that your address again biko.”

“Okay, sure. I will send it. See you soon babes.”

As the line went dead, Adaeze dropped the phone on the desk and nodded her head. She had seen a way to spend the rest of the day. Hopefully, she would stay there for as long as she could then she would return at night to sleep.

It was going to be a long week indeed.

Soon, the young man returned with a tray laden with all the goodies she had asked for. The 5alive was chilled and she was given a glass cup to take it with. She was also given a bottle of water to wash it all down.

“Sweet…” she muttered, seeing the steam rising from the soup and the delicious aroma hitting her nose. This increased the hunger she was feeling about a hundredfold. Water was brought for her to wash her hands and soon after she dug in and began to eat.

Nothing else mattered to her.