3 Three Non-French Hens

Adaora fiddled with her hair, a habit she'd formed as a child whenever she was faced with an unbelievable situation. She wasn't in love with Tayo, neither had she ever harboured any regrets about leaving him. But it just felt weird that Kemi who had been her friend since secondary school would be going out with him while being aware of their history. Not that there was a history anyway; she had declined going on a second date with him and had given him curt replies whenever he asked to meet, till he had gotten the hint and moved on.

It also didn't add up that Kemi would be engaged for months without her being aware of it. It didn't make sense. Also, hadn't she checked the name of Tayo's bride on the card?

"Oh please, before you kill Kemi in your mind. That was a joke abeg, please." Adaora heard Darego say over the phone, that taunting quality back in her voice.

"A joke?" Adaora echoed her words, still unable to get a grasp of the situation.

"Hia! I said I was joking. Calm down abeg, please. It's because you asked me an obvious question that I decided to grace you with a sarcastic response. Who else would she marry if not Justin? That guy she has been dating since secondary school." Darego was laughing, and Adaora imagined her placing her fair lean fingers over her lips, the tips of her fixed nails making contact with her nose which had the shape of a beak.

"What the- Darego! Why would you make such an expensive joke? Do you know what I was thinking already?"

Darego's laugher resonated through the phone, so loud Adaora removed it from her left ear for a while before returning it. "Aye aye, captain. You felt betrayed and wondered how possible it was. Please, Justin proposed to her last night. She told me she has been trying your number since and it hasn't been connecting."

"It wasn't?"

"It wasn't. I've told you before to throw that phone of yours away and get a Nokia 3310. What's the use of having the latest version of iPhone if you won't pick calls with it?"

Adaora pushed her seat backwards, standing up. Breakfast forgotten for now. "My apologies. I switched off my phone last night and only turned it on this morning because my employees were sending texts like obsessive psychopaths last night."

On the other side, Darego laughed. "Like psychopaths? What happened?"

Adaora heaved a sigh, walking towards the cream coloured leather couch and slumping into it. "I just taught them a lesson yesterday. You know how I've been complaining to you that they've been slacking of late. Ehee, exactly for that reason. We had investors who flew in from South Africa pay a visit to us, and guess what? The MD who was supposed to represent me at the meeting wasn't around. Turned out he was on a date with a client, and the investors returned to their country in anger."

"Ah ah..." Darego commented.

Adaora fiddled with her fixed nails, thinking of whether to remove them and fix another one. The last minute decisions to be made. "Anyway, I've apologised to them and rescheduled. Hopefully, they'll be here on 30th and we'll take care of their accommodation and every other thing that will make them comfortable. So, that's it."

Darego's tone was serious. "So you fired him, the MD?"

It was then that Adaora remembered that she hadn't completed what she was saying. "My apologies, Dare. My mind isn't here at all. I didn't. I placed him on three months probation with a 30% decrease in salary. If he does anything stupid during those three months, then I will simply replace him."

"That's reasonable. After all, you saw potentials in him and promoted him, and he's here making you doubt your insights."

Before Adaora could reply, Darego continued. "But please, just find time to call Kemi, but pretend as if you don't know yet. She really wanted to break the news to you herself. You know how you were advising her to start looking elsewhere because she has been dating Justin for fourteen years without him proposing? She wants to gloat."

Adaora laughed, pushing her tall frame off the couch and walking to the dining where she picked the card along with a slice of soft warm bread, cradling the phone in between her ears. "But will you blame me? She moved in with that guy since we graduated from the university, she attends every family event he has and even stayed with his mother for a while when her husband, his father died. Me I was like ah ah, propose oga, what are you waiting for?"

"I can't blame you jare. Even I was beginning to wonder if he wanted to have a go at all the positions and styles before proposing. Just last month, I was advising Kemi to propose to him herself, let me know if he will turn her down."

At this, Adaora laughed loudly, throwing back her head and almost risking having the phone fall off her ears. She was quick to catch it in her left hand. "You are insane, Dare. It would have made headlines. Desparate Lagos Woman who Says She Can't Take it Anymore Proposes to Man.

They laughed together, loud ill-mannered laughter that would have ended with them bumping their knuckles had they been together.

"So Darego Adebayo, how is Kayode?" The three women were so actively involved in one another's lives that they knew virtually all about each other. Adaora was aware that Darego had been seeing Kayode, a TV presenter of a popular television channel for the past eight months. While Adaora was the most successful of the three of them, she was the one with the worst social and relationship life. She sometimes wished to find the kind of love her friends had, keyword being "sometimes." She was more focused on work and only attended social events reluctantly to get her mum off her back, or to make a public appearance that would benefit the business. But she had never been envious of her friends; she was happy for them.

She almost heard Darego's blush in her words. "He asked me to meet his family on Christmas day."

Adaora bit into the soft slice of bread. It had been baked that morning and still held that fresh smell that stimulated her appetite. She thanked Yemi inwardly. Usually, she didn't have appetite in the morning and needed something like a good aroma of food to make her hungry. Yemi wasn't the cook alright, but as the housekeeper, she ensured that every household staff did their work right. She was going to give her a raise...

"Madam Adaora, are you still with me?"

Adaora blinked. "My apologies, Dare. Congratulations! This means we might just hear some wedding bells soon in addition to jingle bells. Aww, I'm happy for you, very very much."

Darego laughed. "Please don't give me high hopes before I go there and come back disappointed. Although I understand it's a bold step."

"A really bold step."

Darego's smile was evident in her voice. "Anyway, that's it for me. Let me hang up before you miss your flight talking to me. Ehee, you might just come back with one oyibo pepper, one fresh white guy with hair that glistens of gel and dreamy eyes that make your heart scatter like ashes. Don't end up living there and forgetting Nigeria when that happens."

Adaora laughed till her cheeks hurt and her eyes moistened.

"I am serious. And make sure you call me so I can get your hotel room number and disturb you when you decide to let him sleep with you on your first meeting."

"Ah ah, Darego. Sleep ke? Na so the love dey carry me? Abeg, please, no. Me, fall for a guy within three days? Impossible, very impossible." She shook her head in defiance although it wasn't a video call, as though Darego could somehow see her and believe more in her. It was also as if her quick switch to the colloquial pidgin English was in defence to emphasise her point.

Darego laughed again, that loud resonating laughter of hers that aimed at mockery. "I won't say any other thing. Go and come back first."

"I'll go and prove you wrong. Let me hang up and prepare, bye."

Darego echoed her last word, in addition to teasing her of course. "Bye, Grinch."

Adaora stared at the phone after she had hung up, strongly tempted to laugh. A love borne within four days? Darego had to be kidding her with her imagination.

She rang the intercom and Yemi came immediately, her eyes expressing her disappointment that Adaora had barely touched her breakfast.

"Please, I need my bag packed for four days before twelve noon. Can you do that?"

"Of course, ma. Are you travelling?"

Had it been Darego or Kemi, Adaora would have given a sarcastic response like, "No, I am packing to stay at home." But instead, she replied. "Yes. I'm going to America for three days."

As she uttered the words, she realised it was the first time she was going to be spending Christmas away from Nigeria. She couldn't wait for this bothersome trip to be over so she could return to her life.

The uncomplicated life of a single twenty-eight year old affluent business woman.