Chapter 9
My clothes had been delivered yesterday and, after trying them on for size, I laid them out on my sofa, excited for what was to come. A few hours before, I had received a message from Jericho:
No problem about the book store; I’m sure we can find something else to do! I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow – sleep well. :) J xx
I was so used to men cancelling on me at this point, however, that I knew I wouldn’t believe he would still be coming until I saw him in the flesh.
I was paying good money for him, so a part of me believed that he would hold his end of the bargain, but I couldn’t help but wonder – what happens if an escort doesn’t show up?
Would the client get a refund? The thought of reaching out to the app to report being ghosted on a date gave me the ick. I just hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
As Toby purred in bed next to me, I scrolled through Jericho’s profile again, looking at his profile photos and imagining what he would be like in real life.
Did he smell good? Did people stare at him everywhere he went?
Would they stare at us? I was used to being the target of judgemental stares from strangers who had already decided that the men I dated didn’t align with my appearance, due to me always being bigger than said man.
I wondered if that would happen to me and Jericho – this man was an absolute knockout to all intents and purposes and was by no means small in stature, but I knew it wouldn’t stop people from staring.
First, I had to go to my mum’s house and hear about her engagement. My phone alarm eventually buzzed for 8 a.m. and after brushing my teeth and changing Toby’s food bowl, I headed straight for the coffee machine for some much-needed caffeine, considering the fractured sleep I’d had.
I then took a long shower using some fragranced toiletries and, afterwards, put on the outfit I’d bought, looked in the mirror, and whistled.
‘You scrub up quite well, bitch – I know that’s right!
’ I said to myself while doing a 360 turn.
The jeans fitted immaculately, shaping my bum to perfection.
The blue tie-string top showed just enough cleavage, and the colours of the pieces complimented each other perfectly.
I carefully wrapped my hair in a high bun to accentuate my cheekbones and did my make-up – I didn’t want to do too much – a slick of pink blush here, a dab of mascara there and a generous offering of my rose rude Fenty lip gloss and I was set to go.
I grabbed a small bouquet of flowers for my mum on the way to her house – I had to practise my surprised face – Steven and I could not under any circumstances let on that we knew about the proposal.
Despite our feelings about her and Dad, she deserved this second chance with Femi.
He was a nice guy, very quiet and he kept to himself for the most part, but we could see how much he loved and adored Mum – practically worshipped the ground she stood on – and if she liked it, we loved it.
‘Oh, well, look who it is! Are these flowers for me? You shouldn’t have, but also, you should have. Thank you, dear.’ My mum grabbed the bouquet from me as she ushered me into the house. I could see Femi in the kitchen making breakfast as I placed my bag in the living room.
‘Cassie, my dear, good to see you! I’m making breakfast, would you like some?
’ Femi yelled from the kitchen, with a huge grin on his face.
Mum had disappeared upstairs, so I went into the kitchen and half-hugged him while he was at the stove.
Femi had no children, and so I think he saw Steve and I like his own.
He wiped his hands on the tea towel draped across his shoulder and opened his arms for a full embrace.
His hug was warm and he smelled of Old Spice, which immediately made me feel hungry.
‘What’s for breakfast? And when is Steven coming?
’ I asked as I made my way to the dining table.
Before I could sit arse to chair, I heard my mum’s voice thundering down the staircase as she strode into the kitchen.
‘Sitting down for what, please? Didn’t you say you were going to treat us for showing up early?
Or was this bouquet the treat?’ she said, peering over at the bouquet of hydrangeas that so happened to match her violet-coloured moomoo dress.
‘I mean, Femi’s already got breakfast covered but I can help?
’ I replied, trying to avoid staring at the blindingly sparkly ring that had caught my eye just at that moment.
It was obvious she’d gone upstairs to put it on.
Femi must have spent an absolute grip on it, for it was a unit of a rock.
In response, Mum very conspicuously raised her left hand to her forehead, feigning tiredness as she sighed loudly, making sure her left fingers were in full view.
‘Oh, don’t worry about it, my dear. What have you been up to anyway? ’
Now was my cue. I looked from her to her hand and made sure my mouth formed the perfect ‘O’. I stood up, looking from her to Femi and back, and started to dance up and down on the spot. An actress! Viola Davis who??
‘I KNOW that ain’t what I think it is, Mum?
’ I screamed, reaching to give her an embrace as well as pull her hand in for a further look.
It was a gorgeous emerald-cut diamond set in a single gold band.
Classic, elegant, and absolutely stunning.
She waved her hands to her face, wearing the biggest smile I’d ever seen.
She looked so radiant, happier than I’d ever seen her with Dad, anyway.
I turned to Femi, who was standing by the stove – spatula in hand – beaming at us both.
‘Come here, mate!’ I said as I pulled him into an embrace.
‘I’m so happy for the both of you! It’s time you made an honest woman out of her at last, because at one point I thought she was headed for the streets.
’ I was met with a light slap around the back of my head as Femi burst into fits of laughter.
‘It was about time, I agree!’ replied Femi, as he went back to attending the sausages.
‘I love your mum so much, and already knew this was the woman I wanted to spend the remainder of my life with. A kind, upstanding, strong, intelligent woman. And one heck of a mother, too – look at how you and Steven turned out!’
I gestured with a short bow as I continued to coo at the ring. Femi and Mum were the cutest couple; I could only hope to find the kind of love they did one day. ‘OK, so … engagement story, how did it happen?’
Femi grabbed Mum by the waist as they stared into each other’s eyes lovingly.
They were so heartbreakingly cute. ‘Well,’ began Mum, ‘we’d gone to one of our favourite restaurants in St Paul’s and we’d just finished dessert.
So Femi goes to the bathroom, comes back and suddenly all the lights in the restaurant start dimming!
So I was like, “Oh, someone hasn’t paid their light bill”. ’
‘She had no idea!’ joined in Femi, beaming. ‘I didn’t actually go to the bathroom by the way, I was just setting up last-minute arrangements with the staff.’
‘Oh you!’ my mum squealed. ‘Lemme get back to the story – anyway – so he comes back and the lights have gone down and I’m like, what the heck.
Then when he comes back to the table, he pretends to start coughing, I guess, and then he gets down on one knee next to me and that’s when the ring pops out! ’
‘Your mum had no idea, she just stared at me for, like, forty-five seconds, you know. My knee was killing me being on the floor for that damn long!’ Femi joined in.
‘Pfft! A small price to pay for eternal happiness, I reckon,’ Mum scoffed, playfully tapping Femi on the arm. Ugh. Love is sweet.
After chatting a bit more with them both and finding out that Steven and Bianca were most probably due to arrive that afternoon, I sat at the kitchen table facing the window, playing with my phone.
After a moment, Femi came to join me.
‘I don’t know if your mum said, but we’ve set the date for the wedding quite soon. Thirtieth of May, in fact. At our age, we don’t have time to waste, to be honest.’
I raised my eyebrows in shock. Four months to plan a wedding. An African wedding? In fact, scratch that … a WEST African wedding? That was going to be one hell of a feat.
‘Whew! That’s cutting it a little fine, but I hear you on the time thing.
I’m so happy for the both of you, you deserve each other so much!
’ I responded, briefly glancing at the clock on the wall.
Don’t get me wrong, I was having a great time, but my date with Jericho would be happening in a mere three hours and I could already feel the subtle onslaught of moths attacking my insides. The nerves had already begun.
‘Don’t worry, sweetheart,’ Femi replied, rubbing his head.
‘It’s going to be a small wedding, nothing too fancy.
Obviously we’d love it if you could bring a plus one?
A nice partner maybe? I’m not going to pry into your dating life or anything, but I know your mum wonders sometimes …
’ His voice trailed off, leaving an awkward silence hanging between us.
Here we go: the annual ‘HAS CASSANDRA FOUND A BOYFRIEND YET?’ crusade Femi and my mum loved to do.
Which had always been wild to me, considering I had a whole younger sibling with a baby on the way, but it’s me that they wanted to concern themselves with.
It just made no sense whatsoever. Besides, they knew how I felt about that subject.
Being forever single has always been somewhat of a wound for me, and being forced to be reminded of the fact was beginning to take its toll.
I responded with the generic response. ‘I’m working on it, guys, don’t worry! The dating scene in London is rubbish, but I’m trying.’