Sweets and Candies
34
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“You’re not done dressing up?” Special asks, stepping out of the bathroom.
I grin, tossing a glance at him before resuming applying my makeup. “I’ll be done in a jiffy.”
Hissing, he shakes his head and begins towel drying his yummy body. “You came out of the bathroom like an hour ago and I’ll still beat you to finish dressing up.”
“Are you complaining?”
“Me? No o.”
“Better.” I grin cheekily, adding a dash of lip gloss to complete my facial glam. “You said we were going out.” I shrug, going in search of some sandals to wear. “You didn’t say what time or if we’ll be seeing someone I know. I have to look good, you know.”
“You mean you have to look good for your man.” He eyes me with a comical greedy look .
Raising my shoulders, I turn this way and that, giving him a show before bursting out in laughter. “Now that you mention this, maybe the more of me you see in real life, the more eager you’ll be to move to Dublin.” He starts to say something, but I stop him. “Nope, we’re not taking comments.”
Smiling wickedly, he nods and proceeds to get dressed. “Did anyone knock?”
When he was in the bathroom? “No. I thought—”
Knock. Knock. Knock. The anticipated sound echoes through the room.
“Should I—”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” he says, heading to the door in black jeans and a white t-shirt.
From my nosy stance in the room, I hear him exchange a quick greeting, confirm his name and accept the package he’s been anxiously waiting for.
“Is that for our outing?” I ask as he steps into the room.
“Yeah.”
“What is it? Can I check?”
“Sure. Just don’t open anything.”
Paying no attention to his remaining words, I quickly make my way to the living room area and find a wicker basket covered in a red and white checkered blanket. Curious, I open the blanket to catch a glimpse of several lidded containers, branded chocolates, packed fruits and a wine bottle. “This is lovely…” I cry, turning to find him fully dressed and strolling into the space.
He shrugs like it’s nothing.
Emotional, I move to him, enveloping him in a hug. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you, baby.”
Grinning cheerfully, I squeeze his sides and ask, for the umpteenth time since he told me to get ready this morning, "Where are we going?"
“It’s a surprise,” he smirks, escaping from my grasp.
Minutes later, with a wicker basket packed full of delectable treats, we set out on our journey. With afrobeats blaring from the speakers, we leave the city and soon lush green landscapes pass by .
I have an idea what he has in mind for today and I’m so blessed to have a man who can plan something cute, romantic and thoughtful within a limited timeframe.
We drive into a car park in the middle of nowhere and he tells me we’ve arrived.
Arrived where? This place looks like a ghost town with lots of clean abandoned cars.
He chuckles, unlocks the door and puts a foot out of the car. “Fifi baby, come down. We’re here.”
The park’s sign, along with the presence of dog poop trash, trodden walkways, and the brown signage indicating areas of recreation and points of interests compels me to follow through with his request.
“And it’s a no phone zone.”
“You say?”
“Baby,” he sighs, getting out of the car, “you have to leave your phone in the car.”
In this no mans land?
“Trust me on this.”
“Hmm… Can I send a message to my family group?”
Bless his soul, he holds back a chuckle. “Don’t worry, I’m taking care of you. You’re in safe hands.”
“You’re sure?” Because this place looks like where David and Samson fought with lions.
“Come on.” He waves for me to get over it. “This place is safe.”
Whatever that means.
Stepping out of the car and waiting for him to get the basket and other materials he packed for this trip, I hear distant sounds of life. Is that the smell of barbecue?
“Have you been here before?” I ask as we trudge through the path, following directions to where I don’t know.
“No. It’s one of those things I’ve wanted to do with you. Don’t worry, you’re going to—”
“Wow!” I whisper, taking in the opening of the scene before us that’s straight out of a fairytale. A sprawling field stretches out before us, dotted with colorful blankets and groups of people already enjoying the day. Rolling hills and picturesque cottages create a serene backdrop to the view. I stare in awe taking in the magical, picture-perfect scene.
We settle onto our comfortable blanket. Our surroundings blur as we focus on each other and the task at hand—unpacking our basket. Inside, we find sandwiches, salads, fruits, chocolates, pastries, and a bottle of wine, along with an assortment of games like ludo, snakes and ladders, and tic-tac-toe. When our fingers brush against one another, we smile and sometimes chuckle like teenagers. This was thoughtful, it feels good to be far from civilization.
The sun, although shines brightly overhead, isn’t harsh or annoying. Hours slip away as we indulge in good food, engaging conversation, mundane topics, games, and stolen glances. After eating, Special pulls out the current book I’m reading and one he says he’s been wanting to read. And so begins our leisurely afternoon, basking in the warmth of the sun as we read. Soon, I’m dozing off, my body relaxed as I lay on my tummy. The distant sound of someone playing an acoustic guitar becomes the soundtrack to my dreams.
I wake up to find Special still reading and he urges me to return to sleep.
“No…” I whine, feeling like an overfed and rested cat, “I want to move around.”
He considers this for a moment and suggests we join a group of fellow picnickers for games and activities. Laughter fills the air as we participate in friendly competitions, letting go of any worries or stresses. For people I’m just meeting and being the only couple of color here, the sense of community is heartwarming.
When the sun begins its daily descent, it casts a warm hue across the landscape, and we find ourselves along with the group, sitting side by side observing it. I lean on Special’s shoulder, and he wraps his arm across my shoulder.
Hey Mr. Sun, don’t go down so fast… I pray, wishing the day wouldn’t end. Wishing everyday could be like this. Wishing I could bottle these moments in time. Too bad we don’t have phones with us to record this moment and have to rely on our memories to do the job for us.
As we make our way back to the city , the car is quiet without chatter or music blaring from the speakers. I’ll call it a contented silence because I’m taking deep satisfying breaths as I replay the highlights of today in my mind. Maybe I might get lucky tonight and we’ll use the energy from today to get intimate because the only thing that happened between us last night was cuddling.
We’re approaching Special’s apartment when the peaceful ambiance is suddenly interrupted by his ringing phone. He glances at the caller ID and answers with a smile.
When he yells “Mikololo!” as a greeting, I figure out who’s calling.
“Special, Special!” Michael, aka Mikololo responds laughing through the speakers of the car automatically connected to Special’s phone. “How you dey now? Your madam still dey?”
“I dey oh… She still dey here.” Special casts a brief sidelong glance at me. “Baby, Michael.”
“Hey Michael, good evening,” I greet. It baffles me how Special never speaks pidgin with me, but he does with almost all of his friends.
“Our wife! Hope you’re enjoying your stay?”
“I am.” I smile, glancing at Special who’s concentrated on his driving. So, your friends know I’m around. Most likely because I’m cramping their routine weekend plans.
“Good, good. I trust Special. If he does anyhow, let us know and you know how it goes now. But I trust my guy.”
“You sef know,” Special chimes in, grinning. “How far?”
“I just say make I greet you.” Michael says, and they go on to talk about the latest football matches. I sense Special trying to wrap the discussion up, but it appears Michael called to lament about the bets he placed on some teams that he lost.
Probably consoled by Special’s teasing about placing bets, Michael navigates the conversation to another topic. “How far, we go see you for beach tomorrow? Emeka babe birthday, remember?”
Beach? I’m interested!
Special looks at me as though asking, do you want to go to the beach?
“Sure,” I blurt, my enthusiasm to meet his friends in person taking over. And beach… going to a beach after all these years, that’s something!
“Correct,” Michael says the same moment I sense the mood in the car abruptly changing. “We go see tomorrow then. You have the details now?”
It takes Special a moment to get his act together as in those split seconds after I blurted out my response, his expression has changed from loving to surprise to irritated. “Yeah, yes.”
“Alright now, we go see.”
Beep , the call abruptly ends, leaving behind an eerie silence.
What just happened? Did I do anything wrong? I glance around at our surroundings. We’ve arrived at Special’s street, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary—no police car waiting or caution tape blocking the building entrance—that would warrant such drastic change in his mood. My heart pounds in my ears as I try to make sense of what’s happening.
Special pulls the car to a stop in front of his apartment building, but neither of us moves to exit. The silence between us is suffocating, and I’m desperate to understand the cause of this sudden tension. Special has a distant look in his eyes and is tightly clenching his jaw.
It takes a while, but I finally find the strength to ask the question that has been haunting me. “Did I do something wrong?”
His exasperated gaze meets mine, his eyes filled with frustration as he lets out a heavy sigh. “You didn’t have to agree to the beach plan without asking me.”
Without asking you? I blink in confusion. “I thought—I thought you asked me… to…” I shake my head, replaying the scene.
I notice the way he scrunches up his face and then relax it, trying to regain his calm.
Oh shit. Turning away from him and his struggles, I realize he was trying to tell me he didn’t want to hang out with his guys. I think that was it. I’ve overstepped. I shouldn’t have.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur, my gaze dropping to my lap. “I didn’t mean to speak out of turn. I thought...”
He sighs. “It’s not just about this scenario. It’s about us. I want us to always be on the same page, to discuss things together before making decisions. That was why I asked you about it in the first place.”
“I thought you were asking if I wanted to go.” Or letting me know you didn’t want to.
He shakes his head. “I don’t have to say everything verbally to you. You should know things like this now.”
“You’re right,” I admit, lifting my gaze to meet his. “What if you called back to cancel?”
“So, it would look like I don’t want to hang out with them?”
I press my lip to the corner unsure of what to say. “We—we should have discussed it first. Please, don’t be angry.”
He reaches out and places a hand on mine. It’s comforting in a lot of ways. “I’m not upset.”
“Hmm.”
“I was at first. But that’s not the point. The point is that, I wanted to make the decision with you. Your time here is precious, and I want to selfishly enjoy every moment with you.” His other hand guides my chin to face him. “You get?”
I nod, licking my lips. “I’ll do better.”
A small smile tugs at the corners of his lips, and he squeezes my hand gently. “Thank you. We’ll have to go to the store to get you beach stuff.”
“Okay. Thank you.” Smiling sweetly, I ask, “A kiss?”
With a wry, gentle smile, he shakes his head, leans forward till our breaths mingle. His thumb caresses my cheek while he stares at me in wonder. With a soft smile, I lean in, my eyes fluttering close as our lips meet in a sweet, soft, lingering kiss. It’s nothing passionate, but for me it recaptures the moments before Michael’s call came in.