We agreed with Toke that we would meet Lumi. In spite of all our reservations about the cougar kinda relationship, we decided to support her. Immediately we did, Toke excitedly called him and put it on speaker. A deep rich baritone voice with a slight British accent came through
“Ololufemimydear, wotagwan”.
Toke:“Guess what”?
Lumi:“What o?”
Toke:“My friends have agreed to come on an all expense paid trip with me to see you. All expense paid by you of course”.
Lumi:“I can guess they are all listening, so I’ll let them know that I have to consult my board of directors on the profitability of this investment”
We all laughed and he cooed “Hi ladies”.
We all said in our most girly voices “Hiiiiii”.
“We’ll see tomorrow, at four pm. Please ensure your tour guide, Toke, gives you adequate tips on how to survive my very dry sense of humor”.
Then he addressed Toke
“Sweets, glad I’m finally getting to meet the world famous musketeers. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Love you plenty”
Toke:“Bye honey. See ya tomorrow”.
You need to have seen the way Toke was smiling from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat as she hung up the call.
Now it’s not like we were the ones going to our man, but we had to represent, we couldn’t fall our friend’s hand. So we spent most of the next morning picking out what to wear, wondering where we would all be going anyways.
I picked out a lovely flowery dress, while Glo wore one of those jumpsuit gowns and an elaborate hat with shades. Toke *cough cough* wore a pair of shorts that showed off her legs and a chiffon top, big earrings and pumps. Omoge on point! The guy will die there o, see as my friend was looking hot.
4pm on the dot, my doorbell rang and Toke wanted to head to the door. Gloria rushed her and made sure she did no such thing, you can never seem too eager to a man jor. I got the door, and surveyed Lumi. I smiled that “not bad” smile and extended my hand saying “Oyin”, and he took my hand and said “so you guys did the ‘she must not be too eager to come and get the door’ thingy”?
I laughed. He was a smart one. “But of course”, and I stepped aside to let him come in. Toke was right behind me already (RME. The girl is just not trying at all).
The day with Lumi went great. The chemistry between him and Toke was like bread and butter, so together, so seamless. And I did the imagining them in bed thingy in my head and the picture gelled. Glo and I watched them with positive envy (yes there is such a thing), and enjoyed the evening together. First we went to Terakulture for one of his friend’s book reading, and then went on to have dinner at Jevinik. The conversation around that dinner table was one of the best I have had in years. We talked about everything and moved effortlessly through every topic. He was down to earth, witty, and all that Toke had said and more. By the time the evening was over, I had totally forgotten about his age. It felt like I had known him for years. I couldn’t be happier for my friend. If he had that effect on me with just one evening, how could I blame my friend for forgetting with plenty such evenings together?
At about ten o clock, I noticed that Toke was getting more and more cuddly. That’s non-verbal for “you people should start going and leave us to *wink wink*” I kicked Gloria under the table and she got the message. Lumi picked on the increased activity and seized the moment to say
“I think we should call it a night, en, ladies?”
We sluggishly gathered our things and shuffled towards Lumi’s car. Toke took the wife position beside him in front and Glo and I got into the back seat, pretending not to notice that there were some slight smooches as he formed opening the door for her. He walked over to the side of his car with a slight arc of his back, and the posture did nothing to hide the bulge he was trying to hide in his groin. In no time, we were home, and they dropped us off for the night (like we were expecting Toke to stay with us 😀 ). The BBMS began to fly in from her the moment they left
Toke: So what do you guys think?
Me: think he’s real great o. Our fears were unfounded.
Toke: Soooooooooooo?
Me:#bbthinkingsmiley
Toke: Oyin, you are putting me on long ish! Talk jor!
Me: #bbrotflsmiley. We both think the age is not going to be an ish. He’s a correct guy and carries himself so well.
Toke: #bbkisssmiley. Gotta run
Me: Gerrout. We both know what you are running to go and do.
It was then I noticed Glo wasn’t laughing with me. We had been reading the bb conversation together. Maybe she was thinking about her marriage. For whatever its worth, a broken marriage cannot be as easy to take as she had taken it. After her initial relief, there was bound to be despair and a loneliness that was deep. Add that to the sense of loss she must feel over her lost pregnancy. I hadn’t even been married to Yomi and those first few days after the wedding had been hell on earth. So I could imagine to a degree what was going through her mind as she saw Toke so happy with her man. I had felt that way about her being married and preggy earlier
I poured her a drink and we just sat in silence for like fifteen minutes, sipping on our drinks. Gloria broke the silence
“I need to tell you something, Oyin”, she began
“If it’s about Ossy, and asking forgiveness kind of talk, I’m over that now and we’re waaaaay past that”, I responded
She hushed me and said “No, it’s about Ossy at all. That whole saga hurts, but I don’t want to talk about that. It’s something else”.
I became alert, and sat up. I wondered what it was that she wanted to talk about. I figured now she had been trying to decide whether to tell me or not, so it had to be pretty serious and had to involve me in some way.
“It’s about Toke, or more correctly, about Lumi”.
I sprang into an upright and fully alert sitting position immediately. “What about him”, I inquired.
Gloria held her head in her hands and said “I have slept with Lumi”.
I collapsed back into my chair like a pack of cards, as tears fell out of Gloria’s eyes.
Before I could get the details out of Gloria, my phone rang. I knew it was Toke because I set her own voice recording as her ringtone. I quickly picked the phone
“Is Gloria there?” she asked
“Yes she is”, I responded and Gloria’s head shot up. All that raced through my mind was that Lumi had told her and she wanted to scream her head off at Gloria.
I gingerly put the phone on the table and put it on speaker phone. “Toks, you’re on speaker now, we can both hear you”.
Then she shrieked, “He proposed!!!
