Chronicles Of A Runs Girl - S01 E31

2 years ago

Chronicles Of A Runs Girl - S01 E31

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 31

By the time we took our showers and generously used the complementary toiletries, Johnny was calling to tell me that he was in the Hotel. I would have asked him to come up but I wanted to explain the situation to him first. I hurriedly got dressed and told Kike I was coming.

Johnny didn’t tell me he wasn’t alone. I found him in the lobby, his back to me, with two other people, one oyinbo man and one black woman.

When he saw me he hugged me with fanfare like he always does then he introduced me to his friends. Jan was a black American that was investing in his restaurant in Lagos and Edward was her husband. I didn’t have time to explain anything to him before he suggested that we all go out to the pool side and get something to drink.

I realised I had left my phone in the room so there was no way to call Kike and let her know where I was.

Outside, Johnny insisted that we get a table by the infinity pool. I didn’t know what an infinity pool was, or that the pool at the Raddison Blu was one. He asked a waiter for the wine list and started checking if they had any of the wine brands he imports into the country. He always does that.

“What do you do, Amak,” Jan asked. “Did I get that right? Your name is Amak, right?”

I spelled my name for her but she still pronounced it wrong, not that it mattered to me. I told her I was a student and she wanted to know what I was studying.

“Are you staying at this hotel?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied and I looked at Johnny. I really wanted to have explained the situation to him, in my own way – my own version.

“Wow! You must be rich! This place must be expensive for a student!”

I hated her.

Johnny cocked his head at me with a quizzical look on his face. “Aburo, you now stay at the Raddison?”

“No jor. It’s not like that.”

“Are you staying here alone?” Jan asked. Her husband took a swig from his glass of Star as he watched the back of a girl walking by.

“No. I’m with a friend.”

“Oh, I see.”

“My cousin. She’s not feeling well so I brought her to the hotel.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, daring,” she said.

I wanted to punch her in the face.

I was aware of Johnny study me; listening to her questions and to my responses.

“Which cousin is that?” he asked.

“Kike. You don’t know her. Let me go and get her.”

“Just call her to come meet us,” he said.

“I left my phone in the room.”

“Ok. Don’t be long.”

As I left to get Kike – to prove that I was not there with a man – I worried over the look on Johnny’s face. It was a look I’d never seen before; the look of: “I didn’t know you are an ashewo like that.”

Kike took her time getting dressed, especially when I told her my Johnny was at the poolside, with a Black American lady and her oyinbo husband.

We came close to fighting before she was finally ready and we left the room. She was looking really hot; I didn’t even know she had packed the dress she was wearing. I made a mental note not to let her get too close to Johnny.

I searched for Johnny and the woman and her husband. The table we had been at was empty, even our glasses had been cleared away. I walked the length of the poolside, twice, peering at strangers and ignoring their funny looks. I went inside and searched for him, then I called his phone but he didn’t answer. I called and called till I called, and while waiting and hoping that he’d answer my call, he cut off his phone and the busy tone made my tummy sick.

With trembling fingers I sent him a SMS message. “Johnny, where are you?” I texted.

I called again but he didn’t answer until he cut off my call again. I think that was when I panicked.

I composed a long text telling him I was not with a man, that I was really with my cousin, that I expected him to have more faith in me, that if that was what he thought of me then he really didn’t know me.

Kike had found a guy that she knew and she was laughing and flirting with him when I returned to the poolside. She didn’t even notice that anything was wrong with me. I asked if I could use her phone. I called Johnny’s phone with it but he cut off the call again. What did I expect? He probably knew it was me calling with a different number. There was even no point calling him with hidden number.

Kike’s friend offered me a drink but my tommy couldn’t take anything. Against myself I tried Johnny’s number again but this time his phone was off. I suddenly felt angry. I sent him a message telling him to go to hell, or something like that. Then I paid for a bottle of Remi Martin and drank as my shattered heart dictated.