Cheii!” I exclaimed. The thought of getting tattoos crossed my mind.

“Home training no go gree me o” I said out loud. I heard Ruthie’s footsteps, she was coming down the stairs into the major living room. It was our third day in the Five-bedroom Duplex of our ‘New catch’. We met Mr.Bami at the Ikeja City Mall, it was sheer coincidence. Did I say coincidence? Nah! It was more like ‘luck’.

The previous week, the last straw broke the horse’ back when we all saw another bae on Timmy’s Instagram story; Ruthie therefore made up her mind to let go of her non-call-picking-lying-cheating-sneaky-ass boyfriend. Hard as it was, we all agreed it was high time she moved on. It was a long night of moping, reminiscing, crying, suicidal thoughts, and drinking.

The following morning, we decided to take her to the mall. New hair, New clothes, spa treatments, Movies and ice cream at noon, pizza and whiskey at night. We had our bath, dressed up, ordered a cab, and straight to the mall. First stop was the spa. Full body treatment, mani-pedi, and, a massage. Next stop, shoe store.

Mary exclaimed when she saw the $225 tag on a Louboutin red bottom heel. A man laughed. I turned to look. I judged he couldn’t be any less than 35years old. His hair was nicely cut, cute watch, lovely shoes, and his suit was well tailored. I saw streaks of white hair on his beard as I watched him pay for the two pairs of Tommy Hilfiger sneakers he bought. ‘Hmmmmmm, not today satan’ I thought to myself. ‘We are here for Ruthie’. I quit staring and glanced through the shelves. The other shoes also fell within the $200-$230 range. It was beyond our budget, because we all wanted a pair.

After much deliberation and compromise, we settled for white Nike sneakers. Gifty’s shoe size wasn’t available, she had feet that complimented her height. Lex stepped out the shop for better reception, she was trying to make some calls. We split the bills and paid for five-pairs of sneakers; They said Gifty’s shoes would be delivered to the house. She wrote down all necessary contact details and we left the shop.

“Did you guys see that man?” Lex asked. She was done with her calls. “What man?” Mary asked. We were on our way to the ice cream shop. “The man on suit. He was inside the shoe shop with us” She pointed. “Yea I noticed him” I said. “What happened? You know him?”. “No jhor” Lex laughed. “The slowpoke was staring at Gifty’s butt the whole time”. “Are you for real?” Gifty laughed. Mary wasn’t laughing, she shrugged.

Ruthie who wasn’t laughing either and took her phone from her. “What’s wrong” We were worried. “She was going through Timmy’s Snapchat again” Mary explained. We truly felt sorry for her. She deserved more. Ruthie had always been a ride or die. She was at his beck and call whenever he needed her. Throwing all caution to the wind and investing her entirety in a 5year old relationship. Loving him more than she loved herself. Paying more attention to him than her own life. Her mistake. No one is perfect, but self-love is paramount.

Mary unlocked the phone and opened the Snapchat app. Blocked him. Instagram. Blocked him. WhatsApp. Blocked him. Phone calls and text messages. Blocked him. Skype. Blocked him. Better. “Sis we love you and right now, all the people you need are right here” Gifty said, hugging her too. We all hugged her and went to the ice cream shop. “What movie should we see?” I asked the girls. Lex offered to look up the available movies online. We decided that if the movies weren’t thrilling enough, we would head back to V.I.

“Hello ladies” It was the man in suit. He actually looked better up close. We ignored him at first. Our girl was still caught up in a ‘boy’ dilemma, but then, this is a man. He smiled, excusing the fact that we just ignored him. “My name is Bamiloye, but you can call me Bami” He continued. “How can we help you?” Lex spoke. A lady rushed towards us panting. Her beauty was stunning. She held the box of red bottom Louboutins Mary had dropped earlier. Wtf!!!! “Sir I found the wallet at slot” The lady was saying to Mr Bami.

“I knew I dropped it somewhere, I just couldn’t figure where” He said, then turned back to us “ Meet Fareedah, My secretary. The Lady greeted us happily. “Please put the boxes in the car and then drive the Porsche back to the office. Damilare would pick it in the evening”. He instructed her. “Yes sir. Have a lovely afternoon madams” She greeted us and left. His secretary wears Red-bottom heels? Please who is this guy?

“Sorry for the interruption. I noticed you ladies were shopping all by yourselves and I kind of admired that.” He was still smiling. Them no born us well make we ignore am again. LOL. Mary pinched me and whispered “Becca say something”. Wetin I wan talk like dis na?

“Thanks Mr Bami. We…”

“Bami. Just call me Bami.” He cut in.

“Thanks Bami. We have to go.” I introduced the girls in turn and explained that we couldn’t find any nice movie and so we were leaving for the Island. He offered to drop us off. We declined. He handed me his business card and went into another store. “He is cute tho” Mary observed.

“At least he doesn’t look like a yahoo boy” Gifty said. “Yahoo boys don’t have secretaries and business cards” Lex added. We laughed. The business card said he was the CEO of a Microfinance bank. Say what?!!!!! I passed the card to the girls. “Gifty your butt did something right this time!” I exclaimed. She laughed as we paid for our ice creams. “Lex, oya order the cab” Mary said.

“Damn! Secretaries that wear red bottoms!” Gifty bursted. “That’s some high class shit sis, I tell you” Lex said. “I’m just glad he is not a yahoo boy” Mary sighed. “He is not even a boy in the first place” I replied. We all laughed. Ruthie laughed too. And we were even happier to see the smile on her face. It had been a good day so far, it was beginning to look even better……. The cab arrived and we left the mall…..

(To be continued)