King

Dim lights, suits, evening gowns, thin girls strutting the runway in outfits that looked like it wouldn't be worn outside of this hall wasn't what I bargained for. Neither was the sitting position between unfamiliar faces that I was currently occupying.

My eyes refused to adjust to the dimness, instead, it trailed to the stage where all of the lights were centred on. Slim guys wearing shirts with their buttons undone had replaced the ladies, some of them were shirtless and their upper bodies were oiled. 

I groaned, definitely not part of the plan.

A hand crawled up my thighs, coming to rest a few inches away from my trouser zippers. My body stiffened and relaxed almost immediately under the touch. Though it made me uncomfortable, I welcomed the momentary distraction. One more look at that stage, at a fellow man without his shirt on, waltzing like a female and I would lose my shit. 

I hated fashion shows. I had no business here and the only reason I had been able to endure watching them for this long was because girls had been the one doing most of the catwalk. They were more interesting to look at with their bright, flashy outfits.

The same hand squeezed my thighs and my eyes traced the limb to the lady seated on my left. She subtly turned her face away and I chuckled. I knew exactly what this was - an invitation, a test to see if I was as interested in her as she was, in me. Under normal circumstances, in a different time and place, I would have given her the signal she needed but now, I could only mentally applaud her audacity.

Bold girls were my favourites, they never shied away from making a move on their person of interest even if they were sitting at the front row at a fashion walk like we were doing now. Too bad, she wasn't bald nor skinny. My hand clamped down on hers before it got a chance to stray any further and her head tilted slightly in my direction. I couldn't get a full view of her face but the amount of attention she had on me was enough for the point I hoped to make.

She blinked false lashes at me, smiled with neatly trimmed fingernails covering nude painted lips, then looked away. A knowing smirk made its way to my lips, her type were shy but bold and they were the most freaky in bed. I chuckled again, not-so-gently lifting her hands up from its new resting position. In as much as I loved the attention my looks got me, only one woman was allowed to touch me without my permission and she was seated far away from me.

We were seated on different rows, opposite ends with this damned stage in between us. If I hadn't called last minute for Cynthia to reserve a ticket for me even after going on and on about being unable to attend, I would have thought it was a deliberate ploy on her part to keep me away from Uti. The thought vanished as soon as it came, if anyone was to blame, it was me and I should be glad I even got a front-row seat.

"Keep your hands where they belong," I whispered before placing it on her lap.

Thankfully, the lights were still dim. I spared a glance, right in the direction where Uti was supposed to be seated, I couldn't make out her shapely figure. Good. I didn't want her to see me talking to another woman, not before I got a chance to talk to her. I didn't know what I was going to say just yet, but I knew that I couldn't bring the topic of a baby mama up except it was to apologise. I still wanted her to be my baby mama but it would be under different terms and conditions, her own terms.

What if she's no longer interested?

She will be. The optimistic part of me was quick to interject.

What if she agrees, only to end up leaving you? Father left, what makes you think she won't?

She won't leave ... I don't know ... Just shut up.

As the positive and negative thoughts battled for dominance in my head with the bad trying to suppress the good, I couldn't help leaning towards the pessimistic side. 

What if she was truly no longer interested in anything I had to say? And in the case that she did listen and agree to be with me, how long until she also decided to leave? 

The uncertainty that came with these questions almost had me backing out. There were so many what-ifs, bad scenarios of how this night could end but it was like Tomiwa said, I had to at least try. If it didn't work, I could let Mother play the role of matchmaker to her heart's content.

Shuddering at that option, I loosened the knot of my tie that had suddenly grown tighter. It wouldn't get to that, right?

The now-familiar hand came back to my laps, this time, bile rose up my throat and I felt a strong need to puke. Her behaviour disgusted me, it was no longer admirable, just plain irritating. Her head turned to me and I caught a glimpse of the amount of makeup on her face. I knew one woman who didn't need this much makeup and fake hair to look good. Even in an oversized shirt and bare face, she still oozed sexiness.

"They," she started, tracing an invisible line on my trouser with one of her fingers, "belong," her finger was getting dangerously close to my groin area, "here."

Her voice became impossibly lower and in a tone I assumed was supposed to come off as sexy or maybe seductive but ended up sounding like that of a dying cat that was being dragged along a dark corridor. "I've heard a lot about you, Papi."

"You heard wrong then, I'm retired."

"Come on now," she leaned close enough for her breast to slightly brush my arms, "I've heard what you are capable of, I want it too." She twisted the ends of my tie and leaned in closer than before. "Cógeme Papi."

I scoffed, she had a lot of guts making that sort of request openly. I also had to admit, her Spanish was pleasing to the ears. 

"Not today."

"When?" Her hands wrapped around my arm and she pouted, successfully failing to achieve that sexy look I was certain she had been aiming for. Ugly duckling.

To avoid anyone thinking that we were a bantering couple or even a couple at all, I tried and failed to remove my arm from her grasp. She was not letting go. 

"Never." I tried again to pry her hands off me, doing my best not to call attention to us and I failed the second time. Like gum on a shoe, her arms remained stuck to mine. "You are harassing me, Miss."

She responded by sticking her tongue out at me before proceeding to place her head on my shoulder. I sighed, what the fuck did I unknowingly get myself into?

Our gaze broke when the lights around us came on and the ones centred on the stage increased in intensity. Most of the models that catwalked earlier sashayed to the stage in a straight line, hands on their waist as they showed us their outfits for the last time. They soon left and a female replaced them; the woman I was here to see.

Everyone took to clapping as her head dipped in a mock bow and my hands jammed together in a deafening applause. I was certain that I clapped the loudest among everybody present and the thought only encouraged me to keep at it.

Beautiful. She was truly beautiful.

Her red gown hugged every inch of her upper body. The professional cut in the middle of the dress gave a satisfying glimpse of her cleavage and the rope or belt on her flat stomach only helped to give the impression of a smaller waist. My arms shook, ready to assert dominance and even ownership; they belonged on that waist. 

My eyes trailed to the leg peeking out through that high slit that exposed part of her thighs and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Her scalp was free of that hideous thing she wore at the premiere and her makeup was natural. She was the African Queen Tuface was referring to in his song, truly beautiful and I wanted her for myself. 

Seeing her here on this stage, standing gracefully with a proud smile on her face and the audience impressed clapping made all the efforts to convince Cynthia to give her a slot here worth it.

Her eyes scanned the crowd and it landed briefly on me before moving on to another object of interest. I followed her gaze to the hand that was placed possessively on my knee and a groan slipped from me. 

As if her hand on my body without my consent wasn't enough, she went on to peck me on the side of my lips. I froze. 

Why? Why did she have to do that now? My head tilted slowly to meet Uti's and I could already tell that this night would not end well, at least, not the way I wished it would.

The dazzling smile that had been on her lips soon transformed into something fake, something more sinister and I groaned again. I already blew it without even trying. She lifted her hands in a clapping motion and the surrounding lights reflected on the engagement band on her middle finger.

That same faux smile was on her lips when she grinned at me and I realised she only raised her hands up to make sure I saw the ring. I sighed and with a final bow to the crowd, she catwalked off the stage.

Everything happened in the space of a few minutes but it felt longer. The hand on my knee had disappeared, I wouldn't have been held responsible for whatever happened next if she had not taken the hateful glare I sent her as a hint to keep to herself. 

"Are you okay?" Miss Straying hands asked.

It took a few seconds for my head to tilt slightly in her direction and I ran a hand over my face as if by doing that she would magically vanish. She didn't. 

I had to admit, she was quite persistent. Goats were persistent too but it didn't mean you had to let them have their way.

"Are you okay?" She asked a second time and I wondered why the hell she was still seated here. Every other person had left. 

Taking her hands in mine, a smile flitted across her face and I reciprocated it, maybe this method might work. "If you're the only female left on earth, I'll die celibate."

She gasped when the implication of my words dawned on her. Her eyes widened and her lower lips trembled, she looked visibly hurt. I didn't care. I waited for her to leave and she finally did.

My hands moved to the knot of my tie and I fiddled with it for a bit. I smoothed my suit jacket, nervous to go in search of Uti. She probably already came to the conclusion that Miss Straying hands was with me. I couldn't blame her though, that was what it looked like. My fingers went to the corner of my lips and I wiped furiously at it to rid myself of the last of Straying hands touch.

A few people came inside before I could leave, from their matching polo shirts, I could tell that they were the organisers. They made a show of stacking the chairs on top each other and their straying gazes told me that I was not supposed to be here.

With a final pat to my tie, I strolled out to the corridor, eyes on the lookout for Uti; there was no sign of her. Instead, I got the sound of laughter and people conversing in low tunes. I followed the noise downstairs to see familiar and unfamiliar faces talking in groups. Some stood while others sat. 

Servers in white and black moved around with trays containing glass cups that held sparkling wine, soft music played in the background. There was a microphone stand on the podium with no MC in sight, was this part two of the show? It better not be.

Taking the steps two at a time, I reached the foot of the stairs in no time. Talking with some of the guests was inevitable and I made sure to stay away from younger women. I didn't want a repeat of earlier.

Someone laughed, my ears picked up on it. It sounded all too familiar and when my eyes located the source, I knew it was because that laugh belonged to Uti.

She was not alone, there was a man in front of her. He must have said something funny because one of her arms went to his shoulder as she doubled over in laughter. A frown made its way to my lips, the man wasn't even all that good looking and I could bet his jokes were as dry as his lips.

I wanted to look away but I couldn't, my eyes were glued to her. She was gorgeous without even trying. Who would have thought that the colour, red would look this good on anybody? I sighed, maybe I would make red my new favourite colour.

Her companion's hand moving to her waist pulled me from my trance and my frown deepened. He leaned close enough to whisper something into her ears and my eyes widened, my jaw dropped; she didn't push him away. If at all she did anything, it was to encourage him by whispering back into his ears amidst giggles. 

What is she doing?

I could feel my head threatening to explode as I watched their back and forth and my nails dug into my palm to keep me from walking over to them. I wasn't here for this.

First of all, no man was allowed to be in such close proximity with her, let alone have their hands around her waist for longer than a second. Secondly, that ring had to go. Why was she even letting that man touch her, couldn't he see her ring? She should have slapped his hands away.

My legs moved in the direction where they were standing, unsure what I was going to say to them but ready to break them off at all costs. They were standing too close to each other, their position was oddly intimate, couple ish and I didn't like that.

"Papi." I groaned at the sound of that voice, a tight-lipped smile on my face as I twirled to face the midget that was out to torment me. Could this night get any worse?

"What do you want?" 

I was harsh, yes, but she deserved it since she failed to get the point. I stared down at her, only now realising how short she was. It made sense, short people were always more troublesome, I could attest to that.

Her lips opened, closed, opened, no words departed from it. I sighed again, I had lost count of how many times I had done that tonight. Forgetting about her for a moment, I looked back in the direction Uti had been standing, she was no longer there.

*****

It's like the gods are working against these people being together, nawa oo.

Howdy? Did anyone miss KUTI? They missed you guys, also made me write offline so I would not have an excuse after my one week break was over. 

Anyways ... How do you like the new cover? It will be up for the rest of this week before I change it. Someone suggested to put up the new covers (bi)weekly and I think that's a great idea. So, send in any covers you have 🙃

I also started a new story, only one chapter is up so far, you can check it at your leisure. I appreciate the support.

Q: Have you been to a runway show?