Emma offered her hand to Tunde first, noticing how he reluctantly took her hand in his. He was truly very attractive, just as the girls had been saying around. He was a mixed-race with translucent brown eyes. Emma wondered about the other nationality he belonged to.
He also had a customized plate number, 'Hawk 6' for the obviously new Mercedes Maybach, which confirmed he was indeed rich. No wonder Abby is envied around the hostel.
Despite his good looks, Emma found his personality arrogant and cold. He almost made her shiver with the way he stared down at her and his one-word greeting of 'Hello!'
"Baby, would you mind taking us to get some ice cream at the mall?" Abby asked coyly knowing fully well that his answer would be 'no!"
"Ice cream again!? I thought we agreed no more ice creams for the rest of the month babe?"
"I knooww... It's not for me, it's for Emma..." Abby stressed out her sentence.
"It's for Emma huh?" He asked. He was amused by her little excuse or trick, smiling lovingly down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Okay let's go get a cup of ice cream for Emma then."
"No nah baby!... One cup how!? What I'm saying is that; even though it's Emma that wants the ice cream... It's not proper to let her take the ice cream by herself you know... I have to accompany her."
"You have to accompany her in taking ice cream huh!?" Tunde looked at his girlfriend in wonderment. He didn't even know whether to laugh or frown at her ridiculous excuse.
"Babe you remembered quite well why you were asked to reduced your sugar intake right!?..." He asked with a slight frown on his face.
"Yeah, I know it's for my good... But just this once, and I'll take the smallest cup. Please baby..." Abby pleaded, giving him her signature soulful but sweet puppy eyes that she knew he could never refuse while sexily batting her long eyelashes in the process."
"Okay, you gotta stop looking at me like that, unless you're planning on me dragging you back home with me right now" He whispered into her ears which made her giggled.
"But seriously babe, we discussed and both agreed on this already..."
"I promised no more after today... Pleaseeee...?"
"Okay!" He finally but reluctantly agreed to her request.
Watching the lovers relate with each other was sweet and pleasing to Emma's eyes...
The way Abby acted like a cute puppy while Tunde lovingly gazed down at her like she was the light of his life made Emma's heartache for love.
Emma couldn't help but wonder if she would ever have such in her life. She saw how Abby's boyfriend who was cold towards her some seconds ago suddenly switched to being warm and loving towards his girlfriend.
Emma had never gotten the cold treatment from any man before. Men always turn to give her the second look, even if they weren't interested in pursuing her, she would still get that second look of appreciation. No wonder Abby was so confident in her man. He loved her.
Emma wanted the kind of love and affection they shared between them and couldn't help but feel sad about how pathetic her love life was right then.
The man she met and thought her heart and soul connected with turned out to be a psycho who managed to get her consent for sex without her actually giving it. He took away her innocence.
He took away her life. She assumed the worst because she knew there will be repercussions for her unknowing act of disobedience. She just didn't know what the repercussions would be yet. She sighed deeply in fear.
They ended up buying not only ice cream but food. Enough food that would last them for the whole day if not more, with Abby talking as if they were already friends and roommates, not strangers who just met in the parking lots minutes ago.
Tunde finally left leaving them alone with each other. Emma rolled her eyes upward when she heard him asked Abby if she would be okay before he left.
'As if I'm some big bad wolf that would gobble his girlfriend up. She thought and smiled at the sweetness of that small act.
Apartments at Scholar suites contained two rooms ensuite with one small living room to share between the occupants. Abby's living room was unlike hers and Diane's which was a mismatch of their favorite colors.
It felt like home immediately after Emma entered. It was like a breath of fresh air, well lit and spacious. White and pastel blue painted walls. White leather sofas and pastel blue plush carpet. It was simple but elegant.
They sat by the kitchen table, removed the food they would eat from the bag, and put the rest in the refrigerator. Abby went straight for her ice cream, finished the cup in no time, and started eyeing Emma's half-finished cup.
"You love ice cream, don't you?" Emma asked smiling at Abby. "You can have it if you want," she said pushing the rest towards Abby.
"No thank you! I love ice cream but I shouldn't have taken even this one I just finished." She replied and pushed the cup back, directing her gaze to her already opened jollof rice and coleslaw, digging in immediately with gusto.
They were eating and at the same time chatting about different subjects; School stuff, their fellow students, what was in vogue in terms of fashion and so on...
"I'm curious..." Emma suddenly asked looking straight into Abby's eyes. "Why allowed me into your apartment when you don't even know me? Are you in the habit of allowing strangers into your life?"
"No!... I couldn't just walk away when I saw a woman like me crying in a public place. I had to make sure you were okay." Abby replied and they fell silent after that, each concentrating on her food.
"Aren't you going to ask me why I was crying?"
"Asking would be prying into your privacy... I figured you would tell me if you want me to know. My purpose of bringing you here is to make sure you are okay. I don't want you self-harming or anything like that since I don't know what you're going through.
And whatever it is that you might be going through, the sun will still rise in the east, set in the west and the heaven will not fall... So take a breather and know that everything will be okay."
"You truly care!?" Emma asked like she found the thought that there could be somebody apart from her grandma who would actually care for her unbelievable.
"Yeah, I did care... Why wouldn't I?" Abby asked when she saw the unbelievable expression on Emma's face.
"Because I'm not lovable! There's something about me that repels people. Something that stopped them from wanting to truly love me!" Emma replied matter-of-factly.
"My parents don't want me so they dumped me with my grandma when I was just a baby. My siblings don't want to be around me. We all live in Lagos yet the last time we saw was six months ago... And yesterday night, my best friend whom I took as family betrayed my trust... I caught her fucking my boyfriend.
The most devastating thing is that even my grandma too would surely hate me now. And if she does, tere's no way I would survive that because she's the only one I have that truly loves and care for me..."