A SMALL WORLD - SEASON TWO

Copyright © Ufuomaee

EPISODE NINE

Tolu sat in her home studio, working on her designs for her wedding dress. As a fashion designer, she took pride and privilege in designing her own clothing. Over the years, she had designed many dresses that she thought would be ideal to wear on her special day, but after looking through them all, she had decided they were neither elegant nor magnificent enough. Also, she was more mature now and experienced in her trade, so her taste was a little more refined.

However, today, she was distracted. Her mind kept replaying scenes of the happenings over the weekend, especially Femi’s unexpected visit to her home. After she had succeeded in escaping his arms into the comfort of her home, he had driven away. But she knew it wasn’t the last she would be seeing of him.

She never imagined that he would haunt her dreams too. Every night, her body was awakened to sensations of his touch and his kisses, as if he was truly there, sharing her bed. She feared each morning, when she arose from bed, that if he were to come around again, she wouldn’t have the strength to resist him. What had he done to her? It was only a kiss!

But Tolu couldn’t help feeling guilty. She hadn’t wanted it nor asked for it. But she had enjoyed it. Too much. It took her back to the months when she had been pining for his touch…and the day she had begged him to take all of her.

She hadn’t handled it like she had imagined, either. She thought she would have slapped him at least. But her body shamed her. She had run in embarrassment because her body gave her away. She hadn’t kissed a soul since Femi. And she had been longing to kiss Danny. Now, she would be comparing his kiss to Femi’s! Oh, God… What a mess this was.

Danny had told her that he expected her complete honesty. But how could she tell him about this? She couldn’t even understand her feelings. She thought she had hated Femi. Then she thought she had forgiven him, and was even over him, but now…she was craving his kiss.

This is lust, not love.

I know! Tolu cried aloud. “I know it’s lust, Lord. But my body aches for a man.”

Any man?

Tolu slowly came to her senses. No, not any man. A man who fears You, Lord. A man who loves You and chases You, Lord. A man after Your own heart! That’s the one I want. That’s the one I need! That’s the one I have in Danny. 

“How can I do right by Danny, Lord? I can’t deny that I am attracted to Femi, but he can never make me happy, because he isn’t the man for me.”

Pray and fast. For your enemy is at the door!

At that moment, her phone rang again. It was Femi. Speak of the devil!

***

After Cindy left her office, Promise developed a migraine, and her head spun as she was taken back in time to another lifetime… She remembered the first time she had met Richard.

She had been a month working as Tony’s sex slave. By then, she had learned the ropes of her new trade, and her accommodation had been refurbished to handle any excesses, including loud noises, should she feel obliged to scream. She was in that phase of playing dead, sometimes wishing for death, and sometimes struggling to survive, caring little for her own dignity. She was broken and defeated.

She was in the living room, watching TV with Dayo, when Tony arrived with Richard. It had been one of her slow days. However, she knew better than to act indifferent or unfriendly to any of Tony’s patrons.

She had to be professional. She had to ease their guilt and make them feel like she was getting as much from it as they were. She had to convince them that sleeping with her was the right and normal thing to do, even if they were married, with kids at home. It was only sex, after all.

It was something she had been used to before she was compelled to do it as her employment. Being good at her job was really only a matter of perspective. She had to regain control and be ‘Missy,’ the slut, who was a whore but actually just a woman who loved sex with random men.

So, when she saw Richard, she played the part. She stood up and smiled warmly at him. Being already dressed in a crop top and hot pants, she was just a sexy, young woman, not a prostitute. They didn’t talk about money. Tony handled all that. They only talked about what he wanted. What he needed. And she was ready – and eager – to please.

She offered Richard a drink, and he accepted a glass of water. Promise fetched him his drink and added a couple of ice cubes. She flirted with him as he drank the water, being careful not to ask any personal questions about what he did for a living or about his family. Most of them did not want to talk about their personal lives or even talk at all.

When he was done with his drink, she took him by the hand to her room. She shut the door and locked it at Richard’s insistence. Some of them were like that. Shy and controlling.

She’d sussed him out, and he seemed like the type that was struggling with guilt. It didn’t help to talk to these ones, unless they initiated the discussion. So, she began to undress. He watched her, nervously.

When she was down to her underwear, she went over to him to begin to remove his clothes. By the time he was stripped to his boxes, and she was in her lingerie, something was still missing in action. He was clearly embarrassed. She learnt a couple of things that day.

Richard liked anal sex. Problem was that his guilt always kept him from getting it up. He could only get it up with the right blow job, which Promise had to perform on him, before he could penetrate her and cum. Sometimes, when that didn’t do the trick, he liked to be flogged. But he must end every session with anal penetration.

She came to learn over their regular sessions that Richard had a family. A wife and three kids. He and his wife struggled sexually because she hated anal sex, as did most women…including Promise. But Promise didn’t really have a choice.

One day, Richard had been impatient. He was not hard enough to penetrate, yet he insisted on doing just that, hurting Promise in the process of forcing his partial erection into her. In the end, he had fallen limp without cuming, and he had been angry at her for not giving him a proper blow job. Of course, she had insulted him for being such a ‘lame dog.’ For a moment, she had forgotten about her situation and given in to her anger at having to satisfy the wretched man.

Richard had been pissed and punched her repeatedly in the face for her insult. He then complained to Tony, who made her apologise otherwise she would be flogged. She did.

The next time Richard visited for his usual, Promise was feeling vengeful and decided to teach him a lesson. While servicing him with a blow job, she bit off the tip of his penis. Oh, the screams that came out of his mouth!

She spat out his tip from her mouth and laughed as he cried. He didn’t have the mind to report her that day as he ran from her room, never to return. She’d shouted after him, feeling triumphant, “Fucking dickhead! Bloody scum of the universe! What do you want to do to me?”

Promise smiled the whole while Tony flogged her for losing his patron. She was sure Richard’s wife would ask about his missing tip. It was all she could do not to laugh, despite the pain.

***

Danny was at home working on a new book about faith and receiving ministration from the Holy Spirit when he got Tolu’s call. He had been expecting her call all week. He had noticed that she had been distant since they spoke on Sunday, and he thought maybe she still needed some space. He’d called her every day but reduced his frequency of calls and texts. He rather used the time to pray and work on his book.

“Please, can you come over? I really need to talk to you about something,” she had said.

Those words were scary. Worse was the way she sounded on the phone. Very emotional and weak. What was she going through, and how could he help her? He didn’t want to put them in a precarious position, where they would give in to their passion for each other.

“What is it, babe? You can tell me…” He thought he could get her to spill the beans over the phone.

“Please, Danny. Come over… Now. Please, I can’t explain over the phone.”

He swallowed and said a silent prayer. He listened for a word from God on the matter. 

Go.

So, he had driven the forty-minute journey to her home at Iyana Ipaja. Fortunately, the traffic was not so bad on a Thursday, and he had left before peak time. When he drove into her compound, he saw an expensive car in the parking lot, which he hadn’t seen before. The only cars that were ever there were old, battered and dull cars, which were all the residents in her area could afford. Who was the owner of this car?

As he approached the entrance of her apartment, he saw a man leaning against her door. He swallowed. Was this the Femi guy she had told him about? Why was he so relentless? Who is he, Lord?

A refiner.

A refiner?

Tolu has lust in her heart.

Oh. Danny swallowed hard. He had noticed that about her. In many ways, she wasn’t a carnal Christian. She was strong and fervent for God. But her desire for a man was very intense, and she seemed ready to give him everything with the slightest show of interest. He knew it was because she had been single and lonely for so long. And if not for the fact that he had been redeemed from his former way of life, he would probably have given in to her need. Lord, help me!

The man leaning on the door turned to Danny when he came near. He stepped back from the door, wondering what Danny was going to do. He was surprised when Danny simply nodded his acknowledgement of his presence. He then pressed the bell.

Tolu came to the door. She shouted from the inside, “Danny?!”

“Yes, baby. Please open up.”

Tolu unlocked the bolts on the door, then removed the latch before she turned the key and opened the door for Danny. She threw her arms around him when she saw him, as though she had just been saved from a turbulent sea.

Danny held her tight and kissed her cheek before entering her home with her. They shut the door behind them and locked it. Femi stood outside, mesmerised by the whole thing.

Danny continued to hold Tolu while they were inside her home. He was fighting the urge to kiss her. Knowing her battle with the flesh, he needed to be strong for them. “I love you,” he said instead as a tear escaped his eye.

“I know. I love you, too, Danny. I love you so much!” she cried.

She stepped back from him, feeling the need to expunge herself of any secrets. “He kissed me. I didn’t want it, but…”

Danny felt his heart twist within him. “It’s okay, Tolu. I’m here now.” He pulled her back into his arms, feeling weak. His eyes were fixated on her full lips, as he fought an internal battle. “Do you want me to kiss you...?”

Tolu laughed a strange laugh, but it was filled with so much joy. “Yes, but… Can we pray? Instead?”

Danny smiled and chuckled, beholding her joyous face. She had saved him from himself. “I think that would be best.”

To be continued...

Photo credit: www.canva.com

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