I try to force out the remainder of my frazzled emotions before I pick Isren's call.

This is all so stupid, what good was Isren too anyways.

My mind taunted me in response as I heard the line connect. He's good fun, isn't that why you agreed to go out with Vic in the first place?

"Did I catch you at an unfortunate time or is church not over because this is the second time I called you," Isren says his baritone voice setting my nerves at ease.

"I'm done with church, my phone's just always on do not disturb during service, I must have forgotten to switch it off," I say hoping a was doing a good job of hiding how unsettled I was.

"Good time at church today?" he asks and I respond with a cheerier tone.

"Splendid, why are you asking though, I didn't think you were the church type."

He laughs and a tiny piece of my burden lifts off my chest.

"Oh I'm definitely not but hey my mother's sold out on her religion so I picked a few things up as a child. I asked because you sounded upset when you picked up." Isren remarks and I feel the flying dart hit be bull's eye in the chest.

"Well, one wasn't that eons ago and two let's just say my day hasn't been so perfect." I joke hoping he'd be assured whatever it wasn't a big deal.

"Alright but should you ever need any cheering up, I'm free. Well only during the weekends because I have a 9 to 5 but you get?" Isren says in a sing-songy voice.

I laugh a little but take a step back for a moment.

If I was wary of Demilade I should be even more careful with an older man. Sure I'm more mature than my peers but he's experienced and I'm barely out into the world yet.

"I don't know. How am I sure you're not going to rape me and sell my organs if I go somewhere with you." I say lightly but meaning every word of it. Nigeria is a strange place."

"For someone who's sounding so cautious now, you sure didn't have any reservations when I invited you to be my plus one.

Guilt washes over me and I feel the weight of my stupidity all at once.

"Well, I'm starting to rethink my yes as well..."I trail off, my mind swirling with all the stories of girls whose boyfriends had used them for rituals.

He sighs and breaks my line of thoughts.

"Okay, I'll have you know that if I wanted to do that, trust me, I would have succeeded the same night I met you but I'm not that kind of person. However, I understand why you may be wary so I'll let you choose what happens from here, if you're up for it you can meet me at Casper's let's say 3.00 pm. I'll pay for your lunch, you'll be surrounded by other people, and you'll get to know me as more than a mysterious man from some elite nightclub." Isren finally says and I'm surprised by his chivalry.

Who was Isren I-don't-know-his-last-name?

Staring back at my wristwatch I see it's 1p.m now an adult church was soon to have parents pouring out of it to go meet their children.

He must have assumed I'm in university and wouldn't have any parents to worry about.

I could use trying out for choir practice as an excuse to buy me time till 6 pm or just go home with my parents.

The internal conflict goes on within me till I hear him speak up again and I know what I want to do.

"Hello?"

"Well, this is impromptu so you're going to have to add my transport to your tab," I say quirking an eyebrow. I wanted to have fun.

"You drive a hard bargain but you got yourself a deal ma'am," Isren responds after some fake deliberation.

"See you soon then," I say and hang up grinning from ear to ear.

I turn around and Demilade is nowhere in sight and my parents are fast approaching me.

I run up to them putting on my best puppy dog face.

"Good afternoon Mummy, good afternoon Daddy. How was service today?" I ask doing my best to play my sweet daughter's card.

"Ah, Tolani se on ri omo yin.(Tolani are you seeing your daughter.)" Daddy says marveling that I'd shown so much eagerness after church service. It was a rare occasion unless we were going to eat out after as a treat.

Mummy purses her purple-painted lips and cuts to the chase. "I know you want something just say it so your Daddy can go and get the car where it's parked."

I force the words out of my mouth before I can take them back in a flourish.

"Okay, so I've been meaning to try out for teens choir but haven't had the courage. There is the practice today for those who are interested and I'd like to attend. It ends by five and I'd be home on or before six. Can I please stay?" I beg ready to go on my knees in public if I had to.

"You know I don't like you staying out so late..." Mummy begins but Daddy comes to the rescue.

"Let her breathe. She's going to University in a few months, will you follow her there? Besides its church, she'll be fine. You know how to book a ride right?" Daddy asks me and I nod fervently.

"Yes sir."

"And you have money for the ride?" He presses.

I nod like an agama lizard hoping this was my chance.

"Then I and your Mother will be on our way now," Daddy says taking my reluctant Mother with him. Apart from Victoria's house, she was practically joined to me at the hip.

"Make sure you call me when you're in the taxi okay. Ma je kin won ji omo mi salo(Don't let them steal my child and runaway.)" she says over her shoulder and I assure her that I will.

Once they're out of sight I walk into the choir building and wait a few minutes before I sneak right back out.

..............

"I see you take coming to church in your Sunday best very seriously. You look lovely." Isren says offering me his hand as we make our way into the restaurant.

He had been kind enough to go outside to usher me to our table.

A few people cast glances in our direction, mostly envious or judgemental women. Most of whom probably had similar age gaps with their husband but of course, it was only acceptable when you're 50 and he's 60.

To think we weren't even on a date.

Ignoring them, I take the compliment and thank God for the dark skin that hid my blush. "Thank you though I fear you may have outdone some of us who went to church."

I almost embarrass myself by reaching for a chair but he's a second ahead of me and pulls out my seat instead.

Chivalry is not dead after all.

Once we place our orders we settle into a comfortable silence that grows more awkward as time goes by.

"Okay so I'm going to lay all my cards on the table and be honest with you," he says rubbing his hands together.

Immediately my brows go up and I egg him on to continue."Go on then."

"I think you're insanely gorgeous and, to be honest, I'd like to take things from there but I need to be sure you're as old as you claim to be because you're the youngest woman I've ever taken into consideration," he says not breaking eye contact for even a split second.

I forget how to breathe even though my mouth hangs wide open at all I've just heard.

So much for friendly get to know each other lunch.

Author's Note

If you've made it this far thank you for reading my book! I appreciate every single one of you so much❤️. Please remember to leave a vote if you enjoyed reading it as this really helps my books. Feel free to leave a comment to say hi! Or let me know your thoughts as you read. And share this book with a friend you think would like it.

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