After the storm

by Osar Adeyemi

  "I'll be okay, Shez, and anyway, I'm already a Christian."

  "He loves you, Yemi. He feels your pain and wants a closer relationship with you."

  "I've heard you." She was tired of the conversation. Maybe what he said worked for some, but she didn't know what could ever heal the hurt she had in her heart.

  Chapter 17

  During the fashion week, Yemi's mind had begun to buzz with ideas of how she could improve on her clientele base. She decided that she would create and showcase a collection. While she was planning that, she was excited to receive calls from some of the designers that Sharon had introduced her to at the fashion week. Most of them just wanted to establish contact, but one of them gave her a contract to do some designs for her forthcoming collection.

  She was also relieved that the orders in her office had picked up a little bit. Sharon had also begun to direct some of the people that she couldn't take on to Yemi. The clients appeared skeptical when they came in to see her, but she went out of her way to make lovely designs for them. Apart from one or two of them who had made up their minds that she would remain just an alternative until Sharon was less busy, the others were satisfied and stayed with her.

  Yemi was working in her office one evening when she was told that two women were there to see her.

  "Hello, I'm Yemi Kadiri," she said, smiling at them when they were shown into her office a few minutes later.

  "I'm Lola Carlson, and this is my friend, Lara Adele," one of the ladies said, introducing herself and her friend.

  "You're welcome, please have a seat," Yemi said. They sat down across from her. "How may I help you?"

  They explained that they were members of a charity that was trying to raise awareness on ovarian cancer, and that they were organising a programme to raise funds that would enable women to get free screenings at some private hospitals. Among some of the events they were planning was a fashion show, and they were out seeking sponsors for their programme. They wanted Yemi to be a sponsor and make the clothes that the models would wear. The money they got from the sale of the clothes would then be donated to the charity.

  Yemi knew she had her hands full and didn't want to stretch her finances any more than she could help. She suggested that they try approaching some of the bigger fashion houses, but they said they already had and had been turned down by many of them because they were more interested in supporting better-known causes like breast cancer and AIDS.

  Lola sighed. "But ovarian cancer is just as important. I lost my elder sister to it three years ago, and she was just twenty-nine years old, younger than the age that it is known to affect. She died because the disease was not caught on time. I'd hate to see this ignorance continue, hence the drive for awareness."

  Yemi was moved. It must have been horrible to lose such a close relative. "I'm really sorry to hear about your sister," she said gently, "but I won't be able to take this on now."

  A resigned look came over Lola's face as she stood up. "Thanks for your time anyway."

  Something stirred within Yemi's heart when she saw the dejected looks on their faces. She groaned inwardly. She could not believe that she was even considering it. "How many models will you be using?" she asked before she could stop herself.

  "Six," Lola said and then mentioned their names.

  Yemi's eyes widened when she heard the first name. "Cerys Briggs?" she asked with a doubtful expression crossing her face.

  "Yes, she's a cousin to our friend, Dammy, who is also part of this campaign. She agreed to do it as a favour to her. We're hoping she would attract a lot of exposure to the event."

  Fancy dressing up Cerys Briggs. The idea of it alone was heady. Yemi had seen her walk for Versace when she had attended the Paris fashion week about three years back. The applause and the response she had gotten had been almost hysterical. But she could hardly believe that those fashion houses that Lola and Lara had approached had actually turned down the opportunity to dress up Cerys.

  "We didn't even get to that part of the conversation before we were politely declined by some of them," Lara said when Yemi asked them. "And I think the others didn't really believe that we could get Cerys. I guess they felt we were just trying to get their sponsorship on false grounds."

  Yemi couldn't blame them. She looked at the women again. What did she really know about them? "But is there a guarantee that she's really going to be there?" Yemi asked them. "As far as I know, she lives abroad and is hardly in Nigeria. How do we get her for fittings and all that?"

  "Cerys is Dammy's first cousin, and we all went to secondary school together before she won the MNET talent show," Lola replied. "My older sister attended the same secondary school, and Cerys knew her too. She has given her word, and we're very sure that she's going to be around."

  Yemi shrugged off her doubts. After all, she had already wanted to help out before she heard of Cerys being one of the models, so it would be no big deal if she didn't show up. Cerys had been a sweet, almost shy sixteen-year-old when she had won the competition, but she could have transformed into a beautiful terror now that she was walking for some of the world's top designers. The best thing to do was to just focus on these passionate ladies and their drive to help women.

  "She is flying into Nigeria in about six weeks for a week's holiday and then will come back again a week before the programme," Lara said, assuring Yemi that Cerys would be available for fittings. "I'm afraid that will be all the time she can spare," she added apologetically.

  Yemi spent the next twenty minutes discussing the event with Lola and Lara, and the more she talked to them, the more the idea of taking part in it appealed to her.

  "Give me a few days to mull over this, and I'll get back to you," Yemi said. She still needed to look at a few logistics and how best to manage the cost without it being too much for her to bear.

  They were very happy when she called them two days later to tell them that she would do it. They gave her the names and contact numbers of the models that she would be working with. Five of them were local, and she could start work with them right away.

  "I'll believe it the day I see Cerys walk through these doors," Ken told her when she discussed it with him.

  Yemi felt the exactly the same way.

  ∞∞∞

  "How do I look, Mummy?" Aleena asked, walking into the sitting room where Yemi sat working on some sketches. She was wearing Yemi's four-inch Jimmy Choo heels and had dabbed on some of Yemi's lipstick.

  "Like a little diva." Yemi smiled as Aleena tottered towards her. "I think you should wait a little longer, though. There is plenty of time before you start wearing heels."

  Aleena giggled. "Maybe when I'm as tall as you, Mummy?" She stepped out of the heels and went over to Yemi. "Daddy says he's going to buy me lots of high heels and bags when I grow up."

  Judging by the amount of unnecessary things he had already gotten for her, Yemi had no doubt that he would.

  Aleena sat beside her on the sofa. "Are you drawing pretty dresses?" she asked, peering at Yemi's sketchpad. "They look very nice. You draw very well," she added loyally.

  Yemi hid a smile. "Thank you."

  "I like painting best, though," she continued. "Then I can use lots of pretty colours. Maybe I can help you paint your drawings when you are done, Mummy?"

  "Eh…not these ones, but I can draw some specially for you to paint, okay?"

  "Okay," she replied and then adjusted herself to seat more comfortably on the sofa. "What do you think I should get for Daddy's birthday?"

  "What would you like to give to him?"

  She screwed up her little face, appearing to think hard. "It's hard getting gifts for boys," she finally said. "Girls are so much easier."

  Yemi smiled. "We'll go to the mall on Friday before you go to your dad's. I'm sure we can pick out something nice."

  Aleena brightened up. "Daddy liked the gift I gave him on Father's Day. He said your mummy knows how to pick nice things."

  Yemi didn't
say anything. Of course, Akeem would know that she had picked out the handmade Italian leather shoes Aleena gave him for Father's Day, the same way that she knew that he bought the beautiful Hermes bag she had gotten on her last birthday. She still hardly saw him, which suited her. The last time she had seen him had been at Shona and Justin's wedding two months earlier, and they had just exchanged polite greetings. He looked well and his dressing was as faultless as ever. She had always felt a guy who looked so good from top to toe had to be vain, but Akeem could not be accused of vanity or pride. Just a roving, unfaithful eye.

  Sara came to visit a few days later, and as she seemed to think it was her duty to do so, she updated Yemi on the latest happenings in Akeem's life. His relationship with the actress was over, and he was now dating Lois, the daughter of a shipping magnate.

  "She's okay, quite nice actually, but she's not you. The spark is not there, either," Sara continued, not minding Yemi's silence. "At least not the way that you and Akeem made the air sizzle whenever you were together."

  Yemi was not interested in Sara's analysis. "Two women in ten months? He's really making up for lost time. It must have been so hard for him being married and keeping to one woman."

  "I knew that actress was not going to last with him anyway," Sara said, wrinkling her nose with distaste. "And when she started putting pressure on him for more commitment, he called it off."

  Yemi tutted. "Poor thing. Commitment is not Akeem's strong point."

  Sara's eyes narrowed. "Ever since you drove him back to the streets, you mean?"

  Yemi's eyes widened as she stared at Sara. "The guy cheated on me, and you said I drove him back to the streets?" She glared at her for a moment. "I don't know why I bother with you. You're too biased to be objective."

  Sara looked unrepentant. "Well, I'm sorry if it sounds like that to you, but I know Akeem loved you. He made mistakes, mistakes he acknowledges himself. Why not find it in your heart to forgive him?"

  "He made one mistake too many," Yemi retorted. "And the way he's going about changing women shows me that I made the right decision in leaving him." She struggled to keep calm. Sara's words had touched a raw nerve.

  "Can you make me some clothes soon?" Sara asked, changing the topic. "I'm attending a friend's thirtieth birthday soon, and I want to look seriously wow!"

  "I hope you won't steal the celebrant's thunder," Yemi muttered. She was still annoyed with the comment Sara had made. She wished Sara would stop giving her information on Akeem. She did that all the time and then would subtly turn around and try to blame her for Akeem's behaviour.

  Sara giggled mischievously. "That's the whole idea." She eyed Yemi's unsmiling face. "C'mon, lose the attitude. I've said I'm sorry, but you must agree that…"

  "Don't spoil the apology by adding more annoying things," Yemi cut in.

  Sara looked amused. "But why are you still so affected by comments about Akeem? Are you sure you're truly over him, as you say?"

  Yemi stared at Sara. Was she deliberately trying to needle her? "I know I'm over you as a customer. You can get yourself a new dress designer."

  Sara grinned. "That's not happening. You're stuck with me for life."

  "Yeah, the consequences of my many sins," Yemi muttered. She ignored Sara's smirking face. "Let me show you a few designs I made recently," she said as she turned to the computer.

  As Yemi lay down later that evening, she found herself unable to sleep. Different flashbacks of her time with Akeem ran through her mind. She had loved him so much. It hadn't been about his status or any of the trappings that he had come with. She had loved Akeem the man, just him.

  "Why did you throw it away?" she asked over and over again, her eyes smarting with unshed tears. She had made up her mind not to cry anymore over Akeem and his betrayal, but she was feeling so low at the moment that she gave up the struggle and sobbed into her pillow. "I loved you so much. Why did you despise and make such a mockery of my love?"

  She finally fell asleep in the early hours of the morning, the dried tears forming whitish streaks across her cheeks.

  ∞∞∞

  The regular orders picked up some more over the next few weeks. That lifted her spirits some. But Yemi made up her mind that she was not going to get comfortable with the new pace. She was going to remain focused on growing her clientele base.

  She also had to prepare for the charity fashion show. Apart from Cerys's appearance, it seemed like a small event, but she made up her mind she was going to put in her best. The good thing was that Lola and her friends had given her a free hand with the designs; she was free to let her creativity run loose, and she did.

  The locally based models came in for their fittings once she was sure what outfits she wanted to make. They were easy work apart from a diva-like one amongst them. The model made so many demands and wanted so many adjustments that she nearly drove everyone round the bend.

  "And to think that Ghana is the farthest place she has ever modeled in," Francis, the new tailor Yemi had just employed, muttered under his breath after one particularly tiring session with her.

  Yemi heard his comment and smiled.

  The fittings with Cerys were starting the following week. They had her measurements, and she had chosen what she wanted from the designs that Yemi had e-mailed to her. She was on a tight schedule, so they were going to work around the clock to get her clothes fitted and ready during that time.

  She arrived for her first fitting with two bodyguards and insisted they go with her into Yemi's private office, but that was all the diva-ish behavior she had. She was polite, although a little cool in her attitude, something Yemi didn't hold against her. She must have loads of people trying to get close to her all the time, so the girl needed some sort of façade to protect her.

  Cerys was very professional, and she showed that she had modelled for top-end fashion houses. She was a stickler for time and would patiently try on as many clothes as Yemi gave her and only made useful comments about how she wanted them altered.

  "I love this dress; it's got so much attitude!" she said the third time she came in, breaking into the first real smile Yemi had seen since she started her fittings.

  The dress she referred to was really her. Yemi had designed it the first time Cerys had come to the office. She had watched several video clips of her modelling work, and of course seen her that time in Paris, but having her in her office had been a different experience, and her pencil had seemed to take on a life of its own. She had sketched several designs that she felt would do justice to Cerys's beauty and added them to the ones that she had already made.

  "You can have it as a gift when you're done with it," Yemi offered. "I won't repeat the design, and we can tell the guests that this particular one is not for sale." She held out the other dress. "There is still one more for you to try on."

  "Whoa! I'm not sure which one I like best out of the two," Cerys said when she had tried the second dress on. She did a little catwalk, and Yemi and Ken looked on in admiration. The girl was gorgeous and sure knew how to strut her stuff!

  "But I definitely want to wear both of them that evening, if it's okay with the concept you have in mind?" she asked after she sat down again.

  "You can, and I'm glad that you like it. I still have a few designs that I've not made yet. Would you like you to see them?"

  "Of course."

  Yemi showed Cerys the designs on the computer that she had sketched especially for her.

  "I like the look of this and this," Cerys said pointing to a couple of the designs on the computer screen. She looked at the other designs critically. "I don't mind this other one as well," she said, pointing to another one. "I need to be in Milan in three days, but I'd like to place an order for them."

  "You will have at least one of them ready before you go, but the others will be ready by the time you come back for the charity ball."

  "You're really good, you know," she told Yemi. "I've been talking to my friends about you. I had my reservat
ions initially, as I didn't recognise your name, but I'm really impressed with your work. You make a girl look beautiful."

  Yemi found herself smiling throughout the rest of the day. She and Ken stayed later than usual in the office that evening. She wanted to be sure that she could make good on her word that Cerys would have the outfit she wanted before she left for Milan. That was professionalism. Keeping her word.

  She was still all smiles when she got home later that night. Even the picture of Akeem, Lois, and Aleena on some sort of outing that she saw on Aleena's iPad did nothing to dampen her mood. Akeem had his hand around Lois's waist and the other arm around Aleena. They looked like a happy family.

  She felt a little guilty as she looked at her daughter's sleeping face. She had been working late since she had the fittings with Cerys and had missed her bedtime a few times that week.

  "I love you Alee," she whispered and kissed her soft cheek. "Mummy just needs to work hard so that she can be financially steady."

  As she lay in bed later that night, her mind went back to Akeem and Lois. He obviously felt comfortable enough with the relationship to allow Aleena to meet her. He hadn't done that with the actress.

  She looked at her bare fingers. The indentation left by her wedding ring was completely gone now. It seemed like she had never worn a ring there.

  ∞∞∞

  "Whoa! Yemi, are you going places or what?" Laide, Dotun's wife, said excitedly over the phone. "I just saw Cerys on TV talking about the charity fashion show and that she will be walking for Matrix Kreations."

  "Oh, is it still on?" Yemi asked. She grabbed the TV remote and flicked on the television. "They told me it would likely air this week. Which channel is it on?"

  Laide told her which channel, but when she flipped to it, she saw the tail end of the advert. She left the TV on, hoping that it would air again.

  The fashion show was only two weeks away. Cerys had used her personal connections to get a lot of people interested in it, and the last that Yemi had heard was that the First Lady of her home state, Rivers state, was going to be in attendance. Cerys knew her personally, and because the governor's wife was attending, her hostess, the First Lady of Lagos, was also going to be there. Amazing!