They danced to the slow beat of Tuface‘s “African Queen” as the party drew to a close. Her friend‘s party wasn‘t big by any standard, with just about thirty people in all from the church‘s singles group and other friends and family. But Jennifer and her fiancé had wanted it like that, with only people they knew personally in attendance. The party was at the Lagos Yacht Club which they had access to, courtesy of Edward who was a member. After getting out of hospital, Gladys had helped in the later part of planning the party. It reminded her of Ola‘s Nikkai last month and how she would soon start on her own wedding plans.
As they moved, he whispered smoky promises into her ears, and she tried not to giggle or allow her feelings show on her face. It had been smooth sailing since he asked her to marry him last week. Her profile had risen after the engagement leaked, and she had morphed from a ‗wannabe‘ through to an ‗Island Big Girl‘. She wouldn‘t be surprised if celebrity magazines ran some pictures of tonight on their pages. They always called wanting to know when their wedding would be but she usually hung up on them. Now she relaxed in her fiancé‘s arms, basking in their love.
The music changed and Edward whispered another risqué comment to her. She laughed out loud but then she caught someone staring at her. A middle-aged woman she had not noticed earlier stood at a far table with a strange expression on her face. Edward swung her around as Sunny Neji‘s “Oruka” continued to play and she felt him grow rigid in her arms. She looked up at his face and saw his eyes narrow and his mouth tighten. The sparkle of joy left his eyes and slowly, all expression was wiped from his face.
“Edward, what is it?” She asked in a low voice.
His reply was brusque. “My former foster parents are here.”
“I thought they lived in Kano?”
“They must have moved to Lagos. I‘ll have to stop my club membership. I don‘t want to run into them again.”
Even though the music had not ended, Edward took her hand stiffly and moved quickly to the other side of the room where the rest of their party clustered. They were only using a small part of the restaurant. After they took their seats, he rebuffed her suggestion to invite his foster parents over or go greet them and remained as tense as a coiled spring throughout the remainder of the festivities. She kept an eye on him but nobody else noticed because he put up a front, cordially replying to the conversation that swirled around them.