Letting Go, 3

He finished from work late but did not return to the warmth of his home for another hour as he crawled through traffic. His home was a duplex at Shelter Afrique, a secluded glass and marble retreat with high walls. He had acquired this house hoping to get away from prying eyes and the attention that came with being associated with The Etims, Ima’s family.

But there was no such luck with the family from hell. Ima crashed at his place whenever she pleased and without permission. Even when he had the house locks changed she got a carpenter to take out the locks and install new ones. The nerve on that woman.

He sighed as he bopped his head slightly to Marvin Gaye’s “Make love tonight,” as his black BMW cruised up the granite driveway that snaked up to his home. His day could have been another one of those drab days, crawling its way through a clutter of cases and a tirade of missed calls from Ima… But not this day. Not today. Edima swooned before him and his heart sang.

But then muffled bass echoed from a distance, distorting the soft jazz oozing from his stereo. He frowned and listened as his car neared his house. The bass boomed louder as he neared and he realized in shock that the sound was so loud it reverberated in his car. The dash board vibrated steadily in sync with the pop music coming…from his house.

He blinked when he saw it. The fleet of cars parked disorderly in his park lane and the litter of strangers loitering out in front. Some pegged in couples and others in groups, laughing loud as they chugged on booze. He slowed to a halt and stared blankly while he struggled to sum up an explanation.

A party? At his home? But it wasn’t his birthday.

Ima. 

The name germinated in the back of his mind and his body recoiled. 

How dare her! His blood simmered and in a flash he was out and hurrying up to the front door, ignoring the anxious eyes that recognized him and followed him as he barged in.

Inside the house, strangers swarmed everywhere! Lounging in his sofas, cracking jokes and drinking the wine at his bar. Couples secluded in different corners of his kitchen, empty bottles and trash everywhere. But his eyes beamed like torches, searching out the rooms for that woman.

She was not downstairs. He hurried upstairs and down the corridor, stopping by every room and kicking every door open. More strangers. More litter. Occupied beds. Quickies. All happening in his sanctuary.

Then he reached the end of the corridor. The last door was a double oak door, sealing off his room. He paused by the door and took a deep breath. He felt the knob and paused to listen. 

There were no sounds coming from inside. He wondered why his heart shrunk in disappointment. These days he hoped she would just make a wrong turn and give him sufficient cause to walk away unscathed in the eyes of all his and her family members.

He rammed his way in…and met an empty room. His heart curled up and died. Irritation and frustration sneaked up his spine and played with his senses. He was a disarray of emotions. He took a heavy sigh and sat down on the master bed.

So if Ima wasn’t throwing the party, who was? He moved to lean back, placing his arms firmly on the bed but instantly recoiled when he touched something sticky. He gawked in horror. There was a small puddle of white wet sticky substance, but he knew too well that wasn’t Tapioca. He bolted from the bed in a flash, shaking in disgust and annoyance.

He made a mental note to donate the bed to a shelter later before he heard it.

A sharp gasp in the bathroom. He paused and listened, slowly but surely two soft moans followed. He knew that moan anywhere. He had heard it a thousand times from different angles and in different positions. The sensation that followed was almost indescribable.

A rush of joy playing outside under the radiant rays of triumph and freedom.

 He took little steps towards the bathroom, savoring the wait to catch this bitch. He gingerly caressed the knob of the bathroom door with an ear to ear grin on his face, thinking how funny he had stormed the house boiling but a few minutes later he was here, experiencing sexless orgasm at the thought of leaving this woman behind.

“Are you two having fun?” He teased loudly as he swung the door open.

Two heads turned in his direction and his heart shattered. None of them belonged to Ima. He stared blankly. The man sexing the woman was a stranger but he knew the woman very well. Ima’s  subordinate clause and best friend: Agatha. She was also one of his ‘hit and runs’ back in the University.

He stared blankly as they casually unwound themselves like they owned the house and he was the intruder. His nerves were scattered but he was undecided on whether it was because He had not managed to catch Ima cheating or the fact that one of her minions held a bash in his house and left wet spots on his bed!

“Where is Ima?” He asked in a hushed tone, concealing the anger that had risen to the surface.

“She was down by the pool. You can find her there.” Agatha quipped innocently. “I’m sorry about this. Ima said you would understand.”

Akpan twitched when her last words sunk in. “You would understand.” He muttered it to himself in disbelief. What he would give to wrap his fingers around that woman’s throat and squelch the life in her.

“Hey man, My name is Ubong. I’m one of your Facebook friends. It’s nice to finally meet you.” The man said cheerily like the circumstance of their meeting was normal. Akpan itched to spit an insult at him but  kept his cool. 

“I want all this mess cleaned up.” He snapped at Agatha, ignoring her lover.

He slammed them in and barged for the door, itching to release hell on Ima once he saw her. Somewhere inside him, his inner man laughed loud and uncontrolled, mocking him. He had been so sure those moans belonged to Ima. He would have sworn it…or was it his brain playing tricks on him, mismatching the voice with the many moans from different females he had toyed with. He shook his head in disappointment.

He was down stairs in a flash and heading out the double glass doors that led to the back yard where his pool was installed. Bodies of faces he couldn’t recall splashed about in his pristine heart-shaped pool. Loud music boomed from the DJ stand set up by the pool and other strangers danced rowdily around it.

But his eyes settled on the woman he had been looking for. 

She was in string bikini, twerking against a sex crazed younger man. He stood there absorbing the sight for moment before deciding breaking up with her for that was not going to be enough in the sight of everyone else. Especially when everyone knew sometimes he got carried away at night clubs.

“Ima!” He screamed from across the pool but she did not seem to hear him. His chest swelled.

He charged for her, four quick strides and four rough shoves and he was next to her, only then did she notice him…and a wide grin lit up her face.

“Baby!” She threw her hands over his shoulders and began rubbing her groin sexily against his. For a split second, chaos broke down there and his body shook in approval…but his inner man screamed. 

He jerked away from her.

“What’s wrong?” She frowned, pausing to observe him closely. He did not dull. He grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her along as he made his way through the buzzing crowd of strangers, into the house and back into the kitchen, which was now graciously empty.

“What the fuck?!” He blared at her, shaking uncontrollably but keeping his fists clenched by his sides, fearing he would hit her otherwise. She met his rage with a blank stare, oblivious to any wrong.

“What the actual fuck? My God! I swear sometimes you push me so hard!” Akpan raged.

“Why are you yelling for crying out loud?” She said calmly, a taunting smirk on her lips as she folded her arms. 

“How dare you hold your friend’s party at my place without my permission? My fucking God! How dare you? I’ve got people I don’t know everywhere, I’ve got cum on my bed and people fucking everywhere? What the fuck.” He still shook, boiling even more as her smirk spread into a grin.

“Relax babe. Wouldn’t you do same for your friend? Besides. I’ll have cleaners clear the place up after the party. Now come on let’s go have a good time.” She teased, nudging him playfully on the arm.

He wanted to slap her so bad. He wanted to take off half her face with one swing but he would pay dearly if her father caught wind of it.

“So that guy out there! Is that what you’re doing now? You fucking him too?” He seethed.

“Babe, that was just dancing. Gosh, chill out.” She pouted babyishly and tried to take his arm. 

He swung away from her, his hand just missing her face by an inch. She gaped in shock.

“I’m out of here.” He growled. “Better have this house sparkling before I get home tomorrow.” He threatened before turning on his heel and heading back out for his car. 

He couldn’t and wouldn’t handle this right now. It was already past Nine o’clock and right now, the Futurenet party would be in full swing and he was still in his suit although he must have looked a little rough and tired, but that was okay. He wasn’t attending the party for all the rich fishes that would be present. 

He was tired of all that. The only thing that mattered was being able to see Edima again. Perhaps he could rekindle her past affection for him. 

Did you enjoy Letting Go, 3?

I had a few good laughs writing Letting Go 3! Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think! Also, follow up this story on Letting Go, 4

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