Chapter Eight : Grateful Again.

Omotayo 

    The name Kingsley never failed to leave a bitter taste in my mouth. The name had a very horrid memory attached to it and any body with that name would either have to change it around me or forget I exist. 

"What is it? You don't like my name?" He asks with a slightly offended tone. 

"You shouldn't have persisted if you were only going to frown after hearing my name." He adds still wearing a frown. 

"I'm so sorry, I got lost in my thoughts for a while but I can assure you my frown had nothing to do with you or your name." I assure him quickly but deep down, I know I'm lying. His name didn't sit well with me at all. 

  His frown seemed to wear off and I mentally sigh in relief but everything in me still felt nothing but negative vibes from him and that bad luck of a name he had just gave me more reason to panic. "Why aren't you eating? The food is delicious." He says pointing towards my barely touched plate of food. 

  "I'm not very hungry." I reply calmly, "Please excuse me, I need to use the restroom." I excuse myself quickly and I would have used that chance to bolt out of here but the look in his eyes when I asked to excuse myself gave me a very scary warning or am I just being paranoid for no reason. 

I look at my reflection in the mirror in frustration, if I could, I would smash it in anger but that would only add to my problems and I couldn't afford more problems at this point. 

I tried calling Ini's number again but it said the same thing it had been saying for the past five minutes. Switched off.  

 She wasn't the type to switch off her phone and that worried me even more. I also tried calling Temi but strangely his number was also not going through. I definitely couldn't call the police since I had no real reason for panicking and my parents were definitely not an option for me. 

  "You can do this Tayo! Just go in there, act calm, talk to him and go home. It'll be over soon." I say to myself as an encouragement before stepping out of the restroom and towards my table. My eyes catch a glimpse of a familiar face and I temporarily freeze and take another look at him. I quickly thought of asking him for help but he looked too engrossed in his conversation with the pretty lady opposite him and I didn't have the guts to interrupt them. Besides, he wasn't in any way obligated to help me so why should I bother him? I look at him once last time and decide it's best to just handle my own problem. 

  "Sorry I took so long." I apologise with a fake smile. 

"I'm even surprised you came back. I thought for a second that you already ran off." He replies with a creepy and repulsive smile that made me feel sick to my stomach.

"So what do you do for a living?" I ask him, trying to start a reasonable conversation but his reply made me realise how impossible it was to be normal around him. 

  "I murder people." He replies with a serious face and I deadpan. He can't possibly be serious, can he? Is this guy even normal? I wonder to myself, feeling completely irritated by him. 

"Don't tell me you believed that? I was only making a joke." He quickly tells me and I mentally scoff. Joke my ass! My years of experience has taught me never to take anything thing as a joke and coming from a creep like him, I was definitely not buying the joke. 

  "I'm an importer." He tells me and I almost asked what he imported but to avoid any creepy answers, I refrain myself. My phone suddenly rings out, distracting my thoughts and like a blessing, I see Ini's name pop up on my screen. 

"Don't pick that!" His voice warns sharply and I stare back at him in confusion. 

"Why shouldn't I pick my phone?"

  "Uhmm.. Because I said so. So obey nicely and switch off your phone and besides it's rude to pick up your phone on a date night. It should be switched off so we won't be disturbed." He says calmly and even though he'd tried to butter his words to appear calm, I could tell that was an indirect threat. 

  "Tell me straight, who are you and what exactly do you want from me?" I cut to the chase and he smirks. 

"I recall telling you my name earlier, shouldn't that answer your question?" He replies and I'm confused.

   Kingsley was definitely an unforgettable face to me and the man opposite me was definitely not him. So why exactly is he claiming to be him? 

"You're not him and I'm certain I don't know you so now tell me, who are you and what do you want from me?" I ask again but this time I'm not asking with fear, I'm asking with anger. 

  "Well duh, I'm obviously not him but believe me, I know him pretty well and I also happen to know the person you put in jail earlier this year. Isn't that a beautiful coincidence? And the best part is, both men happen to be my brothers and because of you both my brothers are suffering so now tell me, how does it feel to be the downfall of two brothers and more importantly, what punishment do you think you deserve?" He retorts angrily and my heart falls to my stomach. 

  Evil definitely runs in their blood if truly they are brothers. Kingsley was my first definition of evil and as they say, you never forget your firsts. 

"So you had two sick people as your brothers. That's means there's no doubt that you're just as sick or even more sick than they are and sick humans like you belong in a cemetery." I snap back at him and he laughs. 

  "So will you try to send me there like you almost sent my brother?" He asks and I smirk. 

"If you put yourself in that position, I'll send you there for sure and this time, nothing will save you." I warn sternly but that was definitely a lie. I was terrified and I don't think I'm as courageous as I was five years ago when I hit Kingsley on the head with a hammer. 

  "You think you're brave, don't you? Always talking like you're untouchable but believe me I'll personally cut off that tongue of yours. For now, finish your meal. I wouldn't want you to die hungry." He says and I scoff. 

"You can't kill me. This is a public place, remember?" I reply confidently and he chuckles dryly. 

  "Look around you dear, death is everywhere. You're just too blind to see it." He replies and that immediately shuts me up. 

I look around and see every person around me eating and chatting normally but it still felt terrifying and the idea he aimed to plant in my mind had definitely sprouted.  

   I keep looking around, hoping the idiot opposite me was just bluffing and I'm immediately thankful when my eyes meet Bayo's. I couldn't let the creep in front of me realise I knew him so I decide to look away quickly but not before trying to plead for his help with my eyes, hoping he understood body language. 

  "Would you like desert?" Kingsley or whatever his real name is asks and I quickly refuse. 

"I want to go home." I demand but he stays silent and continues to sip his drink noisily. I ignore and attempt to get up and leave but he quickly pulls me back down and I sigh in frustration. 

  "What do you want from me? Aren't you done venting your frustrations or are you actually planning to kill me with so many eyes and cameras watching?" I ask, already feeling frustrated. 

"Get my brother out and I..." He's saying but he's interrupted. 

"Tayo?" A familiar voice calls out and my eyes lit up. "Hey Bayo, w..what are you doing here?" I stutter nervously. 

"I was having dinner with a friend but I should be asking you that question instead. What are you still doing here? Haven't you heard what happened?" He asks with a surprised expression and I'm confused. 

  "Heard what exactly?" I ask. 

"I got a call earlier from your cousin and he told me your dad had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital, I'm surprised you're still here cause I was just about to head there." He explains and I deadpan. Dad? Hospital? How come? I wonder to myself, feeling the tears slowly roll down my cheeks. 

  "Should I drive you to the hospital?" Kingsley asks and I immediately glare at him. 

"I'm leaving and don't show up in my face ever again!" I warn sternly and Bayo helps me up and leads me out of the restaurant and I when I look back at Kingsley he had already disappeared and the two tables beside us were already empty. I guess he wasn't bluffing about being surrounded. 

"Hey, are you okay?" Bayo asks immediately we're outside. 

"I'm not important right now. I just want to see my dad, can you take me to the hospital?" I asks and he breaks into guffaws, confusing me.  

"I don't recall saying anything funny. Can you or can you not drive me to the hospital?" I ask again, this time more aggressively. 

  "Chill girl, your blood too dey hot. There's no need to go to the hospital. Your dad is perfectly fine as far as I know." He answers back with a light laugh. 

"Are you crazy? Why did you scare me like that?" I yell hitting him with my purse but he continues to laugh instead. "You're crazy! Very crazy!" I yell and throw my purse at him but he quickly catches it. 

  "If that's your way of saying, 'thank you for helping me out' then you're welcome." He says and I look away guiltily. I should really be thanking him. "Before, your boyfriend knows we lied, let's get out of here. Where are your car keys?" He asks and I point towards the purse in his hands. 

  We get inside my car and stay quiet for a while. I still had a lot going through my mind and he didn't seem to mind. 

  "Are you okay? What happened back there?" He asks after about ten minutes of sitting in silence. 

"If you're not comfortable telling me, it's not a problem but it will do you some good to let it out. Is he your boyfriend? Is the relationship toxic? Did he cheat?" He bombards me with questions and I subconsciously use my left hand to shut him up. 

  "For a guy, you talk way too much." I tell him and he laughs a bit. 

"Okay then, I'll just assume you don't want to tell me. Sorry for prying." He says and relaxes on the driver's seat. 

"He's not my boyfriend for your information and there is no big secret. I didn't even know him till today." I explain briefly and he furrows his brows in confusion. 

  "So why did you look so terrified?" He asks again. 

"Well, because he's karma and he has come back to hunt me." I give a short reply and although he looked confused, he decided against asking any further questions, an act I was definitely grateful for cause I have no idea how I was suppose to explain the situation to anybody let alone, a stranger. 

  "What's your address? I'll drive you home." He asks. 

"You don't have to. I wouldn't want you to go through that stress of dropping me off and coming back to pick your car." I reply but he shrugs me off immediately. 

"Just tell me the address, I'm not complaining." He replies sharply and I reluctantly tell him. 

  "I know I should have said this earlier but thank you for helping me out and I'm sorry you had to come this far." I say to him as soon as he drops me off and hands over my car keys. 

"It's not a problem and you're welcome." He tells me and I contemplate borrowing him my car to go home since it was already late but immediately toss the idea aside. 

  "By the way, I don't live too far from here at all. My place is actually at a walkable distance." He adds and I'm surprised. 

"Since when did you know that?" I ask. 

  "When you told me your address, I figured it out so don't look at me like that." He warns and I roll my eyes. 

"Well now I don't have to feel guilty about stressing you so have a good night and thanks again." I reply with a yawn and walk into the house not waiting for a response from him but I heard him say goodnight before walking in through the gate.