CHAPTER 9
APRIL
Joann always made it her sole task to inform us about any carnivals, fairs or performances happening around, so, when her message entered that morning after I stepped into my apartment, a wide smile graced my lips reminding that it was all I needed to forget about the embarassing moment at Rowan’s place and the perfect way to catch fun with my friends and forget my worries.
Sometimes, I wonder if Joann was a psychic because she always knew the right time to call, even Matilda that was the psychologist amongst us didn’t have that telepathy.
“Did you receive Joann’s message?” Matilda’s voice came from the other end in an ecstatic tone as soon as I picked up the call. Her call came in immediately I finished reading the message.
The way she sounded made it look like she had been deprived of catching fun for almost a year when we still had our girls night out two weekends back.
“Yeah, I did.”
“Good, I’m heading out to her place now,” she announced and I lifted my brows. According to Joann’s message, the fair wouldn’t be starting until twelve noon and it was barely nine in the morning.
“So soon, why?”
“No reason. I just feel we could catch up on our lives. We haven’t seen each other in two weeks,” she reminded me and I nodded in understanding even though she couldn’t see me.
Truly, that girls night out had been the last time I set my eyes on Joann though we chatted almost every day but since we were all busy and her place was far from mine.
It was always hard to see each other as frequently as I did with Matilda whose place was only three streets away from mine while Joann’s place was more than an hour from mine as she stayed in the semi-elite neighbourhood.
“Oh, that’s right. I’ll join you guys soon,” I told her.
“See you later.” She hung up immediately after her words and I dumped my phone on the bed before going to the living room to do some cleaning. A couple of minutes later, after I was done cleaning, I headed to the bathroom for my morning hygiene.
After getting dressed in a black skinny jeans and a red laced up peekabo camisole, I packed my back length hair into a ponytail before applying a simple make-up on my face; one that wasn’t beyond mascara, eye liner and lipgloss.
I slid my legs into a black tiny strap sandals before picking up my black leather jacket from the bed accompanied with my black clutch purse and then I walked out of the house.
Soon, I got into my Jazz car; one I would complete it’s payment at the end of the month. Actually, I was paying for it instalmentally since I didn’t have enough to pay for it at once and I really needed to get a car as my workplace was almost an hour to my house and having to rush for bus in the morning and evenings were not my thing. In peace and quiet, I headed to Joann’s place and I got there exactly an hour later.
A few seconds after I rang the door bell, the door flung open and Joann enveloped me in a hug that instant without even confirming if I was the one at the door or someone else. She let go of me three seconds later and then we were finally able to swap greetings. She was in a brown fluffy knit solid crop cami top and shorts set that looked great on her just like every of her clothes did.
Joann was an epitome of black beauty, her willowy body was basically dripping of chocolate. She definitely would have been a perfect model if only she hadn’t ventured into animations.
“Nice seeing you, my birthday month,” she teased and I chuckled before we both walked into the house where I met Matilda seated on the centre rug in the living room and gobbling down pizza.
Joann’s house was a two bedroom condo and her living room was what you would refer to as artistic. The whole house was painted in grey and white; Joann’s favorite color and the reason she’d rented a two bedroom condo even though she lived alone was because she wanted a studio and the second room served that purpose. It was a medium sized room that contained two grey chaise longues, a small centre table placed on a colorful centre rug.
The large plasma TV was placed on the only mural in the living room. The mural had been painted by Joann, it was simple yet beutiful, painted in white and black with few words like bang, wow, swoof, love and fuck written on it.
“You’re here,” Matilda acknowleged upon seeing me and I smiled at her.
“You’ve lost much weight since the last time I saw you,” Joann pointed out as she took her seat beside Matilda on the centre rug while I sat on the chaise lounge.
“Yeah…” I drawled out in an unsure manner. I was what you would refer to as slender and losing weight meant skinny and I didn’t want that.
“She hasn’t been eating well in the past few days,” Matilda told her before gulping down some coke.
“Why? You’re on a week break, right?” Joann questioned as she offered me a slice of the pizza and then patted the empty space beside her in an attempt to make me join them on the floor and I did just that.
“Yeah, maybe it’s because of the stress or…”
“Or because you broke up with Ray? Don’t tell me you’ve been moping around and wallowing in self-pity?” She asked as she turned to me and I shrugged.
“It’s hard, you know,” I replied and she rolled her eyes.
“You need to get over him, he isn’t worth your time at all. I hope the drinks was able to help in a little way, right?” Matilda asked and I nodded slowly until I remembered the aftermath of the drinks.
“Can you believe what happened after you left?”
They both swung their gazes to me in a curious manner before Matilda lifted her brows.
“What hapened?” She questioned.
“I slept in someone’s house,” I replied and they both shared a look before turning to me.
“Is it like a one-night stand?” Joann asked in a teasing manner and I shook my head.
“No, it’s not up to that. Though, it was in a man’s house but nothing happened.”
“Really?” they both asked in unison and I smiled. They’re brains always worked together, maybe because they’ve known each other since we were young. Their friendship started since elementary school and it was through Matilda that I met Joann, since, Matilda and I were both in med school and we ended up being roommates, whenever Joann paid her a visit in the hostel, I was always present and soon, we became good friends.
“Yeah but the surprising part is the fact that I crashed in that guy’s place,” I continued and they both creased their brows simultaneously.
“Which guy?” Matilda asked in a confused tone.
“I believe it’s not Ray, right?” Joann questioned and I bobbed my head.
“Yeah, Ray doesn’t stay in my area let alone the apartment building,” I replied and they both heaved a sigh of relief.
“Good, so, he’s someone we know, right?” Matilda asked and I shrugged.
“Yeah, you know the guy I saved last week?”
“That billionaire? The hot and sexy Rowan?” Joann queried as her eyes bulged out in excitement and I nodded.
“Wow, oh my goodness! This is literally the third time you’ll be meeting him though this one is embarassing but I guess the last two overshadowed it, isn’t this fate?” Joann questioned rhetorically before chewing on her pizza in excitement.
“So you crashed in his place but if I heard you right you mentioned that he stays in the same apartment building as yours,” Matilda pointed out and Joann almost choked on her pizza. I offered her water quickly and when she calmed down, she turned to me with wide eyes.
“He stays in your building? How come? Why would a billionaire stay in your building?” Joann asked and I lifted my shoulders in a half shrug.
“Beats me too. I was equally shocked when I saw him this morning. My question was the same as yours but he didn’t give any tangible answer.”
“Could it be that he’s hiding from some thing or someone?” Matilda reasoned and we both turned to her.
“I’m not sure. But it’s actually absurd.”
“Maybe he’s a criminal or something,” Matilda mentioned and I chuckled.
“It can’t be that anyway, that’s his problem.”
“But you guys are next door neighbours now, I can sense something,” Joann mentioned and I rolled my eyes.
“Oh, please,” I gave her a dismissive wave but she nudged my shoulders in return then I continued, “Worst case is that I’m his attending doctor, I’ll be doing that for a month.”
“Oh, wow,” Matilda commented.
“My artistic sense is already imagining things,” she said and I scoffed.
“Use the imagination in your animations, I’m sure it’ll be a blast,” I told her and she waved her hand.
“But I have that feeling too,” Matilda teased and I shook my head.
Not happening.