34 ọgbọn meta

It was done. The stage had been set. We had set the house on fire before leaving and built a contraption to lead ocean water to extinguish the fire when the high tides came in- we estimated that would be about twenty four hours after we left. This gave the fire enough time to burn the house and evidence to a crisp, but not enough time to burn down the whole island or draw attention to it. The only thing left was a quite literal leap of faith. I could practically feel Ade's heart beating out of his chest, his hand gripping the collective control as he opened throttle. I probably should've been scared too, but there was a magical mixture of trust in him and simply not giving a fuck whether I lived or died that allowed me to remain numb. I was numb to it all. Numb till the very second we touched down on the coast of rural South Africa. Ade had deduced we were on Ximenes' private island just off of the coast of South Africa, so it was a relatively short flight until we reached land. It wasn't until I stepped onto solid ground, that I felt the weight lift off of my shoulders. Finally it was all over. For a second, just one second, my mind wasn't racing with a hundred thoughts at a time. For a second of pure bliss, I just focused on inhaling and exhaling.

Then, thoughts came flooding back in like the red sea. What now? Were all the children found? Do they know Ximenes is dead? Will they find out? Will I go to jail? How much does the world know? Do they think Ade was involved? I didn't realize I was hyperventilating until a hand touched my shoulder.

"Nki we're going to be fine. No matter what happens, you have me. "

"Yes, I do." I sighed, deciding to get the tough conversation I knew we had to have out of the way. "And that's not by chance is it?"

"I suppose you and Ximenes figured it out huh?" he sighed

"It wasn't exactly rocket science. How shitty would his luck have to be for him to coincidentally kidnap a girl with every skill necessary to take him down? It was no coincidence. It was you, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was. I understand if you hate me and never want to speak to me again. I lied by omission and basically used you as a pawn to defeat Ximenes. I put your life in danger countless times and certainly exposed you to trauma that could scar you for life. I don't even know where to start apologizing for the mental and physical toll this entire thing probably took on you. All I can say is I never knew I'd love you as much as I do. I knew you'd become my partner to take down Ximenes and maybe become friendly acquaintances along the way, but nothing like this. I knew that I was doing something unforgivable for a good cause, taking a privileged rich girl into a life of stress and crime, but I didn't expect a down to earth woman that would understand everything about me. You are my best friend and I planned to tell you what I did after everything was said and done, but to be honest a part of me wanted to forget. I will never stop making up to you and I will never stop being sorry. Whether you drop me or not, everything and anything you ever need, I will do. I promise."

Before responding, I let Ade sit in silence for a second, just to make him sweat.

"You don't deserve me, but I'm going to let you have me anyways because the alternative would hurt me more than you. I'm tired of fighting Ade. I'm tired of being stressed, and unhappy. Finally this is all over and for once I can just do what makes me happy. You make me happy."

"So you wanna do me?" He smirked.

"Boy you was just begging for forgiveness, can't you postpone your cockiness for at least an hour after admitting you ruined my life?"

"Yeah you right, my bad." He looked back down at his hands and I almost felt bad for reminding him.

"Look, you were faced with an awful situation and ended up doing an awful thing to face it. What you did was ruthless, but you know fully well you're already forgiven. Regardless of how much it fucked us both up, we were meant to do what we did. Someone had to stop it. Even if they find out about what I did to Ximenes and I go to jail for the rest of my life, it was worth it. "

"You're not going to jail."

"Says who? If they find the body and realize he didn't die from the fire, or if anything in our water release timer goes wrong, they will find out he was murdered. There were only two other people on the island. Either I go down for it, or you do, and you're out of your damn mind if you think I'd ever let you go down for it. Hell I won't even let you lie for me. If they find out they will put you on the stand at my trial. You'll be under oath. I'm not going to tell you to lie for me. I did what I did and I'm fine with that. I'll proudly serve my time because everyone will know I did what needed to be done."

"That's never going to happen. First of all, you know I'd lie for you in a heartbeat, it isn't even a question. But what if I didn't have to?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're doing pre-law in college right? Pop quiz: in our situation, what would be the best route for me to avoid testifying?"

"I mean since you helped me cover it up, you could take the fifth to avoid self incrimination but that could go one of two ways. Either they give you immunity to testify against me or find another way to prove it and prosecute us both- then the fact that you tried to plead the fifth would make you look even guiltier. If I was our lawyer I really wouldn't recommend it."

"What about the other one?"

"Which other one? Oh. Oh my god. No. No I'd never make you do that. That's literally fucking crazy" my eyes widened as I saw Ade get down on one knee. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"I really never thought I would be the type of person to be in a relationship at all. Real or fake-"

"No, no, no, no!"

"- in fact I've never even had a real girlfriend. Barely ever had a crush. I was perfectly okay with the possibility that I'd end up alone for the rest of my life-"

"Okay I get it you're serious but you can stop, I'm sure there's another way!"

"-but now I can see myself living out the rest of my days with you, and its not even a fantasy or an option, it feels like my future. You are my best friend, my partner in life, and regardless I know I will never love any other woman as much as I love you."

My heart dropped through my stomach and for a second I think I stopped breathing. In that moment, it clicked, and I felt like a fucking idiot. As images of Ade and I together rushed through my mind, I realized they made me happy. We had been through so much and done so much that there was never a second to breathe. My every thought was related to calculating our next moves or tying up loose ends. I didn't have time to think about feelings, or emotions. I didn't have time to analyze the way we acted towards each other, and looked at each other. I didn't have time fucking notice I was fully and completely in love with Ade Eesuola, but I was. I had convinced myself I killed Ximenes out of self defense, but I could have left him alive. I killed him for of all the times he laid his hands on me, for every word he said that made me feel hopeless, for every kiss and touch that I didn't want, for every child he sold. That wasn't all though, what unleashed my fury was everything and anything he had ever done to the man that I loved, including torturing him. Even though I didn't know it at the time, I didn't love him platonically. My heart pounded in my throat and my mind couldn't stop racing. I had never been in love before, I had no idea what it felt like, but all I knew was right now I felt insane. Completely out of my fucking mind, but for some reason I was okay with it.

"Nkiruka Okunsanya, will you marry me?"

I blinked and inhaled. I knew now I was in love with Ade, but we'd never discussed it. Thoughts swarmed in my head. 'Is he in love with me? Is that why he's proposing? Or is he just proposing platonically? How the fuck do you propose platonically?' I tried to talk myself down, maybe I wasn't actually in love. Maybe I was being hasty. There was no need to ruin our friendship this way. I tried to convince myself this wouldn't be a real marriage. But deep down in the back of my mind I knew that if I married Ade I couldn't imagine divorcing him. I was giving up my independence at 18. My mind wouldn't stop racing and decided to stop waiting for my thoughts to make sense and just give an answer. I knew that answer was the dumbest thing I could say and it could royally fuck up everything from then onward, but I took the chance.

"Yeah. I will."

As you can tell from where we are now, the second I said those words all hell broke loose.