Chapter One

01

"Are you even listening to me?" Dayo asks, already looking annoyed through the zoom screen. Her Nigerian-British accent gets me every time, and I always tell her, with a voice like that she could conquer any man.

We met at a casting last year, cheering on each other like two idiots, maybe that's why we never got the booking.

She's in London and I'm down here in South Africa and on days we feel super spontaneous, we meet halfway. And by halfway, I meant she finds me at Seychelles which is one flight for me and two for her. But she never complains, she loves the island.

"Yes," I smile.

"Then what did I say?" She asks.

"You were asking how I was able to get this blonde wig over my knotless black braids."

"Was I?" She rolls her eyes.

"Yes." The only way to make her believe that was what she was asking me from the very beginning is by being confident and not backing down.

"Right, then I guess you are not coming." Wait, so it didn't work? I swear I read it somewhere or maybe it was in a movie where it caught my attention.

"No, don't be like that. What am I coming to?" I ask.

"My brother's wedding. It's this Friday. Did you book your flight already?" She asks.

Shit, I didn't - but to be fair, work has been very quiet lately and I've been low on cash.

Welcome to adulthood.

"I'm low on money, Dayo," I tell her.

"Why didn't you say sooner, although I already figured it out and bought you your ticket already."

"You did?"

"Why do you sound surprised? I do nice things."

"Right," I say, not believing a word she's saying, although I should be grateful right now - she paid for my flight ticket.

"What's the theme for the wedding," I ask.

"Don't upstage the bride, that's the only rule."

"Well, she shouldn't worry about me," I tell her.

"You're sure about that? Remember how we met Basim," she smirks thinking back to the event.

That night, I blamed the alcohol but I remembered every detail. The way he had my toes curling, legs shaking as his tongue twirled my clit— My thoughts stop midway as I bring myself back to reality. Basim is a friend and that night is never spoken of.

"You're thinking of that night, aren't you?" She asks when I don't respond to her previous question.

"Maybe, but that's in the past and we've become really good friends. So, do you think you have time for a little zoom fashion show?" I ask her, derailing the conversation.

It wasn't meant to be a big deal. We met Basim in Dubai. To be exact, we met him at his work event, which you could say was ours too since we were hired to accompany the owner.

No, we are not escorts, we just got stuck in a little situation - call it a favour if you may.

By the time he introduced himself to us, I had already had a little too much to drink.

So what I remember was we were upstairs while everyone else was enjoying the party. I thank the DJ that night because the music was at a high. Imagine the shame of coming downstairs, knowing everyone heard your screams. Thank goodness I didn't have to live it.

"He is going to be at the wedding," she lets me know.

"Why are you making it seem like we haven't all hung out in group settings before. It's not a big deal, Basim and I are good."

"I know, but your ex, the one you cheated on with Basim, is a groomsman at the wedding."

"Why did you have to say it like that," I groaned. I know what I did was bad, no one needs to remind me. If I could go back, I would have kept my hands to myself.

"Maybe you should let Basim know," she tells me.

"Why can't you? Basim and I never even had sex." I wasn't going to be the one to speak on this with him and make things awkward.

"You didn't?" She asks, baffled.

"I told you then we didn't."

"The way you couldn't stop speaking about how good he made you feel, I just assumed you two tangled in the sheets."

"Dayo, stop." The way I felt guilty the next day - worse feeling.

"Would you have sex with him if you were put in that situation?" She asks.

"You know I would." I smile, but then immediately stop myself. "Don't get ideas in my mind. We want to have a drama free wedding and I should actually start packing. What time is my flight?"

"Your flight leaves in two hours, so you have time. But I knew you would want to get with him." She grins and I'm about ready to end this zoom call.

"You know I take longer to get ready, so that means no zoom fashion show. I will just throw a bunch of fancy clothes in the suitcase and we will pick a bland one for the wedding." I jump off the bed and grab my suitcase from under the bed.

"And Dayo, stop talking about Basim. I will see you when my flight lands there by you. Caio." I blow her a kiss as I close my screen.

I'm a Social Bug

Just got off the phone with Dayo. How much does your ex know about me? _Basim

I saw the text message as my uber finally arrived. "You've got to be kidding me right now," I mutter, more so to myself but the driver hears and raises his eyebrow.

"Not you, sorry. Can you help me with my luggage please?" I ask him.

The moment my butt touches the back seat, I draw out my phone.

I never told him your name _Nurys

"International Airport?" The driver asks and I nod. Maybe that was his way of trying to start a conversation that was very much not warranted. The app clearly told him where I was going and how much it was going to cost me.

Good _Basim

Good? How do I even decipher that? Good as in 'he better not know my name' or good as in 'I'm glad he doesn't know it's me'.

Why are you being a jerk? _Nurys

How? Are you overthinking my texts again? _Basim

Listen, I will talk to you when you land. Wadaean. _Basim

My Arabic gets a little better every time he teaches me a new word, but don't blame me that I just used google to know that he said bye.

The flight was already going to be long, but it will all be worth it when I see the girls again. We could turn this into a girls weekend away.

I scroll to the group chat and begin to type.

Let's make this a GIRLS WEEKEND!! _Nurys