Chapter 28
Later in the evening, Chichi collected Dare’s phone number from Tiara and dialed it after having a brief pep talk with her friend who was having second thoughts about the call. They were in Chichi’s apartment this time around, and the call was on loudspeaker.
“He might not answer,” Tiara said nervously when Dare didn’t answer the call after the first three rings. “I don’t think he has your number.”
“Shush!” Chichi snapped at her. “I don’t want him to hear your voice if he answers the call.”
Tiara shrugged but remained quiet.
“Hello,” Dare said coolly when he answered the call after the fifth ring.
“Hello, sir. It’s me, Chichi,” Chichi said hesitantly, almost expecting him to hang up on her the moment she mentioned her name.
He didn’t. “Hi, Chichi. How are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“Great. What’s up?”
“Um, I’m calling to ask you if I should still expect to hear from your staff regarding my internship interview.”
“Yes, of course,” he sounded surprised that she would think that he’d cancel her interview. “I have already spoken to her about you, so expect to hear from her next week. I’ll forward your number to her after this phone call, and she will get in touch with you either on Monday or Tuesday. Her name is Sharon, by the way.”
Chichi heaved an audible sigh of relief. “Thank goodness! Thank you very much, Dare. I can’t even thank you enough. I was worried that you’d cancel it after yesterday’s—um, you know…”
She heard Dare chuckle on the other end of the line. “What happened yesterday had nothing to do with you. It was just unfortunate that you were there to witness it.”
On hearing that, Tiara felt her heart squeeze in her chest. She could only imagine how embarrassed he must have been about Chichi being there to see and hear all that trash that Mama J had to say during what was supposed to be a formal meeting.
“Speaking of which,” Chichi continued. “Tiara and I spoke this morning and she said—”
“Don’t,” Dare stopped her mid-sentence. “Please don’t be offended Chichi, but I don’t want to have that conversation with you. I have to hang up now, someone here needs my attention,” he lied.
“Uh, yeah. Ok,” Chichi said sounding disappointed.
“Ok, bye,” he said and hung up before she could say anything else.
“Phew, that went well. Sort of,” Chichi said awkwardly.
“It’s ok, Chichi,” Tiara assured her friend. “You tried. I’m glad your job interview isn’t affected by my personal, messed up life.”
“Don’t say that, please. Your life isn’t messed up. I suggest you go and see him and explain everything to him.”
Tiara wasn’t interested. “What’s the point? It’s over between us, and nothing I’ll say can ever fix what I’ve already damaged.”
“You’re giving up? That’s like letting Mama J win!”
“This isn’t about anyone winning. It’s over. Let it be, ok? I know you’re trying to help, and I appreciate that, but let’s just drop this matter, please.”
Chichi felt sorry for her friend, but she was willing to respect her wishes and let the matter go. For now, at least.
“Fine,” she said solemnly. “So, what now?”
“Now, I’ll pick up my purse and head back to my place for a leisurely bath with my expensive bath salt and fragrant bubble bath wash, while sipping on chilled champagne accompanied with strawberries dipped in molten chocolate. After that, I’ll wrap my beautiful body in my most expensive silk robe and binge-watch Netflix while eating some homemade popcorns and sipping Pepsi until I fall asleep.”
“And tomorrow?” Chichi asked, amused.
“And tomorrow will take care of itself,” Tiara replied confidently. “And the day after, and the one after that, and so on. I’m going to be living one day at a time, from now on. I refused to kill myself over on silly mistake that isn’t even all that bad if we’re being honest.”
“That’s the spirit, boo-boo!”
“I’m going to live my life like it’s lit!”
“Preach, sister!” Chichi yelled, encouraging her friend’s soaring mood.
“I am going to love the heck outta myself, because I deserve it,” Tiara continued in high spirits.
“You deserve it, sis.”
“I’m going to be so full of love that everyone will want some.”
“Including me.”
“Yass!”
“We should drink to that.”
“Totally!”
Giggling like a pair of teenage girls, they ran to Chichi’s kitchen to grab a bottle of wine from the fridge which they poured into two glasses and toasted to a life filled with love and endless happiness.
When Tiara left her friend’s place that night, she felt like she had been reborn. That heavyweight of sadness that had enveloped her all day had suddenly dropped off, and in its place, a feeling of peace.
She promised herself to reach out to Dare sometime in the future to offer him a proper apology for how Mama J embarrassed him because of her indiscretion, but for now, she’s going to carry on with her life as a happily single young woman.