32 - YET ANOTHER INTERLUDE
“Love can be confessed a million times by the wrong person, you know,” said Lola, “but trust me, it is seen in character, in the life of the person concerned.”
Peniel raised a brow. Any normal lady would say ‘yes’ the very moment they stepped foot in the mansion, but Lola was something else. Not like the regular ladies out there.
“Is that your answer, Lola, or do you intend to put me on assignment?” Peniel reached out for Lola’s hair with her index finger. “Let’s start with your hair.”
Lola allowed her. it was nothing far from what she saw in movies where rich fellas bring poor ladies home as wives or wives to be. and by the way, Peniel’s finger felt good on her hair, it tickled her a little.
“You have nice hair, Lola, but trust me, Emma will style it the better way,” she took the finger off Lola’s hair. “Mom grew up in class and luxury, all her friends and neighbors, her husbands, her relatives, everything that ever came into her life were class and luxury.”
She hid her hands behind her back like a teenager up for the little act teenagers put up when they want to make new friends with someone they saw for the first time.
“You have a nice dress and nice everything, but trust me, Mom will pick out stuff she wouldn’t like if her eyes should meet yours in this form, so, my duty at this moment is to transform you with the aid of my stylist, Emma.”
Lola moved her lips but said nothing. Maybe, Grey was well aware of the stunt his sister had just pulled on her. She hoped to be ushered into Grey’s mother’s chamber and be introduced, but it’s just something entirely different.
The door to the room was pushed open and a lady walked in, followed by two maids. She might be the Emma Peniel spoke of. The smile on her face was enough reason for Lola to think of such, but her eyes met the lady’s clothes.
Luxury! She might be part of the family, or she might still be the stylist.
“Hello,” she placed two fingers on Lola’s shoulder and speared Peniel her pretty smile. “Is she the lady Tobi said he will bring home?”
Peniel shrugged the lady’s fingers off Lola’s body. “Tobi already proposed to her and she accepted, so, she is officially his fiancée and you shouldn’t place your fingers on her like she is a visitor.”
The lady smiled and placed her arm around Lola’s shoulders like they knew each other and had been friends for quite a long time.
“You know, Lola,” the lady stated, “Peniel thought she was the only one our only brother confided on, but she failed to know that I am his partner in crime and he already told me he has his eyes on you even before he proposed to you in the hall.”
Peniel laughed. Lola smiled. She couldn’t understand what games they were up for, but she was glad she had been tossed into a mansion where there were ladies who would gladly make friends with her.
“My name is Morgan,” said the lady, “and our stylist should be here already. What the heck is she waiting for?”
***
The stylist entered a couple of minutes after the ladies had gone cool with each other. She was dressed most casually, and she wasn’t the young lady Lola thought she might be. an old lady in casual wear, with a teenager who held her bag.
“Sorry, I came late, but trust me, I’m no longer young and punctual,” the old lady said. “New wife, come with me.”
They moved to yet another room and the maids bowed out. The room seemed to be a private space for the ladies of the house, not for the maids.
“This is Emma, the stylist, she had been at mother’s service from age sixteen, and she did follow her to her three matrimonial homes and followed her out of them after each of them failed.” Morgan had a smile that unseat Lola.
It doesn’t feel right for one to speak of three failed marriages as though they were nothing, and by the way, she could tell now that Peniel and Morgan didn’t look exactly like they were of the same father.
“She is truly loyal,” Lola said, “and that should be her daughter, right?”
“She is not my daughter,” the old lady, Emma, said. “I picked her the same way mother picked me and made me her closest companion.”
The ladies laughed except Lola who wasn’t familiar with all the talk that mattered just to them, and when they sensed it, she forced a smile.
“Now,” said Morgan, “here comes the query.”
“I already posed that query, but guess what, she chose to keep me assigned,” Peniel said.
“I see,” Morgan drew a stool for Lola to sit. “Please have a seat.”
“Thanks,” said Lola. She sat on the stool. “You know what, I don’t mean to keep her so engaged with waiting and watching.”
The ladies raised their brows.
“I love Grey,” Lola said, “but I know you don’t tell love from words, you love in action.”
The ladies looked at each other and nodded their heads, then, one by one, Peniel and Morgan left the room, while the rest stayed back.
Emma beamed a sigh.
“Thank God, those two talkative are out of our space,” said Emma, “now, I can do my job in peace.”
The door was pushed open again and Peniel and Morgan returned to the room with a warm smile on their face. They seemed to have gone out to put heads together over a thing.
“A maid was eavesdropping, we saw her from the lining at the door edge,” Morgan announced.
“That’s how we will pick out your attitude over our brother if you love him,” said Peniel, “or you will be like his ex-wife.”
“I hate to remind myself of the pain he felt when she broke up with him and sued for a fifty percent stake in his company,” Morgan added.
“The company they built, though,” Peniel laughed.
“We don’t need a second Mary,” Morgan said. “Not ever.”