35 - GIRLS II

The knock on the door was gentle. It sounded like the knock of a maid in the movies, or that of a mother who doesn’t wish to be an unfair racket to her child who should be in bed at such time of the night.

Lola rolled over in bed and stretched her hand. She had wallowed off in sleep, but then, the knock woke her from her slumber though it was a gentle one that should break hard on her.

She sat up. The bedside lamps were on, she didn’t turn them off because she was informed earlier that Peniel and Morgan would come for her.

“Come in,” she said with a muffled voice, but the knock persisted. She rolled out of bed and made it to the door. the card with which Peniel opened the door was laid on an armchair in the room. She picked up the card and opened the door, and right before her were two maids with big treys in which were wrapped clothes and bunny slippers.

“Hello,” said the first maid. “We were sent by Peniel, she said you should have this.”

“And we should lead you to the all-girls lounge.” The second maid said.

“Alright.”

The clothes were a white bathrobe, the very girly sort of it that would be dangerous if a man should set eyes on her as they trailed the walkway, the maids in front and Lola behind.

The walkway was super lit, and the lights were bright, but the windows were masked with thick curtains, maybe to keep people from outside from the little game of stolen glance of what’s inside the mansion and whose inside.

They stopped at a door and pressed the bell. The door was opened by a lady who was dressed in the same white bathrobe and bunny slippers.

“Hey,” said the lady, “late to party.”

Another lady joined her at the doorway. She was armed with a glass of wine and a bottle of wine, and her voice was sassy.

“Hello, sweetheart,” said the second lady, “you look too calm for the baddies.”

Lola smiled and raised a brow, so, they shifted and let her stroll into the room. The room was small, with just five ladies pinned to the sound of music which came from another room. Lola made for the door of the second room, pushed it open and saw yet another paradise.

It was all pink, the light was pink, and the DJ’s laptop was pink. The teddy bears were big and pink, and the paper cups and glasses for the wines were pink, too.

Even her clothes turned pink under the light and music. She smiled as she sighted Peniel. She was already her favourite among the two sisters of Grey, because she was more lively and friendly, while Morgan was a little authoritative, a little reserved.

“And here comes the queen of the night!” Peniel shouted at the sight of Lola, but the music was too loud to let her words hit anyone’s ears.

She walked down to Lola and hugged her. “You finally came, Lola,” she kissed Lola’s cheek, “come with me.”

She led Lola to Morgan and another lady who was at the far corner, busy with hookah. There was something about the smoke they popped in the air from the hookah pipes they had trapped between their lips. They had strong scent and were as bold as the courage they had in the big room.

“Hey, our brother’s woman is here to get spoiled!” Peniel yelled at Morgan.

Morgan spurned to the both of them and laughed. She seemed to have been on strong alcohol all night and the hookah was just a thing to spice up the night’s madness with. Lola isn’t the party type, but it was fun in there. Fun the way they puffed smoke in the air like they were some roadside whores.

“I thought you would turn us down, dear sweetheart,” Morgan hugged Lola.

“You know I won’t turn down what I was yet to know of, and, maybe I was wrong to ditch the little good of posing a query in the first place.”

Morgan patted her shoulder.

“This is what it means to be the daughters of the most rugged woman in the history of America’s secret billionaires.” Morgan came loud. “Three men and none of them could handle her.”

Lola wanted to ask her if such a life was what she wished for, but she swallowed her query and faked a smile. She didn’t sign to go wayward with Grey’s sisters. She only signed to marry Grey and bear him a son.

“That’s the big-time sort of feminism, I guess,” Lola said.

The ladies looked at each other and laughed.

“This is what the average woman out there does not know,” said the third lady among the pair. “My name is Auralia, your fiancé was my crush for a couple of years, but he stopped being my crush when he brought home a wife.”

They laughed.

“You were so bitter the day he proposed to Mary, the mean daughter of the so disciplined Micheals,” Morgan said. “I hate them with raw passion.” She made faces to spice her words.

“I thought I was the only one that despised them,” the lady, Auralia said.

“Okay, enough of the past and the hate for the Micheals, one of them is in this room and trust me, she hates you as much as you hate her family,” Peniel got in.

They laughed. For Lola, her laughter wasn’t real. She wanted to leave the room as soon as she could to go catch some sleep so she wouldn’t wake tipsy in bed when the light of the sun would brace upon her windows.

“That doesn’t help the fact that I hate them as fuck,” Morgan laughed. “Come on, Lola, won’t you have wine? We have the best of them here.”

“You didn’t tell me you had a party, you said you invited friends and cousins,” Lola said.

Morgan laughed. Peniel joined her, and then, Auralia.

“You are right, we know you won’t like to be at a silly girl’s party, but trust me, we want to spoil your ass tonight,” Peniel’s voice was such an excited one.

“Lola, I have a question for you,” came Morgan. “How did you meet our brother.”