Chapter 32

The semester seemed to be dragging on slowly and Tiara was so over it. She couldn’t wait to be done with school so that she could sleep for one week straight without doing anything. She knew that was merely wishful thinking, but she couldn’t help it. No matter how much she tried to assure herself that she was ok and self-sufficient and that she didn’t need a man to be happy, Tiara still couldn’t deny that deep down inside, she felt empty. She missed Dare more than she was willing to admit but there was nothing she could do about it.

Tiara couldn’t wait for the weekend to come so that she could go home and spend time with her family for a few days. Being surrounded by the people that love her and who will still love her even when she messes up was what she needed right now. Her iPhone rang beside her, and Tiara’s eyes googled when she saw who was calling. She couldn’t believe her eyes—Am I imagining this?

She debated within herself whether to answer the phone call or not, weighing the pros and cons, and wondering what might happen if she did or didn’t. What do I do?

Before she could make up her mind about answering the call or not, her phone stopped ringing. She remained where she was, staring at the phone as if she hadn’t seen it before. It started ringing again and this time around, she did not hesitate before snatching it up and swiping the green button to answer the call.

“Hello,” she said with bated breath.

“Hello, Tiara. I’ve missed you so much,” Dare said without preamble.

“I’ve missed you too,” Tiara blurted out without thinking. The words seemed to have just tumbled out of her mouth without her permission.

“Phew! That’s a relief. I was so sure you would never want to speak to me again.”

“And here I was thinking you’d never ever want to speak to me again,” she giggled nervously. “I owe you an apology and an explanation.”

“Don’t worry. Chichi told me everything already.”

“Chichi?” Tiara was surprised. Her friend didn’t mention anything to her. “What did Chichi tell you?”

“Everything; starting from the time we returned from Paris and you and I were no longer on speaking terms, which was my fault by the way, to how you went to confront Jemimah for trying to bully you into giving her money which you didn’t owe her by lying to me, and then how you and Greg got together in Jemimah’s house while she was there. Did I leave anything out?”

“I’ll kill Chichi,” Tiara said flatly.

Dare laughed. “Please, don’t. She’s a very good friend and you should keep her close to you. Friends like her are very rare.”

Tiara was touched. “You’re right, Chichi is a good person.”

“I am glad that she explained everything to me because I was starting to think all sorts of crazy thoughts, and it didn’t help that Jemimah called me after that debacle at the Sheraton to reinforce my anger towards you with her pile of lies.”

“What woman is sick. I have never seen a human being who feels as entitled as she does. My contract with her ended the day I quit the job, but she believed that I owed her because I was seeing you again.”

“Don’t worry, if she ever tries to bother you again, I know what to do to get her to back off.”

“Seriously? What?” Tiara wanted to know.

“I know some ugly stuff about her that she doesn’t know that I am aware of. If she tries to mess with us again, I’ll bring out my joker and send her running for the hills.”

“Whoa, that must be something very nasty.”

“Trust me, it is,” Dare said confidently.

“So… where does that leave us?” Tiara asked tentatively.

“You tell me.”

“I’m sorry I keep messing things up each time things start going great with us. I promise I don’t have any more secrets.”

Dare chuckled. “I’m happy to hear that. And I am sorry for not giving you a chance to explain things to me yourself. I shouldn’t have taken Jemimah’s words for it. That first stunt she pulled should have had me suspicious when she showed up again with her one-sided accusations.”

“She didn’t completely lie, though. I shouldn’t have slept with Greg—”

“That’s in the past now,” Dare dismissed her explanation. “Let’s not talk about it anymore, let’s move on from that.”

“Aww, thanks,” her voice cracked with emotion.

“For what?”

“For being such a sweet guy.”

“And I thought I was a hard guy,” he mused jokingly.

“You’re a hard, sweet guy,” she giggled.

After a brief pause, Dare said, “Chief Bamiloye’s barbecue party is happening this weekend. Wanna go with me?”

“Absolutely!” Tiara couldn’t hide her excitement.

“Great,” Dare said, pleased.

“So, are we back on again?”

“Were we ever off?”

Tiara laughed. Her heart was overflowing with happiness. Dare was back into her life!

“Can Chichi come too?”

“Of course. I’m sure Chief Bamiloye will ask about her if we show up without her. Besides, he sort of invited you two, that day at the Sheraton.”

“Yeah, I remember his sort of invitation,” Tiara said with a giggle. “I can’t wait to see you again.”

“Neither can I, you. The past two weeks have been pure torture for me. It felt like we had been apart for two years.”

“I felt the same way too. I tried to keep myself very busy to stop me from thinking about you or missing you, but nothing worked. I was so shocked when your call came through this evening that I couldn’t answer it at first. I almost thought I was imagining it, but then you called a second time and that was when I knew for sure that I wasn’t imagining things.”

“I’m very happy that we are on the same page right now because I can’t even imagine how awkward it would be to be in love with someone who doesn’t even like you.”

Tiara’s breath caught in her throat when she heard the L-word. Did Dare just insinuate that he was in love with her just now? Was he messing with her, or did he really mean it?

“What did you say?” She whispered in disbelief.

He cleared his throat and said, “I’m in love with you Tiara, and please don’t say that I am wrong, because I know I’m not. I love you Tiara and I am not afraid or ashamed to say so.”

“Oh, Dare,” Tiara gasped. Her eyes welled with tears as realization hit her. You’d think for someone who had been in love before, she’d recognize the signs when they showed up again, but she hadn’t. It had taken Dare’s confession for her to finally put a name to that warm, happy feeling that enveloped her whenever she thought of being with Dare again. That feeling of wanting to spend every waking moment with him, to share every tiny detail of her life with him—it was love! She was in love with Dare, and she didn’t even know it.

“I love you too, Dare,” she said with such certainty that he couldn’t doubt her sincerity.

“I honestly can’t wait to be with you, Tiara. I wish I could fast forward the time so that the weekend can come quickly.”

Tiara laughed. His eagerness to be with her excited her so much because it mirrored how she felt.

“Don’t worry, when we finally get together, we’ll make the most of it.”

“You better believe we will. And we need to do something about this distance between us,” he added suggestively.

“What do you mean?”

“How about moving in with me?” He asked without hesitation.

“Been there, done that,” she laughed.

“I know, but it’s going to be different this time around. I won’t kick you out again, I promise.”

Tiara laughed. “Ok, I’ll think about it,” she said coyly.