The Millionaire's daughter (2) Another life

Previously, I had never had much contact with very wealthy people. Ok, I had met some who were really rich but not the type of wealth that can compete with that of Dangote*. So, mixing with Mira and her friends that night, seeing those children of the rich party showed me the other side of life.

That there were some people in this world who never had to worry where the next meal was coming from or money for the rent or the children's school fees and other challenges of everyday life that the average person goes through.

Mira and her friends partied as if there was no tomorrow. There was enough food and drinks to feed a small village. Before long, many of them were drunk, including the ladies.

Mira introduced me to some of her friends including Tracie, the birthday girl. 

"So, this is the new boyfriend, then, " she said, giving me an eyeful, assessing me.

"He's just a friend," Mira insisted.

"Doesn't look so from the way you are holding on to him! As if you are ready to jump his bones any minute!" That was Ivy, a lady in their group.

They exchanged glances and laughed loudly. Mira made a rude remark that sounded like 'bitches', took my hand and led me away.

"Hope you are having fun?" she stated as we sat down far from the speakers blasting out loud, thumping music.

"Yes. It's a cool party," I replied.

She looked keenly at me and said:

"You know the first time I saw you, you reminded me of someone."

"Michael," I stated.

"Yes. Michael was a former boyfriend of mine during my campus days. We were together for nearly three years before we broke up. You might think after all these years that I would have forgotten about him but I can't get over him. I still think about him," she said before taking a sip of her drink.

"So, was that why you invited me here?" 

She thought about it for a while.

"In a way yes. Perhaps, seeing you is a way of reconnecting with my lost love," she replied. "But that's not the whole truth. I think I like you for yourself, not just that you resemble someone I used to know."

In between dancing, Mira and I chatted for a long time that night. She told me a lot about herself and her family including her father whom she said she still missed some years after his death.

Mira is the last born among three children. "I was my Dad's favourite. There was nothing he would not do for me," she said. She stared gloomily into her glass of wine and was very quiet for a while, a somber air enveloping her like a cloak, a sharp contrast to all the merriment around us.

I reached across the table and took her hand in mine. She smiled at me, then jumping up, exclaimed:

"Come on. They are playing my favourite song!"

Not long after that, we left the party despite Tracie's protests that it was too early.

"The fun's just starting! Why the hurry? Mira can go, but leave Tunji here. There are some fun things I'll like to do with him. Tunji, baby, come to Mama!" she said, in a slurred, drunken voice, attempting to kiss me. But Mira took my hand and led me away.

"Thanks for a nice evening. I had fun," I said when she dropped me at home well past midnight. Light from the streetlights cast soft shadows inside the car where we sat.

"Maybe we can hang out again some other time?" she asked earnestly. Then, she leaned across her seat, a look of longing in her eyes, her lips parted.

I moved a little and the intended kiss landed on my cheek. She looked at me, surprised.

"What's the matter? Don't you find me attractive?" she demanded sharply.

"It's not that. I think you're a very pretty lady. But I believe we are moving too fast."

"Too fast?" she exclaimed. "It's just a kiss. I'm not asking you to have sex with me! Though I won't mind spending the rest of the night with you."

"I know. But let's take things slower a little, get to know each other better..."I explained.

"What's there to know? You already know a lot about me. As for you, at least I'm aware of where you work. And as your landlady, I know where you live."

"Look, Tunji, I like you. Very much. And I feel a connection with you that I haven't felt with any man for a long time. You might think someone in my position can get any guy I want. Truth is, it's even more difficult for me to get someone decent, one I can trust that he is not with me just for the money, but because he likes me. 

"So many men want to date me but I know they are just hustlers, who are after what they can get from me. Like my last boyfriend. I trusted him, believing he loved me, but he ended up duping me, running off with my money, millions of Naira."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I told her.

"It's ok. It's all in the past now. I bet you are not like that sneaky bastard. I feel like I can trust you because I was the one who came after you and not the other way round. It shows you are not interested in my money."

We sat chatting for a while. Before she left, we fixed another date.

"Can't wait to see you again, Tunji," she said, as she leaned close and kissed me. As her hands began roaming all over my body, I gently withdrew from her embrace, said 'goodnight' and got down from the car.

I saw a lot of Mira in the following months. This was a lady who hardly used to check on her property before, leaving the management to her manager. Now, because of me, she started coming regularly. And she and Nick got on well. 

There was only one problem- my girlfriend, Nadia. She lived at the other end of town and she often visited me especially at weekends.

There was even a day, a Sunday evening she came and met Mira and I had to introduce her as my landlady. After Mira's departure, she began to ask all kinds of questions. 

"Are you sure there's nothing going on with you two? She was acting too familiar with you!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"I've heard all kinds of rumours concerning you and your landlady. That she frequents here and you go out with her and return very late and..."

"So, Nadia, you don't have any work to do anymore but go about listening to petty gossip from idle, jobless people? She's just my landlady, nothing more. I've nothing to do with her," I stated vehemently.

Maybe she believed me for she did not pursue the matter any longer. I might have convinced her but I was only fooling myself that I had nothing serious with Mira for by this time, we had started dating. In fact, I had just spent the weekend in her house (and it was not the first time) most of which was in her bedroom...

I had been with her two days and wanted to return home on Sunday to prepare for work the following day.

But Mira was reluctant to let me go.

"Can't you stay an extra day, darling? You know I miss you when you are gone," she had stated, winding her arms round my waist.

I was standing in front of the mirror buttoning my shirt, wondering if I would have the time for a hair cut as my hair had grown too long.

"I know, but I need to do some errands, visit one or two places today," I had said.

"You can always do that later. Right now, I want you," she said as she began to unbutton the shirt I had just worn.

"Mira," I said, protesting in a half hearted manner. But she ignored me, and stripping off her short nightie, we were soon back in the bed we had just spent many hours in, making love.

"Don't you get tired?" I asked her teasingly.

"Not of you. You are like a drug in my blood. Am addicted to you," she said as she mounted me and began to move, first slowly then faster. I moved my waist in sync with her rhythm and for a while, her soft moans of pleasure were the only sounds in the room...

Note: Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Nigerian businessman and industrialist is Africa's richest man

Names have been changed to protect the identity of the narrator and other individuals in the story.

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