After the storm

After the Storm

A Novel

By

Osar Adeyemi

Copyright

Copyright © 2016 by Osar Adeyemi

ISBN
978-0-9935390-1-5 (eBook)

All
rights reserved.

No part
of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the
author. The only exception is brief quotations in a book
review.

Some
scripture is taken from the New King James Version of the
Bible.

Cover
design by Amanda Matthews at amdesignstudios.net

This is
a work of fiction. Any reference or similarities to actual events,
organizations, real people, living or dead or to real locales is
purely coincidental and is intended to give the novel a sense of
reality. Any similarities to other names, characters, place and
incidents are entirely fictional and a product of the author's
imagination.

Dedication

This
book is dedicated to the memory of my beloved sister, Faith
Ogbeide; your selfless love and many acts of kindness continue to
leave a fragrance in the lives of those who knew you.

Special
Thanks

I am
grateful to you, Lord, for the ability and inspiration to write
this book. I pray that it brings people to your saving grace, as
well as healing and restoration to every broken heart.

And to
you, my precious husband, I can't appreciate you enough. Thanks for
being there for me through the years. The things you do and the
life you live convince me daily of God's love for me.

Special
thanks to my parents in the Lord, Pastor Niyi and Gloria Olujobi;
thanks so much for teaching me the undiluted word of God and also
for living such exemplary lives.

To my
sister-friend, Tomi Lawal, thanks for encouraging me and for being
such a good sounding board during the process of writing this
book.

What can
I say about Edith Oise, Bimbo Fayokun, Kunbi Ajayi, and Tinuke
Nwaokolo? I am so grateful for your help and support. May the Lord
bless you richly.

To my
parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews: I am so glad I am related
to you. Love you lots.

Chapter
1

The
trees were in full bloom outside the Bluewater Shopping Mall.
Blossoms of pinks and whites lined the edges of the road leading up
to the parking deck. Yemi gazed at the trees and took in their
breathtaking beauty. She loved spring. Taking out her mobile phone,
she captured the scene, then reluctantly tore her eyes away from
the trees and walked into the shopping mall.

She made
her way into the River Island store, where they were having a sale.
The prices were unbelievable. Many of the items were half price or
less, and some items had even been marked down as much as 70
percent. She picked out three tops and a couple of pants and made
her way over to the fitting room.

Three
hours later, she had a number of shopping bags dangling from both
arms, but she was not quite done. She walked to the Hawes and
Curtis shop to get some shirts for her two older brothers, her
cousin Tola, and for herself. She managed to pick out three men's
shirts but was undecided about the fourth. While she stood there,
trying to make up her mind, she decided it was best to go and pick
out some women's shirts before returning to the men's
section.

Picking
out her own shirt was easy. She spotted a pink-patterned one she
liked almost immediately. Then she looked at other shirts, trying
to pick out one for her cousin. Tola would definitely not want
something monochrome. She was a bit whacky, and the crazier the
colours, the more she would like it.

As Yemi
looked at the different shirts, she was not quite sure what made
her glance up; as she did so, she looked straight into the eyes of
a guy across the store. It was obvious he had been staring at her,
and as their eyes met, he made no effort to look away. Instead, a
small, lazy smile curved his lips.

She looked away, feeling slightly miffed.
At least he could have looked away when he was caught
staring.

A few
minutes later, she finally made up her mind which shirt to pick for
Tola and moved across the store to make the final selection in the
men's section.

"I
believe the blue shirt looks better." Yemi heard the deep, smooth
voice before she saw the person speaking. She turned around and saw
the guy who had been staring at her from across the
store.

"Both
shirts are nice, but the blue one looks nicer," he said to her with
a slight smile.

Her
first thought was to thank and dismiss him as quickly as possible,
but as she cast another quick glance at him, she found herself
unable to do so. She didn't know if it was the dark eyes with a
hint of roguish charm or the chiselled, attractive face that
arrested her, but she found herself feeling strangely
tongue-tied.

"I think
so too," she heard herself saying a little lamely. "Just that I
like the purple shirt as well."

"Then
get them both."

She
looked at his face again. She was not short, but judging by how
much she had to look up in order to see his face, he had to be well
over six feet tall. His fitted beige polo shirt showed his lean,
muscled arms, and his lithe frame suggested that he either had an
active lifestyle or worked out a lot. He was an attractive man, and
judging from the very confident air that exuded from him, he was
probably very aware of it too.

"I've
already gotten these ones," she replied, looking at the other
shirts she was holding. "I'll just pick the blue shirt. Thanks for
helping me decide."

"You're
welcome," he replied, extending his hand towards her. "I'm Akeem
Kadiri."

"Yemi
Delano," she said, briefly clasping his extended hand. "Well,
thanks again for helping me choose." She took the shirt and started
to head towards the till.

"Hey,
let me help you with those bags."

"I'm
okay," she said. But Akeem reached for the bags anyway. "Really, I
am," she insisted.

"I can't
have a lady lugging all these bags around." He smiled charmingly as
he took the bags from her. A faint whiff of his cologne, masculine
and fresh, teased her nostrils.

"Thanks,
that's very kind of you."

"My
pleasure."

"Do you
live here?" he asked as they made their way towards the
till.

"No, I'm
here on holidays. What about you?"

"I'm
here on business, but my little sis does not understand that," he
said ruefully as he glanced at his own shopping bags. "I've always
got to get her something."

"But I
can see that you've got some things already," Yemi said, looking at
the shopping bags he was carrying. Some of them bore the names
of shops she never bothered going into because their sale
prices were higher than the full prices of items in other
shops.

"I've
actually bought everything I need, but she specifically asked for
shirts from this shop. But that's it. I'm done now." He sounded
relieved.

She was
amused at the expression on his face. Typical male. It was obvious
that he did not enjoy shopping. They got to the till and took their
turn in the short queue. Akeem paid for the shirts he had picked
for his sister and then attempted to pay for Yemi's too.

"Oh no,
I've got that covered," Yemi said quickly, handing her money to the
cashier. He must have noticed the determined look on her face
because he said nothing more.

He shot
her an amused glance as they walked out of the shop. "I didn't mean
any harm."

"I'm
sorry if I sounded ungrateful, but I had really budgeted for those
shirts." She glanced at her wristwatch. "I've got to go now. It's
been nice meeting you…" She held out her hands for her shopping
bags.

A
teasing smile curved his lips. "Trying to get rid of me? Not so
fast. Are you done shopping?"

"No, but
I can see you don't like shopping, and I don't want to hold you
up."

"I'm not
complaining. So long as you agree to have lunch with me
afterwards."

Yemi
hesitated. "What were you planning to do after getting the shirts
for your sister?"

"Have
lunch, go home…nothing special planned."

She
shrugged. "Very well then, but I want to pop into about three more
stores, and then I'll be done."

"At your
service." He made an exaggerated bow, and she was forced to
laugh.

"Don't
say you weren't warned," she told him as she led the way towards
another store.

True to
his word, Akeem followed her to all the stores she wanted to go to
and waited patiently while she looked at different items and picked
out what she wanted. She could feel his eyes on her all through her
shopping. That seemed to be a habit with him, and he just smiled in
that slow, attractive way of his whenever their eyes
met.

"Phew!"
she said a while later as they exited the last store. "I'm really
tired now. You must be too," she said in an almost accusatory tone.
There was no way he could have enjoyed what she had just put him
through. She had actually expected him to tell her, at some point,
that he had to go, but he had not.

He
looked amused at her peeved tone. "I told you that I'm at your
service. Are you sure you're done?"

"Now
you're making fun of me."

"No, I'm
not!" Akeem laughed. "And really, I'm quite okay if you still have
any more shops to go to."

"Well,
just one more actually," Yemi answered, smiling mischievously at
him. "But this time, just to look. I'm not buying
anything."

He
arched his brows slightly. "Why is that?"

"You'll
see when we get there," she said mysteriously. "I always go in
there whenever I'm in Bluewater. But like I said, it's just to
look."

She led
the way towards the store, and a few minutes later they entered the
Mulberry shop.

"See
what I mean?" She laughed as she held up a bag and showed him the
price tag. "That will cost me all the shopping money I brought to
England!" She placed the bag back on the shelf.

"Nice
bag, though," he said, looking at the bag closely. "Neat finishing,
beautiful leather."

"Mulberry bags are always lovely, but way too expensive for a
student like me." She picked up another one and giggled at the
price tag. It was even more expensive than the first
one.

"Hmmm…"
Akeem was still busy looking at the different bags. "My sister
would love one of these, but I wonder why ladies like
bags?"

"No
idea!" Yemi laughed. "We just do!"

"I think
this is the prettiest." He held up one of the bags.

"I like
this one best," Yemi said pointing to another one. "Tan is a lovely
colour, would go with a lot of clothes. Tan somehow brings out the
beauty of a bag more than black, I think."