04

A week after the sleepover, Dane was spreading his clothes out to the sun to dry after doing laundry. The sun isn't out yet but he didn't worry because he knew that it'll be out anytime soon. 

He was still at it when his eyes lifted to the storey building next to his just in time to see the door open. A dark man came out of the house all dressed up in a black suit, with a suitcase in one hand and a car key in the other hand. 

A fair-skinned woman came out seconds after the man did and kissed him fully on the lips, then she waved at him with a smile and walked back inside the house. The man would be around thirty and the woman would be twenty-five or twenty-six. 

Cute couple, Dane thought. Young couples who are obviously in love with each other. He felt something akin to envy in his heart because he tried picturing Raine and him that way, and the image just doesn't fit. 

"Good morning." The dark man greeted him with a smile on his face. 

"Good morning to you too," Dane replied with a kind smile too. "I see you're going to work?"

"Yes, we hardly get a chance to rest around here. I'm Raymond, and you are?" The man said as he crossed over to Dane's property and walking closer to him. 

"I'm Dennis." Dane answered, taking the man's outstretched hand when he got closer. 

"I see you're not from around here." Raymond stated. 

Dane nodded, "From the states. My late mother was Nigerian, though."

"Woah. It sure doesn't show on you and that's fortunate, my man." Raymond said with a smile.

Dane chuckled at the byplay. "Your wife is a beautiful woman." 

"Thanks, man." Raymond beamed with pride. "Same goes for your girlfriend. She's stunning. I might be married, but I still got eyes." 

Dane knew he was talking about Raine. He didn't bother telling the man that Raine wasn't his girlfriend. Seeing the way he is with Raine, the man would not believe it. "Thanks." He replied. 

"So, you ain't going to work today?" 

Dane checked his watch and grimaced, "In an hour. I've got a patient to see today before I go over to my clinic."

Raymond's face brightened at that. "A patient? Are you a doctor?"

"A physiotherapist." He answered with a nod. 

"Wow. I'm a doctor too. A gynecologist." Raymond answered, sounding happy at the prospect. 

"Really!? That's awesome." Dane started feeling some kind of kinship between them. 

"What do you say we get together sometime later and get to know each other better?" Raymond asked with a glance at his watch. 

"I think I'll like that."

"It's a deal. Come over sometime later in the day, maybe in the evening. You'll do that right?"

"I will." Dane reassured him as he watched Raymond back away from him. Raymond nodded before he said goodbye to Dane one more time, then, he turned and started walking towards his car. 

Dane resumed spreading his clothes after the car drove away. 

*******

Raine was at the gymnasia. She was in a black small bare-belly top and a body fitting trouser just like everyone else. She stood with her leg stretched out on top of a beam like everyone else while the instructor counted from 1 to 20.

She felt eyes on her. She swiveled her head to see Serena staring at her. Serena smiled boldly and Raine returned her smile. 

"...18...19....20! Good job, everyone! That will be all for today." The instructor's voice rang out and echoed through the building. 

Everyone brought down their legs from the beam. Raine did hers with a slight wince because her body was hurting. She turned around but she couldn't see Serena anywhere. She turned and started walking to the restroom. 

She changed her clothes and relieved herself. She was putting a slight powder on her face when the door opened and Serena entered. 

"Hi, Lorraine." She said with a smile as she brought out her own powder. 

"Serena. How was your day?" Raine asked, returning her smile. 

"Same as yours. I was about to head out, how about we go out together and get lunch?"

"Ermm....." Raine checked her watch. 2:30 pm. Dane is still working. "Alright, then. Let me get my stuff so that we will head out."

Together, they headed out. Raine drove them to the only restaurant around town that has what she could eat on their menu. 

When they got to *Your-Belly*, we took a seat at the far end of the restaurant and placed an order. 

"This place really does have great food. My friends and I come here whenever I'm back for holidays." Serena said as they waited for what they ordered. 

"What are you studying in college?" Raine asked, curiously. 

"You mean in the University? Political science. I wanna go into politics." 

"Oh, that's great. I studied business administration."

"Wow. Why ain't you working?" Serena asked. 

"Actually, I got a lot of job offers in the state but I declined all of them. It's just been a year I got out of college. You see, I wanna invest and start my own business." She answered honestly. 

"Wow. Does it mean you have a lot of money? Like you're rich or something?" Serena asked, wide-eyed, like the answer to that question matters a lot. Raine wondered why it would. 

"My parents died in a fire accident when I was just very young. Dane, who was my legal guardian kept my trust fund safe for me to inherit when I become of legal age. I inherited my trust fund when I became eighteen years old. It was quite a lot of money." Raine stated.

"Wow. It must be nice, having a lot of money. If I'd get that kind of money from my parent's death, I would have started praying for their death a long time ago." Serena said, an evil glint entering her eyes. 

Raine didn't notice her expression, but she was horrified about what Serena said. "That's a horrible thing to say, Rena! You don't know how lucky you are to have your parents alive and even though they don't have a lot of money, they're still putting you through school."

"I guess so." Serena admitted, looking sheepish. She was happy when their food arrived because it diverted their attention from the topic in discussion. 

"So, when are you gonna come see my place? I don't live very far from here." Serena said, changing the subject. 

"Some other time. Dane will be getting off work very soon and I wanna go to his place." Raine answered with a smile.