After the storm by Osar Adeyemi Page B

pregnant?"
    Yemi
laughed. "No, not yet, at least not as far as I know."
    Abby
laughed too. "But seriously, if you are not pregnant, then why did
you turn down the job?"
    "I felt
I should try to get used to married life before taking on a job."
The excuse sounded a little lame even to her own ears. She'd
probably have snorted if someone else had told her the same thing a
while back. Whoa! The things a guy could make a girl do!
    "Okay…"
Abby said, dragging out her response as if lost for more words.
"That's fine if you're happy with it, but please don't let all
those brains go to waste."
    They
talked for a few more minutes before ending the call. Yemi put the
phone down slowly. That was one down. She knew she would still have
to answer more questions, especially from her family, but she had
her own home now, and this was her decision.
    She
tried to get into the hang of married life over the next few weeks.
Akeem had a cook, Bassey, who was also paid extra to do some
cleaning. A proper cleaner came in at the weekends. Bassey was a
nice guy, and he and Yemi got along very well. She took over most
of the cooking from him but assured him that his job was safe. He
had been with Akeem for a long time, and Akeem trusted him around
the house. She didn't see any reason to upset that
balance.
    They had
to attend quite a number of social engagements, and many of their
weekends were filled up. Yemi used to feel intimidated by the
caliber of people she met at these functions, but Akeem was very
supportive of her, and she gradually relaxed.
    Sesan
had travelled to England for his master's degree shortly before her
wedding. Although she tried to keep in touch with him by calling
him on the phone, he hardly ever called her back. After a while,
Yemi stopped calling him and accepted what Teju had said. It was a
new season, and she had to go with the flow.
    ∞∞∞
    Because
she had so much time on her hands, Yemi decided to focus on her
hobby. Part of the way she kept herself entertained when she was at
social events with Akeem was to mentally dress the ladies she
encountered. Some of them wore expensive outfits that did nothing
for their body shapes, and Yemi found herself mentally making
adjustments to what they were wearing.
    You, my lady should stick strictly to classic
fits , she would think to herself as she
saw well-endowed women in fitted dresses with bursting seams. And
for others, she would think, A little less
frills here, a little tuck there, a fuller skirt to give an
impression of a smaller waistline, and a different choice of fabric
to draw attention away from a not-so-flattering
feature . And she would go on and on until
she was satisfied.
    She had
an old sewing machine but ordered a couple of more modern ones and
decided to start designing and making her own outfits. She
experimented with different fabrics and designs and felt satisfied
with the outcomes. But she still needed to muster a lot of
confidence before she could make up her mind to wear one of the
outfits to an event they had been invited to, a dinner in honour of
the new American ambassador to Nigeria.
    She
stood in front of the mirror after dressing up, wondering if she
was being foolish or not. She had always been complimented on her
designs, but those were her family and friends, and they didn't
exactly move in the same realm as the Kadiri family and
friends.
    She
examined the dress again critically. It was blush colored with
ruched, sleeveless shoulders, a fitted waist, and a side-draped,
floor-length skirt. She tugged at the hem of the skirt. It was
appearing a little lopsided to her, and then the bodice began to
look funny too. A worried frown furrowed her brows as she
calculated how much time she had to quickly change into one of the
dresses Akeem had recently bought for her.
    "You
look good enough to eat!" Akeem said, coming into the room and
wrapping his arms around her as he stood behind her.
    She
turned her head to look at him. "Really?"
    His lips
quirked