Chapter 9: Chapter 9

I had a few glasses of wine and a large slice of chocolate cake, I had my earphones on. Hours later, I got bored, I had googled how long it will take to travel from Lagos State to New York and I learnt that I'll be flying for 16 hours 35 minutes. I was getting bored, I watched a movie on my phone, ate more slices of cake, took a nap but we had not yet arrived. I had set a countdown on my phone and it showed that we've spent 12 hours and 15 minutes, I used the restroom and found out that my chair had been turned to a kind of bed, my wrist watch read 8:15pm that means the time in New York would be 3:15pm.

I didn't even know which time to use now. I felt extremely bored, I tried sleeping again but I couldn't sleep so I just laid there.

I didn't know that I had slept until I heard the pilot saying something. The only thing I could make out of what he was saying was that the plane was about to land and we should buckle our seatbelts. I tried to be awake but my brain refused to cooperate, everything seemed to stop at the moment but then I felt myself being lifted, I struggled to open my eyes but I couldn't see clearly.

My head rested on something had, I could hear heartbeat, maybe it was mine but I don't smells aftershave and something else I couldn't wrap my head around, I didn't want to think of anything, I just wanted to enjoy this warm place to was napping on, I hope it stays a while...When I woke up, I was lying on a king-size bed, the room had a beautiful lilac paint with some painting of flowers. My things were in a corner of the room, I got up to see that I was wearing my blue pajamas and my make up had been cleaned. I went to my duffel, took out my toothbrush and toothpaste and went to the bathroom. I freshen up, changed into a pair of black yoga pants and a turquoise polo. I took a deep breath and opened the door, I don't know what I was expecting but I found myself in a great hallway. I heard voices and decided to follow the sound of those voices, I came out in a big dinning room, on the head of the table sat Jade and beside him was a little girl of about 4 years old. Those guys that took me to the private jet stood in different corners of the room, there were 3 other women on uniforms, they seem to be the maids.

I went down and everyone turned to me, "oh, sleeping beauty is finally awake," Jade said.

" Hello everyone", I greeted. Jade smiled and beckoned on me to join them but the little girl who I assumed was his daughter rolled her eyes and continued eating.

"How are you feeling?" Jade asked when I sat down, " a little disoriented but I'll be fine, what happened to me? I asked

" Well I assume you had too much to eat or you got airsick, the point is that you were unconscious when the jet landed so I had to lift you to the car and get you home. I asked Hannah and her staff to clean you up, oh and I sent a message to your mom that you've arrived safely and were exhausted, so you'll do well to talk to her as soon as your done with breakfast", he replied.

" thank you so much, I'm really grateful"."Hannah? please come here", Jade called and a middle aged woman came close to the dinning table. " This is Hannah, she's our Butler and would help you get acquainted with everything around here, whatever you need, ask her."

" It's an honour to be of service to you Miss Udofia. What would you like to eat?" She spoke politely, " I'll have a glass of milk and few slices of bread, ma'am. please, don't call me Miss Udofia, you can call me UK, I think my first name is a little difficult to pronounce, thank you." I replied.

"This is my daughter, Juliet, she may seem unfriendly but don't worry, when she gets to know you better, you'll find out she's a chatterbox", Jade said trying to cover up for his daughter's snobbishness.

He had some business to take care of so he left as soon as he was done eating, leaving me with the authority to take care of the house.

After he left, Juliet turned to me and said, "hey lady, are you trying to be my mom?"

" what? No", I replied in horror, how could she think of that? Being in a relationship with Jade never crossed my mind, so I was shocked when his daughter made that statement. " Good, because I won't let that happen. Hannah, please get my bubble bath ready, I've lost my appetite". And with that, she was gone.

" I'm sorry about that, she's usually not friendly with her father's female friends. Give her time, she'll come around," Hannah said and left.

I quickly took my mind off her and enjoyed my meal, after which I went to the room I slept and started unpacking.I stopped unpacking and called my mom, it should be about 12 noon over there, " How is my American girl?" she asked in our native language. "I'm doing great ma," I replied. I asked about everyone, what she had for breakfast, where she was. We chatted for a while that I didn't notice when Juliet stood at the doorway to my room, I told my mom I had to unpack and ended the call. " Hey, come in," I said and kept my phone on the bed. " What kind of language is that?" she asked scrunching her face, "it's called Ibibio, it's the language the Ibibio tribe speak." I replied.

"Anyways, Hannah said I should tell you ' I'm sorry ' for speaking to you rudely but I'm not sorry, I didn't say anything wrong so don't think I'm going to apologise."

She didn't even give me a chance to say something left and banged the door behind her. I wasn't angry at her behavior, instead I found it funny, she would make a great friend, I just needed to give her time to come around, after all, she was just 4 or 5 years old. No biggie.

I tried calling calling my boyfriend but he wasn't picking up, I knew our relationship would come to an end sooner or later because of the distance between us but I still wanted us to remain in good terms with each other even after we break up. Since he didn't answer his phone, I called Esther, my best friend, we talked for a while and then I called my dad and siblings.It took me a while to arrange everything to my taste, when I finished, my entire body was aching. I knew this was how it'll be so I brought a pack of pain relievers, after unpacking, I swallowed 2 tablets of the medicine and went in to shower because I was sweating.

After changing into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, I took my phone and went to take a look at the house I was given charge of.

This was no ordinary house, it was a manor, it had so many rooms and passages, I was scared I might miss my way. Some of the rooms were locked, some were too dark and dusty, I quickly shut it. One of the rooms I opened was Juliet's room, I was colourfully decorated. She laid on her bed hugging a stuffed unicorn, I quietly shut the door and left to continue my self tour. One of the rooms was a library, the floor to ceiling shelves were stocked with different kind of books, I went in admiring the books, I took out one from the shelf, it was old and dusty.

I blew out the dust, sat on the floor with my legs bent inward and started reading it. The book was about ancient Egypt, I found it intriguing and was engrossed in it.

Hannah came in and said said something about going for grocery shopping, I just nodded and continued reading.

After going through few chapters, I returned the book and left the room to continue my tour. I finally went out of the house, it was so beautiful outside, trees and flowers grew in all corners. I found a swing under a shade and sat, feeling the early afternoon breeze blowing on my face.