Twenty Seven

                                    

                                          

When they got to the restaurant, a waitress promptly showed them to their seats without even asking questions. Money was really magical, she mused. Kachi and Aria were already seated, and both looked to be in the middle of an argument. When they noticed their arrival, the couple stood up. Aria hugged her while Kachi and Zubby gave each other that one arm hug men loved. Then Zubby hugged Aria and Kachi smiled at her, no handshake, no hug. The man was something else. 
Zubby pulled out her chair for her, making sure she was comfortable before grabbing his seat beside her. Ijeoma thanked him and smiled at Aria who was opposite her, her face looked worn, as if the argument they'd worked in on was taking a toll on her. 
"You guys good?" Zubby asked, his gaze resting on the couple across. Kachi grimaced but gave him a nod. 
"Chike and Ada will be here soon," Kachi supplied. 
"They're not having dinner at the mansion? I was hoping we'd get to go there for dinner, I miss Mrs Nwafor's cooking."
"Apparently, her parents are commenting on how they're acting suspicious so they're coming out for a few hours, they need to breathe."
"Ijeoma, how was the journey here? First time flying?" Aria asked, offering a much better smile but the woman still looked uncomfortable. 
"I travel a lot by air, but first time in First class. It was amazing. How are you though?" She nodded in Kachi's direction, her tone lowering. "Are you guys okay."
"We're good, just men being men." Aria waved at a waitress, signaling that the conversation was over and Ijeoma couldn't blame her, after all she was still a stranger to the woman. 
The waitress arrived and took their orders, promising their food would be out in ten minutes. The men went back to conversing with themselves and Aria was playing a game on her phone. 
Just as her thoughts began to drift, Chike and Ada arrived, setting off another round of greetings and hugs and handshakes. Chike hugged her before going to sit beside Aria and Ada took the seat beside her. 
"I need a fucking drink," the woman sighed immediately her behind touched her chair. "My mother is something else."
"You can't drink," Chike commented, a frown on his face. 
"I told you not to talk to me." Ada glared at her man. "All of this is your fault."
"Not you two," Zubby muttered underneath his breath but Ada heard him. She reached across Ijeoma's back and slapped Zubby's head. "Damn!"
"You guys should not try me this evening."
"What happened?" Ijeoma decided to ask on behalf of the rest of the group, hopefully the woman wouldn't smack her too.
"Chike can't keep his hands to himself, my mother has been asking all sorts of questions. I want to reveal this on my terms, but this man is making it impossible. It's because of you that I ended up pregnant!"
"Ada remember when you were sa—"
"Don't even finish that statement, at least you can drink."
"And what about you two?" Zubby gestured between Kachi and Aria.
"She doesn't want to get back on birth control," Kachi replied. Aria glared at her man but he couldn't see, his attention on his friend. "When Ada has her baby, you can hang out with the baby as much as you want, we already agreed on no kids for now."