Copyright © 2022 Bethel-Gold.

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***

"How does this look?" Ife held up a black shirt she unpacked from it's box.

Patrick looked at the shirt and thought for a while then gave her a thumbs up with a grin on his lips, she giggled then packed the shirt back in it's box before going over the other items she purchased.

"I got you this" she passed him a small box which he took as he wondered what was inside "Open it and see" she urged and he did as she said.

When he opened it, he paused for a minute,  looked up at her smiling face, back down at the opened box, back up to her face and let out a sigh. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, did she just...

"How did you find this?" he asked, taking out the new shining emerald brooch as he stared at it lovingly. "I didn't know where to find this at all"  he said to her and she chuckled.

"I have my ways Patrick, do you like it?" she asked, hopeful that he loves it.

She asked her twin besties to help her with it when Patrick felt bad that he misplaced the emerald brooch his father gave him before his death.

"Are you kidding me Ife?" he chuckled and wiped a tear from the side of his eyes.

"You know, it looks alike but it isn't what... you know what your dad gave you before his death" she said and he sighed then put the brooch back in the box.

"Ife, you thinking about this alone means so much to me. Yes, it's not like that but now when I see this, I will remember not just my dad but you too" he smiled "Thank you, Ife"

"I am glad you love it" she said "Happy birthday in advance"

He stood up and went to her for a hug which lasted for almost a minute before they parted.

They looked into each other's eyes and she wipe the tears that fell off the side of his eyes. He grinned and she reciprocated it.

"Thank you once more" he thanked again, she nods then moved away from him and sat back on the chair as she went over the items.

"You still owe me a dance lesson" she pointed at him and he chuckled then went to sit on a chair far from her.

"That would be after you made us something to eat" he answered with a shrug and she laughed.

Ife stood up and went into his kitchen to cook them some rice and stew.

"Do you even have chicken sef?" she asked when she heard him come inside the kitchen.

"Should that even be a question sef?" he mimicked in a light voice and she shook her head then grabbed the frozen chicken from his fridge and put it under the running water for it to defrost.

A phone went off ringing and she turned around to see that Patrick already picked the call and excused himself out of the kitchen.

"Honestly, I would have cooked us jollof rice but I am so exhausted from the shopping I did earlier today" she mutters to herself.

As she cut the onions for the stew, she remembered a day when she was in Nigeria for the holidays and she went birthday shopping for Tomiwa and she came home so tired and stressed because she went from shop to shop to get him something that he would love due to his unnecessary high taste in really expensive things he could barely afford.

She didn't mind because her mum liked him and wasn't verbally attacking as she did when she first travelled to the US.

Tomiwa knew how tired she was from the shopping and still insist that she cooked him Semovita, egusi soup with lots of orisirisi and confirm Yoruba stew even after she told him she bought some food for them both because she was too tired to cook anything.

He told her not to tell him that and if she was a good African wife, she would cook for her husband no matter how tired she was but she disagreed with that and told him if he was a considerate man, who loves his woman, he would understand that she was tired and they would eat the take away she bought but he insisted on home cooked food so she had no choice than to cook them the food.

After she was done cooking for them, she saw that he finished the two takeaways and  he also ate two wraps of semovita, which irritated her to the core she but she has to ignore that and let them continue without breaking into a fight.

Patrick was the total opposite, never complained about what she choose to cook for them when she comes to visit, he helps whenever he can and gives her constructive criticism.

She wasn't trying to compare but sometimes wished Tomiwa would improve and loosen up so that they could enjoy their relationship together instead of comparing and contrasting.

"Do you need me to help with something?" Patrick said from behind her and she looked at him then pointed to the sink.

"I just washed the chicken, could you help me put it in a pot and add all the seasoning I laid out the on the counter then please cuts some onions to put inside" she said and he nods before getting back to work.

She was already done with boiling the rice, now she was concentrating on the stew. The chicken was already boiling and she was bleaching the oil before she started using it to cook.

Both of them were gisting about a lot of things, what they planned to do back home, what they would be doing after school, some new movies that just came out and when they would make time and binge watch and so many other things.

After a few minutes, she asked him to bring out the chicken from the pot then she switched off the stove that was cooking the stir fried vegetables and peppers before transferring them to a small bowl.

"You have foil sheet?" he nods and goes to bring it, then spreads it on the oven tray hr cleaned earlier .

She arranged the chicken on the foil then added some olive oil on top before putting the stir fries on top of the chicken then added some more oil and told Patrick to put it in the oven.

"I really don't know what I am doing but I hope it turns out good" she said to him and began the stew.

"I figured but I trust you that it would be delicious" he winked and she blushed.

"Whatever, please cut me some more onions, let me began the stew..." she opened the pot that had the bleached oil inside when she was sure the smoke wasn't there again. "I like bleached oil stew"