Before you go further, check the other parts (pt 1-2) on my Amaka Profile and see this interesting website for amazing materials and (free) resources/accessories on personal branding and other categories.

We entered the restaurant which smelt of different delicacies and walked straight to the counter. 

“A big loaf of bread please. The one that has milk in it,” Haruna said eagerly as she drummed her card against the linoleum counter.

“Will that be all?” The attendant asked.

Haruna turned to me and I nodded. “That's all.”

“Cash or transfer?” The attendant asked and I brought out my phone but Haruna extended her card and in less than a minute, the transaction was successful.

“Just wait fifteen minutes. The bread will be ready then,” the cashier said before attending to another person. 

The counter was teeming with all sorts of people who were eager to get to their place of work, school runs for children and a host of activities. Haruna and I sat at a corner overlooking the whole restaurant while slightly hidden from people's view.

“The customer that called this morning is a friend of Silver's, that guy you saw me with at that restaurant yesterday.” I said as Haruna turned on her phone and notifications flooded in.

“That's good. Hope he bought a lot of things?”

“The shoes he got were the classy type and I think one is for his babe because it's heels and the other one is his own.”

“That is nice,” Haruna said before placing the speaker of her phone in her ear to listen to a voice note. She giggled before responding with a voice note, “babe, it's not that I didn't want to hear from you. I'm just stressed about the whole thing. I liked it better before it got this serious.”

I sighed as her face retained the look it had yesterday when she was talking about home. Truly, I was going to be alone after she married. 

I unlocked my phone as I scrolled through Instagram. Reels of couples caring for themselves and being all lovey-dovey kept popping up that I just exited the app. I decided to check Whatsapp and my younger sister's status popped up. There were some memes before videos of her and her man in some resort and clubs outlined like beads. I hissed and closed the app. 

Haruna raised her brows quizzically as her phone was wedged between her ear and shoulder while she fiddled with her messy cornrows.

I smiled at her before opening the chrome app on my phone. I searched for short stories and blogs online that I could read to escape the universe's painful jab.

“Ma, I was looking for you people. Your bread is ready. Thank you for shopping with us,” The attendant said and left.

“Okay babe. I'll call you when I get to my tailor for my fitting. Then Magdalene and I will go to the bridal store to get a gown. I don't know if I'm supposed to go now or a day to the wedding. This whole marriage thing seems too much. Can we not just elope?” 

I rolled my eyes as I stood up and pulled my chair backwards. She got up as well and we exited the crowded restaurant.

****

I watched as the make-up artist styled her hair before applying the makeup. Haruna looked so beautiful and everything about her outfit was luxurious. I didn't even realize when a tear escaped my eyes as I watched her get into her white gown. 

“Aunty, you are crying. Please breath so you won't ruin your makeup,” one of the Make-up artist's apprentice, whose name I would later discover was Valerie said as she waited for me to catch my breath.

“I'm sorry but can I use the bathroom for a while?”

Valerie nodded and I rushed into the adjoining bathroom before Haruna would discover my dilemma. 

In the bathroom, the feeling of loneliness encompassed me like a hug and I could hear my heart thumping with uncertainty. The bathroom door flung open and Gbemisola walked in, her height enhanced by her stilletos. 

“Magdalene,” she said as she observed my face through the mirror. “Why are you crying like a child that they took her candy away?”

I tried to hold it in but the tears started pouring like a broken dam. 

Gbemisola hugged me from behind and I just stayed there.

After a while, she said, “She is still our friend. She's only getting married, not cut out from the face of the earth. This whole emotion you are feeling, I felt it during my own wedding. They are emotions, throw them in a corner, you can pick them up later when there are no prying eyes.”

I sniffed, “Thank you.”

“We need to wash your face so you can start your makeup all over. Thank God she hasn't done much but the price of make-up products are super expensive. One powder that I got recently was sold for fifty-five thousand. You won give these makeup artist free money.”

Let me get you wipes. My son's wipes are somewhere in the room.” She left me in the bathroom and returned shortly with a pack of baby wipes.

After I was done cleaning and washing my face, I went back to Valerie and she started my makeup afresh.

Hours later, I was sitted beside Gbemi in the church as Adrian and Haruna exchanged their vows. Haruna was smiling from ear to ear as Adrian's hand wrapped around hers and he slid the ring down her finger. 

A sickening feel of loneliness enveloped me but I refused to cry. Gbemi turned to me and locked her fingers in mine with a reassuring smile. Perhaps, she could see my soul through those medicated contacts. 

****

“They look so lovely together,” I said as we stood beside the couple who were locked in each other's eyes.

“Abi?” Gbemi said and threw a chewing gum in her mouth. 

“Surely.”

“And she was the one acting like fish, ‘Gbemi, I'm not sure I want to get married. Putting marriage in the equation is like thuggish behavior because have you seen how people are getting divorced everyday?’ Haruna and fear, five and six.”

“I beg to differ. She dey crase.” I said and we both laughed.

“I like the sound of your laughter.”

Gbemi and I turned and I saw a man dressed in navy blue Agbada standing behind us. His looks were, well, mediocre at best but his confidence and sense of style was over the roof.

“Sorry to have eavesdropped. I'm actually looking for a ‘Mrs Gbemi'. Her husband needs her attention.” He said and his voice carried a charisma and authority that made me slightly uncomfortable.

“Why, may I ask, did he say you should call Mrs Gbemi?” Gbemi asked with a hint of suspicion.

“He cannot reach her. He said she was wearing a blue and silver gown with a navy blue gele. He said one of you here is Gbemi.”

Gbemi rolled her eyes as she walked away to meet her husband who was standing besides some men in the same regalia. Tamara was crying loudly and making a fuss in his father's arms. 

I did not envy Gbemi though. That infant lived for drama. I looked at the couple and they were standing with their parents, all eyes on the camera. 

“So,” he said and rolled up a sleeve of his agbada. I wondered what his eyes looked like but they were perfectly shaded by his designer glasses. 

“I am going over to meet the other ladies.” I said and walked away. I didn't look back though but I worried that my exit was too soon. What would the conversation had been like, I wondered. 

“Guy!” Haruna's voice called from behind me and I turned to her as she embraced me. “I thought you had already disappeared. Adrian's cousin is back in town and I would like for you both to meet.”

“Don't do that today. I'm not hopeless Haruna.”

She pouted her lips and I rolled my eyes. “Won't it be nice for you to go on dates when I'm honeymooning? I would like it so you can enjoy the chase on my behalf. Plus, he is finer than Adrian.”

I was already tired and Haruna was adding to my exhaustion. “No, I am not interested.

You should focus on being a wife and stop matchmaking. Go and meet your husband.”

“Leave that one. He can survive without me for ten minutes. You are my guy o!”

I laughed at her. I was already missing this part of my friend and I knew that I would see less of it, just like Gbemi who was always preoccupied with her son.

“Let's focus on enjoying your fine reception, shall we?”

“Well, that's true,” she said and I hugged her. Suddenly she asked, “But why did you refuse to be my maid of honor?”

“Your younger sister has the curvy body for that cloth you had in mind.”

“You and your excuses. You are still my maid of honor regardless.”

I escorted her to the car where Adrian was already waiting for her. “Congratulations to you both,” I said and he nodded courteously.

As they drove off, the flier on the car fiddled in the breeze with the words 'Modupe weds Adrian’. It had been decades since I addressed her by her first name, 'Modupe'. I sighed and looked at my empty fingers. In February, I turn thirty-one and I only have my job and my business, this made me smile, a sad yet content kind of smile.

I turned to leave but I caught a glance from the corner of my eye. I turned and found the guy from earlier staring at me, a little smile on his lips. I ignored him and trodded off to Gbemi who was waving at me from her husband's car. It was going to be a long drive to the reception as Tamara was wide awake.