“28 cedis, Madam.”

“Alright.” Princess reached into her bag and took out the money and handed it to the driver. She nodded as he handed her her change. “Thanks.”

She stepped out of the black Toyota Vitz and looked at the restaurant before her.

Flourescence Lounge.

One of the newest restaurants in town, Princess thought it was a good opportunity to get out of the house. The vibes back at home were negative enough, and she needed a different atmosphere to lift her spirits. For a few hours, at least.

She stepped in.

As expected, many of the tables were not occupied. It was a weekday, after all; most people were at work. Ever since Ferdinand made her stop working, the 9-5 lifestyle had become a thing of the past.

She still had no idea why he forced her to quit her job. He just got up one morning, told her to stop working at the forex bureau she was with, and got very aggressive and belligerent when she questioned why. Seeing how ready he was to give her a black eye for that, she quickly resigned and began life as a housewife.

A lonely, miserable housewife.

She headed to one table near the entrance and signaled to one waitress, who came over to quickly take her order. Once the waitress walked off to get her the drink she ordered, she looked around again.

Mmmm. Nice ambience they’ve got here. The music is chill, the vibe is okay… I mean, I know it’s a weekday, so this isn’t the usual vibe they talk about, but well… it’s cool… ah, wait oo, who’s that…

Her attention was piqued as she noted one lady at a nearby table.

A lady who looked awfully familiar.

She was dressed in a short red bodycon that made no attempt to hide her smooth legs and thighs, and had a plunging neckline that revealed a substantial amount of cleavage for the world to see.

As well as a strange tattoo on one of her boobs.

Princess squinted. She had seen pictures of this girl before, she knew she had.

Uhhh… was it Snapchat, or… wait wait wait, those pictures I got from Ferdinand’s phone!

She quickly switched to her gallery and checked out the pictures she had secretly sent to herself from Ferdinand’s phone about a fortnight ago, while he was knocked out from one drunken spree.

Pictures of a scantily dressed young lady showing off crystal clear ‘bad bitch’ vibes. They had been sent to Ferdinand in the midst of a very risqué chat.

She found the pictures, stared long and hard at them, then looked up at the lady.

Yep, that was her, alright. The smoky eyes, the thick lips… the strange tattoo of the face of King Julien on her right breast.

Very strange choice of tattoo, but whatever.

“So that’s the new girl Ferdinand’s been sleeping with!” Princess murmured to herself. “I see. Well, maybe I’ll pay her a little visit…”

***

“Mummy don’t know daddy’s getting hot

At the body shop, doing something unholy…”

Holding up her phone as she took a video of herself singing along to Sam Smith’s song, Kirania was having a nice time in this restaurant. Having done justice to the king prawn platter she had ordered when she came in, she was nicely satisfied and pleased that Ferdinand’s money had been put to good use. He had sent the money that morning, with an accompanying message: Make sure you chill with this money ooo!

And that was exactly what she was doing. Having taken a picture of the food before ravishing it, she was already prepping to send the picture and the videos of herself to him, to let him see what an obedient girl she was.

Hmmm, I like this video paaa. Should I put it on IG? she wondered to herself as she examined her videos a moment later. She paused for a moment, then shook her head. Nahhh, lemme leave it for my honeyy…

“Nice bodycon you’re wearing.”

Kirania immediately turned in the direction of the complimenting voice. She looked up and saw a pretty but sad-looking lady, dressed in a plain white T-shirt and jeans standing close to her table, staring at her rather admiringly.

Ugh, what kinda boring ass jeans are these? Has this chic ever heard of Apple Bottoms? Kirania thought for a moment in scorn, before internally rebuking herself right after. Bitch, there’s no need to get unnecessarily nasty. She’s just an admirer. Be nice!

She flashed the lady a cute smile and said, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, dear. Burberry?”

Kirania nodded.

“Nice. Man, I miss wearing sexy clothes like this. Used to be quite the hottie back in my day. Tight Apple Bottom jeans, them cute little pleated skirts and all that.”

Kirania nodded. “Ohh… uh, I see. But why have you stopped?”

The lady shrugged sadly. “Ball and chain stuff.”

Kirania shook her head. “Ugh. Marriage?”

The lady nodded.

Ugh. That’s why that marriage shit ain’t for me. Just gimme a sweet dick to jump on, like my Ferdy boo’s, and I’m good. Coz look at this repressed bad bitch. Girl got a sweet body on her. I bet she’ll kill it in those pleated skirts, too…

“Man, sorry to hear that,” Kirania sympathized. “They always say that marriage is an honour for women. Some major bullshit that is.”

“Huh, tell me about it. It’s been three years of absolute hell for me. He was such a sweet, gentle soul before the wedding. Now he just tramples all over me and acts like I’m some persona non grata.”

“Well, goddamn, that’s awful to hear! Girl, you need to get the hell outta that shithole of a marriage! You can’t continue to be held down by this dickhead husband. You need to live, girl!”

The lady nodded and smiled. “Thanks, girl. I know, I know I need to get out of this. I know paaa. And you know what else?”

“What?” Kirania asked curiously.

The lady bent over slightly and spoke the following words in her ear.

“I know who you are, Patricia Nimpong, and I know you’re sleeping with my husband.”

Kirania’s eyes bulged wide. What the fuck!

Stunned, she looked up at the woman, who straightened herself and nodded.

“That’s right, Miss Nimpong. My name is Mrs. Princess Danso and I know all about you: from that nickname Kirania you call yourself by, to the fact that Ferdinand Danso’s been coming to your place every other day for special appointments. I know it all, young lady, and all I’ll tell you is this: you’re probably thinking this is just some incredible fun you’re having and there’s nothing to feel bad about and yada yada yada. But karma has quite a way of pulling a fast one on you. I’m not gonna tell you I’ll beat you up, I’m not gonna scream at you to stay away from him, nope, none of that. All I got for you is that karma has quite a way of pulling a fast one on you, and you’ll grow to see the truth of what I’m saying one day. Think about it.”

The lecture over, she nodded at Kirania and began to move back to her seat.

The rage in Kirania’s chest, bubbling like hot water in a kettle, boiled over. How dare this dumbass spring such a surprise ambush on her!

She sprung to her feet. “Are you that stupid, woman? Really? Are you that stupid?”

Princess looked back at her, looking quite taken aback at the fierce kickback she had just heard.

“You actually had the nerve to come up to me and tell me all this bullshit about karma and whatever? Are you fucking for real? Damn, I can’t believe for a moment, I had pity for your pathetic ass. Look at you, with your boring ass shirt and jeans. No wonder Ferdy comes after me, coz you’re clearly as lame as fuck! Well, listen here, bitch, you do not have any right whatsoever to come to me and talk to me about the business between your husband and I. We’re fucking grown folks and we’ll do as we please. If you have a problem, go talk to your husband and not me! Not that I’d listen to you if I were him, anyways, with the fucking little embarrassment you are! Idiot!”

She grabbed her bag, gave a stunned-looking Princess the most scornful “MTCHEWW” she had ever let rip out of her mouth, and began to head towards the exit before stopping for a moment and turning back to her.

“Oh, and one other thing! Don’t you EVER call me by that name! Do you hear me? Never in your fucking life! Stupid woman!”

She briskly stormed out of the restaurant, murmuring to herself in fury.

Fucking idiot! No wonder Ferdinand is always running into my arms. Christ, what a dunce!

Ouch! Looks like Princess’ attempt to leave Kirania with a guilty conscience fired quite badly. Probably wasn’t a good idea to confront her, perhaps. And by the way, what’s up with Kirania hating her real name?