Mrs. Bola sighed as she knew that Cindy wasn't genuinely happy, probably because she would meet Jeremy the following day.
"I just want her to settle down and have a good family, that’s all." Mrs. Bola shook her head as she walked back to the kitchen to warm up the remaining food, waiting for Cindy to come back downstairs to join her for dinner.
Cindy entered her room and shut her door, walking towards her pink bed. She noticed that Esther had helped her arrange her room.

She sighed, feeling unhappy as she sat on her bed. "First time asking a guy out, and he rejected me, hmm."
Cindy cursed as she sat there, taking off her shoes. She knew that Esther wanted her to see her as a sister, but she wasn't interested.
Just then, her mobile phone rang loudly from her purse. She took it out and saw that it was Lora calling.
"Hello," Cindy spoke.
"Hi, girlfriend! Have you checked the gift I gave you?" Lora asked.
Cindy gasped; she had forgotten about the gift.

She could hear Lora's excitement and replied, "No, I haven't checked the gift yet."
"What's in it?" Cindy asked. She heard Lora subtly groan. "Oh, girlfriend! So you haven't even checked the present I gave you since the afternoon as thanks for coming?"
"I'm sorry. I just got home now, and I will go and get it," Cindy replied.
"Why? You left my house early and it’s been hours," Lora questioned.

"I know," Cindy sighed.
"Is it actually... no need? Let's not talk about him," Cindy said.
"Talk about him, who?" Lora asked. Cindy sighed and said, "I don’t want to talk about him. He rejected my proposal."
"Aww, I’m so sorry to hear that. But wait, you just said he rejected your proposal! Don’t tell me you actually proposed to a guy?" Lora asked, almost sounding annoyed. That was one thing she would never do—propose to a man, hell no!
"That’s why I didn’t want to talk about him. I knew you would scold me if I told you, so let’s just forget about him," Cindy replied.
"Of course, you know I will. Why would you propose to a guy? Who is he that you should do that for? Don’t you know that most men won’t acknowledge you or respect a woman’s feelings if you dare to propose to him first? It’s best to let the guy do that first if he likes you—not you proposing to him first," Lora ranted, and Cindy could feel the anger in her voice.
"I know, Lora. It’s just that I don’t think he would do it. Anyway, let’s just forget about him. I just got home now and even forgot the present in my car. I’ll check it after I take my bath since my mom is waiting for me to have dinner with her. I will call you later," Cindy said.
"Alright, girlfriend. I will be expecting your call. And don’t ever propose to a man first again. Never!" Lora yelled.
"Okay, Lora, I won't. Good night."
"No, when you check the present, call me back first," Lora insisted.
"Okay. Bye for now," Cindy said.
"Alright. Bye." Lora ended the call, and Cindy sighed.
Cindy knew that neither Lora nor any other ladies in their right minds would support her proposing to a man first.
Cindy Williams, even as pretty and attractive as she looked.
Cindy shook her head and quickly stood up from her bed to take her bath, knowing that her mother would soon come knocking on her door. She walked to her wardrobe to take out the nightgown she would wear after her bath.
Stripping off her white suit, Cindy walked into her bathroom and took a quick bath. She stepped out to put on her yellow nightgown that she had kept on her bed.
Returning her towel to the bathroom hanger, Cindy left her room and went downstairs to have dinner with her mother.
Mrs. Bola smiled faintly at Cindy as she finished setting up their meals and sat down while Cindy took a seat across from her.
Cindy looked around the dining room and the kitchen, and when she didn’t see Esther stepping out, she asked her mother, "Mom, how about Esther?"
Mrs. Bola smiled and replied, "I told Esther to have her dinner earlier, and she has gone to bed. Good that you asked about her today, but she would be sleeping by now."
"Okay, Mom," Cindy said.
"Bless the food first, Cindy. I know you’re worried about Jeremy coming to visit us tomorrow. But Jeremy is not a bad guy. He's handsome, and you will like him too," Mrs. Bola added.
"Hmm..." Cindy was unable to protest, as Peter's rejection had already made her feel weak.
"Alright, Mom. Until tomorrow. But I’ve told you I am not interested in marrying Jeremy. I cannot marry someone I don’t love or like," Cindy said, subtly frowning.
"I know. But love grows with time. Even when I first married your father, I didn’t know if I loved him, but over time, I did. If not for your father's work that keeps transferring him to different places, hmmm..." Mrs. Bola frowned too.
"Mom..." Cindy noticed the sad look on her mother's face and replied, "It’s alright, Mom. I’ll bless the food now. Can we start eating?"
"Yes, yes," Mrs. Bola replied, picking up her spoon. They started eating the delicious yam porridge.
After dinner with her mother ended, Cindy retired back upstairs to her room. She remembered that she hadn't even taken the present from her car yet, so she picked up her car keys and went back downstairs to the living room, where she saw her mother standing and switching off the television.
"Where are you going, Cindy?" Mrs. Bola asked her, meeting Cindy's gaze.
"Mom, I forgot something in my car. Let me go get it first," Cindy replied. Mrs. Bola nodded while Cindy left the house.
Cindy unlocked her car door and took out the packaged present Lora had given her. She went back into the house where her mother was still in the living room, waiting and staring at her.
"What's in it?" Mrs. Bola asked. Cindy stopped in the living room while holding the package to her chest.
"I don't know, Mom. But Lora gave it to me," Cindy replied, and Mrs. Bola smiled.
"Okay, but do you want to unbox it here?"
"No, Mom... Not yet. Although I don't know what it is, it's already late," Cindy replied. Mrs. Bola said, "Lora... No problem then. Goodnight, and sleep well."
"Okay, Mom. Goodnight too."
Cindy felt a little nervous since she didn’t know what Lora had given her, and she didn’t want to make her mother worried either. So she immediately dashed upstairs, went to her room, and shut her door.
Walking up to her pink bed, Cindy saw that her mobile phone was ringing. She rushed to answer it just before it ended.
"Hello, Lora. I’m just about to open it now. Don’t tell me you’re still awake and wanting to know my reaction. What’s in it?" Cindy asked again while holding the present, turning it around and wondering what was inside.
"Unbox it first," Lora replied, and Cindy said, "Okay."
Cindy left her phone call on hold and dropped her phone on her bed as she unboxed the present.
Unboxing it, Cindy brought out the item and gasped in shock.
"Lora!" Cindy screamed, and she immediately lowered her voice, suspecting that her mother might still be awake.
"Yeah, girlfriend, what is it?" Lora asked, laughing. Cindy held the phone to her ear and cursed, "What the heck did you just send me? A sex toy! What if my mom had seen it? Do you know she was downstairs with me in the living room, and she even wanted me to unbox it in front of her?"
Lora laughed, "Hahaha."
"Calm down, girlfriend. You're a big lady now, not a small girl. I shared it with all my single girlfriends who came over, except for those I’m not too close with," Lora said.
"Lora!" Cindy shouted.
"Cindy," Lora replied, laughing again.
"Calm down, babe. You aren’t in any relationship, and you’re mostly busy with your law studies, so I thought I’d give you something fun."
"No thanks; I can’t use this. I don’t even want to know how it functions," Cindy replied, holding up the item, which appeared to have a power switch.
"It’s very easy to use. Should I teach you?" Lora asked, but Cindy exclaimed, "No! I’m not interested in you teaching me. If you weren’t my friend, I swear!" Gosh, you're so corrupt. How about your mom? Is she aware that you shared this nonsense?"
"No. My mom doesn’t know about that. Even if she did, she wouldn’t complain so long as I do what makes me happy," Lora replied.
"Fine then. I’ve seen it, but I can’t use it. I have to end the call now, as I’m very tired and need a good night’s rest. Bye," Cindy said.
"Wait!" Lora exclaimed.
Cindy held the call and asked, "What is it?"
"Tell me. I've been wondering, who was the guy you mentioned about proposing to? What did you propose to him about?" Lora asked.