GoLdEn LuCy 4

As days turned into weeks and then months, corp members moved out of the fellowship lodge and began to find places for themselves. Some people eventually found out from their parents that they had family friends or relations living in Lokoja, so they moved in with them to save cost on accommodation. Quite a number of people had become good friends and so they paired up and stayed together. This was the case for Lucy, she was in a circle of 4 friends consisting of one man, Auta, and three ladies, Lucy, Ngozi and Lola.

Auta already had a place to stay, so he was obviously out of the picture for room mate match up, besides the fact that he was a guy. That left the 3 girls. They could have found an accommodation for 3 but the ones they saw just didn't add up. Even though Lucy and Ngozi had a closer relationship than either of them had with Lola, it was Lola who first suggested that she and Ngozi stay in a boy's quarter they had checked out before. It was perfect for them, except it could only house two people.

Ngozi felt happy she was picked but weird because she didn't know how Lucy was feeling about all this. Lola however went on to make her case. She felt it was better for at least two people to get their accommodation sorted out before all the good affordable places get taken. Plus if push came to shove Lucy could squat with them. Her case made sense to them but Lucy felt left out. Soon after the ladies were done with their discussion, Lucy heard her name from across the room. The person calling her was Onome, an acquaintance. They laughed and gisted together from time to time but were  not necessarily friends.

Onome was 5"8 with an hourglass figure (36-27-40), she was a beautiful lady and had an air of class and elegance around her, she was humble and liked cracking pidgin jokes even with the dudes. Onome was somewhere between a dark and a light complexioned girl, some mornings she looked fair, others dark. She however considered herself a dark complexioned girl. Onome wore her natural hair, a trend that was beginning to grow in Nigeria. As Onome approached the girls she cracked some jokes with them as usual before saying what she had come for. She had found a small estate which had BQs in it and was wondering if the girls were interested in checking it out. She needed a partner to pair with. On their way to the BQ they noticed it was not so far from Lola and Ngozi's place. After checking it out, Lucy decided to pair up with Onome, she was feeling slightly hurt and for that reason she didn't even suggest that the ladies also find a place here. She was going to stay with Onome and be just fine.

Life as a working corp members started for the girls and they quickly got used to it. Some weekends they went to Lola and Ngozi's and other weekends, Lucy and Onome's. Auta sometimes came around. Auta made the circle more complicated though. It had gotten clear over the weeks that Auta liked Lucy, he adored her, who wouldn't? She was a 5"5 light skinned slim lady, often called miss petite She didn't have a lot of hips but when she turned back and walked away you could see she was endowed behind. Her hair was longer than Onome's, understandably so. Lucy's hair was relaxed and therefore stretched out. She hadn't gotten the vibe of the natural hair trend 'maybe in the future' she once told Onome. Seeing as Lucy and Onome were roommates, people often tried to compare them and make out who was prettier. The two ladies felt beautiful in their own right and so the comments didn't get to them.

Auta many times wanted to steal Lucy away for an afternoon lunch, but Lola and Ngozi always tagged along. Ngozi didn't want to be left out. For Lola it was more than that. Lola liked Auta. That was even putting it mildly, she loved him. She had given him the green light several times, but Auta wasn't interested. He liked and respected Lola and she was as beautiful as Lucy, some may even say more beautiful, but he had his heart set on Lucy. In the absence of Lucy though, Auta knew he would have dated Lola, but seeing as Lucy was here, he was going for her.

Everyone knew and understood that there was some tension but they tried to handle it as well as they could. Auta's friends often hailed him 'the only man' because of the circle between him, Lucy and Lola. They also made jest of the 'L' in both ladies' names wondering if that was what pulled Auta in. 'Guy you sure say if another babe with L name come join una, your heart no go scatter so?' one of his friends said. He just laughed at them.

Onome had asked Lucy, why she wasn't dating Auta yet and Lucy said he hadn't asked officially and even if he had she was trying not to rush into things. In reality, Lucy was confused because she was being pulled in other directions. Mr Adams also liked Lucy. He dropped the ladies at home after work, except on Thursdays. Thursday was Lucy's community development day, so she didn't go to the office on Thursday. It wasn't Mr Adams the girls called their 'free ride' it was Lucy, because she was the only reason they got free rides. Mr Adams was older and settled and looked like someone to have a more beneficial relationship with than Auta. Lucy didn't like the prospect of living in Lokoja though, that was why Auta looked better. After service year he was going to leave the confluence town. She had other men outside Lokoja who liked her and wanted to date her but she saw these two almost everyday and so they were the ones always on her mind.

Onome preferred Auta for Lucy, because he was young and fun. For Lucy it was more than that. Mr Adams had a Bible in his car, signifying to her some form of spirituality. Onome begged to differ and she hinted at Lucy many times that things are not always as they seem. Onome had been in Mr Adams car before, he had offered her lift once or twice because she was Lucy's room mate at least that's what Lucy thought. The interaction between Onome and Mr Adams was what made her decide he probably wasn't the man Lucy was looking for. She didn't say directly or in exact words what the man said or did but she tried to urge and push Lucy away from Mr Adams. Lucy knew what she was doing, she was set in her thought and ways and as far as she was concerned she had it figured out. She often wondered who Onome was to even advise her. A thought that shouldn't have crossed her mind as a christian she knew, but still. It was not like Onome went to church more than twice a week and she often went for one party or the other, so like really what did Onome know?

Lucy liked when Onome approached her about relationship issues. She would often tell Onome, ''you know we shouldn't judge''. Onome in her mind thought, ''I'm not judging, I'm just stating the obvious, my obvious at least''. Lucy didn't tell the girls or Auta who she was dating. In fact Lucy wasn't officially dating any one but she had grown very close to Mr Adams, close enough to miss weekend hangouts with her buddies. Auta didn't like Mr Adams, he didn't like Mr Adams for Lucy, but that was understandable, he liked the girl after all. He was planning to approach Lucy one of these days and have a talk with her .



*GoLdEn LuCy 5 next week*



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