“Amanda!” She squealed in excitement.

He didn’t have to be there to picture Amanda running into her outstretched arms. He had seen it often enough. He remembered now there was something else he liked about Femi, her voice. It sounded like whatever angels sounded like. Last week Monday, he had been going to the kitchen for a glass of juice, more to stretch his legs than anything else when he heard her singing. He couldn’t explain what he had felt that day and he had decided not to examine it too closely.
He had walked into the study that day and warned her never to sing in the house again especially when she was supposed to be teaching his daughter her lessons. He hadn’t expected a reply or defence and he hadn’t gotten one anyway. Voiceful or voiceless, Femi was a necessary nuisance and in 4 months, he need not see her in his house again.

He finished dressing, called Tiwa to ask her if she was ready, she said almost and he cut the call and left his room. On his way downstairs, he heard Femi talking to Amanda and decided to stop and say bye to Amanda. And to see what Femi was wearing today. And to see if her slippers or sandals was in need of mending. And to see if she still had on that horrible lipstick she usually wore.
===
Femi was trying really hard to teach Amanda a nursery song without making too much noise but it was a very tough call and she was whispering. She couldn’t help but feel dismayed at this, no nursery rhyme should be taught by whispering but she had been warned by Dr Arowolo not to sing out loud in his house again.
She could only grimace when she thought back to the day he had found her singing, he had been so mad. She knew she had a bad habit of singing wherever she found herself but no one had ever minded or reacted so strongly, in fact people usually complimented her voice whenever they heard her singing. The way he reacted, one would think she had the voice of a bull frog.

“Hey, baby.” She heard Mr Arowolo as he entered and grabbed Amanda and she realised she had been lost in thought. She turned her face as Amanda started giggling when her dad tickled her belly. It was hard to believe Amanda was the same quiet, mousy girl from her class. At home, Amanda was active, playful and loving, she laughed a lot and she also loved singing.

Amanda: “Daddy, you smell nice, where are you going?” Amanda asked, sniffing her father.

Fiyin: “Somewhere that doesn’t concern you, small stuff!” Her father replied, sniffing her back.
Femi felt her heart clench as she looked at both of them. They were so beautiful. Amanda with her big smile and twinkling eyes. And Dr Arowolo, she sighed. The man was a vision of perfection, with his long legs, broad shoulders, his intelligent eyes and his mouth that always seemed to smile at everyone but her.

She knew she was too old for a crush, she was 27 for God’s sake but she couldn’t really help herself when it came to Fiyin Arowolo. She liked everything about him and sometimes, when she was daydreaming, she pictured her boyfriend, David looking exactly like him. And talking like him. And walking like him too.

She knew how foolish her fantasies were, she knew a man as learned as Dr Arowolo could never, ever want a woman like her. She had seen pictures of his late wife when Amanda had taken her to see her room and she knew that type of woman was the type that got a man like him. Intelligent eyes, beautiful body, polish, smart, confidence and boldness. Traits she did not have and would never have.
More than that, she could tell the man did not like her and only tolerated her for his daughter’s sake. He looked at her like she was a maggot and sometimes she felt he came to check on her classes with Amanda to make sure she did not infect his daughter with her terrible ways. No wonder he didn’t want her singing around his house.

She couldn’t understand what he found so disagreeable about her, she knew she wasn’t all that special but generally, people tended to like her. Besides her cousin, Tiwa, no one had disliked her so quickly before and she hated that it was someone she happened to like and respect that didn’t like her back. It lessened her self-confidence and made her feel really stupid and awkward in his presence.

Fiyin: “So, what are you doing?” Fiyin asked Amanda as he dropped her back in her seat.

Amanda: “We are learning a rhyme, ring around the roses…..”

Fiyin: “Oh, that was one of my favourites when I was young, your aunties and I used to play games with it.”
Amanda: “Really?” Amanda asked, trying to picture her father as a child.

Fiyin: “Yes, baby, really.”

Amanda: “Well, we can’t sing it, Aunty Femi said you said we are disturbing you. Are we disturbing you, daddy?” She asked innocently

Fiyin: “No, I…., I of course, I didn’t say that,” he sputtered, looking accusingly at Femi, “I don’t know where your teacher got that idea!”

Femi: “Sir, but you said last week that I should not…..”

Fiyin: “I said you shouldn’t sing, did I say you should not teach?”

Femi: “How would i teach a rhyme without singing it?” She muttered.

Fiyin: “What? What did you say?”

Femi: “Nothing, nothing sir.”

“I thought as much!” He said in triumph, noting that she still had on her ugly lipstick. “Alright baby, bye, I will check on you when I get back.” He said as he kissed his daughter’s head.
“Bye, daddy.” Amanda returned as he gave Femi a dirty look and left the room.

Amanda: “Does that mean we can sing now?” Amanda asked.

Femi: “Yes, I think so.” Femi answered, her thoughts faraway. He succeeded in making me sound like an idiot as usual, she told herself sadly as she heard his car start and drive away.

One day, one day she promised herself, I will be something, I will have a wonderful husband and I’ll be slimmer with very nice clothes then I’ll go to his hospital and register there.

You’ll see, Doctor Arowolo, you’ll see!