Stanley was watching television in his living room when he heard a knock on the door. He went to check but didn’t see anyone.

“I thought that I heard a knock on the door. May be I am wrong. It could be my imagination playing tricks on me,” he thought.

As he went to sit, he heard another knock on the door. This time, it was very loud. He went to check again. No one was in sight. He stood for few minutes and went back inside.

After a while a very loud bang emanated from the door once more. At that point Stanley made up his mind that he must discover what was going on.

He opened the door and everywhere was silent. He looked around and didn’t see anyone. It then occurred to him that it must be the handwork of Tega.

“Tega, I know that you are the one doing this rubbish. Continue doing it till I catch you. Then, I will break your head,” he threatened.

“It’s not Tega, it’s me,” The tiny voice sounded, before Sandra came out from beside the car where she was hiding.
Stanley was dumfounded. He was just watching her.

“Bro Stanley, good evening sir,” Sandra greeted.

“Good evening sister.”

“I came to your area to see my friend. I decided to check on you.

I know you will feel bad if you know that I came to this area without saying hello,” she said while smiling sheepishly.

“No! I will not feel bad.” Stanley answered firmly.

Stanley was determined to show Sandra that she was not welcomed but she was not deterred.

“I love your area it so cool and serene,” Sandra told him.

“Thank you. Please excuse me for a minute. Tega, Tega,” Stanley called in a loud voice. He prayed in his heart that Tega would be around.

Tega opened his door and came out.

“O boy why did you keep me waiting,” Stanley told Tega, and give him signals with his eyes.

Tega understood the signals very well.

“Sorry bros, I will get back to you,” Tega told Stanley. He waved at Sandra and went back to his house.

“Sister please let’s go inside,” Stanley told her.

“Wow! Your place is nice. It’s very beautiful and neat,” Sandra told Stanley immediately they went inside.

She lifted the container of an air freshener, ” The fragrance of this Air Freshener is nice. I know that it must be a foreign product.” She looked at Stanley, expecting an answer.

“I don’t know. All the information about it is written on the container,” Stanley told her.

“It’s okay. One more question. Please forgive me for bugging you with many questions,” Sandra pleaded.

“It’s not a problem,” Stanley assured her.

The discussion was interrupted by a knock on the door. Tega opened the door and reached out to Sandra.

“Sister how are you. Thanks for visiting us.”

“Thank you sir,” Sandra responded.

Tega handed over a sheet of paper to Stanley and sat down.

“Thanks so much” Stanley appreciated him.

Sandra became so angry when Tega decided to sit down.

“Why is this guy sitting here? Can’t he see that Stanley has a visitor,” she thought.

Her line of thought was interrupted by Stanley’s question.

“Please which drink will you like to take? There is malt, fruit juices and non-alcoholic wines. ”

“I love original pineapple juice. I will mix it with small quantity of wine. Then for malt, I prefer maltina. I will just take one cup.” Sandra answered.

Stanley went to his fridge and brought all that she requested for.

“Tega what of you? Do you care for wine?” Stanley asked.

“I will prefer malt. Just one quarter of a cup. ” He said it to mock Sandra.

“Tega I don’t understand. What do you mean by one quarter of a cup of malt? Who will do the measurement?” Stanley queried.

“It’s you naa. After measuring one cup for your sister. You measure one quarter for me,” Tega responded with a mischievous wink.

“Satan will punish this Tega. It’s like he purposely came here to scatter plans for me,” Sandra murmured.

Stanley handed a plastic bottle of malt to Tega and gave him a cup.

“O boy come and put the quantity I want for me,” Tega said jokingly.

“Tega, please help yourself” Stanley told him amidst laughter.

“Before Tega came in you wanted to ask me a question,” Stanley reminded Sandra.

“Yes. I wanted to know how much you bought the air freshener.”

“I am not the one that bought it. My fiancée actually gave a pack of it to me.”

“Ah! I didn’t know that you have a fiancee,” Sandra said in shock.

“Yes, I do have,” Stanley responded. He was choking with laughter in his mind.

“She is a lucky girl.” Sandra Noted.

“Thanks,” Stanley responded.

Tega started humming a mockery song and that got Sandra pissed off. She managed to maintain her cool. She stayed a little while and got up.

Thanks so much I want to start going home” She told Stanley.

“Ah! So soon” Tega asked in a mockery tone.

Sandra looked at Tega in anger but didn’t say anything.

“It’s okay thanks so much for stopping by. Tega please, let’s walk her to the gate.”

“Sister, you did not open the malt. I thought you wanted to take a cupful of it,” Tega asked.

Sandra was boiling inside with anger. But she managed to respond, “I can’t take it again. I’m full.”

“You are truly a fool Tega murmured in his heart, “Don’t worry, I will package it for you,”Tega told her.

He quickly ran into Stanley’s kitchen, brought a neat paper bag and packed all the drinks inside it.

“Please, take it home” Tega said while handing the bag to her.

She collected, it thanked them and they walked her to the gate.

Immediately she was out of sight Stanley busted out laughing.

“Tega you are a clown,”

“A clown’s friend is also a clown”Tega retorted, while maintaining a straight face.

“But Tega you really embarrassed her. Why naa?”

“I was on my own, when you invited me. So whatever I did there, you were the one that sent me,” Tega defended himself.

“I know that I invited you. But I didn’t send you to embarrass my guest.”

“It was your guest that decided to embarrass herself. She want a cup of malt, after requesting for fruit juice and wine. Is she crazy? If she is not happy with whatever I did, she is free to go to court.”

“O boy the matter of that cup of malt tire me o. But what is the meaning of the empty paper you gave to me when you entered here?”

“If you don’t know the meaning, why did you thank me?”
Both of them started laughing.

“You have been bashing me since Sandra left. I think it is time to receive your own bashing. Who is your fiancée that bought air freshener for you?”

“Nnenna of course; Who else? She actually bought a carton of it for office use. I took a pack.”

“And you were shouting ‘my fiancée bought it for me’ as if she gave you a gift. You could have actually passed the message without mentioning fiancée. Who are you trying to intimidate? The poor girl forgot that she requested for a cup of malt. She nearly fainted when she heard that you have a fiancée. Stanley, you are a wicked guy.”

“Your wickedness is more. Why did you pack half fruit juice and wine for her,” Stanley retorted with laughter.

“Who did she want to leave it for? Is it me and you? She ordered for the entire world because she planned to sleep here. By the time she heard fiancée, she ran away. Are you aware that this lady have been telling people that you want to marry her?”

“I heard the rumour. That was why I invited you immediately I saw her.”

” Stanley she was harmless. Why were you afraid?”

“I am afraid of anything that would resurrect the old Stanley. I lived a rough life in the past and I’m trying my best to avoid anything that will drag me back to my past.
I just pray that Nnenna will give a node to my proposal so that all these daughters of Eve will leave me alone.”

“But she is dragging her leg concerning this issue. If need be, give her a little push so that you can take the relationship to the next level.”

“I will do my best.” Stanley assured him.

Tega excused himself to attend to something in his house.

Stanley was left alone in deep thought. The challenge that Stanley was having was that Nnenna had been avoiding him. She resigned from the office with no tangible reason. Since then, she avoided every means to meet with Stanley for a talk. Stanley dialed Nnenna’s phone number. Luckily, she picked the call.

“My dear, what is going on? You are killing me slowly,” Stanley lamented.

“I am so sorry please. I think we need to meet and talk,” Nnenna told him.

“Of course, that is all I wanted. Please, the sooner the better.” Stanley pleaded.