"Hello, good morning," Ara said, resting on the kitchen door. "Did I startle you? I was just thinking about coming to your room to have a talk with you."
Florence turned from the tea she was making. "Startled for what? Who are you to scare me?" Her voice was harsh. "I should be worried, because the only time you greeted me was the day you entered the palace." She gave Ara a cold stare. "I don't have time for useless talk. Especially with you." She eyed Ara, moving pass her with a mug in her hand.
"I saw you last night."
Florence stopped. Suddenly shocked. Her eye balls rolled, quickly looking out if anyone was passing. God please don't tell me that stupid girl saw me last night. She turned around, not giving Ara any sign for her to think she was the one. She gave a scared smile. "Girl, you have a problem with your eyes. And you better keep your mouth shut and mind your damn business! You could get yourself into trouble if you don't get your nose out of my business."
"Exactly what I planned on doing," Ara responded, staring back at Florence who was throwing her a deadly look. She wasn't scared of Florence in the first place, she just didn't want her trouble, but not this time. If she planned on hurting Prince Ire, she would have to confront her and report her. She doesn't trust Florence one bit. She had never been nice to anyone. She was a damn snitch. "I thought of it," Ara said, "but I wouldn't because you will have to return what you stole from Prince Ire. Don't try to pretend Florence. And don't even try to scare me because you don't scare me one bit. I stayed out of your way all this time because I didn't want your trouble, but this time, I saw you. You want me to remind you how you entered?"
"For God sake!" Florence almost yelled, but quickly brought her voice down to save herself from others walking in to interfere. She wouldn't want that. "I don't know what the hell you are talking about!" Her eyes was cold, denying everything Ara said. "And what does he have that I want to steal?"
"This." Ara brought out the white flashdrive hanging in the air. "Now you remember?" She stared at the sudden shock written on Florence's face. Her face had suddenly turned white. Her grip on the mug was obviously aggressive. Ara took the opportunity to remind her how she went into Prince Ire's room. "In case you've forgotten, you climbed the stairs slowly, watching left and right. When you got to his door, you sneaked in using forever to come out. You came out scared and realized you shouldn't have been on slippers. You held your slippers in your hands and ran. But then, this fell. Do you still want to deny it?"
"What!" Florence sounded a little breathless. The stupid girl did saw me. I flopped! She thought and and shook her head. "You are indeed insane. You went into my room and stole that! And you are here making up that stupid story." She quickly reached out for the flashdrive.
"Not so fast." Ara kept it back inside her pocket. "I will wait for him to come down and return it to him. I don't care who you think you are to treat people like trash, but the fact that I don't talk doesn't make me stupid."
"What's happening here?" Grace strolled into the kitchen looking at the two ladies eating up their throats. "Hey, Ara?"
"It's nothing."
Florence was pleased by Ara's response. She glared at her and quickly walked out of the kitchen. "God, what do I do? That stupid girl really saw me." She quickly brought out her phone. Immediately her call was picked. "Hello. . ."
Ara who was lucky to have met Florence in the kitchen carried the food she prepared to the dinning table. She woke up late and was told by Sewa Prince Ire instructed her not to disturb her at all. She was happy, but at the same time, she had plan to show Prince Ire the flashdrive during breakfast and report what she saw, but since she missed his breakfast, she had to wait till he decided to come downstairs again.
Ara pictured Florence's face and laughed at how successfully she made her angry. She was happy she confronted her. That girl did deserve it sometimes. But she couldn't believe Florence had the effrontery to deny it again. May be she shouldn't have confronted her that way...Ara thought. May be I should have just talked amicably with her. Tell her to just return the flashdrive.
Are you scared of her?
Scared of her? Ara thought and laughed at how bold she was before, but now, she suddenly realized Florence did scare people with the way she behaved, and she just didn't want her trouble. Ara thought about it in another way. What if she really owned the flashdrive? I mean, who isn't scared of entering Prince Ire's room? No one can enter except from me. I guess Florence was just scared she entered his room and was afraid of being seen. The flashdrive could really belong to her.
Ara realized her food was getting cold. She had thought about it and wouldn't have to tell Prince Ire anything again. She would return the flashdrive back to Florence and apologize. Ara immediately concentrated on her food and was done in five minutes. She was about packing her used plates when she saw Florence again. She instantly opened her mouth. "I was going to come see you. . ."
"Spare me that please! For what again?" Florence shoved her hands at her. "I'm not here for that. . ."
"I just want to. . ." Ara interrupted Florence but was quickly interrupted again.
"Please...can I talk?" Florence yelled impatiently. "Prince Ire said you should meet with someone at mushin here. That's the no. Just call the person when get to the junction."
"What! mushin is far." Ara cried. "I could always meet the person somewhere close."
Florence who couldn't wait for Ara to get the hell out of the palace eyed her. "What! Go up and meet him now. What's mushin is far? How is that my business sis! He said tell Ara to meet with this person at mushin. I've delivered." Then she turned around.
"Wait, wait..." Ara quickly stopped Florence. "Who will take me? What about his driver?"
Florence turned, throwing Ara an angry stare. "You have his contact right? Call him on the phone." Then she walked away.
Ara hissed, picking up the paper. She knew she dare not call Prince Ire. Once he gave an instruction, yours is to follow. She realized it wasn't her business if Florence entered his room to steal or not. Would he care to listen to her? She thought of returning the flashdrive to Florence when she got back. And this time around, she wouldn't bother to apologize. Florence doesn't deserve it.
                   •       •       •      •     •
When Prince Ire got back to his room, everything was intact. It was exactly where he left them. The disk, the flash drive, his laptop and the pictures were there. He inserted his USB flash drive into its space in his laptop checking everything he saved and realized everything was just the way he saved them. Nothing was deleted or changed. He couldn't tell whether it was copied. That night, he was really tired as well. They just came back from travelling and what else? Another trouble to deal with. Prince Ire emptied the whole thing somewhere and embraced his bed. He needed rest badly.
The next morning, he had told Sewa not to bother waking Ara because he was not ready to see her yet. What would he do with her? Threaten her? Send her out of the palace? What exactly? He wasn't going to do any of that because he knew something wasn't right. It was noon and he was still waiting for his brother, Prince Adedamola to come. They both agreed on checking the camera itself together. Suddenly, Prince Ire's door was hurriedly opened. "Ire how far?" Prince Adedamola rushed in. "Sorry I'm late. I heard your workers talking about Ara's whereabout downstairs. They can't seem to know where she is. Do you..."
"They can't seem to know what!" Prince Ire said impatiently. His legs taking him down the stairs in a rush. He didn't wait for his brother to finish his statement before he disappeared. He met both Grace and Sewa, questioning themselves with worried looks on their faces. He interrupted. "Are you saying you can't find Ara?"
"I actually saw her this morning around eleven sir. This is past twelve and I haven't seen her since then." Grace confessed.
Prince Ire looked at them again. At the back of his mind, he knew this could be dangerous. Where could Ara have gone? He noticed Florence wasn't among them. "Where is Florence?"
"Florence!" Both Sewa and Grace chorused together looking around them.
"I saw her too." Grace suddenly remembered the scene between Ara and Florence. "I saw both Ara and Florence having an argument around that time as well, but Ara said it's nothing so I didn't take it serious. When I saw Florence thirty minutes ago, she told me you sent her an errand."
Interesting! Ire snapped his fingers twice.
"Ire...I knew it!" Prince Adedamola rushed down the stairs. "Where is that Florence? But wait..." prince Adedamola looked curious. "If she wasn't there for those things you left on your bed, what could she have taken?"
Damn it! Prince Ire knew where everything was coming from already. He didn't know what to do, but he had to find Ara. His grip on his phone was tightened until it vibrated in his hands. He looked down at it and raised a brow at his brother not interested in his caller.
Prince Adedamola became interested. "Who's that?"
"What the fuck does he want?"
"Who?" Prince Adedamola asked again.
"It's Ayoola calling."
"You've got to pick that call Ire." Prince Adedamola said. "I think he knows something."