Revolt

23. Sand Castle

“That’s the hell of sand castles. They are always doomed. That’s part of their beauty—their impermanence.” – Pamela Moore.

•••

The moment the creamy, rich goodness of the caramel macchiato coffee before Anjola, diffused into the air and into her nose—she couldn’t stop her memories from rewinding to the dispute with Lekan, the previous week because of the fact that their conversation was preceded by the gesture of him preparing a beverage drink for her. She hadn’t had tea or coffee since then, and so it was an automatic trigger to the fallout they had. After he had left, she had refused to dwell much on what the quarrel portended for their future, as she had been preoccupied with her dad’s burial ceremony, which took the place the following day.

Lekan was in attendance of course, alongside Tiolu and Dayo—but he hadn’t bothered waiting behind to extend greetings, after the program. Tiolu had told her that he had business of an herculean scale to attend to, hence his abrupt departure, but she knew he had decided not to face her because of what transpired the previous night. She couldn’t blame him, as she would have probably done the same if she were in his shoes. But still, they needed to talk. They had agreed to meet somewhere private, so they could discuss the ambiguous future of their relationship, but it ended up being an anticlimactic ruse, as things were now even more tentative and uncertain, than before.

Anjola didn’t regret asking him to leave, of course. Her rage was very much beseeched for, and hadn’t been unsolicited or overboard. He had taken advantage of the vulnerability that accompanied her grief, and would have very much used her as a tool to satisfy his selfish desires, if her logic hadn’t intervened in the last second.

She couldn’t believe she had come that close, to giving herself over. It was frightening, to come that close to losing herself and dignity—and she’d have never dreamt in her wildest dreams, that her defenses were penetrable to that extent. She had to be more than cautious, in her dealings henceforth with Lekan.

“Excuse me, Ma. But you haven’t paid for your coffee and cheeseburger.” The curious baritone of the chiseled, male waiter brought her back to the present, and she quickly muttered an apology, before reaching for her bag on the table—and fishing out her ATM card, which she used to pay via POS machine. The waiter flashed an earnest smile, before finally leaving.

She looked out of the window by her left, to see if she would catch glimpse of her colleagues approaching from the towering, Skyscraper Sigma building that was across the street, but she couldn’t spot any familiar faces amongst the huge throng of people, coming over to the outlet.

They weren’t in the same office anymore of course, and so she didn’t know what had them held up to the point that they were five minutes late. Adaure and Ehize, were both foodies that were always punctual and had a generally unrivalled gusto, when it came to matters pertaining to food consumption, so it was quite the ethical conundrum for them to show up late. Or is that they had forgotten their ritual, and now had new habits that they had developed in her one-month absence? It wasn’t farfetched to think that way. Matter of fact, it was being naïve to think that she’d meet everything in the same condition, in which she left it, a month ago.

She was about to reach into her bag for her phone, and call Adaure to inquire if she had been deserted, when she finally sighted their familiar silhouettes approaching, which made her ease into her chair—flooded with relief. Much to her joy, her stunt to get the duo back together hadn’t fallen through and was a mammoth success. Adaure and Ehize were back on good terms, and that was an understatement. According to Adaure, who had filled her in on the details of the night—they hadn’t left the concert good friends, but prospective and potential romantic partners. They had gone on four dates already since then, and their physical, affection consensus was enough evidence of the chemistry that their dates had brewed.