Here you go AddictiveRose ❤❤before you show up in my dreams.
Nouman Hussain
Sister Nazeera officially started university and safe to say I haven't had peace of mind since Monday.
Normal students won't spend the whole day at school, get back home in the evening, fix a light dinner and go to bed immediately so they'd be properly rested for the next school day.
But Nazeera wasn't normal.
She'd get home in the evening, start cooking a new recipe that'd take like three hours before it'd be ready.
And that wasn't even the worst part.
The worst part was that I had to sit with her in the kitchen because she needed to gist me about how her day went.
Keywords had and needed.
I didn't have an option, I had to sit with her because I was afraid that if I didn't, she'd start crying and she needed to tell me because she said, if she didn't, she might fall and die from keeping all that gists buried in her.
Her words, not mine.
And it'd have been better if my sister would give me a summary of how her day went but she'd say everything, every single thing that happened that day, from the lecturers' names to their course codes and titles to their lecture rooms to their food labs and kitchens, to people's comments on her clothing, to the people she was becoming closer with, to how their chairs were arranged, to their paintings and colors and everything.
Nazeera would narrate every single thing without leaving anything out.
I did not even understand how she could talk with that much vigor and energy because you needed to see the energy she'd give into narrating and demonstrating how a particular thing happened, after spending the whole day holed up in classes and kitchens.
I didn't understand.
And finally, we'd retire to our rooms in the morning of the next day and I'd still hear Nazeera watching dramas and giggling to her heart's contents.
I didn't understand her.
And Nazeera's late-night gist was probably the reason why I kept yawning and was feeling very sleepy in my morning class on Wednesday.
"Okay, guys," Miss. Janice's voice snapped me back into reality just when I was about to drift off into sleepiness for the umpteenth time in that class.
"So that will all for this class," The class burst into a scream so loud that one would think we all just got a free A in this course but to most students, this was almost like a free A too.
After all, what could be better than a lecturer saying a 2-hour class had ended when it was barely even 40 minutes into the class.
That was probably one of the best news any student could hope for.
"But," Her loud voice quietened the students' screams, "There would be an assignment."
That was what it took for the excited screams to turn into that of agony and displeasure.
An assignment was the greatest nightmare of any student but I loved the assignment, especially if it was going to unlock a whole new dimension that I didn't know before in photography.
I could only hope that it wasn't going to be a group assignment because I detests that.
Absolutely.
"Look at you all, you were all excited when I ended the class without even spending 40 minutes but now, you're squeezing your faces because of an assignment."
"That's because assignments can cause depression." A feminine voice said in a wailing voice that made the whole class burst into laughter.
Except me of course, because I felt my eyelids were going to close fully anytime soon.
I've never felt this sleepy before.
"Okay, let's do this," Miss Janice continued, "Do you want an assignment or do you want me to use up my period?"
What followed was a very loud silence.
I knew just why. It was a double period, a four hours lecture and she just used 40 minutes. Most students would rather spend the next three hours doing whatever they wanted than sit through a class that was about Perspectives in Photography. An assignment wasn't exactly better too. It was like two evils and we had to choose the lesser of them.
"Yes? I'm waiting for your answer."
"We'll go with the assignment." A few students replied in a way that sounded so much like they wanted to wail and even though, I was mere seconds from falling asleep, I still found my lips stretching into a small smile.
Nigerian students ehn.
"Okay," Miss Janice clapped her hands together as she leaned over the lectern, "The assignment will be A Day In The Life Of... Project..."
And that was all she needed to say before the whole class turned upside, figuratively. Everyone was screaming their heads off and banging their tables and they were all just shouting excitedly while Miss Janice just kept looking at the whole class with a small smile tugging at her lips.
I knew just why my coursemates were that excited.
A Day In The Life Of... The project was always fun. It wasn't necessarily a group assignment as expected of most photography assignments. You don't have to brainstorm and come up with ideas and themes and whatnot with your partner. You only get assigned a partner whom you'll take snapshots of from dawn to dusk.
For a day.
That's why it was called A Day In The Of whoever you get paired with.
"The way I love this project ehn," An exciting male voice thundered over the rest of the class's screams, "That project fetched me, my first girlfriend, in 100l."
"And they later served you breakfast," Another male voice was quick to reply to him in an authoritative voice, "Yes or yes?"
The whole class burst into laughter at that.
"Yes, I got served," The first guy replied in a somber voice, "But that's why we're doing another one so I'd get another girlfriend."
"Until you get a boy as your partner."
"God forbid! God forbid bad and terrible thing!" He screamed in a voice that was loud, too loud that on instinct, my head veered back to look at him. He was pushing himself up from his seat and turning back to look at who I assumed was the guy that had been replying to him.
"Wa, ewo lepe?" Come, why are you cursing me? He said it in a voice that was serious as if we were talking about something life-altering and not just a mere partner for an assignment and the whole class burst into even louder laughter.
One would think that his life depended on it with how serious he took it and I seriously don't even get the gist because as for me, I'd prefer a guy as a partner.
The last time I got a girl as a major partner for a photography project, she ended up making my life a living hell.
She was all over me, told me she liked me, wanted me to date her and when I turned down her advances, she started sending lots of unsolicited nudes pictures to my dm.
To cut the long story short, I ended up blocking her and till today, I always steered clear of her path and whenever I see her coming, I'd just pass another route.
I really didn't want to deal with another female partner because what was the probability that she wouldn't turn out to be another Tito.
Or even someone worse than her.
That thought was even enough to make me shudder.
"Okay, class," Miss. Janice's voice jolted me back to reality and I looked up to see her packing her lecture notes from the lectern, "That'd be all, the course rep would send the pairings to the group chat later in the day. Have a nice day."
And with that, she turned back and walked out of the lecture room and the whole class w01as quick to turn into groups of threes and fours and they all started to talk in loud and exaggerated whispers.
That was how they'd spend the next 3 hours.
To students, that was way better than what they came to do in school.
I grabbed my bag, stood up, and started to make my way out of the lecture room through the closest door to me when my eyes met that of the least expected person.
Tito's.
She was sitting on the table with her legs crossed and she was talking to a group of boys and immediately her eyes met mine, a full-blown smile made its way to her face and she was quick to jump down from the table.
I ran.
Figuratively.
But the rate I pushed myself out of the door and out of Tito's view shocked me completely but I just couldn't imagine even a second in her presence.
And with how sleepy I was again, I just couldn't imagine.
I started walking out of the department's main building through the back door because I couldn't risk going through the main door and bumping into Tito.
She'd bore me to death.
Alfred was the only one who knew about her and he, being the ever-senseless guy that he was had advised me to go with the flow. He told me that I was probably the only guy that'd decline a free food that was being offered to me free of charge.
But Alfred, well, was just being senseless.
I was almost at the back door when I started hearing sharp footsteps behind me. It sounded very sharp as if whoever was walking behind me wore very penciled heels which almost made no sense because this was a school.
"Hey," The feminine voice didn't halt me in my tracks because I mentally concluded that whoever it was couldn't be referring to me.
"Hey, I'm calling you," The voice continued when I didn't stop and this time around, I found myself stopping and turning back to see a girl wearing heels as I had presumed walking towards me in slow and unhurried steps as if I was supposed to wait for her even if it took her all days to get to me.
I looked at her, then started to turn back but she raised her right hand as if to halt my movement.
And without knowing why, I actually stopped too.
She kept sashaying her way casually towards me as if she was walking on a runway and not actually walking up to a stranger she had stopped out of the blues, the sounds of her heels echoing throughout the corridor, and the more she walked closer to me, the more I got a closer look at her.
She was dressed in a nude gown that clung to her curvaceous body that a second skin and she was carrying a grey bag that shook slightly as she walked. She was dressed in a very simple manner but it looked so exquisite.
Tamara, y'all 😩😩❤❤✨✨
As if even if she was dressed in shabby clothes, she'd still manage to look divine.
And when she finally got to where I stood, a lump found its way to my throat that I gulped hard, then swallowed even harder to force the lump down.
She was really really pretty.
She was one of the girls from my group for Lens and Pens.
The one Alfred had said was an actress.
"Hey," She repeated when she got to me and she casually stood before me as if we had prior businesses.
I frowned as I stared down at her while wondering what could be so important in the project that she had singled me out to talk to me.
"Hi," I finally found my voice after what seemed like an eternity and I could only blame my sudden muteness on the fact that I was feeling too sleepy.
For a minute, she did not say anything, she just kept staring at me and it seemed almost eerie to have her eyes remain on me like that.
Blank, empty, lonely, deep eyes staring intently at me as if she was waiting for me to start the conversation.
"Uhmm," I started awkwardly, "Is there a problem?"
She blinked, looked away from me and she adjusted her position in a way that made the morning sun reflect directly on her face, highlighting her facial features and making them more pronounced.
"My pictures," She replied to me in two words, just two words that heightened my confusion even more.
"Your pictures?" I just had to ask her and her reply was a brief nod.
"Yeah, the ones you took the other day at the beach."
"Uhmm?" I did not even understand if this was an extremely weird conversation or if it was the fact that I was feeling too sleepy and distracted that was making the conversation weird.
I was at the beach the other day but to the best of my knowledge, I didn't see her that day, not to talk of even taking her pictures so the point of this conversation completely eludes me.
"I think you have the wrong person," I told her and almost immediately, a deep frown made its way to her face and if it wasn't my sleepy mind playing tricks on me, I could have sworn that she just eyed me.
But I couldn't be sure.
"You took the pictures," She stated as if she was pointing out an obvious fact, "And if you're trying to act dumb so you'll get paid for the pictures," She started to open her bag, "It's not a big deal. This won't be the..."
"I don't appreciate you calling me dumb," I interrupted her, then weighed my options of walking out on her in the middle of the conversation but that would be rude and I was anything but rude.
She trailed off, glared at me, or maybe it was my sleepy brain still playing tricks on me.
I couldn't be so sure.
Either way, I needed to get out of here.
"I'm not sure what you're talking about," I explained to her calmly, "Or how you concluded that I have your pictures with me but I don't, so now, if you'll excuse me."
I started to walk away, half expecting her to say something else but she didn't till I was out of the building completely with only one thought in my mind.
What a weirdo!
**********
The relief I felt when I finally walked into Cakes and Creams was so surprising.
So pleasantly surprised.
I felt like a two-year-old that was finally reunited with his mother after she had gone to work for the whole.
And the smile on Alfred's face as he watched me walk closer to the counter felt like home.
"Why do you look so distraught?" That was the first thing he said to me when I got to his front and I started to answer him, only for him to cut me short.
"But why do I expect? You've not seen me for... A week now so it's normal that you look distraught."
Oh, God. I exhaled loudly as I took my seat on the high stool.
"Wait oo, Hussain," He seriously called my attention, and my ears perked because I thought he was going to say something sensible, "We've not seen each other for a week!" He exclaimed!
"A whole week! That's 168 hours! And you're..." He looked at me intently, like he peered at me closely as he looked me over as if I had grown two horns.
He was looking at me as if he couldn't fathom what I was doing in front of him.
It confused me. Alfred confuses me.
"How're you still alive? I mean, you've not seen me, Alfred Bamidele, your oxygen for 168 hours and you're alive?" He sounded awestruck as if he really couldn't believe what was happening.
I couldn't even think of or say anything. I could only stare at him in amazement while wondering what I could have possibly done wrong to deserve someone like Alfred as my only friend.
"Wow! Mad oo!" He exclaimed as if he was talking about something serious, "You're still hale and hearty even though you've not seen me for a week, for 168 hours, for 10080 minutes, for 604,800 seconds! Wow!" He exclaimed again before he reached out as if he wanted to pinch my cheeks or something.
"Or are you a ghost? Is that it?"
"God! Shut up, Alfred." I slapped his hand away while feeling my lips stretch into a small smile, "Must you always say senseless things?"
His reply was a casual shrug, "Then who'll make you smile if I don't say them?"
My smile deepen into a chuckle and I shook my head because I simply couldn't deal with Alfred.
I simply couldn't deal.
"Chioma, good morning," I turned to the other part-timer that was beside Alfred. She had been listening and laughing at Alfred's antics since I got here, "Can you please help me brew a cup of coffee? Make it strong please."
"Yeah, sure boss!" She gave me a mock salute before she turned back and she walked up to the cabinet where their coffee makers were arranged.
"Why do you want a strong coffee?" Alfred asked immediately, "Do you feel sleepy?" He asked, then shook his head immediately afterward as if he had mentally concluded that I couldn't be sleepy.
And when I nodded, his eyes widened to the size of saucers.
"You," He pointed at me, "Sleepy? How on earth is that possible?"
"Because I'm human?"
"Oh, come on, you know what I'm talking about."
"I was awake for the better part of the night."
"Ohh," He replied, his tone understanding before his brows quirked together suggestively, "You should have put that first now."
I frowned, wondering what was going through his head now.
"So tell me," He leaned over so he could almost whisper to my ears, "Who's the lucky girl?"
"Which lucky girl?"
"The one that kept you up all night na."
Well, what did I say about not getting surprised by how senseless Alfred could get?
I looked away from his face and from the corner of my eyes, I saw him scowl at me as I glanced at the people sitting inside. It wasn't a busy day and there were less than 12 customers inside with none outside at all. And the smells of cakes, in their different flavors, milkshakes, coffees, smoothies, snacks, drinks, sodas was making the air feel sweet that I could practically taste the sweetness in the air.
And the coffee that Chioma was brewing was smelling so strong that I could already feel my sleepiness slipping away.
I mean, the taste of coffee was something but the aroma was everything.
"Here you go, boss." Chioma's voice interrupted my thoughts and I looked back to see her placing a very black coffee in my front and another one in front of Alfred.
"Thank you," I told her as I stirred it before taking a sip.
And that one sip and the strong nutty aroma was enough to wake me up completely and to heighten all my senses.
Alfred stared at his cup for a minute longer than usual before he looked at Chioma with his brows raised questioningly, "I never said I wanted coffee."
"Yes, you didn't," Chioma's reply was instantaneous as she turned back and she started to walk to their changing room, "But you start you wanted to try out a new latte art."
"Oh, yeah, that's true, thank you." He replied to her and he picked a pitcher and he started to work on the designs intricately.
"Alfred, I'm already going for my class," Chioma's voice interrupted him and he muttered a distracted hmm as she disappeared through the backdoor.
Chioma was a 200l culinary arts student and she had been working here since her 100l days. She told me she wanted to earn money by herself and she didn't want to solely depend on her parents' money.
Which much be a lot. Talent was one thing needed to get into CSA but the school fees were another thing entirely. If it wasn't that a student was here on a scholarship, then the parents must be very rich.
"So, what came up on Sunday?" I asked Alfred and for the briefest second, his hands froze on the coffee he was designing and his whole body turned rigid but it was all so fleeting that I wasn't sure if I imagined it or not.
He stopped pouring the milk on the coffee and he picked up a coffee pen to start drawing the design, "I was at the hospital." He replied ever so casually.
"Oh, to visit your mom? How is she? Is she feeling better?"
He continued drawing intricately on the coffee with a precision that seemed unreal.
"Six months," He replied even more casually and it confused me because I didn't understand what he meant by that.
"Hmm?"
"Six months," He continued drawing on the coffee intently, "That's what the doctor said, that my mom has only six months left."
Subhanallah!
He did look even sound pained, he said it ever so casually as if he was talking about something random.
Like the weather.
Or a coffee design.
Or anything but not his mom dying in six months.
It saddened me greatly.
And he did not even look up from the coffee he was designing. He just kept turning twisting the pen that way and this way as he worked on what I knew would be stunning coffee art.
He was so focused on what he was doing that it almost seemed eerie.
"Are you... Are you okay?"
A minute or two of loud silence and distinct chatters of the customers passed before he nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine," His voice sounded a little bit hoarse and he had to clear his throat, "I mean, the doctor has sort of been preparing us for the worst since cancer came back so I'm not..." He trailed off mid-sentence and he stopped what he was designing too.
Seeing him like that, sagged shoulders, hunched back, and downcast head, made my heart bleed for him.
It made my heartbreak for him.
Alfred honestly deserved better than what life was offering him.
He deserved way better.
"But it's just that life is unfair," He continued in a sob that sounded so much like a wrecked sob and it shattered me completely.
"There are people that are hurting so many people, they perpetuate lots of evil deeds, do lots of terrible things, and yet they're living the best lives, they live in their dream houses, drive their dream cars, have everything they want while innocent people that can't even hurt a fly live fucked up lives, struggle to eat once daily and as if that's not enough, they get diagnosed with terminal diseases and they live the rest of their lives in pain."
He looked up at me then and I was instantly taken apart by the deep sadness in his eyes. It was raw, deep, seething and it was a painful punch to my guts.
Alfred looked nothing like the boy that had been teasing a couple of minutes ago.
He now looked like someone that had been hollowed out, someone whose light had completely been drained out of them.
That broke me.
Alfred broke me completely.
"My mom honestly deserves better," He muttered in a quiet voice that shattered my heart even more before he continued designing the coffee and I couldn't even say anything.
I could only stare at the boy that was always full of light and love, who was always bringing so much sunshine and love into people's lives and I wondered about how he was holding still with so much sadness in him.
How he was keeping everything perfectly bottled up.
It was heartbreaking.
I knew it had always been him and his mother against the world.
He didn't even have any other relative, no father, no siblings, no half-siblings, or even extended family members.
It had always been him and her.
And now, the universe was taking her away from him.
It was heartbreaking.
I kept staring at him as he focused intently and eerily on what he designing. He kept drawing on it with a very intense precision that didn't quite seem normal.
Watching him like that, with his words replaying themselves in my head was breaking my heart, it was making me feel intense physical pain for him.
I felt like someone had taken a hammer to my heart and was hitting me with it.
And if I was feeling that way, only Allah knows what Alfred must be feeling.
"I'm finally done," He announced chirpily in a voice that sounded so much like the everyday Alfred and when he looked up at me from the coffee, I was taken aback by the smile in his eyes and on his lips.
He didn't look like the Alfred from a few minutes ago.
"What do you think? It's very pretty, right?" I swallowed before looking away from his beaming and eager face to the coffee to see the design that was so intricate and perfect and beautiful. It was a latte art of a pigeon.
But this wasn't about Coffees and designs or whatnot.
I wanted to comfort him but I knew no words would be able to comfort him, that no words would take away his pain.
So I reached out to place my right hand on his left one and I squeezed gently, "Everything will be fine, Alfred."
But would they? Would things like this ever turn out to be fine?
He looked away from my face to our hands and while his eyes remained on them, I heard a brief strangled and choked sob from him but when he looked up, there was a teasing and cumming smile on his face.
"So you want to comfort me by touching me? Oh no, please, that's too gross. Only girls are allowed to touch me."
I couldn't help but chuckle at his words even though I could feel my insides churning and he chuckled too before his lips stretched into a full-blown smile.
He was sad, I knew that. What was going on with his mother was draining him and leaving him heartbroken but he wasn't wallowing in the pain and grief.
He wasn't allowing that to drag him down.
He continued smiling and he looked away from my face when we heard the main door being opened.
Whatever he saw by the door made his smile freeze over. He looked surprised at whoever was at the door but I wasn't sure if it was a pleasant one or not.
It made me frown and I had to turn back to look at whoever was by the door.
It was just a guy holding the door for a girl.
A very huge guy holding the door for a very tiny girl.
I looked back at Alfred at the same time he looked away from the duo and I watched as the coffee pen dropped from his hand into the middle of the coffee and it completely destroyed the design he had been working on.
The latte art, y'all ✨✨
"It's ruined now," He muttered in a voice so quiet that I barely heard him.
"Do you know them?"
"Who?" He looked up, surprise etched perfectly on his face.
"That couple," I tilted my head towards them. They were now inside and the guy was pulling out a chair for the girl who wouldn't stop beaming and smiling and looking at him as if he was handing out stars to her.
"Of course, I know her, she's one of the numerous girls that are absolutely smitten with me."
I really doubt that because the girl was looking at the guy she came in with in absolute delight. They were now conversing in low tones as the guy stood beside her and the guy kissed her fully on the lips before he started walking towards the counter.
"Or should I steal her away from him?" Alfred asked thoughtfully, his eyes still fixed on the couple that looked more like a dad and a baby than an actual couple, "I mean, I can steal her away from him if I put my mind to it."
"Till they beat you up, abi?"
"I'm stronger than I look oo," He started flexing his muscles and my mouth twitched into that of mock disgust, "I can actually take 20 guys in a fair fight."
"Ehn ehn?"
"Hey," The tall guy got to us then, "Can I have..." He started listing a whole lot of things from his phone while fishing out his atm card from his wallet.
"Is that all?" Alfred asked me when he was done mentioning them.
"Yeah."
"Alright, gotten." He started to turn back but the guy's words halted his steps.
"Don't you need to write them down or something? Or do you want me to repeat the orders?"
Alfred's lips stretched into a smile that seemed so self-assured, "Of course no, I'm really good with remembering things."
The huge guy with towering height looked at Alfred skeptically as if he didn't believe him and I understood that.
It was really weird and unusual but Alfred was almost inhumanely good with remembering things.
"Okay th..."
"Baby," The girlfriend's loud but tiny voice interrupted his statement, "Can you please help me add a strawberry milkshake to our orders? I'm suddenly craving one."
"Okay babe, gotten." His voice sounded like a smile, "Add a strawberry milkshake to them."
"Yeah," I watched as Alfred collected the debit card, made the payment and the guy walked back to have his seat opposite his girlfriend who was prompt to give him her phone to snap her with.
She started turning this way and that way, blowing kisses and just posing while the boyfriend just kept snapping her every poses.
And boy, the energy he was giving into snapping her pictures was something. He was leaning over, leaning this way and that way, bending, twisting, and just doing everything to get the perfect shot of his girlfriend.
If that wasn't boyfriend material...
I felt my lips stretch into a small smile as I stared at them and my heart swelled with an emotion that I couldn't describe.
"You want what they have, right?" Alfred's voice suddenly distracted me and I looked back to see him whisking something.
With his back turned to me.
"I mean, I don't understand why you don't have a girlfriend," He turned back suddenly with his brows raised stared at me pointedly, "Or are you a monk in disguise?"
Oh God...
"Or do you perhaps need help in that section?"
"Section?" I frowned in confusion, "What section?"
He kissed his teeth and shook his head slightly before answering me, "Section of asking girls out of course! What else could it be?"
I stared at him, momentarily taken aback by his words before mentally chiding myself because what was I even expecting?
It was Alfred of course.
He says the most senseless things.
"Just go back to preparing their orders," I dismissed him with a wave of my hand and I muttered something incoherent before he turned back and he started arranging some snacks in a tray.
I unlocked my phone to see that it was just a few minutes to noon and I should be getting ready to leave because of my class but I didn't want to leave.
I was really enjoying Alfred's company.
When I looked up again, Alfred was stepping out from behind the counter with a huge tray that was filled to the brim with all sorts of snacks, fries, chips, doughnuts, pies, and all, and I watched as he started walking towards the couple.
His movement was slow, uneven, and almost twisted, and he hobbled his way towards them. I focused on his movements, on his left leg that was almost twisted at the ankle which had slightly affected his walking.
It wasn't that obvious, at least when people are not overly focused on watching him walk but I know he himself could feel it, could feel how it was impairing his daily activities.
And for the first time in forever, I wondered how he got it because I knew he wasn't born with it.
"Here are your orders," He told me when he got to them and before he could even properly place the tray in front of them, the girl lunged for one of the snacks.
"Okay babe, snap unawares pictures of me now." She eagerly told her boyfriend, "I'll act as if I don't know that you're snapping me."
Alfred chuckled and told me he'd be bringing their drinks shortly but I doubted if either of them heard him because they were now so busy.
The girl was now gently nibbling at her doughnuts and looking sideways as if she was staring intently at something while the boyfriend had gotten to work again and was now snapping her as if that was his professional job.
They looked really cute together and it was sort of satisfying to watch them together but it was also kind of weird.
I mean, the guy looked like he could hold her entire body up with just two of his fingers and it was just really weird to imagine them together in a romantic relationship.
"Get a girlfriend and stop looking at them as if you want to enter them!" Alfred snapped at me when he was walking back to them with their drinks which again was too much.
I chuckled at his words as he walked closer to them and the girl, in a bid to pose perfectly for the unaware pictures jolted slightly out of her seat just at the same moment Alfred got to them and she bumped into him.
Bumped into the huge tray he was carrying and this caused the whole content to spill and splash and to pour completely on the girl's body.
Every single drink.
Smoothies. Sodas. Sobo. Milkshakes and all.
The girl shrieked and she practically flew out of the chair to avoid the drinks but it was too late. She was dripping in liquid and she was completely stained with all sorts of liquids.
The slimy ones.
The cold ones.
The ices.
"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," Apologies kept spilling out of Alfred's mouth, "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to... I'm really sorry, you can use our convenience and..."
"No, it's okay," The girl interrupted him, her voice sounding petite as she tried pulling at her clothes from clinging to her body but it was working, She was completely soaked from head to toe.
"I was actually the one that bumped into..."
"Are you blind?" A new voice thundered and that alerted the attention of virtually everyone, "Do you want to hurt her? Is that it?" The boyfriend continued, rising slowly from his chair and stalking towards him menacingly.
"Babe, calm down, it's not..."
He completely disregard her as towered over Alfred. And now, he didn't look like the boyfriend that had been fawning over the girl, he just looked really monstrous, "Her clothes that you stained, the phone that you've soiled, do you know how expensive they are? Can your life savings even afford them?" He bellowed and I found myself standing up but Alfred gestured to me to stay put.
I knew just why. He lost his last job because of something similar to this.
"What if the liquids were hot ones? Is that how you'd have poured them all over her body?"
"Babe, he didn't... I was the one that... Just stop making a scene, please." Her eyes were on Alfred as she spoke and they were spilling over with lots of unspoken apologies.
Her boyfriend completely disregarded and he looked murderous as he towered over Alfred. It was almost like what happened had unlocked a new of insanity in him.
"If you're fucking retard," His eyes zeroed on Alfred's left leg, "Then stay where you belong instead of constituting nuisance in the public!"
"Jesus Christ! Seyi, are you nuts?" The girlfriend sounded and looked absolutely mortified as she stared up at her Seyi as if he had suddenly transformed into a monster, "What has gotten into you? You know what? I'm out of here."
Then she grabbed her stuffs from the table and she practically raced outside with liquids dripping from her.
"I'm really sorry," Alfred apologized and he bowed slightly which made the idiot called Seyi scoff and he muttered something that sounded like "You had better be" before he dashed out of the eatery.
Alfred remained in that position, head down, shoulders sagged, for a moment longer than usual and there were a lot of distinct murmurs and whispers from the customers.
It was heartbreaking.
He had told me that it used to be worse at his former workplace. Some rich customers were always picking on him and degrading him and all and he had never, not even for once stood up to them.
And he still ended up getting fired from that work because of those customers.
It was really really heartbreaking.
"Alfred."
That seemed to jolt him out of his reverie and he looked up with a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
It was sad.
"Ohhhhh," He exhaled, "That was intense," He told me as if that was something random and normal and he bent down to pick the tray before he started walking towards me.
"I need to get the mob to clean the mess..."
"Are you okay? I asked, interrupting whatever he wanted to say and he chuckled as if he was surprised by my question.
"Of course, I am," He shrugged nonchalantly as he made his way behind the counter again, "It's really nothing big. I mean, I'm used to it by now. Someone like me has to put up with it to earn a living, you know?"
"Alfred, if it's about..." He halted my statement by pointing his index finger at me.
"No please, don't tell me you'll give me money. I have to make my own money because how will I impress the girls?"
I intended to scoff at his words but what came out was a slight chuckle and he chuckled too as if amused by me or something else.
"Who knows? Maybe he got that defensive because he was afraid that I'd steal his girlfriend. I mean," He pointed to his face and body, "Any guy would be threatened by this face and body."
"Oh shut it, Alfred, just shut up," I told him with my lips stretching into a smile that soon blossomed into small laughter.
And Alfred looked at me, his lips crinkling into a smile.
**********
DAVID
My peripheral vision was making up things.
Things that it shouldn't be making up.
I wasn't sure if it was my peripheral vision or the burst of adrenaline that was coursing through my veins that was making me hallucinate.
Or if it was my sanity that was tethering over the edge.
Because yes, my sanity was really tethering over the edge.
I couldn't spend a single minute, second even without thinking about her.
So now, as I was doing sprints on the field, my peripheral vision started conjuring up the image of a girl, a lady sitting on the bleachers with a camera raised to her eyes and taking pictures of me.
Of me running.
That felt familiar because Dunni used to come over a lot when we were still together to cheer me up even during training and to take thousand of pictures of me.
But it made no sense now that there was a girl up there on the bleachers snapping pictures of me.
A girl that looked so much like Dunni Gentry.
I came to a standstill.
Then blinked, blinked repeatedly while waiting for my vision to clear up and for the girl to disappear.
But she remained there, the camera still raised and snapping repeatedly.
Wow.
Was I supposed to strike a pose?
It just couldn't be Dunni up there. I was definitely suffering from a full-blown hallucination from how constantly I've been thinking about her which was totally expected.
I started to drag myself up towards the hallucinated vision. Drag because I was tired because I've been training for hours and my breathes were coming out in pants and my head, well, was just my head.
It had become constant to feel a banging pain in it and well, I've just become accustomed to it.
I moved closer to the image, half expecting it to disappear but it was not and it was when I got closer that I realized that it wasn't an object of my hallucination.
It was real.
Dunni was really there.
And her camera was still raised even though I was right in front of her and that made me look back in the direction of the camera.
It was towards the field as a whole and I realized that she was probably covering the whole thing that was going on on the field.
The track team practicing.
The football team practicing.
It wasn't even about me.
I heaved a sigh as I turned back to look at her. She was still focused on her camera and she wasn't even acknowledging my presence.
I cleared my throat, "Hey."
She didn't flinch. She just slowly brought down her camera, started going through the pictures and she muttered something incoherent.
Something incoherent that sounded so much like hey to my ears.
She didn't say anything again, she just continued to browse through the pictures while I could only stare at her and notice every single thing about her.
She was simply dressed in bikers shorts and a light blue baggy crop top.
It was so simple, yet she managed to make it look exquisite.
I cleared my throat again, "Urhmm, can we... Can we talk?"
That seemed to grab her attention because she stopped browsing through the pictures and she looked up at me.
I gulped.
Her left brow was raised questioned, her lips pressed into a thin line as she looked up at me as if I just said the most absurd thing.
"I've been chasing you for how many weeks now so we'd have a reasonable conversation? And now, you suddenly want to talk? No please, it's my turn to do shakara." She stated pettily before she went back to doing what she was doing.
I heaved a sigh.
"Babe," A masculine voice that wasn't mine said and I looked in the direction of the voice to see a guy walking towards us.
Towards Dunni.
He didn't just call Dunni babe, right?
"Are you done?" He asked when he got to us and Dunni muttered yes while smiling at him.
Talawon? Who's this one?
"Oh, you have a company?" The guy acknowledged my presence as if I was just suddenly noticeable and he tilted his head towards me as he stretched out his right hand for a handshake, "Xup brother?"
Who's your brother?
I stared at his outstretched hand for a moment longer than usual before I finally decided to brush his fingertips as an acknowledgment of the handshake.
"Just go Leke, I'll be with you in a couple of seconds."
"Alright babe, I'll be waiting."
Will someone gag this black guy and tell him to stop calling her babe?
I kept glaring at his retreating back until I heard shuffles of feet and I looked back to see Dunni on her feet.
"So, who's he?"
"It's none of your business!" Her reply sounded like a retort and for the briefest second, something akin to anger flashed in her eyes.
I heaved another sigh and I rubbed my forehead in frustration.
"Okay, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." I trailed off suddenly, unable to articulate or even process my thoughts because of Dunni.
She had suddenly fished out a pink lipstick and pocket mirror from her side-bag and she slowly started to run the lipstick across the full length of her lips while staring at her reflection.
She was doing it slowly, with measured steps as if she had all day to apply the lipstick, and just watching her do that, just watching her apply that lipstick heightened all my senses.
Made my whole body start working in overdrive, made my heart start pounding in my chest, made my hand start itching with an intense and burning desire to reach out and rub against her full lips.
I was in danger.
And I was suddenly so jealous and envious of that lipstick.
I was jealous of an inanimate object.
My body, my legs developed a mind of their own and they moved closer to her till there was practically no distance between us, till I could hear and feel her breath, till I could almost count her lashes.
Dunni didn't budge. She just kept applying her lipstick and when she was done, she smacked her lips together, pouted, twist them to one side then the other, and practically did a thousand and one poses with her lips while I could only stare at her with my senses becoming more and more heightened.
It was torture. A bittersweet one.
"Okay," She started when she was done and she had tucked the mirror and lipstick away into her bag and she looked up at me with something that looked like a mysterious glint in her eyes, "We're in the middle of a project so if you'll excuse me."
And before I could even say a thing, she was already off.
I watched her, kept watching her as she sashayed her way across the field to where that guy had gone and I couldn't help but notice how the guys on the field were ogling at her, how some even completely abandoned what they were doing to stare at her.
If only I could pluck their eyes out...
I heaved another sigh, then took deep breaths to calm my racing heart but it wasn't working. My heart was still pounding and my mind was still working in overdrive as that image was perfectly etched in my mind.
Her lips. Pink. Full. Soft.
Kissable.
I heaved yet another sigh, knowing fully well that I was going to spend the whole day or even week daydreaming and fantasizing about her.
Cheers to another week of Dunni Gentry messing up with my sanity.
Y'all can put David in your prayers because it looks like somebody's daughter has made it her life mission to ruin him 😂😂😂😂❤❤❤
My baby😭Alfred Bamidele 😭😭💔💔
And Tania's Seyi??
Who do you think Nouman will get paired with for their photography assignment?
This chapter is important sha. Very very important so if you know, you know.
See you before next week Friday.
Saranghea ❤❤❤