~There are some thoughts you can't avoid and feelings you can't deny.~
Javier's POV
"Welcome to Nigeria, Mr Callaghan," the chocolate complexioned attendant, with a tight bun of fiery dark curls sitting atop her head, said to me as she stamped my passport which gave me access into the country.
I smiled at her and retrieved the green square book from her hand. "Thank you," I nodded in her direction and moved forward to make way for others. I looked round the airport and sighed. I had volunteered online as a medical assistant with a charity organization as a form of selfless service. Months passed with no word of any assignment until the previous month. I got a mail stating that I had an assignment to Africa. They had gathered a group of medical personnel from all across the country and distributed them to different countries across Africa. I was one of the doctors assigned to West Africa and we were a total number of six medical personnel sent to Nigeria.
I had to take several shots from cholera, to typhoid, to hepatitis, to tetanus shots as preventive measures against these diseases. I was here to supervise the recently completed centre for the paralyzed and handicapped in Lagos. I had done a little research about Nigeria prior to my arrival and I was pretty pleased about what I saw. Although, I was scheduled to work round the clock, I made sure I found time to see the state for its beauty and visit a few of the tourist attractions centers they had.
I stepped out of the airport and looked round for my ride. I was told that a car would be waiting outside the airport for me. I was a few days late as I had to tidy up work at the clinic before leaving. I saw a cardboard with an inscription of my name written in bold capital letters. I walked over to the man and he immediately brought out something from his pocket and held it up to his face. He looked at me and I met his eyes. He looked down again at the picture and as I got closer, I realized he had a picture of me in his hands and he was probably making sure that it really was me.
"Hi... I'm Javier," I smiled as I stopped in front of him.
"Mr Callaghan?" he asked.
I grinned. "Yes, I am Callaghan."
"Nice to meet you, sir," he smiled, showing a set of well arranged dentition as he proceeded to take my bag from me. He walked over to the rear of the car and the bag disappeared into the trunk. He opened the door to the back seat and I got in. He shut the door and got into the driver side. The car pulled out of the lot and out of the airport joining the slowly moving traffic.
"Where are we headed?" I asked, choosing to engage the man in a conversation.
"Lekki, sir. That's where the hotel is, sir."
He had an accent and it was funny how he added sir to every reply he gave. "How far out are we?"
"Sir?"
"How long will it take us to get there?" I rephrased.
"Ooh... we're on the mainland. Ikeja to be precise, the capital of Lagos. Our destination is the island and there's always traffic around this time so it'll take us about an hour thirty minutes to get there."
"I see," I hummed. "What is Nigeria like?"
"Sir, you see ehn, Everyone has a different opinion of my country according to which part of the news they have read or heard. To me, Nigeria is a big country filled with highly ambitious. Our ambitions and goals drive us to do what we do and the things we do can either be good or bad. All countries have their vices and ours is just another country where people use our vices to define who we are. Majority of Nigerians are very spiritual people and we take whatever religious denomination we belong to seriously."
His reply was very lengthy and explanatory and I could tell he was learned from his choice of words. I wouldn't lie, I had quite an opinion about the country. I couldn't see past the news I had gathered from online sources that Nigeria is a country filled with a bunch of fraudulent opportunists.
"You sound very learned. How are you a driver? Does the job pay well enough?"
"Well sir, the answer to that question is also centered around the fact that my people are very ambitious but the sad part is that the umbrella isn't big enough to protect everybody from the rain. The umbrella being availability of jobs or employment opportunities isn't enough to sustain the population. It is no news that we have a bad economy and for a highly populated country as ours, with limited resources to sustain even half of the population, it is only by God's grace that there are still people doing legal things in our country..." he paused to curse as a young boy of about ten years ran in front of the car to cross over to the other side of the road. "... I graduated from university a few years back. I submitted my Resume to a few companies but no one got back to me. I had to get a job and a friend told me about the driving gig. I learnt how to drive while in high school and it appeared I was more than qualified so they offered me the job. The pay is okay, I guess," he shrugged.
I hummed but didn't ask him any other question trying to take in all he had told me. I guess all countries had their issues and this wasn't an exception. I just felt sorry for the rest of the population that couldn't get a place in the economy and had to rely on crumbs and scraps that the faulty economy offered their group.
I decided to change the subject and ask less personal questions. "So would you say Lagos is fun? Like if you were to give it a rating, what number would you give it out of ten?" I asked.
"Erm... Lagos is one of the most populated cities in the country and unarguably the busiest. People are always on the move and are always in a haste so no one really has time to sit back and chill but we still have a couple of hangout spots and tourist centers. We have art galleries, museums, clubs and all that. I would give it a 7 out of 10 though," he hummed.
"That's pretty good. A 7 isn't bad. I'll take it. I'm particularly interested in the art galleries. I'd love to buy a few artifacts to take back with me."
"How long will you be staying, sir?" he asked me.
"Two weeks."
"That's enough time to get a glimpse of the state. You should also be careful as there are a lot of opportunists around who are out to extort money especially from the whites. You should be fine though with a Nigerian guide," he advised. "We're here, sir."
Here was a fancy hotel with a huge waterfall in the centre. Expensive cars from top brands were littered across the lot and the name Darlington hotel was illuminated by yellow bulbs. The entrance was flanked by four pot plants and a bellboy came to take my bags from the trunk of the car. I bid the driver goodbye and followed the young boy into the hotel. The lobby was a huge space with high ceilings. Art paintings of what I'm guessing was the city beautified the walls. The boy walked over to the reception and stopped, stepping aside and I took that as my cue to make enquiries. I walked past him and rested my right hand on the raised platform. The lady looked up and a smile spread her glossy lips revealing a set of whites. She had on green contact lens and her cheekbones were well defined with make up. Her cheeks looked very highlighted and glowy like she hid a portion of the sun in them.
"Hello, sir. Welcome to Darlington hotel. How may I help you?" She asked and I was surprised that she had a very fluid English accent.
"Hi, I'm Javier... Javier Callaghan. I have a reservation. I don't know what room though. If you could please help me check..." I trailed off.
"Do hold on a minute, sir," she said and typed away on the monitor in front of her. I'm assumed it was a habit of the people to address visitors with sir.
"Mr Callaghan," she called, reading aloud the content of her screen. "Reservation in the Master suite. Floor 46, room number 37," she smiled handing me two cards; an ID card for pass and a gold card which I guessed was the key card.
"Thank you," I smiled as I retrieved the contents she offered.
The bellboy led the way and we went up the elevator to the 46th floor. The ride was silent and we got off and into a brightly lit hallway. Rooms were on either sides of the hall and we walked a bit before getting to my suite. I swiped the card on the metal bar and the door clicked open. We stepped in and the young boy, who later informed me his name was Ayo, dropped my bag in the room and excused himself after handing me a list of hotel numbers to call if I needed anything. I sighed and walked into the room. I unpacked my luggage and took a hot bath. I was called to have dinner in the restaurant with my associates and a small get-to-know-each-other session took place. It was nice meeting the others and every one of my colleagues shared their experience in the country over the past few day since I was the last to arrive. After over two hours of non-stop communication, I returned to the comfort of my room and it wasn't until I had laid in bed that I realized that only one person occupied the forefront of my mind and my mind traveled back to the day of the barbecue party...
She wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. She was doing everything even a blind man would consider normal. She weaved her way through the crowd serving the food that pops made and smiling wherever necessary. She wasn't flirting with anyone and wasn't even conversing with any other of the male towners which was refreshing, I wouldn't want to have to extricate her from those kind of conversations or have to use my fists if things escalated to a touchy-feely level. But then, even though I brought her here, I didn't bring her as a date. At least that was what I told her. So why was I bothered about her talking with other males and monitoring her every move like a jealous possessive jerk?
"Javi... back to earth please," Hayden waved his dirty hand stained with ketch up in my face and I swatted it away.
"What?"
"You're gone, bro. You really like the girl," Brent said with a knowing look and a smirk on his face.
"Shut the fuck up." I glared.
"Okay," he lifted his hands indicating that he was backing off. He didn't pass any further comment but kept on laughing and covering his act with face coughs. Drew changed the topic and soon after, loud manly laughs from the guys could be heard loud and clear by everyone in the yard but my mind wasn't there anymore. I couldn't get over what Brent had said. What if I really did like her? What if I had fallen in love with her?
It would be a first... and I have never really had much luck with first...
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A/N: Hey Lovelies! It's been over a month and I'm so sorry for the delay. School hasn't given me any breathing space. This semester is the hardest yet with trying to balance school, writing and building social relationships.
This chapter took a completely different turn and it was influenced by the current issues my country has been having. It's no news that I'm African and for my new lovely readers who don't know this, I'm Nigerian. I wanted to do something different and I thought why not use this concept for this chapter seeing as things will be heating up right after this with mystery and suspense.
I hope you like this chapter and let me know what you think in the comment section. Also if you have ever been to my country or any other African country, do let me know in the comment section. Ciao lovelies 💋.