Toh bad

Nenye resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
She was on a call with Stacy her best friend whose life was so ‘perfect’ she wondered how they remained friends.

Looking up she noticed the queue for the bus about 400 meters away from her was getting thin she couldn’t wait for her bus to pull up so she could go to her apartment get rid of the many layers of clothes she had decided to wear today and relax with the last can of Gulder she had found in a Nigerian store during her house hunting phase.
She glanced at the bus again. There was something about the bus number that was familiar.
She stared at it for a while before it clicked.
That was her bus! “Stacy I’m going to miss my bus! Talk later, love ya.” Ending the call, she shoved her mobile phone into her handbag, searched blindly for her ticket while running to make it to the bus stop before the driver shut the doors of her ride home.
The last passenger got on. She was half crying half muttering “please don’t go, please don’t go” as she drew nearer. She was so close.
The next bus wasn’t due to come in another 30 minutes and right now she wanted to pee.

She made it! The last passenger smiled at her before going to his seat. He saw her running and deliberately stalled so she could make it. For a moment she was so enthralled by his smile that she forgot to show her ticket. The driver hit the call button to get her attention. Embarrassed, she flashed her ticket and made her way to an empty seat after mouthing thank you to the guy with the lovely smile.
He was handsome, she was in love.

She got to her apartment without incidence and sighed as she opened the door.
For the next 18 months this little space was going to be her home. She hadn't spent up to a month in the town but she was already homesick.
Dropping her bag on her reading table, she padded over to the kitchen in her small studio apartment and brought out the chilled drink from her fridge.
Deciding to make it last, she picked up a bucket of left over chicken from the fridge, emptied it on a plate and popped it into the microwave. When the timer beeped, she carefully picked the plate and placed it on a tray along with the can of Gulder. She slipped into her sandals tray in one hand and opened the back door of the apartment.
She was nibbling the last piece of chicken when she smelled something familiar.
It was menthol flavoured cigarette, it was a smell she associated with a lounge in her home country.
Feeling like a hound, she dropped her tray and started sniffing around for the source.
The trail came to a stop at the fence dividing the apartments. She turned over a bucket, climbed on it and peeped over. "Aha! I've got you!" It was a man with his back turned to her.
The series of events that followed happened so fast, she almost convinced her self it did not happen.

He turned, she gasped, lost her footing and fell from the bucket and landed on her butt.
She heard him walk towards the fence. “Are you okay over there?” His voice brought an image of John Legend serving her breakfast in bed to mind. She nodded, realising he couldn’t see her she managed a squeaked. “I am okay, nothing is broken just my pride.” She heard him laugh and walk away.
She didn’t know what hurt the most. Falling on her butt or finding out the really cute guy from the bus she was now convinced she was in love with lived next door and his first impression of her was a chicken bone carrying clumsy stalker.

Nenye was awake and out of her bed before her alarm went off. She was a girl on a mission.
Today, she decided she was going to ‘accidentally’ bump into her neighbour she had nicknamed Denzel on his way to town.
They were going to engage in a brilliant conversation, ride the bus together, fall in love, get married and have babies with super sexy smiles.

She had carefully picked out what to wear, had her bath and was dressed with her face flawlessly madeup in record time.
Stacy would be proud of her (if not jealous), she looked gorgeous!
On high alert, she had been listening for any sound from next door indicating someone was leaving the building.
Two hours later, no one had opened or closed any door.
Giving up hopes of bumping into today Denzel, she picked her handbag and made her way out of the apartment.
Looking over the low hedge separating their apartments, she noticed a pile of empty cans of bug spray beside the trash can.
She thought to herself "That does not look right." With a shrug, she continued walking and headed to the bus stop.

The day went by in a blur, she kept looking out for Denzel until she was sure her neck was going to break from craning over so many times. She looked and felt tired.
She couldn't wait to peel off her clothes and crawl into bed.
As she searched her bag for her apartment key, she noticed someone had put the empty cans from the morning into the too full refuse bin by the roadside.
There was a tin of what smelled like half empty turpentine and a turned over paint can among the peeping rubble. The mixture was trailing over the side of the bin and flowing down the road to the street. Someone walking by dropped a still lit cigarette on the floor and kept on walking.
It landed on the turpentine-paint trail, she saw a spark.
Without thinking she dropped her bag and grabbed a handful of damp earth.
She imagined the number of explosive items that might have been carelessly thrown in the bin and did not want to lose her house in the event of a fire.
Besides she hadn’t gotten a chance to meet Denzel and have his babies. Speeding over to the front of his apartment, she arrived in time to throw the dirt on the fast burning flame and push the bin away. Unfortunately, in her haste she didn't look at where she put her feet. She slipped on the greasy burnt paint, lost her footing and landed on the concrete floor.

Nenye opened her eyes and grinned sheepishly at the worry lined face of Denzel.
Denzel!
She sat up with a start and yelped in pain. She had hit her head on something when she fell and it ached like crazy.
Denzel was squatted beside her.
He held he reached out to help her sit up. “Are you okay?” She mused. That voice again angry all of a sudden, she frowned and tried to yell as loudly as her aching head would let her which was rather calmly .
“Do I look okay? My head hurts like hell and I am living next door to fire prone people! Who puts ignitable substances in a trash can just like that? Have either you or the arsonist people you live with heard about waste separation and management before?!” The man had the audacity to hide a grin and look cute. “I am sorry about that, I’d speak with my flatmates.”
He handed her handbag and continued looking at her. She scowled. “What?!” “Erm this is going to sound awkward but I’ve been kind of hoping I’d bump into you again since we met on the bus. Do you mind if we go to the clinic to have you checked out and grab a bite or two afterwards?" Just like that all was forgiven. She smiled and muttered. “ Well, it is hard to hold a grudge when a guy offers you food after nearly burning down your house. Help me up.” He helped her to her feet. Within her, beneath the calm exterior she presented to him, she was swinging from vine to vine shouting alleluia at the top of her voice. She was going on a freaking date with Denzel, mission accomplished!

End