Fantasy

It was a hot afternoon the day she met Nelson. She was going home after a rough day at the office and as if that wasn’t enough, her Taxify trip cancelled before the driver got to her location. The cab-hailing app was beginning to annoy her with these kind of stunts.That was the reason she was standing by the roadside not too far from her work place - trying to order another ride, and _Slow_ or rather Glo wasn’t making that easy. The speed of her internet service provider was practically crawling. She was in a foul mood needless to say. 

The slow network didn’t seem to be getting better so she decided to start working towards the nearest bus-stop in case she had to resort to jumping buses. Shewas so engrossed in my frustrations she didn’t notice the bros walking briskly behind her trying to get her attention.

“Hello! Hello! Please wait!” she looked back to confirm if I was the one being referred to. Not one of these again, she thought. She gave him a death glare that should have sent him scampering away and continued waking on. He persisted and followed hersome metres ahead before she stopped because he had this look on his face like the type that would entered the same public transport and follow you home just to get your attention.

So she waited to hear him out. He reached her a bit out of breath from walking so fast to catch up with her. “Hi, I’m Nelson. I saw you as I was parking my car down the road and I just had to talk to you. You look so beautiful. What’s your name?” She rolled her eyes before saying “I’m Amaka and I’d rather be on my way”

“Ha ha! Amaka, please bear with me. Can I have your contact please? So we can continue this conversation later. I just want us to be friends.”

She looked him over. She wasn’t given to giving strangers my number but he didn’t seem half bad sha.Besides, my single self wasn’t expecting Mr. Right to come breaking into my apartment. Life is all about risks, she thought.

She collected the phone he was holding out to her and punched in her digits. She handed the phone back without a word and turned to go. “I’ll text you!” he called out after her smilingly.

And so it began…the texts, the calls. Amaka was pleasantly surprised about how well they clicked. It was like this cosmic connection. 

Three months later and the vibe between them was still pretty great. Amaka was really beginning to think he was the one. It wasn’t exactly like a fairytale and he wasn’t perfect but close enough. They had gone on a couple of dates and he had always been a perfect gentleman.

Amaka was getting pretty used to their late night calls. It became something to look forward to after a stressful day at work. She was beginning to hope he would ask her out soon- it was about time.

It was on another one of those evenings that Nelson called Amaka as usual to swapped gist on how the day went. After Amaka ranted on for some minutes about her boss who had been refusing to give her a well-deserved raise despite the heavy amount he pushed to her desk, Nelson told her about yet another female colleague who had asked him out.

“It was really awkward jare. I just had to let her down gently” he said amusedly.

“But why naa?” I asked.

“Even if I want to, I can’t. I can’t cheat on my wife”

She thought she must have heard wrong. “Your wife? You’re married?” she wondered aloud.

“Oh yeah. I don’t usually tell people. I like keeping my private life private.”

“Wow! I had no idea” she was so surprised she felt her head spinning.

“Yeah, my wife is a very busy person. She’s not in the country most of the time because of her job” he explained

She decided to play it cool. Technically, he wasn’t cheating. He hadn’t asked her out. She remembered what he said when they first met about just wanting to be friends with her.

“You can be my side chick if you want tho” he said sneeringly.

His words felt like a slap to her. Wait, no. she actually felt a slap. Something didn’t feel right.

She opened her eyes to see her roommate and friend, Gladys, slapping her legs in an attempt to wake her.

“Babe, wake up and prepare for work o” she was groggily, obviously just waking herself.

It was a dream. It was just a dream. Thank God. She sighed with relief.

She made a mental note to clear issues up with Nelson when they saw later the following day.

When he picked her up at work the next day, she was worried suck about what his answer would be when she asks him about his relationship status. He noticed she was not her usual self. “Amy, are you okay?”

She reassured him she was fine and they continued on to the restaurant where they were to have dinner. They placed their orders and ate over small talk. Amaka was bidding her time for the perfect moment to bring up the awkward topic.

Just as they finished their meal, she called his name seriously, “Nelson… I just want to clear the air on something” 

“What’s that?” he inquired

“It might seem like a weird thing to ask but I have to. Are you married?”

He almost choked on the drink he was drinking. “Why would you even think of something like that?” he sputtered. His outburst earned them the attention of a couple of nearby tables.

“Do I look like the kind of man that will cheat on his wife?” he continued angrily.

“Nelson, I don’t mean it like that. Technically, it won’t even be cheating because we aren’t dating or anything”

“Really? That’s what you think? As far as I’m concerned, we are more than just friends” he said calmly now.

“Besides, how would I find the time to be with you all the time if I had a girlfriend, much less a wife?”

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and ifeel it’s time we make it official. Amaka, please would you please be my woman and make the happiest guy ever?” he said as he reach across the table to hold her hand in his.

“Oh my God! Nelson! Yes!” she near screamed smiling from ear to ear.

He stood up and pulled her into a passionate embrace to a fair amount of odd looks from other customers of the restaurant,.

And so began the happily ever after.