14 Days: The 2nd Day

 

 

And the 2nd day was.

 

She is at the airport – MM2 to be exact. She is there to see her boyfriend off.

 

Off to where?

 

Well, he is being sent down to Zaria to oversee one training something-or-the-other, and as is the way with ‘slave traders’ he was not informed until Monday, and he is to be gone for two weeks. That sucks, no?

 

Anyway, she’s dressed casually even though she is supposed to be at work – black off-shoulder blouse, white jeans and a white scarf to complete the ensemble. Her boyfriend is checking in, and she has her arms around herself, watching from beside the airline booths. She’s just…there.

 

Actually, she is kind of laughing at herself. She’s laughing because; well…two days ago, it was the sudden discovery that Engineer had a wife that set the tone for the week, so to speak. Of course, she had not been prepared to take the woman’s word for it (even though she was pretty certain it was true; Laide had sounded too sincere) and had confronted Engineer with it. He had not bothered to deny it – in fact he was more upset that she’d found out about it than he was about her reaction. She was angry. He should have told her about it and she would have decided what she wanted to do.

 

As if that hadn’t been bad enough, her boyfriend had called her yesterday to tell her about this sudden trip. She closes her eyes and wishes everything was just back to a week ago; a week ago when she had the choice of three men who to spend 14^th with. It would seem as though the choice is made for her.

 

“Worried much?”

 

She opens her eyes to find her boyfriend smiling at her. He is the kind of guy you want describe as ‘nice-looking’. She moves close to him and suddenly asks, ‘are you cheating on me?’

 

He frowns at her. “Now what sort of question is that?”

 

She nods, agreeing. “What sort of question is that?” she repeats unhappily. “I don’t know, I’m just…” she looks away, and then looks back at him. “I don’t want you to go,” she says.

 

He grabs her non-too-gently and kisses her soundly. She kisses him back, liking and enjoying the aggression in his kiss. She bites his lower lip gently, and looses herself in his arms. A small cough next to them brings her back to earth, and she gently untangles herself from his arms.

 

“Slow down, soldier.” she says teasingly, even though she feels depressed. Don’t go, she wants to say. Stay with me! But she keeps smiling and looking him in the eye. He looks troubled, sad even. It suddenly occurs to her that; maybe this guy actually loves her, maybe he actually takes her serious. As it is in the world today, the ‘I love yous’ are just a matter of course; words that really mean nothing. Or maybe they do to him; she wonders.

 

“Maybe I don’t have to go…” he says, looking forlorn. “I was so looking forward to those two days with you…”
She swallows past a lump in her throat and speaks to him, arms around his shoulders. “Imagine how that would look on your CV. It’s work, baby. Me you’ll always have…this opportunity might not come again for a while…”

 

He looks at her. “Always?! As in…I’ll always have you…”

 

She releases him and smacks his shoulder lightly. “Go jo! I knew that was the only thing you will hear. Ashawo!”

 

They both laugh, regarding each other fondly. And then his flight is announced.

 

“Boarding for Flight 108 for Abuja, boarding now. Gate 14. Boarding for Flight 108 Dana Airlines, Abuja. Gate 14.”

 

“Dana Airlines?! Are you…” he interrupts her.

 

“I’ll be fine. Miss me.”

 

He kisses her hungrily, and they both feel something different in the way their lips touch. And then he breaks away, and looks at her. “Only you,” he says, looking as serious as a corpse at its burial. “Only you.”

 

And then he turns and walks away without a backwards glance.

 

Forever?