Chapter Four: Why Is My Heart Beating Fast?
890 Words
Abiodun couldn’t take her eyes off him immediately.
Oh my goodness… isn’t this the same man I ran into this afternoon? The same man I almost caused panic for?
“Abiodun,” she said to herself, “you messed up… like big time.”
The moment she saw Okikiola standing still, not moving, panic rushed through her. Without thinking, she quickly turned her back to him, facing her friends and forcing her face into a nervous expression.
“What happened? Are you okay?” Ini asked. “You should be happy.”
“Yes, I know,” Abiodun whispered, lowering her voice, “but right now, I’m embarrassed.”
“We met this afternoon while I was coming back from the salon,” she continued, taking a deep breath before she could go on. “I ran into his car when my brake failed. He was angry when he came down, but suddenly he became calm and even offered to help… which I ignored and ran off.”
“Sooo…” Bola quickly replied, “It’s called an accident because it wasn’t intentional. Abeg, stay composed. He’s coming closer—with his mother.”
“Mother?” Abiodun asked, startled.
“Yes. I guess he waited for his mum,” Bola replied.
Abiodun closed her eyes briefly.
“Thank you, universe…” she whispered under her breath.
As she waited for him to get closer, without turning back, something strange began to happen. Something she had never felt before. Her heart started beating fast… not out of the fear she felt on the road, but out of something different.
Something she couldn’t explain.
Then she whispered softly, almost to herself:
“Why is my heart beating fast?”
“Abiodun, won’t you stand up and greet your mother-in-law?” Ini’s voice pulled her back to reality.
She stood up.
She walked elegantly, even though her heart was racing, her body slightly shaking, and shyness creeping in. Still, she hid it all and moved with quiet confidence to meet them.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Okikiola had paused because his mother called him from a distance. They were walking together when she stopped to greet one of her friends. Okikiola gave them space politely.
His mother then pointed ahead.
“Enter that compound—that’s where we are going.”
As they moved closer, Okikiola, who had remembered the lady in red before she turned away, tried to ask his mother who she was—even though this time her back was turned to them.
“Mama, who is that girl in the red gown?” he asked.
“I don’t know yet—unless she turns,” his mother replied. “But those two ladies are Abiodun’s friends… your wife.”
“Okay…”
Just then, the girl in the red gown stepped forward.
“Ha!” his mother exclaimed. “That is Abiodun—your wife! I told you she is beautiful and well-mannered.”
Okikiola caught his breath, standing still in disbelief.
“I know…” he said softly.
She’s coming to welcome us…
As Abiodun approached, Iya Okiki added in Yoruba,
“Ọmọ tó gbé kó ní,”
meaning she is disciplined and well brought up.
Abiodun moved closer and knelt respectfully.
“Welcome, Mama,” she said. Then she paused briefly before adding, “Welcome, sir.”
“Stand up, my wife. That is your husband, Okikiola,” Iya Okiki said. “Are your parents at home?”
Without even waiting for a full response, she began walking inside.
“Yes, ma, they are in—”
Before Abiodun could finish, Iya Okiki had already moved ahead. Her friends, Ini and Bola, quickly stood to greet her respectfully, whispering and giggling to themselves as they watched.
Abiodun slowly lifted her head—only to meet Okikiola’s eyes already fixed on her.
She quickly lowered her gaze again.
Then Okikiola broke the silence.
“You are beautiful, Abiodun… and amazing,” he said with a soft smile.
Oh! He knows my name…
She smiled politely.
“Thank you.”
She hesitated for a moment, then spoke softly:
“I was expecting you to say something different… something disapproving because of what happened this afternoon.”
This time, she looked at him boldly.
Okikiola let out a quiet breath, his eyes softening.
“I should have been angry,” he admitted. “But somehow… I wasn’t.”
He paused, studying her face as though trying to understand something deeper.
“It didn’t feel like an accident to me,” he added quietly.
Abiodun’s heart skipped—and for a second, she forgot how to breathe… as though something inside her had just been awakened.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The air between them grew still—yet full.
Okikiola smiled faintly and gestured gently for her to lead the way inside.
And in that moment, she knew… something had already begun. Something neither of them planned. Something neither of them understood.
But something they could both feel.
As they stood there—two strangers bound by a moment that felt strangely familiar—their story did not feel like it was starting…
It felt like it had already been written long before they ever met.
And neither of them knew what that beginning would cost them.
- Writer
