Collided worlds

Chapter three

Rayna's POV

Rayna stared at the list her mother had written for her, scanning the items as she pushed her trolley through the aisles of Prince Ebeano supermarket in Lekki.

She had gone for yet another interview that morning — a marketing company her friend had told her about, one that was supposedly desperate for new employees. She had dragged herself there with very little hope, only to be told they were shutting down operations for a while.

"Who exactly had she offended?" she lamented silently.

And then her mother had called almost immediately after, asking her to stop by the supermarket to pick up a few things on her way home. Sometimes she genuinely wondered where her mother found money for "sweet things".

She just wanted to grab everything quickly and catch a bus back to Surulere. She was exhausted — tired of trekking across Lekki and Victoria Island chasing jobs that didn't want her.

Just a few more items and she would be done.

She turned the corner of the aisle, eyes still on her list—

She couldn't even explain what happened in the next five seconds.

Rayna turned the corner and collided straight into someone coming from the opposite direction. Everything in his hands went sprawling across the floor — and to make it worse, the tub of ice cream he was carrying burst open on impact, splattering directly onto his clothes.

She was about to apologize when she looked up and caught the expression on his face. Pure disgust.

She quickly changed her mind.

"It's not even that crowded, you know," she said instead.

"Then maybe stand somewhere people can actually see you," he shot back, attempting to wipe his ruined shirt.

Trojan was already having the worst day of his life. All he had wanted was ice cream to calm his nerves — and now this.

"You're the one who clearly didn't know what direction he was going," Rayna fired back, folding her arms. "Or are you deaf?"

He stared at her.

In his twenty five years of existence, no girl had ever spoken to him like that. They smiled, they giggled, they apologized even when it wasn't their fault.

This one was different.

He was surprised. Not that he would ever show it.

"Watch where you're going next time," he said coldly, picking up his items and walking away.

Rayna hissed and grabbed her trolley.

Absolutely insufferable.

Trojan gathered his things and walked toward the exit, the ruined shirt still irritating him.

He had seen her again at the checkout counter. She had looked up, recognized him and simply rolled her eyes before looking away.

The nerve, he thought, loading his bags into the boot of his car.

She clearly had no idea who he was. Most people in Lagos would have been falling over themselves to apologize. This girl had practically argued with him and then rolled her eyes like he was nobody.

He shook his head and got into the car.

But as his driver pulled out of the parking lot Trojan found himself glancing back at the entrance without meaning to.

He had never seen her around before.

Curious, he thought. Then pushed it aside.