More Sparks
708 Words
đź“– Chapter FOUR
More Sparks
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Amara knew she was early.
She was never early.
Yet she had arrived at the faculty seminar room fifteen minutes before their scheduled group meeting, her notebook already open, pen resting neatly along the margin like she had something to prove.
Maybe she did.
Maybe she wanted to show Daniel Okafor that she wasn’t the difficult partner he probably thought she was.
The door opened.
Right on time.
Of course it was him.
Daniel stepped in wearing a plain navy shirt with his sleeves rolled halfway to his elbows, his laptop tucked casually under one arm like punctuality came naturally to him.
He paused when he saw her.
“You’re early,” he said.
Amara raised an eyebrow.
“I could say the same.”
A small smile touched his lips before disappearing again.
“Good,” he said, pulling out a chair opposite her. “That means we can actually get something done before Tina starts talking about unrelated things.”
Amara almost laughed.
Almost.
“So,” Daniel continued, opening his laptop, “I reviewed your outline.”
Her shoulders stiffened slightly.
“And?”
“It’s strong,” he said simply. “But too theoretical.”
Amara blinked.
“Too theoretical?”
“Yes,” he replied calmly. “We need something practical. Something that looks like we actually went outside to gather data.”
“I did include fieldwork suggestions.”
“Suggestions,” he corrected. “Not structure.”
Something inside her tightened.
“I don’t just write suggestions,” she said quietly. “I write plans.”
Daniel looked up then.
Really looked at her.
And something in his expression shifted.
“I know,” he said, softer this time. “That’s why I’m saying we should expand it together.”
Together.
The word landed differently than she expected.
Before she could respond, the door opened again.
“Hope I’m not interrupting anything important,” a voice said lightly.
Amara turned.
Ify walked in smiling — confident, polished, and far too comfortable standing beside Daniel.
“I just came to return your flash drive,” she added, handing it to him.
Daniel accepted it casually.
“Thanks.”
Ify’s eyes moved briefly toward Amara.
Measured.
Curious.
Then back to Daniel.
“Student union meeting later?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he replied.
“I’ll see you there then.”
She left just as smoothly as she arrived.
Amara pretended to continue writing in her notebook.
Pretended she hadn’t noticed the familiarity between them.
Pretended she didn’t care.
Daniel cleared his throat.
“Where were we?”
“Fieldwork,” Amara said quickly.
“Right.”
They worked for several minutes in silence after that.
Surprisingly comfortable silence.
Until Daniel leaned slightly closer to her notebook.
“You write very small,” he said.
“So people can’t copy my work.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You already reviewed my outline.”
“That’s different.”
Amara finally laughed.
A small one.
But real.
Daniel looked momentarily surprised.
Then pleased.
“I’ll send you the survey structure tonight,” he said.
“I’ll refine the research questions,” she replied automatically.
“Good.”
They paused.
Neither moving to leave.
Neither looking away.
Something unfamiliar settled quietly between them.
Not awkwardness.
Not tension.
Something softer.
Something new.
Later that evening, Kemi didn’t even pretend to be subtle.
“So,” she said, lying flat across her bed dramatically, “how was the meeting with your very serious academic partner?”
Amara dropped her bag on the chair.
“It was normal.”
“Mmm.”
“It was.”
“Mmm.”
Amara sighed.
“He’s just… different from what I expected.”
Kemi sat up immediately.
“Different good,” she said, pointing, “or different suspicious?”
Amara hesitated.
Then looked down at her notebook again.
“Different confusing.”
Kemi smiled slowly.
“Ah,” she said. “The dangerous type.”
Amara didn’t respond.
But later that night, when Daniel’s message arrived exactly as promised—
Survey draft attached.
—she stared at the notification longer than she should have.
And replied faster than she meant to.
- Writer
