Chapter 4: The Conversation At The Bar
1403 Words
The evening was calm in Lagos.
The city lights were beginning to brighten the streets below, while the noise of cars and people moving around filled the distance. On the rooftop of a small bar, the atmosphere was more relaxed than the busy streets below.
Three cold bottles were already on the table.
Victor sat with Daniel and John, but he wasn’t as talkative as usual. He held his bottle in one hand while staring ahead, his mind still occupied by everything that had happened at work.
Daniel noticed.
“Vee, you’ve been quiet since you came.”
Victor looked at him.
“I’m fine.”
John laughed.
“You’ve been saying that since you got here.”
Victor smiled slightly.
“Nothing is wrong.”
Daniel looked at John before looking back at Victor.
“Before we talk about anything else, we need to talk about Favor.”
Victor sighed.
“What about Favor?”
Daniel leaned back in his chair.
“What you did to her today was unfair.”
John nodded.
“Exactly. You didn’t tell us anything.”
Victor looked at both of them.
“You guys should stop blaming me. I’m not interested in her, she keeps on forcing me, and since we have nothing to do together why would I tell you guys?”
Daniel and John looked at each other.
Daniel nodded.
“Okay, it’s fine.”
John nodded as well.
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
Victor took a sip from his drink.
For a few seconds, nobody said anything.
Then John looked at Victor.
“Okay, let’s leave Favor for now.”
Victor nodded.
John leaned forward slightly.
“But what happened with this lady you met today?”
Victor looked at him.
“What lady?”
Daniel laughed.
“Don’t act like you don’t know what he’s talking about.”
John smiled.
“Exactly. I wasn’t around when you told Daniel about her. So what did I miss today about Mercy?”
Victor smiled when he heard her name.
“Mercy.”
John nodded.
“Yes, Mercy.”
Daniel looked at Victor.
“Tell him everything.”
Victor leaned back in his chair.
“It happened this morning.”
John immediately interrupted.
“I know it happened this morning. Start from the beginning.”
Victor laughed.
“Alright.”
He took another sip before continuing.
“I was on my way to work when I saw her across the street.”
Daniel smiled.
“Here we go again.”
Victor ignored him.
“She caught my attention, so I looked at her for a moment. There was just something about her.”
John raised his eyebrows.
“What something?”
Victor smiled.
“I can’t really explain it.”
Daniel laughed.
“You can’t explain it because you don’t even know.”
Victor shook his head.
“Let me talk.”
John laughed.
“Go ahead.”
Victor continued.
“She was walking toward the other side of the street, and I decided to approach her. I wanted to talk to her before she left.”
“And what happened?” John asked.
“She ignored me at first.”
Daniel laughed.
“She ignored you?”
“Yes.”
John smiled.
“So what did you do?”
“I tried again. Eventually, she stopped.”
Victor paused briefly.
“She introduced herself as Mercy.”
John nodded.
“Okay.”
“We started talking,” Victor continued. “She was nice. She was calm and soft-spoken. We talked for a little while.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Did she tell you she was interested in you?”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why are you already thinking about her?”
Victor smiled.
“I didn’t say she was interested in me.”
John laughed.
“Continue.”
Victor continued.
“We were talking when she suddenly realized she was late for work.”
“So she left?” John asked.
“Yes. She had to hurry.”
Daniel shook his head.
“And you just stood there and watched her leave?”
Victor smiled.
“I ran after her.”
John laughed.
“You ran after her?”
“I wanted to ask for her number before she left.”
Daniel smiled.
“And did she give you?”
Victor became quiet for a moment.
“Kind of.”
John frowned.
“Kind of?”
Victor nodded.
“She was in a hurry, so she gave me only part of the number.”
“How much?”
Victor looked at them.
“080240…”
John burst out laughing.
“That’s not a phone number!”
Daniel laughed.
“Vee, what are you supposed to do with 080240?”
Victor laughed too.
“I don’t know.”
John shook his head.
“So you don’t have her full number?”
“No.”
“You don’t know where she works?”
“No.”
“You don’t know when you’ll see her again?”
Victor looked at him.
“No.”
Daniel laughed.
“And you still came here looking like someone who has found the love of his life.”
Victor immediately shook his head.
“Don’t exaggerate.”
John smiled.
“So what exactly do you know about her?”
Victor thought for a moment.
“I know her name is Mercy.”
Daniel laughed.
“That’s all?”
Victor nodded.
“That’s all.”
John leaned back in his chair.
“Then you have a serious problem.”
Victor looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because you met someone once, you don’t have her complete number, you don’t know where she works, and now you’re sitting here thinking about her.”
Victor didn’t answer immediately.
He looked toward the edge of the rooftop.
The lights from the buildings around them were beginning to shine brighter.
“I don’t know,” he finally said. “I just want to see her again.”
Daniel nodded.
“Then you should go back to the same street tomorrow.”
Victor looked at him.
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes. You said she was on her way to work when you met her, right?”
Victor nodded.
“So if she uses that route every morning, there’s a chance you’ll see her again.”
John agreed.
“Daniel is right. You should try.”
Victor thought about it.
“Maybe.”
John laughed.
“Why are you saying maybe?”
“I said I’ll think about it.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You better think quickly.”
The three of them laughed.
For a moment, the tension from the day’s events disappeared.
They continued talking about the office, the client who had gotten angry with Victor, and the strange situation between Victor and Favor.
John eventually returned to the subject.
“But seriously, Vee, you need to be careful.”
Victor looked at him.
“About what?”
“Everything. You shouldn’t let this new lady make you lose focus at work.”
Daniel nodded.
“That’s what I told him too.”
Victor sighed.
“I know. I wasn’t myself today.”
“You weren’t,” Daniel replied.
Victor looked down at his bottle.
“I’ll work on it.”
John nodded.
“Good.”
The conversation became lighter after that.
They talked about other things, laughed about some of the happenings at work, and enjoyed the evening.
But even while Victor was talking with his friends, his thoughts kept returning to the same woman.
Mercy.
He remembered the way she had introduced herself.
The way she had spoken.
The fact that she had been in such a hurry that she couldn’t even give him her complete number.
He looked at his phone.
There was still nothing there.
No message from her.
No call.
Nothing.
Just the incomplete number saved in his mind.
080240…
Victor smiled to himself.
Maybe Daniel and John were right.
Maybe he should return to the same street the next morning.
He didn’t know what would happen if he saw her again.
He didn’t even know if she would remember him.
But he knew one thing.
He wanted another chance to talk to her.
The evening continued as the three friends remained at the rooftop, talking until it was time to leave.
Victor went home that night with Mercy still on his mind.
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