Chapter 3
1389 Words
Sarah is having her first pinch-me moment. Paused behind the steering wheel of her car, she glances at the groceries in the back. This is the first time she has to hurl everything in herself. Back in the UK, the sweet doorman would lend a hand. And at her grandmother’s place, the house staff would swarm in and heave the bags without her input.
She turns back to the apartment building before her, taking in the modern structure. The thought of the strangers she'll now be living with crosses her mind. The last of her things were just settled into the house before she stepped out. Already, she’s dreaming of a warm bath and ordering in for dinner.
“Okay, let’s do this thing.”
She gets out of her seat and begins taking the bags out of the car, determined to get everything inside in one go. In retrospect, she realizes she didn’t need to buy this much at once. She could’ve left a few things for tomorrow after her first day at work.
The smaller bags find their way onto her wrist first. Just as she grabs the bigger ones, her phone starts ringing from the bag on her shoulder.
It’s her grandmother. She knows because the ringtone is the only one different from all the other numbers on her phone. She glances at her progress with the bags and decides to call back when she gets inside.
The bag holding the five-liter bottle of groundnut oil starts tearing from the strain.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
She shuts the car door with a swing of her hips and manages to press the lock button on the remote.
A black truck pulls into the parking lot, a calculated few spots away from her. She wonders what kind of look she’s getting from behind the darkened windshield. But there’s little time to worry about how her struggling form would be assessed when a tall man steps out of the truck and meets her stare.
John.
He looks just as confused as she is.
“What are you doing here?” With long, sharp strides, he’s in front of her, eyes narrowed.
“I could ask you the same,” she retorts.
“I live here, that’s what.”
The realization dawns on her. “Oh.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Please don’t tell me this is the apartment you mentioned moving into.”
“Well, I had no idea you stayed here too.”
“Are you kidding me? We came back here from the event. How could you not know?” He sounds frustrated now. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t stay away.”
Sarah feels insulted by his words and tone, as if she’s some schoolgirl dying for his attention.
She looks him square in the face. “I’ll have you know I signed the lease before meeting you. You don’t expect me to tell the difference between all the buildings in Abuja at first glance, do you?”
He just looks at her, unable to fault the logic in her words.
She turns to walk away from him. “You’re not God’s gift to earth, so stop thinking I’m interested in following you around.”
She hears him huff behind her, then walk wordlessly past her into the building.
Sarah curses her disheveled appearance and hobbles a few paces behind him.
Her footsteps echo his in the quiet lobby. Ahead of them, the elevator dings open. Her phone starts ringing again. Her stride slows as she looks curiously at her bag. Her grandmother hardly ever calls twice unless it’s really important. Her mind starts racing through possibilities.
The elevator begins to close, and she starts towards it. “Please hold the door,” she calls to him. When she reaches it, the doors are nearly shut, and she sees that he made no move to honor her request. The doors close on a tight smile on his face and an accusatory one on hers.
“Wow.”
She jumps into action, clicking the button for the elevator as many times as she can within a few seconds. The doors open again, and she steps inside. She glances at the keypad and sees they’re headed for the same floor. Just great. The doors close.
“I asked you to hold the door,” Sarah says, still looking forward.
“I didn’t hear you,” he retorts simply.
She stares at his reflection in the door incredulously. “It’s an echoing corridor.”
“Deaf in one ear; scarlet fever.”
She considers the possibility for a second before the memory of their night together comes to mind. She remembers the look on his face when she purred in his ears and dismisses the excuse. She looks at him over her shoulder, making sure he sees the doubt on her face.
She decides to ignore him. Managing to fish her phone out of her bag, she places the dialing device between her shoulder and head. “Grandma, is something the matter?”
“Why do you ask?” Her grandmother’s voice crackles through the line. The elevator doors open, and Sarah steps out. It’s a short walk to her door. John walks on ahead of her to a few doors down.
She reaches to press her finger to the automatic door when the bag snaps, and the contents spill loudly onto the floor. She stares at the containers and produce scattered across the ground in disbelief. When she remembers John, she looks up and sees him paused, halfway into his apartment. There’s a judgy look on his face before he walks in and closes the door.
Sarah considers begging the earth to swallow her whole.
“What was that?” her grandmother asks. Sarah opens her door with a heavy sigh and begins gathering her things to take inside.
“Just some stuff I bought, don’t worry about it. How about you? You called twice; you never call twice.”
There’s an exaggerated sigh over the line. “Is it so bad for a woman to change her ways before she dies? Where else will you get the material for a good eulogy?”
Sarah pauses at this and lets out a deep chuckle. She should’ve guessed there’s never much reason to worry when it comes to this woman—just one incredulously dark joke after another.
Her grandmother’s reaction to her coming back to the country has changed in the past few days for the most ridiculous reason Sarah has ever heard: her grandmother’s assurance to herself that she’ll be passing away soon.
“Best believe I wouldn’t have many kind words for you.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” There’s a shared laugh between them.
It takes a few trips, but she clears the hallway of her things and gets them inside the house.
“How’s that small room of yours working out?” Her grandmother still doesn’t hide her distaste for Sarah’s decision to live on her own.
Sarah has joked about it many times, but she has yet to share how lonely it feels living abroad on her own while her only family and friends are here. She doesn’t yet understand this secret of her life, the one her grandmother is keeping, but she’s determined to live her life until her grandmother is ready to share.
She groans now. “I met an irritable human being today who looked at me like I was crazy. It was supposed to be the start of a beautiful coexistence with the other tenants.”
She moves around the kitchen, arranging the newly bought items.
“Maybe you looked stupid.” Sarah can almost hear the small shrug of her grandmother’s shoulders.
“Grandma!”
“What?”
“Don’t defend the stranger; take my side.”
“Is he good-looking?”
Sarah recalls his attractive face hovering over hers that night before he kissed her. “No.”
Her grandmother fawns almost immediately. “So he is. I should come visit soon before I go to be with my ancestors.”
Sarah laughs. “Goodbye, Grandma.”
“Tomorrow, maybe?”
“Goodbye.” She ends the call with a smile, marveling at the character that is her grandmother.
- Writer
