Soft Lunch
440 Words
Episode 3:
The comment stayed in Amara's mind the entire morning.
"Leave my boyfriend alone"
She reread it repeatedly while brushing her teeth, while sweeping the compound, even while pretending to listen to her aunt talk about tomatoes in the market.
Something about the comment made her uncomfortable.
Still....
Xavier texted her again that afternoon
Xavier:
Good afternoon, crying girl
Amara:
Please stop calling me that
Xavier:
Never
Against her better judgement, she smiled again.
For the next few days, talking to Xavier became normal, Dangerously normal.
Morning texts, Random voice notes, Late night calls.
Sometimes he'd call just to gist with her while driving around Lagos.
Other times he'd complain about project stress and annoying lectures.
Amara liked the version of himself nobody online saw, The quiet version
The version that asked things like:
"Did you eat?"
"How was your day?"
Nobody had asked her questions like that in a long time.
One evening, while Amara was helping her aunt fry akara outside the compound, her phone buzzed loudly.
Delivery package.
Her brows furrowed.
"package ke?" her aunty asked suspiciously.
Amara carefully collected the small box.
inside was a pink hoodie, chocolates, skincare products and a hand written note.
"Stop looking sad at all time"
Amara stared at the note speechlessly
"Ahn... ahn".... her aunt muttered from behind.
That night, Amara wore the oversized hoodie while video calling Xavier.
"You didn't have to buy all these," she said quietly.
"I wanted to"
The way he said it made her heart beat strangely.
They talked for almost two hours that night.
At some point Xavier laughed softly and said:
"You know you're different right?"
Amara looked away from the camera immediately.
Nobody had ever spoken to her so gently before.
Then suddenly———
"Xavier! Open this door!"
A female voice shouted faintly from his background.
Amara froze.
Xavier's expression changed instantly.
"Hold on" he muttered quickly before muting himself.
Amara's stomach tightened.
She watched him through the screen arguing silently with somebody outside.
The call ended abruptly seconds later.
Five minutes later, Xavier texted:
Sorry about that
Amara:
Who was that?
Typing......
Stopped.
Typing again...
Xavier:
Complicated Situation.
Before she could reply, t****k notifications flooded her screen.
She opened the app, Xavier had uploaded a photo inside his car.
At first nothing seemed strange.
Then she noticed it.
A girl's hand resting beside him.
'Her hand'?
The pink nails she wore yesterday were visible clearly.
Comments flooded the post already.
"WHO IS SHE?"
"Xavier soft launched somebody?"
"Internet go scatter today"
Amara's breathing quickened.
Then a new notification entered.
Instagram DM from BiancaReal:
You really think you won?
- Writer
