15
1972 Words
MIKE
I still had the remaining fufu in between my palms as I texted Aida and said she wanted me to come and pick her, it was too sudden but it seems like she was in danger
I checked the time and it was after 6, and everywhere was getting late, so i immediately covered my food, washed my hands and dialed her to know where she was as I went rushed downstairs, got straight into my car and zoomed off
She answered almost immediately.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“At the restaurant near the White House ,” she said. Her voice was shaking. “I stepped out.”
“Are you alone?”
There was a pause. “Not exactly.”
I didn’t push. “Find somewhere safe and wait for me. I'm on my way.”
Traffic was building already, people rushing home, horns blaring impatiently. I kept my phone on the seat beside me, screen lit, in case she called again.
When I turned into the street she’d mentioned, I spotted her almost immediately. She stood near the streetlight, clutching her bag tightly and patiently waiting till I reached where she was.
I parked and stepped out.
“Aida.”
She smiled at the sound of my voice. For a moment, she just looked at me, then she nodded and walked over. She didn’t rush. When she got close, I noticed the faint discoloration on her cheek. She didn’t touch it, didn’t acknowledge it, as if pretending it wasn’t there would make it disappear.
“Did he do this to you” I could feel my blood boiling
“Let’s not talk about it please”
She sounded very tired.
I opened the passenger door for her. She slid into the seat without a word.
As I closed it, I noticed a man walking very fast towards us.
I didn’t even bother to look at him twice and went straight to the driver’s side and started my car, and when I looked up Caleb was standing right in front of my car.
“So this is who you called,” he said, looking me over slowly.
“You weren’t even shameless enough to hide it, you had to bring him here to disgrace me right” he continued shouting in front of my car
I was really fighting the urge to run him over but then I glanced at Aida and she was still very much composed
“Let’s go, Run him over if you have to” her voice broke through the silence
“Your wish is my command” I said as I started moving towards Caleb, I thought he was feeling all manly and confident but immediately I moved forward, he shifted to the side quickly and spat on Aida’s window calling her a w***e.
I’d get back to him later as for now, I could see tears roll down the side of my cheeks and I didn’t want to interrupt her so I gave her my handkerchief and we drove quietly into the night.
For a while, we drove without speaking. She sat with her hands folded in her lap, eyes fixed ahead. The streetlights flickered on one after the other as we passed.
“Where do you want to go?” I asked eventually.
“Anywhere,” she said. “I don’t want to go back to my house, he might go back there”
I nodded and turned onto a quieter road.
“Do you guys live together”
my curiosity got the best of me
“No, but he comes over to my place and I go over to his most of the time”
After some time, she adjusted the strap of her bag, then spoke again.
“Thank you for coming.”
I glanced at her briefly. “My pleasure, and you don’t have to explain anything.”
She didn’t respond, but her shoulders eased just a little as the car continued forward.
The city thinned out as I drove, buildings giving way to quieter streets and fewer headlights.She watched the passing lights like she was counting them. I wondered what was going on in her head.
A hotel came into view, nothing flashy, just clean, well-lit, open. I slowed, checked her reflection in the windshield.
“This okay?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes.”
I parked close to the entrance. The guard gave us a cursory glance and waved us in. Inside, the lobby smelled faintly of disinfectant and air freshener. The place was very quiet.
At the desk, I handled it. She stood slightly behind me, bag still clutched to her side. When the keycard slid across the counter, I picked it up and turned to her.
“Second floor,” I said. “I’ll walk you up.”
The elevator hummed softly. She leaned against the wall, eyes on the floor numbers as they climbed. When the doors opened, the corridor was empty, carpet muffling our steps. I unlocked the door and stepped aside.
She went in first.
The room was simple. Bed neatly made. Curtains drawn halfway. A lamp glowing warm in the corner. I flicked on the lights, checked the bathroom quickly, then returned to the main room.
“All good,” I said. “You’ll be fine here.”
She set her bag down slowly, like it was heavier than it looked. For a moment, she just stood there, hands resting on the strap.
“I should go,” I added gently. “You need rest.”
She looked up at me then. Really looked. Her face was composed, but her eyes lingered, searching for something she didn’t name.
“Can you… stay for a bit?” she asked.
I hesitated. “I can sit for a while,”
She nodded, relief passing over her face.
I pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat. She took the edge of the mattress, shoes still on, hands folded again in her lap. The TV was on mute, light flickering across the wall.
Minutes passed.
“You don’t have to watch me like that,” she said quietly.
“I’m not,” I replied. “I’m just here.”
She exhaled, a long breath she seemed to have been holding for hours. “Don’t you want to ask what happened?”
“I think it’s pretty obvious but if you want to talk about it I’m down”
She leaned back, resting against the headboard. “He hit me ,” she said, more to herself than to me.
I didn’t know how to react to this but I know very damn well that his days at the company were already numbered.
“Has he always been like this”
“No, he was sweet and good to me” she sniffed “everything happened so quickly, I thought he’d change”.
“So why stay?”
“Cause I loved him”
Hmmm. Loved.
I didn’t know why but that sentence gladdened my heart.
“You did and now?. You can still leave if you want to”
“I don’t think I can”
I stood up and sat beside her on the bed.
“Do you think he followed us here?” She looked sacred
“I don’t think so, even if he did, security would chase him back”
She stood up immediately, rushed to the door and made sure it was properly locked, came back and sat down beside me.
Another stretch of silence. Comfortable this time.
“I don’t usually do this,” she said eventually. “Ask people to stay.”
“I know.” I didn’t.
She turned her head slightly, studying me. “Why are you being… like this?”
“Like what”
“You’re all nice to me”
“Do you want me to be mean to you? And besides you called me for help, I don’t think you’d have done that if I was ever mean to you” I smiled at her
“True”
“I don’t want to sleep yet,” she said. “Can you just… talk? About anything.”
I leaned back in the chair. “Alright.”
“Let me tell you a fun fact about myself”
“Okayy” she looked at me eagerly
“So, when I was small I had a big bum bum and looked like a girl which made people think that when I grow up I’d be gay but guess what”
“What”
“My bumbum is still quiet big, too big for a man but I’m not gay…….isnt that something”
She laughed at me
“Stand up let me see”
“Are you sure?, don’t feel intimidated by it o”
I stood up and did a lil twerk for her
“Oh stop it, you might be gay after all”
I loved the fact that I was able to make her smile.
“I don’t want him knowing where I am,” she said.
“He won’t,” I repeated. “I’ll leave when you’re ready. Or stay a bit longer. Your call.”
“Just… don’t disappear yet,” she said.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I replied.
“Can you spend the night”
“Hmmmm, what do you want to do to me” I replied in a really high pitched voice, pretending to be a girl
“Stop joor, i don’t want anything from you, unless you’re interested” she played along and jokingly started touching my thighs, which sent a different electric signal down my body
“Nope, I don’t think you should be touching me” I stood up immediately and went back to the chair I sat on before.
“I’m sorry” she looked startled “it wasn't my intentions to make you uncomfortable”
“Trust me, you didn’t make me uncomfortable, we just need to put some distance between us for now, I think you should go and bath”
She stood up and left.
The water started running in the bathroom.
I stayed where I was, tried watching the tv but the volume was too low enough to barely exist. I didn’t move around the room. I just took out my phone and began to scroll through my instagram
When the bathroom door opened, she stepped out quietly. She was wearing the hotel robe, her hair wrapped in a towel. She didn’t look at me immediately. She closed the door, leaned against it for a second, then walked to the bed.
She sat.
“Can you lie here?” she said quietly
“Where”
“Beside me” she paused “where else were you planning on sleeping”
“Nooo I’m good here, I’ll sleep on the chair”
“Do you want to wake up with neck pains, I’d feel bad putting you through that after what you did for me today, I insist, please”
Now how could I refuse that.
I stood up immediately, lay down on the bed, fully clothed, keeping a clear space between us. I stayed on my side, hands folded on my chest, staring at the ceiling like it was the safest place to look.
She shifted closer, not touching, just enough to know someone else was there.
The lamp stayed on.
Minutes passed. Maybe more.
Her breathing changed first. Slower. Steadier.
She spoke once more, barely above a whisper.
“Don’t leave yet.”
“I won’t,” I said.
At some point, her shoulder rested lightly against my arm. I didn’t move.
I stayed awake longer than I needed to, listening to her breathe and before I knew it I dozed off.
- Writer
