Chapter 2 – Episode 1: The Message
1087 Words
The rain had stopped, but the air still smelled fresh, like the earth had just been washed clean. Tunde sat at the edge of his bed, staring at his phone.
Amara’s number was still open on the screen.
He hadn’t called.
He hadn’t texted.
He hadn’t done anything except stare… and think.
Her voice from yesterday kept replaying in his head.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
It sounded simple, but something about it didn’t feel simple at all.
Tunde leaned back until his head rested against the wall. The ceiling fan spun slowly above him, making a soft clicking sound every few seconds.
“Why now…” he muttered quietly.
Of all the places to see her again, it had to be there.
Of all the days, it had to be that day.
And of all the people in the world… it had to be Amara.
His phone suddenly buzzed in his hand.
He froze.
His heart started beating faster immediately, like it already knew who it was.
Slowly, he looked down.
Not Amara.
Just a random message from his network provider.
He sighed and dropped the phone beside him.
For a moment, he almost laughed at himself. After all these years, just the thought of her texting still had that effect on him.
That night, sleep didn’t come easy.
⸻
Morning came too fast.
Tunde barely slept, and it showed. His eyes were heavy, and his movements were slow, like his body was awake but his mind was still somewhere else.
He stepped outside, and the cool morning air hit his face. Usually, mornings helped him clear his head.
Not today.
As he walked down the street, everything reminded him of her.
The small shop where they used to buy drinks.
The quiet corner where they once argued for almost an hour.
Even the road itself felt familiar in a way that made his chest feel tight.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and kept walking.
“Guy!”
Tunde turned.
Kunle was jogging toward him, full of his usual energy.
“You look like you fought ghosts last night,” Kunle said, laughing.
Tunde forced a small smile.
“Something like that.”
Kunle looked at him carefully.
“You saw her, didn’t you?”
Tunde stopped walking.
For a moment, he thought about denying it. Pretending it didn’t matter.
But Kunle knew him too well.
“…Yeah,” he said quietly.
Kunle nodded slowly.
“And?”
Tunde hesitated.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It felt like no time passed… but at the same time, everything changed.”
Kunle chuckled softly.
“That’s how it always is with the ones that matter.”
Tunde didn’t respond.
Because that was exactly the problem.
She did matter.
Maybe too much.
⸻
Later that afternoon, Tunde found himself back at the same place he saw her.
He didn’t plan to go there.
His legs just brought him.
He stood there quietly, looking around like he expected her to appear again out of nowhere.
But she didn’t.
After a while, he sighed and turned to leave.
Then he heard footsteps behind him.
Soft footsteps.
The kind he somehow recognized instantly.
His body tensed before he even turned around.
And when he did…
It was her.
Amara stood there, holding her bag close to her side, like she wasn’t sure if she should stay or go.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Only the distant sound of cars and rustling leaves filled the silence.
“You came back,” she said softly.
Tunde swallowed.
“Looks like you did too.”
She gave a small smile, but it didn’t fully reach her eyes.
“I almost didn’t.”
There was something in her voice.
Something heavy.
Something unspoken.
Tunde took a small step closer.
“Amara… yesterday you said something.”
She looked at him, her expression tightening slightly.
“What did I say?”
“You said you didn’t think you’d ever see me again.”
He paused.
“Why?”
Amara looked away.
For a moment, it seemed like she wouldn’t answer.
But when she spoke, her voice was quiet.
“Because I thought you hated me.”
The words hit him harder than he expected.
“Hate you?” Tunde repeated. “Why would I hate you?”
She laughed softly, but there was no happiness in it.
“Because of how I left.”
And just like that, the past stood between them again.
Tunde felt his chest tighten.
There were so many things he wanted to say.
So many questions he had kept inside for years.
But one mattered more than the rest.
“Why did you leave?” he asked.
Amara didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she held onto her bag tighter, her fingers curling into the fabric.
“I didn’t have a choice,” she said.
Tunde frowned.
“What does that even mean?”
She opened her mouth like she wanted to explain.
Like she wanted to finally tell the truth.
But then—
Her phone rang.
The sound cut through the moment sharply.
She looked at the screen, and whatever she saw made her expression change instantly.
Fear.
Real fear.
“I have to take this,” she said quickly.
Tunde nodded slowly as she stepped away to answer the call.
He couldn’t hear what she was saying.
But he could see it.
The tension in her shoulders.
The way she kept looking around.
The way her voice sounded rushed and low.
After a few seconds, she ended the call and turned back to him.
“I have to go,” she said.
“Already?”
She nodded.
But this time, she didn’t move right away.
Instead, she looked at him like there was something she wanted to say… but couldn’t.
“Tunde…”
“Yes?”
“If I tell you the truth about why I left…”
She hesitated.
“…things might never be the same again.”
Tunde’s heart pounded.
“Then tell me anyway.”
For a moment, she just stared at him.
And then she spoke.
“It wasn’t goodbye because I wanted it to be.”
She took a step back.
“It was goodbye because it had to be.”
Before Tunde could respond, she turned and walked away.
Leaving him standing there with more questions than answers.
And for the first time since seeing her again…
Tunde realized something was very, very wrong.
- Writer
