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He was late…Again, Even as a child his mother always scolded him about his inability to be on time for anything. “Biodun you will be late to even your wedding” Iya Abiodun would always say to her son, shaking her head to show him how tired she was of his constant tardiness. A wedding didn’t seem to be in sight anymore, his job as a reporter for one of the media giants of Lagos didn’t allow him much time to date and socialize. He had always used work as the excuse for his non-existent love life but in truth, he believed that he couldn’t hold a proper conversation and thanks to some unsuccessful attempts on dating sites he had given up altogether.
As he drove into the airport he said a silent prayer that the flight he was rushing to catch had been delayed, “Hello please I’m here for the Arik flight to Abuja” he said to the mean-looking lady at the front desk wondering why Airport staff always seemed to be angry at the world.
“You’re very lucky, the flight hasn’t boarded yet…You can sit and wait until we call for boarding” the lady said smacking her lips as she chewed gum that sounded like it had bones in it.
As he put on his headphones and sat down for the wait he saw her run-in, she was beautiful.
A “slim thickie” like his promiscuous friend Ola would call her, too bad he couldn’t do anything about it. He got up and headed to the food court to grab breakfast in case the wait was longer than a few minutes, when he walked back with his parfait and burger in hand she was sitting on his seat. “Hi, can I reach under your seat to grab my bag? Sorry” he said dropping his food next to her so that he could move his luggage.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t notice the bags under,” she said getting up. Her voice was beautiful and even though the smile she offered was weak due to the stress on her face it still made him feel warm inside. “No it’s fine, I’ll just take this seat,” he said in a voice that sounded unlike his own. He had expected a cold response, the smile and the apology made him very nervous. As he settled into his new seat she struck a conversation with him “is the burger nice? I think I’ll get one if we aren’t called to board soon”.
“It usually is, knowing Arik Air we might be here for a while so maybe you should get one” he replied getting up and offering her his hand.
“You’re coming with me? Quite the gentleman” she smiled broadly taking his hand and standing up.
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As they walked to the food court they debated which airlines were worse when it came to delayed flights, he found out her name was Kiki, and despite her trim figure, she had a larger appetite than him. He found out she was an event planner who was going to be late for her event in Abuja if the flight didn’t leave soon. She searched for the event on Instagram and showed him a flyer, it was for one of Abuja’s fast-rising Microfinance banks…he teased her about being a big shot, and even though it wasn’t a very funny joke she laughed and it made him very happy. They talked about everything and it thrilled him a lot because he genuinely felt like he had known her all his life, The two-hour delay felt like twenty minutes to them.
He tried to sit beside her on the plane but the person sitting beside her was one of those weirdos who used the flight sitting arrangement instead of sitting anywhere as long as it was aboard the flight. “ Wait for me at baggage claim when you get off and we’ll get an Uber together, “ he said as he made his way to his seat. As he settled in for the flight he couldn’t believe his luck, he couldn’t wait to get off this airplane and find her.
When the plane landed everyone seemed to be in a rush to get out, he waited to let the crowd disperse knowing that if he was riding with Kiki he would just reschedule his appointment. When he got to baggage claim he couldn’t find her, he waited and waited but she never came. He couldn’t believe it, he searched the airport wishing all the while that he could call her, but he hadn’t gotten her number.
He found the poster she had shown him on Instagram, it wasn’t her page but he headed to the event praying and hoping she would be there but the hall was almost empty when he arrived and she was nowhere to be found.
He was sad, tired, and hungry. All he had to eat today was the bagel and half a parfait because she had collected his after finishing hers. He looked up restaurants near him and settled on Yogo berry, as the car pulled up outside the restaurant he saw her walking outside with that stressed smile he had first seen at the airport.
He felt like a child who had waited in a long line to sit on Santa’s lap and was finally about to. He rushed towards her and as soon as she saw him he knew she was as excited to see him.
“Hey big shot, did you try to ghost me”? He asked pulling away from her hug a little. “No na!!! I waited but you didn’t come out and I was very late. The MD kept calling me and I sent you a message on Instagram…how did you find me?”. She responded still holding unto him. “Fate,” he said simply, glad that for once in his life he had gotten there right on time.
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