[]Chapter 6
He couldn’t believe he was driving back to the University campus after what had happened there earlier in the day, but he sure wanted to see the Ruth girl. It was like the Universe was trying to tell him something.
Just before he approached the University gate, he saw a man sleeping on the sidewalk. He had seen stuff like that many times, but this time, he thought of what could actually be wrong with the man; wondering whether he was just drunk, or a mentally ill person. He looked at the man in the rare-view mirror after driving by him, and as he put his eyes back on the road, he saw an obstruction right in front of him and swerved just in time to avoid hitting it. A streetlight had been knocked down probably by a heavy duty vehicle, and the bottom concrete part was sticking out on his side of the road. His heart beat faster for a few seconds before it went back to normal.
As usual, the community opposite the University entrance was bubbling with activity; people were coming and going, some were at the bus stop waiting for cabs, and there was a little traffic on that side of the road.
She had told him on the phone earlier that he was lucky to have caught her, as she was about leaving her friend’s room when his call came in. He got her personal number, and she told him she would wait for him by the school bookshop as her friend’s hostel might be too hard for him to locate. He described the car she should lookout for and told her he would be there in twenty minutes. That was about twenty five minutes ago.
As he lowered the window to collect a gate pass from the school guards at the gate he wondered what time the gate usually got closed for the day, or whether it was opened 24 hours a day. The cab park to the right that was lively when he came earlier in the day was now deserted. There were just a couple of cabs there with very few people around. As he wound up his car window to start the drive into the campus, Wizkid’s Come Closer song came on, and he started bumping his head to the music.
A couple of meters after driving past a roundabout he got to an intersection; the road to the right would have taken him to the bar the whole drama with Bimpe happened earlier. The one up ahead separated the glass house bookshop and a tall white building that had a big clock at the top. He always wondered why the clock was never correct.
He didn’t see her anywhere. He turned on the car’s inner light and was about to pull out his phone from his pocket to call when she appeared from the shadows; standing at about 5 foot 8 inches, with an incredible hour glass shape, she was hard to miss. He turned the car deck down a few notches, and drove over to her side of the road, signaling to her with his index finger that he was going to park the car. Right after the bookshop was an admin building with a car-park in front. He pulled into the lot, and he saw her approaching him from the corner of his eye. She had on the same thing from earlier on at the bank.
By the time he was properly parked, she was already by the passenger’s side of his silver colored Mercedes Benz C230. He got out, tucked in his shirt properly as he walked to the other side of the car. She stood there, with her hands behind her, and a smile on her face.
“Hope you haven’t been here long?” He asked.
“Not really. I actually just got here.”
“Nice top.” He said and she laughed, and leaned on the car. “I was actually dared to wear this throughout today.”
“Oh! That’s interesting.” He said, right in front of her now. She folded her arms, and looked up at him, waiting for him to say something else, but he said nothing. He just stared at her, and was surprised she didn’t look away. It was like she was gazing into his soul trying to figure out who he was. Her phone started ringing and she excused herself to answer it. She spoke for about half a minute then walked back to his front.
“Sorry, that was my friend.”
“Hmm! Is she checking whether I have kidnapped you?”
She laughed before answering with, “No, actually, we were meant to go clubbing tonight, but…” She was saying then stopped to type something in her phone before adding, “Abike’s boyfriend was delaying, so we kind of changed our minds, but he is around now.”
“Oh!”
“Yea, and…sorry, Abike is my friend you spoke to earlier.”
“Yea, I kind of figured that out.” He said and rubbed his neck. “So, you love to club.”
“Nah! Not really my thing, but today…”She was saying then looked into space like she was thinking of something. The cheerful look on her face disappeared for a second, and then she shrugged before adding, “Today, I just feel like going out.”
“Oh, that’s great. I can take you to the club, and we can catch up with your friends there.”
“Umm! You don’t have to.”
“Yes, but I want to.” He said.
She looked up at him in silence for a while, and then looked at her dress before saying, “Okay. I need to get to my hostel and change though.”
