The Right One

Twelve

"Thank you, and have a great day." Hope smiled, handing a customer back her ATM card.

"You don't look like you got much sleep last night," Oke observed, his gaze roaming her face.

Hope snorted and regarded Oke with heavy and droopy eyes. "You don't say. I didn't sleep until around four this morning."

His eyes pooled with worry. "Why? Are you okay? Is there a problem?"

Hope cooed at how genuinely concerned he seemed. They had that connection that made it feel like they'd known each other longer than a day.

"Awww, you're so sweet." She teased, unable to resist.

His hands came up to scratch the back of his neck and Hope laughed at how adorable he was. "Oh my God! You're so cute. Has anyone ever told you that? You're like a puppy and I just want to ruffle your fur right now although you don't have any fur and I don't really like dogs but you know, dogs have cute furs. Some of them."

His countenance was a mix of amused and embarrassed. "Slow down a bit with the dog talk. You still didn't answer my question."

Hope sighed. "I'm fine. I got carried away watching videos online and then I couldn't sleep afterwards."

"Oh, tough," Oke empathized, patting her shoulder. "Sorry ehn. You'll be alright."

"Amen!" Hope exclaimed with a laugh.

The restaurant wasn't as crowded as the day before and she was so grateful she was fully stationed at the counter because it actually allowed for some breathing space. She found herself almost dozing off at odd moments with Oke covering for her at such moments, bless his soul. All she wanted was actual space to take a short nap but that was just her wishing. But then, her lack of sleep wasn't anyone's fault. Anyone except Raymond, that is.

It had been surprisingly nice sharing a midnight conversation with him. That was until he had decided to fall asleep on her. The betrayal!

Thinking about it made her impulsively open her WhatsApp to text him, in the same manner she had the previous night.

Slept well?
(Feel the sarcasm🙄)
9:37

He wasn't online so her message was not marked as delivered. She left her data connection on just in case and pocketed her phone. She'd almost forgotten about it when her phone vibrated. She brought it out to check and it was indeed him replying.

Is that why you did what you did?
10:03

Hope snorted, an evil smile sneaking up on her face.

And what exactly did I do?:)
10:04

"Excuse me?"

Hope glanced up to see a lady waving, impatience plastered all over her features. Hope's gaze shifted to her coworkers who had their hands full as well. She tucked her phone away and smiled at the customer, "Sorry, what would you like?"

The lady rolled her eyes but gave her orders anyway. Hope had to attend to three others before she had the chance to check her phone again. She grinned when she saw he had replied her text.

You deliberately didn't end the call so I would lose all my airtime.
10:04

Her fingers instantly typed a response. She was immensely proud of herself for having done that.

Oh my God! I did???
The horror!😱
10:26

On second thought, it seems to me like karma paid you back for sleeping off on me.
10:26