Maybe, You Will See Me Now

032

"Andrew." Bolanle called one more time after she swung her handbag over her shoulder.

He lifted his eyes to her.

"Are you working overtime again?"

"Yes." He hesitated.

Bolanle narrowed her eyes at him while casually pouting. "Hmm, okay." She turned away to meet up with Ebenezer who waited beside the exit.

A few minutes later, he released a pent-up breath. Andrew went ahead to peek at his wrist watch then at the door. He picked up his phone and went for Ijeawele's number. His thumbs hovered over the keyboard while the words in his mind tumbled over each other. He looked away from his phone and hoped to clear his mind.

The phone in his hand vibrated and he shifted his gaze right back to it. A message from Ijeawele came in. A big smile appeared on his face as he read the words.

I'm waiting for you in my car at the park.

Quick, he shut down his system, packed up and was on his way out of the office.

Ijeawele gushed out the deep air she had taken in and she left her phone in one of the cup holders. She held the steering wheel with both hands. Soon, she was leaning against it, hoping it would help to decline her racing heart. It didn't. She gazed at her phone. Her fingers itched to pick it up and look through the text she just sent. It had been a while since she felt such exhilaration.

Radha popped out of the building. Immediately, Ijeawele ducked down. She rolled her lips in and hoped Radha didn't see her. Her heart pounding against her chest didn't help matters. Gradually, she lifted her head for a glimpse of her colleague. Her eyes lurked from the extreme right to the extreme left. Somehow, she had varnished. While Ijeawele continued the search for Radha, a small black car drove out of his parking spot. Again, she ducked down the moment she saw Radha in the driver's seat.

The familiar sound of the gate opening gave her the encouragement to lift her head one more time. While Radha was at the verge of driving out, Andrew stepped out of the building. Right away, he saw her in the car. Ijeawele watched Radha drive out before she shifted her gaze to the entrance. Andrew shone in a wide smile.

Steadily, a smile of her own grew on her face. It was almost like the world around them had gone silent. She couldn't look away and watched him hasten his strides up to her. Andrew opened the door. Their eyes connected for a moment and neither could fade away their smiles. Ijeawele felt like butterflies danced in her belly, tickling her. She struggled in stabilising her composure.

Andrew sat in and closed the door. He turned to her and stared into her eyes, from one orb to the other. His cheeks hurt a bit from wearing a smile wide and longer than he'd ever done. Still, he had difficulty controlling himself.

"Hi." His voice was nearly breathy.

"Hi." She replied, breaking her gaze with him at intervals.

Andrew's hands itched to hold hers or make any contact at all. All day, they hadn't said a word or brushed against each other. He knew he missed her a lot although they were in the same building. But when she messaged him for the first time and said she was waiting, his heart leapt in joy. He didn't know how badly he craved her reciprocation. Finally, it was happening.

Ijeawele couldn't quite match his gaze. Somehow, it felt like there should be more happening. A physical contact of some sort. She'd been out of the game too long and couldn't imagine a natural way to go about it. Regardless, it was astounding how much can change when you emotionally and mentally start to accept someone. Ijeawele knew she felt something real for him. But she didn't know it ran quite deep.