It didn't start as a great morning honestly but let me give you a back story to help you understand why I said it didn't start great for me. Two weeks before that morning had been very difficult for me, I was having an emotional breakdown every day. I would cry myself to sleep every night and even the day before, I was an emotional wreck the whole day and I had gone to bed with a headache the night before. So, when I got up that morning, I still had a headache and didn't want to get out of bed but who was I kidding, I had to run my thrift business and that meant I had to go to Yaba market very early that morning.

I got up from my bed, rubbed my eyes, and grudgingly walked into the bathroom to take a shower, after 30 minutes in the bathroom (Yes, I take my time in the shower), I got out and sluggishly got dressed, wearing something very comfortable, denim pants and bright- coloured t-shirt with sandals (my go-to style), then I left the house. I walked to the bus stop because the government had banned bikes in the State a few months before and my account balance was too low to take a cab to the market. I got to the bus stop and I entered a bus heading to my destination, the Yaba market, I sat in the front seat of the bus and went on to mind my business which was the usual thing for me whenever I used the commercial (danfo) buses (this was to avoid the regular chaos that took place in danfo buses in Lagos) An hour later, I was at the market and I met up with my friends, we went on to buy the things for our thrift business, I don't even want to get into all the things I went through or rather we went through in the market but I know we went from anger and exhaustion to a lot of laughter and then to disappointment and 4 hours later, we finished shopping at the market and bade our goodbyes. I dragged myself and the heavy bags I was carrying to the bus stop at the market. Luckily for me, there was a bus going back to the Island parked and looking for passengers, so I got in and started waiting for the bus to get full of people.

I got into the bus, not just exhausted but I was also in one of my moods, so I took out my phone from my bag and plugged in my EarPods to listen to my favorite Nigerian afrobeat playlist and just when the first song started playing, a tall, dark-skinned, and very handsome man, with very beautiful lips, and his eyes, I can't even tell what color they were but I know they were the most beautiful eyes I had seen, then his cologne, trust me it wasn't one of those cheap cologne, I would know that because I had the nose for that, walked into the bus and just looked out of place on the bus, this was because of how he was dressed, he had on this very white flannel shirt, with a blue tailored pants, now everyone close to me knows that I'm an over-thinker, so I started thinking about the many reasons why this man was on this bus, and while I was still trying to figure out the 'why', he turned to the back where I was seating and cutting into my thoughts, and with a smile that can disarm any sensible, stubborn woman especially one like me and asked, 'Is this seat taken?'. For a minute, I couldn't say anything, I think my brain stopped working for a minute and then I had a thousand thoughts running through my mind at the same time, I got myself together and with a smile, I answered, 'No, it's not.' He said, 'Okay' and joined me in the back and sat next to me. For the next 5 minutes, I don't think I was breathing, and my heart was beating so fast, I was seating next to this very handsome man, that smelt so nice, and then he turned and asked me, "When do you think the bus will get full?"

"I don't know, maybe in an hour", I said.

"An hour-long? That's a very long time, but I don't have a choice", he said.

Then he turned away again, and I decided to go back to music, so I plugged in my earbuds, I didn't even know when I had taken them off from my ears.

30 minutes later, the bus got full, and we started our journey back to the Island (If you stay in Lagos, you know that it's a journey from the mainland to the Island). During the ride, I caught him turning and looking at me now and then, but I ignored him. Then about 10 minutes later, he turned to me and was saying something but I didn't hear him so he tapped me, I took my earbuds off still looking at him, and then he said, "I'm sorry but can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Yes, that's fine", I said and smiling.

"I'm Cheta.", he said to me, smiling.

"I'm Chimdinma."

"You are Ibo?", he asked me, shocked.

"Where did you think I was from?", I smiled and asked.

He smiled and I couldn't help but notice the way his teeth were beautifully placed in his mouth, "I was thinking Yoruba or the middle belt".

I held myself back from laughing out loud, and said, "You are joking, you are the first person to tell me that, I look very Ibo".

We both laughed.

We had an hour-long conversation. We laughed a lot during our conversation, we even got cold stares from some of the passengers. When we got to the VI toll-gate, he took out his business card and gave it to me, then he wrote down my number on one of his cards (I found that weird because I expected him to use his phone but I didn't ask).

He got down at the Lekki Phase 1 bus stop, but that was after he whispered "I'll call you" in my ears, sending chills down my spine.

Honestly, the rest of the ride to my bus stop was boring without Cheta, but I was excited. I got home, took a shower, and went about the rest of my day which included telling my sisters about Cheta. At 9.00 pm, my phone started ringing, it was a call from a number I didn't recognize (I hadn't saved Cheta's number on my phone) I took the call and the voice I heard at the other end of the line almost made me lose all my manners (He had a very sexy voice)

"Hey, Dinma...Is it okay if I call you that?"

"Hello Cheta, yes... yes Dinma is fine"(I was blushing so hard)

"I apologize for calling you this late, how has the rest of your day been?"

"That's fine... It has been okay, mostly resting and talking with my sisters"

"Oh! Do you stay with your sisters? That's nice."

"Yeah"

"I'll love to meet them"

"Okay", I said and rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, I wanted to thank you for earlier, you made the bus ride less boring for me"

"That's fine, you did too for me' 'That's fine, you did too."

Awkward silence.

"You said you were busy?" I asked him.

"Yes, I was on a back-and-forth call with my mechanic, then some work calls but that was after I had charged my phone. It died on me on the mainland"

"Okay"

"What are you up to this evening? It's Friday."

"Nothing, just watching a movie"

"Nah, that's boring. I have a better idea"

"Okay, I'm listening"

"A drive around Lekki to look for somewhere we can sit and have drinks"

"Okay, that's not a bad idea" (I was smiling)

"I'll come and pick you up in 20 minutes"

"You don't know where I stay, how do you know you will be here in 20 minutes?"

He laughed.

"That's a good point, where do you stay?"

"I stay at Prime Waters in Ikate"

"So, I wasn't wrong after, send your address and I'll pick you up in 20 minutes"

I laughed.

"Okay, I'll be ready and waiting"

"Bye..."

The call disconnected.

I got up to get ready for my date or maybe not a date, I don't know.

45 minutes later, we were in a lounge, low lit, with a cool ambience with RnB songs playing in the background, it was a very romantic evening, maybe because it was with Cheta, I don't know. We talked and laughed, it felt like we had known each other for a long time, and we were just catching up. After 2 hours of talking and drinking, Cheta drove me back to my house and it was a sad feeling because I didn't want the night to end. Well, I was well brought up by my parents, so like a good girl, I hugged him and went up to my apartment. Cheta called me 30 minutes later when he got home, and we spoke for an hour, and I went to bed. I had the best night's rest than I had had in a long time, I even had a beautiful dream (Don't worry, I'll spare you the details). The next morning, I woke up smiling and I got a good morning text from my handsome stranger (I call him that now). My day went on as usual, like every Saturday, I cleaned up my room, did my laundry, and did a little writing. At 1.00 pm, Cheta called my phone, I picked up the phone and took the call.

"Hello beautiful"

"Hi Cheta" (I was blushing at this point)

"How are you? How's your Saturday going?"

"Just the usual, a little cleaning and writing. You?"

"Just work, I just finished a zoon meeting"

"Are you always working?" I asked him.

"No, I'm not. It's just one of those days."

"Okay"

"Are you busy at the moment? I have something planned for us today"

"Us?... I'm not busy at the moment, I'm just watching a movie with my sisters. What do you have planned?"

"It's a surprise, you have to wait and see", I heard him chuckle at the other end of the line.

"Okay" (smiling)

"I'm coming to pick you up in 30 minutes"

"Can I have a clue so that I know what to wear?'

'Wear something comfortable, you will be beautiful in anything you wear anyway"

"Okay" (I was blushing again)

"I'll see you in 30 minutes"

"Yeah"

I got off the call and started getting dressed for my Saturday surprise date with Cheta. I picked out the yellow playsuit I bought from @thrift_withnma, I was saving it for a day like this, I didn't do too much with my hair because I had on braids so I just put my braids up in a bun, I'm not really into make-up, so all I did was powder my face a little, brush my eyebrows and put on lip gloss and I was ready to go out. Cheta called me just as I was putting on my sandals, to tell me he was at my estate, I put cologne on and went downstairs to meet him. Cheta got out of his car, and he gave me a hug that felt like he had not seen me in months, but that was after he told me how beautiful I was( He told me that a million times that day) He got the door for me, I got in and he joined me in the car.

"Cheta, where are we going to?"

He turned and looked at me with that smile I was gradually falling for, "I told you it was a surprise, sit back and enjoy the ride"

I laughed and responded, "Enjoy the ride? Even if you trying to kidnap me?".

Cheta laughed so hard.

He started the ignition and drove out of my estate.