It's been two months since their moments on the mountain but whenever they both reminisced on it, it felt like yesterday. They haven't seen each other since then, they didn't text each other as well. Nancy deliberately blocked him on social media and everywhere. She wanted to confirm her feelings for him in his absolute absence. She stayed with her mother while she worked from home. She has spoken with her boss the day before she left for her mother's house.
At the house, she appeared bright, she seemed herself and smiled at everyone like her heart wasn't heavy, like her heart didn't beat hard for Dave, like she wet her lips at the memory of the kiss, like her body didn't urgently request for Dave. She kept all her longings behind her chest till they were filled to the brim and almost suffocated her. She missed Dave a lot, more than she could imagine. But she still wasn't sure which was which. She needed to voice out, to tell someone how she felt. The day she had had enough of her yearnings, she picked her bag and paid Wumi an impromptu visit. Her mother wasn't home that day, if not she'd have explained to her Mom.
"I need to get this off my chest." She sank into Wumi's bed as she spoke.
"Out with it, as long as it's not explosive." Wumi teased.
"Well, I'm insanely in love with Dave that I can't do anything for a milliseconds without thinking of him. I miss him so much that I really want to be with him every seconds. Wumi, what do I do?"
Wumi tried hard to swallowed the laughter but didn't succeed. She burst out loudly.
"You did what?!" She laughed till she lost her balance on the chair she sat on.
"Wumi, it's not funny. This is how I feel."
"Oh, okay. Sorry dearie. It's how you....feel." she burst into laughter again. Then she quickly recomposed herself.
"Okay, now that we've known where your heart lies, what do you want to do?"
"Babes, are you joking? I just asked you what should I do. You're asking me again. I don't know, babe. I love him. I thought the distance and cutting ties with him everywhere would help me forget him..."
"Whoa, hold up. Forget? Thought you wanted to know the genuineness of your feelings for him. You never told me you wanted to forget."
"Babes, I wished to. When I couldn't pinpoint what I was feeling, I wished to restart everything. I wished everything was just an error that occured while typing that I'd just press control Z and everything would undo. I wished it was like that. I wanted to forget him, but the distance made it worse. I love him. This isn't sympathy, this is love. Don't you think?"
"Baby girl, with the way you express yourself, this isn't sympathy. If it was, it'd have faded the moment you distanced yourself. This is love. You love him. But, regardless of his past, right?" Wumi scrutinized her face closely.
Nancy thought deeply before she replied, "yes, regardless of his darkest past, regardless of who he was, is and will be. I've thought about it, I kept reminding myself who he was, I even imagined myself in a scenario of him in his past memories, my heart didn't budge. It was firm. I know that regardless of who he will turn out to be, I'll be by his side. All I want is him."
Wumi smiled, leant forward and hugged her. "I'm proud of you, dearie. I support your choice. You chose for your heart, and that's the ultimate best." Nancy hugged her gently as well. They loosened the hug after a while.
"Now, you need to go get your guy. He must have been worried about you. Probably."
Nancy smiled and she grabbed her bag while Wumi escorted her out. She got to her mom's place, grabbed the few clothes she brought from her apartment and left. She planned to call her mother later. While sitting inside the moving taxi, she felt relieved, like the twist around her neck has vanished. She felt as light as a feather. She became more eager to meet Dave, to tell him how she felt.
A wave of curiosity hit her: what if Dave had left Nigeria? What if he had met another person? What was the assurance that she'd meet him or Tina? Her tommy churned at such questions. She wished she could accelerate the taxi so she'd arrive in a twinkle of an eye. Truly, when love hits, one can do anything.
She raced out of the taxi when it stopped at her house. She opened the gate which was, luckily for her, unlocked. She didn't want to look suspicious to the security and the few neighbors around by racing inside. Instead, she hastened her pace a little. She unlocked her door, dumped her bag and purse on her bed and raced out of the room.
"I'm coming, please. Give me a minute." Tina called from behind the door. Nancy needed to confirm if Dave was around or not. Only Tina could answer that. She fervently prayed in her mind that Tina should be home. She smiled when Tina answered as she knocked.
Tina froze like a statue when she opened the door and saw Nancy. She could be mistaken for someone who just saw a ghost.
"Hi." Nancy said feebly.
"Where...have...you...been?!" Tina stressed each word. Nancy felt a bit guilty.
"I was at my Mom's."
"You have no idea how we looked for you. My brother almost tuned to something else. Girl, whatever lucky charm you used on him, if you aren't gonna reciprocate, just let him know. He literally turned our names to Nancy at home."
Nancy's heart began to beat fast. "that's why I came back. Please, where is he?"
Tina checked her phone for time. "His flight is in the next fifteen minutes. I'm sure he must have left that mountain and gone home to pack. He kept going to the mountain everyday, hoping you'd show up. You..." Before Tina could finish her sentence, Nancy had vanished before her. She stepped forward and saw Nancy running out of the compound.
Her heart raced more than her feet. She kept whispering prayers to heavens, earth and all in between that Dave should still be on the mountain. The memories of days they've spent together on the mountain began to flood her memory. When she remembered the kiss, she hastened her pace. She zoomed past the regular crowd at the foot of the mountain and tried to catch her breath at few seconds interval as she races up the mountain. She struggled to breathe when she got to the peak. Behind her, the sun was about to set. She grasped her knee for stamina to relax a bit. When she was slightly cool, she raised her head, trying to search for any figure that resembled Dave.
She raised her head and came in contact with the figure whom she had always longed for. Dave had a bewildering expression on him when he saw her. He was shocked to see her after several weeks, also shocked to see her breathless.
Without thinking twice, Nancy covered the distance between them and slipped her arms around her neck. This had been her yearning. She'd never let go again. She exhaled with joy as she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly.
Lost for words, Dave wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. He had searched for her like she was the key to his treasury. His heart never stopped beating for her. He just wanted to know if he should nurture the feeling or not. He needed answers from her. But now, she had arrived, like an August guest without invite, like an angel. His heart was beating fast again.
"Where have you been? I've searched for you everywhere."
"Dave," she let go of his neck but still within his grasp. "I'm sorry I made you worried. I needed answers to my feelings. And I've gotten the one I need."
"Aaaannnndd....which is?" Dave stretched the sentence out of curiosity.
Nancy smiled brightly. "I love you, Dave." She let her heart take control of her as she leant forward and took his lips in her mouth. Dave reciprocated the action and both were in an intense pace of hot kiss. It was like the first one, but this time around, nothing would hinder the flow. They'd both have a long discussion after everything, but now, they needed each other's warmth. Dave knew his plan to leave Nigeria had been buried while Nancy already knew the feeling she first felt when she saw Dave would now be explored undisturbed. The most prominent inevitable form of nature — love.
Behind them, the crimson sunset crawled into the sky's blanket, bidding the day farewell