Lola"s POV
"Yeah, we"re almost there. What are you wearing? Haha, I can"t believe you still have that. We just got our bags so we"ll be out soon. Yeah, yeah." I say, hanging up and putting my phone in my back pocket.
I need some gum. Where is my wallet anyway? I think to myself as I walk my way through the ever busy Murtala Muhammed International Airport. Lagos hadn"t changed much in the past year. It was still the same as ever; loud and hot with people moving in and out from every direction.
My name is Omolola Adeniyi and I"m twenty-five years old. I"ve just returned from my year long stay in Korea. Weird, I know. It"s not your typical destination or vacation spot but you"ll get to know more about that later. I"m currently on my way out of the airport, with my handful of friends who"ve come with me to visit the sights of Lagos, Nigeria. There"s Jay, Minho, Taekyung, Soobin, Serayah and Saerom. Four out of them had never been outside Korea and were ecstatic to be visiting an African country. They were currently taking pictures and acting like kids in a candy store. When did they even get their phones out? I should probably go get them now seeing as Dayo"s out waiting in the parking lot.
Dayo was the closest thing I had to a brother seeing as I grew up an only child. We"d met five years ago and he"d been there for me in ways no one else had. I probably won"t have survived the last five years without him. And it"s been so long since I"ve seen his ugly face. Ugh! I missed him. I can"t wait for him to see the...
"Oof!" I say, running into something large and hard. I didn"t remember there being any randomly placed walls smack dab in the middle of the airport. Right...humans.
I bend to pick up my bag which had been knocked off my shoulder, quickly apologizing because Lagosians aren"t exactly known for their patience. It takes a second for me to realize that I"d been speaking Korean so when I stand up straight, I"m getting ready to apologize again. Unfortunately, because I"ve been cursed with incredible clumsiness, I knock my head right into the stranger"s jaw. Ouch! That"ll hurt.
"Oh my gosh, I"m so sorry. I didn"t mean to hurt you. Are you okay?!" I ask, frantically. Looking all over to see if the stranger is hurt, I"m readying myself for a scene because... this is Lagos.
"Damn it! First day back in this bloody country and I"m already fighting for my life. Fucking Lagos!" The stranger mutters in a low voice, holding a hand over his jaw such that I could only see his eyes. I was shocked by the deep richness of it. It sounded like what I"d imagine to be hot, golden honey. Wow, I"d love to hear that voice in my ear a couple times. Wait, what?! Lola, get a hold of yourself!
"I"m so, so sorry. It was an accident." I say, already feeling guilty. My clumsiness tended to put me in trouble a lot of trouble. I lift my hand to the man"s face to see if he"s seriously hurt. "I"m really sorry, sir. I didn"t mean to..." I trail off, my hand falling slowly when the man moves his hand from his jaw.
No! It can"t be him. How is this happening to me?! I can"t help the memories that assuage my mind; taking me back to a time where I was weak and foolish. How in the hell is he standing right in front of me? Mayowa fucking Koker.
"I don"t think a head butt can be regarded as a typical way of greeting." He says, carefully testing his jaw to see if it"s been broken.
My breath catches and I lose all ability to think or speak.
"Judging by your reaction, I"m guessing you remember me?" Mayowa says, in that deep voice I was attracted to. What was worse? He had a faint trace of a British accent. I was a sucker for a British accent! Damn it!
Play the game, Lola. Just like you practised.
"I"m sorry. I don"t know what you"re talking about." I say, gritting my teeth. I step to move around him when he blocks my path.
"You never were a good liar, Lola." He says, cheekily making me wish I"d actually broken that damn jaw.
"What are you doing here?" I say, unable to keep the icy tone out of my voice.
"Hmm...last I checked, this is a public place and I can go wherever I please." He says, leaning against the suitcase I didn"t notice earlier. I can"t help but notice that he looked good. He was dressed in a black t-shirt that hugged the obviously toned body beneath it and black jeans with a brown leather jacket over it. His shoes looked really expensive too stepping a little closer to me. His smell invades my space and the scent of musk and man and cold wafts up to my nose. I hated it.
He seemed to notice my observation of him and stepped even closer. I take a step back and damn, if that doesn"t make me feel small.
"Get out of my way, Mayowa." I say, a little loudly, drawing the eyes of my friends who finally remembered my existence. Minho was looking very much displeased and was about to walk over when Jay held him back. I made a mental note to give Jay a big treat for that because Minho was a kickboxer and he could do some serious damage to anyone who upset me. He was very protective of his adopted dongsaeng".
"Ahh, so you do remember me. I was beginning to think I had the wrong person. That"s not a really nice thing to say to an old friend, is it? Especially after being out of touch for so long. I thought they called you Lollipop Lola" back then because you were sweet. Obviously, it was for another reason for another reason." He says, in a tone like the one you use when speaking to a little child. It infuriated me!
"We. Are. Not. Friends." I say through my gritted teeth. If this keeps up, I won"t have any teeth left by the time I get to the parking lot.
"Well, I"m hurt that you would say that seeing as I think of you as a friend. Haven"t you missed me?" He says, grinning at me and his smile is so beautiful, it makes me want to punch him.
"I"d miss you in hell. Now, move before I run you over with my suitcase." I say, dragging my forgotten box between us like a shield. Minho, who"s been watching our altercation, knows that this is one my ways of getting out of a situation; putting an object between me and the problem. After all, he taught me that.
He wrenches his arm out of Jay"s hold causing the latter to just about fall over from the sheer strength of the man and in other circumstances, I"d be laughing. Unfortunately, this wasn"t one of those situations. Minho was a raging bull which when if provoked, would pull this entire airport down. And right now, he was very much provoked.
I don"t even realize that I"ve angled my body such that when he reaches us, he"s standing right behind me. And at six foot four, he was very intimidating.
"Satang-a, gwaenchana?" Candy, are you alright?
"Ne, oppa. Kachi ka." Yes, Minho. Let"s just go. I say, turning away from Mayowa as Minho takes my luggage from me. I see the scowl on Mayowa"s face but ignore it. He can"t hurt me anymore. I refuse to let him.
"I"ll see you soon, Lola. Very soon. "He yells, after me. And I shiver at the promise in his words because if there"s one thing I know...Mayowa Coker never gives up.
Minho plants a kiss on my head in comfort and I can almost feel a stare burning holes through my head.
We step outside the airport and head over to the parking lot and the first thing I notice is Dayo in his old Manchester United jersey.
"Dayooo!!!!!" I scream, promptly jumping on Dayo who picks me up quite easily. I already feel the tears filling up in my eyes and they"re about to fall when I hear him say,
"If you cry any cry here, I fit throw you commot."
And then he laughs in that low rumble of his which makes me close my eyes tighter so the tears won"t drop and I wrap myself even tighter around him. He tickles me which makes me laugh and he finally outs me down. He"d always been like this. He could stand seeing girls" underwear and fangirling and even discussions about the female anatomy and menstruation but he absolutely couldn"t bear to see a woman cry. I didn"t even know if it scared him or just plain made him uncomfortable but that was just Dayo.
"I missed you, you dummy." I say, hugging him again.
"Missed you too, babe. Na so you actually bring Korea come marry o" So, you actually brought a Korean home to marry. He says, laughing.
"Which one is he?" He asks, looking at the guys and I just laugh because no one in the group has any idea what we"re saying, and from the look on Saerom"s face, she"s rethinking coming all the way to a country she knows nothing about, way on the other side of the world.
"Be nice." I say, lightly shoving an elbow into Dayo"s side.
"Dayo, these are my friends, Minho, Jay, Soobin, Saerom, Taekung and Serayah." I say, pointing to each one. "Guys, this is my bestest friend in the whole world. He"s our tour guide slash designated driver for our stay and he"ll be here for whatever you need." I say, in a mock announcer voice.
"No, no...mot whatever you need but for the most part. I"m Dayo...anongaseyo. Did I get that right?" He says, smiling as I burst out laughing. The gang just smiles back excusing his horrible pronunciation.
"I"ve heard a lot about you." Dayo says, flashing his charming smile and from, the corner of my eye, I think I see Serayah swoon. Ooh la la...this"ll be interesting.
"Come on, let"s go." I say, doing a little dance as we all pile into Dayo"s Jeep.
"Anyone want any gum?" I ask, raising a pack.
"I though you never shared your precious Berry Blast or what is it called?" Dayo asks, with a grin.
"Keurae!" That"s right! "And I never will. But I do have some regular banana flavoured gum, if you want it. By the way, it"s Berry Burst." I reply, smiling like a Cheshire cat.
"Wetin be that?" What does that mean? Dayo asks, throwing the entire car into fits of laughter.
And for the moment, the incident at the airport was forgotten. Ahh... It was good to be back.
Mayowa"s POV
"Mr Koker, sir, it"s good to have you back sir." My best friend, Felix, says as he takes my bags.
"Abeg, leave that thing!" Come on, man. I say, smiling at him before giving him a hug.
Felix just laughs and pats my back.
"Welcome home, brother. He says, with our old handshake.
"Thanks man." I say, just as I hear her squeal. I turn my head and see her hugging some guy and for reasons I don"t know, that makes my blood boil.
Lola Adeniyi...wow. I hadn"t seen her in over ten years and yet I meet her at the airport of all places.
She looked like she was searching for something in her bag when I spotted her. Her face was wrinkled in focus and she looked so cute from a distance. But up close, she was absolutely stunning! She wasn"t a little girl anymore. When I intentionally bumped into her earlier, her body had squished up against me and the memory of her soft supple body against mine just made me want to take her in my arms again. Yeah, I did it on purpose. Sue me.
"What are you staring at Mayo?" Felix asks, putting the last of my bags in the car.
"Nothing. Just someone I used to know." I say, still not taking my eyes off her. I can"t stop my smile when I see her do some weird little dance.
I wonder why she was so cold to me earlier. I almost panicked when she said she didn"t know what I was talking about. Then again, I"d always been able to call bullshit.
I have to know why she lied. Was it because of that Chinese guy earlier? I grit my teeth at the thought that, that might be her boyfriend. Or maybe even her husband! No... I didn"t notice a ring. Those things tend to stand out.
Anyway, it didn"t matter. I"d definitely be seeing her again.
