“Out
of the coincidences of life, much is envisaged in matters of the heart.
Therefore, it is worthy of note that our lifetime better halves are not
location bound. They can come from any place at all.”
Quote
by Ann
However difference their age may be, they were born and grew at the same neighborhood.
They probably might have at least played together without realizing it. Fate
brought them together! Through coincidence, their families relocated to the
same state. But was it also coincidence that led them to meet. Perhaps it was
more than that. It was…
Ever since my visit at the Clintons residence, my
communication with Danny became very slim until it finally went out of the
blues. I had returned to my studies with unreserved focus, and the thought of
Danny or any of its kind was the least of my distraction. This was much easier since Danny had not proposed any love for me. Hence I decided to restrict my
own emotion from moving farther than it ought. “Aren't we supposed to be just
friends and nothing more?” I reassured myself, willing to suppress whatever
feelings I might developed for him. Moreover, the study activities in school
was pretty much to keep one very busy. My family, especially my father had so
much expectations of me and that I cannot afford to disappoint.
How time flies! The semester examination came and
gone and students were ready for another holiday. I was gathering my items
together, getting ready to go home the next day when my phone rang. “Oh my
goodness. Could this be real?” I exclaimed when as I saw the caller’s name. “Hel..he..ello!”
I stammered as I brought the phone close to my ears. “Hi! Nabel. How have you
been?” came the voice on the other end. “Am fine. Where have you been Danny? It’s
been a while.” I was inquisitive but at the same time excited. To be honest, I
did not totally forgot about Danny but since I had tried severally to contact him to no avail, I decided to get focused. Moreover, he was supposed to
have contacted me.
“I can explain Nabel. Ever since you left, I couldn’t
concentrate any longer. Don’t get me wrong, I should have told you about it but I thought
perhaps, em…staying away from you could help but it didn’t.” He heaved a deep
sigh. I was silent, my heart began pounding. Could what he just said be the same interpretation in my mind? But I have to be sure before saying anything. “Are
you there? Hello!” He spoke again. “Yes am here. What are you talking about, is
everything alright?” I spoke at last. “I will see you when you return. Whatever
I have to tell you is very important to me. I got to go now.” He dropped the
call. Notwithstanding, I held to phone to my ear for few more minutes as though
he’s going to return to the call. Finally, I brought myself to sit on my
mattress, trying to figure out what those statement means. “Whatever I have to
tell you is very important to me.” I repeated, still confused.
My family was so excited when I arrived for the
holiday. I was happy too because I have missed them a lot, especially my
youngest brother whom I have grown to become fond of that I nicknamed him Bobo.
I came from a family of eight, four ladies and two boys including my mother and
father. Surprisingly, my elder sisters was around and my younger sister also returned
from school for holidays. Though the holidays was a short one, I was going to
spend it in a full house. Later in the evening after dinner, Bobo handed me an
envelope which he said was a my mail. “Who could have sent this? I
wasn’t expecting any mail.” I said and opened the envelope. “Wow! Wow! This is
really good. But he could have brought it here instead of sending it though the
post office.” I was suggestive, but on a second thought, I realized I was yet
to introduce him to my family. I shrugged my shoulder and showed the photograph
to everyone.
“Mum, it was the photograph we took during last Christmas
date, remember?” I explained. “Oh yes, I remember. It looks great!” My mother
complimented. “Thanks Mum.” I smiled.
“My Oh My! Isn’t this Daniel? Look at how
much he has grown now. Very tall, just like his mother…hmmm.” Clara, my eldest sister
exclaimed, she looked so stunned. Everyone drew closer to have a better look at
the image she was pointing at.
“Do you know Danny?” I inquired, my confusion written over my face. She didn’t respond, instead she turned to
mother. “Mum, do you remember the Clinton?” Mother nodded. “That’s Daniel, the
first son. They relocated before we followed suit. See how big a man he has
become now!” She went on in exclamation.
“Oh yes! Oh yes! You are right. The resemblance
is not hidden at all.” Mother was affirmative. With mother’s further
explanation, it became clear to me that I have heard that name “Clinton”
before but that was at my tender age.
We used to reside at a neighboring state with the
Clinton's residence few miles away from ours until we relocated soon after the
Clinton. As for Danny, I never knew he existed then and vice versa. My family
relocated when I was only eight and not only that, Danny and I might not have crossed
path and whatever happened then could have skipped my memory. I am very
sure Mrs. Clinton didn’t remember too, else she could have recognized me when I
visited them.
“Anyways, I am a grownup now and would definitely look
difference.” I thought. “Nabel, I bet you and Daniel were born to stick together for
life.” Clara joked. She has a way of making matters sound funny. “You can’t be
too sure.” I laughed. We spent the rest of the time discussing about my family
and the Clinton before we finally bade ourselves good night.
That night, I kept rolling from one end of my bed to another. Sleep
was far-fetched as the thought of my new discovery overwhelmed me. I was
imagining how Danny would react to this whole episode. Then something struck my
mind, “Whatever I have to tell you is very important to me.” I recalled Danny’s
statement the last time he called me. “Could it be he was already aware of this?
Was that the important thing he would like to tell me or is there something
else I need to know.” All these and many more stole my sleep that night. I was
tempted to call him but by mere looking at the time, I felt discouraged. It was
already pretty late in the midnight. It wasn’t until around 3:50 am that sleep
finally took hold of me and I dozed off.
When I woke up the next day, the first thing that got my attention
was the beeping of my phone. “Let’s meet in the evening, I will pick you up if
you are less busy.” It was Danny in his usual straight forward manner. I
immediately checked my schedules and thus it was not too tight. I had to get
busy that morning, run errand for mother as quickly as I could and luckily, my
sisters were around to assist me in some house chores. Soon I was set to meet Claire
whom I had earlier had an appointment with. Claire was my high school best
friend and soon after graduation, both of us got admission the same year but
different institution. We hadn’t seen each other in a while as we both normally
had different period of holidays except for Christmas, but then she always had
to go on vacation with her family. However, this time around, our holidays
coincided.
I was so engrossed in discussion with Claire. There was really a whole
lot to talk about, our school, friends, hobbies and lots more until I remembered
him. I was careful not to slip my tongue to Claire about Danny since I wasn’t sure
of the exact definition of our relationship at that moment. Later on, I left
Claire earlier than I had wanted and headed home. As soon I entered our living
room, I met the unexpected surprise. There he was sitting on the couch with
Clara at the opposite one. They were catting and laughing like an old time
buddies. Mother was there and too while Bobo was busy with his video game.
“Uncle, next time you come around, I’d like us to play games
together.” That was Bobo, he had always loved games since he was three. “Definitely,
we will!” Danny affirmed.
“Danny! What a surprise! What are you doing here?” I was dumbfounded.
I went over and sat beside mother. “Nabel, uncle has been waiting for you.”
Bobo spoke again without looking up. His attention was fixed on the game he was
playing. “But you told me earlier that you would be meeting him.” Clara
inquired more like a question than a statement. “Yeah but you know…” I paused a
while, look around their faces then continued. “I never knew he would come
around here. Hadn’t got opportunity to introduce him to the family.” I shrugged.
“That’s no longer necessary, Daniel was a family before now.” Mother said at
last, describing how closely she had got along with Mrs. Clinton. They were
still on same topic while I went into my room, changed and left with Danny.
To be continued...
This story is undiluted and
comprises of the author's imagination and experience. No part of this write-up
should be duplicated elsewhere. Please, make use of the comment box for you
opinion, contribution and correction.
