I do and I do

21| Maybe it was never our story

A young man in a sky-blue shirt with folded sleeves and a black pair of trousers pushed the door open. He hurried his steps down the two staircases in front of him and his shoes made a sound against the whitish and well-polished tiles. He continued towards the woman in her early sixties seated on the sofa with her hands on her head. Her hairstyle was a low cut with gray that could be seen because of her age. The moment she caught sight of him approaching, she removed her hands from her head and leaned forward in expectation of what he had to say.

He took his seat on the same sofa she sat on.

"Any news?" Her question was close to a plea. Her eyes welling up with tears, pleading to hear the word yes instead of no.

He shook his head. "Nothing. They still can't find her."

"My God!" The woman exclaimed as she rested her elbows on her knees and buried her head in her palms. "Adesuwa, where are you?"

She lifted her head to the man. "Where could she be? Why won't she come home? I—I don't understand. If she was kidnapped, why haven't the kidnappers asked for ransom? What is all this?"

He leaned forward into a similar state as she was and covered his mouth with his hand. That way, he fell into deep thoughts. For the past three weeks, they've been searching for Adesuwa and have nothing new to show. Some things didn't even add up.

"Kenny, are you sure you left her at the airport? Are you sure?"

He shifted his gaze to the older woman. The look in her eyes was a shell of who she was. He sat up. "Mum... I don't think Adesuwa was kidnapped. I think something happened and maybe... maybe she is unable to find her way back to us."

A frown appeared between her brows while she stared at him. Her lips parted but nothing came through. She was confused. In fact, confusion was an understatement. Her daughter was missing and she had not even the slightest clue on her whereabouts.

She leaned back and folded her arms below her chest. In her heart she prayed. Adesuwa, wherever you are, please be safe.

Adedayo looked at Joy whose head rested on his shoulder and eyes were shut. She'd fallen asleep barely a few minutes after they boarded the bus heading back home. He'd let her sit by the window again. He looked at her hand still entangled with his. As a soft sigh left his lips he was thrust back into the memory of their last discussion. He'd just told her he didn't think he would love to have children of his own and she'd looked at him like she had just met a stranger. He didn't like that very much and thought it would be better if he told her the true reason which was, he never thought he would ever marry and he had his reason. Her words which followed next, threw him off guard.

"And now? Now that... now that we're getting married. Do you still think the same?"

Adedayo hadn't given it a thought. Not even after proposing to her or speaking with Sarki. But while he stared into her eyes, somehow... he knew he had the answer.

"No." He replied and lightly shook his head. The smile that appeared on her face and the sparkle in her eyes was everything to him. Adedayo smiled back. It was funny how about forty-eight days ago, he was sure his thoughts were in the right direction and now with her, he knew he wanted more. All the fairytale endings he'd denied himself from obsessing over, more than anything, he wanted them and he wanted them with her.

Adedayo softly squeezed her hand in his, grateful that she was in his life. That night, he let her have the bed and instead, he slept on the couch. He locked his hands into each other, kept it on his chest and stared at the ceiling. For a while, his mind was without thoughts, like a clean slate until the memory of them in the restaurant popped up. Adedayo didn't want to think of that scene or the thought of it ever happening again. Can she really be happy with me? The unwanted question was thrown at him like a dagger. Immediately, he looked away from the ceiling. His gaze steadied on the television and his thoughts wandered to the various times Joy had mentioned how it would be lovely if they could watch it together. He shut his eyes and left an unconscious timer on the back of his mind.