I woke the next morning to the sun shining through my window, as the curtains were open. I rolled over onto my other side burying my head under my pillow, not willing to get up. I’m not a morning person. As I chanced a peek out from under the pillow, I noticed my door was agape. Puzzled over why I had left both my curtains undrawn and my door slightly open, I suddenly remembered the events of the previous night. Getting up immediately, I stole out of my room and crossed the passage to the opposite room. Peeping in, I saw she lay quite still on her back, very much asleep, her right arm placed gingerly on her injured side.
I thought it had all been a dream, but her being there was proof of quite the opposite. Wondering what to do next, she rolled over and faced the door. I was struck once again by her beauty and noticed she wore no makeup. She had an oval face with well-defined cheekbones, a shapely nose, full lips and a delicate chin. Her eyes were spaced evenly apart with long eyelashes topped by thick dark eyebrows. I hadn’t had the chance to determine the color of her eyes but I believed they were brown. Her hair was raven-black and framed her face nicely, though it was rough and looked unkempt. Her complexion was warm like chocolate and contrasted the cool dark of her lips. I could not place her age but she looked to be quite young, probably late teens to early twenties.
Her clothes consisted of a simple floral print t-shirt which I had sadly torn to get to her wound and an A-line denim skirt. Apart from the disheveled and wet state of her clothes, I could not guess what class or background she could be from. I still had a lot of questions that needed answers, but they would have to wait. I left the doorway and moved to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for us both. Opening my fridge, I found it was as any bachelor’s; practically empty. Luckily, I found some eggs and slices of bread. I fried the eggs, buttered the bread slices and made two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. Placing the eggs and buttered slices on two dishes, I placed them on a tray with the mugs and proceeded to the room. Entering the room, I found her still sleeping soundly. Placing the tray on the study table, I turned to the bedside to study her again. I didn’t have the heart to wake her, so I let her sleep, wondering what ordeals she may have gone through before I found her.
Bending down to inspect the bandage, I saw a small movement from the corner of my eyes. Looking up, I saw myself staring into the brownest eyes I had ever seen; they were almost black. She gazed at me somewhat vacantly, as though she was looking right through me. I stood up straight and waving my hands in front of her, she blinked and started. Sitting bolt upright in bed, she winced in pain and fell back against the pillow. “Hey, take it easy”, I said. She shifted from me in fear and I moved back to further assure and calm her. “I mean you no harm”.
When she seemed to relax, I gestured towards the table where I had placed the tray of food and said, “You must be hungry. I made some breakfast. Would you like to eat?” She shook her head at first but then nodded somewhat shyly, all the while not making eye contact. As I moved to get the tray, I studied her out of the corner of my eye. She had managed to sit up in bed by herself and was bent over, her head down with her hair spilling over her face like a canopy. Placing the tray across her lap, I stepped back as she mumbled something I didn’t hear.
“Did you say something,” I asked, pulling a chair and sitting down facing her. She turned to me pulling her hair back from her face. “Thank you…but you didn’t have to do all this,” she said gesturing to the tray of food and the bandage on her side. I was a bit confused at her statement as she hadn’t struck me as reserved during our encounter previously. But I figured anyone would have been on the alert if they had been hurt the way she had been. I studied her some more as she slowly ate.
“Of course I had to.” She paused, the mug at her lips and raised her head slightly in surprise at my answer. “It’s what anyone would have done.”
She lowered the mug slowly, considering what I had said. “Of course,” she repeated quietly. “It’s what anyone would have…” she ended brokenly dropping the mug.
I shifted forward slightly. “Hey. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“No it’s fine,” she said shaking her head. “I was thinking how I’d forgotten that there is kindness in this world. And…,” she turned to me. “You are kind.” She smiled sadly. Turning away again, she stopped smiling and said, “Though this world will take that same kindness and ride over you, seeing it as nothing but weakness.”
“But you won’t do that,” I added quietly.
She looked at me then and we both stared into each other’s eyes for I don’t know how long. Coming to my senses, I tried changing the subject by asking her how the food was. She smiled at me which I took to mean the food was alright, though I don’t pride myself on my cooking. When she was done, I took up the tray and made to leave the room, making a mental note that I would have to go shopping as I had little to no food in the house.
As I reached the doorway, she called out to me, “Thank you…um…?” Turning to her I smiled and said, “Richard. It’s Richard.”
“Ok. Thank you Richard. For everything.”
She smiled again that sad smile of hers.
“It’s nothing. Really.”
I had the mind to ask her there and then all the questions bothering me, but shook myself mentally as this would not be a good time to do just that. So I settled for asking her the simplest question.
“And you are?”
She smiled.
“Bolu.”
“Bolu?”
“Yes.”
“Ok. Bolu,” I said rolling the name on my tongue. “It’s nice to meet you, Bolu.”
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