ANOTHER MORNING

STAYING AWAKE

The warm hands of a bare-chested man snaked through the cotton sheets, pulling Teniola's tiny frame in. She had her back to him and could feel his breath on her neck, she smiled as she sensed his desire. 

Turning around and bringing her face directly opposite his godly upper torso, she buried her head in his chest and melted as he held on tighter. Something in that embrace told her she wasn't alone, that these hands would never let go. 

"I love you" he managed to say and Teniola let a smile escape her.

She raised her face to look into his eyes when a blinding light hit her, with it, a sharp contrast between the moment she was just having and the reason for the bright light. 

She squinted, trying to make sense of her environment, the bed was very empty, the other side where the man lay was stretched out and neatly dressed. It wasn't adding up. Where did he go?

The silhouette of a man walked towards her, shadowed by the rising sun that had found its way into the room through the raised window blinds. 

"Who are you!" she shouted, sitting upright on the bed and clutching one of the pillows to her chest. 

Gbenga slowed down, put his hands up and counted his steps as he walked towards his wife. 

"Teny...Teny, it's me."

"Were you dreaming again?" he said as he inched closer.

Teniola backed further into the bed with every step he took. 

Gbenga raised his left hand high and paused. He used his right to point at the silver-plated ring on his ring finger. 

"Husband" pointing at himself.

"Wife" pointing at her.

"Marriage," he finished as he pointed at the picture frame on the nightstand. Teniola followed his hands to the frame, she studied the faces of the bride and groom, but she couldn't remember anything; not the wedding, why she chose the hideous gown she was wearing, or why she was smiling so cheerfully in that frame. 

Teniola relaxed a bit as the thoughts danced through her spacious mind, she raised her ring finger and saw a matching pair just like the one Gbenga had. There had to be more to this story and she wasn't seeing the full picture yet. She still wasn't sure how he managed to go from being half-naked and on the bed with her to being fully dressed in a suit and a matching tie, something wasn't adding up.

She looked at the bed and back at Gbenga, and there it was again, that reassuring look in his eyes. 

Teniola relaxed a bit and didn't flinch till he got close enough to sit by her side.

Gbenga carefully eased himself onto the bed, ensuring he maintained some distance between them. He was careful not to invade her space and had been doing a pretty good job in the last few months, he thought to himself.

"Teny, were you dreaming?" he carefully asked. 

She just looked right at him, trying to make sense of everything but came up empty. 

She looked at the bed and back at him again. 

"Gbenga..." she finally said.

"Oh my God!" he cried, closing up the gap between them and taking her in his arms.

She let him hold her, it was different. It wasn't the same feeling a few moments ago when he was shirtless and burning with desire, but the feeling of not being alone and knowing that these hands would never let go, was still very present and that was fine by her. 

Letting go of her and drying his tears with the back of his sleeves, he palmed her face and looked into her soul, searching for answers he knew she didn't have and wondering how much longer it was going to take. 

The last few months had been hell for him. His only crime was getting a rental car and driving interstate with the love of his life, all in the name of an adventure.

His mind drifted off to the week of their wedding, she had accused him of always being predictable, saying there was nothing spontaneous about his life, even down to the day he proposed to her. In his defence, he liked holding all the cards, it was better to know than live with hope that seemed farfetched or a chance at a probability with odds most likely against him.

Their wedding night was the most magical in his entire life. That feeling of knowing you wouldn't have to play hide and seek anymore, that you would always wake up to a particular sexy lady on your bed, in your tees or preferably nude. Getting used to having different colours of the national flag in the bathroom and knowing you can do absolutely nothing about it. 

She was his miracle, proof that he still had the ability to make great choices in life.

This was the first time she had called his name in months. He missed hearing the lilt in her voice whenever she called his name. He missed his wife and regretted giving in to whatever voices that lived rent-free in his head that morning.

He wanted to prove a point, show her that he was capable of spontaneity. The morning after their wedding night, they dressed up to meet their 10 am flight to Lagos, whilst Teniola laced her sneakers and got ready to head out, Gbenga rushed into the room.

Teniola looked up, she was sure he was up to something but couldn't place her hands on it. 

"Can I have your phone?" he asked.

"It's under my pillow...what do you need it for?" she asked.

"Well, you say I am predictable and I would like to prove you wrong today."

Teniola laughed so hard and Gbenga found himself smiling. He reached under the pillow and picked up the phone. 

"Which of your emails did you use to book the flight?" he asked.

"My Gmail, why?"

"Ok thank you," he said, fiddling with the phone and walking up to his wife. 

"So here is what I am going to do..." he continued. 

"I'll just go here and there, open this, open that, click this, delete this, open this, click this, delete that." he paused, looked up to her and smiled.

"Babe, what are you doing," she asked concerned.

"Gbenga," she said as she got up and walked towards him.

"There, I just deleted our flight details alongside the texts sent by the airline. We currently have no details for our flight. How's that for spontaneity?" he mused.

"You must be joking," she said and snatched the phone from his hands.

"Gbenga..." she cried

"Calm down babe, we'll go for a road trip. It's our honeymoon, why are we in a hurry to get to Lagos?" 

"You're actually serious?" she cried.