Yesterday's Future 2✔️

23. The balcony itself was something.

2:21pm,
Peller's Estate,
Abuja, NG

Simi always thought she had it all figured out—her life, her music, her career, her relationships, her emotions—until she realized that she didn't, not even one thing. She prided herself on being a "creating the flow" kind of woman but yet, most of the events of in her life had been off course and uncontrollable, for as long as she can remember.

A knock on the door got her head out of the clouds and immediately she dropped the napkin she had been holding on to in the laundry room. She went towards the door for her expected guest. This time around he didn't come unannounced. He had called her first thing in the morning. His voice had been pleasant enough and she wouldn't say no-even if she wanted to. Of course, she didn't.

"Hey, come in," she opened the door wide enough to admit him into her apartment.

"It's good to see you in one piece," he greeted with his clean-cut face and amiable smile that somehow melted the blues she'd been feeling for the past twenty-four hours, and he wore the smile well.

"Same here Teng." To his surprise she hugged him, briefly, smiling back at him and he advanced into the living room, keenly.

Everything looked and felt the same to him as it was a month ago when he returned from Lagos and visited her up in her sanctuary for the first time—the curtains, the furniture, the decors, the dim lights; the cold from the air-con, the orderliness and dullness of it all—but, that pungent smell of smoked cannabis leaves he had sensed the last time seemed to have been replaced with a combined earthy scent of of fresh lemon, lime and sage. It was unique and more relaxing to his senses, to say the least.

"I heard about the fire at your camp," he started before he decided where to sit. "It's everywhere on the news, on the internet, videos, memes, and all sorts. They're saying someone set it on purpose but no one knows who, yet. We didn't stop yakking about it down at the studio yesterday till late in the night, but...you resigned here immediately you guys got back. Are you okay? Everyone has been concerned about you on social media, my inbox is crying." He gave a short chuckle.

"Yeah me too, I have been dealing with nonstop notifications and phone calls since midnight. It's crazy," Simi closed her eyes and drew a breath, then gave a half-shrug and a sad smile. "But I'm okay, just can't say the same for the lady whose tent caught the fire. Her MacBook, her international passport and a lot of important things were burnt to ashes. She wasn't even at the campsite when it happened. Can you imagine?"

"Ada said that too. Damn! Well, thank God she wasn't in there, might have been worse you know."  Simi agreed with a nod and a wrinkled nose. He had been sick worried about her since they returned from the casino party and Deb forwarded a post to him on Instagram.

One of the campers had gone live during the event of the fire and the videos easily went viral. When people found out that it was a 'private ladies only camping weekend' and that influential personalities as Simi, Shaffy Mojo-Hayes and some other celebrities had been at the scene, the news blew up beyond control. Yvonne, her assistant had Shaffy extracted immediately for her safety, Ada and Simi left about an hour later too, after making sure that everything was calm before they left.

Teng made himself comfortable on one of the sofas. He sat up, his legs apart and his fingers intertwined between them-that was when she noticed the nice patch on the green head warmer he wore on top of white round neck shirt, bleached gray jeans and white pair of sneakers. As always, everything looked good on him and the air that swirled around him was fresh and welcoming, you'd feel the urge to get closer. She rested her back on one of the chairs by the entrance, crossed her ankles and faced him.