Tara: A Baker's Adventure

008

"What? Isn't it funny you're here now after all that drama earlier?" his arms were folded and he sounded surprisingly calm.

"If you want to mock me, go ahead and do it," I retorted tiredly, adjusting in the seat before leaning back in it.

"I mean, I do have the grounds to, but I won't... do that," the last two words dropped to mumbles. "I'm only amused."

"The driver of that bus got into a fight," I explained even though he never asked me to. "We had to get down."

"Thank you for saving me the chaos, I guess," he sounded like he wasn't sure why I told him. Like he wasn't sure if he was even supposed to give a reply.

"I'm sorry about earlier, by the way," I spoke up after a moment of silence. "I shouldn't have said what I said."

"Which one? Threatening to call me a thief... or telling me to go and shave my beard?"

"Moustache," I cleared my throat. "I said moustache."

"Sister Tara, you did say he could pass for a traditionalist with his beard too," Tise leaned into me, and I shoved her lightly before throwing a quick glance to the guy, hoping he didn't hear what she said. His gaze was now fixed on me and he raised an eyebrow; this was how I knew he had heard what she said. I passed a soft smile at him, feeling nothing but pure embarrassment, "I'm sorry. About everything I said."

"Um, I can tell when my sister is being sincere. She's sorry," Tise turned so she was facing him, poking her lower lip out in what one would call the 'puppy dog face'.

I nodded immediately, my eyes not leaving his.

"By the way, my name's Tise. The T in there stands for totally interested in being your girlfriend," I heard Tise say and when I turned to look at her sharply, she had a cheeky smile on her face.

"Oh God, Tise!" I glared at her, but the sound of the guy's laughter caught my attention. "That... that was actually really funny."

"Thank you," my sister smiled proudly before looking at me again, "See? He has a good sense of humour."

"Please, don't mind her," I rolled my eyes, ignoring the playful smile Tise held on her face. My phone started to vibrate, indicating that I had a call to answer, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw the caller ID read Uche's name.

"Uche," I was conscious of the tone of my voice. "Uche, what is this? How could you? I trusted you... Okay, where are you—" I closed my eyes in frustration when the line went dead.

"What did he say?" Tise asked quietly, leaning into me.

"E be like say you go come down oh!" We heard the driver of the bus say, and my head snapped up to look at where he sat, "What?"

"FRSC dey for road! I no get papers. Come down, abeg!" By this time, he had parked the bus, ignoring the complaints and the insults from the passengers. "Oya na!"

"Well, look at us now," the guy beside me said.

What is happening today? I thought to myself as we all got down from the bus hurriedly. There was something surreal about the events of today. That a simple and straightforward journey of about thirty minutes had become one of over an hour just didn't sit right with me.

"What if this is a sign?" I voiced out my thoughts to Tise.

"A sign of what?"

"That I shouldn't do this."

"Abeg," she dismissed, laughing.

"No, really, think about it. Is this normal to you? Why has every effort I've made to get to this bank come with stumbling blocks?"