APART

Chapter 46: MEETING HIM

           "Chi Chi! Are you done?" Shouted my aunty from the living room as i made my way to where she was.

           "Yes aunty."

            "We need to go early to the market. I want to buy goat meat. And it's the earlier the better. I don't want a flies infested meat. You ready to go out?"

           "Sure aunty. Its been a week since i announced my hiatus to my employees. At least, i'm getting better. Thoughts of Noah are gradually going away. Of course i won't forget him completely. I just need to get him off my mind for now."

           "That's true. I like how you're sounding now." She gave me a smile. "Darlene!" She yelled her daughter's name.

            Darlene ran out of her room and came to answer her mother. Aunty Deja told her what she wanted to tell her and she followed us out.

            I and Aunty Deja entered the car. Darlene opened the gate and aunty Deja drove out of the house. On our way to the market, a west life song came up. Hearing the song reminded me of Noah and his love for boy bands. I really need to get that guy off my mind. I closed my eyes and slightly tapped my forehead to distract myself from the thoughts of Noah flooding my head.

           "Are you okay Chi Chi?" Asked my aunt who had been watching me all this while.

          "Yes aunty. I'm fine." I gave her a reassuring smile.

          "You sure?" She asked in a calm tone with little bit of worry in it.

         "I'm fine aunty. Don't worry yourself about anything."

          "Okay. We'll be at the market any minute from now." She said with her eyes on the road. I moved my gaze from the road to my aunty, i couldn't believe she still accepted me back despite my stupidity. The way i confided in her with my personal matters made me at peace with myself. Sometimes i wish she was my mother.

          We arrived the market and entered the local side. Watching my aunt price somethings made me laugh. She was really an african lady. I don't think i've priced anything in the market.

         We finished with the local market and entered the shoping mall to get some things like toiletries and vegetable oil. I carried the cart while my aunty threw the things she needed into it. We moved around until we got to the ice cream fridge. My aunt decided to get some ice cream for Darlene, Danielle and Dawn.

        I held the cart as my aunty searched for Darlene, Danielle and Dawn's favorite flavours. Leaving her to search, my eyes went to a handsome guy that was taking a close look at the frozen chicken he was holding. He looked so peaceful and calm. A through definition of a melanin god. He had that kind of body you couldn't classify as muscular and also can't classify as thin.

         "Iris!" Called my aunt who had already covered some distance from me, jolting me back to reality. Seems like she has been watching me stare at that guy. Oh my, how embarassing.

         "Yes aunty." I hurriedly pushed the cart to where she was standing.

         "What were you looking at?" She asked me in a comical manner. I could see it from her face that she wanted to laugh at how i was shamelessly staring at a man when the exact same gender made me hit rock bottom.

        "Nothing aunty." I said with a little blush spread across my cheeks.

        "Mhm..mhm..." She cleared her throat with a smile on a her face. "Okay. If you say so." She nodded her head and we left to the checkout. As we approached the checkout, i noticed the guy coming to the counter too. I became a little bit nervous. I had no idea when i kept staring at him. He stared back at me and we made eye contact which immediately made me remove my eyes. This is not happening.

          I dropped the stuff on the counter and watched the lady scan them and calculate the price. The guy standing beside me made things hard and uneasy for me. I almost felt like i couldn't breath. The lady calculated everything and the sum total was eighty six thousand naira(N86,000).

          My aunty gave the lady her credit card to debit the money. The lady at the counter tried withdrawing the money but it wasn't working. My aunty checked her card to ensure nothing was wrong with it and gave her to try again.

       "Sorry ma. It's still saying the same thing." Said the lady with a calm facial expression.

        "What did it say?" Asked my aunt who was now worried.

        "Incorrect pin." She answered my aunty and turned to attend to the next customer which was the guy i was staring at. My aunt started to feel a bit embarrassed and frustrated at the same time. I watched her type some things on her phone repeatedly and groaning in frustration. I never in a life time thought that something like this would happen. And to top it all, i left my credit card and phone at home. What do i do now?

       "How much is their bill?" Asked the handsome guy.

       "Eighty six thousand naira sir." Answered the cashier lady.

        "All right then." He paused for a moment and made some signs with his hand as if calculating something. "Add it to mine, making it a hundred and ninety six thousand naira."

       "Okay sir." Answered the girl as she immediately slid his credit card into the point of sale machine. My aunt was confused with everything that was happening.

           "Successful!" The girl said to the man and handed him his receipt and credit card.

       "Oh my goodness. Thank you very much." Said my aunty with gratitude written all over her body language.

         "It's nothing." The man said to us and smiled. "My name is Harrison Billy." He stretched his hand for a handshake.

          "I'm Mrs. Deja Nwoye." My aunt returned the handshake. "And this is my niece Iris Russo." She introduced me to him.

          "Nice meeting you both." He shaked me referring to both i and my aunt.

        "Can i have your bank details and do contact so i can pay you back." Said my aunt as she brought out her phone to type down Harrison's contact and bank details.

        "Pay me back what?" He laughed "Eighty six thousand naira? Never mind." He waved his hands dismissively. "A simple thank you from you is okay for me." He gave a warm smile. His teeth looked like veneers. Very aligned and pearly white. He was really handsome.

        "Thank you again. We'll be on our way then." Said my aunt as we both held our packaged items.

        "All right. See you another time." He waved at us while waiting for his own items to be packaged. We both waved back at him and left the mall.

      On our way back my aunt couldn't stop talking about Harrison's kind gesture. She praised him as the nicest man she had ever met. Although Harrison seemed nice and cool, some thing in me always believed one thing. Men don't give things for free. Anyway i wouldn't just conclude. It's not like i gave him my contact. Whatever happens, i need to keep the thought of him away from my mind. He's just a stranger i met at the mall.

       That's it for this chapter. See y'all in the next one.

                                                   Byeee💋