Across The Continent

The Arrival

"Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out" I chant to myself continuously while griping the arms of my seat  as the plane ascends for take off.
I'm glad Mike isn't here to see me like this, I must seem like a villager but in my defence I've never flown in an airplane before. Its my first time and I'm freaking out big time.
If I die, I'm going to make sure to hunt my parents for forcing me into this.

My heartbeat comes back to normal when we are steady in the air and i start to relax a little.
"This is it, I'm leaving my home" I think to myself, sighing to myself in defeat. I bring out my phone to keep busy and a picture of Femi and I pops up on my screen, my wallpaper.
My heart instantly becomes heavy, I go to my gallery which is filled with memories of Femi and I and a smile creeps up my face.
You can say I'm love stricken, Femi stole my heart and I never got it back. He is so sweet, gentle, caring, loving, a great kisser and an amazing cuddle buddy but most of all he gave me strength and made me believe in myself. I was always shy and easily pushed around but then he came along and made me realize how strong I can be and how special I am. God! The guy is a keeper.

I doze off with memories of him playing in my mind and the fatigue and stress of the last six months hit me and I fall into a deep slumber.

________
"Hey! Wake up! We're here" I hear a deep faint voice say while I pry my eyes open. I am met with the handsome face of Michael looking down at me. My eyes flicker to his lips and I unconsciously lick mine. Damn! they look so plumpy and so pink. "I bet it tastes as sweet as it looks", I think to myself. Wait! What?

I look back up to his eyes and his eyebrow shoots questioningly and my eyes widen in realization. Shit! He caught me checking him out. I look down to my feet in embarrassment and my dread hair covers my face slightly.

" Like what you see?" He says and I look up to see a beautiful smirk on his face.
Is he being cocky?, since when did he start being cocky? He has been acting all grim and polite around my parents for the past six months, I thought the cocky side of him from when we were younger was gone.
" You wouldn't know that now, would ya? You've been ignoring him for the past six months" my subconscious says with sarcasm.

I ignore his remarks and stand up immediately and we both head out of the plane. The cold air immediately hits me and I shiver involuntarily.
"You ain't in Nigeria anymore" I think to myself as I could feel my survival mode kick in.
"Welcome to your new life"

1 month later..........

"Oyin wake up, you're going to be late for your first day" I hear a hushed voice in my sleep. My eyes immediately shoot open and I quickly sit up forgetting the very revealing nightwear I'm putting on. I'm still groggy from my sleep and my hands rub my eyes before I look to Michael who is still in his nightwear looking down at the considerable amount of cleavage I'm showing.

I fake cough to bring him out of whatever daydream he's in he quickly looks up and averts his eyes.

"Its your first day at college, get ready. So I can drop you off" he says leaving my room without sparing me another glance.

I let his words sink in and almost go into a full blown panic before I catch myself and repeat a mantra Femi taught me.
"It could be worse, it could be worse", I say over and over again while I make my way to the bathroom to get ready.

Its been a month since I got here and well let's just say Its been a bit awkward since I'm still avoiding Mike like a plague.
Michael lives alone, so whenever he's at work. I have the house to myself which is literarily the only time I come downstairs.
I just lock myself in the room when he's around and he doesn't disturb me or try to get close to me either.

The first few weeks were a mess though. Its a new environment and I didn't understand how anything worked here so I had to rely on me, which means talking to him often.

Whenever he goes to work, I'd get some snacks and watch a movie or just be on my phone.
To be fair, he was really taking care of me, he provided me with food and pizza. Oh! I love Pizza.
I got sick the first week, probably nostalgia. I loved trying new things but this was just too much and I missed my local food.
I have never craved a plate of semo and vegetable soup like I did in the past month.

I dreamt of the meal at a time and when I woke I thought I was going to burst in tears.
I later got a bit used to it all I realized living here had it perks. I don't have to share a room with anyone and no interrupted power supply.
I got a new number so I could call Femi but after the third week the calls from him reduced a lot and I realize he's the one I'll miss the most.
I try to ask my friends if he's facing any problem but they are as clueless as I am.

Michael and I barely run into each other. We've only had a full length conversation the first day I got here.
He showed me around and gave some instructions on how to find necessities for when he's not around.
Our conversations have been formal.
We also only see during breakfast and dinner.

I still don't know why he choose to come back to bring me here after so long though. I feel so much like a charity case. I'm planning on looking for a job once I get my bearings.

After coming out from the bathroom I get dressed in my leather of armour as I like to call it which consists of a blue jean, black top, blue jean jacket, white converse finished off with a black cap to cover the top of my long dreadlocks.

I look in the mirror and decide that I look good enough, this is my best outfit after all. I sigh to myself and head downstairs to Michael with my backpack.