Chance Encounters

“I’m waiting for someone,” Maya said loudly, to the guy on the table beside hers. 

The young man looked at her in confusion. 

“You were staring at me… it’s because you think I’m alone. I’m not, someone is coming,” She explained nervously.

The man nodded and gave her a small smile like he knew she was lying then faced a waiter that had just walked up to his table.

Maya was not lying, not technically. She came here to meet someone but he had just stood her up over text. She wanted to leave but decided against going home both sad and hungry so she ordered some dinner. And now, in the thirty-minute wait that the server promised would only be fifteen, she couldn’t help but feel like people were judging her for eating alone. She thought it might all be in her head at first, until she locked eyes with the guy on the table by her right, staring at her inquisitively. He was probably thinking she was pathetic and sad, which she was but she still had her sign to salvage by saying something.

A waiter walked out of the kitchen with two steaming and delicious-smelling plates of food and to Maya’s luck, finally stopped at her table. 

“Yam puree in butter duck marinade?” 

She smiled eagerly, “Yes, that’s me, thank you.”

The waiter nodded and dropped her meal in front of her and proceeded to drop the other she was holding as well. It was a plate of cheeseburger sliders and onion rings.

“I’m sorry? I didn’t order that,” Maya said, pointing at the strange plate.

“Uh, I did.” 

She looked up to see the stranger previously sitting at the table next to her, now standing behind the waiter. How did she miss him getting up? She must have been too distracted by the food. 

The waiter stepped aside, giving the man room to take the seat in front of her. “Thank you.” He said to their server as he sat down.

“Excuse me?” She stared down the stranger, attempting to look threatening but she must have failed because he smiled in return.

“He’s an idiot.”

“Who?” She asked, confused.

“The guy who stood you up.” The stranger responded, simply.

“I told you I–”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re waiting for someone,” He emphasized his last three words with air quotes.

His words infuriated her, how dare he call her out on her own bullshit. “Look, I don’t know who you think you are but I prefer to eat alone.”

He shrugged, “That’s fair but I need to tell you why first,”

“Why what?”

“Why the guy that stood you up is an idiot.”

She sighed, deciding not to argue with him this time because he was clearly insane, “Fine, tell me.”

His smile grew wider and he nodded his head, “First of all, this should go without saying, you’re beautiful…” Maya rolled her eyes but he continued, “Secondly, you ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, knowing you’re going to pay for it. Which tells me you are independent and you can take care of yourself. And lastly, I’ve been sitting there for the better part of forty minutes and I haven’t seen you pick up the phone to call or text this mystery guy once. That tells me you have some self-respect. He must have been an idiot if he let those qualities slip through his fingers,”

Maya knew those were just words from a guy who was probably trying to sleep with her but she couldn’t help but feel better. Femi was an idiot, the stranger was right.

The stranger nodded, satisfied with his last words and began to stand, carrying his meal with him.

“Wait!” She knew the words were ridiculous even as they were leaving her mouth, “You can stay, I’m not saying that I agree with anything you said but it won’t be bad to have some company.”

The stranger smiled wider, showing some teeth even. He looked relieved, which means he was worried. A far cry from the overconfident front he put up a few seconds ago, “I’m Abeo.” He said.

It was crazy of her to be eating with a complete stranger who she thought was also crazy a few seconds ago. But she ignored all her inner emergency sensors and said, “My name is Maya.”

She took a forkful of a little bit of everything on her plate and put it in her mouth. The taste took control of all her senses and focused on one place, her tongue. She closed her eyes as she took it in. She never felt so satisfied by food so she chewed slowly, taking her time to savor it.

“That good huh?”

Abeo’s voice brought her out of her reverie. She put a hand to her lips as she nodded, feeling a little embarrassed that he had seen her in such a vulnerable moment.

“I’ve heard it’s good, there are so many raving reviews on social media but I haven’t tried it.” He took a bite of one of his sliders.

“Why haven’t you?”

He finished chewing and wiped the corners mouth before speaking, “One hundred thousand Naira for a meal… uhh my wallet would protest too much.” He laughed.

She nodded, she liked the way he admitted that so casually. She never used to be the kind of girl who would spend too much money on food or anything for that matter. But that was when she was barely making above minimum wage. Now, with her seven-figure salary, she spoils herself every now and then.

“So is it worth it?”

She took another bite and felt the puree melt on her tongue, “I’m not sure but it’s definitely an amazing meal,”

He laughed, “Iyan…”

She laughed too, “No, yam puree. You think if they called it “Iyan” on the menu anyone would buy it for a hundred k. It’s all about branding,”

He laughed harder.

Three months later

“What’s wrong, you sounded really upset on the phone,” Abeo gave Maya a concerned look.

Maya sat down across the table from her friend and took a breath to stop herself from crying, “Derin broke up with me,”

“He did?” Abeo asked, looking earnestly shocked. 

“Well, technically I ended it but it was only because I wanted to be in a serious relationship and he refused. I mean the man is thirty-eight, how can he be afraid of commitment? Agbaya like him? Abeo, this is the fifth guy this year and we’re still in March, what is wrong with me?”

Abeo sighed, “Nothing is wrong with you.”

“There must be, everyone I know is getting married and I can’t find a decent guy to date.”

He laughed, “There are worse problems to have,”

Maya slapped his arm playfully, “Have you ordered for us yet?”

He nodded, “Seriously, when you called me earlier you were so upset I thought someone died. Now, if someone hears this conversation, they would think you were seeing this guy for more than six weeks.”

Maya pouted her lips, “I thought he might be the one,”

“Derin? The same guy you told me bought you a gym membership for valentines day, that’s who you thought might be the one?”

“He said he was ready to settle down.”

“Yeah but that didn’t mean with you.”

Maya should have been offended by Abeo’s smart remarks but that was the basis of their friendship, they were brutally honest with each other. In their daily texts, he clowned her love life and she made fun of what he did for a living. There was balance. Then they hung out every Friday night to say it face to face. 

A waiter came over and dropped two burgers on their table.

“Thank God, I’m starving,” She said and started digging into her meal. It took her a moment to notice that Abeo didn’t join her.

“So I…” Abeo looked nervously at her, “I quit my job today.”

Maya stopped chewing, “No.” She said with a full mouth.

Abeo laughed, “Yeah, I am an idiot,”

Maya finally swallowed, “No, you’re finally being smart. Abeo, what did you think? That you were going to be an elevator marketer all your life?”

“An elevator service consultant.”

“You did not just say that to me with a straight face.”

“It was a job and now I don’t have one. How will I make money? I have responsibilities,”

“You’re young, you’ll find another job and until then I’ll cover this meal, so you won’t go hungry tonight,”

Abeo and Maya laughed together.

They ate in silence for a while, Maya’s eyes wandered to the door where a couple walked in, hand in hand and looking very much in love. She turned to Abeo but he was already looking at her.

“Do you want to go somewhere and blow off some steam?”

Abeo took Maya to an arcade. They spent an incredulous amount of money on a bunch of games which they were bad at. But they had fun laughing at all their failures. When they got tired they went to the lounge for some drinks. 

After her second cocktail Maya turned to Abeo and asked, “Why do you think I’m so unlucky with love?”

Abeo looked at her, “Do you want me to tell you the truth?”

She nodded confidently, “Always.”

“You’re a relationship whore,”

She choked on her drink, “Excuse… me…”

He laughed, “You’re a relationship whore, you love being in relationships more than actually being with the people.”

She shook her head, “No way, it was Derin that broke up with me and you remember Femi too…”

“Yeah but you remember William or… Opemipo and Sam because you were pretty much seeing both of them at the same time. All these guys were ready to commit but you got bored of them in a few weeks. Even Derin, you were already getting tired that’s why you pushed to break up. You knew he had commitment issues when you started dating him so why would it bother you now? You want to be in a relationship but then you get tired of the guys. Have you ever liked someone for more than a month?”

Maya didn’t respond, she picked up her drink and finished it in one gulp.

Abeo read her silence wrongly and put his hand on hers, “I’m sorry, that was too far, I didn’t mean to…”

Maya turned her hand over and interlaced her fingers with his, she looked at him and said, “I have liked someone for over month, for three months even,”

Abeo looked down at both their hands and with a sigh slowly pulled away.

Maya immediately felt embarrassed as she put her hands on her lap, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to chang–”

“I’m engaged.” 

“What?”

“I’m engaged.” He repeated, looking nervous.

“What… how? When?”

He raised his left hand and shrugged, “I’m not sure which one to answer first but I’ll go for the last one. We got engaged last year, in February.”

Maya shook her head in confusion, “How do I not know this? How have you never mentioned this? You talk about going dates all the time,”

“We have an open relationship, I can date whoever I want. And I didn’t mention it because I was worried you wouldn’t approve.”

“Well you were right.” Maya said, carried her bag and walked out of the bar.

She was waiting for her uber outside when Abeo found her.

“That’s it? You’re just going to leave? I thought you liked me?”

She turned and pointed a finger at him, “Don’t throw that in my face.”

“I’m not, I swear I’m not… because… I like you too, a lot. Since the first time I saw you.”

Maya looked at him, searching his face for signs he was lying but she couldn’t tell. This was the same face that conveniently left out the fact that he was engaged.  Abeo, her gist partner, her lunch date, her crush for the last three months, was engaged to be married.

A car stopped in front of them and the driver side window came down, “Are you Maya?” The driver asked, looking between them.

She nodded and got into the backseat, she waited a few seconds then yelled to Abeo who was still standing in the same spot, “Are you coming?”

He nodded and got in.

They sat in silence for a while, then Abeo spoke up first, “I need you to know that I want you but I have no intention of leaving my fiancée,”

“So you rather just cheat on her?”

“I’m not cheating.”

“How does it work?”

“However you want it to,”

“I didn’t say; I want it.”

“We talk, we hangout, we’re intimate,”

“That’s how it is with the others?”

“Not really,”

“Meaning?”

“I’ve never gotten that far, I always make it clear from the beginning that I’m engaged or in a relationship and I’m not leaving her. And they’re okay with it for the first three dates then they start to act jealous or expect more from me that I can’t give them. That’s why I didn’t tell you from the start I wanted to spend time with you for a while without my relationship hanging over our heads.”

“So why tell me now?”

“Because I can’t be intimate with you if you don’t know the truth.”

“How can you make something so sleazy sound honorable?”

He smiled, “It’s a gift.”

She slapped his hand playfully and laughed. They sat in silence until the cab pulled up at her house

Abeo held her hand before she got out,, “Just think about it, that’s all I ask. We can go back to being friends if that’s what you want but I want to be with you.” Then he let go.

Maya thought about Abeo’s offer the entire weekend. By Monday, she was going to meet him for lunch to tell him. On her way she received an unexpected phone call.

“Hello?”

“Maya, it’s Femi. Please don’t hang up.”

Abeo got to the restaurant where he was supposed to meet Maya first but that wasn’t unusual. He usually got there first, Maya was perpetually late for everything. An hour passed and still there was no sign of her when the second passed he knew she wasn’t coming. Now he knew what she must have felt that night when she stood up and it hurt. There was no need to call her, she had made her choice.

One month later

Maya watched Femi sleep, the way his nostril flared, his chest heaving slowly up and down, the small sigh that escaped his lips with every exhale and she felt irritated. She had a dream about him cheating on her and she was sure it was happening in real life. After a month of dating she was struggling to trust him. She looked at his phone on the bedside table longingly. She had never searched a lover’s phone, only crazy girls did that. 

She looked at Femi again, she wouldn’t put it past him to cheat. He only attracted female friends, that enough was suspicious but she couldn’t just break up with him without proof.

She rolled off the bed softly and tiptoed to his side of the bed. She took the phone and used Femi’s sleeping face to unlock it. She began her search on whatsapp but the man had cleared all his chats except hers, suspicious. She checked his photos, nothing, but suspicious. His messages, nothing, still suspicious. She was about to stop her search when she saw his snapchat, she clicked on it and found exactly what she was looking for.

A few minutes later Maya had moved her contemplating self into her living room, we’re she sat staring at her phone intensely. Suddenly she hit send on her chat and closed her eyes. A notification sound came up almost immediately.

She looked at the text message from Abeo, “Hey stranger, this is a surprise,” 

She smiled as she texted back, “I wasn’t sure you would text back.”

He responded swiftly again, “Well, I should be mad that you stood me up but… I missed you too much.”

“I missed you too.”

He sent a smiley face. She was about to text back when she noticed the text bubble with three dots pop up so she waited for his message.

“What were you going to tell me that night? What was your answer?”

Maya decided to tell him the truth. She typed up her response but her finger froze above the send button. She looked back into her room where Femi was sleeping peacefully, sleeping like a man who wasn’t cheating on his girlfriend by receiving naked snaps from other girls. She thought about all the other guys she dated recently. Then she thought about Abeo and she smiled. She wanted him.

She looked down at her reply, “I was going to tell you that I want to be with you too.”

She took in a breath and deleted the message. She wanted him but not this way.