''We will be examining a corpse tomorrow so
you guys had better not be late. If not!.." Prof. Adeleye threatened the
lecture room full of exhausted and famished medical students. They had been
immersed in an ocean of lectures since the inception of classes in the morning,
with an ephemeral break serving as the only breathing space. The sun was
already weary after a long day of beaming its smile and was already slumbering
into the west in recess for the day. While students heaved sighs of relief as
they trotted out of class in retirement for the day.
Demi was not really
hungry but he was completely exhausted. What had kept him going was the undying
yearn to see the girl who now apparently controlled his 'pons'. As everyone
trotted out noisily, Demi hurriedly cleared his table of his books, with only
Ofada kitchen topping his priority that moment. Even waiting to greet his
friends seemed too much a delay. But just as he was about to step out of the
lecture room, a swith sensual voice stopped him. He shut his eyes tight and
sighed, muttering
‘’Annabel’’.
"Demilade!"
Annabel called from behind as she hastily packed her materials from the table,
clutching them all to her chest just to catch up with him. Demi hissed under
his breath, turning to face her sassy smiling face which instantly got him
disgusted.
"What do you want?" Demi asked, coldly.
"Take it easy, champ. Do you hate me that much?"
"I do not have time to waste. Say whatever you want to say now. I'm in a
hurry" Demi replied with a grim face.
Annabel's smile turned sarcastic. "You must really be in a hurry, huh?
Fine. When can we meet then?"
"I have no reason to meet with you. So say whatever you want to say
now."
Annabel reached for his hands but before she could touch them, Demi jerked
backwards saying "I can see you have nothing to say. Goodbye."
Demi turned to leave but was stopped by Annabel's
heart felt utterance. "Can't you just look at me for once? Am I really
that elusive to you?" Her smile had drowned in the sea of grief, mirroring
her hurt emotions.
Demilade was torn between frustration and pity. He was conspicuously
tired of the girl who has been in love with him since their high school days.
Their relationship depicts a hen which gets its leg tangled with a nylon and
all efforts to disentangle it proves abortive. Demi was the only reason Annabel
defied her parents’ wish for her to study Medicine abroad. Demi’s feelings for
her have always characterized sympathy as no show of affection was ever going
to stir a positive reciprocation from him. He just couldn't conjure any feelings
for her. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and walked away in bid to
avoid adding more scenes to the drama that just ensued as the lecture room
surroundings still had prying spectators.
*
*
*
Demi did the best he could to stop himself from
feeling sorry for Annabel, letting Sewa envelope his thoughts until he got to
Ofada kitchen. Finally, he was in the canteen and it was the usual. Cacophony
of voices filled the air, ranging from the voices of the impatient customers on
the queue, to the voices of eating customers who seem to have forgotten
mother’s teaching on eating etiquettes. While different aromas of food marauded
every nook and cranny of the canteen. Demi scanned through the faces of the
Canteen attendants who seemed agitated as usual but didn’t find Sewa was not
amongst them, making him presume that she was inside.
He grabbed a seat in bid to wait for her,
with his eyes fixed on the narrow entrance which also served as the exit of the
steaming cooking room. But after waiting about ten minutes, Sewa was still not
out. Fortunately, an attendant came to clear the table he was sitting at, so he
seized the opportunity to ask about her.
"Excuse me, please," Demi started. "Do you know of any Sewa that
works here?"
The female attendant grinned. "You mean Shalewa?"
Demi
frowned in confusion. "Is that her name?"
The
attendant laughed. "No, that's not her name. We just playfully call her
that."
Demi was relieved. He couldn't bear the
thought of Sewa lying to him about her name. He cleared his throat. "Okay,
so where is she now?"
"Oh, Sewa did not come to work today at all.
Do you want something from her?" Demi went deaf at that. His brain seized
to process anything again at that moment. "Maybe you should come
back tomorrow." The concerned attendant added when she saw the impact of
her sincere information.
Lost in the pool of his disheveled thoughts, Demi
subconsciously muttered a simple 'thank you' as the attendant moved away to
clear another table. His heartache at that moment could not be contained. Sewa
had been on his mind since he gained consciousness of daybreak and all he had
thought about was seeing her face again only to be disappointed. Demi was
crushed. He waited a few more minutes before ordering his food. And as he ate
lazily, he wondered why Sewa was absent with initial agreement to be present
that day.
Demi came
back the next day and subsequent days consecutively, still, Sewa was
nowhere to be found. Demi had never felt so uneasy as series of questions like
‘’Why is she not coming? Is she busy at school? Is she sick? Did she decide to
stop working at Ofada kitchen?’’ puzzled his mind. Meanwhile, the last question
made him shudder. The probability that he would be able to bear not beholding
that heartwarming face again was as low as nothing. It even got to a point
where he savaged the thought of skipping a day's lectures just to go in search
of his lover at the University of Ibadan.
Idiot! He
smacked his head. Why exactly didn't I ask for her phone number. Darn! I should
have asked her for it. He had wanted to play the complete gentle man making him
refrain from asking for her number the last time they met, leaving it for
another day’s action. But now, smacking his head again, he was handicapped. He
really wanted to see that face again. That beautiful face.... Where are you
Adesewa?!
Biography
Yetunde Oyelude, an indigene of Ogbomoso, Oyo
State, loves watching movies, singing and reading novels. She studies in the
department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan.
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