Five Days Later Calabar, Cross River State   Ekaette had known that going home to be with her family was not an escape.   Loving them was not the same as wanting to be with them, but she had gone anyway to distract herself. Their presence in her life represented pressure, the type she could […]

Khalid walked behind Ekaette at a polite distance, a bit confused about how to approach her next. He also had no idea what to say to her but knew he couldn’t stay away from her.   Where was she going? She didn’t even look back, but kept going. Was she not afraid of getting lost […]

Khalid had counted one to hundred, hoping that he could prevent himself from picking up the phone, but he hadn’t even gotten to fifty, when he decided to damn the consequences.   It had been at the tip of his tongue to invite her into his room for some coffee when they got back from […]

The heat of embarrassment should have washed over Khalid, but Ekaette’s reluctance to let go was making him relieve the situation. She kept checking on him every morning after breakfast. Khalid had stopped going for the buffet to avoid running into her, he didn’t want any awkward moment with her. He had simply ordered in, […]

Ekaette felt a soft hand tapping her, and she rose slowly to see her roommate smiling at her.   “I am sorry to wake you up,” the lady who was now her new roommate said to her. They had been paired with each other for the period of the tour.   Ekaette couldn’t remember her […]

Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Nigeria     For the past two weeks, Ekaette had made several attempts at moving her Dubai vacation till Christmas, when she, hopefully, would have saved more pocket money to spend on the trip. Now, she was not ready to miss her flight.   The seven-hour flight from Lagos to […]