My Bus Love

You know I had always thought that if I would fall in love,


It will be a carefully planned, well thought and slow-paced process


But this happened so quickly, so trivially


I was in a bus, on my way to Balogun from Mushin


It had been a long day at work and I was exhausted


Sat in a corner of the bus, by the left window; I had several thoughts racing through my mind . . . . None of them included falling in love


I had no time for the stranger sitting at the other end . . . though I couldn’t help but notice the neatly trimmed moustache that ran round his face and ended in a V at his jaw


I was busy analyzing his face and wondering if the skin under his cap was as bald as Banky W’s when I noticed his frequent glances at my end of the bus and his shy smile whenever our eyes met


At first, I was startled . . . I had been busy analyzing this stranger and he obviously was returning the favor!


I decided to hold his gaze ––who knows what secrets his eyes would give away––


I can’t fully explain how it happened but seconds passed and I couldn’t look away


His eyes were the most beautiful shade of brown . . . his smile melted twelve hours of a hard day’s toil


His dimples were like shallow pools in his cheeks. . I was gone from the word go


“aunty wey your money? I no get change o” the conductor broke through my reverie


I gathered my thoughts together and reached into my purse. .as I reached out to pay the conductor, he also reached out to pay; our fingers brushed and my pulse increased


“I’ll pay” his heavily accented Hausa voice sounded like music to my tired ears


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Few minutes later, we arrived at my bus stop. I alighted the bus, stood on the curb and watched the bus pull out, taking him farther away from me until I could see him no more


For those few moments, I was in love