Maya giggled until she couldn’t breathe normally and gasped. “You’ll kill me today, Ope. What kind of human being are you?”
Ope smirked. “The kind that gets you throwing up your food because of my librarian.”
This statement stopped Maya. She grimaced. “What do you mean?”
“Precisely, I make no sense.” The boy sighed. “Do you think I will be a good comedian?”
Maya clasped her hand over her mouth. “Are you serious? You will drop out of med school for comedy?”
“Do you have a clue how much Basket Mouth makes at a gig?”
She rolled her eyes. “Basket Mouth is funny. You’re not.”
Ope threw up his hands in the air. “But you laugh at everything I say.”
“Because I’m your friend.”
A man walked to the table where the two sat with drinks, in the library cafeteria. He had a smile on his face and directed his gaze at Ope. “Do you have change, please? I had a bottle of drink and they didn’t tell me I should be prepared to pay in cash. I have just one-thousand naira bills.”
Ope shook his head. “I’m sorry, we don’t have.”
“Can I pay for you then, it makes more sense. The salesgirl wasn’t ready to pack all her change for just a hundred naira drink.”
Maya arched an eyebrow. Hmm, how generous!
“Well, our bill is three hundred. I would give you back but–”
Maya reached out for her purse. “I have the three hundred.”
The man looked at her as though he just noticed she was there. “Thank you, my dear.”
She removed the money and gave him. “Here.”
“Can you go and pay, please?” He gave one thousand naira to Ope. “Thank you.”
Ope smirked, hesitated, then took the money and stood. The man took his seat and he strolled off to pay for the drinks.
“My name is Ben. Ben Carson.” He winked. “Not the famous one, of course.”
“Oh, I don’t know the famous Ben Carson, sir.”
“Ben Bruce, then. At least, you know him.”
Maya laughed. “Ah, I know him.”
“You’re very pretty. The boy,” Ben gestured toward where Ope left for. “Your boyfriend?”
“My friend. We grew up together. He’s helping me to get my registration done. I’m a year one student, B.Phil.” Maya stopped. Why was she talking to a complete stranger about her life? She smiled. “His name is Ope.”
“Opeodun, opeayo, opeire?”
Maya chuckled. “Opeoluwa.”
“Oh!” Ben smiled. “How could I have missed that.”
Ope returned with six-hundred-naira change. “There was no queue, which is strange.” He gave the money to Ben.
“Thank you.” Ben stood. “I’ll get your number the next time we meet.” He winked again and walked off in the direction he came.
“Who on earth?” Ope took his seat. “Feeling like a goat. So sure he will meet you again. And you will give him your number.”
Maya laughed. “He’s not your mate!”
“Now now? You better beware of all these campus predators looking for fresh meat.”
Maya sneered. “I’d say that man is old enough to be my father. He looks more like a lecturer than a student.”
“And who says only students are predators?” He took a drink. “He makes my skin crawl.”
“Tah!” Maya laughed. “Stop sounding like my mother!”
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roses n chocolates: women's romance at its best 