EPISODE || 4

Besides the airtime I'd recharged my line with, I refused to touch the money Mandy had sent, until I heard from her.

I had to be sure she'd not mistakenly added a zero to the amount she'd initially intended.

I'd already called Mandy more than I should.

Two missed calls was more than enough to leave anyone. Unless that person had your kidney and you needed it right back that instant, you have no business calling more than twice at a time.

I'd left Mandy three missed calls already.

I had to believe she'll call me when she was available to talk.

I had to believe she was either not close to her phone, or too busy to have even realize it was ringing.

During that waiting period, my mind had ran wild in thoughts.

This was the very first time in my life I'll be having that huge amount of money to myself, without a long list already waiting to swallow it all up.

This was the first time an unknown face would be sending me that sorta amount.

Every other person that had sent me money in the past had had to, after meeting me in person and saw the need to.

Everything about Mandy's kind gesture (in the name of transportation fare) got my heart racing in expression to the mixed emotions I'd been engulfed by.

I picked up my phone every minute, to check if I'd missed a call from Mandy.

Everytime I checked, it was as the last.

None!

Mandy finally returned my call around 11:18 PM (that night).

The last time we'd spoken was at the early hours of that morning.

This was the longest we'd stayed without a word in the last five months we've been talking. The fact that it is coinciding with just moments after she'd sent me money, got my mind running wild at possible reasons why.

More like a girl that'd visited a guy for the very first time and eventually had sex on that first day. More like the emotions, the assumptions and the uncertainty that comes with wondering what that act meant for their relationship in the long haul, I was as restless.

I scrambled for my phone the second it'd began to ring.

I was excited to see that Mandy was the caller.

I made to pick up the call but on a second thought, I chose to let it ring out.

I didn't want to seem too anxious.

I picked up the call as Mandy's second dial was almost about to ring out.

"Hey you." I called out, with a voice that seemed to depict the call had just woken me up from sleep.

"Hey baby! I'm sorry. I woke you up from sleep yeah?" Mandy asked, in a manner, the most soothing I've ever heard her speak.

"Yeah. Its fine. What's up with you? Why are you just returning my calls?" I asked, with a tone that was on the fence of either being pissed or concerned.

Mandy chuckled as though She knew what Her long silence had done to my psyche.

"Did someone miss me?" Mandy asked.

"WHY ARE YOU JUST RETURNING MY CALL BABE?" I asked again, this time, with a tone Mandy understood very well was devoid of jokes.

"I'm sorry baby. Shortly after we'd spoken earlier, I decided to go out to see someone. I realized I needed groceries afterwards, so I stopped over at a mall in town to get me some. It was as I'd wanted to call you and ask if you'll want me to pick up something for you that I discovered I'd left the phone at home. I touched a couple of other important places afterwards and we…I am just getting back home now. I'm sorry love. It was not intended".

I heaved a deep sigh.

I was careful enough to have had it concealed from Mandy's hearing.

"So how was my baby's day?" Mandy asked.

Before I could even think to mumble "lies" in response to Mandy's question, she'd hit me with the next…

"Baby have you gone shopping? You know I am expecting you tomorrow yeah?"