Precious?

"I really am not," I reassured her. In fact, I admired the idea of a lady who could hold her liquor.

You know," I began, "I really admire a lady who can hold her liquor. It's quite a unique quality."

As if on cue, the bartender returned with a glass, serving her my special martini mix. He then moved on to attend to another customer at the bar. The night was filled with the buzz of conversation and clinking glasses, and the atmosphere was nothing short of delightful.

"So what's the name", I inquired with my glass raised and a twinkle in my eye,

"My name?"

Her eyes drifted towards my raised glass, and for a moment, she appeared hesitant to reveal her name.

"Yess your name, we're the only ones here, and I know my name," i said pointing to my nose, "It's Daniel."

As her gaze returned to mine, I raised an eyebrow, understanding that sometimes silence could carry its own message, do you not want to tell me your name? I just felt it was time for a simple, yet meaningful, gesture.

Not wanting to push her forward for a name, I felt she probably had a reason for not wanting to disclose her name. Then just when I was about to return to sipping from my glass,

"Precious." Her voice was soft and sweet as she raised her own glass. "my name's precious", She finally mirrored my previous action with her own glass. In that moment, the two glasses met with a melodious 'clink,' and we both offered warm smiles.

"Sooo Precious huh?" I asked with a little smirk,

"She chuckled, "Oh please don't start," her face returning to a more neutral expression.

"Cheers," I said with a little chuckle, the word carrying a sense of camaraderie and shared moments. She responded with an equally heartfelt, "Cheers," and we sipped from our glasses, each of us toasting to the unexpected connection we had found in this bustling bar.

"Oh excuse me a moment" she said "I have to see if the traffic jams' gotten any better"

"Sure why not"

she stood up and walked towards the bars' exit, her hips swinging seductively, I couldn't help but debate internally on if she was doing it on purpose or her steps were naturally so graceful.

She returned from her brief excursion to check on the traffic with a subtle frown, to our disappointment, it was still a chaotic mess.

"Nothing yet it still pretty clogged up"

She was clearly regretful that she wouldn't be able to join her friends for their planned girls' night out anytime soon.

Sips after sips, our conversation flowed, creating a comfortable ambiance that made it easy for us to connect.

Precious decided to call one of her friends to apologize and explain her absence when she felt it was already getting too late to join them for the girls night out,

"I'm so so sorry Becky, I promise to make it up to you girls, I didn't expect the traffic to drag out for so long"

Her voice was apologetic and laden with genuine regret as she informed her friend about the unforeseen traffic situation.

"Put the call on speaker"

" y'all should just go on without me"

The conversation was heartwarming, and it was evident how much she valued her friendships, apologizing and explaining the situation. Her voice wavered slightly as she expressed her regrets. The conversation was heartfelt, filled with love and a touch of longing.

With the call concluded, I decided to introduce a topic to lighten up her mood which had taken a serious dip.

I brought up the recent TikTok trend that had become somewhat of a national craze, especially among the younger generation, and probably the reason she hesitated to disclose her name.

The name "Precious" had been associated with a recent TikTok trend in Nigeria, playfully labeling girls with that name as 'unfaithful' and 'heartbreakers.'

The memory of it brought a playful glint to my eyes and added a touch of humor to our evening.

"You know, there's this TikTok trend that went viral, calling girls named Precious 'unfaithful' and 'heartbreakers'," I mentioned, my tone reflecting the playful nature of the topic.

Precious chuckled, her eyes rolling,

"Oh, come on, I heard of that! It was all over social media! People can be so 'creative' when they're trying to relieve boredom" the sarcastic nature of her speech impossible to ignore.

I nodded knowingly, giving a smile at the absurdity of such trends. "Exactly!" I agreed. "Nigerians have a knack for creating trends that take the internet by storm, and this one was no exception. But it's all in good fun, just a way to add some cruise, you know."

" Umm, I think i should create a skit of my own on the trend, courtesy of my encounter with a certain 'precious' " i added my tone switching to a serious one.

Her eyes narrowed, gazing deep into my eyes as if searching for something within them, are you trying to gauge if i am serious or not?

I stifled a laugh threatening to spill out, laughing right now would only erase all my efforts at portraying a serious character.

"And what exactly would this 'skit' consist of"

"Umm" i tapped lightly on the bar table with my pinky finger as if thinking, "Well it doesn't have too much content, the skit caption would read, "after a night with precious then I'd edit into it a video of my self crying" as long as i include 'the precious sound', tiktokers would do the rest and the trend would be back up and running"

Her laughter echoed over our shared sentiment. "I think it's pretty funny how people can come together and create these trends. All just for the sake of laughter and light-heartedness at the expense of others who gets to be the victims"

"Absolutely, but I'm just kidding i'm not really a skit maker" i said finally letting my laughter escape my lips and raising my glass for a toast. "Here's to the power of social media trends, even if they're just for relieving boredom."

With another clink of our glasses, we toasted to the power of social media trends. The night had taken on an even lighter tone, filled with shared laughter and an appreciation for the humorous side of life.

When she hung up, her mood had taken a huge dip, but the night evolved into a delightful mingling of laughter, conversation, and shared moments. Precious and I continued to savor our drinks and indulge in casual chit-chat.

As the night out continued, it was now 10:50 pm, and my internal clock served as a reminder of my mission. My time in the bar had been delightful, but the longer I stayed, the more I risked facing an irate mother due to my plans for a late unexpected surprise arrival.