Against All Odds

continued from here 

She flashed back to the first time he called her "Nnem", a borrowed term of endearment from her tribe meaning "Mother". 

That night he said she was his soul mate, the mother of his children. That night he promised to never leave and said he wanted to spend the rest of his life making her happy. 

 More memories flooded back to her and all of a sudden she felt lightheaded. Taking one more deep breath, she turned to face him.

"Demola?" Nneoma whispered not trusting her voice to conceal the fact that she was on the verge of tears.

A smile tugged at her quivering lips as she let herself be pulled into the arms of her past. The arms that at one point in her life served as her shelter from the world. She breathed in the heady scent of his cologne and willed herself not to lose it as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Nnem, it's really you!" he gasped squeezing tighter not wanting this moment to end "Please tell me I'm not dreaming"

After taking one more breath, Nneoma pulled away, begging her knees to cooperate. 

She looked up at him searching his face..."Demola" she thought  "he looked older, but it was him".

He had the same optimistic eyes and THAT smile and THOSE dimples. 

"Um" Nneoma starts "I..."

"I'm sorry" Demola interrupts "I'm so sorry, I know I don't deserve it but if you're not busy can we talk? I want to explain."

"Actually Demola, I have a pretty busy day" She explains

"Please, I know you don't believe in fate but what are the odds? It's been 6 years. Give me 30 minutes." He says holding her hand

"I have an appointment, I'm actually late..I'm sorry I can't"

"I'll wait, I'll wait here or I can come with you" Demola pleaded

Nneoma glanced at her Blackberry and then at Demola trying to decide whether or not to tell him.

"Well, I'm on my way to the florist and after that I have a fitting for my wedding dress" She says

"Oh" he replies, his voice dropping down to almost a whisper "um..congratulations"

"Thanks" She says extracting her hand from his grip “He's a great guy... We've been through a lot together. He saw me through some difficult years...like when you vanished into thin air and nobody would tell me what had happened..."


 Demola winced knowing that this wasn't going to be easy but he was determined to try and reach her "I'm sorry, please let me explain"


Every logical thought in her head told her to walk away but she knew that she would spend the rest of her life wondering.


"I have some time after my dress fitting, maybe we can meet up an talk at 2?"..she offered 


"2pm at Cafe Intermezzo?" asks Demola


"Sure..see you then" Nneoma says as she turned around and walked away.

An Ending That Fits

Nneoma walked into the coffee shop on the corner of Heritage and Light streets. It'd taken her two minutes to decide whether to go into the Dunkin' Donuts across the street or the Starbucks, but in the end laziness won.

"Good Morning, what can I get you?" the barista behind the counter asked

After a brief glance at the menu above, Nneoma orders a venti peppermint white chocolate mocha with whipped cream and a lowfat red raspberry muffin "to keep it healthy" she tells herself

The day had begun like many before, Nneoma had been awakened by the sun streaming through her window in the big strong arms of her fiance. Today however, she'd taken the day off work to do some wedding planning having put it off for so long. She made a list of the things she needed to accomplish that day as she waited for her food.

"Your order is ready Miss" said the barista handing Nneoma her coffee and muffin.
"Thank you" she replied paying and then glancing around for an empty table. It was 9am and most people were already at work so she opted for a table outside to enjoy the sun.

Atlanta had been enjoying an unusually cool summer and the weather was nice, 75 degrees and sunny. Propping her purse on one of the empty seats and her food on the table, she sat down silently cursing herself for wearing heels. Sure these whiskey colored Seychelles sandals were cute and went perfectly with her olive military style shirt-dress, but they were only comfortable for about 4 hours.

Fishing through her purse for her Blackberry, she finally let herself recline and take a sip. "Mmmmmm chocolate!" she whispered to herself as she licked the whipped cream off her lips.

She went through her emails and responded to text messages while she had breakfast. Once she was done, she spent a few moments going over her to-do list and people watching. By 9:30 she felt rejuvenated and ready to take on the world.

Grabbing her things, she put her sunglasses on and strolled down the block in the direction of her first appointment of the day with the florist. As she reached down into her gigantic bag to fish for her ipod, she heard a familiar voice. Her head snapped up at once and she turned around quickly to see if she recognized anyone.

The streets weren't particularly crowded but there were a few people rushing by in all directions. She turned back around telling herself she was mistaken, willing herself to keep walking but only taking a couple of steps before she heard it..that laugh!

This time the hairs on her neck stood and her heart began to race as she turned around searching more intently this time taking quick long strides towards where the laughter was coming from.

Then she saw him, his back was turned away from her but she knew it was him. After all these years he was right there in front of her. If she reached out she could touch him.

Everything seemed to be going in slow motion around her but her head was spinning and her heart was beating so fast. She took a deep breath to center herself trying to decide what to do. Knowing that her decision could change her life forever.
"I could just walk away like this never happened and move on with my life, nobody has to ever know" She reasoned
"But it did happen!" Her heart screamed "This is not a dream and this is real"
"I can't do this right now" Her head concluded and resorting to her favorite coping mechanism, she turned to walk away.

"Nnem?" the same voice called stopping her dead in her tracks.