All Chapters of Letter Days: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Florence and one other girl he didn't know were on duty and were attending to customers.The other girl rushed to him immediately and  ushered him to an empty chair but he walked past her without giving her a second look as he advanced to Florence whose eyes were fixated on the floor.  "Hi Florence! Oby is not on duty today, right? Could you kindly tell me where she stays now?" He fired all his questions at once.  Florence whose cheeks were flushed as she kept staring at the floor, began."Obiageli. . .Obiageli  does. . ." She stuttered, obviously having difficulty in speaking to him. "Answer me!" Ifeanyi yelled. On a normal day, he would have found this funny and cute but not this day.  This was no time to put up with her clumsy and bashful behavior.  He could hit her if time wasn't taken. "She. . .she doesn't work here." Florence rushed

Obiageli sat on her bed with one of Ifeanyi's letters in her hand. She had placed the pink box on her lap and had picked one of the letters - Ifeanyi's  precisely.  She had read all of his letters she had in her possession countless of times, to the extent she knew the wordings by heart, yet she still couldn't stop.She knew she shouldn't be with Ifeanyi's letters anymore and she had tried many times to get rid of them but had failed woefully.She knew she couldn't keep holding on to the past when she should look at the future which was with Jideze; he deserved all her love and attention. It was a shame she still held onto  past and lingering moments.  She had once thrown the letters by the side of the road while returning alone from Jideze's  shop. That day, Jideze had asked one of his sales boys to drive her home but she had declined for she knew what she planned to do. She had crumpled the letters in her

The drive to Aninri was a one hour journey. She had directed Chike to the street and down to the house. She knew she was being crazy for coming there. She knew he might had left for Lagos but it wouldn't hurt to check. Who knew, he might still be around. They say when you least expect it, it happens right? She would spend the rest of her life blaming herself if she didn't check. "Wait for me here, Chike. I will be back soon. You can come out and stay under that shade." She pointed to a locked shop. Chike nodded as usual and did as he was told. Who was he to ask questions?  He was only with her to receive orders and not to question her authority. He watched her disappear into the brown rusted gate which looked like it would fall to pieces by mere shove of hands. Obiageli rubbed her palms together to calm herself down. The house had not changed at all. It looked the same with the green plants growing healthily. She greeted a woman who

 Ifeanyi watched as Ademola walked majestically into the factory,  greeting all that greeted him and shaking hands with anyone who brought their hands for a shake. It had always awed Ifeanyi how Ademola gained this much popularity.   He was more popular than the owner of the factory himself. Ifeanyi wondered if it was due to his frequent visit to the factory or the fact that he was rich.   As Ifeanyi watched him, he folded his jumpsuit into his bag; his helmet was on a stool at the factory.  If Felicia had not asked him out on a date, he wouldn't had bothered bringing extra clothing. He turned his gaze to Felicia who was chatting with two other females. Her eyes caught his and she smiled brightly at him. He returned her smile and his attention shifted to Somto and three other workers who were walking towards Ademola to greet him. The factory in Lagos was much more advanced with more worke

"What's with the outfit?" Ademola raised his brow."You look like you're going on a date." Somto chirped in and the others laughed."Well, that's because I am." Ifeanyi placed his hands on his waist.  The men gasped as their lips curved in an 'o' shape.  "A date? With who?" Somto asked. "With her." Ifeanyi pointed. Just like it had been planned, Felicia looked at them and winked at Ifeanyi. The men gasped again. Felicia was a smart looking lady with a pretty face and an air of superiority. She had the most menacing gait a woman could ever have.  She was sophisticated and so was a big catch to the men. "Baba o!" Ademola brought his hands to the air; smirking hard at him. "What happened to Grace?" Somto asked; a slight frown on his face."Who's Grace? Omo, I don miss tire o." Ademola's interest

Ademola was just  so free that he found it easy to change his mood and countenance. "Now you agree you are, right?" "I'm not." Ifeanyi sighed. "I'm sorry for yelling at you." He looked at  Ademola who placed a hand on his shoulder instead.  "How can a father get angry at his son? His only son for that matter?" Ifeanyi shook his head gently as he joined in Ademola's laughter. Ademola had always claimed to be his father ever since his last breakup. Ifeanyi had tried to make him stop to no avail and so he had no choice but to put up with it. He wondered what was with people calling him their son - Chinaza had called him her son back then. Mayhaps,  he truly was a child; after all, he had been the one acting like a child when he wanted to kill himself for a woman. "So spill the beans." Ademola fell to the bed, pro

She took a deep sigh; anger already welling up in her. "Obiageli.""Hozannali?" The man asked again and Obiageli was irritated. Who was this man Chinaza kept at her gate to interrogate people? Besides, what language was he speaking?  Was it her name he was pronouncing like the botanical name of a plant?"O. Bia. Ge. Li." She broke it down. She had never had any reason to break her name into syllables for anyone. Lagos was really strange, she thought to herself.Back in the bus she had entered to the area Chinaza lived, people chattered in strange language. She felt so lost. She would had missed the bus stop if not for the woman who sat by her side.She had told the woman where she was going  and the woman had promised to tell her when they got there. Luckily,  she was Igbo so it was easy to communicate with her. It seemed to Obiageli she was the only Igbo woman in the bus."Wait here.

Just mere thinking about it made a lump form in her throat.  Ego touched her lightly,  jerking her away from her bitter thought.  "Are you okay?" Ego asked. Worry and concern written plainly on her face. "Yes. I'm  fine." Obiageli muttered. Ego studied her for a while before shrugging. "I said his name is Tochukwu Darlington."  "What a nice name, though I don't know what 'Darlington' means. I know you named him that."  Ego threw her head back as she laughed. "You can bet." She smirked; turning away from her and leaving her to her fate. Rubbing her palms together - an habit she had cultivated whenever she was nervous - she knocked at the well polished door.  "Who?" Chinaza called out. Deep in Obiageli's mind, she knew Chinaza knew it was her. Nevertheless, she replied and there was no

"Stop it, Oby! Stop it, okay? Stop blaming yourself. It is not your fault this happened. You didn't do this intentionally.  It is so sad that this happened to Jideze but. . .you don't love him anymore. He knew you were with him because of guilt and pity and that was why he asked you to go. I really don't think I am in the position to say this but you said it yourself.  You love Ifeanyi.""I do but what does it matter? He has moved on with someone else.  He wouldn't want me anymore." Obiageli wiped her eyes with her palm."How do you know? You can't conclude like that not when you haven't confirmed.""What's there to confirm? Ifeanyi hates me. I've done nothing but bring pain to him. He wouldn't want to see my cursed face.""Stop!" Chinaza  cried out. "Please, stop." She said quietly with tears at the brink of her eyelashes. "It's true he might not want you anymore but I won't allow you condemn yo

Obiageli let out a loud sigh, thanking God that she had finally found his room. As she approached it, her heart skipped. She was scared and anxious at the same time.She felt like running back but running to where? Where did she have to run to? It was like no place held promises for her.Standing in front of the black door, she breathed, trying to steady her breathing by inhaling and exhaling. She knocked on the door lightly and waited for a response.  She pushed the door when she got none only to discover that it was locked. She mentally cursed herself. Of course, he should be at work. She sat down in front of his door,   wondering what she could do to whirl away time and also to calm her anxiety.She felt the same way she had felt when she had broken her father's flower vase. It had been a gift from someone she didn't know to her father and her father had treasured it.