A chance meeting that bloomed.... Neoxian prompt #23.

"Put two ships in the open sea, without wind or tide.....they will come together"........from the movie Aquaman.

The above quote was initially funny to me when I first heard it used in the movie but recently it has come to make a lot of sense to me because of the immense truths embedded in it. Early this year, precisely in January, just a few days after the new year's celebration and merriment, I received a phone call from my music director. The phone call was to inform me that my name had been submitted to the global headquarters as a representative for a musical concert and seminar which would be taking place in Benin City in the next four days. I was very elated because the trip was an all expense paid trip and I was representing one half of Lagos State.

I asked my M.D for the details and he informed me that there would be another representative from the second half of Lagos, making us two singers that would be representing Lagos State as a whole at the global headquarters. I was very excited as I knew this would lead to greater exposure for me in the misic world. I dropped the call and began to put my house in order, in readiness for the trip.

The day came and I was set to travel. I woke up as early as possible, got to the motor park at about 5:45am so as to meet up with the first bus to leave. I paid my fare since the money for the trip had been sent to me a day before and the bus driver showed me to my seat. I sat down relaxing my head while listening to music on my phone when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I sat up wanting to know who had tresppased on my private time but all I saw was the face of a young guy who needed help with his bag. I removed my earphones so that I could clearly hear what he was requesting of me.

"Hi, sorry to barge in on you like this but could you assist me in keeping one of my bags underneath your chair?" He said as my eyes moved from his face to the bag in question.

"I hope there's no bomb in the bag?" I asked bodly ready to jump out of the window just in case.

"Hahaha, not at all my lady. I would not endanger you I swear" He made a cross sign gesture which elicited a smile from my lips.

I took the bag and placed it underneath my seat, ready to get back to what I was doing before the interruption but it seems like this "brother" was hell bent on being a sweet thorn.

"May I please know your name?" He asked as he occupied the seat next to me. I wanted to ignore him and give him that hard to get vibe but something esle stopped me from being petty and thus I replied with...

"My name is Becky what's yours?" Smiling he offered his hand for a hendshake which I took gladly. From introductions, we got talking. Even when the bus got filled and the journey out of Lagos State began, he kept making good conversation and "yours truly" didn't want to be defeated, so I conversed head on. We were like co-hosts on a show while the remaining passengers were our audience. I got to know his name to be Jeremiah but I coined it to Jerry which he found funny.

Surprisingly, through our concersations i discovered that we stay close to each other but just on different streets. This made us seem like kinsmen on an adventure. I asked about his business and he told me that he was supplying electonic gadgets to a client in Benin city and he would also be installing them himself to avoid any complaints. We talked and talked and later he brought out his tablet for us to watch a movie. It was funny how I felt relaxed in his company.

When the bus stopped at the Binin-Ore road for a short break, Jerry offered to buy "us" food but I opted for snacks because I don't know how good the food sold there would be. He bought suya (local barbecue), bananas, groundnut and two bottles of cold fanta. I accepted the snacks and went on eating happily as the journey continued.

After about seven hours on the road, the driver informed us (the passengers) that we had entered Benin City and each passenger should watch out for their bus stop where they would alight. Like it was the most natural thing in the world to do, Jerry brought out his phone and asked me to punch in my number. I wanted to scam him by giving him a false number but I changed my mind and gave him my actual number which I use for calls and Whatsapp. He promised to call me as soon as he got to his destination and I just nodded with an okay.

He alighted from the bus before me and we said our goodbyes. In my heart I was already prepared not to hear from him again but true to his words, I got a call from him, letting me know that he was at the client's place resting and that work would commence the following day. I appreciated his kind gestures to me and his company during the journey. He laughed telling me that it was nothing. He promised to keep in touch and I hung up.

It has been ten months already and Jerry has kept in touch with me on a regular basis. We chat and just catch up when we have the time. From random starngers, we are now good friends. Two months ago, he sent me five thousand naira to assist with a challenge I had at the time. I was speechless when he sent me money because to my understanding, we barely knew each other but he was all smiles and willing to part with his money, to which I'm very grateful. As a friend, Jerry has proven to be a rare gem and I am very grateful for that opoortune meeting on the bus.

Thank you all for reading.

Images used are mine.