Meet me Halfway ... The second.

This has been a long time coming, sometimes writer's block visits and we have to pay our respect to the menace..... Here is a continuation and conclusion to meet me halfway .

The inter-county locomotive breathed it’s last at the Nairobi terminus minutes after the hour clock hit 5 O’clock. The clouds looked dark and heavy, with a calm wind lifting some loose polythene bags off the ground in a tiny cyclone some distance from where he stood, a sign of an impending downpour.

He walked to the bus in wait, a few minutes later they were eating into the slow traffic to town. Janet would be leaving office in any minute, and he wished more than anything to at least be a gentle man and keep time. He constantly craned his head and silently pleaded with traffic lights to let them pass, some obeyed, some ignored his pleas. The traffic moved inch by inch, cars almost kissing each other’s tail lights.

One hour later, Don stood outside the hotel he planned to meet Janet. He pulled out his phone and dialed her number.

“Hey..” Don.

“Hey there..” She replied, sounding excited “You in tao yet..?”

“I just landed, walking in..” He replied, with his usual easy humor.

“Come to the first floor, I managed to get an awesome table for us.” She said. His heart run a few beats faster.

Jane got to into his mind as he counted the staircases up the red-lit stairway, she was due today, at least that’s what she had told him some few days back. Today she had not texted, or beeped or (DM’d), it was all silent, very silent, and he feared.

Janet sat across the lobby at a balcony, on a round table for two covered in velvet, like all the other tables, squinting into her phone and trying hard to flush away the excitement her face beamed. Her hair was dark, freshly blow-dried and tucked with a silver pin to the left side. Her round face screamed innocence, and a weak smile spread when she saw him walk across, trying hard to avoid eye contact.

The lobby was healthily lit by twin lamps hanging from the sky blue roof and scantily populated, couples chewing into their meals, others in heated debates over abandoned food. One couple caught his eye, they sat there looking at each other like two sheep in an attack position. The lady looked angry and the guy had the ‘Okey, what would you have done in my position’ kind of look. He wondered why they had to choose a public place to face off, what if they broke the expensive looking glass and had to pay for them? Was it not easier to fight in familiar environs, so you know where to get what you wish to throw to the opponent?

“Finally, I thought you would take forever..!” She said, getting up to give him a tiny but surprisingly warm hug.

“Nah, just some traffic..”

He settled down behind a large half open slide window, through which a soft breeze flew, carrying with it the aroma of a short drizzle. He glanced outside and caught the view of a rushing town, as darkness slowly started it’s descent. It was calm and relaxing, the kind of environment he was wishing for, and before him sat what he had described in his mind as a masterpiece of art, the moment he noticed her black skirt suit, red blouse, matching heels and hand bag. She had a rich taste.

“How was work..?” He broke the nagging silence after adjusting his seat and settling the phone on the table.

“It was awesome, nothing much to do really.” She said, “How was your day?”

“It was good, but so much work.” He hated himself for lying, but good people don’t start a date conversation with ‘I rushed to the train trying to get far away from this girl I was seeing and who is now paged by another guy’. “I had to see some nagging client, you know with our work...”

A waiter came along, wearing a plastic smile and matching eyelashes.

“Hello, what will you have..?”

Janet looked at Don then smiled back to the waitress, “White coffee, just white coffee..”

“Give me black coffee please, just black coffee..” Don said to the waitress. The three of them laughed and she swayed away.

Waiting on their orders, they chatted about their jobs, and how their bosses were sent from hell to come and make their lives terrible, about various workmates and clients who wake up with an objective of ruining their days,  and about the sweet elderly tea ladies who always wear a smile on their faces. 

From nowhere his phone buzzed, then went silent. They both went silent and looked at the source of disruption with eyes full of contempt.

He picked it, looked on the notifications bar, it was an sms from Jane. His heart beat a little faster, then accelerated. The first instinct was to slowly place back the phone and smile at Janet and throw in a ‘Sorry, just an sms, where were we?’

‘What the hell…’ He said to himself… “Sorry about this Janet.. work.” He lied, again, and realized how lame it sounded. Opening the message, very little had been left for imagination, Jane, had gone direct to the point.

“It’s a baby girl Don… Its Hadassah!” She wrote, and attached a few cute baby emojis. He felt his heart sweat, then it rammed to the bottom of his ribcage. The fan above them seemed insufficient, as a thin drop of perspiration formed on his forehead. So it was now confirmed, all this time he had hoped it was a sick joke, or a bad dream, but now, the cat was loose and almost all had been lost.

‘wooow..! That’s a sweet name..’ He typed. And deleted.

‘Congrats dear.. Am so ….’ He deleted, again.

‘Congrats Jane, wow! Am so proud of you, can’t wait to meet her’ He pressed send.  

“Are you okey Don…?” Janet asked, with a ton of concern in her eyes. He felt some guilt.

Madonna and Britney oozed through the double Xplode speakers a couple of tables away smoothly separated by some old Usher records, creating a deep hunger for pop lovers, some of whom would be seen swaying their heads.

“I’m fine.. Am fine, just some good news..” Don said, absent minded. She wanted to ask for more, but managed to keep her calm, it was the first date, and she had not planned to look so inquisitive.  

“Forgive my manners Janet, you look beautiful..!” He pulled the big card.

She was taken aback, exposed and totally defenseless, she looked at her nails and blushed, “Ooh, thank you Don, I like your shirt..”

The waitress came back after hours, same smile in place carefully balancing a tray on her left hand and the bill and a bottle opener on the other, placed the coffees on the table, all the while apologizing for the whole year she took, and tucked the bill in a bright booklet.

Don’s phone now lay in his hip pocket, and he felt another soft buzz, just as the waitress, Josphine (according to her nametag) left the table. He opened it hurriedly as Janet took her first short sip.

‘Thanks for being there for me through all this Don.. You are the best’. It was Jane.

He had a deep urge to throw his phone against the concrete, but memories of him haggling for it made him think otherwise. For a minute he let his mind swing, he let it fly to Jane’s bedside, he could see her eyes sparkle watching her baby on the cot a few seconds away from her. He imagined the motherly glow, he imagined her thanking him for having stood by her all through.

He looked outside the window to catch a bus and a saloon car slightly scratch each other’s hoods and stall the traffic. He had seen enough drama, so he drew the tinted window shut and switched off his phone. Janet looked at him then at his abandoned coffee.

“You are not fine Don.. Is it a bad day to be here?” She asked.

“No… No Janet, in fact it’s the perfect day to be here.. Am glad am here with you.” He said, and watched her melt.

They both smiled. In her mind, she was glad to have met a charming guy.. In his, all was not lost.