A dear friend will love you no matter what, and a family sticks together through all kinds of trouble.-- Proverbs 17:17 (TPT)

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For someone who gave off a do-not-approach-or-talk-to-me vibe, Godswill soon discovered that Fola was such a goofy person, and she found a companion in Tunde. From the minute himself and Tunde had arrived at Fola's place to pick her and Vwede up, (since Vwede slept there for an easier commute), and introductions had been made, Tunde being Tunde had endeared the ladies to himself with his witty jokes.

Vwede and Tunde hit it off immediately since they were both outgoing people. The relaxation spot Vwede had been dying to show Fola was apparently Olumo Rock located in the heart of the city of Abeokuta. Legend had it that the rock was where the Egba people of Yoruba land had hidden during one of the bloodiest wars in the history of Yoruba land and that's where the city had earned its name Abeokuta, literally translated to mean "under the rock".

Vwede had obviously been there countless times because she refused the offer of the official tour guide and took on the role, taking them through the crevices and jumping over wide chasms just to get to the summit. There was an elevator available for those who feared climbing the rocks but Vwede refused their pleas to take the elevator because according to her, taking the elevator "would diminish their wholesome adventurous experience". But she promised that they could take it on their way down.

As Vwede guided her very inquisitive tourist, Fola, through the rocks ahead of them, Tunde and Godswill were left to carry the two baskets, one of food and drinks while the other had various board games, blankets and other necessary picnic items. Godswill had gone out of his way to make a full meal of fried rice and chicken, chocolate cake and cookies, while also preparing cold water and juices.

The girls walked and took pictures at various points while they shook their head at the mystery they were.

"You know, I have never understood why ladies have to take pictures or selfies at every slightest opportunity. It's a mystery to me," Tunde commented.

"I know, right."

Vwede turned back to look at them, before saying, "We are almost at the top."

She seemed to want to believe it was their first time being there too and they let her enjoy it.

"Okay, Tour Guide!" Tunde exclaimed with a fist pump of his free hand.

"Easy, tiger," Godswill murmured.

"Tiger how? I'm just playing along."

"I hear you."

"By the way, I'm not a tiger. I'm a lion," Tunde emphasized with his chest puffed out.

Godswill eyed him up and down before replying. "More like a peacock, if you ask me."

He was rewarded with a look of incredulity before they both burst out laughing.

"You guys had better not be making fun of me," they heard Fola say.

They had finally gotten to the widest chasm which could be crossed with just a single jump but Fola was almost on the brink of hysteria. Vwede had already crossed it and was holding out her arm to her but Fola claimed her arms were to scrawny to safely help her to the other side. They all laughed at her till Godswill crossed to meet Vwede and handed her the basket. He then held out his muscular arm to her. Godswill watched as she looked from his face to his arm to his face again as if she didn't believe him.

He laughed. "I won't drop you now. Believe me. Just hold tight and you will be on this side in less than a second."

She mumbled a low 'okay' before she latched on his arm. As soon as she was on the other side, the others gave her a round of applause, although patronizing. The next minute had them bowled over in fits of laughter.

"I seem to be the reason for your laughter today. You guys should continue, my day will come," Fola spoke with playful vehemence.

They laughed again and found a safe place to settle and lay the blankets they had brought with them, which was easy since there were very few people at the tourist attraction at the time of the year. The place was only usually packed full with people during festive seasons.

Fola found her way to where Godswill was busy laying out the items in the food basket and arranging them at the center of the blanket.

"Thank you for helping me. And laughing at me."

Godswill looked up and smiled. "You're welcome."

After a pause, he asked, "Are you scared of heights?"

"No, not really. But I have a mild fear of wide gutters. Those ones that you have to stretch the entire length of your leg to cross. Silly, isn't it?"

"Hmm. I don't think it is. Everyone has that one thing they fear."

"I'm hungry o. It's not easy being a tour guide," Vwede spoke from beside them.

"Let's eat then."

The four had fun eating and passing comments on Godswill's dishes while envying Tunde for enjoying all his dishes alone.

"Maybe we should invite you for lunch or dinner one of these Sundays," Tunde suggested, while looking at Godswill.

"Hmm. That could work. If it's fine with you ladies, then we can work something out," Godswill answered.

"Deal!" Vwede suddenly called out as she fist pumped the air.

The attention turned to Fola before she replied with a more toned down version of Vwede's.

After packing up their plates, they settled to play the games they had brought. They decided to play the very simple ludo game and before they knew it, the sun was slowly settling to hide. They packed up all their baskets as Fola hastily made her way towards the elevators.

She turned mid-way and exclaimed, "I won't leave room for Vwede to change her mind. I have had enough adventure for the year!"

The others began to laugh at her antics but she didn't seem to mind this time.

******

"Goodnight, babes," Vwede greeted as she hugged Fola. "Goodnight, guys. Thank you for today. I had fun. See you soon for our Sunday lunch. Or dinner."

She alighted and sent them an enthusiastic wave of bye before going into her compound.

They had gone to drop her off at her place before moving on to go home. The final ride home was a tad quiet as Fola stared out the window, lost in her own thoughts.

"Did you have fun too, Fola?" Tunde asked.

"Oh, yeah. I did. It's been a while I had some adventure," Fola replied.

They burst into laughter as though they were thinking the same thing.

"I'm sure you won't be going on any adventures soon," Godswill spoke this time.

"What for?" she exclaimed. "I have had the one for the year already."

They all laughed again.

"So, we are here. Can we drop you off at your gate? It's quite late already and we want to make sure you're home safe and sound."

Fola looked at Godswill through the rear view mirror and gave a small smile. "Okay. It's the fifth house on your left."

"Alright then," he replied as he steered the wheel to take them into her street.

Fola alighted before saying, "Thank you so much. I'll see you tomorrow in church."

"Yes, we will," Tunde answered.

"Goodnight, Tunde." Then, she turned to look at Godswill. "Goodnight, Bro Godswill."

With a muffled laughter, he replied, "Goodnight, Sister Fola."

Fola could see the lost look on Tunde's face and she just smiled before turning to walk into her compound.

******

"What was that about?" Tunde finally asked after several moments of silence.

"What?"

"The Bro Godswill and Sister Fola thing."

Godswill laughed. "I guess it's an inside joke. I really can't explain it either. It just happened."

"Mmmm-hmmm." Tunde was looking at him weirdly with a mischief shinning in his eyes. They were home too and he opened the boot to carry the baskets out.

"Don't say anything. I just want to go in and sleep. Tomorrow is Sunday."

"Mmmm-hmmm."

Godswill knew if he didn't escape from his friend at that moment, he would be doomed. So, he quickly dropped the basket in the kitchen and ran into his room for his dear life. He ensured to lock the door behind him because Tunde was tenacious that way.

******

It was already Fola's third month in her new city and she was seated in her cubicle, enjoying a moment's reprieve from the day's work and also thinking back on the previous Sunday's message. Her pastor had emphasized on the biblical truth that all things work together for God's people. There was nothing as satisfying as receiving an assurance from God through His word at especially crucial and critical times. She was even beginning to see the good in her being transferred to Abeokuta because despite her reluctance in accepting the transfer, she didn't know if she'd have been able to refuse her former boss' advances for too long and she may have had to resign on her own.

Another good she could easily see was that she was sleeping better and not spending half of her night in traffic. And apparently, with the passage of time, her friendship with Godswill, Tunde and Vwede had also progressed so much from the first time they met. She was thankful for that too. She was also glad she had found a home church where she felt wholly comfortable like she was in a family. She had joined the Aesthetics Team as soon as she was done with her mandatory Foundation School courses, and she was enjoying it. She had always had a thing for colour combinations and beautifying up her environment. She was happy she could express them more in her church.

For someone who had grown up dealing with life by herself, it was a miracle that she could find such comraderie at her age. Her aunt and uncle had tried their best in raising her and teaching her, and she really appreciated them and was grateful for them. She had made choices she sure wasn't proud of at this stage in her life and if she could go back in time to erase them, she would.

Fola shook her head to stop the thoughts in their tracks. She didn't want to think that way. It was a thing of the past and for one thing, she was glad God had found her when He did. She had been heading straight for an head-on collision with doom and eternal damnation but He stepped in as her King in shinning splendor. She was a living example of everything working out for one's good. And she knew it could only get better from then on out.

Before she knew it, it was lunch time and she began to debate on what to eat because she had been unable to pack her lunch that morning.

"Hey, girl! What's happening?" a voice bellowed out to her.

This child.

"I'm not even startled anymore when you give those "victory shouts" of yours. I'm just in awe, really." She turned to the being standing behind her.

Vwede gave her the widest smile she had ever seen on her. "Thank you, sweetheart. I live a life of victory, so I must give victorious shouts and chants." She winked at her.

"Yeah, right. Just don't burst my eardrums while doing it."

"Noted!"

Vwede pulled one of the chairs beside her and sat down. "I brought lunch for two. Wanna join me?"

When she didn't hear a reply, she looked up to see Fola already holding a spoon. Vwede laughed. "Where did that come from?"

"I keep cutlery at work in case I need them. So, are we going to keep talking or are we going to demolish this?" She asked, pointing at the plate of white rice and fish sauce with her spoon.

Vwede gestured with both hands. "Eat, eat, my darling."

"Mmm. This is good."

"Of course, it is. I made it."

Fola just shook her head as she continued eating. It was silent for a few moments before Vwede spoke up.

"I didn't know we had such impeccable table manners."

Fola responded with a laugh. "It was hidden. I'm super hungry, I guess."

"So?"

"So, what?" She replied without looking up.

"What's happening between you and Wills?"

"I don't know of any wills my relatives have. I don't even keep in touch with them."

Fola exclaimed in pain at the hit she received on her shoulder. "What did I do?"

"You know what or who I'm talking about and you're forming ignorance."

"I do?"

"Seriously, I don't know what to do with you. I'm talking about Godswill, doofus."

"Oh."

"Oh? That's all you have to say? Are you Oh, The Buv? Are you good at running away?"

"Are you making Home references now?"

"At least, you know your animations." Vwede rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Tch. To answer your question," she paused as she watched Vwede sit upright in her seat, "nothing is going on. We are just friends."

Her friend's demeanor reminded her of a balloon that had been loosened and left on the floor. "What's with that look?"

"I'm just upset."

"Why?"

"Because you two are taking longer than necessary."

"To do what?"

"To make amala na."

"Why would we do that?"

Vwede facepalmed and made a grunting sound. She moved her two hands towards Fola's neck as if to strangle her. While Fola was busy laughing her head off.

"It's fun teasing you, really."

Vwede looked at her wristwatch and gave her a stern look. "Lunch time is over but this discussion isn't."

"Yes, ma'am."

Her friend just hissed as she packed up the used plates and sashayed out of her cubicle.

*******

Godswill was glad he hadn't acted based on his first few impressions of Fola because the lady was so far away from those impressions. And he had learnt a valuable lesson: as much as first impressions mattered, our first impressions of people may not be a correct assessment of who they are overall. What if they were having a bad day at the moment you met them? Or they are as wary of you as you are of them? Giving people as many chances as we can afford is also part of being a good human. 

I should write that somewhere. He smiled to himself. He really was enjoying being friends with her and although he couldn't deny that he wanted more, he was satisfied with being friends. Besides, the relationship coaches and marriage counsellors all agreed on one thing: deep friendship was the bedrock of a successful marriage.

Godswill was proud of himself and how far he had grown in the past few months. He was no longer the ungrateful guy who thought God owed him everything good. He was now so grateful for the good people and things His Father had set in his path. No matter how much he desired some things, he was now at the stage where he realised that having God was having everything good.

God, You're indeed wonderful.

Yes, I am.

Godswill smiled at the response.

And your 'God when?' is now.

Uh? What do you mean, Abba?

His phone dinged with notifications of chats coming in at that moment and warmth suffused his chest as he saw the name of the sender. He expected a few greetings but only saw the makings of a mischievous text.

Fola: G
Fola: O
Fola: D
Fola: S
Fola: W
Fola: I
Fola: L
Fola: L

Godswill shook his head as the grey ticks changed to blue ones and he replied her.

Me: 🤦🏾‍♂🤷🏽‍♂
Me: What is this?
Fola: 😈🤪
Fola: I just felt like disturbing you.

Godswill could almost hear the muscles of his face complain because of the apparent strain he had put them in but he just couldn't relax them. He tapped on the voice call icon on her WhatsApp contact and waited for her to pick up. As soon as she did, he asked, "You're apparently less busy right now, shey?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. By the way, you didn't even greet me."

"I can totally picture you pouting and stuff."

"Pffft."

"So, how are you doing? And how has your day been?"

"I'm good. My day has been not so bad. You?"

"Ditto."

"Hmmmm."

"So, have you ladies decided when to come for Sunday lunch?"

"I think Vwede said this coming Sunday is fine with her."

"Okay then. I'll speak with Tunde and we can conclude on it."

There was a pleasant pause for a few seconds before Godswill spoke. "Did you have lunch?"

"Yes, I did. But I'm already hungry again and thinking about dinner. The thought of what to make is almost driving me crazy."

"I know, right. If what to eat everyday was eliminated from my thoughts, I think I'll be fine. It's like an entire project process from the introduction to conclusion."

He heard her laugh. "I can so relate."

"This your beautiful laugh," he couldn't resist saying.

"I do? Awww, thanks."

"You're welcome. So, we'll see this Sunday regardless of our group lunch?"

"Yeah, sure. I gotta go. Talk to you later."

"Later. Bye."

Over the past few weeks, as their friendship had grown, they had inadvertently developed a Sunday ritual of sorts in which Fola would wait till he was done with his department duties and they would go out to a fun place, sometimes his restaurant, to have a beverage or drink and a snack. And while eating that, they talk about the sermon for the day and how it applied to their daily lives. It had started as just an outing to talk but they found it had somehow changed into a cell meeting or service-after-service kinda outing. But they loved it.

It was fun. It made Godswill see and know what Fola's mindset was and he was glad to know she had a beautiful mind.

I need to learn more adjectives. He snickered at himself as he put finishing touches to his work.