A.N: Hi, guys! Sorry for the delayed (over-delayed, in fact) update but I promise they will be more regular now.
Please, check the previous chapters again, I made some subtle changes to them. Thank you for still being here. ❤❤❤

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And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. --Genesis 2:23 (KJV)

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"Your relationship is closer than you think but you need to be prepared for it."

His relationship was definitely not closer than he thought because when his pastor had said this, that was about 6 months ago.

Abi, what does close mean again?

Close should have been maybe one or two months after. But it was already six months. Six whole months and he was beginning to get into that ticking-bio-clock funk again.

And this time, he knew it wouldn't be so easy to get out of it. He had read books, prayed, taken confessions, and listened to messages. Even his relationship with God was on a whole new level. What more did God want from him?

He really didn't know. All he knew was he had nothing to give again. He had even received words about his wife-to-be but it seemed she wasn't ready to show up.

Sighing as he wiped the tabletop on which he had been working, he made plans for the new menu ideas he had.

He was at least glad that the words about his business had come to pass. Sales in The Mouthwaterers had increased three-fold in those six months and his customers were more than satisfied. He had had to begin turning down catering orders. It was indeed a miracle.

He looked around his workstation and he turned his mind to what God had done in the last few months. He had never thought he would move from selling pastries out of warmers in the back of a friend's car to have a bungalow as a restaurant space.

The size of the building was similar to that of the popular Chicken Republic outlets scattered around the country, but with its kitchen invisible to the patrons. The entrance had a transparent fibre-glass door that opened into the sitting area which was painted in pastel blue. The sitting area had white tables and blue cushioned seats for two's, four's and groups scattered aesthetically. While the ordering counter painted in white separated the sitting area from the kitchen and the manager's office and staff room was directly behind that. The kitchen was a standard one set up in the assembly line layout with every necessary utensil and appliance needed to run a restaurant.

The restaurant had three chefs including himself; he doubled as the manager. It also had six serving staff, two delivery staff, two cleaning staff and two security staff. The staff was divided into two and they always alternated between the morning and evening shifts. Godswill had tried his best to do a thorough job in educating them on customer services, communication skills and the standard of excellence he envisioned. Sometimes, they even had to have training at different times.

The main menu was everything pastry, from the popular meat and fish pie to the croissants, bagels and so on. And some other special menu which was strictly on order.

Godswill smiled to himself again and thought. In this regard, God is good.

*****

It was almost closing time when he heard a raised voice coming from the main restaurant. He had retired to his office to handle some other administrative tasks and he was just putting final touches on it.

He sighed as he waited to see if his workers would be able to handle it. It wasn't until he began to hear "where is your boss?" that he knew he had to make his presence known.

They rarely had angry customers and when they did, it was always settled amicably. But it had never gotten to this level of requesting to see the boss. He was just glad that it was almost closing time and the last set of patrons had left.

As he moved towards where the sound was coming from, he noted that the voice was a lady's. He rounded the corner before the front desk and he saw his staff trying to placate her along with another lady who looked vaguely familiar.

"Good evening, Miss. What's the problem?"

His words made the lady turn in his direction and he finally understood how the Queen of Sheba felt. All his breath left him and he was on the verge of fainting. Asides from her dark brown skin, she was just how he liked them— curvaceous with brown eyes and average height. Her next words seemed to do the job of awakening him from his beauty-induced temporary slumber and he jerked awake.

"Are you the boss here?"

"Yes, I am. What's the problem, ma'am?"

Godswill gasped softly as she turned her dark brown eyes on him again.

"I ordered for the chicken shawarma with sides of àsun (peppered goat meat) and fries. It has been four hours but it seems like the delivery is coming from outer space. If you can't run an effective delivery system, why have it as part of your business?" she ranted.

Her companion who came with her was doing her utmost to help her keep calm but she wasn't having it. Godswill knew what he had to do and he did.

"We are so sorry for the delay. Will you please come with me while I find out what the issue is?" He watched her demeanour change ever so slightly and he went in for the kill. "Please, ma'am. Allow me to rectify the situation."

At that point, she looked at her companion and they had some sort of mystic communication before she replied with a soft 'yes'.

Godswill moved swiftly as he ushered them to one of the booth-like seats in the left corner of the room and asked for a cold pack of orange juice and drinking glasses to be sent for them. As soon as he had them settled, he said, "Please, give me a few minutes. I will be right back."

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Godswill was on his way back to where the two ladies were seated after hearing out his delivery guy on duty, Wale. Apparently, the motorcycle had developed an unforeseen fault just as he was about to ride out of the restaurant premises and he had thought he'd be able to fix the issue. Only the issue required professional help and he missed the time. He was already talking to the chef on how to resolve the issue when the ladies burst in.

Godswill ordered for a fresh order to be made for the customers and he was taking that piece of information to them.

As he neared where they were seated, he heard the vocal lady say, "Fola, it's because of you o. If I was alone, I'd have shown them that I'm a Warri thorough-bred lady, porscheness notwithstanding."

Her friend chuckled. "Thank you for not showing them, ehn."

Godswill cleared his throat as he stepped in. "I apologize again for the delay and inconvenience you had to face. A fresh meal is being made and we will also get a cab to take you to your destination. My apologies again."

He watched as the two ladies stared at him with something close to awe.

Well, I know I'm awesome but this look is becoming too much to handle.

"Are you uncomfortable about something?"

"No. I just--. It just feels good to encounter good customer service like yours. Right, Fola?" she asked her friend, without turning to her.

"Right," the one named Fola replied.

At the same instant, one of the staff came with the pack of a fresh meal. Godswill flashed a smile at him.

"Here it is. I'm sure you're ready to leave."

"Yes, we are. Thank you for this," Fola responded as she made to rise from her seat making her friend follow suit.

"You're very welcome," he said with a smile. He couldn't, however, give up the niggling feeling that he knew Fola or had at least seen her somewhere, so he asked, "Excuse me. Have we met somewhere before?"

Fola looked back at him but it seemed she didn't recognize him after all. "I don't think so. I get this a lot. I seem to have a very common face and stature." She smiled.

Godswill cocked his head to the side slightly. "Okay then. Let me see you off."

Before he could make a move to lead them out, the brown-eyed lady stretched out her right hand for a handshake. "The name is Vwede. Oghenevwede."

He shook her hand without hesitation. "I'm Godswill. Lovely to meet you. We hope to see you more often at our restaurant." He smiled.

"Yes, you will. This is my friend, Folashade," she introduced as she gestured to her friend where she stood close to the door.

Fola only gave him a quick smile before she turned to open the door. And that was their cue to leave.

I don't know why she still seems familiar. But she says she has a common face.

As they got to the pavement outside the restaurant, Vwede was already laughing with him like he was an old friend with whom she just reconnected. He couldn't lie, he enjoyed the attention she was giving him. The Deltan beauty was obviously the friendly type for her to have gone from a spitfire to the smiling angel before him.

The bone of my bone? He shook his head as if to shake the thought out of his mind.

They thanked him again and went on their way.

Pheew! That was interesting. Godswill turned on his foot and walked past his staff who were getting ready to leave. He gave them another assuring smile and bade them goodnight.

*******

Folashade was back in her house after enjoying the food they had bought. The self-contain apartment she had managed to rent when she arrived in Abeokuta about two weeks ago was just beginning to feel like home. The room was painted in a beautiful shade of purple, with silver-coloured curtains and had cream-coloured tiles covering the floor. Her bed was placed along the longest wall, opposite the door leading to the toilet and bathroom. The kitchen was also along the same wall holding the convenience. Along that same wall was also a mini-wardrobe and shoe rack. On the wall separating the kitchen from her bed was a Hisense 40" T.V and home theatre since she loved playing music.

For a city that felt like it was behind on a lot of things, living expenses were high but there was nothing she could do. She wanted to live as close to her office as possible, despite the high-rent area that it was.

As she sat on her bed, her mind went back to the last few hours. It was her second Saturday in the city and Vwede had tried to convince her to go out. It was when that didn't work, that she settled for ordering the food from the best restaurant in their axis namely The Mouthwaterers, according to Vwede. But she still succeeded in dragging her out when the order hadn't come in.

She had met Oghenevwede Odiete the same day she showed up reporting for work in her new office one week ago. Apparently, Vwede was one of the old staff members with an enviable role as the Chief Accountant. She was such a happy-go-lucky lady and she didn't hide what she felt, whether necessary or not. She voiced out all and every thought running through her mind. Fola felt uncomfortable at first but soon had to learn to appreciate her personality. But that didn't mean she shared her thoughts with the Warri babe.

Fola sighed as she rose to choose her clothes for service the next day. She always loved going to church but it meant that Monday was right at the corner.

Mondays are uggghhh.

She was still trying her best to enjoy the sudden move to a new environment and the only blessing she could see was the place of worship she had miraculously found. The previous Wednesday had been her first time there and she felt at home. The atmosphere, word, worship, prayer and everything settled right with her spirit and she was sure she had found a haven for all the misgivings she had about the city.

When she had reported to this new place of assignment, she found out that Mr Albert had gone out of his way to ensure that she had a position in which she would have to work longer hours— Assistant Production Manager. According to the Head Manager there, the previous A.P.M had been transferred to another branch weeks before she reported there. The pay was still okay, but the hours were more than what she ought to be working. However, she couldn't complain.

When Vwede saw the number of work hours she had, she had asked questions but Fola held a lot of information back from her. Vwede was still her only 'friend' at the office but she couldn't tell her anything or share any deep things about her life. Vwede had wanted to approach their branch manager to hurl questions at him for the unfair treatment but she had managed to hold her back. The girl had a good heart but her mouth was a gushing tap, with no filter or sieve. But she was still thankful that she had someone who could fight for her when needed.

Like today.

Left to her, she would have just waited till Sunday to go and complain at the restaurant and ask for a refund but Vwede was having none of it.

Her mind took a turn to the owner and manager of the restaurant they just visited, Godswill, who seemed to think he knew her somewhere but she couldn't recognize him. If she hadn't known better, she'd have thought he was trying to use a pick-up line on her. Vwede had managed to reel him in with her bubbly personality and he seemed enraptured by her too.

Well, I smell something. She snickered as her hands picked up her favourite pair of pleated skirt. The army green colour was a perfect combination with her brown skin and she always felt like a million bucks each time she donned it.

I'll wear my black turtle neck top and black heeled boots with this.

"Yes. And that my cross pendant," she muttered to herself.

Perfect, Fola thought as she admired the picture she could see in her mind. She loved dressing up in her best to church. It was like a form of worship to her and she took it seriously. She always ensured she dressed modestly and took special care in not exposing any of her body parts even when going anywhere.

As she moved to hang up her chosen clothes in the wardrobe and pick up her boots to clean, her phone rang.

Ah, Aunt Fife. She had a special ringtone for her uncle and aunt but she just knew instinctively that it was her aunt.

"Aunty, good evening."

"Shades baby. Good evening," her aunt responded enthusiastically. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, ma. And you and Uncle?" Fola continued cleaning her boots with her phone on speaker mode.

"We are both fine, thank God. How was your day? And how are you finding the city?"

"It's been okay so far. I'm still adjusting though."

"That's expected, dear. I just called to check on you."

"Awwww. Thank you, ma. Take care of yourself and my love to Uncle too."

"I will and he will hear. Take care of yourself too. Good night, sweetheart." Aunt Fife made kissing noises that made her giggle and she responded in kind.

The giggles didn't end even after dropping her phone. Her aunt was always so sweet and she was thankful for her.

Fola checked for the time and gasped. Time for bed, especially if I want to wake up early for service.