. . . .

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***

Living in constant pain is something I'll never wish on anyone. Not even my enemies. Which brings me to the question, do I have enemies?

"Maybe the one who cursed you?" My subconscious reminds me.

But this line of thought is not important. What is important is that, for once in my broken life, the pain seem to reduce. Somehow.

Is it because I've found a way to live with my old friends?

Yes, they don't remember me for who I was, but they do know me now, as a person.

I can live with that.

Knowing that I didn't have to start all over again with strangers brings a very bright smile to my face.

Why haven't I tried this before?

Before, I feared rejection. I was scared to approach those who once knew me because they would have called me a mad woman.

Who wouldn't?

How could I have claimed to know everything about them when I couldn't even remember my own name? Or where I came from? Who my parents were? Who I was?

I would have been tagged mad for sure.

"Hey, Shaftey!" Uche chirps happily, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Hey," I greet back, smiling at him.

"Dey try calm down with that smile of yours! Abi, are you trying to seduce me?" He says, playfully covering his face causing me to release a happy chuckle almost dropping the folded towel in my hands.

Uche is good looking, and he never fails to point it out.

He has a lean structure with a round face. His straight nose, full lips and smooth light brown skin, add extra points to his handsomeness.

"You never finish?" He says, his eyes roaming between my hands and the stack of towels I am now fixing.

"I am done with it. I'm just making sure everything is in place," I reply with a small smile.

"Oya follow me, let's go meet Sandra. She'll be so excited to see you." Again, he doesn't wait for my response before he begins walking out of the room. I give a final inspection of my work and follow him out, a satisfied smile laying on my lips.

I have a job.

I have my friends, who don't assume I am mad.

"Quit smiling like that, people will think you stole something," Uche warns with a stern voice.

I straighten my face quickly, not wanting to draw any negative attention to myself. Now that everything seem perfect, I do not want it to change. I need it to remain this way.

"See as your mouth close, sharp sharp! I dey play oh!" Uche blurts, bursting into a low laugh, that eases the eternal pain in my heart.

Relishing the peaceful feeling of his presence, I follow him to the elevator. Soon enough, the elevator opens, revealing a very large room, different from the one I came in through this morning.

The brown carpet here has patches of faded green flowers that add to the ensemble of the place. If I were the decorator, I would have chosen a different color for the carpets though.

Uche leads me to the receptionist desk where Sandra is scribbling into a book.

"Look who I found!" Uche announces our presence.

Sandra's eyes leave the book and a smile implants itself on her face as she sees Uche. A little confusion passes through her eyes as she sees me but her smile remains. "Hy!" She says to me as we get closer.

The air around her is so calming, better than the open night air that eases my pain. Better than the calming sensation Uche and the entire hotel brings to me. I resist the urge to run into her arms and remain there forever.

It wasn't like this before, what has changed?

"What are you doing here?" She asks, her soothing voice a mixture of honey and milk.

"I work here," I reply, masking the confusion I feel in my heart with a smile.

When did the air around her begin to ease my pain?

"Won't you ask me how I found her?" Uche questions, a frown on his face.

He has never enjoyed been ignored.

I smile at that, at least something is still normal.

Moving her brown eyes to him, "knowing you, it'll probably be a fake story."

"Really! I be liar, now?" He barks, tapping his foot dramatically on the brown carpet beneath him.

"Yes, you are a liar, Uche. Na today?" She closes the book in front of her and comes out to meet us,"so, my shift is officially over, let's go to my room and catch up, shall we?" She says, holding out her hands to - me. The gesture makes my entire being feel like my curse didn't activate.

When did Sandra start easing my pain?

Not wanting to kill the moment, I hold unto her hand like my entire life depends on it. Together, we start advancing to the elevator once again.

"You are really doing this, abi?" Uche demands with a pout, behind us.

"Don't do that with your mouth, it kills your glow!" Sandra warns playfully.

He comically wipes off the pout from his face and replaces it with a smile, "oya, bribe me with gist so I can follow the two of you."

"I have a date tomorrow night," Sandra says squinting at him.

"Mad!" He squeals happily, "I want full details! As soon as you finish interrogating, Shaftey, sha."

"You are a fool," Sandra tells him, a smile playing on her face. "Is that really your name?" She asks me, a small frown replacing her smile.

"No, I'm S-sewa," I mutter with a little hesitation. The name still came out a little strange from between my lips.

"Awwww that's nice. Sewa -you are truly beautiful," she says admiring me, "see your skin na, just like a goddess!" She exclaims.

I smile, another thing that hasn't changed.

Sandra's obsession with gods and goddesses.

"Na every body be goddess for your eyes," Uche hisses, voicing out my thought. She really takes every good looking person to be supernatural.

"Abeg, tell me about the date jarey, what does he look like and what does he do for a living. Hope money dey sha?" Uche bombards Sandra with questions.

"He looks rich," Sandra begins with dreamy eyes.

"Looks can deceive babe. Did you see his car? What model is it?" Uche inquires, interrupting her dreamy description.

"If I talk now you guys will shout," Sandra says, her cheeks getting flushed.

Okay, this guy must really be something. Five months of being with Sandra, she has never blushed while talking about anyone- except when she spoke about African gods.

"Na Dangote son?" Uche demands, his dark eyes tinkling with hope and excitement.

"You wish!" She tells him, her face still flushed.

Maybe she finally met a god- Sângo perhaps.

"Wait- you finally jam all those gods you talk about?" Uche asks- again voicing my inner thoughts. Sandra is truly an open book. She has always been.

"No. . ." She says, looking anywhere but our eyes.

"No?" I ask her, my own smile mirroring hers. We reach her door and rather than give us an answer, she opens the door and runs inside.

"Abi this one dey whine me?" Uche tells me. He rushes into the room after her and I follow closely behind him. "Hesssssss, Sandra! Start talking! Did you meet Amadioha?" He screams.

"No. . .I didn't meet Amadioha. But this guy really looks like a-"

"God!" Uche and I chorus, before we both start laughing.

Everyone that passes the cute bar in Sandra's world is automatically a god.

"I am serious! Even his brother looked like that. I couldn't stop myself from staring. I found myself lost within the depths of his golden eyes-"

"Wait- who are you crushing on now, the guy or his brother?" Uche demands.

"The guy himself! His brother is cute too but. . .the guy-"

"The one with the golden eyes?" I ask.

"Yes, that one. I can't wait for tomorrow night." She hugs her pillow and looks to her ceiling dreamily. "I have to search for the perfect dress!" She chirps, jumping to her wardrobe.

"Sandra, it's tomorrow, relax." I laugh.

"So? Don't you know how time flies?" Sandra retorts.

"I am coming with you!" Uche interjects.

Sandra stops ransacking her wardrobe and glares at him, "and what will give you the idea that I want you to come with me?"

"Baby girl, I have to come around to protect you," he says calmly, crossing his hands under his lean chest, "what if they are kidnappers?"

"They can't be kidnappers," she says but furrows her eye brow, something she does when she is thinking.

"Rapists. Rapists are trending now oh," Uche says with seriousness, causing Sandra to glare at him.

"Sewa should come with me," she says with a wide smile.

"How now!" Uche exclaims, his face close to tears.

"Sandra, you should go with him. I have to clean some rooms tomorrow. I won't have the time," I say to Sandra. Uche's face lights up in the brightest of smiles as he looks to her with expectation.

"Fine. We'll go. But you must promise not to misbehave!" She tells him.

"I promise!" He gives her a tight hug and runs to do the same to me.

As much as I am excited for her to go on a date with a guy she is clearly crushing on, I can't help the strange feeling tugging at the rims of my heart.

"What's his name?" I ask her.

"Anteros."

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Thank you for reading!
It means the world to me❤

Fact:
Amadioha and Sango are actually real African gods!