They stared at each other for what felt like eternity. Soon, it became awkward, with each looking for a way to break it off. For NK, it was the prompt to move forward in the queue, and for Bonah, it was her phone vibrating. NK quickly reached out for his travelling spectacles and worn it as quickly as his hands located it. For Bonah, it was a phone call reminding her to send some information through before her flight.
The check-in queue moved slowly with both NK and Bonah awkwardly avoiding eye contact but still stealing glances. When it was NK’s turn to check in, the computer needed a reboot, delaying the process and causing Bonah to be next, after him. She was standing right behind him, and NK could feel her presence. “Should he turn and smile at her to break the tension?”he wondered. “Has she even noticed me, or is it my imagination that she has?” Bonah felt nervous standing behind him. “Will he turn, so I smile at him?” She also wondered. “Or should I intentionally bump into him when I am called to the counter to get his attention and start a conversation?”
The airline staff smiled at NK and assured him that he would soon be checked in. NK nodded and gathered the courage to turn, make eye contact with Bonah, smile, and try to start a conversation. However, when he turned, Bonah was on her phone with a big smile on her face, as she appeared to be exchanging messages with someone. The airline staff prompted NK that he was ready to be checked in, and as NK turned to respond, Bonah also lifted her head, missing NK’s attempt to catch her attention.
Bonah’s check-in was smooth, and as she headed to the immigration and security, she wondered why she involuntarily agreed to a single seat. NK was standing next to her at the check-in counter, and she could have just said to his hearing that she wanted to be seated next to him to catch his attention. But alas, as her flirting skills are in the negative, so she did not. “Oh, when Asibi hears this, she is going to give her a long lecture of how she should know the ‘times and seasons’ and act accordingly,” she chuckled. “Bonah, you need to up your game.” She chastised herself. She checked the time and realised that she needed to quickly complete the immigration and security checks to have enough time to send the information to her boss. Otherwise, he would miss the deadline.
NK completed the immigration and security checks before Bonah and decided to wait for her. He positioned himself in a way that would allow him to catch her attention. However, Bonah zoomed past him as though she was Usaina Bolt, giving him no chance to catch her attention. He decided to proceed to the boarding gate and look for another chance. But on arriving at the boarding gate, he saw Bonah busily working on her laptop. She was fully engaged just like she was when he saw her at Bole International Airport. She spent all the waiting time, including the flight delays, busily typing and clicking away on her laptop to the extent that when it was time for boarding, she was the last in the queue. “Perhaps I can get her attention at Murtala,” NK assured himself.
Their flight arrived later than scheduled. Thankfully, immigration was smooth, so they spent less time there. They both proceeded to the luggage carousel as they both appeared to be responding to texts and calls. Bonah’s driver needed her to grab her luggage as quickly as possible so he could make it to his next pick-up. NK was speaking to Seun, who was at the airport to pick him up. As they each sorted out their pick ups, they continuously glanced around to look for each other.
One of NK’s luggage arrived first, and he looked in Bonah’s way to check if her one luggage had arrived. It had not. “Good, at least I can catch her before she goes.” NK thought. Bonah also checked if NK had picked up both his luggage, but he had not. “Good, we will pick up our luggage at the same time and head out at the same time. Then, I will find a way to draw his attention.” Bonah thought. “Those dark spectacles make it very difficult to know if he has noticed me or not. To know if he also feels what is going on.”
Just as Bonah’s luggage arrived, her driver called again. She made an attempt to go to NK, but he was on a call and appeared to be more interested in getting his luggage. She decided to head out and hoped that NK would be staying in a hotel on the island, and it would be the same hotel. NK ended the call, picked up his second luggage, and quickly turned to go to Bonah, but she was gone. “But the call was only for a few minutes? When did she pick her luggage up? Will she be staying on the mainland and in the same hotel?” Asked a confused and disappointed NK.
Kotoka, Bole, and Murtala! Three Airports! And I still miss the chance to convince her to be mine!