What a night!

1/4 of “Fiction and feelings” (through the lens of the gospel).

For some reason, here I was, up in the middle of the night, leaning against the cool kitchen countertop. After a while, I began pacing, trying to shake off the restlessness within me until the sudden flicker of lights made me freeze. Tina, my older brother's wife, now frightened, stood before me, her beige sleek nightdress shimmering in the brightness.

And there was a caught! Oh, God. Now, I had some explaining to do. Where do I even begin?

“Gosh! Opeyemi, you startled me…” Tina said, staring at me. “Wait, what are you doing alone in the dark at 4a.m?” she asked, her voice laced with a hint of trepidation, eyeing me suspiciously.

I chuckled lightly trying to defuse the tension. Then, I took a sip from my glass of water, which was the reason I came down to the kitchen in the first place, until I realized the kitchen wasn't all that bad for some thinking at bedtime. If I sucked at cooking, at least now I know that when I eventually build a house, my future kitchen will have a purpose I'd enjoy.

“I promise you, I'm not a creep.” I said, in a lame attempt to reassure Tina. “It’s interesting really… I seem to process things better in the dark, you know?”

Tina's gaze lingered, her hand still on her temple. "And HOW do I know that's the truth?" she asked, her tone playful but with an undercurrent of seriousness. Well, in fairness, I do owe her an explanation, since it was her idea that I stayed in their home while running my internship program.

I hesitated, fully noticing her sleek night dress, one I hadn't noticed yet since I started staying with them a month ago. Is it weird that I speak as though I’m a shareholder of their closet? I'm quite the observant sister, you see? Anyway, THIS night dress did justice to what a beautiful body Tina had. If I weren’t under scrutiny right now, I could have told Mrs Philips to give me a 360, so I could appreciate my brother’s good thing all round.

“Wait—what are you and my brother up to this time? Ew! married folks.” I teased, rolling my eyes, trying to divert attention from my own awkwardness.

Tina rolled her eyes, too. “Opeyemi, I’m not even buying all that right now. And, not like I owe you an explanation but we ACTUALLY just rounded up our prayers and I needed to get some milk to help me sleep” she replied in a feigned defensive tone.

I snickered, “Hm. Midnight prayers, of course, Mrs Philips.”

In a fraction of a second, she grabbed my hand, leading the way to the dining table and sat me down. “Oya, madam, the earlier you start confessing, the better for both of us. Your plans to turn this around on me and Joba have been successfully thwarted upon arrival.”

The dim lighting cast a cozy glow on us, and just then I realized that Tina's expression had softened. She reached out, placing a reassuring hand on my arm. “Opeyemi, do you want to talk to me about what the matter is?”

I let out a much-needed sigh, reminding myself that this was Tina, a safe space. While many claim to have sisters-in-law, Tina and I referred to each other as sisters-in-love, not just because it's the warmer option. Before she came into the picture, my brother was everything to me–he was sibling, father, and mother all at once because we had been orphans from a tender age. At first, the thought of having to share him with someone else–someone who would be closer to him than I'd ever be, initially left me feeling unsettled, threatened and insecure. It took a while for me to come around and get all chummy with Tina. However, since we started getting along, I’ve learnt a lot of invaluable life lessons and godly counsel from her.

Her effect on me began to work, and soon tears were welling up my eyes as the softie that I’ve always been.

“So, here's the thing. I was on my way out of work when I overheard gossip going around in the office about me. Some people were making snide comments about my ideas and contribution. They seem to have a problem with the fact that this intern is inquisitive. If that were all, perhaps I could handle it. But they went as far as to concoct lies about me flirting with the boss. How demeaning is that?” My sobs were louder now. Tina just listened, stroking my shoulders and allowing me to express all I was feeling. She knew how much I disliked being told, “stop crying” so she didn't utter the word. Her presence was soothing as she stayed silent with me for a few minutes afterwards. Finally, I looked up to her with a soft smile, and Tina got the cue that I wanted her to go ahead.

“I’m so sorry to hear that you went through this, my darling. No one deserves to be picked on like this, and certainly not my sister! It's totally unacceptable. You need to speak with your HR next week. In the past few weeks, I've seen how thorough and diligent you’ve been at what you do. You shined your light so bright, it wreaked havoc among the familiar spirits.”

At the mention of familiar spirits, I burst into laughter. “Familiar what?” This time, we both laughed.

Then I said, “Now that I think about it, it's so silly that I'm losing my sleep because of this. But yeah, can't seem to help it. My reputation is very important to me, Tina. Plus, there's something about gossip that has made me uneasy and defenseless since I was young.”

“Opeyemi, I totally understand you. Gossip is truly ghetto. Not only when it's our reputation that's in question, but others, too. I know you feel hurt and betrayed right now. But hey, you're not defenseless, okay? God knows how to defend and vindicate his children. This doesn't mean you should suppress how you feel–your feelings are valid–but you must think about what holds true for you. That, my dear, is your anchor at all times, most especially in times like this.”

Tina’s statement heightened an impulse for me, and I found myself making exuberant declarations. “I am Opeyemi Aduke Philips–a child of God. He fights for me, and I hold my peace. All things are working together for my good. The Lord of heaven's armies is for me. And as for these people who do not know any better, I choose to forgive their insolence. I won't see them any differently. God will help me love and honour them.” I let out a satisfactory sigh.

“Amen! You go, girl. God's got you. You know, while you were speaking, I realized that it's funny how our ears perk up and even lose sleep over the fact that we care too much about what other people think about us. In all honesty, are we just as eager to know God's mind concerning us? Do reminders that we're loved, chosen, cherished, helped, surrounded, defended, and so forth keep us in delightful meditation on nights like this?”

I snapped my fingers in agreement. “I know right! That makes so much sense.” We made more small talk, linking our discussion with more stories and testimonies and sharing hearty laughs in between.

Few moments later, my sleepyhead brother, Joba, appeared in the doorway, looking both surprised and not surprised at the same time. Only God knows how Joba balances different facial expressions at once. I've never seen anyone with a more flexible, good-looking face.

“I’m here to fetch my wife. Thank you very much for keeping her out here counseling in the middle of the night” he said, clearing his throat.

“Oh! She's all yours, big brother. So, you're not even going to ask what we've been talking about?” I asked, my arms akimbo.

“Nope.” Joba replied in a curt, agbaya tone “I’m confident she did a good job for two already. Right, wifey?” He placed a kiss or two four on his favourite parts of Tina’s face as she smiled coyly in his embrace, both of them looking satisfactorily finished. God abeg.

At this display, I stood up to take my leave but not without another taunt. “Time for another prayer session, perhaps?” I teased. “Pray for me o.”

“Baby session this time” Joba snickered with a ready answer.

“TMI, Joba. Too much information. Leave my girl alone.” Tina retorted, trying to playfully retrieve her waist from Joba’s grasp. He doesn't let her off that easily, and Tina gives him a knowing look because he had the whole signature ‘kiss me’ irresistible look on his face. Again, ew!

Know what? I've had my share of watch-and-learn episodes from these two. I groaned, feigning irritation at their affectionate display even though I loved to see it. Muttering a thank you to Tina after giving her a brief, bear hug, I slipped back into the kitchen to take another glass of water. Water therapy, who?

Hopefully I don't turn off the lights again and resume my worries–this time about why I'm still single. No thanks to Joba and Tina’s PDA that give those thoughts free rein sometimes.

Oh, what a night! Or morning. Thankfully, it's saturday, and I can sleep in.

---

Ta-da! Yep, as promised. Happy new month, friends. Were you blessed by this? Let me know in the comments.

Your Safe Haven 💜

was correct from the feedback of the last newsletter– individual (short) stories will be featured every Friday in August. I hope you would thoroughly enjoy these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them. Thank you for reading. 💛

[Fun fact: I wrote the first draft of this story while I was taking a quick break from studying for exams earlier in June, and it was at midnight! Asides from developing the characters and their conversation, I didn't change much, except that “Joba” had a different name prior. Ok, bye!]

🚨Up next - “PAPER HEARTS” (coming 09.08.2024)

Yours in Quality time,

Adebola🦋.