Chapter Two:

The afternoon breeze carried dust and laughter through the same roadside Peace had once sworn never to pass again. But life, in its strange rhythm, has a way of circling back to the places we try to forget.

She had just finished her last lecture and decided to take a shortcut to the main road. Her steps slowed when she reached that familiar corner — the one where she’d broken down weeks ago. The memory flickered in her mind like a bruise that never quite healed.

Then she saw him.

Salisu.

He was standing by a small kiosk, sleeves rolled up, helping an old vendor lift crates of bottled drinks into the shade. There was something steady about the way he moved — quiet strength, unhurried, deliberate.

Peace paused, watching for a moment before she found the courage to speak.
“Excuse me…”

He turned, wiping his hands on a rag. For a brief second, confusion crossed his face — then recognition softened it.

“Oh… you,” he said, a small smile forming. “You’re the girl from that day.”

Peace nodded shyly. “Yes. I didn’t get to thank you properly. I’ve actually been hoping to see you again, just to say thank you.”

Salisu chuckled lightly. “You don’t owe me thanks. I only said what needed to be said.”

“I know,” she replied, smiling now. “But still, not everyone would’ve done that. That day was… rough for me.”

He looked at her more closely this time, the way someone studies a face they didn’t really notice before.
“You look better now,” he said. “You were shaking that day.”

She laughed softly. “I was embarrassed.”

He nodded, leaning against the kiosk. “Don’t be. People will always talk, but strength is learning not to listen.”

His words came easy — smooth, confident. And Peace, who had been walking through her days quietly, found herself standing there longer than she planned.

When she finally glanced at the time, she gasped. “Oh, I should be going. I’m late already.”

Salisu reached into his pocket, pulling out a small notepad. “At least let me have your number this time — just in case you ever pass this way again.”

Peace hesitated for a moment. Then she smiled, took his pen, and wrote her number carefully on the paper.

“Thank you,” he said, folding the note. “I’ll check on you sometime — make sure you’re still smiling.”

As she walked away, she felt something unfamiliar — a mix of relief and curiosity. It wasn’t love, not yet. Just the quiet warmth of being seen.

To be continued…..

WRITTEN BY 

UMORU DANIELA JOHN