Femi woke up before his alarm.
He lay on his back for a few seconds, staring at the ceiling, heart already awake before the rest of him. It wasn’t nervousness exactly. It was something softer. Hope, maybe. The careful kind that doesn’t want to rush God.
He rolled to his side and reached for his phone. No new message from her. He smiled anyway.
He knelt beside his bed.
“Father, thank you for a new day” he began quietly, hands clasped, “Thank You for guiding my steps and ordering my path. Lord, I commit Tammy into your hands. If she is not mine, please guard my heart. And if she is… soften hers toward me. Let me not rush what You are building. Let me not pretend it actually perfect. Let me be who You want me to be.”
He paused.
“And please, let her feel at ease with me today. Sincerely and genuinely”
That last part slipped out without planning.
When he stepped into the kitchen later that morning, his mother was already frying something. The house smelled like sugar and nutmeg.
“Ọkọ mi. How was your night’s rest?” She asked.
“It was fine, ma. E kaaro, ma.” He greeted, leaving a peck on her cheek.
“You dressed up really fine for this outing oo,” she observed without turning.
“Mummy!! It’s just a coffee date. Nothing more,” he replied, reaching for a cup.
“Mmm.” She scooped golden pieces of chin chin from hot oil onto a tray. “You said that last week too.”
He smiled to himself.
She wiped her hands on her apron and studied him properly. “You like this lady alot. I can see it. It is very clear.”
He didn’t answer immediately.
“I do, mum,” he said finally. “I really like her. I just hope she feels same way”
His mother’s expression softened. She began filling a small paper bag with the chin chin, tying it neatly at the top with a thin ribbon she kept in a drawer for no reason other than being a mother.
“Take this for her,” she said. “Don’t go empty-handed.”
“Mummy, it’s not a proposal. It’s just a date.” he murmured
She raised a brow. “It starts somewhere.”
He kissed her cheek before leaving.
“Make sure you bring her home soon,” she added as he reached the door. “I want to see the girl that made my reserved son go out more than once in three weeks.”
He froze for half a second.
Then laughed.
When she opened the door that evening, he forgot the speech he had practiced in the car.
She looked simple and soft. Effortless in a way that made him nervous because he knew she didn’t even try.
“Good evening, Tammy” he managed.
Her brother appeared beside her almost immediately, protective stance already loading.
Femi extended his hand first.
“You must be the famous younger brother.”
Tobi eyed him, then shook his hand. “Depends who is asking.”
“Oluwatobiloba Tolulope Adesina!!” Tammy scolded.
Femi chuckled. “Fair enough. I’m Femi.”
“I know.”
There was a beat of silence.
“So,” he said lightly, “I hear you’re heading back to school today.”
The boy nodded. “Yes. I have to be at the park by four. My bus leaves by five.”
“What are you studying?”
“Mechanical engineering.”
Femi’s eyebrows lifted. “Ah. So you’re the serious one in the family.”
“I have to be.”
There was weight behind that sentence and Femi caught it.
“Do you like the course?” Femi asked gently.
A shrug. “It’s fine.”
“Fine is relative,” Femi replied. “You should either like it or be working toward what you like.”
The boy studied him more carefully now with more curiosity.
“What did you study in school?” Tobi asked.
“Accounting.”
“Do you like it?”
Femi smiled. “Some days. Other days I remind myself why I chose it.”
“Which is?”
“Stability first. My passion can grow later.”
Tobi nodded slowly, considering that.
“Are you planning to marry my sister?” he asked suddenly.
Tammy choked behind them.
Femi didn’t flinch.
“I’m planning to get to know her well,” he answered calmly. “If God allows, and she wants that too, then we will cross that bridge.”
Tobi narrowed his eyes. “You won’t waste her time?”
“Not at all.”
The answer came without hesitation.
“And you won’t rush her?”
“No.”
“And you won’t try to control her?”
Femi smiled and shook his head. “Your sister doesn’t look like someone that can be controlled.”
A small smile tugged at the Tobi’s mouth despite himself.
Femi leaned slightly closer, lowering his voice just enough to shift the tone.
“You love your sister very much.”
Tobi’s shoulders straightened. “Of course I do. She raised me.”
Femi nodded. “Then I have to respect that. I’m not here to replace you. I just want to stand beside her. If she lets me.”
That did it.
The tension left the room slowly, like air easing out of a balloon.
When the conversation shifted to school and buses and traffic, it felt easier. Femi asked about hostel food. Joked about surviving on noodles. Promised to send him money when he needed it.
By the time they stepped outside, the boy was carrying his box and talking freely.
When they got to the park to drop him off, on their way to the cafe, before closing the car door, he leaned back in.
“He’s a good man. I approve,” he whispered to Tammy.
“Get away from here, this child!!” Tammy blushed and hugged him quickly promising to send him extra cash by month end.
Femi pretended to scroll through his phone, but his ears burned.
As they drove off, he allowed himself one quiet breath of gratitude.
He had prayed that morning for her heart.
He hadn’t realized he would need her brother’s too.
The coffee shop was warm in that familiar Abuja way low lighting, soft instrumentals humming faintly from hidden speakers, the scent of roasted beans wrapping around everything like a blanket.
Femi held the door open for her.
By the time they settled into the coffee shop properly, Tammy had already adjusted her hair twice and checked her lip gloss in her phone camera.
Femi pretended not to notice.
They ordered and moved to a corner table near the window.
“Okay but why are some coffee shops always dim? Are we hiding from people or what?”
He laughed under his breath. “It’s for reflection purposes.”
“Na so!!! My brother, It’s for couples,” she corrected.
He pulled out her chair before sitting opposite her. “And which one are we?”
“By the way, I am not your brother” he added.
She didn’t reply. She just rolled her eyes still smiling.
When the drinks arrived, he slid the small paper bag he was holding across the table toward her.
“My mum sent this.”
She blinked. “Your mum?”
“Yes. She made chin chin. She said I shouldn’t come empty-handed.”
Her fingers paused on the ribbon before she looked up at him.
“She… knows about me?”
“I told her I’m seeing someone I like.”
The word settled somewhere deep in her chest.
She tried to brush it off. “So I’m now chin chin-worthy.”
“You are,” he said quietly.
There was no teasing in his tone.
She cleared her throat quickly and opened the bag to distract herself.
“Ahnahnnn.. This smells like niceeee.”
She picked one and popped it into her mouth, chewing happily.
“Mmmmm.. It is so crunchy. Have some’ she gave him some pieces of the chin chin.
A few crumbs clung stubbornly to the edge of his beard while he ate the chin chin.
She stared at him for a second.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Don’t move.”
She reached forward instinctively and brushed the crumbs off his beard with her fingers.
The moment stretched and her hand lingered longer than necessary.
She suddenly became aware of how close she was.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered, trying to pull her hand back quickly.
He didn’t let it go immediately.
Instead, he gently held her fingers, lifted her hand slightly, and placed a soft peck on the back of it.
Her heart did something very embarrassing inside her chest.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said, trying to sound normal.
“I wanted to,” he replied calmly. “Also, you saved my beard.”
She laughed nervously and finally pulled her hand back.
Then he looked at her properly.
“Do you know something?” he said.
She narrowed her eyes playfully. “If you’re about to preach to me, let me prepare myself.”
He chuckled. “I was going to say I feel very lucky.”
“Lucky how?”
“To be sitting across from you.”
Her mouth parted slightly.
“You’re very beautiful, Tammy.”
The way he said it wasn’t loud. It wasn’t smooth or rehearsed.
It was matter-of-fact.
She looked away immediately, pretending to adjust her cup.
“Ah. Don’t start,” she said softly. “I’ll forget myself and start misbehaving”
He leaned back, smiling. “I’m serious.”
She could feel her ears getting warm.
To distract herself, she opened her Bible.
“Okay, Mr Lucky. Let’s do this Bible study before we forget why we are here.”
He laughed again.
They pulled out their Bibles after a while. It wasn’t stiff or overly spiritual.
He suggested they read 1 Corinthians 13, not the wedding part everybody quotes, but the full chapter.
“Love is patient,” he read.
Tammy snorted. “I don’t like that verse.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not patient. Especially when someone offends me.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Patience is easier when you trust the outcome.”
She tilted her head. “You talk like an old man.”
“Thank you, young girl.”
She laughed.
As they talked, she loosened up completely. She argued loudly about forgiveness.
“I love God and I love the bible oo. But what do you mean that if somebody annoys me twenty times I should just be smiling?”
“No, you should communicate.”
“Communicate? I will communicate with fire. Even Prophet Elijah called fire down on his enemies”
He shook his head, amused.
He looked at her then.
“What part of this chapter do you struggle with personally?” he asked.
She didn’t expect the question to be so direct.
She traced the edge of her cup with her finger. “Love that keeps no record of wrong.”
He nodded slowly. “That one requires healing.”
She exhaled.
“And humility,” he added gently.
She scoffed. “I’m humble.”
He raised an eyebrow.
She burst out laughing. “Okay fine. I’m working on it.”
The conversation flowed easily after that. They weren’t trying to impress each other with theology. They talked about what love looked like practically. What forgiveness actually cost. Whether submission was cultural or spiritual. She argued loudly at one point and almost knocked over her drink.
“You see why they dim the lights,” he said calmly, steadying the cup before it spilled. “So nobody sees how dramatic you are.”
She pointed at him playfully with her eyes squinted. “I am not that dramatic joor. You have not even seen the real me.”
She didn’t even realize when her shoulders relaxed fully. When she stopped sitting upright and began leaning forward on her elbows. When her laughter became the real one, the one that didn’t sound measured.
She teased him about his calmness.
“Why are you always this calm? Do you ever shout?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Not even when you’re angry?”
“I try to control my emotions and sometimes I pray first.”
“That is so irritatingly mature.”
He grinned.
At that moment, her phone rang.
She glanced at the screen and gasped. “Valerie.”
“Go ahead and answer her,” he encouraged.
She didn’t step away. She just put it on speaker without thinking.
“Hello, troublemaker,” Valerie’s voice rang out.
“I’m on a date, madam.” Tammy announced immediately.
Femi blinked, amused.
“Ohhhh?” Valerie dragged the sound dramatically. “With Pastor or Drummer?”
Tammy burst out laughing. “Neither. Relax tiger. It’s Femi”
Femi shook his head, smiling into his cup.
“Put him on. Let me talk to that man that took my babe out without my permission.” Valerie demanded.
Tammy looked at him with a smile. “She wants to inspect you.”
“I’m ready,” he said calmly.
She angled the phone toward him.
“Good evening,” he greeted politely.
“Hiii…” Valerie replied.
“I am Valerie, her best friend and I know you are Femi.”
“Yes. I am Femi.” He smiled.
“Nice. How’s the date going? Hope she’s not stressing you at all?”
“Not at all. I am having the best time of my life.” He said looking directly at Tammy
Tammy blushed and instantly looked away.
“Hmm,” Valerie responded. “You sound like a good person.”
“I try my best,” he replied calmly.
“Just so you know, she’s a drama queen.”
“I’ve noticed,” he said gently. “I’m enjoying it.”
Tammy gasped and smacked his arm lightly.
Valerie laughed loudly. “I can’t wait to meet you. We’ll plan a double date when you’re both free.”
Tammy rolled her eyes. “Madam!! You go try relax oo. We just came out.”
“Na you sabi. I wasn’t talking to you.”
After they exchanged a few more jokes, the call ended.
Tammy placed her phone down slowly.
“She likes you,” she said.
“I like her already,” he replied.
“Ah. Don’t like her too much. She’s married”
He laughed quietly.
Tammy rolled her eyes but she couldn’t hide the way her heart fluttered.
She looked at him.
“You’re not bored?”
“No.”
“Not overwhelmed?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
He reached across the table gently and held her hands.
“I prayed this morning,” he said softly.
“For what?”
“That your heart will open up to me. Enough for me to see it.”
Her breathing slowed.
“And?” she asked quietly.
He squeezed her fingers once. “I think it’s opening.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. So she smiled.
The evening stretched gently. They talked about childhood memories. About grief, briefly, carefully. He didn’t push when her tone shifted. He didn’t probe wounds like he wanted to dissect them. He simply acknowledged them and moved on when she did.
And that did something to her.
At one point she realized she was telling him a ridiculous story about secondary school and acting it out with hand gestures.
“You see why I was always in trouble?” she said dramatically.
“Honestly if I was your classmate, I would have voted you class captain, or head girl” he replied.
She blinked. “Why?”
“You have this aura that commands respect without even trying.”
Her heart skipped.
The way he said it didn’t feel like flattery. It felt like an observation.
By the time they stood to leave, she felt lighter than she had in weeks.
When they stepped out of the coffee shop, the night air felt softer than usual.
Femi walked her to the car, not rushing, his hand resting lightly at the small of her back as they crossed the parking lot. Tammy tried not to overthink how natural it felt.
The drive to her place was easy.
When they got to her gate, her chest tightened a little.
He came down to open the door for her.
“Thank you,” she said, stepping out.
He leaned against the car slightly, looking at her in a way that made her suddenly shy.
“I enjoyed today,” he said.
She smiled. “I know. You ate half of my chin chin.”
“Sorry, Ma,” he smiled and continued, his voice softer now. “I’m really getting used to being with you.”
Her heartbeat shifted.
“Getting used to me?” she teased.
“Yes. You’re… easy to be around.”
She didn’t know why that sentence settled so deeply in her.
He stepped closer, slow enough for her to step back if she wanted to. She didn’t.
He leaned in and placed a gentle peck on her cheek.
Her breath caught.
“Pray about us,” he said quietly.
She blinked. “Us?”
“Yes. I’m praying too. I don’t want to rush anything. I just want God to guide it.”
For a second, she almost laughed to ease the intensity. But she didn’t.
Instead, she nodded.
“I will,” she said softly. “I promise.”
He smiled in that calm way of his.
“Goodnight, Tammy.”
“Goodnight, Femi.”
She watched his car disappear down the street before she exhaled properly.
The moment she entered her house and locked the door, she didn’t even remove her shoes before grabbing her phone.
Valerie picked on the first ring.
“Eh heh?” Valerie said immediately. “Oya report yourself.”
Tammy burst into laughter.
“Calm down na!”
“I will not calm down. How was it?”
Tammy flopped onto her couch dramatically.
“It was… nice.”
“Nice?” Valerie repeated suspiciously. “Only nice?”
“Okay fine. It was very nice.”
Valerie squealed loudly on the other end.
“See ehn, I like him already.”
“You’ve only spoken to him for two minutes, Mrssssss.”
“That’s enough. I can tell. He’s humble, he’s calm, he’s respectful. And he’s not proud.”
Tammy smiled to herself.
“He even brought me chin chin from his mum.”
Valerie gasped. “You see? That’s what I’m talking about. That’s a proper man.”
Tammy laughed. “Val, don’t hype him too much.”
“I’m serious. He’s rich but you can’t even tell. No unnecessary show off. Loves God. Kind. Very composed. Not those regular Abroadeeee boys that come back and start forming accent.”
Tammy burst into laughter. “IJGB behaviour.”
“Exactly! He’s not giving that vibe at all.”
She grew quiet for a moment.
“I don’t know sha,” Tammy admitted softly.
Valerie’s voice dropped too. “What don’t you know?”
“I’m not sure how I feel about him yet.”
“That’s okay.”
“I mean… I like being with him. I feel calm. But I don’t know if it’s… you know.”
“Fireworks?” Valerie asked gently.
“Yes.”
Valerie hummed thoughtfully.
“Tammy, you’ve chased fireworks before. How did that end?”
Tammy sighed.
“In tears.”
“Exactly. Maybe this time it’s not about noise. Maybe it’s about peace.”
She swallowed.
“At least I’m going out with someone I actually like,” she said lightly. “After how many years.”
“And that’s a big step,” Valerie replied. “You’re comfortable with him. That matters.”
Tammy leaned back into her couch.
“He told me to pray about us.”
Valerie smiled through her voice. “Good. I was going to say that too. Please pray. And I’ll support you no matter what you decide. If it’s him, I’m here. If it’s not him, I’m still here.”
Tammy’s throat tightened unexpectedly.
“Thank you,Val” she said quietly.
“Always,” Valerie replied. “You deserve something good, Tammy. Don’t sabotage it because it feels unfamiliar.”
After they ended the call, Tammy sat in silence.
She replayed the night.
The way he looked at her.
The way he held her hand.
The way he said he felt lucky.
She closed her eyes.
“God,” she whispered into the quiet room, “I like being with him. I really enjoy it. Help me to love him right or even like him.”
And somewhere in the back of her mind, she tried not to compare the calm she felt tonight with the quiet, unsettling peace she had once felt standing in a supermarket aisle beside a man with diapers in his cart.
She shook the thought away quickly.
“Focus, madam” she muttered to herself.
Tonight was about Femi.
And for the first time in a long time, she wasn’t completely afraid of hope.
It’s like we need to go to the mountain on behalf of Tammy ooo🥹🥹. She is falling hard….
Butttt… Femi is such a spec sha…..
See you guys on Sunday for a fresh episode 😍😍😉😉
Kindly share and restack oo. Your engagement will fuel my ginger to write and post🥹🙏
That is a hard space to be in 🥹 I don’t envy her!
Listen... I think my heart is already breaking, because... Femi seems like a great guy , and for the fact that the cover image shows us a man with the child we know Femi is not the one. So I pray God comforts them . Whatever conflict needs to happen should happen fast so they can heal faster