SAVED BY GRACE- EPISODE 1

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A Military Love Story of Redemption. 

SOTERIA

Can the ground just open and take me? Can I disappear into some endless void where no one remembers this version of me? Would it be easier to face eternal damnation than to stand here, seen like this? I have never felt this stripped, so exposed, so deeply undone. Embarrassment doesn’t even begin to cover it.

I did not think this was how my life would unravel. Not here. Not like this.

On a dusty roadside in A.Y.A  Abuja… bent over like I had no name, no upbringing, no dignity. In broad daylight, I was reduced to survival, squatting beside a roadside shop, my body betraying me in the most public, unforgiving way.

There are certain moments in life where your body betrays you so completely, you stop being a person and become… I don’t even know what to classify this as. It started as a discomfort. A quiet rebellion in my stomach. The kind you ignore because you’re used to being in control of everything—your schedule, your money, your image, your tone, your posture, your life.

Control was my thing. Or at least… I thought it was.

We had just left my friend Amara’s boyfriend’s place. Somewhere in Jikwoyi. Big boy lifestyle, aesthetically pleasing interior, expensive food that looked like art and tasted like confusion.

I just knew deep down when I saw that food that I should not have eaten it.

I shouldn’t 

In all my years of intercontinental dining, I have never seen rice drenched in so much cream and cheese. 

But I laughed.

Because that’s what we do when things feel slightly off we laugh and move on.

Until your stomach twists. Until your throat tightens.

Until your body goes cold in the middle of Abuja heat.

Until your legs start to feel like they don’t belong to you anymore.

“Are you alright?” Amara asked as she drove out of his street. 

My stomach rumbled in response and I kept mute because saying a word will force the fart I was trying so hard to keep in. I twisted my self to face the window and turned off the AC 

“Soteria, you’re sweating. Why did you turn off the AC?”

I shook my head, twisted in my seat again and clutched my stomach.  

Amara was super worried by now. She didn’t know what to do.  When we got to A.Y.A, I couldn’t hold it in again. 

My body was shutting down in layers.

First the dizziness.

Then the sweat.

Then that horrible, humiliating realization creeping in like a whisper:

You are not going to make it.

“I need a bathroom,” I finally said, my voice barely there.

“There’s nothing here,” she replied, looking around.

A.Y.A isn’t the place you want to be searching for dignity. Traffic. Dust. Traders closing their stores as soldiers were doing their routine check.

“I can’t…” I whispered.

And that was the moment. The exact moment. When I lost control.

 “Amara stop the car!!! Please pull over!!” I pleaded, sweats breaking out on my skin. She screeched and halted immediately. I jumped out of the car before she could park properly. 

“Soteria!!!” She screamed but I was already out of the car. 

I hurried to the nearest store and asked the owner if there was any toilet around. The man looked confused and just shook his head. 

I ran to the next store and the owner ignored me. She didn’t even look at me twice. 

At this point, I could barely hold it in. I remember looking around, my vision slightly blurred, my pride already cracking.

I saw a corner that felt hidden enough.

Not hidden… but less visible. And in that moment it felt like mercy.

There was no more holding. No more pretending. No more being Soteria.

I bent down right there on the road in broad daylight.

And I let go.

I wish I could tell you I felt just relief at first.

I didn’t.

I felt horror too.

Because even as my body released what it couldn’t keep in, my mind stayed painfully aware.

Aware of the ground.

Aware of the air.

Aware of the fact that this was real.

That this was happening.

That I, Soteria—daughter of a Major General, embodiment of composure, the girl who walked into rooms and owned them without trying—was squatting beside a roadside store, reduced to nothing .

I shut my eyes. As if that would erase it. As if darkness could protect me.

And just when I thought it was all over, that was when I heard a voice.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS NONSENSE??”

I blinked. Once. Twice. 

Then I shut my eyes again cause I did not even know what to do at this point. I wished the ground would swallow me. 

I looked up from my position on the floor and saw a soldier. I could not see his face as he was wearing a peak cap and sunglasses. 

My lips folded in embarrassment.  “I am sorry, sir.” I squeaked.

He scrunched his nose. 

“Put on your clothes and come out here.” He gruffly said and moved to the front of the store. 

Amara stood on the side of the road, panicking like a child. She was so scared. I could see it in her face. 

She quickly walked up to me with a bottle of water. I washed myself. Wore my Zara pants and adjusted my Fendi shirt. 

She held my hand and we slowly walked to where the soldier was standing. 

‘AA. Gaya’

That was the name I saw velcroed directly above his right breast pocket alongside a rank insignia with three stars clearly visible on the shoulder epaulettes and I immediately knew he was a Captain.  He was dressed in a plain olive green safari style short sleeved jacket with four pockets and combat boot— a service dress they usually wear on Mondays and Fridays. 

What was the captain doing on the roadside?? In a service dress?? I didn’t even have the time to think of the answer to that when he turned to look at me. 

AKILAHYEL

I do not typically perform road side checks or flag down vehicles on a normal day. As a captain in the Nigerian Army, my duty was to command and oversee my team.  But today was different. Naya was coming over today and she asked me to pick her up from the airport by 9pm as she was coming to spend the holidays in my house. I left Lafia by 4pm and got to Abuja around 7pm because of maraba traffic. I decided to come over to the A.Y.A division to see what my unit was up to before heading directly to the airport to pick Naya up. 

I parked by the roadside and stepped out, clasping my hands behind my back as I moved toward the line of makeshift stores. My pace was unhurried, deliberate. I watched the motorists inch forward, some pretending not to notice us, others already calculating how to slip past the personnel carrying out routine checks. It was the usual dance of avoidance, impatience, quiet defiance.

That was exactly why we were there.

Order is not natural to people; it is enforced, maintained, insisted upon. Leave them long enough, and the road becomes a racetrack.

I had seen it too many times. As I passed one of the smaller roadside shops, something caught my attention.

A silhouette. Low to the ground. Still.

The faint glow of the traffic light stretched just enough to outline the figure, casting it in an odd, uncertain shape. For a second, I couldn’t place it. My instincts sharpened immediately.

Anything out of place deserves attention.

I slowed my steps and shifted direction, moving closer. Years of training had wired that into me. You don’t ignore what doesn’t make sense.

The closer I got, the clearer it became.

And then it hit me.

A woman was squatting.

Defecating.

Right there by the roadside. On a public road.

For a brief second, I just stood there, my mind rejecting what my eyes were confirming. Then the irritation surged.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS NONSENSE?!” I barked, my voice cutting through the air before I could restrain it.

She flinched.

Her shoulders tightened, her lashes lowering quickly like she could disappear into herself if she tried hard enough. I still couldn’t see her face clearly, but nothing about her suggested madness or destitution.

She looked… put together. She did not look like someone who had no choice.

Or at least—it didn’t look like it.

So why, on earth, was she here… squatting by the roadside, relieving herself like this?

“I am sorry, sir” she squeaked, still avoiding my eyes.

 I scrunched his nose in irritation. The place reeked so bad. 

“Put on your clothes and come out here.” I said and moved to the front of the store. 

A few minutes later, she approached me. This time with another lady I hadn’t noticed earlier.

That was when I really saw her.

She was wearing denim with a designer top. Clean lines. Intentional styling. Nothing about her looked careless or out of place. She looked… expensive. The kind of woman who knew exactly what she was doing with her appearance.

Which made it worse. Because how does someone like that end up by the roadside minutes earlier?

“Madam… why were you defecating on the road?” I asked, my tone firm, controlled.

She didn’t answer. Her eyes dropped, her shoulders slightly tense. For the first time, the confidence I expected from someone who looked like her… wasn’t there.

She was deeply embarrassed.

Her friend stepped in quickly.

“She’s sorry…..we’re sorry, sir. It wasn’t planned. She ate something bad and we couldn’t find a toilet. It was either the roadside or she would have messed up the car.”

I didn’t react cause it didn’t even make sense to me. 

“I do not care what she ate,” I said flatly, my gaze fixed still on her. “Neither do I care if she messed up your car.”

I took a step closer, my jaw tightening slightly.

“What I do not condone… is stupidity and absolute disorder.”

That was when she looked up. I could see the embarrassment shift into anger.

“I can pay you off if you’re that upset,” she said, her voice sharp now, defensive. “Besides, it’s not like I could control myself. Do I look like those cheap girls that go around embarrassing themselves? Do you think I wanted to be in that situation?”

She scoffed lightly, lifting her chin.

“I am not a small person, and frankly, I don’t care what you think. I’m leaving.”

“Amara, let’s go, abeg,” she added, gesturing to her friend as she turned to walk away.

I moved before I could think. My hand caught her bag.

She gasped, turning sharply.

“My bag! Do you know how much my dad got this?” she snapped, trying to pull it from my grip. “It’s the latest Birkin, he just got it for me on his last trip to Paris!”

I didn’t budge. Her strength meant nothing against mine.

“Shut up!” I snapped, my voice rising for the first time. “You move when I say you should. How dare you walk out on me?”

I hate defiance.

“I am not done with you,” I added, my tone low but dangerous. “Stand back. Now.”

“My bag!” she cried again, her voice tighter this time.

I released it.

She stumbled back slightly, clutching it protectively, her breathing uneven.

Her friend stepped forward immediately, almost shrinking into herself.

“We are sorry, sir. Please… pardon my friend,” her friend said quickly.

She didn’t respond. She just stood there, looking at me like I had offended her simply by existing.

“You are rude,” I said coldly to the denim lady. “And completely uncouth.”

Before she could respond, my phone rang. I glanced at the screen.

Naya baby❤️❤️.

I exhaled once, then looked back at her.

“I’ll let this go,” I said, my tone returning to calm, controlled authority. “I have somewhere to be.”

I paused, letting my gaze rest on her for a second longer.

“But the next time I see you, you won’t go scot-free.”

She scoffed.

“I don’t care who you are,” she replied, her voice laced with disdain. “It’s just obvious you don’t know who my father is.”

She tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing.

“And I genuinely feel sorry for whoever you’re dating. She clearly doesn’t know how insufferably idiotic you are.”

For a second i almost went after her. But my discipline held me.

I stood there, watching as she turned and walked away, her friend trailing behind her quickly.

Then I exhaled, long and controlled, before turning back to my car. Some things are not worth breaking my back for.

I got in, started the engine, and drove off toward the airport.

She would not ruin my mood!!!

Hi babiessss!!!!

We are back!! And this time, with another beautiful love story🤭🤭. This one will annoy you and still make you swoon at the same time.

Tell me what you think??

If we can get this to 50 comments this morning, we might just get an extra chapter🤭🤭