Coffee Shop ( Episode 7)

When he gets to the table, he serves Richard with a smile on his face. He avoids looking at Ekanem.

“Enjoy your meal sir!” , Toks says to Richard .

“Thanks “Richard replies.

Toks returns to the back of the counter to continue working.Occasionally , he steals another cold glance at Ekanem .She also steals glances at him when Richard drinks his cup of hot cocoa.

Richard’s phone rings suddenly. He speaks to the person at the other end of the line with anxiety in his voice and eventually ends the call.

“Eky ! I have to leave now.The manager of my factory was involved in an accident. I need to go and see him in the hospital “,he says to her .

“I hope he is not so badly injured? .I will give you a call later” , she replies as he gets up to leave.

Ekanem’s admiration for Richard stems from his caring and hardworking nature.He is still able to give world class lectures despite the fact that he owns a flask producing factory and a well known furniture shop.

After some minutes Toks comes to clear Ekanem’s table. Ekanem assists him in putting plates together and places them on the tray.As she gives him one of teacups, the tip of his fingers touch her palms. She looks up and sees him looking into her eyes.

“Why are you clearing the table?. Don’t you have a waiter? “she asks as she quickly moves her gaze away from him .

“They are busy”, he replies with a small frown on his face.

“Okay “she replies .

She wonders in her heart why he sounded a bit hostile to her. Ekanem picks her small purse, says thank you to Toks at the counter and leaves the coffee shop.

Ekanem goes home and changes into an orange top and white shorts. She lies on her bed reading gossip blog posts on pobsonline.

At about 7pm,she hears her door bell ring.Chichi is yet to return from work so Ekanem quickly walks to the front door to see who is there.

She sees someone who looks like Toks from the glass peep hole and opens the door.

Ekanem sees Toks wearing a black leather jacket on a pair of faded black jean trousers. She looks at the pair of black boots he put on plus the rust coloured helmet which he holds with his left hand.

“Hi Ekanem!” he says with a smile .

“Hi, what are you doing here? and why are you dressed like this?” ,she replies.

I delivered some snacks to a customer that lives close to you .I also came to apologise for sounding a bit harsh to you earlier, he says to her.

“Hmmm, I didn’t know you guys deliver as well” she replies .

“We started delivery to offices and homes last week. I still have one more order to drop off. Do you want to join me, He asks with a smile.

Ekanem hesitates for some minutes. She figures that since she doesn’t really have anything much to do at the moment, she might as well enjoy the adventure.

“Oh well, I will join you provided you have a helmet for me to wear” she replies .

She goes inside to put on a proper footwear and a jacket.

Toks takes her to where he packed the bike .She looks at the dark orange power bike with admiration and says to him;

” Hmmmm, see the kind of sophisticated motorbike your boss gave to you guys to do deliveries.You must be making a lot of profit in this bad economy” ,she says to him.

“The owner of the shop is a perfectionist and a stickler for efficiency. Power bikes are very efficient”, he replies .

He gives Ekanem the helmet to put on while he wore his .When he sees her struggling to secure the helmet on her head,he takes it from her.

Toks gently places the helmet on her head and fastens the chin straps so that they fit snugly on her face. He uses his fingers to ensure that the side straps are flat on her face, all the while looking into Ekanem’s beautiful brown eyes.

He then enters the bike and leans to his left side to enable her get on the power bike easily.

He puts the key in the ignition and starts the bike .”Are you ready ? “, he says to her .

“Yes !” ,she yells with excitement

“I can’t believe I am about to do this “ she says to herself .

Initially ,when the ride begins,she is a bit scared of falling off the bike but after a while , She holds his well toned abdomen with her two hands to feel more secure and comfortable.

It takes him about 25 minutes to get to his destination. He allows her to come down first before getting down.

Ekanem waits for him by the corner while he delivers a box of donuts and cheese cake to his client.

He smiles as he walks back towards Ekanem.

They both enter the motor bike again and head back to her house.

The ride seems faster this time around . Ekanem feels so free and relaxed as the cold night breeze blows on her face.

When they get to her house, Ekanem sees Chichi’s car parked in front of the house.

Toks and Ekanem get down from the power bike. He helps her remove the helmet.

“I actually had more fun than I expected”, Ekanem says to him with a smile.

“It was nice having someone to ride with” he replies .

There is a brief silence before Ekanem says ” I have to go inside now”.

“Oh!okay, have a good night” Toks replies.

As she turns around to enter her house, Toks says “I have something for you “.

He quickly brings out a rectangular box from his pocket and gives it to her.

“What’s this?”she asks .

“Open it . It’s just a token”, he replies.

Ekanem opens and brings out a black ball point pen with gold Ryan’s coffee shop inscription on it .

“I just want you to think of the café whenever you make use of the pen” ,he says to her with a smile.

“Thank you. You will make a good marketer”, she replies.

She says goodnight again to him and goes inside the room.

She enters her living room and sees Chichi asks she hurriedly sits on the sofa.

“Eheheh, madam welcome oh!” Chichi says to her with a mischievous smile .

“Thanks dear, I see you are back from work”, she replies in a shy manner.

“Yes I am, come and sit down and give me the full gist of this your hot biker boyfriend”, she says to her excitedly.

Chichi please leave me oh. Which one is boyfriend? .He is just a coffee maker at Ryan’s coffee shop, she replies.

“Hmmm, if you say so my dear .Coffee maker versus PhD holder /lecturer .The combo no balance well oh” she says in a playful manner.

“Chichi goodnight,you’re so silly”,Ekanem replies with a smile and goes into her room.

Ekanem takes a hot shower and lies on her bed.

“Why am I even kidding myself? I don’t believe Toks likes me. He is probably just a friendly person. Besides what are the chances of a coffee maker /seller and a lecturer getting married. Mum would probably burst an artery”, she says .

To be continued.  EPISODE 8