#When someone hurts you, you learn to be stronger. When someone leaves you, you learn to be independent. #

****

After my break up with Tunde, I kept myself busy with work and Church activities. I didn’t party or club, but I ensured that I used my free times to engage in activities that would keep me happy. I fed my soul with good music; indeed, music is food for the soul.

Sincerely, I enjoyed being single; I was free. I didn’t owe anyone any explanation for my life. I did things my own way and even bought less recharge card. I spent more money on recharge cards when I was dating.

My parents were very happy to see me happy. My daddy called me one day and told me, “I never knew you were this strong. I’m proud of you.”

He actually said this after my cousin’s wedding. My cousin got married to her prince charming. Her wedding was awesome. I was there to cheer her up.

I replied my dad, “The Joy of the Lord is my strength. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

****

Five months later, I was in my room relaxing after doing my chores. I was about to watch a movie on my laptop when I heard my phone ring. I looked around for my phone, but I noticed the sound was coming from the bathroom. I remembered I left it there while I was washing. My mum had always warn me not to take my phone to the bathroom, but I love listening to music when washing or doing other chores. In my mummy’s voice, “The day that phone will drop inside water, ehn…!? Thank God you are working; you know how easy it is to earn money.”

I rushed into the bathroom to pick my phone. I checked the caller ID; it was an international number. I began to wonder who it was. Although I have few friends living abroad, we only communicate via social media platforms; we rarely talk on phone.

“Hello!”

“Hello!” I replied. “Please who is this?”

“This is Daniel on the line, calling from United States. Please I’d like to speak with Mr Paul,” he said with an American accent.

“Sorry, this is a wrong number,” I informed him.

“Wrong number?” He said from the other end, “Please hold on while I check the number again.”

[Silence…]

“I just rechecked and this is the number I was given,” he said.

“Well, I’m sorry. This is my line and obviously I’m not Mr Paul.”

I expected him to end the call but he didn’t. I suspected he was some how disappointed.

“Oh...my... goodness!” he said, stressing on each word.

“Any problem?” I asked, feeling concerned.

“I’m coming to Nigeria on a business trip tomorrow and he’s supposed to help me settle down and show me around. Mr. Paul is a cousin to a friend of mine whom I can’t even reach right now. He’s busy with his project somewhere in East Africa and I can’t reach him over there too.” He explained.

“Sorry about that,” I said. “Do you know his email address? If you do, then you can send him a mail.”

“Yes! I have already sent numerous mails to him. I called this line because he hasn’t replied to any of my mails.”

“Okay. Let’s try it this way: use his email address to search for him on Facebook. Maybe, you might be lucky to get his mobile number or some other information about him.” I suggested.

“You are a life saver. You know I never thought of that? I was so anxious to get through to him, I couldn’t think straight. That’s a good suggestion. Thanks for your time.”

He added, “Despite the fact that I’m a stranger, you still took out time to help me find a solution. Thanks once again, I really appreciate. What’s your name?”

“Pamilerin, but if you can’t pronounce that, simply call me Daniella.”

“Of course, I can! I’m a Nigerian, Yoruba to be specific. But I’ll prefer to call you Daniella because my name is Daniel.” he said jokingly. “Thanks for your help.”

“You are welcome.”

“Thanks once again and have a great weekend.”

“You too, bye,” I replied, then he dropped the call.

Weeks later, after school hours, I was busy attending to one of my students that I coach privately. He called my attention to my phone.

“You have a call, Ma.”

“Thanks,” I said and picked the call.

“Hello Daniella!” the voice said. I was surprised; only few people knew me by that name.

“Hello, who am I speaking to?”

“This is Daniel” the voice said.

I didn’t reply immediately; I was still trying to figure out who it was.

“I called last month from USA – ‘wrong number’. Do you remember now?” he asked.

“Oh! My bad! I think I now remember you.”

“Thanks for the other day, Daniella. Your suggestions really worked. I got Mr Paul’s phone number from his Facebook account; the last two digits were the only difference.”

“You are welcome, it’s nothing. I’m glad the idea worked.” I asked, “How come you’re calling me with a local number?”

“I’ve been in Nigeria for the past one month. You know I told you that I’ll be coming on a business trip. It has really been hectic. I should have called you earlier. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. I’m even surprised that you called. Like I said before, it’s nothing.”

“What you did for me might seem like nothing to you, but it means a lot to me. You taking out time to speak with me on phone that very day as if we know each other is something that is not common these days, so I appreciate your kind gesture.”

“OK. Let’s just thank God.”

“I’m going back to the United States next week. I’m through with the business deal and I want to ask if we could meet. At least, let me see the face of this lady with a good heart,” he pleaded.

“Good heart, you say!” I laughed.

“You know what? You don’t need to do that. Although I like the fact that you appreciate little things, but seriously it’s okay. Just enjoy your stay here in Nigeria before going back to the US.”

“Please, please, please. Don’t hang up. I don’t mean any harm; I just want to know you. Who knows, you might be of help to me? You can even show me around Lagos. You know I have nobody here except Mr Paul.”

“Okay, if you insist. But I’ll be the one to pick our meeting place,” I specified.

“I’m good with that. So can I see you tomorrow?” he asked.

“I’m only free on Saturdays,” I replied.

“Alright then, I’ll call back on Friday so you can tell me where to meet you. Even if I can’t locate the place, Mr Paul will assist me.”

“Alright, bye.”

“Bye! I’ll talk to you on Friday,” he said and ended the call.

I saved his number, but I was worried. We live in a wicked world where you can’t even trust your own relative, not to talk of a total stranger. Although he sounded like a good person, I was scared. I’ve never done this before, meeting a complete stranger. I decided to sleep over it. If my heart tells me to go, I will; otherwise, I won’t go.

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