COINCIDENCE

The night was chill, steady, and quiet. Soft music being the only sound that echoed from my neighbor's room. I was never a morning person, but if it were for the nights, I sure would stay awake till three a.m. I was locked on my phone, moving from app to app, checking nothing and some things at the same time. Flashbacks of my past found potholes to invade my thoughts. With which, I remembered Leniey and how much I so wished to see him. I wondered if he had fully shaved his dreads, how fully grown his beard looked, and maybe wondered about his new style. I knew this was wrong, but sometimes we have to think about them, ask questions, and maybe leave it at that. For the first time I let my mind wonder onto the crevices and archives of my past; it was still fresh; it seemed to be waiting for me, but this time it was different; it did not hurt; it was numb, like a part of me that had forgotten how it feels like being alive again.

Kelvin's call woke me up. He never seized to forget to call; every morning after his run he would just call, always did, my personal alarm, the one of many reasons why I would call him the best. After answering the call, I woke up, did the normal morning routine, and left. The day was quite busy; however, with Kelvin by my side, it felt less hard. We had to visit various radio stations to send the contract agreement, with Eva and me agreeing to sign just three of those that were nearby; otherwise, other chances would come up later. "Getting opportunities as a student never comes easy," was one statement our lecturer always told us. Of course, there were other groups chosen to represent the school, but it came out that only two made it to get approved by other radio stations with statements of 'young talks" as the topic of our sessions.

The day ended; I don't have the essence of telling you all about the day, but it was quite productive and I was hella tired. After taking our supper, the normal routine between Kelvin and me was cuddling and joking around like idiots, but today he was off. He did not speak much to me during the day, and now he is just listening to songs via his headphones. I wished to ask him the problem but was scared he would say something about a breakup of some sort. I was not in the mood to lose a great person like him. Before I thought of a way to talk to him, he asked, "Who is Leniey?" That question! Where the hell is that question coming from? After the question, he gazed at me with some suspicious eyes, as if wanting to make sure I don't lie. I wanted to speak, but so many questions ran through my mind. "Leniey, which Leniey?" I replied. "Don't play damn with me, Angel, who is fucking Leniey!" This time he was mad; his voice was rising, and for the first time I caught a glimpse of his temper. "I see the comments, you know. Instagram, why does he fucking care about you that much?" 'What Instagram?' The issue was that my replies were on my mind but he was speaking out his feelings, in which he continued, "He called you while you were ted talking in the radio'. He is in the United Kingdom and wants to see you." Honestly, the words were too many to process. Leniey never had my phone number; with him being here, that's awkward. Okay, he might have called since I leave my phone with Kelvin, but the question was, what was Leniey doing here? All this time, I was just watching Kelvin as his voice changed from range to love at the same time. He then concluded, "I'm sorry, love. I just don't know why that guy called; he seemed to know you well. He just told me to tell you his name. Who is he anyway? You've never told me about someone like him?" Kelvin, as I had previously stated, was always a funny person; in one second, he would speak nearly a thousand words, all of which were responses to himself or his thoughts. This time I then decided to say, "Hey, it was a wrong number. I know no one called Leniey, at least not for now." This time he watched me closely, as if drinking up and digesting what I was saying, when he came and sat next to me and touched my hands as an act of 'please don't lie to me' and said, "He seemed to know you so well; he knew your name and had talked first in Swahili. Why wouldn't you know him?" I knew this would be a topic of unending discussion, so I decided to end it with, "Hey, it's okay; he knows me. I don't know him. Trust me, please." Kelvin was never one to leave a topic, despite how much it broke him, but this time he just nodded, "okay. I just love you so much." And with that, we laid ourselves to rest.

On waking, with my head laid on Kelvin's chest, my mind rethought on the previous night's occurrence. Kelvin's behavior had left me with a different view of him. He sure would kill me if he knew who Leniey was. I still wondered and questioned a lot of things, so I decided to wake up and check on my phone. Kelvin was still peaceful asleep and the little snores could be heard coming off his nostrils. I checked my contacts and realized sure a new number had contacted me but wasn't sure which Kelvin talked of, since after my podcasts session, I was receiving random calls from different people with whom I had no idea about. Some being listeners who wished help for certain things well thanks to my three year psychological course , that which I ditched for literature.

I wanted so much to contact Leniey but side thought I decided to stop. Seeing how much Kelvin cared for me, and the impact the one call brought unto him, proved that he was insecure and scared I would leave. He sure had done everything for me and the worst repayment would be cheating or doing something behind his back. I was always honest with him, even if it would hurt his feelings, I would still tell him the truth.

The day demanded a lot from me; I had a half-day literature class and, in the evening, a live podcast session on the school radio station. Therefore, I prepared myself and left, leaving Kelvin asleep, as we always did. Sometimes it would be me leaving him, and other times it would be him, but we all ended up meeting each other in the evening. Therefore, after my literature class, I straight away caught up with Eva for our session. "Literature classes on Thursdays are boring," Eva states. I just laughed and continued walking. "Hey, look at that guy at the entrance of the mass communication department. He looks cute." Eva was not the type to check on all guys and state on their cuteness, and so this meant that the 'guy" was surely cute. Therefore, we both looked at the side she pointed. The guy was tall and dressed casually. He was speaking with the school couple who had won the best model award in the cultural show that the schools held at the end of each semester as a way to sponsor talented and well-built students to enter the modeling world.

With the radio station being in the mass communication department, we walked directly to the place, and I wanted to just pass them when Eva greeted them. I wasn't ready for some chip chat, but if Eva was down to one, I wouldn't mind. Therefore, I checked on the guy from the shoes going up since I hadn't checked his face. When I first looked at his face, I noticed that it was his. It was Leniey, and he had this smirk on his face as if waiting for my reaction. He didn't seem moved or anything; he just watched me when the auditor shouted at us, "Are you guys slow? Your session is starting." We then left as quickly as he had called and started the live session ASAP. My mind was still playing on the incident, but since this was something I wanted and I loved, speaking to people, it at least averted me from thinking about him.

The session was over, and I knew Kelvin would be waiting for me outside, as he always did. I did not want to think about Leniey, but I sure had a lot of questions, and I knew he had as many as I did. When I left, guess what? Leniey was busy speaking to Kelvin about something with which I was yet unfamiliar. They both looked at me, and Kelvin came to me smiling and hugging me tightly, leading me to his 'friend," with whom he wanted to introduce me. "Hey, Love, he's Leniey, a model, working on the Storm Model Management in London. How great. Hey dude, please meet my girlfriend Angel." I didn't know what to do but just watched Leniey, who started, "Hey, nice to meet you." His voice was still calm, but his physical appearance had changed; he now had high cheekbones, his face had become much softer, and his nose was well-defined at the center. His physique was normal, but he seemed to have been visiting the gym due to the more protruding veins. What I wasn't sure of was if his personality had changed. I took the chance to check him out as they were speaking with Kelvin; of course he would be directed to him because he was the secretary general. I thought that Leniey would be left out when we entered the car, but he joined us inside on the back seat. The drive was quiet, and I could watch Leniey through the front mirror, checking on the houses and hallways around where we were going, when Kelvin started, "Modeling is not a thing for me, man, but I can introduce you to a friend of mine named Kyle. He is much more in the modeling agency." "The school gave me your name." Leniey stated. I knew I was left out of this conversation, with which I wasn't ready to indulge, if it was something about modeling. I sure knew Kelvin did that so well, especially with his half- African American and white skin color making him different. Kelvin did not respond to Leniey's statement; he just continued driving like nothing had been said about his idea.

After some hours, we arrived at a certain clothing shop. It seemed quite classical from the outside, and I sure knew it was expensive. We all entered the place, and it was a hall full of all types of clothes, both male and female, aligned by different clothing brands. "I used to shop here during my modeling years." Kelvin stated. Leniey just nodded his head and continued walking without saying anything. Watching them, I noticed that they both had nearly the same height, but Kelvin surpassed Leniey a bit. Their skin colors were quite similar, with Kelvin's being lighter in comparison to Leniey's. In accordance with his physique, I would say that Leniey is physically fit, having gone to the gym. I knew Kelvin hated gym activities, but he sometimes went on Fridays instead of getting wasted in pubs. They then suddenly both looked at me, which made me hurry towards them. "What do you think about this denim on Leniey?" Kelvin asked. I looked at the denim, which was light blue with two front pockets and some writing on it. What I knew then about Leniey was that he hated jackets with a lot of writing; he mostly preferred plain jackets with some identical designs, like being ragged, but no writing. I did not know what to say, so I stated, "It would look good on him, but I don't know his fashion preference." "I will take it." Leniey stated and continued, "It would be good with some old-school fashion. How about your girl; won't you buy her anything?" That was the worst try Leniey would ever make. Kelvin hated when someone would tell him how to treat me. After the statement, a cold-blooded loner from Kelvin looked at Leniey and then, with a laugh, said, "Of course, anything for the lady." And then he left for the female's clothes; how he would know my taste, I did not know, but he seemed to have an idea of what he was doing, and so I let him leave alone. I did not want nor expect to be left alone with Leiney; this was unscrupulous. A previous ache started, and I suddenly became nervous when Leniey slowly spoke, "The secretary general. How good. Do you even love him?" I just looked at him, smiled, and left him towards where Kelvin was. I was not in the mood for his hatred on me. Kelvin was busy choosing the best doll to give me; he had a white fur-handled handbag. I then arrived, and he said, "Which is your favorite, the pink or white?" I just pointed at the pink, and we both left together. Leniey looked at us from far away and removed his phone, as if taking a picture of us. Kelvin called on him, and we left towards the car. Kelvin first took me into my apartment, and then left with Leniey. I was not in the mood to think about the coincidences, so I just ate my supper and went to sleep. One thing I just knew was that I was grateful Kelvin had my back in this, and if he knew about Leniey, I surely knew I would lose one of the best people in the world.