The Prodigal Daughter (Episode 4)

Christopher Umoren muttered under his breath, annoyed with himself.
His hands tightened around the steering wheel as he sped up and moved away from the bus. He had known it was a bad idea to use the Ford truck for the journey- it was too conspicuous. But it was a vehicle he loved and he had been unable to resist the opportunity to use it along the federal highways and finally push it to its limits. The vehicle was made for flying along roads and the journey had been exhilarating so far.
His hands tightened more as he remembered the feeling of pleasure when he noticed the young lady admiring the truck. He was used to getting a lot of attention from girls whenever he drove the vehicle, but it usually took them only a moment to greedily assess the vehicle’s worth before they batted their eyelashes at him, hoping he was a willing, rich, potential sugar daddy. The girl in the bus had focused all her attention on the vehicle and it had been obvious, from the look in her eyes, that she genuinely loved trucks. The realization had fascinated him and he had lingered too long, keeping his pace equal to the bus so she could feed her eyes. And when she finally looked at him…
His breath caught in his throat at the memory. She was truly beautiful. Creamy brown skin which glowed though the bus window, short hair framing elfin features- a high forehead, curved lips, pointed nose- a face that was pretty enough to haunt a man’s dreams.
Christopher sighed and forced himself to focus on the road. He still had hours of driving left. And a lot more mentally exhausting work waiting for him at his destination.
The last thing he needed was to get carried away by a pretty face.
**
Kate dozed in her seat, idly thinking about the Ford driver, unaware that she had affected him almost as much as he had affected her. She giggled at the thoughts in her head. It had been years since she fantasized about any male. But the handsome driver had awoken something juvenile in her, and she let her mind fill with thoughts of riding the man’s truck and perhaps, other types of riding which involved both of them in private….
Her lascivious thoughts were cut short as the bus jerked to a stop and a murmur of concern ran through the bus. She sat up and slid her earphones out of her ears, a frown wrinkling her forehead.
“What’s going on, sir?” she asked her seatmate as she saw him standing up to exit the bus. The driver had already dismounted and was talking with a group of drivers from similarly stopped buses.
The man shrugged as he moved away. “I don’t know, my dear. Let me go check, and use the opportunity to relieve myself. Thank God we stopped.”
Kate shook her head, smiling wryly as she wondered if the bananas the man had consumed earlier were finally doing their nefarious job to his stomach, but her smile disappeared when word came back on the reason why the vehicles had stopped.
There were rumours of a robbery in progress not too far from where they were, and the drivers had stopped to confer and decide on what to do next. Kate felt her heart begin to gallop in fear, and she muttered a prayer. She barely had enough money on her as it was, so being robbed would be a disaster, not to mention other atrocities the armed robbers could commit. She refused to dwell on the other tales of horror she could hear the passengers sharing, optimistic that they would all be fine.
After a few sweltering minutes, the bus passengers decided to dismount. Kate followed suit, clutching her phone and backpack, glad she had decided to travel in a simple cotton top, jeans and a sturdy pair of sneakers.
Not that I’m expecting anything to happen o, she thought to herself, but just in case, at least I can run unhindered by a skirt or gown and….
“Well, fancy running into you again.”
The masculine voice jolted Kate from her thoughts and she turned to see the person who had spoken. He had on a pair of sunglasses to protect his eyes from the scorching late morning sun, but there was no mistaking who he was. It was the driver of the black Ford. The magnetic man who had set butterflies fluttering in her stomach, and hot fantasies running through her mind, as though she was a hormone-driven teenager.
“Seeing as we’re all stuck here for a few minutes, I decided to park on the shoulder of the road and walk back to talk to the other drivers as we wait for more news.” The man’s voice was deep and yet mellow. Kate had the sudden wild idea that his singing voice would be spectacular. “And I just saw you standing there, so I decide to say hello.” He proffered a hand. “Hello, I’m Chris.”
Kate uncurled her tangled tongue as she accepted the handshake. “Um… hi, I’m Kate.” His grip was warm and firm and she imagined it lingered longer than it was supposed to. She struggled to gather her composure. On closer inspection, she could see that Chris wasn’t as old as she had thought, but was prematurely gray. There was only a swathe of white hair just above his widow’s peak, but he was obviously young, maybe in his thirties. He slid off his sunglasses and smiled back at her, squinting as his cheeks dimpled. Kate immediately lost whatever thought was in her head as she stared at him, fascinated.
She had not even reached Akwa-Ibom state and it appeared her adventure had begun- a possible robbery and now a tall, dark and handsome stranger smiling down at her. Was the day going to get any less interesting?

Click [here for episode 5