Now, We Touch

2.

Sunlight flitted through the window. Eline opened her eyes slowly and tried sitting up. Oooof! Her head ached as though a rock had been placed on it. She lay back down.

Pieces of last night came together in her mind.

She had gone to the club with Will, where they drank and danced. He left her at some point and didn’t come back for a long time, which made her worried, so she went to look for him. She soon found him outside the club making out with another girl. She felt whiplash. She tried convincing herself that she had too much to drink and wasn’t in her right mind. But she knew she wasn’t that drunk to create such a scenario in her head.

“Will,” Eline shouted, trying to keep her voice steady. She couldn't cry just yet.

He turned to her, his expression like that of a kid who had been caught stealing. He pushed the girl away and rushed to Eline.

“B-babe, it’s not what….”

“… it looks like. That’s what you want to say, right?” she interjected.

Will didn’t have a comeback for that.

She laughed in disbelief. “Wow, Will. Not even a good excuse?”

“I- Babe, I wasn’t…. It didn't mean anything. I love you.”

Her laughter ceased, and her eyes shot lasers at him. “Oh, come off it. Are you being for real right now?”

“I am sorry,” he said, grabbing her hands.

She pulled her hands out of his with force. “Don’t you dare touch me.”

“Babe, please, just hear me out.”

Eline shook her head and walked into the ladies’. She could not look at Will. She just couldn’t. She sat in a stall and cried her eyes out, thinking about how she had fought with her friends about Will. Every single one of them told her that he wasn’t good for her, but she still went ahead to date him. For him, she had pushed away everybody who loved her. And now, here she was all alone, in the musty stall of a club, crying.

Tosin. Oh, Tosin! He had warned her about Will, but she fought him hard. She hadn’t spoken to him in months. He sent texts, and she ignored them all. She had lost her best friend, all because of Will.

She cried harder. Her chest ached. She put a hand on it to calm herself, but the tears continued flowing. Then nausea hit. Eline vomited. As she vomited her gut out, she feared dying, alone, in the smelly bathroom stall of a club. She could see the headlines already.

She took out her phone and saw that it was 4%, too low to turn on her data and book a cab. She scrolled through her contacts for someone to call to get her, and the only person that came to her mind was Tosin. The same Tosin she had treated badly for the past nine months.

Her hands shook as she dialled his number. When he didn’t pick up the first time, she thought that maybe he had seen her number and didn’t want to answer. But then she checked the time. It was 1am. It was very late. He had to be sleeping, but she had no other option. She would try his number one last time. If he didn’t pick up, she would talk to anybody in the club who was willing to help her.

When Tosin picked up, relief washed over her. Eline remembered how he came to get her from the club, brought her to his house, tucked her in, and made sure she was comfortable. She wanted to cry, thinking about how Tosin had come to her rescue, even after everything. But that was just the kind of person he was.

As Eline lay in Tosin's bed, reminiscing, she heard a knock on the door.

“Evangeline? Are you up?” she heard Tosin ask.

“I am,” she replied.

“And decent?”

“Yes. Come in.”

He opened the door with his forearm as his hands were occupied with a tray.

“Good morning,” she greeted.

“Good morning, sunshine. You look a vision this morning.”

“I have no energy for jokes this morning, Tosin. My head weighs a ton, and I can hardly move.”

“Lucky for you, I have painkillers here and other goodies,” he said, setting the tray at her feet. “Can you try sitting up?”

After struggling to sit up for a bit, she finally did and rested her head on the headboard.

“Good job,” Tosin cooed as though addressing a baby.

“Oluwatosin Akande, I cannot do this with you today.”

He smiled. “You will have to bear with me, princess.”

Eline put her index fingers on her temples. “Ugh! I feel horrible.”

“I know. But we’ll fix you up in a bit. Here,” he said, handing her two tablets of Ibuprofen.

She took the tablets from him and swallowed them with the water he provided.

“Next, take this,” he said, his voice  calm, but commanding.

She eyed the cup in front of her before tasting its contents.

“ORS?” she said, her face scrunching in dismay.

“Yes! For rehydration. You lost a lot of water last night with the vomiting and all that.”

“Oh my gosh, the vomiting! I must smell horrible. You should go now,” Eline said, covering her mouth.

“Nah, it’s okay. Just drink.”

She whimpered and continued drinking. She knew she smelled like garbage. Tosin was such a saint because if it were her, she would have commented on the smell a long time ago.

After she drank the ORS, he gave her a plate of French toast and a cup of tea.

“I read that toast helps to soak up the alcohol or something like that. But since I don’t own a toaster, the next best thing was French toast.”

As Eline gobbled the toast, her eyes watered. “You’re so good to me. I don’t deserve you.”

“Hey, hey, don’t cry. We need you conserving water, not losing water,” he joked, adjusting his glasses.

“I know! But seriously, Tosin, thank you. I know I woke you up last night just like that. I’m so sorry.”

“Come on, it’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. I haven’t been a great friend to you for months, and all of a sudden, I called, expecting you to drop everything and come to my rescue.”

“I will always drop everything if you need me, Eline,” Tosin said quietly, looking away from her.

“I just want you to know I don’t take it for granted. And I am sorry for being such a brat. You didn’t deserve that.”

“I overstepped that day.”

“It didn’t mean I had to push you away.”

He shrugged as he looked at her again. “I’m sorry for all those harsh things I said to you. I shouldn’t have.”

Eline shook her head. “You did nothing wrong. Everything you said that day was right. Will was bad for me. Look at me, nau. Who have I even become? Gosh, Tosin, you won’t believe the things I’ve done in the past nine months. You will never see me the same again.”

“I’ll never hold those things against you. That’s not my job.”

Her eyes welled up again. “I don’t think God likes me very much right now.”

“Oh, but He loves you. And whatever it is you’ve done, He will forgive you immediately you ask Him to.”

She covered her face and groaned. “I wouldn’t even know where to start, Tosin. I don’t think I’ve said a single word to Him in months.”

“Then break the silent streak today. He wants to hear from you again. Just speak from your heart. It’s that simple. No method required,” Tosin said earnestly. “Let me give you privacy. There’s a new toothbrush, soap, and a clean towel in the bathroom. You can take one of my shirts and shorts from the wardrobe when you’re done. I’ll be outside washing clothes if you need me.”

Eline nodded and smiled at him gratefully. She had a lot to talk to God about. It was going to be quite a long moment.

Tosin had said to speak from her heart, and that she did.

---

Writer's note: Hi! I have nothing meaningful to say than hi. I hope you've been enjoying Evangeline and Tosin's story so far. See you on Thursday for another chapter.

Until next time, beautiful one.

Buy me data