Prologue

Twisting and turning became the first signs of movements from Sonia, her eyes refusing to flutter open. The words of her neighbour kept ringing in her head as she insisted on remaining in the church the previous day.

“We are not ending the programme till midnight. You should go home.”

Aromas of what she assumed to be buttermilk pancakes wafted up her nostrils. She lazily strained her muscle, scrunching up her nose. Mrs Duke’s pancakes were always her saving grace every morning; especially during the working days when she woke up late. Sonia’s eyes finally fluttered open, the feel of drowsiness immediately buried at the deepest depths of her mind. She stared at her alarm clock and grunted loudly. 

Again, she was going to be late for work.

She jumped out of bed and scurried to the bathroom, fiddling with the series of toothbrushes she had neatly dressed on the glass holder. She scooped up the pink brush which she specifically uses on Mondays, grabbed the toothpaste and got herself ‘scrubbing’ her teeth. 

She took notice of her reflection in the mirror, immediately feeling sorry for her haggard-looking hair screaming to be taken care of. Her eyes were still red and struck from the need to sleep more.

“I should have listened to her.”

••

“Have a great day!” Dele hollered to the gentleman who waved back at him. He patiently waited and made sure the man had walked out of sight before sighing out loud. He reached for his handkerchief and dabbed his forehead, getting rid of the beads of sweat glued to them. Mondays, he knew, meant more customers, and to make more sales than his friends in the circle, he knew the tactics of commencing work earlier than usual.

He plucked his phone out of his breast pocket; taking a glance by the time. 

“09:13. Not bad for a record of five.” he muttered to himself and chuckled. He inserted the car keys into the ignition, the car’s engine whirring back to life. His hands resumed their positions on the steering wheel as he drove out of the magnificent company, his eyes scanning the roads.

Unlike the very first four clients to utilize his services that morning, Dele had enjoyed the seamless and smooth ride whilst conveying the passengers to their respective destinations. He stared at the long and seemingly endless queue of cars before him, wondering what exactly could have brought about a sudden change in traffic.

His phone chimed for the umpteenth time, and he whispered silently, hoping it was no one other than another client calling.

‘My Love’.

Dele groaned at the sight of the caller ID. He knew very well just how much he had to put up with his fiancée ever since he declared her his girlfriend, but he had moments when he had regretted proposing marriage to Bella Daniels.

“Hmm-mm?” Dele hummed, hoping it wasn’t another request.

“Why do you still go to work, Dele? I thought you requested a short-term leave?”

“Now isn’t the time to bombard me with questions, babe. What’s going on?” Dele inquired, trying his best not to seethe loudly.

“Your parents have been blasting my phone with calls ever since, asking about you. Where is my son, release him to us and all sorts …” Bella mimicked. “Just get back to them, please. They said they have something important to discuss with you.”

“Goodness gracious.” Dele whispered, staring out into the traffic ahead of him. He had woken up with the intention of banking another bag of riches on a new Monday, but he was sure evading this traffic meant the lesser chances he had to accomplish that, for he would have to wait for minutes; probably an hour.

“Dele? Wouldn’t you say something?” Bella hissed.

Dele rolled his eyes. “Alright alright. I’d place a call to ‘em. You good, right?” he inquired, his demeanor more relaxed.

“I’m alright, baby. Just shopping with the girls.”

The smile on Dele’s face vaporised immediately. Of course he had forgotten; there was the wedding, and there was Bella’s obsession with shopping. He had absolutely no idea what she buys to adorn herself, but she ends up being clad in his oversized T-shirts whenever she comes visiting.

The traffic had begun to lessen, and Dele realised the car behind him had been honking non-stop; a signal for him to move his car. He raised a hand in apology and drove forwards, staring at the phone like he could pull Bella out of it and blame her for averting his attention off the road.

“I'll call you back, baby. Love you.”

He ended the call right before she got the chance to lay her bills on him. He sighed impatiently, realising his vehicle had not moved an inch off the spot he had been minutes ago.

“This is gonna be one hell of a Monday.”

••

Sonia stared at the cotton candy vendor who displayed his duo skills by the roadside; dancing around whilst making the cotton candies. His crowd had the majority of mothers with their kids applauding him endlessly as he swirled around. Sonia smiles to herself, realising just how detached she was from the outside world.

She stared at her open bag and the pieces of torn office papers in it. She had walked down to her office earlier today to find the paper neatly creased and placed in an envelope. Eager to see if it was a confirmatory message from her crush at work, she had hurriedly opened it up; the first sentence her eyes read bruising her insides in an instant.

It was a sack letter.

No one needed to explain to her why she had been taken off her job; she had hit on many days, resuming to work late. That wasn’t her fault; neither was it anyone else’s. She ambled down the road sluggishly, her feet dragging on the tarred road with little efforts made by her to propel them further back home.

The embracing aura of dusk minted with orange clouds graced its luminosity upon the trees that lined the road all the way down to The Lover’s Road. She seeped in the surprising feeling of peace and tranquility she could feel swimming around her, but she couldn’t evade the feeling eating deep inside of her.

What she considered mundane was recounting if she performed her ‘rituals’ right before she left for work: placing a blue tape on all the doors in her house, renouncing her will to stay alive, turning the door knob thrice and all sorts. The landscape before her suddenly transformed from the busy streets by the sidelines into the cold and gloomy road; The Lover’s Road. She wondered why such a name would be befitting of a place that exuded the feeling of eerie presence and fear.

She quickened her pace, wishing she had been offered one more day to make use of her official car. She groaned loudly, not minding if she had anyone staring at her as she trotted down the road. Her legs were beginning to act jelly, and she could only picture herself collapsing onto the cold tarred road engulfed by nothing other than the grassland embracing either side of the road, and the twilight slowly welcoming the moon as it danced slowly towards the arena of the night sky.

Sonia only became slower every passing minute, her eyes drawn towards the bench she saw at an open clearing. It didn’t make sense to have such situated in an open field, but for a place referred to as The Lover’s Road? 

“A bench for two.” Sonia whispered, dragging her feet slowly with half-closed eyes towards the other end of the road. Her sense of hearing remained oblivious to the approaching vehicle until she felt the blinding limelight casting all of its glory upon her and the dark road.

It all seemed too fast for her to process; she felt a tremendous force grazing her off the road. Her skin tingles in that blink of a moment, her hair swaying along in the direction of the wind just before she felt herself falling back towards the earth.

A thud later, and her world went blank.

Dele rushed out of his car, staring at the sight before him. Blood immediately found its way out of Sonia’s cracked skull, meandering towards the other end of the road. Standing there just defined how stupid he would be to risk shortening his chances of saving the woman, so he scooped her up the ground and dumped her now limp body into his car.

He tried not to stare down at his shirt, or the warmth feeling of the thick liquid on his palms, or the unconscious woman who now laid at the backseat of his car. He started off the engine, a single sentence of hope in his mind.

“Please, don’t die.”