Soft Life: Hard Choice  Episode 4: We Couldn’t Pretend Anymore

Soft Life: Hard Choice 

Episode 4: We Couldn’t Pretend Anymore

 

I still did not call him.

Even with his number sitting quietly in my phone, I treated it like something fragile. Something that could change the shape of my days if I touched it too carelessly. So I waited. And in the waiting, something sweet and unsettling grew.

We still met at the bus stop. Still talked. Still laughed. But now, every moment felt charged. Like we were both aware that something gentle had stepped into the space between us and was asking to be acknowledged.

One evening, as we stood waiting for a bus that refused to arrive, my phone rang.

I looked down.

Tunde.

I looked up at him instinctively.

“You’re standing right here,” I said, half-laughing, half-confused.

He smiled, a little shy. “I know. I just wanted to hear you say hello.”

Something about that undid me.

The bus arrived noisily, people pushing forward, conductors shouting. The city resumed its usual urgency.

“Can we walk a bit?” he asked softly. “Just before we go?”

I hesitated only long enough to remind myself that I wanted to say yes.

We walked down the street together. Not far. Just enough to escape the noise. The city followed us — the hum of generators, distant voices, footsteps — but everything felt slower.

Soft Life: Hard Choices Episode 3: We Started Showing Up in Each Other’s Days

We talked easily. About work. About small dreams. About how tired we both were of pretending strength came naturally. He told me he liked how calm I seemed, even when I was not. I told him I liked how he listened, like he had time.

At some point, we stopped walking.

“Dayo,” he said quietly, “what are we doing?”

I looked at him then. Really looked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “But I know I don’t want to keep acting like this is nothing.”

His expression softened. “Neither do I.”

He did not touch me. He did not rush me. He just stood there, close enough for warmth, far enough for respect.

That night, lying in bed, I smiled at the ceiling before I could stop myself.

Something had begun.

And for the first time in a long while, the thought did not scare me.