"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just been cleared to land at the Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport. Please make sure one last time your seat belt is securely fastened. The flight attendants are currently passing around the cabin to make a final compliance check and pick up any remaining cups and glasses. Thank you."

The sound of the pilot's voice woke me up from my sleep.  I yawned as I  stretched my arms then proceeded to fasten my seatbelt accordingly. I then straightened my seat. It had been a long flight.

Few minutes later,another announcement was made.

"Ladies and gentlemen,welcome to Nnamdi Azikiwe international Airport.Local time is 13:00 and the temperature is 30 degree Celsius.

For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain turns off the Fasten Seat Belt sign. This will indicate that we have parked at the gate and that it is safe for you to move about..."

I zoned out completely from the normal routine announcements. It had been five long years since I stepped foot in Nigeria. Ever since I lost my mother on the day of my secondary school graduation, things were never the same anymore. My father withdrew himself from I and my siblings. He coped with his grief by shutting us out and buried himself with work. He said we were a reminder of our mother and all the things he had lost.

My mother died when she was giving birth to my junior sister Afrah. I could remember quite well that fateful day. She was heavily pregnant in her final trimester. She apologized for not being able to come with me as she was feeling unwell. She prayed for me and wished me the best. I wish I had known that that was the last time I was going to see her again.

".....On behalf of France Airlines and the entire crew, I'd like to thank you for joining us on this trip and we are looking forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. Have a nice day."

The voice of the pilot brought me out of my depressing thoughts. I stood up and stretched my whole body. I was so exhausted from the journey. I sat down back and waited for the people to reduce. I couldn't push myself through that many people.

When the plane was half empty, I stood up and grabbed my hand luggage. A pink and ash trolley bag. I took my black Louis Vuitton bag and hanged it around my shoulder.

Immediately I got out of the plane, the heat nearly threw me out of my feet. The Sun was shining in all its glory. I had forgotten how Nigeria's weather was around this time of the year.

I opened my bag and brought out my Ray ban's shades and put it on.

I walked till I reached the entrance of the airport. My heels clicking as I walked. People were giving me weird looks. Again, I forgot how judgmental Nigerians could be. I was dressed in a denim jeans that was folded a little by the end and a peach long sleeved shiffon shirt that reached above my knees. An orange veil was wrapped around my head.

I knew I had good taste in fashion. Which fashion designer doesn't?

Yes you heard right. I'm a fashion designer. I studied fashion designing in Paris Fashion Institute,France. One of the best fashion schools in the world.

What made me go into fashion? So many people ask. A very silly and funny story. When I was around nine years of age, I watched this Barbie animation called A fashion fairytale. Since then, I had this passion for fashion and my little nine year old self always imagined that fairies were gonna help me make sparkly dresses. Yes, I was that childish.

But even as I grew,the passion increased. You would always find me with a pencil and sketchbook designing and drawing dresses. My parents noticed my passion and they supported me. I almost gave up designing when I lost my mother but then I remembered how she would've wanted me to pursue my dream.

So I made a decision. I spoke to Baba about going to Paris. He couldn't care less. As I mentioned,he estranged himself from us. He just dumped me on one of his secretaries and buried himself back to work. He was a workaholic. Burying himself in work to distract his self from the pain of losing Mama.

After all the tiring routine of retrieving my luggages, I came out of the airport and looked around for the driver sent to pick me up. That's if Baba even remembered to send one. I was getting very impatient.

Just as I was about to borrow someone's phone to call because I didn't have my Nigerian sim card, a shiny black Mercedes Benz pulled up in front of me. The driver dressed in a black suit came down and opened the door for me.

"I'm sorry for the delay ma'am. Welcome home."

He removed my luggages from the trolley and put them inside the booth.

"It's fine." I said as I jumped in the car.

People were staring,yet again as if they'd never seen a Mercedes before.

The ride home was a silent one. My head was leaned on the window watching as cars sped by. I was already missing Paris.

I sat up as I remembered something. "Did you come with the sim card I asked for?"

He nodded. "Yes,ma'am. It's right here."

He shuffled with one hand in the steering and another to search his pocket. He brought out a glo sim card and handed it over to me.

"I said I wanted airtel." I heard from Amir my junior brother that airtel had the best network and glo was very slow.

"I'm sorry ma'am. All shops were closed because it's a Sunday. It was hard to get this one."

I let out a huff and proceeded to insert the sim card on my iphone 7. I could manage this for now.

"I hope you did my subscription."

"Yes ma'am. 10gig."

I nodded satisfied and started going through my social media and then my fashion blog which I named Fashion Fairytale. Yeah,the love for the animation was that deep.

I decided to message my french boyfriend that I arrived safely. Did you guys think I didnt find love in the city of love? Oh well I did.

Louis was my course mate. We started out as friends when we were grouped as partners for a project. I loved his sense of humour and he was one of the best in class. I learnt a lot from him. I never saw him as anything other than a friend.

But on my birthday, he took me to the Eiffel tower and asked me to be his girlfriend. He put so much effort in trying to impress me and I had no choice but to accept. Besides, I needed love in Paris and Louis was ready to give me that.

He respected my boundaries and religion. He never tried anything inappropriate. He was a perfect gentleman. And that's what I loved most about him.

I composed a simple text and sent him.

Me: Je suis arrivè en toute sècuritè mon amour
(I've arrived safely my love)

He replied almost immediately as if he was expecting my message.

Louis♡: Comment est le Nigeria. Je vous manque déjà mi amour. Je promets de venir te rendre bientôt
(How's Nigeria? I already miss you my love. I promise to come visit you soon.)

Me: Tu me marques encore plus mon amour. Au revoir. I'll call you later. I'm almost home.
(I miss you more my love. Bye)

Louis♡: Prends soin. Je t'aime.
(Take care. I love you)

I shut my phone with a contented smile on my face. Even though Louis had told me so many times he loved me. I had never said those words to him. I felt like what I feel for him wasn't real. Because one way or the other, I don't see myself with him in the nearest future. I didn't want to give the poor guy hope. My stay in Paris was over. I should've just broken up with him. But I didn't. I still don't know why.

Maybe because I felt some kind of pity torwards him. All the effort he made in our relationship. The gifts, the romantic dinner dates, the fun times we had. I just felt like I couldn't throw all that away just yet.

The car came to an abrupt halt and I thought he we had arrived. The driver whom I can't for the life of me remember his name got down and opened the car bonnet. I could see smoke coming out.

I got down from the car and went to see what was happening. We were in the middle of the road. Around gwarinpa side if I could remember very well.

"What happened?" I asked hands on my hips.

"Sorry ma'am. Something is wrong with the engine. I'm trying to figure it out."

"Well do that fast because I'm already exhausted." I said as I got back inside the car.

Almost twenty minutes had passed and still nothing. I got down again.

"I'm getting really impatient here. If you don't know what to do, call a mechanic or something. You can't leave us stranded like this." I said annoyed.

He was sweating now. "So-sorry ma'am. We're out of network coverage. There's no service. I've been trying so hard to reach someone but it's not working."

Great. This was just great. My first day back home and things had started going haywire. I don't look forward to my stay here at all.

I went back inside without a word. I rolled down the windows as the car was getting too hot. I saw another young man walk torwards the driver. He spoke to driver which I assumed he was asking what was wrong. The driver gave him a brief explanation and the young man set to work.

Few minutes later, the driver got in the car and started the car. It roared to life. I said a silent prayer and thanks to God.

I got out of the car to thank the young man out of courtesy. He was standing to his back talking to the driver dressed in a very washed out jeans that looked like it had been worn so many times and a slight touch would tear it. His red shirt was faded and had some dirt around it.

He turned and my heart skipped a bit. Facing me was someone who would change my life forever. I didn't know that at that moment.

***
A/N: First chapter up. Tell me your thoughts. Do you like the story line? And how things are going?
I know it's totally boring now but hopefully as we go,it gets more interesting.

Don't forget to vote and share♡

Love,
Siyyamah❄