It was filled with smoke and music. It was noisy, cloudy, and colorful and I loved it! The waitress walked up to us and said, ‘Welcome ma, welcome sir, can I find you a seat?’, ‘Yes, preferable at a quiet corner’, he told her and slipped her a bribe of #200. ‘Ok sir’, she smiled and left us. Two minutes later she was back, she took us to the far right corner of the bar, the place looked secluded somehow.‘Perfect’, Ope said as we sat down. ‘May I take your orders sir, ma?’ ‘Yes but give us a minute’ he said, he then faced me and asked. ‘Do you like this place Koyin?’ ‘Yes I do’ I replied. ‘What will you like to eat?’ He asked handing me the menu book, I scanned the menu suspiciously. I guessed he saw the look on my face and said smiling at me, ‘Will you trust me to order for you?’ ‘I think so, since you know their food better’ I replied. ‘Any drink in particular?’ he asked again. ‘I’m cool with water; I think I’ve had enough alcohol for one night’. After all the Moet we drank at home I dare not drink more than water, I thought to myself. He signaled to the waitress and ordered grilled catfish and chips for both of us and a bottle of Star beer for himself and a bottle of water for me.

He moved closer to me and held my hand as the highlife band played, soon the waitress returned with our food and we started eating. ‘How’s the fish?’ He inquired, ‘It’s very delicious and juicy, I like it’. I said with my mouth filled with fish. ‘Good’ he said and continued eating. We finished eating and the waitress came to pack our plates. He then ordered for a plate of snail but Ope was looking at me and smiling so I asked, ‘What’s funny? Is it because I ate the fish head?’ I asked pouting and slightly embarrassed. ‘No my love, I love the fact that you ate the head, it’s just that you have some juice at the corner of your mouth and it makes you look adorable just like my four year old cousin!’ He said laughing at me. I swatted him playfully on his arm and made an attempt to clean it, he stopped me, ‘No let me’ he said. ‘Ok, since you saw it you can be my slave and clean my mouth’, I retorted. I thought he was going to use the paper napkin until I saw his head approached my mouth!

Oh my God, he’s going to kiss me right here in this bar! I tried to move my head away from him but he held my head with his hands at either side of my head, when he was like two inches away from my mouth he stopped and looked into my face, enquiring with his eyes if he should kiss me. Was he kidding me? After the anticipation would I say NO? Funny!!! I moved my head towards his; just a little giving him the permission he needed. He wasted no time.

I was expecting his lips on my lips but instead he took his tongue to the corner of my mouth and he licked the source away like he was licking ice cream. ‘Hmmm, this tastes better on you’, he said and claimed my lips in a passionate kiss! He tasted of fish and wine as I savored the kiss. We played with each other’s lips, moving from the upper lip to the lower lip, licking and eating, I was about to slip my tongue in his mouth when I heard the waitress cleared her throat, ‘Gkinh gkinh’. I had forgotten we were in a bar, I wanted to take my lips away immediately but Ope won’t allow me, he released my lips slowly and looked into my eyes with powerful passion in them, then kissed my forehead, draped his hand over my shoulder drawing me closer to him and looked up to the smiling waitress. ‘Sorry to interrupt you sir, here’s your snail sir, ma, enjoy’, she went away still smiling. ‘I’ve something better to eat than these snails, shall we take it home and eat later’, he asked me with raw passion in his eyes. I was so wet I was afraid to stand up. His hand wandered to my thighs and I couldn’t say no, ‘Ok, let’s leave’, I said huskily. He was about to signal to the waitress when the music stopped and the musician announced.

‘Excuse me ladies and gentlemen, I’ve just been informed that we have a new couple in the house. As you all know it is our tradition here to dedicate a song to any newcomer. To the lovebirds at the corner, this is for you’. I felt like entering the ground as all eyes turned towards us and applauded us, Ope pecked my ear saying, ‘Smile’, I obeyed automatically. We waved and smiled at everyone who caught our eyes. The band started playing Ebenezer Obey’s evergreen ‘Baby mi jowo’ and the crowd started cheering, ‘Dance, dance, dance’. Ope stood up, extended his right hand to me and asked, ‘May I have this dance milady?’ as if I have a choice! ‘Yes milord’, I said rising up. I put my right hand in his and we walked to the front of the band. He took me in his arms and we rocked slowly to the song, I felt contented. Now I know what it felt like to date a man of your tribe, we could enjoy the same music, I could speak my tongue without translating. Usman would never have brought me to this kind of place and if he did, I won’t enjoy it because of him. The music finished and everyone clapped for us again, Ope took out his purse and gave the musician some #1000 notes, I couldn’t say how much exactly.

We went back to our seat and he signaled to the waitress, ‘Can I have my bill’, the waitress produced it. ‘Please pack these snails for us’, he told the waitress and breathed into my ears. ‘Having you in my arms has made me Hot beyond bearable,’ he took my hand and put it on the front of his pant trouser and pressed it to his blick, ‘You have done this to me, I may have to bleep you in the car’, he threatened. I didn’t know if it was the shrimps, the wine, the fish or his words but I was excited beyond my comprehension and was ready to be adventurous. ‘Is that a threat?’ I whispered into his ear too, making sure my tongue brushed his ear; his breathing struggled out of his nose. He was about to say something when the waitress returned with our wrapped snails. He paid her giving her a generous tip. She thanked us and we left hand in hand.