Sometimes help doesn't come with noise, it comes, dressed in suits.
It's madness. Again. The lunch crowd is bigger than usual, every table was full. The waiting line spills out the door, and the joint table across the room won't stop laughing and asking for more peppered beef and beer. It looked like they were having a work dinner. In a Nigerian restaurant.
Amara stood behind the counter, stirring pots after pots, her face flushed, and a pimple patch on both her cheeks. Her apron stained from stew and her messy natural hair tied into four rough knots under the bonnet.
Mi na was fast walking with plates like her life depends on it. She walked to the counter to pick up another plate when Amara heaved a long sigh
"I'm one spilled stew away from quitting and becoming a monk"
Mi na burst out into a hearty laugh, "oh me too girl" she was panting "oh hold on, the POS froze again!" She hit it repeatedly.
"Oh yes have this, I got a new one" Amara chuckled as she walked over to the back to bring out a new POS.
A toddler threw a spoon and it landed loudly on the tiled floor making a stainless sound, a woman waved her hand furiously "can I have more stew for my rice?"
"Deh gasseyio!!"
"Can I get another spoon please?"
"Dehhhh one second.." Mi na wiped her brows "Amara I love the crowd but we're drowning". "I know Mi na. I totally forgot to put up the sign for a worker even after you designed it, we're seriously drowning" she fake cried.
The bell over the door chimes, the crowd doesn't even notice. But Amara froze as she watched three muscled men dressed in black suits and white tie knotted to perfection walk into the restaurant, moving to the counter.
Mi na looked at Amara who was having a terrified look on her face "are we being raided? Or did the k-drama finally break through the fourth wall?"
"Uhmmm I was about to ask you the same..."
The men had reached the counter, walking briskly and smoothly. One of them pulling out a tablet.
"Miss Amara?"
"Yes? How can I help you?" She asked, still holding the dishing spoon in her hand.
"We were sent by Young master Jihoon. He mentioned you need assistance..." he paused for a minute to glance around the restaurant before looking back at Amara, tablet still in his hand, the screen glowing. "And he was correct."
"And he says we should help you even if you decline" the second one blurted out immediately.
"Which means you are not allowed to decline" the third one finished before they walked to the sink to wash their hands. Amara hadn't even said a word not like she was even allowed to, she just kept stealing glances at Mi na. She couldn't believe it.
The one holding the tablet moved gracefully between tables, taking what appeared to be customers' orders and swiftly typing them in. A moment later, he returned to Amara and handed the device to her. "These are the orders you should start preparing, I'll be back in a minute," he said, before walking off with a tray of rice and stew balanced in his hands.
Customers heads were turned to the new waiters that walked around the restaurant with ear piece placed in their ears and well ironed suit and shoes. Cameras were starting to get lifted but these men worked so efficiently and before you know it, everyone was being served in seconds.
"Okay but did they have to dress in suits and dark shades? Oh this is giving "I can't let my girlfriend break a sweat" Mi na said, her hand on her chest smiling.
"Girlfriend? Girl stop." Amara rolled her eyes. "I promise you it's not..."
One of the men in suits, specifically the one that handed Amara the tablet for the orders walked back to the counter bringing out something from his suit pocket "forgive me I forgot for a minute" he hands her a note and walks away quickly with a tray he takes away from Mi na's hands.
It was a smooth cream colored paper, Jihoon's clean handwriting on it. Her mind is thinking a thousand things right now
a letter? Oh this man is crazy. How does he just sends three men in suits and a letter? Is that how rich people act?
She slowly opens it wondering what could be in it, Mi na stretching her neck to be able to view the letter properly and as if she hadn't had enough surprise for one day?...
"Don't panic, let them help you.
I'll be there by 9."
Her cheeks literally burn as she let out a really wide smile. He's insane, he's actually insane, omg. What do I do with this man? He's making a grown woman blush.
"Im blushing, oh this man is who they say he is on campus. Can't believe you just received a letter from Jihoon of Seo group" Mi na kept rambling on and on.
One of the suit men walk up to her as she dishes jollof rice into two pink, heart-shaped plates placed on a tray . "Ma'am, we've set up new tables and chairs outside the restaurant as it is full in here"
"What? New tables from where?" She asked as she walks out quickly to the front of her restaurant to see a mini restaurant on its own, people already sat, eating. "When did all these happen? Where did the tables come from?
Uhm I didn't have these..."
"Yes ma'am, from Young master Jihoon" he immediately bows and walks away. Amara heaved a sigh rubbing her temples, " urgh these men in suits never let me say my piece, they just say theirs and walk away!"
Amara stood in bewilderment, memories flooding back of how she used to admire her friends in Nigeria whenever their boyfriends showered them with gifts in Valentine's Day or girlfriend's day. She would watch as men arrived with trumpeters or as girls carried boxes filled with presents to her friends' homes. The surprises often ended up in squeals, laughter or even tears of joy, while all Amara could do was watch from the sidelines. She had never experienced that feeling for herself. Deep down, she longed for someone to surprise her, even just once in her lifetime. And yet, who would have thought? Here she was now, in her own restaurant, being assisted by the bodyguards of a Korean Chaebol as they helped her serve food.
*
The crowd had thinned, and these men in black suits were clearing the tables specifically telling Amara and Mi na to let them handle it. Amara quickly arranged three plates of pounded yam and egusi soup with each a bottle of cold Hero beer. "Please come and eat before it gets cold, thank you so much for today" and to her surprise they smiled. They hadn't smiled the whole day. They literally looked like bouncers. Scratch that, they were bouncers. But they smiled when it was time for them to eat. Now who said food isn't the way to a man's stomach?
"He said he'll be here by 9, Mi na look at my hair" Amara suddenly said as she took out her bonnet and Mi na let out a laugh that echoed through the room.
"What am I gonna do?" She whined.
"Okay, if your eco gel is at the back, I can fix it for you the way you do it when you're going to church"
"You're a life saver Mi na.." Amara held her hands tightly. "Let's start now before he catches me in the act" she said as she quickly loosened the knots and combed out the hair, making it fall into a huge Afro.
The bell chimes softly as the last customer stands up to leave, she looks up from where she was seated, bonnet in hand, her face almost hidden away by her hair, comb and gel in Mi na's hands.
"Oh shit, too late" Mi na whispered and Amara looked. There he was, walking in, a soft glow from the street lamp just outside the door by the road outlining his figure. Dressed in a navy blue suit, no tie, first button unbuttoned. His hair styled to the back a single strand reaching for his temple.
Amara didn't know what to do, her mouth opening in shock as this is not the way he wanted her to see her real hair. She still had her apron on, stew stains all over it.
Walking in, the men in suits stood immediately and bowed in sync while licking their fingers and Jihoon mouthed "good work" to them after he let out a chuckle seeing them devour the African food like they even knew what it was.
He stopped in his tracks, his gaze locking onto her, the soft Nigerian afrobeat cough syrup by BUJU seeming to fade into the background, everything was still like the world was giving them a minute.
His eyes widen, his lips part just slightly as he stands completely still like something sacred had just walked into his life.
His expression soften with awe. A slow smile begins to form on his lips; the kind that pulls from surprise to deep admiration.
"Waaaa" he whispered to himself.
She just sat there, almost unable to breathe. Her hair in a mess, a full blown mess, you could hide a pen in there and wouldn't find it for days. She hadn't expected him to walk in just yet. She wanted to get her hair done before he saw it. There's a flicker of self consciousness in her eyes. Her hand instinctively moves to her Afro.
"Is it...too much? I know it's kinda big, I didn't have time to...
I was gonna tie it up r..."
"It's so beautiful, I've never seen anything like it. Can't believe you've been hiding it" his voice was low and intense as he walks closer. His footsteps slow and deliberate. His eyes still on her hair.
"You look like a queen" he stopped right in front of her, close enough to touch. Everyone else was in the room but it felt like it was just both of them looking back at each other, every other person disappearing into thin air. He lifts his hands, brushing his fingers against the tip of her hair, not touching it but dying to.
Amara put her face down for a second, her face breaking into a shy smile "you can touch it...uhm I mean if you want". She sat, looking up at him from where he was standing, almost a 6'4.
His fingers graze the texture "it's so different". He takes a few strands between his fingers, then releases like it was something sacred that shouldn't be tampered with.
"You're breathtaking"
"You could walk into any boardroom, any place...and nobody would remember anything else except you and this..." he gestures to her hair. "Can't believe you've been keeping it hidden" he held her by her hand, making her stand.
"You've been running around all day, I bet you're tired.." he says, using his hand to wipe a sweat on her nose, she shivered. "Please have dinner with me"
Her breath caught, not in shock but in disbelief. Her first instinct was to laugh it off , not out of arrogance but coz this kind of thing never happens to girls like her.
Girls who were black, who wore their natural hair, who used their hands to build their dreams, who stood behind hot pots, taking in heat while men in suits and girls with Chanel bags ordered.
But Jihoon, he looked at her like she was silk and power all at once. There was no pity in his eyes, no hesitation, just a quiet certainty that made her heart worry. Her heart was beating fast, her fingers felt warm and tingly like that feeling a Nigerian gets that they conclude that they are about to receive money.
In the middle of it all, her insecurities began to rise. What would his parents say? What if I'm caught on camera, fuck he's famous. What if I embarrass myself? No I wouldn't, but what if i do? What about all the sleek women in his world? Girl it's just dinner chill!!!
Amara hold up for a second would you?
Her mind kept arguing with each other, it was a battlefield in there. It's just one dinner. What if I trip and fall? No sis, I think what you should be saying is 'what will I wear?"
She gasped. Aloud. She had not intended to gasp aloud. Then she looked over at Mi na as if she was crashing out.
"Dinner?" Jihoon's gaze didn't waver.
"Yes dinner"
She swallowed, her lips parting slowly, her hair still loose and full in its glory, her brain still caught somewhere between a dream and a dare.
"Uhm I'm still in my apron...uhm I don't.." she trips off looking down, touching her apron that's stained with stew.
"And if you would let me, I already have that handled" and suddenly something opened inside of her like a break of surprise and amusement as she looked up at Jihoon's perfectly chiseled face then at Mi na who was smiling brightly, nodding her head, signaling her to go on with him.
Excitement and fear twirled up in her stomach like sugar and spice. She wanted to run. She wanted to fly. She wanted to jump up like she first did when she nailed her first party jollof recipe.
But most of all she wanted to say yes.
And for the first time in a long time, she let herself want something without apologizing for it.
"Dinner is fine" she squealed as she tucked at his suit jacket.
I'm literally so excited at where this is going! Thanks to everyone who's walking this journey with me. Love you!❤️