Hate at first sight

Ebuka had just gotten back from a long trip. He had been out of the city for a year, working on a project that had taken him to the northern parts of the country.

As he stepped into his home, he couldn’t help but notice the changes in the neighborhood.

The old corner store had been replaced by a sleek café, and the streets seemed cleaner and more organized.

Excitement filled him as he looked forward to getting comfortable at home.

“Mma? I’m home!” he called out to his sister as he dropped his luggage on the floor in the sitting room and got comfortable in one of the single cushions.

“Oh! Welcome, Ebuka.” A voice greeted him excitedly. A young woman walked in from the kitchen, heading toward his luggage to help take it in.

“And you are…?” Ebuka asked coldly, sizing her up from head to toe.

“My name is Nkem, Mma’s best friend. She told me you’d be returning tomorrow, but you’re a day early,” she replied calmly.

“Interesting! So Mma now leaves strangers alone in the house? And I should inform the stranger ahead before I come back to my house? Okay, oh.”

“But I’m not a stranger,” Nkem tried to explain.

“Let me hear word,” Ebuka hushed her before she finished her sentence.

Nkem swallowed hard, not knowing what to say next. She had heard so many nice things about Ebuka and was looking forward to meeting him, but she was disappointed by their first encounter.

As Nkem retreated to the kitchen, Ebuka’s phone rang. It was an unknown number. He hesitated, then answered.

“Hello?”

“Ebuka, it’s Kingsley. We need to talk. It’s urgent,” the voice on the other end said.

Ebuka frowned. Kingsley was his colleague and friend from the project he’s working on. “What’s going on, Kingsley?”

“Not over the phone. Can we meet?”

Ebuka glanced around. “I’m home now. Come over if you can.”

“Alright, I’ll be there in an hour,” Kingsley said before hanging up.

Ebuka’s mind raced. Kingsley’s tone had been serious, and it worried him.

Just as he was about to delve deeper into his thoughts, Mma burst into the house, her arms laden with groceries.

“Ebuka! My dear brother, welcome back!” she exclaimed, rushing over to hug him.

Ebuka’s face softened as he hugged his sister.

“Thanks, Mma. It’s good to be back.”

Nkem emerged from the kitchen, still feeling awkward. “Mma, welcome back,” she said, trying to sound cheerful.

“Thanks, Nkem. I see you’ve met my brother,” Mma said, glancing between them.

“Yes, we met,” Nkem said with a forced smile.

Mma looked at Ebuka, sensing the tension. “I hope you two are getting along. Nkem has been a great friend to me while you were away.”

Ebuka shrugged. “We’ll see,” he muttered, heading to his room with his luggage.

An hour later, Kingsley arrived, looking tense.

Ebuka let him in, and they went to the study to talk in private.

“What’s this about, Kingsley?” Ebuka asked, closing the door behind them.

Kingsley took a deep breath. “While you were away, we discovered something… troubling about the project. There’s been embezzlement, and large sums of money are missing.”

Ebuka’s eyes widened. “What? How?”

“We don’t know who is behind it yet, but it looks like someone on the inside. You need to be careful, Ebuka. You’re one of the project leads, and if this gets out, you could be implicated.”

Ebuka’s mind raced. “What do we do?”

“We need to find out who’s responsible before it goes public. I have some leads, but I need your help.”

As they discussed their plan, Ebuka couldn’t shake the feeling that things were about to get very complicated.

Little did he know, complications were brewing on the home front as well.

The next morning, as Ebuka was making breakfast, he overheard a conversation between Nkem and Mma.

“Mma, are you sure it’s safe for me to be here? With all the things going on…?” Nkem whispered.

“Nkem, you’re safe here. Ebuka is also here with us,” Mma assured her.

Ebuka’s curiosity piqued. What could Nkem be afraid of?

His mind connected dots that weren’t quite visible yet.

Days passed, and Ebuka and Nkem found themselves avoiding each other as much as possible.

But as fate would have it, they kept crossing paths.

One evening, Mma announced that she had to leave for a work trip and would be gone for a few days.

“Ebuka, Nkem will be staying here for a while,” Mma said.

Ebuka groaned inwardly but forced a smile. “Sure, Mma. No problem.”

After Mma left, the house felt unnaturally quiet. Ebuka decided to break the silence.

“Do you want some cookies?” he asked Nkem, who was sitting in the living room reading a book.

She looked up, surprised by his offer. “Yes, please. Thank you.”

As Ebuka went to get the cookies, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt for how he had treated Nkem.

Maybe he had been too harsh on her.

He carried the cookies to the living room and handed it to her.

“Thanks,” she said, her eyes meeting his.

Ebuka sat down across from her. “I’m sorry about how I acted the other day. I had a rough journey and took it out on you. That wasn’t fair.”

Nkem smiled slightly. “It’s okay. I understand. Traveling can be stressful.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, snacking on the cookies.

Then, Ebuka spoke again. “So, what do you do, Nkem?”

“I’m an Accountant. I work from home mostly,” she replied, relaxing a bit.

“That’s cool. Do you enjoy it?”

“Yes, I do. It’s challenging but rewarding. What about you? Mma said you were away for work.”

“Yeah, I work in construction management. I was overseeing a project in another state.”

Their conversation flowed more easily after that, and they started to find common ground.

As the days went by, they spent more time together, cooking meals, watching movies, and sharing stories.

The initial hostility slowly melted away.

One evening, as they were watching a movie, Nkem’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it, her face paling slightly.

“Everything okay?” Ebuka asked, noticing her change in demeanor.

Nkem hesitated. “It’s nothing. Just a spam message,” she said, forcing a smile.

Ebuka wasn’t convinced but decided not to press the issue. As the movie ended, Nkem excused herself and went to her room.

Ebuka’s curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to check the kitchen where he had overheard her talking with Mma before.

He found a small, crumpled note in the trash bin. It read: “You can’t hide forever. We will find you.”

Ebuka’s heart raced. He realized that Nkem was in some sort of trouble, and it was serious.

He wanted to confront her but he didn’t think he was in the right place to.

The next day, Nkem found Ebuka in the study, surrounded by papers and looking stressed. She knocked lightly on the door.

“Need any help?” she offered.

Ebuka looked up, surprised. “Actually, yes. Do you know anything about accounting?”

“Lol. Quite a lot; I’m an accountant remember?”

Ebuka explained the situation with the project. Nkem listened intently, her expression serious.

“Let me see those,” she said, reaching for the documents.

As she reviewed them, her brow furrowed. “I think I see something.

Look here,” she pointed out a series of transactions that seemed off.

Ebuka leaned in, their heads close together as they examined the papers. “You’re right. How did I miss this?”

Nkem looked at him, a glint of determination in her eyes. “We can figure this out. But you need to trust me.”

Ebuka nodded slowly. “I think I can do that.”

As they worked late into the night, a bond began to form between them.

They shared stories, laughed at jokes, and found solace in each other’s company.

That seemed like the perfect time to ask her about the note.

“Nkem, I found this in the trash,” he said, placing the note on the table.

Nkem’s face turned ashen. She looked at the note, then at Ebuka. “I didn’t want to involve you or Mma. It’s… complicated.”

“Tell me,” Ebuka urged. “Maybe I can help.”

Nkem took a deep breath.

“Before I moved here, I was involved with a man named Kasey. At first, everything seemed perfect, but then I discovered he was involved in some shady business—money laundering and other illegal activities. When I confronted him, he became violent. I managed to escape and thought I could start fresh here. But it seems he’s found me.”

Ebuka felt a surge of protectiveness. “We’ll figure this out together. You’re not alone in this.”

As they strategized on how to handle Kasey and his threats, Ebuka’s friend Kingsley called with more bad news about the embezzlement case.

The investigation was closing in on Ebuka as a suspect, and he needed to act fast to clear his name.

With threats coming from both sides, Ebuka and Nkem realized they had to trust each other completely.

Few days later, in a climactic showdown, they managed to outsmart Kasey, recording a confession that tied him to his crimes and the threats against Nkem.

Simultaneously, they uncovered the true embezzler—it was his colleague Kingsley who had been the one behind the embezzlement.

Ebuka reported the case to the police and got arrested.

As the dust settled, Ebuka and Nkem found themselves closer than ever.

The initial hostility had turned into a deep bond forged through adversity and trust.

They realized that what had started as hate at first sight had lead to a deeper connection than either had anticipated.