What’s the best surprise you have ever received?
A little over a decade ago, I worked for a private company in Lagos…for 3 years.
We didn’t get to take Christmas breaks… Especially not the finance unit… We worked till the 23rd.
I was lucky my first year there, I had been given a few days off so I went home for Christmas without any hassle.
The next year…I wasn’t so lucky.
I left for my hometown on the 24th day of December. Just a day before Christmas. Lagos is over 700 kilometers from my home town. It takes at least 12 hours to close that gap.
We had a couple of unplanned stops and so many bad roads on our way…and so by the time it was midnight… Now Christmas day, I found myself in a town, 109 kilometres from my hometown and a driver who wasn’t willing to go any further.
To be fair to the driver, he had been driving since 6am of the 24th and the road ahead was known to be dangerous at night.
Every passenger except myself somehow found their way to who-knows-where and I was left in the motor park where we had stopped…just me and a few other bus drivers.
I was offered a tiny room to wait in till sunrise. I was scared and unhappy but I didn’t have much of a choice.
I called my family and then my boyfriend…they were as worried as I was.
I brought out a magazine from my luggage and began to read…I hadn’t planned to close an eye lid that night.
At 2:05am my phone rang, it was my boyfriend. He wanted to know the location of the park.
He had driven to get me. He said couldn’t rest knowing I was alone somewhere in a strange place at night.
I was speehless.
He had taken a risk. A beautiful and romantic risk…and I don’t think I will ever forget.
We got to my home town a little after 4am.
It was the best Christmas gift/surprise.
