Chapter 1: The Girl with Big Dreams (Freetown)
The bus screeched to a stop, throwing Amelia forward like an extra in an action movie. She clutched her second-hand handbag as if it were a million-dollar treasure chest.
“Welcome to the city, Amelia,” she whispered to herself, stepping out onto the pavement that smelled like a mixture of roasted groundnuts, car exhaust, and… ambition. Yes, ambition had a smell, and it was strong here.
Her sneakers were white when she left her village this morning, now a polite shade of city brown squeaked against the sidewalk. She looked up at the skyscrapers towering above her like arrogant giants, their glass windows reflecting the sunlight as if to say, You’re too small for us, sweetheart.
Amelia smiled. “Watch me.”
She tugged her faded yellow suitcase behind her, muttering under her breath. “One day, I’ll have an office in one of these buildings. With air-conditioning. And free coffee. Real coffee, not the one mixed with burnt rice.”
Her stomach growled, proving that dreams couldn’t replace breakfast. Spotting a street vendor selling akara balls, she hurried over, fishing out the last crumpled note from her pocket. The vendor, a woman with the kind of expression that said she’d seen every type of customer alive, gave Amelia a look.
“You just reach?” the woman asked.
“Yes,” Amelia replied, her voice bright like sunlight after rain.
The woman handed her the akara in a brown paper bag. Amelia bit into it and closed her eyes, smiling. Happiness was deep-fried and salty.
She didn’t notice the tall man in a navy-blue hoodie walking past head down, sunglasses on, holding his phone like it was the only thing keeping him alive. They collided with the grace of two bricks meeting mid-air.
The akara bag flew. Amelia gasped. The man… caught it. One-handed. Like some superhero from the Marvel Universe: Street Food Edition.
“Seriously?” he said, pulling off his sunglasses. His voice was deep, smooth like melted chocolate. His eyes were the kind that made you forget your name for two full seconds.
“I..I..I..I’m so sorry!” Amelia stammered, reaching for the bag.
“Careful,” he said, handing it back with a small smirk. “You almost killed your akara.”
Amelia blinked. “You.u..what?!”
“Never mind,” he chuckled, sliding his glasses back on. Without another word, he walked away. Amelia watched him, her mouth open like a broken door.
“City people are strange,” she muttered. Then she shook her head and kept walking, completely unaware that she had just met the man who was about to turn her life upside down.
