The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camp was everything Idris expected it to be, dusty fields, endless drills, bug bites, and chants that echoed before sunrise.
It was loud, chaotic, and full of unfamiliar faces, yet, for Idris, it was also a blessing in disguise, it was noise that drowned out the echoes of Bela's betrayal.
He kept to himself mostly, volunteering for logistics and IT duties to stay busy. He carried his heartbreak like a hidden scar quiet but ever-present, his letters home were brief, he rarely smiled. He stayed focused on the one thing that brought him comfort: progress.
Bela, on the other hand, bloomed in the spotlight. She strutted through the parade grounds with her signature sway, dressed perfectly even in dusty whites, she was charming, popular, and loud, guys trailed after her like shadows, and she welcomed the attentions.
It was during one of the camp talent shows that Bela met Anna a soft-spoken, artistic girl who had painted a giant mural of Nigeria on the canteen wall. Anna was the type of person who seemed invisible at first, until you sat with her and realized her silence was full of color.
They bonded over girly chats, nail polish, and their shared love for music. Bela never spoke about her past relationship, neither did Anna and ever asked, to Bela, that chapter was closed and irrelevant and to Anna, it wasn't important yet.
Their friendship grew beyond camp. After their service year ended, they stayed in touch calling each other late at night to gossip about work, men, and life. Bela had no idea that fate was slowly sewing together the pieces of her past in the background.
Meanwhile, Idris refused to return home after NYSC. His parents begged him to stay and run the family company, but he declined, not out of pride, but necessity.
"I need to do something for myself," he told his father one night.
"You're being stubborn," his mother said tearfully. "We built this for you."
"I know, Mom, but i need to become me before I carry your name."
They didn't understand it, maybe they never would.
Idris began the process of leaving the country. The embassy visits, the documentation, the delays. Every step was a challenge. But his eyes never drifted from the goal freedom, independence, and a chance to rebuild far away from shadows.
It was at the visa interview that he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Is this the queue for the Canada appointments?" the voice said, soft and clear.
He turned.
And there stood Anna.
Their eyes met with the kind of surprise that only destiny could write.
"Idris?" she said, blinking. "I... I didn't know you were applying too!"
He smiled for the first time in weeks. "Neither did I know you were."
They laughed, they talked and as they moved up in line, they shared stories of service, ambitions, and quiet dreams.
They learned they were traveling to the same city.
A week later, they boarded the same flight side by side two souls with different wounds and silent hopes. Something gentle bloomed between them during those hours in the sky. There was no flirtation, just warmth.
A sense of safety.
For the first time, Idris didn't feel the ache of his past, and Anna? She felt seen.
They didn't know it yet, but that flight wasn't just a departure.
It was the beginning of a new chapter neither of them could have imagined.