
13/07/2025
THE GOVERNOR’S SECRETARY.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
When Love Finds Us
The heart heals slowly.
Especially when it’s spent years being told not to expect anything soft.
For Nadine and Chisom, love had always been complicated — either absent, conditional, or interrupted by secrets.
But something was changing now.
Their names had been reclaimed.
Their voices had grown loud.
And in the quiet moments… something new crept in.
> Desire.
Curiosity.
The question: Could someone truly see me — and stay?
It began with a bookshop.
Nadine had ducked into a small one on Aminu Kano Crescent to avoid a sudden downpour. The power was out, and the air smelled of dust and old leather.
He was behind the counter, adjusting shelves by flashlight.
Tall. Thoughtful eyes. Dark locs pulled into a short bun.
“Welcome,” he said, not looking up. “We accept cash and courage here.”
Nadine smiled. “What about women with messy pasts?”
He looked up then. “Those are the ones who buy the best books.”
She stayed for nearly two hours.
His name was Tega.
He’d studied philosophy but preferred fiction.
Said he liked books “that made people break their own rules.”
They talked about silence. Power. Memory.
He hadn’t seen her interviews.
> “I like meeting people before their headlines,” he said.
Before she left, he handed her a book: The Art of Coming Undone.
Inside, a note:
> “If you ever want to come undone with company — come back.”
She did.
Again.
And again.
Meanwhile, Chisom was relearning trust in smaller doses.
There was Kelechi — a human rights lawyer she’d met during a panel on gender policy.
Smart. Measured. The kind of man who listened twice before speaking once.
They worked on the same committee for the Amarachukwu Day initiative. Late meetings turned into long walks to the car. Professional emails gave way to little jokes, then check-ins, then:
> “Can I cook for you this weekend?”
It wasn’t perfect. She panicked sometimes when he showed too much care.
Once, she nearly cancelled dinner because he brought flowers — a gesture that triggered memories of promises broken.
But Kelechi never rushed.
> “Healing isn’t linear,” he told her. “I’m not here for your perfection. I’m here for your truth.”
And slowly… she let him in.
One night, both sisters sat on the rooftop of their apartment, sipping fruit juice, bare feet against warm tiles.
“So,” Chisom teased, “how’s the philosopher?”
Nadine rolled her eyes playfully. “He makes me feel like a first draft. But in a good way.”
“And you?”
Chisom smiled. “He made me jollof rice. That’s serious.”
They both laughed.
Then the laughter faded into a soft, sacred quiet.
“I didn’t think love was for girls like us,” Nadine said eventually.
Chisom nodded. “But maybe… love finds us when we finally stop hiding from ourselves.”
They clinked glasses.
Not as survivors anymore.
But as women who had made room for joy.
To be continued...
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