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Chapter 2: “You Feel It’s Right When Fate Decides”
CLYDE’S POV
A week later, fate tossed her back into my path.
I was at a hotel downtown for a meeting with a business associate when I saw her—Barbara. Standing in the hallway like no time had passed.
And suddenly, I couldn’t remember why I was even there.
I walked toward her without hesitation, knowing full well I was about to throw the rest of my day out the window. But I didn’t care. Ever since that wild first encounter in the restroom, I hadn’t stopped thinking about her.
She looked different this time—softer, less guarded. She smiled when she saw me.
“Hey, you,” she said.
I laughed and offered a handshake. “Yeah. Me again.”
We chatted a bit—light, easy. Then she surprised me. Gave me her room number and said she was heading out for a while. I watched her leave, stunned by how easy that just was.
That evening, I called from the reception desk to ask if I could stop by. She said yes.
When she opened the door, she tilted her head and said, “Oh. You’re the Clyde guy.”
I just nodded. I was speechless for a second—the way she looked under that warm light, her eyes calm, her presence disarming. I could hardly breathe.
“Come in,” she said, snapping me out of it.
I stepped inside. I was nervous at first, but it didn’t last. Conversation flowed. Time slowed. I didn’t know it then, but I was already falling deeper.
Before I knew it, I had extended my stay in San Francisco. For her.
We became fast friends—comfortable in the way people rarely are when they’ve only just met. Somewhere between late-night conversations and quiet walks, she told me about her family.
Her father, Mr. Wilson, was trying to marry her off to a family friend. That was the reason she was so tense the day we met. She had just stormed out of an argument with him, angry and defiant.
“I just want to choose for myself,” she said one evening.
I listened. Nodded. Understood more than she realized.
I remember thinking, Well… families that can afford to book a hotel for a whole year must be pretty powerful.
Barbara was a sight to behold. Confident. Complicated. Beautiful. It took me nearly a year to win her heart completely. In that time, we built something real—laughter, tension, passion, disagreements—but always a connection we couldn’t ignore.
Eventually, her parents cut ties. They couldn’t accept our relationship. She refused to go back to London, choosing instead to stay in San Francisco.
I had come to the city from Nigeria for business. But I left having found something more—her.
I returned home, gathered my family, and came back to marry Barbara.
Her parents didn’t attend. Mr. Wilson still believed she’d come to her senses and marry the man he chose. But Barbara made her choice clear. She walked away from that world.
And walked toward me.
She made a new life, gathered a small circle of friends, and settled into something far from what she’d grown up with.
Barbara, still struggled with whether to stay in San Francisco or go back to London.
But instead—she stayed for me.
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