The Unexpected Beach Adventure.

"Are you for real?" Deborah asked her friend Ada with a sheepish smile. "Wait, please say yes! You shouldn't joke with this, you know."Debbie added with a pout.

Biting on her lower lip to hold the laugh that was begging to be let out, Ada nodded with a huge smile.

With her hands akimbo, Deborah looked at Ada with a side eye. "I need to hear your voice, lady... not you giving me the lizard styled answer."

"Haha, ha ha." Ada bursted out with a laugh while holding on to her chest as she continued staring at Deborah's stance.

"Gurl, I am for real. You know I would never... Okay, I know I joke a lot, but I will never joke with something like this. I know you have nothing to do this weekend, so pack your bags and let's go! But wait, how about we do the time game?" Ada said with a wink.

"Hmmm..." Deborah responded while taking a double step back and zoom, she ran off to her room.

"Yeah! You have a minute to wrap up your packing. 56 seconds more!" Ada screamed as she held on to her phone with a timer on.

"You devil! You know that was brutal!" Deborah panted heavily as she got seated at the back seat of Ada's car.

Bringing the car's engine to life, Ada zoomed off before responding.

"You'll live." Ada retorted with a smile. "I hope you packed up well." Ada added with a wicked laugh.

"You are dead if I find out I didn't pack everything needed." Deborah remarked.

"If killing by mouth was possible, I could have died 22 years ago." Ada replied with a smile. "And besides, how dare you think of murdering someone who is taking you on a beach adventure for the weekend? I am super offended.” Ada added.

Rolling her eyes, Deborah spoke. "I can't believe I am going to the beach. Geez, it has been years."

Nodding her head, Ada replied, "Yes, I know."

Deborah's family has always been a huge lover of the beach, but after her Dad died, things changed. As the first daughter, she needed to get her priorities straight and do her best for her two little brothers. Her life has been busy since then assisting her mother, going to school, and all.

For Ada, she and Deborah were neighbors, though Ada's family weren't as rich as Deborah's parents. Ada had always gone on beach trips with Deborah and her family, and this made them good friends.

However, Ada received a scholarship after a year and a few months of Deborah's dad’s death, making her leave the country to study in the US. But she and Ada never lost touch. They were always in each other's lives, though far away.

After years of being away, Ada flew into the country a few weeks ago, and the ‘leave’ Deborah has been aiming for at her Sales management and Design job was finally approved this week. Since Ada had a few weeks more to spend in Nigeria before she traveled, she decided to make a weekend beach adventure possible for herself and Ada.

"You know I am not your driver, get in the front seat, and let's get in the mood for some music!" Ada said with a smile.

"Beg me..." Deborah replied with a pout as she stretched her legs forward.

"Okay, please, baby." Ada responded with a laugh.

As the car moved on, Ada and Deborah vibe to the music from Spotify from old music, which brought memories to new songs.

"What's the name of the beach you are taking me to?" Deborah questioned.

"Hmm, so you are just asking, eh, babe." Ada replied.

"Alright, just so you know, if you are going to auction me off in a dark market, just auction me to the highest bidder and take care of my belongings and family." Deborah said, holding her chest in hurt.

"Who will even buy you? I know I wouldn't." Ada responded, laughing out loud.

Drawing Ada's ear, Deborah replied, "You should be thankful you are driving."

After a few minutes, the car came to a halt, and Deborah could not believe her eyes as unexplainable emotions gripped her.

Coming down from the car, Deborah let out a huge breath as her legs touched the beach sand.

Moving around, she closed her eyes as the wind slowly comforted her, and the salty air calmed her nerves.

"You brought me here. I can still remember the surroundings. I thought I had forgotten." Deborah said with a sad smile.

"I am glad you remembered." Ada replied, hugging Deborah tightly.

Minutes or was it hours? Deborah couldn't tell as she hugged Ada with her eyes closed. The wave of the sea moved back and forth in a calm rhythm as the beach water touched their legs.

"Deborah." A familiar voice called out.

Opening her eyes, Deborah gasped when she saw who called her. "Mom? Wait, my... what's everyone doing here?" Deborah questioned.

"I know you've been so busy with work to even spend time with them as you would like, so I invited them all here." Ada responded.

Running over to hug her family, Deborah cried. "God! I can't believe this." she exclaimed.

"Also, I got you this." Ada said, stretching an envelope at Deborah.

With shaky hands, Deborah accepted the envelope, opened it, and brought out the content. Rubbing her eyes, Deborah read the sentence printed in the paper again.

"What is this?" Deborah asked in disbelief.

"That's your employment letter at the company I work at. I know you are good at your job and spoke to my boss. He was very pleased with your creativity, so he accepted. I printed the letter first to show you. The email will be sent to you today. My boss knows people in the embassy, so you just need to enter your passport details, and a meeting will be scheduled next week at your convenience. We will be traveling together next two weeks if you are up for it." Ada replied.

Falling down on her knees, Deborah cried out loud, kneeling down beside her, Ada hugged her friend.

"Thank you." Deborah said between her sobs.

"Sorry, I can't hear you, speak louder." Ada joked, which earned her an arm slap from Deborah.

"Thank you, Ada. I am glad you both never stop being friends." Deborah's mom said, hugging Ada tightly as Deborah's brothers joined in too.

"Okay, enough of the tears." Deborah said, cleaning her eyes. "I need to change my clothes. The beach calls me."

"Are you Moana?" Ada replied as she moved two steps back, but before she could speak, Deborah beat her to it.

"Time game is on for 2 minutes". Deborah screamed, running off to Ada's car with Ada on her heels to pick up their bags.

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_{Image-Source second and third images mine and video used is from #YouTube}

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Still yours truly,
Balikis.

Thanks for reading and listening.

Peace be unto those who crave it and more to those who chase it away.