Four hours after promising her laundry she would get to it, met Bianca merrily sprawled out on her bed rewatching The Game.

“Bee, why is everything everywhere now?!” Bianca wondered what potency Nigerians thought that the obligatorily whined “…now” at the end of demands wielded.

“No reason!” Ndali was clearly in no mood for her sister’s chiding. “You haven’t even done anything since you put that stupid show on, and this is the third time today you have watched the entire season now! What sort of zombie negro groupie are you?!”

“Oh whatevs! Do you know Lili, I think groupies get a bad rep; they dedicate themselves to another, with little care for reciprocity. Mothers do the same and are revered, groupies do it and are despised. How many of mummy’s calls do we return yet she loves us without thinking to herself, “…how did a munch-faced gremlin like Ndali spill from my precious loins, dear lord?” These are selfless people! Granted, groupies ARE thirsty, but they’re still selfless.” Bianca asked with such seriousness that Ndali’s initial smile burst, scattering her gurgling laughter all over the room.

You couldn’t help but like Bianca, she was the sieve to everyone’s flour; she somehow managed to make her older sister’s life less weighty, lighter somehow, as though like a sieve with thickened flour, she could break down the worrying balls of life into tiny particles of easy-to-manage pieces.

“Calm down Lili, I’m going to do this room..and my laundry…and the kitchen-and feel free to jump in and volunteer by the way-…and everything else, as soon as I finish watching this episode. Honestly Lili, I am afraid! I don’t think I’ve felt like this about anyone else in my life before. Ever!

“Huh?”

“Jay Ellis! Honestly, he is so handsome and so smart and so goofy and so…” Bianca caught herself before she vomited on her serenity…when did she become a swooning romantic?! And for a character on TV she’d never meet no less! The disgust on Ndali’s face was comical yet apt. Bianca’s answering laughter trailed her sister as Ndali marched out of the room and off to find chores less burdensome than watching her practical sister morph into Cupid’s target practice.

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“Ugh! Who forgets their shoes when they go out…hell, who loses their car though?! Where did I park???” as Bianca oscillated between berating herself and scolding the universe at large, she bumped into a solid mass and vaguely wondered why the wall didn’t hurt. As a clumsy child, she was well acquainted with walls.

“Oh my bad, I’m sorry!” He muttered, stretching down to steady her.

Yes, Bianca was quite sure she’d gone mental.

Or died.

“Please Lord don’t let me be dead!!!”

Otherwise, why was Jay Ellis standing in front of her, at the car park of the Oriental hotel, in the centre of a sweltering Lagos…looking like a talk, cool glass of chocolate goodness?!

She staggered backwards, looking ready to faint with palms splayed on forehead like a caricature damsel in distress.

“Hey, hey, are you ok?”

The man was taking it all in stride, clearly not used to women seeking out Unconsciousness from its hellish hideout or debating with God in his presence, if the worry in his eyes were any indication.

When she whispered, “God since you make dreams come true, I really need a new car!” his grin actually split his face into two perfectly symmetrical halves.

The man was gorgeous.

Bianca knew she was dying. Or she was dead.

“No, no, I’m definitely dead, that’s why his voice is so mellow, that’s how angels talk…they’re gentle”. She reasoned to no one in particular.

The loud barking laughter startled her from her panicked state.

It came from him?!

“You’re clearly NOT an angel! How can you laugh so loudly..and wait are you laughing at me?!” Anger, the sure antidote to Stage 6 Groupietitis.

“No, no, never. I’m laughing with you. You’re real funny” He said.

“I’m sorry, this is awkward…” she was slowly returning to the sturdy soil of earth, leaving pillowed clouds behind. “…its just you look so much like this actor I really like on this show. I’ve been watching it so much that I think I’m reflecting his face on people or something. There’s probably some medical term for this…”

“Madness?” He helpfully suggested without a smile.

Her answering whack on his arm returned his smile to its proper place.

“Hi, I’m Jay Ellis. I’m in Lagos for the African Movie Awards. And you, beautiful, funny lady are…”

“Dead. Just Dead.”

“Great name!” His laugh had a life of its own; rich and real, it was almost painful to do anything but respond in kind. They stood in the parking lot giggling like two overgrown children with an entire childhood of shared memories and a future of distended dreams.