Deja Vu in Lagos Traffic

Lagos no dey ever calm down. Even on a Sunday morning, the city still dey rush like it dey late for appointment.

Teniola didn’t sleep.

She just sat on her bed till morning light started forcing itself through her curtains. Her phone was still on her hand like it had grown there. The call had ended hours ago, but her ears still felt like somebody was speaking inside them.

That voice.

Calm. Familiar. Dangerous in a way she couldn’t explain.

She kept replaying it in her head.

“I’ve been looking at your eyes for years.”

And worse, that last line.

“Your eyes did something that night.”

Teniola stood up suddenly, like she was tired of sitting with fear. She grabbed her bag, wore slippers, and left the house without even planning where she was going.

Anywhere but silence.

By afternoon, Lagos traffic had already swallowed Lekki-Epe express like usual. Cars were packed tight, AC struggling, horns screaming small insults at each other.

Teniola sat in an Uber, staring out the window but not really seeing anything.

Her driver kept complaining. “This Lagos na punishment. Every day go be like this, dem no fit fix road?”

She didn’t answer.

Her mind was somewhere else.

Then her phone buzzed again.

Unknown number.

Her stomach tightened.

She didn’t open it immediately. She just stared at it like it might explode.

Then she opened.

A message.

“Don’t look for me. You’ll see me when you’re ready.”

She hissed softly. “This guy is mad.”

But even as she said it, her hands were shaking slightly.

The car moved slowly.

Stop.

Go.

Stop again.

And then it happened.

Right there in traffic.

She saw him.

Not in a message.

Not in memory.

Outside.

Across the road, stuck in another car.

Kola.

He was sitting in the passenger seat of a black SUV, window slightly down, face calm like he had been waiting for her to notice him.

And when their eyes met…

Everything slowed.

Not metaphor slow.

Real slow.

Honking felt distant.

People shouting faded.

Even the heat felt like it paused.

Kola didn’t wave.

He just looked at her.

Like he had already known she would be here at this exact time.

Teniola blinked fast. Once. Twice.

But when she looked again, he was still there.

Watching.

Her heart started beating in a way she didn’t like.

She tapped the driver. “Abeg, move this car small.”

The driver laughed bitterly. “Madam, where you want me to move go?”

But she wasn’t even listening anymore.

Because Kola lifted his phone.

And called her.

Her phone rang immediately.

Same number.

Right there in traffic.

She didn’t answer.

But he kept calling.

And kept looking at her like he could see inside her head.

Chioma’s warning from yesterday came back suddenly.

“Person wey dey look you like say e don know you before…”

Teniola swallowed hard and finally picked the call.

“Why are you doing this?” she snapped immediately.

Kola’s voice came calm, like always. “I’m not doing anything. Lagos is just small sometimes.”

“Stop following me.”

A small pause.

Then he said, “I didn’t follow you. I was already here.”

That line made her angry.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

But then he said something softer.

“I saw you first.”

Silence.

Teniola looked outside again.

His car had moved slightly now, closer.

Not enough to touch her, but close enough that she could see his face clearly.

Too clearly.

“I don’t know you,” she said firmly.

Another pause.

Then Kola replied.

“You used to say that before too.”

Her chest tightened.

Before?

Before what?

Before she could ask, the traffic started moving again.

Slowly.

Cars creeping forward like nothing had happened.

Kola’s car moved too.

But instead of leaving, he stayed beside her lane.

Matching her pace.

Like a shadow.

Teniola turned her face away, trying to breathe normally.

But her mind refused to cooperate.

Because something about him wasn’t just familiar.

It was… positioned inside her memory like a missing puzzle piece she had once forced out.

Her phone buzzed again.

Another message.

“Look at me properly next time. Don’t run your eyes away like last time.”

She snapped.

“I’m done with this!” she said out loud.

Her driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “Madam, everything okay?”

“I said move faster!”

But Lagos no dey respect urgency.

Traffic still dragged.

And Kola still stayed beside her.

Watching.

Waiting.

Then suddenly, his SUV slowed down.

Not because of traffic.

Because he opened his door slightly.

Teniola frowned.

“What is he doing?”

Then he stepped out.

Right there.

On the road.

Between moving cars.

People started shouting.

“Guy! Are you mad?”

“Oga shift!”

But Kola didn’t react.

He just walked closer to her Uber window.

Slow.

Calm.

Like traffic rules didn’t exist for him.

Teniola’s breath stopped inside her chest.

“No… no, no, no…” she whispered.

He reached her window.

Knocked once.

Soft.

Like he wasn’t interrupting anything.

Her driver panicked. “Madam, who be this guy?”

Teniola couldn’t answer.

Kola bent slightly, eyes locking directly with hers through the glass.

And then he said it.

Low voice.

Close enough that only she could hear through the slightly open window.

“You still look away when you’re scared.”

Her throat went dry.

“How do you know that?” she managed.

He smiled faintly.

Not playful.

Not romantic.

Something heavier.

Something loaded.

Then he said,

“Because you did it that night too.”

Teniola’s fingers went cold.

That night again.

Always that night.

She shook her head fast. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kola didn’t move.

Just looked at her like he was waiting for her mind to catch up.

Then he added quietly,

“You almost killed me with your silence that night.”

Her eyes widened slightly.

Before she could respond, a bus horn blasted behind them.

Kola straightened slowly.

And stepped back.

Traffic was moving again.

But before he walked away, he leaned slightly and said one last thing.

“Next time you see me, don’t pretend again. It won’t help you.”

Then he turned and walked back to his SUV like nothing happened.

Like he didn’t just tear open something inside her chest.

Teniola sat frozen.

Her driver finally exhaled. “Madam… that one no be normal person o.”

But she didn’t answer.

Because her hands were shaking too much.

And inside her head, one question kept repeating itself.

What did I do that night?

Kola’s car finally drove off ahead.

But before it disappeared completely, his window rolled down.

And he looked back one last time.

Direct eye contact.

No smile now.

Just truth waiting.

And then he mouthed something.

Something she couldn’t hear.

But somehow…

Her body understood it anyway.

Her phone buzzed again immediately.

New message.

“You’re starting to remember now, aren’t you?”

And for the first time…

Teniola didn’t even know whether she wanted the memory back.

Or wanted it to stay buried forever.

Because something inside her was waking up too fast now.

And it didn’t feel like love.

It felt like consequence.

To be continued…