I write this not to my delight but due to the compulsion that weighs heavy on my mind to narrate this unfortunate tale of two lovers. This is not super story. It is a real life occurrence that happened in 2013, exactly on Salah day.
Let me make this brief as much as possible.

There was a colleague in our finance department at work who was seeing a lady co-worker (receptionist) but the relationship was unknown to almost everyone in the office. It was kept on a low, 'coded' as many would say.

Then came Salah break in September (if I recall correctly, a Thursday) and we all left the office hoping to reconvene on the coming Monday but unfortunately, the unexpected happened. A sad news broke and spread with the swift of a speeding bullet. BBM and whatsapp were hyper-active among colleagues, phones rang per second. What a shock! The receptionist had died.

The story filtered in and unfolded.
Apparently, both took the advantage of the Salah break to journey to the North where the lady's parent reside. Guess what, they went for their formal introduction.

From news made available to us, both families already travelled and converged at the lady's family home, awaiting the arrival of their son and daughter.
About 45 minutes to reaching their designation, the bus both boarded skidded off the road and crashed in a nearby bush.
As explained by the survivor, the lady was asleep, her head leaned on his shoulder when the accident occurred. Luckily for him, if that is okay to indulge in, he survived after being unconscious for two days in the hospital where he was rushed to but unfortunately, she died instantly and as also made known, there were no major visible cuts or scratches on her.

I was not there but my conclusion would probably be a split-second shock to the heart or a head collision as the vehicle went off tracks. This is the sad story that tore through and broke the hearts of all in my office.

But there were bigger questions that streamed through my mind...how can one explain this, when both were en route to happiness but ended up experiencing the sad part of life? How would the family have received the news? What would the family of the survivor had said to the family of the deceased at the instant that the news was broken? Remember, they were all together awaiting their arrival.

Would both families still be friends after the incident knowing fully well that what once brought them together was no more? Would there be accusations in the air? This is Africa. We stray our thoughts to the extreme when bad experience befalls us. Wouldn't the lady's family see the guy and his family as a curse to them? Obviously, they would have wished the guy never met their daughter, maybe there wouldn't have been a journey on that Salah day.
On the guy's side, would he see himself as a destroyer of his lover's life or take the situation as just one of life's unfortunate events and move on without a mind laden with guilt?

It was clear to see that the guy was highly traumatised. After a month, he departed our office in Lagos and had to leave for another country to join same office. Till date, he has not returned finally back to Nigeria and yet to marry.

Nairalanders, how do you view this situation? What's your take?

Expecting comments...