Our Love Story

“Who would have thought that we would be seated here? In a fancy five-star restaurant like this. Sipping white wine, after everything we’ve been through together? To think the storms almost drowned us. Thank you for not giving up on us, my love. Happy one-year anniversary.”

“I still remember how it all started, baby. You were much slimmer then and your eyes looked like you knew all the secrets in the world in that picture. I saw you and loved you at first sight.

I had nothing to offer you then except my sincere love and desire to work hard so I could give you the entire world. You trusted me and believed in me. You saw so much potential in me when I didn’t even see them in myself. Thank you for accepting my love, Ima.”

I looked across the table at the man that had managed to transform a wild, young lady into a refined, mature, woman. The road had truly been bumpy. There were nights we hated each other’s guts, but even more, nights when we pulled in close to hug each other to sleep.

So this is what love means….

“Uhn? Did you say something, baby?”

“Nah… never mind that. So…baby boy…”

He looked at me with the same scrutinizing eyes he had looked at me with when I suggested pranking my parents that I was pregnant with his child. All had been set in motion for the plan to succeed. I had even gone ahead to buy the fake pregnancy bump they used in movies to make it very realistic.

Unfortunately for us, we got a call that very morning that my mom had collapsed in the early hours of the morning, but they had managed to stabilize her. We obviously couldn’t go through with the plan anymore, before she would have a stroke on our account.

“Ma? This one that you’re smiling at me like an Esan witch like this. What’s going on in that big head of yours again? What? What is it? What do you want?”

A huge smile spread across my face as I watched my friend-turned-lover react in the same predictable way he almost always did. It had gotten to the point where I could literally predict his responses in our conversations. It was a mildly comforting thought – the realization that I knew my man so well that I could even predict his thoughts. Never had I ever been in a relationship as intimate as this.

“Nothing oh. Nothing, my love. I was just wondering if you still remember how we first met. Even though this is our first anniversary, it’s been three years since we first met. You know how my forgetful brain works. I don forget. So, tell me a story, big man. Tell me our story.”

“You this little witch. We’re at a five-star restaurant and surrounded by so many wealthy people, I’ve lost count of how many public figures are here, and what? You want me to recount our story?”

A huge pout.

“But babyyy… you know I don’t give a fuck who’s here or not. The only person I give two fucks about is you. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the only person that counts in this place and no, it’s not just any story. It’s our love story. And I want to hear ittttt.”

He laughs. A harmonious melody of sweet notes melding together to create beautiful music. He was always a sight to behold.

My choco big baby.

“See who dey claim mature woman just now. Okay, okay. I don hear. Let’s see… how did we even meet again?”

“Babyyyy!”

Another round of laughter.

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop goofing around now. I doubt either one of us could ever forget our first meeting though. It was the most exciting time of my life. What were you putting on again that day?

Oh yeah!

The black turtleneck and that green Ankara gown. You were wearing that black wig that made you look like an anime character. Gosh, you were so beautiful in that picture. I remember tell…”

“…baby wait first. Let me order another bottle of wine. This gist calls for red wine.”

“See your mouth like red wine. You’re just looking for an excuse to drink more alcohol, you this drunkard.”

He was laughing again. His beautiful white dentition blinded me and the more I fell in love. It had been three years but he still managed to make my heart perform so many weird gymnastics whenever he smiled.

It’s been three years, but every time I see it, it’s like the first time.

“Ehn… call me whatever you will, but I’m still going to order the wine.”

I was pouting heavily. Daring him to stop me with my evil eyes and cute pout. The two-way attack always seemed to work on him. He’d either give in to my cuteness or my scariness. Either way, I was going to have my alcohol whether he liked it or not.

“Order before you press my neck in my sleep. It’s getting really late and you still want me to tell our story.”

“I hear, sir. Just give me a minute. Let me signal one of the waiters here. In fact, just start the story. It doesn’t matter.”

“Alright. Where were we again? Oh yeah… your finals. You were really fine that time oh. What happened? I…”

“… I go bite you for here now. Dey misbehave.”

” I dey joke, boss. No vex, no vex.”

We both broke into a huge bout of laughter and before I knew it, his palm snaked its way up to rest on mine. He squeezed it lightly and looked me dead in the eyes. I saw a strange yet familiar sight.

Passion.

We were in the middle of fine dining and this man wanted to sleep with me.

So sexy.

“Okay, okay. No more interruptions. I saw you that day in a green, Ankara dress while I was viewing people’s WhatsApp stories and fell on Amantha’s story. At first, I wanted to swipe up. Then I looked at your poker face again and told myself you were outta my league. I told myself you would never be interested in a guy like me that had nothing to offer.

I scrolled past, but then I felt a pull dragging me back to your picture. It was a selfie so it’s not like I was seeing any of your blessed assets at the time. You weren’t even smiling in the picture so it wasn’t because of your smile either.

You were looking really tired and frustrated from writing your final exams in school but in all that, all I could think of was how pretty you looked at that moment.

I wanted to get to know you so badly, so I swiped up on Amantha’s post. And I’ve never had cause to regret.”

While he was talking, all I could see was the quiet glow that seemed to be emanating from him as he recounted how we met. He was half smiling and he didn’t even know. If not that they say black people don’t blush, I would have thought he was blushing.

He kept holding my left hand as he talked as though he was afraid someone would run off with me if he let go. I didn’t need any prophet to know that my man was hopelessly in love with me. As I was with him too.

Of course, I didn’t need to hear the story because I never forgot. Even if I had Alzheimer’s disease, I would never forget our love story.

“We chatted for a few days then my Samsung got bad, so I had to use that tiny torch-light phone to call you every morning, afternoon, and evening to check in on you. I know you know now, but at that time you didn’t know how much of a deal it was to me to make all those calls.

I was never a call person. Even in my previous relationships, they always complained. Then I met you and we’d talk on the phone for almost an hour. It was unbelievable to me honestly. That was when I knew I was neck-deep in love with you.”

“I remember those times, Boo bear. I was so emotionally starved while dating my yahoo boyfriend. I still don’t know why I did that… probably just a bad boy phase, but it was empty. I felt lonely and empty. Then you brought color and life into my world.”

“No, you brought color and life into my world. I used to be this black-and-white guy. Always keeping to myself. Never expressing my real desires for fear of being rejected. You came and validated all those desires. You made me hungry for so much. You made me experience all kinds of emotions and you pushed me into becoming the man I am today.

I’m so glad I swiped up that day.”

I watched him take a long gulp from his cup of red wine. He had his flaws but in my eyes, he was the perfect man.

“Do you remember our first date, Boo bear?”

“Of course! It was two weeks after we had chatted on WhatsApp every hour of every day. We went to Film House to watch a movie then. How could I forget? Someone’s daughter refused to let go of me throughout the movie.”

He was teasing me again. I watched the laughter in his eyes and felt my cheeks burn underneath my makeup. I literally threw myself at him that day. The movie theater was inexplicably cold so I begged him to give me his oversized plaid shirt but it still wasn’t enough.

Before I knew it I was leaning in and snuggling my head into his chest. I didn’t care that I was just meeting him for the first time or what he thought of me knowing I was dating someone at the time. All I knew was that my soul connected with the familiar stranger beside me and I felt oddly comfortable in his arms. It was like a scene out of a movie and I, a willing actress.

“See, it’s not good for a guy to be too proud in a relationship.”

“Says who?”

“Says the Constitution of the Boyfriend-Girlfriend Relationship Act.”

I crossed my forearms underneath my full bosom and watched his eyes take the bait. He stopped teasing me and instead focused on my twin milkers playing hide and seek in front of him.

“Cough. Cough. Don’t you think it’s time we start heading home, my love?”

“Cough, cough? The hell is cough cough? Small distraction like this your entire brain has shut down. Tsk tsk tsk…”

“Oh… so now you’re feigning ignorance like the first time you came to my house in that mini skirt. You knew what you wore. You set up the bait but when I tried to touch you, you told me you couldn’t because you didn’t want to cheat. You allowed me to kiss you and cuddle you, but you always slapped my fingers off your trousers’ zip. Are we back to playing tug of war now?”

Another hefty blush.

“D-Don’t remind me of that time na. I wanted you but I knew it was wrong to have you. I did my best to suppress my desires but in the end, I lost. You were everything I wanted in a man. You listened. You cared. You offered solutions. You worshiped me. You made me feel like I was the most precious thing in the world. I had only read about things like that in the Harlequin novels I read under my bed covers as a budding adolescent.”

He was still holding my palm so this time he squeezed it a little bit tighter. He seemed like he had so many things to say. I saw the words try to form in his mouth and then go dry as they approached his lips. He wanted to say something important and I wanted to know what it was.

“What’s wrong baby? You have something you want to tell mommy?”

The mommy line always works. Don’t fail me now!

“It’s just… when I think about how we started I get scared sometimes. I know we have the most beautiful love story now. There have been times we fought for each other, prayed for each other, nursed each other during a global pandemic, fed each other, and all of that. It’s really beautiful now, but I’m scared that I might lose all these because of our foundation.

Even the Bible says if the foundation is faulty what can the righteous do? I’m scared. I really don’t know what I’ll do if I lose you. The fact still remains that I stole you from someone. Jerk that he was, he was still your boyfriend. And you still cheated on him too. Even if he was cheating behind closed doors, you still cheated. I’m scared our faulty foundation will come back to haunt us. I fear tha…”

“Shhh… it’s okay baby. It’s okay. I know that you’re scared and yes, your fear is validated. I know they say the end justifies the means but the process is just as important as the result. I know we could have found a better way to go about it but we were way too caught up with each other to see anything else.

All I’ll say is this. I will never leave you for anyone, my love. Our love story might have had a crooked start but it doesn’t change the fact that we have come this far. We have built so much together. We have loved like never before. I don’t regret choosing you and if I had it to do all over again, I’d still choose you.

Only I’d choose you earlier.

You are worth a thousand men. You are a good man. You are my man. And on this day that we mark our first year together as an official couple, after waiting for almost two years, I vow to be loyal to you body and soul. I love you, Eno.”

“I love you too, Ima.”

“Let’s go home before you undress me with your eyes. You look hungry, you this perverted young man.”

He rushed to attend to my seat before I stood up like he had been doing for the past two years. He linked my arm in his and kissed me on the forehead.

I guess the love story continues….

All images are sourced from Istockphoto.com