A Quarantine Love Story

Image Source: Pixabay

At first, everyone thought it was only a joke when the lockdown was announced.

The virus had been in other parts of the world. But the moment it entered our shores, a sad reality struck us all accompanied by panic, fear, and uncertainty.

Humanity shook with fear of what was to come. Was this the end of us all?

Indeed, nobody knew the complete answer. We just sat and waited it out, having no idea what would be our lot?

We knew it, and openly dreaded the moment it started to fester and spread across the country. The body count was sporadically on the increase. First, it was a case of an imported virus borne by an Italian who had come into the country a few weeks ago for some official business. He was the first case. Then two weeks later, a few other cases began to be reported, then the deaths came, and with it, the absolute fear of all time.

Nobody wanted to go outside anymore, and no one wanted to be in the same space as anyone who could be the possible carrier of the virus. It was simple; you come in contact with another human, you die.

With all of these sudden changes came the lockdown. All schools, churches, businesses, events, and public centers were shut down. This virus wanted human contact to spread, and we had to be wiser to beat it. Or so we thought?

That was when it all started for me.

I worked in the bank as a customer care correspondent. It was an 8-4 that I totally loved as I was tasked with receiving and answering complaints of unhappy individuals who had one issue or the other to settle. While it may be a terrible duty to cater to the needs of the angry masses, it was all about perspective for me; I saw the fun in receiving, sometimes, funny complaints, and happily reveled in correcting people’s ignorance about their financial affairs.

This job practically took all of my time and prevented me from anything else.

How else could I maintain a social life and keep up a romantic one when all of my time was spent at work. And when I was not working, I was always too tired to do anything else. I had a basic triangular life. Work. Work. Sleep. Sleep

That was my everyday routine. That was how I knew to live life.

But with the lockdown, everything was different.

At first, I treasured the compulsory break. It was an opportunity to rest from the monotonous circle that had become my life. I could do all of the things I longed to do before now; Cook fancy meals, watch all the popular series I had heard good things about, sleep without having an inkling of guilt, and find new ways and possibilities to spend my time. But after a while, as the lockdown progressed, I found that I needed a new drive. A new escape. A new reason to fill my days,

And so I found one.

My best friend told me of a Covid-19 matchup app that worked very fine for people hoping to make ‘new friends’. Even if I detested dating apps, there was no way I was going to get a conventional date during this ban. It was an unconventional lockdown, and that meant things had to be done differently. After all, nothing was normal anymore.

Even though I would never consider the option of a dating app as I loved to find love very traditionally. I had to opt for the option available to me. I needed something to keep me engaged, and for the meantime, the app would serve just that purpose.

Or so I thought until I got my first three matches.

Two days after signing up, I received a notification. I had been paired up with three potential matches that the app thought would be suitable for me.

The first guy was a banker who worked in administration. He looked scrawly with eyes that were too wide for his face. His beards were rough and he physically did not look like my type at all. He reminded me of a work colleague at the office. Not a good impression for a possible date.

The second guy was a lanky dude who worked in Aviation. Uptight, and looked too efficient. His display picture revealed a tall skinny guy whose tie was buttoned up too tightly. He looked like he’d be the kind of person to take life too seriously.

I did not want a serious-faced person. I needed a pass-time, someone who would be available to fill my mornings with humor and something to build anticipation for in the evenings. Someone who stood out from the crowd. A man that could teach me new things, a good choice both physically and emotionally.

And that was my third match.

The first thing that drew me in was his bio description.

“I Am A Masterpiece”.

I liked that tag. It was a description that emanated a soothing feeling of someone who was in charge of his mind, body, and life. Someone who was bold, full of life, and unashamed to wear a tag of self-ownership.

As I stared carefully at these words, it translated to everything I’d want in a man. Everything and more. He was a six feet muscular dude with glaring biceps and a thick mane of hair. His face had an angelic glow, like someone that stood between the brink of good and evil. The thought of this sent an excited chill down my shoulders.

I liked him already.

While it was never good to judge a book by its covers, I noticed that I was enthralled by this bronzed piece of the manly masterpiece that I had been matched with. He was perfect with a smile that appeared to reach his eyes. Unlike all the previous guys I had seen, this one was not carefully posed for the camera like he was preparing for an official interview. In fact, it was an unaware pose that somehow appeared to capture his godlike features. Despite emanating such power, he still had a soft glow that seemed to pull me even closer.

It was a soothing, and playful feeling, and I knew immediately that he was just the kind of guy I’d be willing to take a chance on.

He was easily everything I knew I wanted and more.

As I stared carefully into the dark eyes of this masterpiece, I was reminded of a villain from one of Dan Brown’s bestselling novels, The Lost Symbol.

The Antagonist, Malalkh bore the same symbol of power, control, and strength that I peeped around my new ‘person of fascination’.

Yes, it was true that girls loved to play with the devil, and here I was, willing to take on this ride to the deepest parts of hell and more with my personalized Malalkh.

Then again, that was the thing about Devils and Angels. It was all about perception. The Devil was once an angel. And an angel could become a devil.

Crazy right?

Nothing really makes sense, when you want it to. But here I was trying to make sense of why my mind and body were suddenly pulsing with feverish excitement for this hunky guy. The kind that could only be real in a world of fantasy.

A button glowed underneath his bio description, it seemed to pulse in anticipation with the words “ACCEPT” bodily written on it.

As I clicked the button and waited for the web page to load, I quickly remembered that this man had no name. I had been so carried away by his face and ‘Masterpiece’ declaration that I didn’t bother to look closely at his name.

I had given him one already, Malalkh, and that was all that mattered for now.

Now, it was left for him to decide.

Did he want to match up with me too??

If he accepted my request, then that’ll be a clear indication that he found me worthy, just as much as I did, him.

I chewed on my lips in anticipation, and immediately felt gallons of guilt wash over me.

Here I was, interested in getting a hookup with a stranger that resembled the charming Prince of Persia, whereas the world seemed to combat with an invisible enemy that was fast taking over at alarming speed. People were fighting for their lives, and here I was, trying to find love.

How petty was that?

Ideally, I’d be able to wait it out but here I was already pulsing in anticipation at what this guy had to offer.

It took three days before the reply finally came through.

Every morning, I’d wake up eagerly throwing furtive glances at my screen notification. Trying to find out if he has finally accepted my friend request. Sometimes, I’d jump startled when another random notification intruded into my phone space. I lived on my toes like this charming prince was already a major part of my life. One would have thought we were involved in something serious and I was waiting for a text from my lover.

But like everything else, the wait was finally worth it.

When the long-awaited notification finally came along, it was followed with an ecstatic leap of joy. I had screamed and immediately sent my Malalkh a quick “hi” hoping to start things off immediately. He considered me worthy as well. I was soon to become the vixen of the devil himself.

And, our conversations took off smoothly from there. Just as I had imagined, it was everything I wanted and more. From quick chats that were mostly work-related, we began to talk about the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on regular and major government industries and parastatals.

Then we veered into politics, and I was pleased to learn that we had the same political views on basically everything. We seemed to disagree.

At first, it appeared we were both testing the waters. Even if I was certain that I was not on the app to discuss political issues or financial implications of the virus, I knew for certain that we were heading towards a resolution.

A dating app was to ‘make new friends’ and not flaunt your acquired knowledge on the country’s political structures and economy. I needed him to cut to the chase real quick, but I had learned the art of patience. And so, I let myself go with the flow until we climaxed onto our personal lives.

“I have been in a few relationships but none of them has felt as right as this one does,” He had confessed the moment we started getting serious.

I got goosebumps with this affirmation. Here I was already in love with prince charming, and he on the other hand was speaking like he had caught the bug already. I was glad to finally realize that the feeling was potentially mutual. We were both very seriously interested in each other.

This app was magic after all!

As the days went by, I slowly learned that we had the same likes and dislikes. He hated the later part of summer and looked forward to winter eerily. He loved to play with children and confessed he had two siblings who were all over his business at all times. But he still adored them nonetheless.

Every morning, I’d wake up to a beautiful text that’ll brighten up the rest of my day. I closed my eyes each night with the thought of him lingering within the walls of my mind, and my nights were filled with colorful sunflowers and my prince charming.

Not long after I found out that he lived only a few blocks away, I could no longer resist the urge to see this godlike man in reality.

African Tales: The Witch Tree

I immediately suggested the thought to him, and he rebuffed putting claims on the virus. In his words “I care enough for you to risk your life in such a reckless manner, we can wait till after the lockdown is over.”

I had been displeased, thinking he’d jump at the idea. Was I the only one feeling all of these emotions?

The day he proclaimed his love to me. I told him I wanted to see him again. This time, he had been too weak to refuse. I got my chance, and I latched on to it furiously.

The day I visited his house. I had driven from the necessity store straight to his place. I was pleased to learn that he looked even better in reality than he did in his display picture. He’d reached down to kiss me gently on my neck, and I had hugged him feverishly.

Finally glad to have found my soulmate.

A gentleman, my devilish prince.

After that day, the visits had become more frequent. I preferred our live conversations to our virtual sessions. Things started to escalate further, I bore no heed to the news reports, and stupidly ignored all social distancing guidelines.

This was Malalkh, and that was all that mattered.

On the day of the end, I had found out very bad things about him. We now bore the official tag. He called me babe, I called him sugar. We were a couple. Or so I thought?

I couldn’t wait till the COVID-19 lockdown was over to flaunt him before my work colleagues and friends. They’d all pulse with envy.

That day, my Malalkh had gone to the bathroom for a quick session when his phone began to beep furiously with new messages.

Curious, I had picked up his cell phone, and that’s when I had the biggest revelation of my life.

“Darling, hope you’re staying safe. Sending lots of love from Kairah and Kian”

Your wife.

My Malalkh did not belong to me alone. In fact, he was somebody else’s. He had a wife and two children who looked exactly like him. The resemblance could not be mistaken with anything else. They were miniature versions of him. Flesh and blood.

When he spoke of his two siblings that were all over his business at all times, apparently it was a paradox for his two kids.

I felt cheated. He had used me, lied to my face, and proclaimed to love me when he had a wife who looked so happy. He was nothing but scum.

The picture appeared with the text and disappeared almost immediately. apparently, he had an encrypted system that hid his text messages as soon as they came in.

When I accused him of manipulating my feelings and confessing to love me, he replied that it was only a quarantine fling. He’d been away from his wife for a long time and needed a new fun escape. And I was that escape.

The confession had left me broken and shattered beyond comprehension. I had been manipulated and felt cheated.

What I envisioned would be a happily-ever-after event had suddenly turned into a COVID fling?

That was the unmistakable trace of the devil. The devil was double-faced. Your best friend one minute, and a lying cheat the next.

That day, I ended it all. A relationship that a lot had been invested in emotionally, time-wise, and more, was suddenly dark and hopeless.

That app turned out to be a stupid idea after all.

Two weeks after, my greatest doom began. Apparently, the worst of my woes were yet to beset me, it was much more than a terrible heartbreak.

I suddenly began to develop symptoms of COVID-19. My brief fling with the unnamed Prince of Persia had exposed me to great harm.

I tested positive for COVID-19.

First, it began with the heavy breathing, followed closely by the loss of smell and taste

Today, I’m still on a sickbed struggling for my life. Back to being single and unwanted. Unsure whether I’d survive this trajectory evil that had befallen me. An evil that I had brought on myself, with my hands.

A quarantined lovesick idiot.