Copyright© Adepoju Dolapo 2017

All rights reserved!

Not to be transmitted or copied without the prior written permission from the author.

This is purely a product of thoughts and imaginations. Any resemblance with characters and event is entirely coincidental.

It was a Sunday evening in the year 2016. I just left mum church where the preacher Pastor Keshinro Williams had just dished a sermon to us about love. He carefully considered God’s love as against the worldly love. The sermon left me wondering if what we call love is in perfect same sense as that which God calls love. I stood at Apata car park waiting for bus to convey me to Challenge the next terminal to my destination in Adegbayi. I took a quick survey at the ever busy road and saw a lot of people in different attire. Maybe due to the nature of that area, only few people showed any signs of the day being a Valentine day. No touch of red and no signs of love bird either going or returning from an outing. If not for that the pastor hammered on love, I would have probably forgot that Valentine existed for that year.
Deep in thoughts, I started feeling a slight pain in my back and leg, I had wandered in thoughts thereby neglecting the fact that I had stayed for over 15minutes waiting for bus which seemed never to show up for the day. I wished I had a car for myself. I decided to progress forward probably I would be lucky to find one.
I had a relationship and I loved my girlfriend but I didn’t seem to be in love. I was just in the relationship probably to reduce my lust of the flesh and to cure my occasional urge without committing” big sin” of patronizing a sex worker. I had never spoke with my girlfriend and then it was around 4:00pm on a Valentine day. I wondered if there could ever be a relationship as boring as mine. It was obvious that we were both tire to still be together but we were both afraid to call the shot so that we could have the gut to accuse the other of initiating the breakup. Sometimes I did wished it would work out but most time I wished it would never.
I bagged my heavy school bag and lifted the medium sized “Ghana-must-go” bag. I walked a bit upward when I sighted an ex school mate waiting at the park too. We were both Agricultural Science graduates but while I studied Animal Science, she went for Agricultural Economics and Farm management. We took the same courses together from 100 to 400 level but we never spoke for once. We only greeted when we bumped into each other and there was no way of dodging. When we did meet in school, sometimes she would chose to greet some friend who were about 20 meters away rather than say “hi” to me. I had always used the same tactic of avoiding greeting people in such occasions on her; “fake chatting”. Till today I still could not decipher the reason for our actions. It might be ego or plain display of immaturity. Call it anyone you like.
I was to pass right in front of her and my hands were full already and it would even be more stupid to let go of my loads just to bring out my phone. I was simply caught off-guard. In her own case, there was no friend at a distance to wave to so we were even.
“Hello, good evening. Are you just coming from school as well?” I asked
“Evening, actually I stayed over a friend place for a couple of days” She replied.
“So where are you heading to?”
“My house of course. Where else?”
“Oh, and where do you live?”
“Olode, New Ife road. I doubt you will know the place” She said
I couldn’t believe she has been living close to my area all this while we never spoke.
“Are you kidding me? Why won’t Olode of all places in Ibadan. Is it not the one opposite Iyana Agbala area?” I asked with some sense of confidence.
“Wow, I thought you wouldn’t. Sorry about that.”
“I stay in Agbala too. I can’t even believe we live in almost the same place” I voiced out.
“Really? You know we never spoke back in the school so you cannot blame me for not knowing.” She said with smile.
The money on me was exactly the one that would take me to my house. Removing a dime from it meant I will either trek where I was supposed to take bike or take the effort of queuing up at the ATM. Boarding the same bus with a girl and unable to pay her fare is a dent on my ego. Either way, both risks were worth taking for the girl.
“Let’s move upward a bit probably we can get a bus” I suggested.
“Actually I am not waiting for bus. Someone is coming to pick me up.” I was both relived and annoyed with her answer. You should know the reason for the mixed emotion by now.
“So who is the person?” I probed.
A car honked and she hurriedly picked up her luggage and waved at me. I turned and saw one Honda salon car. I couldn’t see the face of the driver. I was a bit slighted that she could have offered to help me since we were heading to the same direction.
‘What if it was her dad?’ I reasoned.
‘After all she is a graduate. It will do no harm if she explained to him that we were school mates.’
‘Oh, probably it may be her boyfriend.’ I reasoned in another direction.
‘Maybe, it takes two to tango and three they say is a crowd.’ I concluded.
I had no chance to ask for her name not to talk of requesting for her number. Anyways, it’s computer age. I had some friends in her department. Even without knowing her name, simply asking for the girl that was nominated for the hour glass and lives in Ibadan will fish her out.

Fast forward to a week later, I was sent to pay electricity bill at Adegbayi. I left home around 11:15am. I thought it will be wise to visit her since all I had been doing was to eat, sleep and read while awaiting NYSC call up.
You may wonder how I got to get her number, thanks to Mr. Mark Zuckerberg and a departmental mate who once lived in Olode. And as fate will have it, we even belonged to the same WhatsApp group. I noticed this after saving her contact. I brought out my phone and dialed her number.
“Hello Opeyemi, are you at home now?”
“Hello, who is this please?” She asked slowly. Apparently just woke up.
“Oh, so you never had the chance to save my number despite chatting with you for many times. Anyways, it’s Ayobami from FUNAAB.”
“AY, I am sorry. I am quite lazy at saving number. I do recognize your number but it’s just that I just woke up and I didn’t even look at the number clearly before picking up. Yes, I am home.”
“I don’t know if I can come to see you. I should get there at 12 noon.”
“Okay you can.”
She sent me a description to her house. I was a bit nervous at to what our discussion would be. I still couldn’t believe I was about to meet a girl we have avoided each other like cat and rat for the past five years.
I quickly went to pay the bill and I called her when I was about taking bike at Adegbayi to Olode. I got to her gate at exactly 12pm. It took her two minutes to open the door.
She looked unkempt, definitely never took her bath for the day but this didn’t in any ways conceal her beauty. She was of average height for a lady. Around 5.7’’ if I guess rightly. She had a sexy curve which cannot be made oblivious regardless of her choice of wear. She wore a short jeans slightly above her knees with a turtle neck top. She was definitely not on bra and I could notice the tip of her nipples on attention.
She checked the wall clock hanging in her dad’s living room.
“12:02, wow you really keep to time. In all honesty, I was not expecting you to come till around past One. You know Nigerians now, African timing’
“Probably that’s because I am an Israelite then.” I said and we both laughed.
I removed my socks and spread it outside in the sun along with my shoes. I sat across the television set and took a quick survey of the living room. It was an average room for the middle class. I noticed her dad’s affection for picture. Different picture hang on the wall ranging from her parent family picture to the portrait of the family picture.
She read my mind perfectly well.
“Don’t mind dad. He has this crazy love for picture. He is an old school. Several times I have told him to take some of the pictures down but he insisted it is his room. If I don’t like it, I should wait till my husband has his”
I wanted to deny that I thought that way but there was no point in denying. I simply smiled and took my eyes of the pictures. Without any introduction, I already knew her parents and her four other siblings.
I sat and we spoke for two hours. I couldn’t believe we could talk at that length. The last time I had such a lengthy physical conversation was when I was still with my ex three years ago. We touched virtually all aspects of life ranging from academy to religion relationship to politics and even to the most sacred amongst Africans; sex!
There was no telling that she was sound and vast. She talked with expertise on all the topic we raised and there was never a dull moment. On that day, I realized the guy that picked her up was her fiancé. I disclosed my disappointment in her not offering to help me and she informed me that they went for a Valentine outing and besides, the guy was a jealous guy. He even queried her what she was discussing with me when he came for her. She had to tactfully explain to him how we were school mates.
That same day, I realized we both attended the same secondary school but while I graduate in 2006, she left school in 2009. I spent four years chasing admission. Such was the pathetic situation of my dear country!
I disclosed to her about my relationship and sex life. It was even more surprising revealing to her what I had kept all along from the closest friends I had, both males and females.
I knew immediately there was this connection between us and I silently prayed it will last for a very long time. She didn’t keep anything from me too and I appreciated her the more.
I checked my time and discovered it was some minutes to 2pm.
“Opeyemi, I think I have to go home now. It’s almost two hours I arrived here.”
“Are you seriously kidding me right now, what kind of a visit is that? When I thought you will be leaving around 6pm” She said frankly.
I was delighted to hear that. In all sincerity, I never felt like leaving but since it was my first visit, I didn’t know her attitude yet towards friends staying long in her place. I personally hated it so I expected her to feel the same way too.
By that time, I was beginning to get hungry and I wondered which kind of a host will not even bother to offer her guest a glass of water for almost two hours. There was a knock at the gate and she rushed to open it. It was her two siblings. Bolanle and David both between 12 years and 7 years of age respectively. They both greeted me and went inside to change their uniforms.
“What do you want to eat Ay?” She asked.
“Hmm…. Whatever you have is okay by me”
“Okay. I plan to prepare yam and fried egg but I don’t know if you like yam.” She said.
“I don’t like yam, I love it!” I said. She smiled and disappeared into the kitchen. That marked the first of my countless visitations to the Olatundes.
The following Sunday morning, I was dressing for church when I received a call from her, she asked if I would be going for service and if she can attend my church. I was more than happy to hear that when being with her had gently become my obsession.
We met after the service and I introduced her to my family. She requested if she can follow me home as her family would not be back from their church anniversary till 4:00pm. Obviously she hated being lonely and God knows I do as well especially when I will be with a beautiful lady. I told mum and she consented. We talked, played and I made noodles for her. She slept off in our living room some minutes after eating and I had to wake her when it was nearly 4pm.
To be continued....................

following

Following

I like your story which has vivid description of every thing. RIDE ON

Following like zombie

xaviercasmir:
I like your story which has vivid description of every thing.
RIDE ON

Thanks bro

I saw her off and I can perceive the love that all my family members had for her. I caught my mum asking my little brother if Opeyemi was my girlfriend. Such was her desperation for a well-mannered and extremely beautiful girl for her son.
The friendship between me and Opeyemi grew within a space of one months and I had uploaded our pictures together on more than five occasions. Whether on the day she accompanied me to my sister’s graduation or when we attended service together or the ones we took in our houses.
It was so obvious that everybody kept asking me if she was my girlfriend and a lot of school mates who knew we never spoke in school began to ask us separately how we got to know each other and get that close all of a sudden. My display of open affection to her didn’t get unnoticed to my girlfriend. She questioned me repeatedly if there was something I was hiding away from her about the girl. Heaven knew I hid nothing than what was true. She was just a friend!
Our friendship soon gained recognition in our WhatsApp group. A time never passed without us not asking some personal questions in the group chat and we would be notified to take our chats private by other group members.
“Ay, will you be coming to church on Thursday? Opeyemi did I drop my pen in your house yesterday?” These were some of the questions we did ask in the group while we were both online.
I decided to pay her a visit one Saturday afternoon. Thanks to our insensitive governments, NYSC kept changing the date of our camp orientation and this rendered us both idle. She asked if she could seek my advice on a very confidential issue. She narrated to me how her boyfriend has continuously abuse their relationship. Since they both agreed on platonic relationship, the guy unable to control his urge would sleep with random girls and to worsen the case he would report himself to her blaming her for his atrocities. Only if he had allowed him to sleep with her he wouldn’t be cheating on her.
I was short of words. Right within me, I knew breaking up was the only way out unless she wanted to compromise and start yielding to his demand which I knew she was not ready to grant.
“You should explain your displeasure to him and ask him to stop being irresponsible” I voiced out.
“I told him that already several times but his response was that it was his fault for being honest enough to tell her.” To any sensible person, that means he would stop telling her later.
I still couldn’t open my mouth to tell her to break up. I was definitely developing feelings for her and didn’t want to appear too desperate or being the architect of her broken relationship. I advised her to keep enduring. That was all I could say.

A month later, we were both called up for service. That was April 2016. She got posted to Delta state while I bagged Enugu. We kept communicating virtually every day and whenever she was bored, she would call me to come online and we would chat till one of us ran out of battery.
My girlfriend was unable to bear it any longer and she eventually asked for a breakup which I sanctioned without thinking twice. I informed Opeyemi and she felt sympathy for the poor girl. I was not to be blamed though. It was not just working and there was no point patching up what is meant for doom.
Our friendship continued to soar even in distance. Distance was not a barrier to our friendship. We spoke twice in a day at least and each call was never below five minutes.
Opeyemi followed my advice and kept enduring with the guy. She disclose to me that conversation between them has reduced drastically and I suggested to her it was due to distance. She asked why the same distance has not in any ways affected our friendship. I was short of answer on that.
I called my mum one day and she asked after Opeyemi. She told me how she saw wife material in her and how she would make a good wife to any man. I simply ignored her comment and pretended I dint grasp it. Coincidentally, Opeyemi told me if she can send my number to her mum as she desired to say hello to me. Our friendship soon turned to between us alone to between us and our mums. I gave Opeyemi number to my mum too and I guess they were good pals.
I was returning from CDS one Thursday morning when I received an SMS from Opeyemi. In this era of IMs, sending an SMS looked weird. I thought it would probably be a “please call me” message so I quickly recharged from my bank account.
I wanted to call her right away but I sensed it would be better I open the message first.
“GOODNEWS

I BROKE UP WITH THE BASTARD, YUPPY!”
I felt a deep sense of great happiness within me. I clenched my fist and shook it vigorously like I won a jackpot. Finally, I can call her mine but I decided I should show some concern towards her failed relationship. She rejected the sympathy and told me there was nothing to feel sorry for.
I doubled my call rate with her and began to act like her boyfriend. She responded too and we had more time to chat with midnight without no guilt feelings such as cheating on our partners when we chose to go raw.
I informed some of my friends and they told me to ask her out right away. I declined as I so much hated proposing to a girl over phone. I had always harbor the notion that only cowards propose over phone.
I waited till December hoping that she would come home but unfortunately, she chose to spend it in Delta. I was mad with her decision but I had no right to show my anger as I dint request her to come so that she wouldn’t be suspicious of my plan. I cherish being creatively romantic. I wanted my proposal to be a sheer surprise to her.
A week to 2017 Valentine, I began to reminisce on my journey with Opeyemi so far. It was still unbelievable to me that our friendship could go that deep within a year. I decided to go see her in Delta on Valentine and make my proposal. In my mind, we were already lovers, the proposal was just mere formality.
I planned my journey well and informed her that I have an assignment in Anambra State with some colleagues that if chanced I will seize the opportunity to come to Delta. She gave me the description to her lodge.
I was on the assembly ground in my PPA when the principal announced that we would be having a love feast and a lecture for the students. He announced me as the anchor for the programme. I was seriously infuriated but I was glad as well. I loved having the chance to do something for my students.
I decided I would go to Delta after the programme and making the proposal in the evening looked so appealing to me. To me, the Valentine day appeared a perfect time ans would be highly romantic.
On the Valentine day, Opeyemi was the first to send me a love message. She told me how wonderful it has been for me to be her friend and how she wished our friendship last till eternity. I was drooping while reading the message. I felt on top of Mt. Everest and showed the message to one of my close friend in my PPA.
The programme went as planned and I was delighted to make it fun for the students and teachers alike. During the programme, my HOD who suggested the love feast openly proposed to our English teacher Miss Nkechi and the scene made me want vanish into thin air and appear before Opeyemi. I hurriedly left the school premises and took my school bag which was full of my belongings. I bought some provisions for my sweetheart and called to inform her of my arrival at the park. I lied to her that I was in Anambra and I was having problem with my withdrawal from the ATM to buy myself some time. I paid extra charge and went with a Sienna car so as to get to my destination on time. I kept chatting with her updating her of the false development. She sent me a message that she had something to tell me but since I was coming to Delta it would be nice to have a face to face discussion. That made a perfect time to her.
I began to imagine what the content of the conversation could be. Just some days ago, she asked me if it is right for a lady to ask a guy out. I knew there was nothing wrong with it but I was sure the guy in question was me. I wouldn’t hate to appear a coward to her. If she asked me out then I would feel unmanly and this would forever remain a dent on my ego even if we eventually got married.
“Personally to me it doesn’t feel wrong but morally and spiritually it is. Even our culture as Africans frowns to that. Any girls that do that is considered wayward”, I said while trying to prevent her from making a move.
“Just give me few days Opeyemi, I will be there to ask you out. Just wait for me, don’t blow my ego” I reasoned.
Finally I arrived at the park and he was there waiting for me with another guy with a corper cap on.
“I think I have seen this face before” I said as I shook the guy.
“Adeleke you can’t be serious.” Only few of my close friends called me by my surname. He brought out his phone and flashed the back light to his face. It turned out to be Femi my departmental and project mate. He was the one that gave me Opeyemi number when I met her. There had lived in the same area in Ibadan before Femi moved to his uncle’s house in Abeokuta. I apologized to Femi stressing out that it was due to the darkness.
They collected my belongings and we trekked for some minutes. We arrived at a flat apartment and Femi opened the door. I was surprised as to see why Femi was the one with the key and not Opeyemi.
‘Maybe they are close and used to each other to that extent.’ I concluded within me.
Femi took permission to put the generating set on and I was still brainstorming what could be going on.
‘Is Opeyemi cohabiting with Femi? No, that cannot be. She is God fearing’ I reasoned.
It was no longer news that the apartment belonged to Femi. He asked what I would like to eat and I requested for water.
I was left alone with Opeyemi but I was out of speech. I wanted to ask when we will be going to her house but I remained dumb with imaginations.
Femi returned with a glass of water and handed it to me. He took his seat just beside Opeyemi.
“Ay, you know I said I need to tell you something his afternoon. Femi has been pestering me a long time ago for a relationship. If I was not mistaken it is over three months now. Today being the Valentine day, a day of love, I decided to say YES to him. Ay, I said YES! Now Ay meet my boyfriend Femi. Femi meet Ay my best friend forever.”
Femi stretched forth his hand and I managed to shake him. I was visibly shaking. Tears had gathered in my face and any attempt to utter a word will make me burst. I remained silent. I asked for the toilet and he showed me. I went in and cried my heart out. Prior to that day, I can’t recollect crying over a girl and I tagged all my friends who admitted to doing that coward.
I returned and Opeyemi told me she would be heading back to her lodge. I was to sleep over in Femi’s house and she would come to see me so that I can join in celebrating with her. I stood numb and waved her a goodbye. Femi saw her off. My prayer till I slept off was for God to give me patience so I won’t murder Femi before the day breaks. What an unforgettable perfect timing!
Source:https://sleekout./2017/02/14/the-perfect-time/