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The announcer had made the final announcement for his flight and Ifeanyi had all but given up, he couldn't wait any longer else he missed his flight and he slowly dragged himself to the boarding point and even when his papers were been searched he kept looking back, hoping that she would appear out of nowhere but she didn't and while his luggage was been searched, the lady said to him....." Seems you waiting for someone the way you keep looking back", ...."more like hoping", he replied her......." you know if this person is so important to you, there's a connecting flight coming in later in the day, maybe if you are sure the person you waiting for is worth it,you could you know wait a couple of hours more just to be sure", To be honest Ifeanyi was tired of waiting but he felt the lady had a point, a couple hours more wouldn't do him any harm.



The traffic to the airport was crazy and Onyinye was as reckless a driver as they came, Jane headed for the lobby filled with hope and expectations in her heart, Surprisingly Michael's speech had done the trick for her, " the irony of this whole thing", Onyinye said as they drove through traffic to the airport, " your parents will kill me when they realise i took you to the airport myself to run away with your lover", Onyinye continued.



"excuse me pls, flight 117 to London,are they still here", Jane asked the ticket lady,...."oh I'm sorry that flight has departed ma'm"......Jane felt empty and lost, she was too late,he had left her for good and at that moment Onyinye tapped her and she turned to see him, Ifeanyi had gone to get a coffee in anticipation of his long wait and wasn't at the lobby earlier when Jane entered, He dropped the cup he was holding and his mouth remained wide open, Jane dropped her bag and ran towards him and both clasped each other in their arms and shared a kiss so deep it brought tears out of Onyinyes eyes, " what changed your mind", Ifeanyi asked her when their lips finally took a break from each other " Forever and Always babe" , that was their sort of motto and Ifeanyi repeated it to her before they held each other in embrace never to leave again.

"Again all passengers on flight 117 to London should proceed to the loading area for boarding", Ifeanyi could only hope as one more announcement and that was it.



Jane played his voicemail in her head over and over again and yet couldn't make up her mind what to do, her parents would never approve of anything between the both of them she thought to herself but she was still in love with him,she always was to be fair to her but found a way to shut that out but not anymore, Onyinye advised her to follow her heart and that left her even more confused, what if he lies to me again,what if he betrays me again, all this where playing in her head when someone knocked on the door, it was Michael who came to pick up the remainder of his stuff,he couldn't bring himself to do it earlier based on how fresh his emotional scars were but he felt it was time....."hey come in Onyinye said, "hi Jane, Michael said to her", he looked really pale and even though it only been few weeks, he looked like he was really down, Jane motioned for him to go in and pick up his stuff from the room and he immediately did and was heading for the door when he turned around and said to Jane " Are you OK"? Jane was surprised by the question but the only other person apart from Ifeanyi and Onyinye who knew Jane very well was Michael...." just a little headache", Jane said and Michael was about asking of she'd taken any drugs when Onyinye came shouting from the room "So Jane have you made up your mind whether or not to go with Ifeanyi", she came out to find Michael still there and was shocked "Oh!" was the expression that came out of her, Michael looked at Jane as if expecting her to say something and she did, " I haven't made up my mind about anything yet", she said looking sternly at Onyinye......." Why?" Michael chirped in " I mean i don't mean to involve myself in stuff that doesn't concern me but don't you think you deserve a bit of real happiness in your life Jane and if you do can you think of anyone ever who ever made you feel the way Ifeanyi does, if there is then stay but if there isn't, why don't you go on and get yourself some happiness", Michael had topped his speech he made when they broke up with another wonderful one.

Jane was practically inconsolable though, she knew he had hurt her badly but also knew how badly she wanted to jump into his arms when he came around earlier, Onyinye tried but to no avail herself to make her feel better.



Meanwhile Ifeanyi had just finished packing his bags for his trip the following day when he sat and thought once more about Jane and how he saw the hurt in her eyes, he called Onyinye but it went straight to voicemail but he left a message for Jane , he mentioned how he was leaving the next day and wanted both of them to leave together since she wasn't getting married anymore, how he wanted to make up for all the hurt he had caused her and how he would never do anything to hurt her if he she gave him another chance, he said he got an extra ticket and would wait at the airport for her and that if she didn't show up,he'd know it was best for him to finally move on.

Jane didn't know that Onyinye had invited Ifeanyi to see her, and all she wanted to do that fateful afternoon was just to sleep when Onyinye left for work and just as she was about dozing off,she heard a knock on the door,....."who could that be she thought to herself or did Onyinye forget something", she opened the door and there he was stood in front of her and there he was and this time,there was nowhere to run to like at the embassy, Ifeanyi himself froze seeing her,all the preparations of what he was going to say flew off his head and there he was standing in front of the only lady he had ever truly loved and on instinct he went on his knees and began to apologise to her......" Janey I'm sorry, i have a lot to say but none more important than I'm sorry", tears running down both their cheeks, " I should never have ever lied to you and broken your trust and I've had to live with that regret everyday of my life ever since"......Jane still didn't say anything to him but kept weeping profusely and then finally she said " I forgave you a long time ago but i want you to leave, there's nothing left for us to discuss again", and with that she shut the door at him and retreated to her room to continue her tears, Ifeanyi was heartbroken once again.




He felt though that he had done something he didn't get the chance to do earlier when they broke up, he had apologised to her in person.

Jane was inconsolable and even Onyinyes best efforts to calm her down were futile, the wedding had been officially called off and messages sent to those who had already been invited, when Rita her sister found out the reason why,she went into a rant about how her sister had messed up her life because of Ifeanyi and how if care wasn't taken he would be the cause of her death, her parents told Jane that the last thing they would ever agree to would be a union between her and "this Ifeanyi character" as her mum put it.


It was a count down meanwhile for Ifeanyi to when he'd leave the country and all the trouble and heartache it had given him, weeks had turned to days and he anticipated it even more urgently.



Then his phone rang and it was Onyinye......"hey", he said "its been a while,how have you been",....."I've been great", Onyinye replied him and after talking about work and other pleasantries, she told him about Jane and that if he wanted to, he could come to her place to see her.



That phone call with Onyinye was a strange one for Ifeanyi,he didn't know exactly why Onyinye would all of a sudden want him to see Jane and he fought within himself as to what seeing Jane would achieve after all, she was about to get married but it was Jane and he was leaving the country in a matter of days so maybe this could be the goodbye they never got the first time around.

The next day Michael told Jane that they needed to have a discussion and somehow Jane felt they needed to too,she felt guilty that she had seen Ifeanyi and hadn't told her fiancee and before Michael could begin she blurted out...."I saw Ifeanyi the other day at the embassy", and there and then Michael knew he wouldn't carry on with the marriage, ...."you were sleep talking again last night", Micheal told her,his face an expression of pity,he had dedicated his time and love to the wrong person and the realizations of that were starring him in the face....."Michael its not like that",Jane tried to convince him that she has not done anything or even spoken to him...."I believe you,said Michael but none of it matters because he's always been the one that had your heart", Michael gave an Oscar worthy speech about how he loved her amid tears from both of them, he told her marriage was forever and that he would continue to love her for the rest of his life but that she belonged to someone else and fate would always bring she and that person together no matter how long it would take. It was one of those you watch in movies and join in all the tears, Michael encouraged Jane to try and reach out to Ifeanyi and see if it wasn't too late for the both of them to be together and he left,...." I'd come pick up my remaining stuff in the morning when you've left for work",he said as he wiped the tears from his eyes and left Jane in a pool of her tears.

Days turned into a week and Ifeanyi hadn't heard back from Jane in any capacity at all and he was ever the more confused but he also knew he had to be careful because he didn't want to undo or initiate anything he couldn't finish so after he called Onyinye to ask after Jane and was told she was at her husband's place wrapping up the wedding plans,he found himself feeling stupid and helpless once again, the same way he felt when they had just broken up and he desperately tried everything to get her to forgive him and at that point,he prayed to God that his departure date for his new job would come sooner rather than later.




Jane carried on her wedding plans like nothing had happened but she was different and everyone around her noticed, Michael tried all he could to try and figure out what was going on with her but all he got was......" its just the wedding stress dear,I'm fine" , he got the same incomplete feeling when he approached Onyinye about it only to get the same answer of stress regarding wedding preparations and this went on until one night when he was awoken by his fiance who had slept off on the couch apparently sleep talking......."promise me you'd never leave me Ifeanyi, remember you said forever and always", Michael stood above her and felt empty,on one hand he wanted to wake her up and waive it away as just a dream but he knew deep down he wasn't,he knew the history between them and how messed up she was after they broke up, how she would sometimes call him Ifeanyi when they were together but this was the last straw for him, he was about to tie the knot in a couple of weeks with a lady whose heart belonged to someone else.

Ifeanyi prayed to all the gods he knew hoping that the lady seated opposite him would just hurry it up, his mind kept drifting towards Jane who was waiting outside and what he would say to her,...." again we are so sorry for the misunderstanding sir, sir", "oh yea yea no problem" he responded before dashing put of the office hoping to find Jane waiting for him.


He found his way back to the lobby but Jane wasn't there anymore....." sir pls what about the lady that was seated beside you earlier", he enquired...."oh she left about 30mins ago", Ifeanyi was confused,what had happened between when they saw and when he came back, as he made his way back to his car he felt like he had just had a very bad dream.



Jane stormed into Onyinyes room like someone who chasing her....."i saw him onyi,i saw him" and knowing her friend very well,the only person who would make her shiver on that way was Ifeanyi, and after helping to calm her down,she made her friend tell her everything that happened.

You know that out of the body experience people usually claim to have when they have an accident or suffer some kind of shock,well that was exactly how Jane felt when she heard Ifeanyi's voice but before she could regain herself, the voice blurred out again...."hello who's this, pls don't call this number again if you have nothing to say", see Ifeanyi had recognized the number from the other day it called and no one said anything.



...." Mr Amadi, you're next", a female voice called out and Ifeanyi stood up and as he turned to pick up his bag on his chair, there she was standing right before him, tears almost rolled down her eyes bit she comported herself, Ifeanyi was frozen, couldn't move or say anything, he just stood there dumbfounded and only the voice of the receptionist yelling his name brought him back, he signalled to her to wait for him till he was done as he disappeared into one of the offices, Jane just stood still there, she couldn't believe she had seen him again after all these years.

Ifeanyi had one phobia all his life which was heights, which meant he hated flying so when the lady at the embassy called him to come over because there was some sort of mistake on his visa application, he began to think maybe it was some sort of divine intervention. See he had gotten the job at the International office and the HR dept had forwarded his information on the company database to the embassy for his visa.



Oh we're not there yet!



Jane was facing a conundrum of her own, she desperately wanted to talk to Ifeanyi even with her wedding plans accelerated but she wasn't sure it was the right decision, she picked up her phone and dialled the number on the card he gave to Onyinye,her heart beating drums as the number rang,......."yea hello", Ifeanyi said when he picked up,his voice hadn't changed in her head......"hello" and yet Jane didn't say a word, she wished she could but didn't know what to say, she hung up the phone and held it close to her chest and that was when she realised something that maybe deep down she knew all along, she wasn't truly over Ifeanyi.





Ifeanyi sat in the lobby of the embassy thinking of what exactly the error on his application was and he hoped it was nothing serious as he was now well and truly looking forward to moving abroad.


Jane was having some trouble getting some materials her eldest sister who was in the UK sent to her for the wedding from customs so was directed to the embassy to solve her issues, a part of her was happy about it though cus it gave her something else to think about that wasn't Ifeanyi so there she was sat in one of those long seats where there were people behind you with their backs turned to yours and she fiddled hrough her phone till she came across Ifeanyi's number and something whatever it was that pushed her to call and not say anything the other time made her dial the number again......."yea hello" was the response once again only this time the voice was much closer to her than she could ever imagine...........

...."ol boy, have you guys heard of the opening at the UK branch of the company", Phillip blurted out during lunch at the staff canteen...." yea but i heard its mainly for those who have completed their professional course", Chris responded, and besides" its not like i can just leave the country especially with madam heavy with number three", Chris continued..." but bros you will kill this woman o,ah no space to rest for her at all", Ifeanyi finally joined in the conversation chewing a bite of his favourite "canteen burger" as they loved to call it....."my brother, we want to do all the borning now so that we can rest", Chris responded to bouts of laughter,....."abeg which be borning again", Phillip said and they kept up the laughter before Phillip turned to Ifeanyi and said......"but this job will fit you more man,i mean its not like you have anything keeping you in this crazy country and maybe you'd finally meet a worthy lady over there", Phillip told him,....." Man even if he goes to Brazil with all them beautiful ladies, this young man is destined for one thing only,being single" Chris added and they all laughed as they headed back to the office.




Ifeanyi sat at his verandah later that evening thinking to himself about a variety of things when Phillip's earlier statement came rushing through his mind, Phillip wasn't far off from the truth he thought to himself, he didn't exactly have anyone to stop him from applying for the job at the International Office of his company, his personal life was zero, he barely already even saw his dad as he had remarried and moved to another state so it wasn't like anyone would really miss him then he thought about Jane and how she was getting married and moving on with her life and then he realised he had to apply for the job the following day maybe a change of environment was exactly what he needed.

"You have to be sure my dear, because even the slightest atom of doubt is enough for everything to crash, so search your heart deeply and be sure this is the man or woman you want to wake up next to every morning for the rest of your life"........see Michael's mum was a marriage counselor so when she took Jane aside during a family dinner to give her marital advice, she had no clue that she had said the kinda words Jane had not been expecting to hear.


Jane had sort of changed since finding out that Ifeanyi was a phone call away from her and even though she constantly denied it, something had changed and Michael noticed it too but she assured him that everything was fine but Michael's mums word made her realise that just maybe things were not as fine as she thought they were.



..."Am i crazy for having doubts", Jane asked Onyinye at dinner but she didn't get the answer she wanted as Onyinye knew she had to thread carefully or risk making her friend make a grave mistake,......" You are getting married in a couple of weeks,you have the most amazing man in the world beside you, he's never done anything to make you not trust or suspect him,so why would you want to throw that away", Onyinye replied her trying as much as possible to remind her of what an amazing guy Michael was and she did get through to Jane who said to herself,....." i would be crazy to throw all that away", and for a moment she thought about Michael and how he'd been extremely patient and caring towards her,just one thing though bugged her which was for all of Michael's extremely wonderful qualities, he wasn't Ifeanyi.

Ifeanyi had really come so far from the very young boy who listened to tons of backstreet boys and funnily enough he still did and "show me the meaning" blasted out from his sound system as he sat in his living room caught in his thoughts about every lady he'd ever been with and whether he had been fair with them, his mind went back to his first Chi and how her friends pressured her to end things with him cus he wasn't one of the "big boys", then he remembered Tina and how despite her advances towards him,he pushed her away....."at least i didn't take advantage of her", he thought to himself then his mind went to Ijeoma and how he dodged a bullet by not giving into her demands back then.


He thought about Stephanie and wondered whether she would be married and hopefully had more kids and prayed it was so, he smiled when he thought of all the crazy things he did during her pregnancy and how proud he was at himself for being a real man back then.


"Incomplete" was the next track that played on his system and that preceded his memories of Jane, his darling Jane, the one he was so sure he would take to the altar, the one he loved to a fault which was of his own doing and how he knew he really hurt her and how he still felt guilty about it.


It was an afternoon of reflections for Ifeanyi,he thought about all the other ladies who had thrown themselves at him but he declined cus he didn't want to lie or break any other persons heart the way he did Jane's.


His mind went back to the encounter with Onyinye and how she said Jane was getting married, he knew he was meant to be happy that she had recovered from what he did to her but all he felt was regret and anger that he messed up the only good thing he had in his life but it was also a realisation that he too needed to begin to move on......."baby steps", he said to himself.

....."why don't we sit and talk", Onyinye told her still shocked friend....."have you been in contact with him all this time", Jane inquired from her friend and that was when Onyinye opened up to her about how she ran into Ifeanyi at Uyo where he was attending a conference for his company......"how is he",Jane asked now a bit moody......"he's doing really good for himself", she replied her friend and Onyinye saw a look in her friends eyes that could only mean trouble but Jane almost immediately snapped out of it by retorting back to her friend....." well that's good for him,we should really get some sleep", Jane attempted to end the conversation but Onyinye couldn't help but wonder if she was truly okay.



Jane couldn't sleep as slowly and in the most tortured manner,memories the good ones started to creep back into her head,things she had worked so hard to forget began to come back to her and it would be that this time she couldn't push them out.

It had taken Jane what seemed like eternity to forget about a guy she always described as "the love of her life" , and there were times after she found out what he did that she so badly wanted to forgive him and take him back but she knew it would be almost impossible to trust him again after everything and everyone around her advised she moved on and she tried to no matter how hard it was proving to be.

He was everywhere she turned to, the memories of their time together had become so overwhelming she landed herself in the hospital for stress related issues and that was when her mum made the decree that the name Ifeanyi would never be mentioned anywhere around Jane anymore


Michael met Jane a couple of months after she had broken up with Ifeanyi and was as persistent as they come, he had been given the breakdown of what she passed through and stuck by her initially as friends but in the end he craved more and his persistence paid off when she agreed to give them a shot and two years later,they were about to tie the knot.



...."have you seen the pill", Onyinye screamed from the sitting room to Jane who was now in shock after seeing Ifeanyi's card among the things in her friends bag,....."yea i got it", she replied....Now in that instance,she was sure what she shouldn't do which was, not take Ifeanyi's contact but there was a part of her that had suddenly been awaken by the fact that there was a way to reach someone she hadn't seen or spoken to in almost six years and while she contemplated what to do, Onyinye walked in on her holding the card.....

Now Jane had been pissed at her best friend for not being a huge part of the wedding planning but now that she was back from UYO from her training, Jane wanted Onyinye as involved as she probably could, they first of all though wanted to catch up on everything Onyinye had been up to down south,the night life,the boys oh the boys and then she remembered Ifeanyi but knew she couldn't say anything as was the rule around Jane and the mention of that name.



Later that evening, while they were about to go bed, Jane needed some pain pills for the crazy headache she had and needed to go get pills as the one which was in the house had been exhausted but Onyinye beckoned on her to lift the last one she had from her bag as it was quite late, she searched rather furiously in Onyinyes big bag for the pills and couldn't find it until she emptied all the contents of the bag, and that's when she saw it..............

Onyinye was Jane's best friend and by extension Ifeanyi's close friend back when the two were still together but had lost contact after the break up,see Onyinye was the only of Jane's friends who kept talking to Ifeanyi even after she found out what he did, she was a very simple person and felt as long as Ifeanyi was repentant of what he did then there was no need to hold grudges.



"you've added very small height ify", Onyinye joked away, see they joked to such extents,that's how free they were with each other......" its really great to see you again what's it been 5years now and you look as beautiful as ever", he said, "aw don't tease me jor" she responded......the pleasantries went on before they decided to head to the bar,sit and catch up.



One curious thought crept through Onyinye's mind as they kept discussing, they had been talking for close to an hour and he hadn't asked her about Jane cus as history proved to her even after they had broken up, Ifeanyi would still call her to know how Jane was doing but he hadn't mentioned her even once and it was driving her nuts as to why......'is he married', has he forgotten who she is' , 'did he have an accident and lose his memory', she couldn't hold it any longer and didn't know when she blurted out....."Jane is getting married" , an expression of surprise appeared on his face,he had not for one second he sat there with her best friend thought about Jane well until Onyinye mentioned it........" that's really nice" , Ifeanyi mustered himself up to say and moved to change the topic immediately, amazingly he didn't really think about her a lot as it had been so long and he had come so far after not being able to forget for years after they broke up.



Onyinye got his contact and card as they hugged and said their goodbyes, Ifeanyi said to tell Jane he wished her all the best in her marriage but even Onyinye knew that was never going to happen as the name Ifeanyi was contraband around Jane especially after she was hospitalized a week after their break up many years back so his wish for her would have to remain what they were, mere wishes.

Uyo presented Ifeanyi with an opportunity to really take some steam off all the hard work he had put himself through especially lately as dove deeper into work than he'd ever did so it was a perfect opportunity to relax, get a tan maybe,go swimming maybe and definitely go clubbing, it'd been ages he did something remotely fun.



So while those who propagated he come along to the trip were in the conference room, Ifeanyi decided to take in the exquisite hotel the company had lodged them for the weekend and what he saw at the pool site certainly pricked his imagination,see despite the fact that he was as single as a match stick,it didn't stop him from being a man and the sight of what surrounded him at the pool area certainly reminded him about that.


He was caught up admiring the view when he felt a shoulder tap him from behind, " you've got to be kidding me,Ifeanyi blurred out" before wrapping his arms around her.

" Sir i suggest Ifeanyi also comes to the conference with us this weekend" were the next words out of Phillip's mouth and from nowhere Chris gave an input no one asked him for "ah yes sir, what kind of fellow works for a company for three good years and doesn't take his annual leave or even a day off work ah na you work pass".......Ifeanyi was puzzled, he was looking forward to spending his weekend binge watching "Jane the Virgin and Arrow" together with some premier league football but that was as well as over when Mr Kolade said " You know your colleagues are right,while i appreciate your endeavor and work rate in this office, i am giving you the weekend off and not to go home but to go with your colleagues to Uyo and relax yourself a bit while they are in the conference and no it's not a suggestion" , the boss had spoken, Ifeanyi was on his way to Uyo for the weekend but at least i don't have to be in a six hour lengthy talk he said to himself as they boarded their flight at the airport, a trip which at the end would set in motion a chain of events that would change his life.

Jane was in the middle of a seemingly heated argument with Michael about whether or not they would have a live band or a DJ at their wedding which was a couple of months away, see Michael had been her Knight in shinning armour after things ended with Ifeanyi, she was messed up and heart broken for months and Michael was always there to comfort her, all her friends and even her sister had not been able to get through to her until Michael showed up and after months of being friends,they started dating,something which her sister Rita tagged a "miracle" as Jane never looked like she would let any other man into her life and when on their second year anniversary he proposed, she never hesitated to say yes, it'd taken her what seemed like forever to get over Ifeanyi but she finally did at least that was what she thought anyway,again not there yet.....