No!!! This can’t be happening. I must be having a dream. Who could have thought that I would get a proposal on Valentine’s day? Not even in my wildest dream could I have thought of this. Not after all that had happened two weeks ago…

Chiamaka is a child from a wealthy family and the only daughter of the Umuazi family. She has just been admitted into the prestigious school called Obafemi Awolowo University and is to study in the Department of Geology. While growing up, Chiamaka didn’t have the opportunity to have many male friends around her due to her big size. She was fat and chubby.

Upon resumption, Chiamaka packed into her hostel and heard about the orientation program from her roommates; Kemi, Christianah, and Favour. It is a program solely for the fresh students, and it was happening the following day. With no plans for the next day, Chiamaka decided to attend the orientation program with her roommates who had become her friends over the night. By the time the ladies were done dressing the next day for the program, time had flown by.

Taking a bike right from the hostel gate, they arrived at the venue for the program about thirty minutes late and rushed into the hall. As they were entering, the sight of a certain handsome guy got fixated on one of the ladies who had rushed in. The girl was dressed in a light blue gown and wore a white headband with a white high heel to complement.

At the orientation program for the fresh students, Ademide, Muyiwa, and Bankole, the three hottest guys on campus had decided to grace the program with their presence as volunteers. Ademide is a student of the Department of Medicine and Surgery, Muyiwa belongs to the Department of Dentistry while Bankole is a student in the Department of Medical Rehabilitation. After the program commenced, they chose to sit at the back so that they can observe all that is going on within the hall where the program will be held.
After waiting for about 30mins, the program eventually started and the three friends were having fun by checking out ladies that were coming into the hall for the program. While this was happening, Bankole noticed that Ademide had gone silent amidst the fun and then looked at him, only to discover that his gaze was fixated somewhere else. He called Muyiwa’s attention to his discovery and they both tried to locate the focus of Ademide’s gaze. It turned out to be a lady!

This realization cracked up the two friends who realized that their friend has been caught in the web of one of the fresh students who was wearing a blue gown and a white headband. However, this joy was but for a short while. The girl was too fat. Thinking that their assumption must have been wrong, they decided to ask Ademide about who he was staring at. Then, Ademide confirmed their fears. It was Chiamaka.

Although Chiamaka was fat, she was surrounded by many friends, mostly female, being a child from a rich family and a cheerful giver. Several of the friends around her were however there because of the benefit of wealth they were enjoying. Due to her being aware that her friends were only with her because she had money, Chiamaka always kept her guard around her friends concerning what she will say. Chiamaka never would have thought that she has a secret admirer who had liked her since the day of the fresh student’s orientation program and this one-sided crush lasted all through their first year, with Chiamaka being oblivious to this fact.
Bankole and Muyiwa were surprised at the choice their friend had made and were confused about what to say. All convincing words and methods that could be used to make a person change their mind have been used for Ademide, but his mind was already made up. It was love at first sight. The session went by so quickly, however, Ademide tried as much as possible to get all the key information he needed about her before the session ran out, and he did this without her knowledge. One fateful evening after classes, Bankole and Muyiwa returned from classes to see their friend in deep thought. Knowing it was obviously about the girl he liked, they decided to give him a little support since all attempts to make him change his mind had proved abortive. Their conversation goes thus:

(Ademide is lying down and staring at the ceiling)
Muyiwa: Guy, wetin dey do you na? Why you dey do like bolo sef?

Ademide: Omoooo… Na this Chiamaka babe matter I dey reason so ooo

Muyiwa: But guy, this babe no fine na, and as you dey so, you be hands guy… why you con dey do like person wey never chop belleful. This your matter don dey turn serious palava oo. Na this babe suppose dey rush you sef and you con dey here dey do like fowl. If you sabi say you like the babe true true, standa make we go meet am.

Bankole: See ehn, Muyiwa, leave the guy and his palava ooo… Make e dey do like a day-old lamb wey never chop better. The babe matter never do am well for body, na why.

Ademide: See ehn, mai guys… make I talk true, I like this babe wella but I no sabi follow girl talk. Na my number one problem be that for this matter. How una wan take help me?

(Muyiwa and Bankole then starts to gang-think about what to do)

Bankole: Na wetin goh happen be this. This session don end like this, so we go run the package when we resume. When school resume, try find out how her timetable go be like. If you don sabi that one, you go just meet her one day after she don finish class, con do like say you dey meet her for the first time. Shey you grab?

Ademide: Ehn, I dey follow you.

Muyiwa: As per the fresh guy wey you be so, she go don dey drip as she see you… You go just use that one enter her like that and complete your own parol.

Ademide: after thinking critically… My guy, ah swear, you wise… Na so I go do am. Make I con go house go build morale for next session. This babe must to gree for me.

The next session came in swiftly, Ademide resumed earlier so that he would be able to see his first love as soon as possible. And then, a day came, Ademide had decided to take a bold step and try as much as possible to get close to her. One hot afternoon, after the whole day’s stress, Chiamaka was returning to her hostel after a class. Ademide walked up to her and initiated a conversation which goes thus;

Ademide: Hi, good afternoon.

Chiamaka: Good afternoon, how may I help you?

Ademide: How are you doing today?

Chiamaka: Excuse me, do I know you? Do you know me? Or why the overfamiliarity?

Ademide: My sincere apologies, my name is Ademide, and I am one of the students in this school.

Chiamaka: Yes? And how does that information help me?

Ademide: It seems you are in a bad mood. Sorry to disturb you… (Ademide leaving).

Chiamaka: (realizing her mistake, calls him back) … I’m really sorry about my reaction from a while ago. I had a stressful day and these lectures are literally killing me, most especially with this heat associated with it. Don’t be offended.

Ademide: It’s fine. Since I am meeting you for the first time, I will be letting it go. Instead, I would love to know more about you, starting with your name. What would your name be?

Chiamaka: My name is Chiamaka and I am a student of Geology. Nice to meet you, Ademide.

Ademide: Wow, I am surprised you still remember my name, despite all the commotion. Do you mind me having your number?

Chiamaka: No, I don’t mind … (exchanges contact)

Ademide: Seeing that you are tired, let me allow you to be for now. I will contact you later in the evening when you would have been well-rested. Bye for now.

Chiamaka: Alright, bye for now.

And just like that, the first meeting between Ademide and Chiamaka ended on a good note. Other conversations continued online and they got to know each other more as the days went by. For the rest of that session, they stayed friends because Ademide didn’t let her know that he liked her and Chiamaka believed that he approached her because of her wealth, just like others do. The thought that love was based on looks, wealth, fame, and intelligence had been programmed into her mind, and although she had most of these things, love seemed to be far from her because of her looks. And in that way, the second session came to an end.

After her meeting with Ademide, boys started flocking around her like a magic spell had been cast on her. And with the kind of experience Chiamaka had in the past, having guys around her is a luxury. This fact made her quite vulnerable to the guys who had asked her out. All she could think of was saying yes just to keep them close by. Before she could realize what was happening, she had been in and out of over 7 relationships within a time frame of 2 years.

One of her most memorable experiences was with a guy named Adekunle who had approached her towards the end of her third year in school. He is a part 4 student of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and they met in church. They sat beside each other that Sunday. After the benediction, Adekunle greeted her and they spoke for a few minutes, after which he collected her number against next time. Upon reaching home, Chiamaka got a text message from him, telling her how much he enjoyed the short conversation they had and requested she came online. So, she came online and they spoke for about 30 minutes before she slept off.
When she woke up, she noticed she had received a series of messages from one Adekunle. While trying to recollect where she met the person, Ademide came to visit her at her place, just to check on her and know how she was faring, so she left her phone behind to gist with him. After he left, she returned to her phone only to find more messages from the same person. She checked the messages and then remembered he was the guy she met in church and she apologized and explained what had happened to him. Their conversations continued online as the guy didn’t return to her church again. After a while, she started to develop feelings for him because he was fun to speak to, however, unknown to her, the brother was only catching cruise. He noticed she liked him and decided to play with her feelings.

They got into a relationship, though it was more or less a virtual relationship because they get to see each other only by chance. Adekunle avoided her as much as possible because he was always with his friends and he didn’t want his friends to meet her as he was ashamed of her, and to him, the relationship wasn’t a serious one in the first place. He only kept her because of the things he got from her. However, as time went by, Chiamaka found out that he didn’t like her and was only playing with her emotions. She was pained because he played with her emotions and this led to their breakup. Many more occurrences happened during her school days and most of it didn’t end on a pleasant note.

A few months after she had graduated from school, Ademide decided to speak out about his feelings. She was shocked at his confession as she didn’t know, despite all the years they had spent as friends. Although reluctant because of her past experiences, she decided to accept his feelings with the thought that he wouldn’t break her heart since he was aware of all that she had been through during her school days. The journey of their relationship finally started in Ademide’s final year as a medical student and everything was rosy.

During one of their dates on Valentine’s day at Parks and Gardens, several eyes were observing their movements and wondering what a handsome guy like Ademide was doing with a girl like Chiamaka. Amidst this, one of the guys in the place decided to challenge Ademide to know exactly what he saw in a girl like her. That led to an exchange of words between both parties and Ademide defended her dignity so well that she felt proud. They even celebrated 2 years of their relationship in December before Chiamaka traveled out of the country for a business seminar, and it was a moment to be remembered.

With the start of the new year, Chiamaka got bad news. Ademide was critically ill and bedridden. He couldn’t even move around. Due to her absence in the country, she couldn’t be with him during these times, however, she always tried to stay in touch via video calls. Her business seminar was to end on the 31st of January, so she couldn’t come back before then. But she promised to return to the country that same day.

On the day of her arrival, she got the worst news of her life. Ademide was dead. Her world shattered when she arrived to see his obituary and funeral arrangements at his family house. The love of her life had been buried earlier that morning, according to the Muslim tradition, to be seen no more. She was lost on what to do, but friends and family consoled her and she later returned to her parent’s place where she wouldn’t feel so lonely. After that day, she was always depressed and couldn’t even attend to business matters. It felt like the world was empty without Ademide’s presence in it.
2 weeks later, Valentine’s day arrived and Chiamaka chose to stay in bed that day. There was no one to celebrate the day with her.

Remembering Valentine’s day from the previous year when Ademide had defended her and she felt proud, she teared up and wailed. At that moment, someone knocked on her door and called her name. All of a sudden, the tears stopped flowing and she listened. The voice called her name again requesting that the door be opened and she rushed to it. Alas, Ademide was there on one knee with a ring in his hand.

Ademide: I returned from heaven’s gate because of your pain, my heart couldn’t bear you crying. Love causes pain. I felt pain and my heart bled as I was away from you. My ears itched to hear your voice, my eyes longed to see you and I couldn’t wait to behold your face. I now know what it means to be away from you and I don’t want to ever feel that again. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Chiamaka, will you marry me?

Chiamaka was shocked and short of words. She closed the door at first so she could try to grasp what was happening. With the realization that her family and friends could all see him, she was overjoyed as she was sure it wasn’t a ghost or her imagination. All of a sudden, she opened the door and ran towards him to give him a hug. She had missed him so much she couldn’t bear to stay out of his warm arms any longer. Not considering the prank he had just pulled off, she immediately stretched her hand towards him and said yes to his proposal. Ademide, who was also happy, put the ring on her finger and gave her a warm hug. After all that happened, she started hitting and shouting at him. Ademide had gotten the greatest beating of his life that day, but it was also his best.

She had not expected a proposal on Valentine’s day but she got the shock of a lifetime as that day turned out to be her best yet ever.

 

About the Writer 

My name is Akintomide Victor and I am a graduate of Microbiology from O.A.U. Joining the cmonionline.com platform recently has been a great motivation for me to improve my writing skills and I look forward to being a better writer as time goes on. I am also a graphic designer and a photographer.