I walked in with mixed feelings. I was a lion, bold and fearless and yet was a lamb, ready to run away at the slightest threat and so with a barely audible voice, I started my presentation which made the only woman among the Heads sit straight.
Her scream was so loud that it caught everyone’s attention, all eyes now on me and I was even now more anxious to get the Yes. She screamed ‘Yes’!!!. She then started weeping with the music flow, I got up as a normal gentleman would do and wiped her tears, and comforted her in the safest hands
She made kissing advances where we were out on a friendly date. I smiled and turned sideways. She reached to caress my chest, but I held her hand slightly and turned it away, casually smiling in the process. I wasn’t shy, but I was determined to stick to the script. * In the meantime, I had gone to bed pretty early. I had had a bad and exhausting day. No sooner had I laid my head on the pillow than I sped off quickly and slept. The cryptograph on my Binance app was pretty contributory to driving me into that fast lane. The coins were all flashing red. None was in green. I was losing a lot and almost became depressed. So, as I sped off, I dashed to a pub to have some romance with a few green bottles and then let some alcohol calm my troubled nerves. Maybe I would come alive again. I would forget any worries associated with crypto. So, upon stepping into Fantasy Royale, a popular bar at the busy junction down the street, I met this lady. She was seated at the first table flanked to the left of the entrance door. It was 7:00 pm and she was seated all alone, sipping from a glass. Her immaculate white gown shone like a galaxy of stars, her face beaming with beauty in similitude with Monalisa’s. Effortlessly, she became the cynosure of my eyes as my gaze was locked unto her. I nearly lost control of my steps as I approached my table. I took my seat where I could monitor proceedings and oblige my curiosity on this lady. ‘Why on earth would such a beauty be sitting alone?’ I made a move to approach her but my feeble limbs failed me. I said to myself, ‘her boo might just be somewhere lurking around. Will you be ready for a fight if he meets you with his bae?’ With those thoughts, I had no choice but to exercise some refrain. While I held the menu I picked from my table, I would steal some glances intermittently at her, the way a typical Nigerian father would do when he wears a Harry Porter kind of spectacle and holding a newspaper. I forgot a waiter stood by my table for almost a quarter of an hour waiting for my order. As soon as the waiter touched me, I muttered and stuttered. ‘Erm… erm… sorry…’ Then I flashed a haphazard smile on the waiter, pouched my mouth towards a particular direction, and said, ‘get me whatever that lady in white has ordered; and please, make it double.’ I intended to share the extra order with her. While the waiter walked away, I soliloquized, ‘today, I’m going to shoot my shot, and hopefully, heaven won’t fall.’ I went for my phone in my breast pocket just so I could keep myself busy while the waiter returned. But was I truly busy with the phone? My eyes shone fixedly at her. ‘What is keeping this waiter for crying out loud?’ ‘Is she trying to pay me back for the time she wasted while waiting to take my orders? No! I can’t lose this precious pearl. I can’t let anything distract me. Not even this waiter.’ Then, from nowhere, I felt some push. Immediately, I summoned some courage and I sprang to my feet. I readjusted the pendant on my necklace, licked my lips, rubbed my hands against each other as though I had applied a hand sanitizer, and then made my way to this lady. ‘Hi pretty… Do you mind I take a sit?’ ‘No problem,’ she replied. The sounds I heard raced through my soul like an ECG scan. It found a way to douse any tensions. She sounded like a Nightingale. So soothing was her welcoming voice. ‘My name is Rex.’ ‘I am Rita,’ she responded. With the rush of the wind, my confidence level grew in a geometric progression. It helped me cage any thought of her boyfriend’s appearance to ask the dreaded question, ‘Babe, who is he?’ I sought to know why she was alone and seated lonely, but she said she was with her sister who just stepped out to make some cash withdrawals. Though I couldn’t catch a glimpse of her sister. They had come to celebrate their birthday and had treated themselves to some nice meals and were ready to make payments before they realized the POS machine within the bar was faulty. No sooner had she finished talking than the waiter approached with the orders I made. A bar steward also walked up to us and asked, ‘are you, Rita?’ ‘Yes, I am’ she replied. ‘Take this money. Zita said you should pay for the food while she flags down a Keke.’ The steward handed some pieces of Naira notes to her. The steward was sent by Zita, Rita’s sister. Zita, after the cash withdrawal, had seen her sister discussing with me but chose not to interfere. So, she sent the money across. Not quite long, Rita’s phone beeped. ‘I must go now. Zita, my sister is waiting. Waiter! Please come and have your bill,’ she said hurriedly. But I cut in quickly. ‘Permit me to foot the bills,’ I said politely. After much persuasion, she succumbed. I had also instructed the waiter to quickly put the two orders I made in separate take-away packs. ‘Please take one and give the other to your sister. Make sure you ring me when you get home. I want to be sure no harm came your way on your birthday.’ She bade me goodbye and hurriedly walked to her sister who was waiting outside and already inside a Keke. While she walked, I became increasingly fascinated. I had the rare privilege to gauge her beauty and subject her appearance to more scrutiny. Was I being silly? Yes, I can be all shades of silly at times, and that makes life fun, you know?
She didn’t expect a proposal on Valentine’s Day but fortunately, she got one. It all rang back to our days in secondary school. I used to live in Ogun state. I was in SS1 science class. We just resumed a new session. Our first-class was physics and we were treating Fundamental and Derived Quantities. The principal walked in with a father and a daughter. He said the girl would be joining us till we write WAEC. When I saw her face I was swept off my feet. The principal and her father left. So my physics teacher said we should all introduce ourselves starting from the girl. “My name is Ewatomi”, she said. The girl next to her also said, “my name is Tolani”. It got to my turn, I stood up and said “My name is Caleb”. The class went on as expected but not for me because my eyes were fixed on her. She had a seat in the front row, while I sat at the back. During break time I went to the toilet to regain my awareness because I couldn’t concentrate anymore. I was so confused because I had never had such feelings before. I decided I won’t be distracted because I missed a lot in the classes we had that morning. After the break, we had Biology class. Whenever the teacher asked questions, I made sure to answer most of the questions. Everyone was amazed because it was our first Biology class. Well, it was normal form because I had already read the topic in the library due to my love and curiosity of science. I answered the teacher’s questions also to get Ewatomi’s attention because she kept looking at me while I answered the questions. This was a drive for me to study more to answer more questions and maintain Ewatomi’s attention. Things continued like that for some days and she made friends quickly. I overheard her having a conversation with Tolani. “Who is the best in the class?” She asked. “Caleb is the best student”, Tolani replied, pointing towards my direction. “Wow, okay”, she replied. On this faithful day during break time, Ewatomi and her friend came to my table. I was reading my Biology textbook when I heard a voice. “Hey, Caleb, what’s up?” Tolani asked. “I dey”, I replied, still reading. Ewatomi showed up then. “Hi Caleb”, she greeted, a smile on her face. My heart skipped a beat. I could feel my pulse moving faster. I couldn’t help but smile back. “What’s up Ewatomi?” I replied. “I’m fine,” she said. “I could see you’re reading, what are you reading about ?”. She asked. I told her I was reading about classifications of living things. I asked if she’d like to join me. She agreed, so we read it together during break. We had Biology class the next day. Thankfully we were both active in class. “This is wonderful”, I said to myself. So I decided that during break time I’d spend some minutes in the library in preparation for the next class. I felt I could get closer to her through this. Though I hadn’t known much about her. We got more acquainted with ourselves academically. It was nothing beyond studies but I wished it was more than that. There was this particular break she suggested we should go get something to eat instead of going to the library. I tried to turn her down cause I felt so bad, I didn’t have any money on me. I rarely visited the school canteen. I came from an indigent home. My parents were illiterate but wanted something good for me so they sent me to a private school with their hard-earned money. My father was a farmer who cultivated plantain and vegetables on the farm. My mother was a trader who sold some of the farm produce in the market. I was the only child of my parents. Whenever I came back from school I’d join my mum in the market and help with the selling of the farm produce till 7:00 pm, then we retire to the house. “Please let’s get something to eat,” Ewatomi asked, “okay”, I replied reluctantly. We walked to the Mini Mart. She asked what I wanted, “I’m okay”, I said. “Come on, I can’t eat alone, it’s not nice “. “Fine, I’ll have Fanta and a sausage”, I replied. “So how much is everything”, I asked. “Don’t worry, I’ll pay, I brought you here”, she replied. We walked to a relaxation spot meters away from the canteen. “So tell me about yourself”, she asked while eating. I wasn’t sure what to say, I felt she wouldn’t talk to me if I let her know I’m from an indigent home and I wasn’t good at lying. Fortunately, the bell was rung so we returned to class. On a Monday morning after the assembly, the principal came to the class and asked me to see him in his office during the break. That was the first time the principal called me into his office. During the break, I went to the principal’s office. ” You’ve had a very wonderful performance so far in this school”, the principal said, handing a paper to me. “That is your BECE result”, he said. ” Thank you sir”, I replied with a smile on my face. “So what are your plans for the future ?” he asked. “I want to be a medical doctor sir”, I replied. Then he told me to come along with my parents tomorrow. “Do you remember the new girl that joined your class “, he asked. “Yes sir, Ewatomi, I remembered sir”, I replied. “She’s the daughter of my very close friend from secondary school, I want you to be of little assistance to her with studies. I saw you and her at the library some days ago. I want it to be strictly academics, she lost her mother so it has been hard
Waking up to the beautiful morning sun breaking freely through her windows onto her face, Bryna stood up and headed straight to the bathroom to brush her teeth, and came back to say her morning prayer. Then, she went to warm up her bathing water to get ready for work. After getting dressed, she checked her phone. It was a message from Luca re-assuring her of his love and asking her out on a romantic dinner date at a fancy restaurant for Valentine’s, which was two days away. With mixed feelings, she dropped her phone. Trying to avoid Luca had become her conscious routine for the past two months, but she couldn’t avoid seeing him this time. Heading to the kitchen to make breakfast, she laid her eyes on the first gift Luca ever got her. A mug with the name “Luca” imprinted on it, looking back on how their love used to be, she couldn’t help but recall. It was about two years back, on a cool Saturday morning. Bryna went to the mall to get some groceries. Due to her query from work, she was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice a cart in front of her. She ran into the cart, and due to the angle it was placed, it headed straight for the shelf. Luca, who was coming by the corner, saw the items already falling from the shelf. He ran to protect Bryna, who was already so confused, shielding her from the items on the shelf with his manly shoulders. After sorting the issue of the shelf and cart with the mall manager, who managed to extort them, Bryna thanked Luca for his help and walked him back to his car. On their way, he asked for her number, “of course!” She gave it to this handsome young man who was her hero, Though she declined his offer to drive her home as she didn’t want to seem burdensome. Later that day, he sent a text, and they got talking. After brief introductions, they tried getting to know each other better and discovered they had a lot of things in common. It was a long night with all their laughing and witty conversations. Lost in the moment, she lost track of time and ended up sleeping pretty late. It was amazing that they talked every day and always had what to say to each other for the next couple of days. With how fast their feelings grew, it was time they went on a proper date, so Luca asked her out. Bryna had never felt so excited before. She smiled all day at work and walked with a skip in her steps. Finally, it was 5 pm, and she headed straight home to freshen up and get dressed. She put on some make-up, clothes, brushed her hair, and headed out to the gaming center. Yea, they choose a “gaming center” for their first date. After a series of games and karaoke, they went to a mini-restaurant to have dinner. After eating, they talked and laughed their way to the parking lot. At that point, they noted that there was a spark between them. Two weeks later, after sorting their feelings, they decided to be a couple. It was the best decision they had ever made. They couldn’t get their eyes, minds, and hearts away from each other. It was like God created Luca with Bryna in mind. Luca was a writer, and now Bryna had become his main source of inspiration. They were always together, and their love was built on trust and commitment. They always found a way to be sorted out during their heated moments, and it never lasted more than a day. Their bond and chemistry were so real that it could be felt at a safe distance. Jerked into reality by a physical distraction, Bryna realized she had been daydreaming instead of heading to work. She quickly rushed to finish her breakfast and headed straight out to her job as a mortgage consultant in a bank. Coming from an average living family of six, she was the first child. From a young age, she was ladened with contributing to the family’s upkeep. Therefore she grew up devoted and disciplined. With her dad being a public servant and her mum a petty trader, they couldn’t cater to every wants of the family, but they lived quite comfortably. On the other hand, Luca was daydreaming about their date on Valentine’s day. Being the second child of the rich family of Mr & Mrs. Richard, he was born with a silver spoon, but that didn’t deter his parents from being strict and disciplined on their two kids. That made him become a perfect gentleman. He had always loved writing, so he became a full-time writer after studying at the university. Within three years, he was an accredited writer who had written several books and had a few best-sellers. Recalling the day he met Bryna, it was a lucky day. He was at the mall where he intended to get some gifts for his mum and some wine to celebrate the sale of his latest book. A helpless young lady was caught in a situation, and with his help needed, he ran and protected her from falling on her. When she looked at him, he was mesmerized by how beautiful she was; to him, she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen with her clear, limpid eyes. When she smiled at him, he saw two cute dimples on her face. He was completely smitten that he didn’t even know when he asked for her number. For him, who didn’t believe in love at first sight, he felt he had fallen in love. They got to know each other, and as he hoped, they started dating. He fell so deeply that once when her father was sick, he took a huge amount of money to sort out his hospital bills. Reminiscing
She didn’t expect a proposal on Valentine’s day but the sight before her left her speechless.
The Open Society Initiative for West Africa OSIWA, an organisation involved in advocacy and grants in the West African sub-region is calling for proposals from local organizations aimed at achieving the following specific themes: Economic Governance and Advancement Justice Reform and the Rule of Law Free, Quality and Independent Media Equality and Anti-Discrimination Democratic Practice You have a chance of getting the required funding for your project if you meet the requirements. Proposals should be sent preferably online and the deadline for submission is on April 30th 2019. You can read more and apply here Thank me later.
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