It really might sound like the normal cliché, but I had always hoped to get married before I turned 30 years.
That decision however, was highly dependent on how successful I had become in life by the time I would be clocking the big ‘3’ decades, on this amazing earth.
Well, like I often say, “Life isn’t Nollywood, Bollywood or Hollywood.” So, suffice it to say that things didn’t go exactly how I had planned it, especially in terms of my relationships.
I had a decent job after graduating from school. After working for about seven years, I was considered a prime bachelor at 28 years old.
I however struggled with my dating life. For the love of all things good, I couldn’t just tie a steady relationship down. I always seemed to have issues after some time, with any girl I was dating.
I hadn’t forgotten about my desire to settle down by at least 30 years of age. And so, after my 29th birthday which I celebrated on the strength of a new job with an Oil and Gas firm, I became very eager to find the right girl to marry.
My last girlfriend, Stella, travelled out of the country 2 weeks after my birthday celebration, for her Masters’ degree. Before she left, we sort of agreed not to hang onto each other, knowing fully well that anything could happen; given the long distance we were about to encounter in the relationship.
It was kind of a mutual break-up. She clearly said she wasn’t going to settle for a phone call or skype-based relationship, and that she would explore any opportunity she gets over there.
As at the instant she was saying all this, I couldn’t believe my ears. It sounded like sweet music to my ears, because I had always wondered how I was going to stay devoted to a relationship with a partner who was going to live in a different continent for about 2 years.
Stella was an awesome girl. She was very hygienic, beautiful and she had brains. Winning a scholarship to go study for a Masters’ degree abroad wasn’t 1 + 1 = 2. The girl was sound upstairs.
She knew it, I knew it and it was one of the reasons we liked each other. I was equally a sound dude too. To pass an Oil company’s aptitude test isn’t ABCD either.
Anyway, when she won the scholarship, we had known for several months that she was going to leave the country.
So when she brought up the issue for discussion and where her departure would leave our relationship, I was very glad she was the one who initiated the indirect break-up, by clearly saying “if we try for a few months and can’t cope, then we should move on.”
I was so thankful in my mind about the very productive discussion we had on the matter. We maturely ended things after 3 months of trying to stay hooked. It was simply the most unbelievable favour that Stella did for me by freeing me from any strings or attachments, due to the condition of things.
Well, fast forward to 5 months after we mutually ended things, and 7 months before my 30th birthday. I had decided to give another relationship a try, bearing in mind that “before 30” was still realistic.
I met Daisy in a banking hall queue, while completing some transactions before jetting out for my rig work, offshore. She was simply breath-taking. I looked at her from behind and from her side, and eventually, the ultimate front view proved to me that she was an epitome of the phrase; “beautifully endowed”. She had long and amazing natural hair. Her skin texture was alluring. She had a very cute smile. Her chocolate complexion made me think of things that Father Abraham would probably flog me for.
I literally fell in love with Daisy, while on the queue. As fate and Cupid would have it, she needed a pen to write on her bank slip, and there I was; “The Pen Provider!”
I didn’t waste time with her at all. I joked that she’d pay me some commission for letting her use my pen, and we got into a smooth conversation, about lengthy queues in banking halls and all other related economical higgledy-piggledy.
Ironically, she was a banker as well, but was on leave as at the day we met.
That very day, I got her phone number. And four months later we were already an item.
I was in love with her. Daisy simply completed me. I felt I wanted nothing more.
Three months before my 30th birthday we hung out for dinner. On that romantic evening, I told her I loved her when I took her home. She broke down in tears of joy and told me she had felt same way for some time, and was uneasy because she didn’t want to look like she was rushing things or that she was the one feeling all the emotion.
That night it became clear that I had found “the one”. I knew I was going to make her my wife. I however didn’t want to rush things, and so, I ditched my vision “before 30” agenda. I just let things play out naturally.
Frustratingly, but with a stroke of good fortune, my company had a job that would take me offshore for a month. I didn’t want to stay that long away from my Daisy, but work mattered. And so, I hatched my plan that I would pop the question to her on my return.
Four torturous weeks away from my love, with very little communication between us from my work base, I was eagerly anticipating my return to my life and my love.
Job concluded; I was happy to leave the site, and I gave her the news that I was returning home. I told her we would be having dinner out, that evening. I got in late due to the journey from site. She had however, dropped by my apartment after work and done some domestication.
Being excited after 4 weeks of not seeing her, I quickly freshened up and we headed out.
And so we stopped over at Eddie’s for dinner. The restaurants’ bar had a live-band jamming to some sensual 80’s music.
We were both fans of 80’s music, and so we decided to join the couples having a dance-out on the dance floor.
Slowly we moved and flowed with the beats. She oozed of sensuality. And there was absolute romance in the air. I hadn’t seen her in 4 weeks.
Apart from picking her up from her house and chatting on the way to Eddie’s, we hadn’t communicated much either in the last 4 weeks, like we were used to. This was due to the nature of the last job I went for.
Staring at her as we both moved slowly to the rhythm of the music, I fell in love with her all over again.
She was the first girl to make me feel this way. I’d dated other girls and had been in relationships, but none came as close to commitment, the way I and Daisy were. I loved her beyond words. A week earlier, she had used those same words on me over the phone.
She was the one I had been waiting for all my life.
A few romantic minutes later, the music ended. And as people departed the floor, I brought out the ring and knelt down on one knee...
Image Source: Pixabay
Sub-story: Part of my submission for a contest here
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