To All The Girls I've Loved Before (5a)

"I keep going back to my yahoomail,like I'm expecting your next short mail message.
Like my heart is looking for "its lost twin" (lol),
Now I ask myself why I'm doing that.
Like I'm waiting for a miracle or something,
Funny . does it sound funny. I hope not, I hope so.
I dont know sha...but all I want is just to see you again or hear your voice or hold something which I would know, sorry, that my heart would know is from you...from your heart.
I love you Maureen,
Day by day , it dawns on me more and more.
I love you and really it doesnt make sense, this intensity...but should it make sense?
If it does, maybe I wont be able to love you this much, but whatever...
I LOVE YOU LIKE SO VERY MUCH
thats the important thing ,,,yeah?
loving you like life depends on it...cause it seems more and more like it does."

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It was obvious, all attempts at objective evaluation had become impossible, I liked the woman waay too much. So I prayed to The Almighty, the most gracious , most merciful thanking him for this woman who seems to have all the basics in place, readily acknowledged my growing inability to objectively evaluate the relationship and pleading with Him to step in and scatter the union if it were not right.

Having thus prayed, like the rest of humanity before me and countless after, I relegated my default cognitives to the background, afterall I have prayed. To my credit, I however, did one last objective check...

I've known her since school days. We were not friends, at best acquitances as She was a friend of a friend. Were we to sum up all of the time we chatted in school, it wouldn't be up to an hour. After graduation, we'd bump into each other in chat rooms. I added her to my Yahoo messenger, she would often call my phone out of the blues. I'd promise to call back but never did. She was a regular chat friend on Y! Then one day, I started thinking differently about her.

We arranged a hook up one saturday. She came to see me at the gym on her way to work. I knew she was older by like 11 months but She looked much older and aged than I remembered, her ankara shirt looked like it had seen better days. (I dont consider myself a shallow somebori but I knew that if I had not been impressed by her brilliance before our face to face, it would have been a no show). We talked about this and that and she had to leave. I offered to drive her down but she needed to see someone first.

You see then, I had a plum job and too much money than I intelligently knew how to spend (seriously), moreover it was a demanding job that gave me lil time for socializing. She had this job where they paid her like NGN20 or 25,000 and worked her to the bone. To be able to save NGN5k out of it per month, she dared not miss the staff bus. My colleagues were only interested in chics equally earning fat salaries but I knew the important thing was the stuff inside the person. I knew the major reason I'd want my wife to work was to earn experience, both professionally and in dealing with people, to prevent her from turning into 'Your Friendly Neighbourhood Gossip' and definitely not primarily for what she earned or not. Even if she'll be working for free, I'd rather she worked anyways.

Some fateful day, I asked this woman out.

I mentioned her to my brother whose only concern was "I hope she doesnt have an accent o" (lol). I proudly gave the phone to her; I knew his fears would be laid to rest. ( She isnt from our side of the niger, you see)He took to her like a duck to water.

I bought her a phone then like mine on the same network and it became our "intercomm"-free weekend calls and unlimited sms. We would chat and text for hours. I seriously had her on the brain. Some nine months later, she got a real plum job with serious benefits. I was elated.

Once when I was talking to my friends about her, they all started laughing hysterically. I failed to see the joke. "Mancee, you should hear yourself, you are absolutely ridiculous! We've never heard you talk about a female like this since we've been together from the university. You must really love this woman o etc". I knew I loved her very much. she did always tell she loved me too.

It wasnt all rosy but ... like five months after the asking out, I felt convinced that THIS indeed was the woman for me.

I knew that IF the basics were in sync,and two people want to do someting together, nothing could stand in their way. Moreover, when those two people were practising Believers. The sky was just a starting point. In addition, I had the creator and the whole of creation behind me; watching out for me, afterall i have kept the faith I have stuck to the holy writ, I have played fair, I had not drunk out of another man's cistern. I had kept myself, I had readily let go of others at much personal pain and cost to make sure I stayed on the long, narrow and less used path.

The week I made up my mind to ask her the BIG question, I bought some cards, some candles, and a bouquet of 'faux floeur'; but we had no prolonged moment of peace, though I saw her every day. This went on for two weeks. Then out of the blues "Mancee?", "...yeah?", " shay you know you've not asked me to marry you?".

I sighed, smiled and told her I've wanted to ask her for the past 2 weeks but I couldnt find any moment of prolonged peace to. Anyways, I asked her then; sans 'effizy', sans 'glitz'(-definitely not my plan !).

She said 'yes!'