THINK BEFORE YOU LEAP (episode 1)

    It all started on this fateful day when I was trekking down to my house in a hot sun, I wanted to manage the cash I had on me before the arrival of my monthly salary as a teacher in a private secondary school. My school was a bit far from my house but I needed to manage considering my income, so I used to trek most of the time, afterall, it was better for me as I was a plus size and I needed to shed some weight so people would not call me 'mama' as I was still searching.
    As I was trekking down that day, a car parked beside me and the driver called out my name. The voice sounded familiar and as I looked, it was Charlotte, my classmate in the university. We were so excited to see each other after 4 years of departure in school. "Where are you trekking to in this damn hot sun." She asked. "I'm goin to my house." I replied. "Come in let me drive you to your place" I asked her not to bother, that I was only trying to keep fit. "Not in the damn hot sun, come on in." She insisted. I entered the front seat of the Prado Jeep and she drove along my house. I noticed her wedding ring "Oh, you are married, congrats dear" " Yes o, you are not married yet?" She asked. "I'm still looking up to God o" I replied. "So what do you do?" She asked. "I'm still managing in a secondary school." I replied. "Managing in a secondary school?" You almost graduated with a first class and all you've got to do is teach in a secondary school?" I told her I was looking out for something better that I was only doing that not to stay idle and I needed to feed and take care of my necessary needs. "That's serious o, well, as for me, during my service year, I met this handsome young man from a very rich family..... you know me now, I held tightly unto him and immediately after my service, we tied the knot....my dear, we had our honeymoon in Paris. I got a job in one of the firms where his dad is a shareholder and I get my monthly salary without much stress. Am I not lucky? My eyes were filled with tears. I tried to hold back those tears but lailai, dey no gree, they gushed down like a running tap. I quickly wiped them with the back of my hands, thank God she didn't notice. I managed to tell her to stop the car as I was close to my house "Is this where you would have trekked to in this weird sun?" I managed a grin. "Thanks so much for the lift. I think I still have your number, I will give you a call." I said. "Ok,no problem" She drove off. I didn't know how I got to my room. In anguish of heart, I scattered everything in my room. "God, what is my sin, why have you forsaken meeee....." I cried until all my strenght was gone and I made a decision that day that any guy that comes to me, I don't care whether God wants it or not I just wanted to be in a relationship. Desperation you say? How many ladies of nowadays can stand it? Did I mention it to you that I was over 30 years of age? Did I forget to mention that I was never into any relationship up till that time? No one cared about my well-being, no one ever loved me, I had no one to share my burden with, I needed a man to look into my eyes and tell me he is in love with me and that everything would be alright, I was dying in loneliness, I was living on my own, no one cared about me, I doubted if God even cared, so before you start to judge me, ask yourself if you could withstand it.
    After I couldn't cry anymore, I lay on my flat mattress and tried to see if sleep could come. Soon, my phone rang and it was Henry. I couldn't believe my eyes.
Henry was a PhD student in my department when I was in school, he is tall, dark and handsome, he had his masters degree in one university in the US and that was on scholarship, d reason why he decided to come back to Nigeria for his PhD I don't know till now cos to say he is brilliant is an understatement, he is extremely brilliant, rich and he speaks English wt a little bit of American accent, so he was a dream guy of any lady except for the fact that he is an extrovert, he talks like parrot and sometimes wen he talks, you don't seems to make any sense from what he is saying. He talked with everyone in the department and it was easy to think his extreme brilliance was what was affecting him making him get 'offtrack' sometimes wen he is talking. My 'rubber bounded' Nokia 33 10 rang beside me. I wanted to ignore it but I tried to peep and see who the caller was.
"Henry? After how many years, why would he be calling me?" I decided to pick the call.
"Hey babe." He said that excitedly.
Hehehehehe, he called me babe? The star in my heart burst into a million pieces.
"what's up with you?"
His eloquence got me feeling like I was flying over the moon. We talked for long that day and he asked me to have a date with him. Why would I reject it? It was what I had been longing for. Don't make a mistake. I am not ugly. I'm fair and beautiful. It wasn't that I didn't have any suitor, I was only waiting for His best choice. Though God kept on telling me to WAIT but it was really getting out of hand. I'm I supposed to wait till eternity?
At 31 when most of my mates had already forgotten about child bearing, what kind of 'foolish' waiting is that one? I doubted if God was the one actually talking to me, maybe it was the spiritual darkness in my family that wanted me to remain single.
Well Henry is a Christian but his level of spirituality, I didn't know. We agreed on a date and we were to meet in a well known eatery. I was looking forward to the day, MY FIRST DATE.
The day came, Henry and I met as agreed and as we were eating and
drinking, something strange happened.......