Saved by Love
By Olufunlola Adeola
Episode 16
On one cold Saturday, Adara went to see Akinola in his ap@rtment. They cooked, ate and was pla-ying a game of SCRABBLE. She was sitter on the floor, legs stretched out, wearing a black Jean and beige colored blouse. They kept pla-ying till it got to the fifth round and they called it off. Then Adara said,
“Adara, we nee-d to talk.”
“I am all ears.” Akinola said wondering what they nee-ded to talk about,
“I don’t think we should do this anymore.”
“What?” Akinola asked, not getting her statement,
“You . Me. Meeting. Dinner. Chatting. Lunch. I think we should st©p.”
“And why do you think so?”
“This relationsh!pis not defined and I don’t want to get hurt.” Adara explained but her heart screamed, ‘I want more’.
“Okay.” Akinola said, surprising her,
“What do you mean okay?”
“I meant okay.” Akinola said throu-gh gritted teeth. Girls just like being spoilers to everything. Must they define the relationsh!p? Can’t they just be friends and then start d@t!ngwithout any prior serious talk.
“I think I should leave.”
“Yeah, you should.” He said, looking away. She stood up, carried her bag and left
. She blamed herself for thinking he would propose something permanent and that was exactly what she told Bolade that night over WhatsApp Chat but Bolade said it was good riddance to bad ru-bbish since he could not be man enough to make things official.
Two weeks after, Adara was still distraught and angry at herself for letting her guards down. She missed Akinola greatly. It was like they never talked or even met. She decided to let him stay in the past and she threw herself into her work.
All this while Akinlolu did not even know anything was going on anywhere.
……
One sun scorching Friday, Akinola left work early around 05:00pm and drove to Adara’s Sto-re. It was his first time but he remembered her describing it when he had asked and he got there with no difficulty. He pushed the main entrance door open and walked towards the cashier, she was scribbling something down and she asked, not looking up,
“What can I do you for sir?”
“I will like to see your boss.” He said and that got her head up, her mouth formed an ‘O’ as she took in his looks, he was not surprised, he had that effect on ladies. So he used it to his advantage and smiled,
“Can I see her?”
“You mean Miss Zamani?”
“Yes. The very one.”
“Let me give her a call to notify….”
“Don’t bother dearie, it’s a surprise visit.”
“Oh! It’s against the rules but go straight down, first door by the right is her office.”
“Thank you.” He appreciated and followed her directions. He knocked on the door when it c@m£ into view and he heard a muffled,
“Come in.” He turned the knob and opened the door then he went in. Her office was quite spacious and it was beautifully decorated with feminine t©uçh.
“Yes?” She asked not looking up from what she was drawing. ‘What was it with them not looking up in this place?’ he decided not to talk till she looked up which she did, some seconds after and surprise crawled all over her face before she turned back to her work asking,
“What are you doing here?”
“I c@m£ to see you.”
“What for?” Adara asked and Akinola found his way to the cushion two-seater in her office and made himself comfortable then he patted the empty seat beside him and said,
“Come, have a seat with me.” She did not answer him and he waited after some minutes, he said,
“I am waiting.”
‘Who doesn’t know he is waiting?’ Adara asked in her mind, scoffing and she stood up and went to sit beside him.
. Then he suddenly leaned forward and she stilled before he brushed back her hair extension behind her ears and he started talking,
“I c@m£ because I wanted us to define our relationsh!p?”
“I didn’t even know there was something going on between us.”
“St©p being sarcastic, Adara.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in defining your relationsh!ps. What changed?”
“I talked to Dre and he explained why it is good to define relationsh!ps especially between a man and a woman. ‘First’ he said, ‘Undefined relationsh!pbrings along a lot of as-sumptions that results in ‘had I known situations’. For example, the guy might just want se-x and the lady, love but thinking that the guy wants love too, she tends to go along with the arrangement and as soon as he gets what he wanted, he pushes her away, causing her emotional pain.
“Second, it brings about waste of time and even other material things and personal efforts. Anyway, do not let me beat around the bush.” He took her hands in his and continued,
“Things have not been the same since you left. I miss you and I want what we had. I want us to go on a couple of d@t£s and get to know each other more. I know you are responsible and I appreciate you for that. I…umm…I…”
“You what?”Adara asked, she knew talking about his feelings openly was difficult for him, she had picked that up in one of their conversations,
“I… I…I love you.”
“I thought you will never get it out. I love you too.” She said and pu-ll-ed him close for a hvg.
Saved by Love
By Olufunlola Adeola
Episode 17
“What exactly is going between you and Akinola?” Akinlolu asked, eyes blazing with anger and jealousy,
“We are d@t!ng, Akinlolu. Akinola is the sweetest guy I have ever met. He…”
“Spare me the damn details, okay? So, you are throwing the k!sswe shared down the drain, right? Just because of one guy who showed up from nowhere?” Akinlolu asked enraged,
“Look, Akinlolu, I have told you before that nothing can ever happen between us. Moreover, the one guy who showed up from nowhere happens to be your brother!”
“Brother? Brother, my foot! And I wonder if my so-called brother knows that you have used these samel-ips to k!sshis brother.”
“I didn’t meet you guys k!ss!ngwhen I asked her to start d@t!ngme, so what’s the problem, bro? Chill out . She is mine, do your worst.” Akinola said as he entered Adara ap@rtment. He had been listening outside the door from when Adara pointed out that she was d@t!nghis brother. Akinlolu speechless and angry picked his car keys which he had dropped earlier and made his way out of her ap@rtment, hitting Akinola with his shoulder on his way out.
“Are you okay?” Adara asked,
“Yeah, I am fine, just tired.”
“I am so sorry, you had to hear that. I don’t know what’s wrong with him
. He just c@m£ him angry like an erupted volcano.”
“It’s okay, he will come around. Hope you are fine?”
“Yeah, I am okay. Will you eat rice?”
“Whatever you give me is fine, dearie.” Akinola said and Adara entered her kitchen. She was so glad Akinlolu had confronted her in the confines of her home, what would the media say? And her reputation as a Christian might even be jeopardized.
………
That night, Akinlolu tossed and turned in his be-d as he thought aloud,
‘How could she do that to me? With all the love and support I gave her. Where was this so-called Akinola when we were both suffering and soaking Garri as breakfast and dinner? Just because he is from America, so? Am I less plea-sing to the eyes? What could Adara see in him to be going on and on about him? I am sure it must be that his stupid flir-ty charm. When he uses and dumps her, she will know what’s up. Let’s see where they get themselves to.’ He concluded as he tried to sleep but he did not sleep till the wee hours of the day.
……….
A week after, during lunch break, Mr. Cole c@m£ into Akinlolu’s office, he made himself comfortable and asked,
“Akinlolu, what is wrong with you?”
“Your mind has been obviously abs£nt these days, what’s going on with you?”
“Nothing sir.”
“Talk to me, Akinlolu, what’s going on?”
“Adara is d@t!ngmy brother.”
“Adara? d@t!ngyour brother? Akinola right?”
“Yes sir.”
“So, what is the problem in that?”
“I always thought we would end up together. They did not even tell me. I just suspected and a magazine confirmed my fears. I went to house to find out that it was nothing but the truth. I always thought she was taking her time that’s why she refused me.”
“Hmm, Akinlolu. The saying goes that, ‘What ever thing or person you de-sire in this world if it does not come to you willingly or as much as you de-sire it, it was never yours to have and if it was yours, it will be back.
“You nee-d to re-lease every grudge you are holding right now and move on. You should be happy for them. Akinola is your brother am you should see Adara as your sister. re-lease every envy, if possible, pray it out. You are a Christian, your whole life has been planned out by God. All you nee-d to do is pray for direction and you will be amazed.”
“Thank you, sir.
. I will pray about it.”
“All right. Take care and we nee-d your head back here.”Mr. Cole said and he left Akinlolu to his thoughts.
Immediately Mr. Cole left, Akinlolu bolted his office door and prayed. By the time he was done, all he felt was peace.
That same day he called Adara and Akinola and apologized for his erratic behaviour.
Some three months later, Akinlolu went to get groceries at a Sto-re and as he was pushing the cart, his mind flashed back to the weekend of the week before, he had entered a sto-re, it was filled to the brim with goods and people were taking the items they wanted but nothing interested Akinlolu and he kept wandering until he saw a gold on the shelf, hidden amongst other goods, he immediately went to take it and he treasured it.
He was brou-ght out of his reverie as someb©dy hit his cart with hers, the so-called person mumbled an apology and moved on. He looked around the sto-re and realized that it was the exact same sto-re in his dream.
Funny enough, this was his first time in this sto-re, a colleague had advice him to patronize the sto-re due to their availability of original goods and reduced price. However, there was no gold or diamond or pearl in this sto-re, all they had to sell was the food items and household items and so, he kept shopping.
When he was done, he headed to the counter and placed his items on the counter. Just then he received a call, it was an international number and so he went somewhere quiet to pick the call.
When he got back, his items were packed and he gave the lady his card and she returned it with a receipt.
One of the sto-re workers helped him with the bags to his car and he ti-pped him off and drove home.
On getting home, he carried the back to the kitchen, went to his room to change into something more convenient and he went back to his kitchen. He unloaded the bags only to see household items and nothing like food at all.
‘What the hell?’ he thought. There was no time to return the goods as he had to be in church as soon as possible and so he packed it up and went to church hungry, on his way back, he ate at a restaurant. He meant to return the items during the course of the week but it didn’t work out.
Tbc