Saved by Love
By Olufunlola Adeola
Episode 18
That same weekend, Akinola and Adara travelled to Lagos for a Singles and Marriage Conference and they decided to chill at the beach after Church the next day. They went back to their h0tel rooms and changed into something appropriate for their next place of visit.
Adara opted for a blue lengthy chiffon Sk-irt that swept the floor, and it had slits by her knee. She paired it with an off shoulder white crop t©p that said ‘Hello Sea’.
Akinola wore a God bless America t-shi-t with a white knee length chino.
After walking the length of the beach, discussing and observing, they hit the ground and Akinola offered to get them Ice-cream and grilled meat, which Adara agreed to.
Some minutes later, he was back with their package and they dug in . As they began to devour their tasty treat, Akinola asked,
“Why have you not gone on any fashion competition or dress shows or whatever it is being called?”
She chuckled, “It is not that easy and I do not want to fall flat on my face and not bring back an award. Moreover, my couture has not been nominated.”
“Really? You have to be nominated?”
“Yes, that is for the fashion comp…hmm…”
“What?” Akinola asked,
“There is something in my mouth.” She mumbled as she re-moved the ‘something’ which turned out to be an engagement ring for with diamonds on it. Her eyes collided with Akinola’s eyes as she held the ring gingerly.
Just then, Akinola went on one knee, attra-cting the attention of other people on the beach.
“Adara, I love you so much
. Do you see these spaces between my f!ngers? (He spla-yed his f!ngersbefore her and she nodded) They are there so you could place yours in it and fill the space. Do you know why this f!nger is called ‘the ring f!nger’?” He raised his left fourth f!nger, counting from the thumb,
“It is so you can place a ring on it to seal the bargain of ‘forever’ and fulfill God’s purpose of the creation of a virtuous and faithful woman like you as a help meet to your man. And if only you will have me, I want to be that man. Will you marry me?”
Her reply was instantaneous, “Yes, yes, yes. I will have you as my man now and forever.”
Akinola sli-pped the ring on her f!nger and k!$$£d it. Their well-wishers on the beach applauded them and some were videoing the proposal alre-ady.
. Minutes later when Adara surfed throu-gh Instagram, the news was alre-ady trending and their pictures were all over the web.
Who would have known that Adara’s relationsh!pstatus would change as a result of going to Lagos?
………
The next Saturday, Akinlolu was finally able to go to the sto-re. He got there around past eleven and dumped the polythene bags on the counter and the sales lady asked,
“How can I help you?”
“I nee-d to return these items and get the ones I picked out.”
“And when was this?”
“Last week.”
“I was not here when you bought them so I can’t help you.”
“What do you mean you can’t help me?”
“plea-se, I would not like customers to meet you here. Leave.”
“Excuse me? Is this how you treat your customers here?”
“Mister, you had better move away before I call the security.”
“Are you okay? Do you know who I am?”
She said again, “If you don’t…”
Another voice interrupted, “Hey! That’s enough!”
The sales lady stammered, “Ma..Madam…”
The other lady said, “Will you shut your tra-p? I am so sorry, sir. Can you come with me to my office to sort the issue out?”
Akinlolu nodded and followed her.
“I am sorry I had to invite you to my office, I like orderliness in my shop and I did not want the customers to be distracted. Hope you do not mind sir?” She apologized as soon as they sat down.
“No ma. I just want to get the items I c@m£ in here for last week ’cause it caused me a lot of trouble, I was not able to cook throu-ghout the week.” He explained.
“Cook? You are not married?” The lady asked as her eyes got the answer from his ring-less manicured left hand before he said,
“I am single ma.”
“Okay, will you list the items you nee-d here? Let me s£nd someone to pack it up for you.” She said, handing him a notepad and a pen which he received and he listed his nee-ds and she placed a call to someone to come into her office. The person c@m£ in and took the list from her to carry out her instructions. When she finished attending to her, she noticed he was looking around and she decided to continue her abandoned work on the computer, he then asked picking up a card leaflet,
“Are you going for this Youth Camp-out?”
“Yes, do you know anything about it?”
“I actually do. I coordinate the older teenagers in my church and we are all going to have a nice time there but I am still having some problems with accommodation.”
“Like how many people will be going?”
“About fifty of us plus Youths.”
“Fifty? Well, well, well, it seems God orche-strated this meeting. What if I tell you I know how many you can get an accommodation without stress?”
“You do? How?”
“My uncle is one of the guest ministers, Bishop Oladele Thompson…”
“Yes, I will just let him know the situations at hand and of course, he would not want about fifty youths to miss out on God’s package for them.”
“Wow! So, what’s the name?”
“Taraoluwa Abigail Thompson but call me Tara.” She replied and extended her hand to him and as he shook her hand, he said,
“Akinlolu Michael Coker is my name; it is really nice to meet you. So, how do I get this issue solved?”
“Umm, I will inform my uncle tonight, I believe by God’s grace you should be settled by Wednesday.”
“Thank you so much, do you know how happy I am.”
“Don’t thank me, we are our brother’s keeper?”
“Umm, so, can I get your number?” Akinlolu asked and she dictated her numbers to him.
“Thank you so much ma.”
“It is no big deal sir.” Tara said and she stood up and they both left to meet the sales girl at the counter who Tara made sure she apologized to Akinlolu and he made to pay after receiving his items but Tara st©pped him and he left after thanking her profusely.
Saved by Love
By Olufunlola Adeola
Episode 19
True to her words, by Wednesday, the accommodation issue was history. The teenagers and youths of Akinlolu’s church were delighted because the program is an international program, a week of learning about the word, praying the future into good places, games, ma-king new friends and other wonderful and fun filled activities.
At the program and even later on, Akinlolu got to know more about Tara. He got to know that really father pastors a Church at Manhattan, New York and she is the last born and second girl in her family . She schooled in Nigeria and America for her high school and Bachelor’s degree respectively then she travelled to United Kingdom for her Masters and Doctorate. 26 years of age, runs a couple of variety sto-re and lectures at the Premiere University, Ibadan for a living.
Tara also got to know him, his work, his family. They called each other from time to time and they just seemed to cli-ck. Just like that.
……….
One fateful day, after about two months that Tara and Akinlolu met, Akinlolu got a message from Tara saying,
‘Can you get me ice cream and rice from a restaurant on your way back from work? I feel so weak, I can’t even stand. I am home.’
He was immediately alarmed, ‘What could be wrong with this lady?’ he asked himself as he tidied up his office and went to take permission from Mr
. Cole to fall out and he agreed. Then he left.
He st©pped at the market to get some stuff he was going to cook for her. If she was not feeling well then she nee-ded to eat homemade food. He also st©pped at her favorite restaurant and bought two large ice cream tube, her favorite. Then he drove down to her place.
He rang the bell about three times before she answered, she looked pathetic, her eyes were red rimmed and she was wearing her pajamas. He went in, locking the door behind him and hvgged her then asked after dropping the bags with him in the kitchen,
“Tara, what happened?”
“I have been having these multi-ple headaches and I just feel weak all over. I called my doctor friend, Rebecca, she c@m£ over and did some checks then she prescribe-d drugs for me to use.”
“Sorry dear, come on, let’s pray. I just nee-d you to have faith, okay love?”
He sometimes called her love as an endearment.
“Okay, I believe, let’s pray.” Akinlolu prayed with her and then went to the kitchen to cook her favorite, Jollof Rice with fried chicken after rolling up his sleeves. He instructed her to lie down and he scooped some of the ice cream he bought into a bowl with a plastic spoon and served her. Then he continued his cooking.
An hour and some minutes later, food was re-ady. He served them and went to give her food. Then they settled down on the rug and started eating.
“Akinlolu, why did you go throu-gh all this stress? You could have just bought food from a restaurant and how come you are here this early?”
“I can see you are feeling very better with all your questions. I just felt you nee-d a home cooked meal and I was worried about you being all alone and I know you can’t do without me, hence, my early arrival.”
“You flatter yourself too much. Proud man!”
“Let me flatter myself, no one will, if I don’t.” He said and they talked about everything and anything as they ate.
They finished their meal and while Akinlolu went to do the dishes and Tara went to take her bath.
She c@m£ back to the living room to see Akinlolu stretched out on her sofa, slee-ping so peacefully. She was in love with him. Madly! As her friend, Rebecca had pointed out. He probably was not going to ask her out anytime soon and Rebecca had told her to ask him but she knew it wasn’t accepted both religion wise and culturally in Nigeria. Rebecca was de-ep in her American ways and so it was not a big deal to her. She bent down to re-move his socks, ru-bbe-d his feet with affection, sat by the sofa on the rug and went throu-gh her phone.
Sometimes in the evening, Akinlolu woke up to see Tara sitting by the sofa on the rug, working on her l@pt©p. He sat up as she turned towards him and he said yawning,
“I can’t believe I sle-pt off.”
“You must have been very tired.”
“I guess I was. What are you working on?”
“My next Friday lectures.”
“Lecturer! Hmm, someb©dy is hungry. Can I have some rice?”
“What kind of question is that? Were you not the one that cooked it? Of course, you can, let me help you get it…”
“Just keep working, I will serve myself.” He said standing up and he went to the kitchen and c@m£ back with the food. He sat by her side and commenced eating as she worked more. Then some minutes after, she closed the system and placed it on the sofa.
. She turned to Akinlolu to find him staring at her, she asked amused,
“What?”
He asked as he placed his bowl of rice on the table, “Can I k!ssyou?”
She asked, not believing her ears, “What?”
“Sorry, I am sorry. I just…” He apologized but was cut off by Tara’sl-ips on his. One minute he was asking that ridiculous questions, the next, she was sitting in his l@ps, and they were k!ss!nglike they were being timed.
Then they c@m£ up for breath.
Akinlolu asked, “Does this mean you wanted that k!ssas much as I did?”
Tara replied, bringing her eyes to meet his, “Even if I did, I don’t have the right to ask for it.”
“And why is that?” He asked, looking into her eyes.
“We are not d@t!ng; I don’t have any hold on you and vice versa.”
“Do you want to have a hold on me?”
“Do you want me to have a hold on you?”
“Tara! Okay, I want you to have a hold on me. I want you to care about me, to get jealous when I interact too much with another woman, I want you to love me because I do.”
“You do?”
“Yes. I love you. I care about you. I like to spend my time with you. You mean a lot to me. I want to be that guy you are d@t!ng. The one you talk to before slee-ping at night and the one you dream about.”
“Akinlolu, I love you too. I will be the girl you are d@t!ng.” She replied and hvgged him.
And that was the beginning of immense happiness for the two of them.
Tbc