The Pain – Chapter 14

The next day, Abayomi woke up very early with a big smile on his face. He felt on top of the world and had this sense of fulfillment and inexplicable joy. Today is the day, he thought as he went through the previous day’s one-step victory.

After dinner with Motun the other day, he made up his mind to sort out his feelings for Tina. Motun’s shocking revelation was more than enough to propel him in that direction. He had no idea her feelings ran so deep. He wished he had been more sensitive. Perhaps he could have done something to stop it from getting that far. He wasn’t happy that the dynamics of their relationship would never be the same again. He had taken time out to pray and had submitted his feelings for Tina before God. He also sat down with his diary, penned down his thoughts and feelings and made a few phone calls. He was able to clearly see that Tina had a depth and quality about her that tallied with his own desires in a wife. He also felt God leading him to take a step of faith towards marriage. Even though he knew this was a huge risk, considering they hadn’t known each other that long, he couldn’t remember when he was this convinced about anything. He had thought this through before going to her house the previous day. The dinner he had scheduled for the day had one purpose in mind – to ask for her hand in marriage. He didn’t believe in dating without a clear purpose in mind. Besides, she would be going back to Nigeria soon. It was better he laid out his proposal before she left. He wanted to marry her, and that was it. He hoped she would say “yes” because this meant that they both would have the freehand to get to know each other on a deeper level and of course chart a course for their marital journey. He called the restaurant again to confirm his reservations as he got out of the car and walked into his office with a huge smile plastered on his face.

Tina sat down on the dining chair all dressed up and fidgety. It was almost 7pm and she was ready for her date with Abayomi. Her cousin Lizzy had helped her get dressed. Lizzy had picked her outfit, styled her hair, and made her up. Although she looked glam, Tina was worried that she was overdressed. Lizzy had tried in futility to convince her otherwise, but felt quite uncomfortable like she was being too forward. Abayomi’s declaration of his feelings the previous day was like a dream; she still couldn’t believe it. His admission had seemed so surreal and unreal. She had gone to bed giddy with joy but was rudely interrupted by yet another nightmare. This time around, she had seen Ugo taunting her. He jeered at her, calling her all manner of horrible names that left her in tears. Just as she turned to escape his abuse, she found herself on stage with what looked like tens of thousands of people laughing at her and booing her. She felt the crowd closing in on her just as she realized that she wasn’t wearing any clothes. Hands started pulling at her from the crowd the moment she tried to cover herself. She had woken up with a start when she felt herself drowning in their midst. She touched her eyes and felt a tear leaking from the corner of her left eye. The dream had felt so real. In fact, she could almost swear that she could still hear the taunts and jeers from the crowd. Her day went by in gloom as she struggled to pray in tongues despite how she felt.

She had gotten ready early so as to calm her nerves and avoid any last minute rush. Despite the joy she felt about her first date with Abayomi, the dream lingered on her mind as a dark cloud. Her past with Ugo was slowly affecting her, and she was too scared to re-visit it. The pain from that time in her life seemed overwhelming. She remembered how long it took her to forge ahead after that incident, and she wasn’t ready to go through the same trauma all over again. Sadly, she had this nagging feeling that she might be doing just that sooner than expected because if anything serious was to ever develop between her and Abayomi, she had to tell him. The very thought of telling anyone made her stomach churn as the memories flooded her mind. Thankfully, the doorbell rang before the memories fully settled. Tina took in a deep breath as she made to open the door. It was 7.20pm and she was sure it was Abayomi. Before she could get to the door, her cousin Lizzy beat her to it. She seemed more excited than Tina was. Most importantly, she wanted to see Abayomi’s expression when he saw Tina. They exchanged pleasantries as she led him to the sitting area.

Tina was already on her feet by the time Abayomi got there, and his expression on seeing her was priceless. His smile was enough to melt away her worries, fears and anxiety at the moment. No words were needed as they seemed to communicate silently. He held a small well-packed hamper that had a red bow attached to it. It smelled heavenly as he presented it to her. She peered into it and could see a perfume bottle stuck in somewhere, some chocolates and other items couldn’t identify yet. She grinned as she handed it over to Lizzy.

“Please, don’t open it till I’m back” she admonished jokingly as Lizzy pouted at her. Tina laughed as she turned to Abayomi.

“Thank you” she said, giving him a brief hug. “This was very thoughtful of you” she continued as she beamed at him.

She came giddy with excitement as joy bubbled over to the surface. She could hardly contain herself as she stood there smiling and grinning sheepishly. She couldn’t remember when last anyone had made her feel this good.

“You look absolutely beautiful” Abayomi said smiling at her tenderly “Are you ready to go?” he asked as he offered her his arm.

“Yes” she replied taking his arm.

“Have fun guys!” Lizzy shouted after them.

Mike was watching football later that evening with a couple of friends when he received a phone call.

“Hello dear” he said after excusing himself. “What’s up?” he asked as he walked into his room closing the door to shut out the noise from the sitting room.

He heard a continuous scream on the other end of the line and had to put the phone away from his ears.

“Hello! Hello!” he said frantically “Hello!” he shouted looking at his phone to be sure he was still on the line.