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Episode 1: Getting Acquainted
I sent her a text on WhatsApp, ‘‘Bae, we’ve got a date on Friday night at Sparkles.’’ I’m sure she would have thought it would be one of our usual rendezvous, where we would chit-chat all night long talking about ourselves, among other matters, and getting a bit amorous sometimes, hahaha. But behind the scenes, something spectacular was boiling. She sent a reply, ‘’OK boo. I’m anticipating and will prepare in advance. Love youuu.’’ ‘’Love you bunch,’’ I responded. I was also preparing ahead for this big day where I would pop the question to the love of my life. I couldn’t wait for that grand day--the D-day--to declare myself to my better half. You could imagine all the sponging and grooming that would go in on my side; and on the other side too, well, I couldn’t really guess. ’’Anticipate’’ was the only option.
Akos was a lovely and comely young woman. She was beautiful in every sense of the word. She was tall (I was taller), fair in complexion (while I was chocolate-skinned), well-endowed (my somewhat muscular body could match up); in short, she had all the elements of beauty homogeneously mixed in a balanced configuration--like the first woman God created. I bet you would look her twice, or even thrice, or more. Sometimes, I wondered what material she was created with--maybe out of sapphire or aquamarine, but certainly not silica, hihihi. But aside all her physical attributes, she was lovingly caring, understanding, smart and very hardworking; plus, she had a good sense of humour--she could even crack a rib-tickling joke out of an obviously boring situation. She was the woman every gentleman would want to have as a lifetime companion, a perpetual significant other--a graceful and elegant being indeed. My love for her matured as time passed.
On how we met, I would say it was by divine orchestration. We became friends during our university days, at the prestigious Adinkrahene Institute of Science and Technology (AIST). She was a junior coursemate (2 years behind me); I was in my third year then, and at the same time the Department PRO. Our department was under COLET (College of Engineering Technology). We first saw each other after a department meeting of the Association of Students of Ceramics Technology (ASCET); it was our inaugural meeting for the academic year, few weeks after we had begun the first semester. While trying to get familiar with some of the attendees of the meeting after we had closed, she particularly caught my attention. I walked up to her and introduced myself. ‘’Hi, Kwame here, ASCET PRO’’, was my prelude. She followed with, ‘’I’m Akos, first-year C-Tech, and I’m pleased to meet you’’. After some minutes of ‘intro-talks’, we exchanged contacts and got acquainted thereafter.
As time elapsed and our acquaintance deepened, she would usually call me up to assist her with assignments and help her understand some of the courses, especially Principles of Glass Science. Gracefully, I had an ‘A’ in Principles so it wasn’t much of a problem to me. I only needed to revise so I could better assist her; I had to sharpen the somewhat blunt knife, to make a good cut. So, while I learnt my current notes, I would revise the old one too, just to assist this new friend of mine settle on. It wasn’t easy, trying to kill two birds with one stone (or a rock if you want), but I suppose it was worth it. She would gladly show to me her score after the marked assignments were released. She would say, ‘’Thanks Kwame, I appreciate your help.’’ My simple reply was, ‘’I’m glad to help, Akos.’’ She got so elated when I helped her successfully complete her first year take-home project which was focused on identifying and solving a community problem whose solution was peculiar to our field of study. She literally gift-washed me after her remarkable success--she got an ‘A’. And of course, I was happy too.
Our friendship solidified with time, gradually transiting from a glassy phase of mere acquaintance to a stronger, more crystalline chemistry. She would often invite me over for a meal at her Adehye Nsroma apartment which was about 100 metres from the western entrance of campus. The first time I was in her room, I noticed it was quite spacious, almost twice the size of mine. It was stuffed with a tabletop fridge, a flat-screen TV fixed to the wall opposite her bed, well-furnished kitchen and washroom, a sleek wardrobe, a three-seater couch, and some other items--her room was an exquisite chamber. It was always tidy anytime I was there; she shared it with her roommate--Kafui, a second-year Forensics student. The duo were really good roomies.
As a gesture of mutual kindness and friendship, I would also sometimes invite Akos to my place, AIST Hostel, to have a taste of ‘bemankwan’, and sometimes, watch movies. It was as if our internal bond energies were concatenating us faster than we knew--from ‘Hi’’ to assignment to food to…let’s go on. I sometimes wondered where this would lead to. I would say to myself, ‘’Take control man’’, at other times too, ‘’Let fate decide.’’ It was like a battle within. But deep within I knew that I had to exercise patience. ‘’You like her, don’t you?; Well, I think I do; I don’t really know; What if she has a boyfriend?; What if she doesn’t?; Let me shoot my shot,’’ were some conflicting thoughts that juggled in my head.
Somewhere in second semester, I asked her out to the most popular campus-based ice cream parlour, Chilly Bowl. She was quite skeptical about going out with me for the first time, but later she consented. On one cool Sunday evening, after it had rained cat and dogs the previous day, our set date arrived. I had my roommate scrutinize my dressing and style to make sure I was fit for the occasion, before I stepped out to Akos’ apartment. I was in a Levi's jeans and a blue-black Lacoste polo shirt with white stripes, over a pair of white-soled black Levi's shoes. ‘’This your dressing deɛ, e make you look more than Chelsea demma coach oo,’’ my roomie said jokingly. We all laughed over it. After I called Akos to inform her of my coming to her place, I set out. I reached her apartment in about five minutes and I had to wait another five minutes so she could finish dressing up. I patiently waited because I knew ladies take time. She came out of her room looking all-gorgeous in her multicoloured maxi dress atop a pair of black low heels. She met me with acute smiles and I smiled back beamishly.
Me: You look good.
Akos: Thank you Kwame.
Me: ‘’Shall we?’’
Akos: Why shawent we?
She jested. And we laughed it over, as we headed for Chilly Bowl.
We got to Chilly Bowl around 7:00pm. Luckily, we had a seat at the spot where I wanted, somewhere at the back (no ulterior motive, hahaha). Quite a number of students were around with their soul mates drinking up and conversing heartily. I saw Kafui, with his guy, but I’m sure she didn’t see us; they were having a good time and I didn’t want to bother them. Akos, on the other hand, was observing the antique yet stylish wooden tables and chairs of the place and its warm and attractive aura. Chilly Bowl was a great hangout for settled and budding lovers. It could take up to about 40 people at time. It was always tidy, with a bright lighting system, a terrazzoed floor, transparent glass windows, among other features; moreover, they had other mini-joints on campus but we were at main place--at the HQ. I’m certain the environment reminded Akos of her recherché room. She might have missed their (Kafui and her guy’s) presence as she observed the place.
Me: It’s your first time here, I guess.
Akos: Yeah, you are right. How did you know?
Me: I could tell from how you were visually inspecting the place.
Akos: Hahaha. One Sherlock Holmes.
Me: Lol, this pressure nawa oo. Let’s get to the seat.
I asked Akos to sit as I went to one of the attendants to get two cups of vanilla ice cream. I wasn’t sure what she wanted, so I went back to ask her and she said any extract was fine. So I brought her vanilla too, with some gelato topping (or peach would have been better?). ‘’First date, don’t mess up boy’’ was the subvocal admonition. We got into a table talk of getting to know more about each other, experiences from high school, life in AIST, our future plans (work and marriage life) and other matters. We did well to keep our conversation modest and frank. She would occasionally bring up something funny while we talked. I also did well to crack my best jokes, hihihi. We laughed over and over.
We were carried away in our convo and before we realized, it was half past ten; we’ve spent over three hours--on first date alone. Though we were deeply immersed, we had to quickly bring our interesting causerie to a close and continue later. When I wanted to pay the bill, she asked that we shared the the payment. I wanted to decline but she persisted and I gave in. ‘’What are friends for,’’ she remarked. We left Chilly Bowl happy and elated, and I had to escort her to Adehye Nsroma, her apartment, after which I retired to my room--tired, yet fulfilled. She called the next day to thank me for everything. This time around, my response was, ‘’Don’t mention it, dear.’’ Something was boiling? Kwao, my roommate, saw me beaming with smiles as I entered the room and he asked, ‘’Boy, how e go?’’ I replied, ‘’Oh boy, e go on well oo. I taya sef, make I bed den tinup early give morrow ein quiz.’’ Off I went to bed, hoping to wake up early enough to prepare for a Cement Technology quiz the next day.
Anticipate Episode 2!!! #fiction #romance
That's a great piece of writing
ReplyDeleteThank you bro. Appreciated
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