Chelsea; My Big, Fat, Fabulous Love By Nwachukwu Christopher Ishioma Avwerosuo

CHAPTER 24

Some minutes later after eating, Chelsea excused herself and went to the restroom and when she came back their used plates were already cleared and Dennis was paying at the register for their orders.
She was surprised to see  on their table, four nylon with the restaurant Logo on it.
   " What is that?" She asked Dennis.
  " Oh, this?, It is just some take home or takeout, I secured for us" He informs her.
"But Dennis!" She exclaimed.
" But what?, Can't I spoil my woman or my first lady and wife to be?" He asked her offended by her reaction.
" I am not your woman or the other thing you called me" She told him.
" I called you my first lady. And as for my woman, we are getting there and very soon at that" He said to her.
  " But we are not there yet and thmmm.mmm.e only way we are getting there, is if we are married, which we are not" She argued.
" Well, we are getting there and I'm sure of that. And learn to accept gifts and say thank you. What if I you a car , what would you say. Common takeout and you are ok ik the way you are all fired up and you are even turning pink, right now" He flirted with a smirk which has been on his face, since he started talking, because as usually he is pulling her legs and she fell for it, " Or is it crime or a sin to give gifts to your intended?" He asked in a serious tone.
" No, but you are just my friend for the now, say your friend and not your wife and as for now, your mum is your first lady, since you are not married" She advised.
" Okay, whatever you say" He told her.
  " I guess I should stop complaining and just say thank you" She murmured.
  " You think?" He asked.
" Yes, so that you" She said as  she collected the gift from him. So what did you get me?", She asked .
  " When you get home check it and not now. It is for you and your friend" He told her,  " And you should get used to this , because there are more,  from where this is coming" He told her.
  " Hope you are not trying to blind me with gift, to your faults?" She asked.
" Look at me from my head to my toes" He said to her , demonstrating with his hands," Do you see any faults in this specimen in front of you?" He asked.
  " Well,  from this angel,  I don't see any, but the inside also counts" She answered.
  " You are not suppose to answer that, because it was a rehtorical  and for your information, my insides so clean. My inside package is so clean, that you can even use a microscope to look at it, if possible" He told her.
" You so funny and you think so" She said to him.
   " Yes I am and yes I don't just think it, I know so" He told in a matter of fact way.
  " So what did you get me?". She asked trying to change the subject.
" Don't check it now, do that when you get home" He told her.
  " But why?" She asked.
  " It would ruin the surprise" He answered her, trying to be mysterious, which plague her interest more, about what was inside the two bags he gave to her and the two he retained.
  " Well thanks for telling that, now you have piqued, my curiosity" She said and tried opening.
    " No, No, I will keep the bags until we are done for the day" He told her, collecting the nylon bags from her.
   " You are no fun" She murmured, " Or you don't trust me?" She asked giving him the puppy dog eyes, inorder to sway him.
   " Of course I trust you, but this is for your own good"  He said looking away, knowing what she was trying to do and in order for him not to fall for into her trap, and end giving the nylon bags back to her and she ends up spoiling his surprise.
  " Are we not done yet" She asked seeing that her plan to convince him to allow check inside the bags failed, " I'mso full from the food we just ate" She told him.
   " Well, I hope you have room for more, because we are watching a movie at the cinema, in  the Genesis cinema here at the mall here"He told, " Surprise!" He exclaimed seeing that she has a shocked look on her face, and he didn't inform her before making his plan, which was not really planned, but it ideal came to him first when he got to the mall in the morning, when he saw the sign of the Genesis Cinema and it took root and born fruit in his mind from the beginning of their outing till now, so he might say it was actually a little bit planned. he didn't want their time together to end , which he was greatly enjoying and since Chicken Republic was a little bit far away, that outing will for another day and also wanted to enjoy the movie with her, although he doesn't really know what kind of movie she was into, he had seen on her profile page on Facebook that she liked animations/ cartoons. He couldn'tjudge her, because he too like them and according to a previous popular Ghanaian Kid channel , which has a solang that says, " For the Kid in every heart". Which means there is a kid in every heart, whether you are an adult or not, deep inside us there is a little kid from our childhood days, waiting to be unleash , after all even though children still star as voice actors for animation/cartoon production, most of the voice actors are adults, like Encanto, Moana , Frozen etc, although teenagers and kids still took part as part of the voice actors. The main character for Sophia the first was a teenager, the voice actor for the Demin God in Moana was the popular actor, Dewn Johnson ; popularly known as Rock, although in Frozen and others , we had kid voice actors too, so to Dennis not only kids can watch animations and it was not written and produce for only them and most of the writers of the script for animations , are grown adults like both of them.
   " Wow, this is really a surprise and you didn't  tell me about it" She told him.
  " Well it was a plan that came to me this morning, since my actual plan surprise wouldn'tbe possible today" He told her,  the ideal came to him first when he got to the mall in the morning, when he saw the sign of the Genesis Cinema and it took root and born fruit in his mind from the beginning of their outing till now, so he might say it was actually a little bit planned, " Hope you like it?" He asked her hopefully that she would say yes.
  " Well, it is okay even though I was informed; I still like it. But next time inform me first" She advised him, " You don't know if I have anything planned for the rest of the day" She told him.
  " I'm sorry I didn't tell you" He apologized, " But if I did it would have spoilt the whole plan of it to be a surprise and I'm glad you like it" He said to her.
   " You are forgiven" She accepted his apology, " I and my bestie wanted to watch a movie or a series at home" She informed him.
  " She can join us next time" He told her.
  " Thanks, I will pass your offer to her next time. Maybe this time around, she will accept the offer since it came from you" She told him, " So what are we watching or do I get to pick?" She asked excitedly.
  " Sorry, I have already picked" He told her apologically.
  " No harm done, but I hope I will like it" She accepted his apology, " So what's the name of the movie?" She asked.
  " Despicable Me 2" He replied.
  " Wow, is as if you can read mind" She told him.
  " Really!" He exclaimed, " You like it?" He asked her.
   " Yes I do" She told him.
   " I'm glad you do. You liking the movie I picked for us to watch, has made my day" He told her happily.
  " But I can see , where you are going with this" She told him.
   " Where may I ask?" He asked with a smile.
  " You picked it because of the main character and the theme of the story" She answered.
  " Which is?" He asked.
  " Love" She reply.
  " Meaning?" He asked, pretending not to know what she was talking about.
" You pick this because of the love or romance of the main character" She told him.
" Yes, you are right. This is part where our main character,  met and fell in love with his wife" He told her.
  " You just think you are so smooth right?" She asked him playfully.
  " I don't think, I know I am" He replied with a wink, " And this would be an opportunity for  me to hold your hands again and to sit a little close to you" He added.
  " You are so devious, Didn't you hear what I said, five feet apart" She asked astonished by his behaviour, plans and actions.
" But , I wouldn't be the one doing the magic, the movie and the atmosphere filled with love will prompt you against your will and you will take and hold my hands on you" He said.
  " We will see" She said with determination, as they went the walk to the ticket booth and bought two tickets, got Popcorn and drinks and went into the theater.
   " We will see the grace of God, He said as a Christian, that he was, with smile.
    After the the movie they both work out.
    " You cheated" She told.
    " How ?" He asked.
   " You holding my hands first and without me seeing you move your hands" She told. 
    "  Well all as fair in love and war" He told her as they walked towards the exist to the mall.
    " Can you take me a picture ?" She asked.
    " Okay"  He answered as she posed and took some shot of her, unaware with his phone, instead of hers, which she didn't notice due to the excitement she heard of someone finally taking her a picture, since she started coming ShopRite, after it got its own shop store in  Delta Shopping Mall, immediately the mall was established in Effurun/Warri in  Delta State, Nigeria. Then he took a selfie  of both of then, as he gave her a peck on her cheek quickly.
   " Why are you taking a selfie of both of us and what was that for?" She asked angrily in shocked by his actions, which always surprises her . He  does and take privileges that he is not entitled to; without fear or even remorse and  without her consent.
  "For the kiss; I couldn't control myself you look so cute with the poses you were giving me and while for the picture, I'm took for memory sake and I'm keeping it for keepsake" He told her, " And I know you will not willing take a picture with me,  talk less of a selfie" He added.
   " That's not phone" She said to him on realizing that phone he was  using to take the pictures wasn't hers.
    " Don't worry I will send them to you" He told her , as he saw how worried she was.
" Why did you use your phone, instead of mine?" She asked him unhappily.
   " I knew if I asked you to send me your pic, you wouldn't, so I I decided to take it with my own phone" He said to her.
   "  Why are you so forceful ?. Don't you know you have to ask for permission before doing something like that?" She asked him.
  " What if permission is not granted" He asked.
   " Well, you have let it go" She replied.
  " I'm sorry it is already done" He told her  
   " Please delete them after sending it to me" She pleaded with him.
" Why would I do that?" He asked astonished at her request.
  "What would you tell people if they saw my picture on your phone?" She asked back.
  " The truth" He told her, surprised at her question.
  " That?" She asked.
  " That you are my future wife" He told her, in a matter of fact way.
  " But that's not true" She told him, shocked by his statement.
" But it could be and stop worrying about other people or what they would say, just worry about us, because we are the only ones that matter and the truth remains I love you and will never do anything to hurt you" He said as he touched her hair affectionately.
  " This is what I am talking about, you are even touching me without permission . You haven't  prove your love yet" She told him, as she removes his hands from her hair.
  " When haven't I ?" He asked. Annoyed, at what she said.
  " Well just now, when you touched my hair, held my hands in the cinema and kissed my hands at the restaurant, you even gave me a peck just now on my cheek. And all this where in public places and people where all around watching. You may think that don't matter, but they matter to me, because I have passed through bullying, especially by words of mouth and I know what people can do with their tongue and just by words of their mouth, they can tarnish you, your life and good name, till you decide you can't bear to live anymore and decide you have no choice; but to take your very own life, that you value dearly, because being alive all you have and all you have to prove to you exist" She said to him sadly.
  " Who hurt you?" He asked.
  " Just forget " She said , ashamed that she got too emotional, which she has tried not to be because it is the first sign of weakness, that she is not willing to show to the world, " I'm sorry I got too emotional" She apologized.
   " You don't need to apologize, I'm the one at fault and I need to apologize . And I'm sorry if my display of affection hurt you in anyway"  He apologize sincerely.
   " It's okay , I know you are only  human and as human beings we all have feeling and some times it gets out of our control, but we still need to keep it in check and under control" She said, " Okay lets go" She said as they exited the main gate of the mall .