A twist of Fate (A Nigerian Love Story)

Chapter 7

                                                                                               Chapter 7

Emeka arrived home from work and dialed Ngozi's number. He did not know why, but he had gradually grown attracted to her. She had begun work today and looked elegant when he saw her. She had no idea, but he had been stalking her since the day she had applied at Lems&Co Company. He knew where she stayed, he knew her parents and he was able to count 4 kids living in the small house where she lived. He knew stalking her was creepy and wrong, but he could not help it. He had gradually developed feelings for her which grew much faster than he expected. Although he had these feelings for her, he had decided he would not let her know who he truly was. He was the MD at the company she worked, and he was sure she had no idea about that. He respected her, but there was no guarantee she would not be after his money considering her poor background

"Hello" a voice said over the phone. Ngozi had picked his call. 

"Heyy Ngozi how are you doing" Emeka asked

"I am alright thank you"

"So, I was wondering if you would want to hang out tonight, that is if you are not busy" Emeka said

"Um yea I guess so. Just us or...?"

"I invited a couple of friends but they stood me up. Please do not do that too" Emeka lied immediately. He had no idea why but he felt nervous telling Ngozi it was just her and her alone

"Ok sure. Pick me up at the express way close to Crescent Street"

"Sure, will do that." Emeka replied and smiled

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I was in the kitchen, deep in thoughts and making a local food called akara which was produced from beans when my phone rang. I was thinking of Emeka, again. He seemed to pop into my thoughts more frequently. It had just been 4  days after I last saw him but he seemed to be in my every thought. I had begun work the day after I had gotten the congratulatory phone call, as I did not want to waste any further time having searched for employment for two years. The moment after I had gotten that call, I had gone to a cyber café close to my house since I did not have a phone connected to the internet. I have no idea why I did what I did, maybe I was curious or maybe I was love sick, but I had taken the card Emeka gave me and had looked him up on every site that popped up. Facebook, Instagram, the company's website. It was then that I made a discovery. He was the MD of the Lems&Co Company. This was strange I had thought. The card he gave me never said anything about him being an MD. It only said he was the sales manager. Determined to find out more, I checked his timeline on Facebook and saw some congratulatory messages on him becoming the MD on his timeline. On his timeline too there were several pictures of him and a gorgeous looking girl whom I figured out was his girlfriend. I sighed in disappointment.

"Get a grip on yourself Ngozi" I cautioned myself although I was heartbroken. I had done something I had never done before-stalk a guy. However, as I kept going through his timeline I discovered that he had changed his relationship status to 'single' close to 3 weeks ago. That gave me a little hope, but the pictures he had all over with the girl snuffed the little ray of sunshine I had had from seeing his status as 'single.'

The continuous ring of my phone brought me back to consciousness and I picked it. It was Emeka, and he was inviting me out. I was happy, but I figured out it would be as just friends. Trying to find out more, I asked how many others were coming with us and he said his friends had stood him up. Well there it goes Ngozi I thought to myself. He is only inviting you out because he is bored and his friends all disappointed him so you are just a last thought. I was about to reject the offer, but seeing Emeka's face again and all alone to myself gave me shivers, and I said yes.

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It was about an hour later when Emeka picked me up from Crescent Street. I was too ashamed to let him pick me at my house. As we drove, we talked about a lot of things and I felt closer to him. He was telling me about the first time he had gotten drunk when my phone rang. It was Andz, again. He had called me about three times after the first day we met but I always missed his calls. "Excuse me" I said to Emeka and picked it up

"Hi Angel" Andz began

"Good evening to you sir" I replied

"I have told you not to call me that you know"

"I know sir but you know I cannot. It is a sign of respect to you" I said

"Well dear, I was wondering if you were busy. I was thinking of spending time with you today"

I sighed, as I was getting angry and on the verge of losing my patience. However I composed myself as I did not want Emeka to see me in my crazy state and I did not want to disrespect Andz too "With all due respect sir, I am really not interested. I cannot be with a man your age and I see you more as a father. Please do stop this" I said and I saw Emeka give me an interested look from the corner of my eyes.

"Well....."Andz began

"Goodbye sir" I said and ended the call

"Wow that sounded intense" Emeka said staring into my eyes for a second "Was that your....." he did not complete the sentence

"No Emeka. I do not have a sugar daddy. That was just some random old man bothering my life" I replied and sighed again. I was visibly disturbed and mentally exhausted.

"Hey it's okay. I believe you. Even from the conversation a baby would figure that out" He said in a low comforting voice and squeezed my hand. I looked at him and he stared back. In that single moment, I wanted nothing more than to kiss him, but I reminded myself that he had a girlfriend, and said thank you.