Ours

Chapter 15; woah!! 💍

I woke up to four more missed calls from Stanley and an unopened text message from Duke. What seriously, is this guy's  problem?  One moment he is  over his feelings for me and the next moment, he is back professing his undying love for me. Duke's message said he's sorry but he can't pick me up for work because he has to drop Nana Ama off at the VIP bus terminal. Seriously!, I exclaimed. Just one day and she's officially become a thorn in my flesh. I didn't even read all of the message and I put the phone in my bag. I set off for work in a pensive mood. When, you start your day in a bad mood, nothing seems to go right. I had to endure about thirty minutes stuck in traffic making me arrive at work late. I got the scolding of my life from my supervisor. The woman was a 'no nonsense person ',  the direct opposite of Tabitha. It was moments like this that made me miss her. She scolded me in front of some interns and called me incompetent. I almost cried right there. Since I got to work late, it meant there was no time for breakfast. I had to start working straight away. I changed my clothes and proceeded to make ward rounds in the pediatric unit. On my way back, I found a long queue of clients waiting for their diet consultation. The day was very hectic for me. I skipped both breakfast and lunch and Duke hadn't even called to check up on me even though today was his day off. I even included peppers in a patient's meal plan even though she was allergic to them. I had to call and rectify that later on. The client outed me to my supervisor and once again the woman scolded me. Working with her was like having my mom at my work place. I can deal with having my mom at home and at work too. I went into my cubicle and shed a few tears. I remembered an old school poem I read in a book once titled 'For the want of a horse shoe nail'. I arrived home and surprisingly, there was no one home as well. I curled myself into a ball and put my favourite series, Skinny girl in transit, on. In the middle of the movie, Aj barged in with Myron settled on her hip,  a dress bag on her arm and a stranger following closely behind her. She started yelling at me when she realized I had not taken my bath yet. I was confused as to why she's in my house with a dress and a make up artist.
"Do you intend to go on your date looking like a hobo and smelling like a hospital room? "

Please I'm too tired for your games. I took myron from her and placed him on my lap.

"Didn't Duke ask you out on a date?  Because he told me he did"

" well, I havent heard from him all day except a text message he sent.... Realization dawned on me that I didn't read all of it.
I pulled my phone out to read and yes he did promise to take me out tonight as compensation for not being able to pick me up in the morning.  Aj was about to scold me, but I stopped her by telling her how bad my day has already been. Surprisingly, she said nothing when I spoke of my arch nemesis, Ama. She only urged me to take a quick shower and put on the dress she brought. without much of a complain, I did just that.  The dress was very beautiful and fitted perfectly. I guess it was designed just for me. The make up artist did her work perfectly as well. I kept asking Aj what made this date special that Duke wants me all dolled up but she gave no definite answer. At about 6pm, thirty minutes, after we were done Duke's car revved into our compound. My folks were still not home which was very weird and all their phones were off as well. When he saw me, the appellations he gave could rival that of the Ashanti king. He was dressed nicely as well. Aj and the make up artist left, I locked up and followed Duke to his car as well. He claimed he was taking me out to a very special place and that it was a surprise. On our way, I brought up the 'Ama' issue. He cleared my doubts and promised not to repeat the mistake again. Yet still he won't agree with me on the fact that she's interested in him. I put that behind me and decided to enjoy my evening to make up for the bad day I've had. He pulled up at a beach side. The place was desserts but a dinner for two had been set up right near the shore of the beach. I had to take my heels off so I can walk properly due to the beach sand. He laughed when I commented on how silly it was to dress up and sit at the beach all by ourselves. A lot of planning went into this dinner, I noticed because everything was to perfection. There were even fire flies and little light bulbs around the pole that made a shed over our heads. He signalled for a waiter to bring our meal.
Bon apetit, enjoy your meal.

I raised my head to see who it was because the voice sounded oddly familiar. You can imagine my surprise when I saw Tilly, my room mate from university days. I leapt up with joy. We hugged each other and started jumping up and down.

What are you doing here?  Oh My God, I have missed you so much! Do you work here?
All she did was to shake her head and at that very moment, Najat also came dressed as a waitress as well holding another dish. Now I knew something was off because they didn't even look like waitresses. Duke asked me to sit down after a while, so we can enjoy our meal. He asked if I knew them and I replied in the affirmative.  Tilly and Najat left and we were alone once again. I opened the first plate and all that was in it was a scribble written with honey. What a weird food, I commented. The next plate also had similar scribbling.

What kind of food is this, Duke?  Don't tell me you paid for us to come lick honey. Hahaha!  We could have stolen some from my mom's kitchen and we would even get a full bottle for free.

"Your mom would have killed us later on if she founds out. Let's pay and lick our honey in peace sunshine. Hahaha this one is just decoration. The food is on its way I guess"

"It better be oh, otherwise I'm going back in there for every single penny you paid"

"Witty as always. You really are your mother's daughter "

" wait till I tell her you said she's witty"

" please I beg you oh. Look!"  He pointed behind me
I turned around and saw illuminating letters. It seems people were coming towards us with them but because we are sitting in the light and they were in the dark, all I could see was the letters. I tried to make sense out of it but it was all a jumbled mess. As they approached, they kept alternating till the words spell out
"LL YOU MARRY ME SUNSHINE? "
I turned around to meet Duke on his knees and in his hands was the exact same ring I admired in the mall some time ago when his sisters and I went shopping.
Yes! Yes!  Yes!
I screamed over and over. What a way to end a bad day. Whew, how come I never saw that coming?
He put that ring on my finger and I fell harder than I already did. I pulled him up and hugged him. I was shedding tears of joy at this moment. Cheers  erupted from behind us and when the people stepped into the light, it was my family, his and our friends as well. Everyone rushed to see the ring and congratulate us.  When all the excitement  had gone down, I asked where letter 'W' and 'I'  passed because they were missing from the letters that were showcased. Apparently, they were supposed to be the scribbles that were on the plate but Tilly and Najat messed it up. Never trust those two with an important job. We all had a good laugh over that. My bestie and mama hugged me and started shedding tears, then all the girls followed suit. There was another surprise for the night I was told. We all got in our various cars and set off for the surprise.