All rights reserved.
This work is entirely fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental & highly regretted by the author. You can reach me at infoleric@gmail.com
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Emem sat cross-legged on the chair facing the side
window of the room posing for her portrait. I held the paint brush as i gazed
into her eyes, tracing the outline of her face on the canvas. With a racy heart
and shaky hands, nervousness was written all over me.
She was a light complexioned lady with a ruby
shaped face, her hair was braided in the corn row pattern, her face radiated
inner peace & warmth and she looked more or less like an African goddess. A
curvy body with long legs she looked great. It was 6 pm, we were just the two
of us alone in my art studio. A chill of excitement ran down my spine as i
beheld her beauty, her eyes and mine met and we looked fixedly at each other. The
paint brush slowly slipped off my fingers and a natural instinct slowly led me towards
her. There was something surreal about the atmosphere…time stood still and i could
hear the tick-tock sound of the clock on the wall. As I moved towards her she
uncrossed her legs, got up and walked towards me. I moved closer…..closer until
I could feel the sound of her heartbeat. We enveloped each other in a warm
spontaneous hug. This was the culmination of our previous meetings, we had
found love, we were soul mates.
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Emem Prince was a Systems analyst at Green light foundation, Ikeja, Lagos. A
graduate of Computer science from Kwame
Nkrumah university of science and technology Kumasi, Ghana. I met her
through Wendy a mutual friend of ours on Wendy’s birthday party. Wendy was a
regular client of mine and I had done many photo editing works for her at my Challix Arts & photo studio.
Wendy held her birthday bash at Prime spot Arena. I recall the party was
just getting started when Wendy spotted me walking aimlessly around the venue.
She hailed me and invited me over to her table. I walked over to her. She
turned to a lady who was sitting beside her and said;
“Emem meet my friend Charles” he is one of the
best fine art artists in this city, he draws and paints beautiful pictures, he
is also into digital photography.
“Charles meet my friend Emem”
I stretched my hand towards her for a quick
handshake. I was smitten by her striking beauty, something inside me stirred
and i knew that our paths were destined to meet.
“Hi Emem, it is my pleasure to meet you, how do
you do”? I asked.
Her hands were soft and tender and as i held them
I was afraid that i might bruise them by my rather tough hands.
“I am fine, good to meet you too”. She spoke in a
soft voice that sounded like music to my ears, her tiny pair of blue eyes
gazing mildly into my eyes.
“Charles speaks a little Spanish”, Wendy said to
Emem.
“Really”? Emem questioned glancing at me with an
upturned eyebrow.
I was a Spanish language enthusiast, my brain did
a quick scan of the few Spanish words and phrases in my vocabulary.
“Eres hermosa” i said.
“Gracias, usted es un guapo” she replied with a
wide smile.
Two gentlemen friend of theirs came over and the
flow of the conversation changed. Feeling a bit pressed, i excused myself from the
table and walked towards the restroom.
All through the duration of the party i couldn’t
help stealing glances at Emem. She left the party before i could get her number
but i wasn’t fazed as I knew i would get it from Wendy.
Lionel Richie’s “Hello” kept on playing in my
head.
“Hello is it me you are looking for? I can see it in your
eyes, I can see it in your smile, you’re all I wanted…tell me how to win your
heart for I haven’t got a clue…..and i want to tell you so much I love you!”.
I was falling in love with the pretty girl who
speaks Spanish.
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Three days after the party, Wendy brought Emem over
to my studio on a short visit. She was enthralled by the paintings in the
gallery and walked around admiring them. I gave her a guided tour and explained
details of some of the paintings works I had done.
My toasting skills were a bit rusty as I had shunned
the company of ladies and buried myself in my work after experiencing series of
heartbreaks in the previous year but at 5ft 8 inches tall, I had an athletic
body and above average looks that any woman would have died for. I was able to
convince her that a beautiful lady like her needed to have a life portrait
painting and she promised to come back for a second visit.
It was on this second visit on the course of the
painting that the power of love brought us together in each other’s arms. The
stage was set for our first date night.
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Dulis Garden is the quintessential hangout for
lovers and fun seekers. A sprawling
open air outfit with plenty of space, beautiful bougainvillaea and rose flowers
hedges, a small water fountain to boot and strategically located park seats. There’s
also a sports bar with wide screen tv sets and a snack/wine bar manned by
smartly dressed waiters. A live band serenades the patrons with soothing and
soulful tunes.
Emem and i sat on one of the park benches with
a flower hedge behind us. She looked dazzling in her satin dress and black
leather jacket combo, the jewelry she wore added a touch of the exotic to her
appearance giving her a sexy yet modest look. I was on a classy black jean with
a blue matching shirt and a black suede trainers shoe.
“You look wonderful” I complimented her.
“You look good too”.
She confided in me that she was in a difficult
relationship and had been looking for a way to end it. Davis her boyfriend she said was a guy who had at first attached
himself to her under false pretences, however it wasn’t long before she found
out his true nature and she had managed to put him on a leash but he was still
lurking around her. I on the other hand was as single and free as a
bird, loneliness had always been a friend of mine. I
assured her that together we will cut him loose.
I ordered a bottle of Ariel sauvignon wine, two
plates of Jollof rice with quarter chicken and it was promptly served by a
waiter.
It was obvious to us that we had found our
special thing, we were flying without
wings like Westlife sang.
“I am worried for you Charles, Davis has a vindictive nature and I am afraid he will come after you”, she said with a forlorn look.
“I am worried for you Charles, Davis has a vindictive nature and I am afraid he will come after you”, she said with a forlorn look.
“Don’t worry dear, cheer up! I’ll take care of
him. I believe in you Emem, whatever obstacle that lies before us will be surmounted,
with the power of love! I love you" i assured her as I took her hands in
mine.
"I love you too" she replied resting her head on my chest.
"I love you too" she replied resting her head on my chest.
A sense of joy filled my heart, this was what i
had been looking for a long while; the ecstasy that comes from loving someone
and being loved in return. From
that moment i lived only for her happiness, my dreams came through because of
her, life suddenly had a new meaning.
I uncorked the bottle of Ariel sauvignon wine
for a toast to mark the beginning of a new era in our lives.
"loving you is because you are so beautiful...lalalala
lalalala, no one else makes me feel the colours that u bring, stay with me
while we grow old and we will live each day in spring time..lalalala"
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Working late at the art shop as my custom was, i felt a shadow
fall across me on the table, I looked up in alarm and saw a tall figure wearing
a face cap in a casual dressing staring down at me.
"Are you Charles Etim?" he asked.
"Are you Charles Etim?" he asked.
“Yes, how did you get in and who are you?” I
asked inquired.
A tiny smile crept along his face and was
quickly replaced by a frown.
“I am Davis, i guess Emem must have told you
about me”
I got up and my hands involuntarily tightened
slowly into a fist, I was wary that he going to attack me. However with a huge
frame like his, i doubted if I would stand any chance against him in a fist
fight.
He continued, “She has broken up with me. I
made some findings and found out that you are her new catch”.
I was on my guard as his stern looking eyes
gazed down at me probably assessing me. He glanced round the spacious room….”nice
place you’ve got here” no wonder she is into you.
“What do you want?” I asked him once again.
“I came to tell you lover boy that I will have
the last laugh!”.
I silently watched him as he turned and walked
away as quietly as he entered.
The die was cast. Emem was my jewel and no
force on earth will take her away from me. It would be a fight to the finish.
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“Ol boy this love don shack you well well” John
said as he poured his drink into the glass. Martins and Uchenna laughed out
loud.
I was in the company of my friends hanging out
at Abba lounge an entertainment outfit at the heart of the city. We met back in
university of Lagos six years ago when we were undergraduates. John was a civil
servant in the ministry of Science and technology, Martins a Lecturer in Lagos
state university was the intellectual of the group, a well read gentleman who
always had facts and figures at his finger tips, Uchenna was an entrepreneur
dealing on general merchandise in Lagos mainland.
“You guys don’t understand how it feels to be
in love with your soulmate” I said shaking my head at them.
“Love is overrated bro” Martin said with conviction,
he continued “love is a deceptive emotion, it makes you give out your heart and
whole being into it but at the end it leaves you disappointed!....”
“You are right” John interrupted, “do you know
how many girls have jilted me in this city? Now my heart is like a granite!, no
girl can break into it!” he exclaimed beating his chest with a sense of pride.
We all laughed out loud.
“Love is real but it is hard to find true love
these days” Uchenna countered, “we should be happy that one of us have found
love”.
“You guys have met Emem what’s your candid
opinion on her? I asked them.
“She is okay, she is beautiful, has a good
character, good intellect….go for her!, you are lucky mahn” John said. They all nodded their heads in
unison to affirm this statement.
I leaned back on the chair in relief, I have
gotten the validation I wanted from them.
When you are close to a person, in time, you
will experience the negative side of the person. Emem’s major character flaw
was her fiery temper that wasn’t easy to douse. I experienced this when i
failed to keep up an appointment with her at a bakery, she flared up when I
came three hours late to pick her, she sulked afterwards and it took a huge
effort on my part to restore things to normalcy. I didn’t give much thought to
her temper as her other angelic qualities eclipsed this aspect of her
character. Marriage was on our minds, at 32yrs i was due for marriage, at 26
she was ripe, waiting and willing to be plucked by me.
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To be recognized as a professional fine artist
in Nigeria, you must be a member of the Society
of Nigerian Artists(SNA). I was a registered member of the association and
therefore was chosen as one of the delegates to attend the Annual Arts conference
sited for the city of Lokoja. This would take me out of Lagos for one week. One
week without Emem would seem like an eternity, the longest time I would spend by
myself without her.
“Sweetheart, make sure you come back to me in
one piece” she said sweetly as she waved me goodbye at the motor park.
“Don’t worry dear, i can’t wait to get back to
you!”.
Lokoja the confluence town, the meeting place
of River Niger and river Benue welcomed us the delegates with open arms. We
were lodged in Grangeland hotels and
resort a hotel with a view overlooking the table mountains of the city.
The conference started on a high note but as we
entered the second day, the paper presentations became long and boring, boredom
set in and the hall was filled with sleepy delegates. The daily lunch break and
my conversations with Emem on phone were the highlights of the day.
On the third day, an archaic looking professor
was delivering his paper on Modern art symbology, the prof appeared to
have been dragged out from the 18th century to the 21st
century to deliver the lecture, he pronounced his words in a calculated slow
drawl that was intended to lull the listener to sleep. I glanced at the back
row, two thirds of my fellow participants were dozing off. I looked around
aimlessly for a distraction, anything else that could keep me busy. I saw her.
She was
a pretty young lady on a skirt suit with a ponytail hair, she quickly flashed a
flirting smile at me, I looked away.
“Concentrate
Charles, you don’t want to break your vow to Emem!” I told myself.
Boredom makes you take irrational decisions and
I found myself glancing once again in her direction.
We met inside the lobby of the hotel as we were
retiring from the conference hall. A short chat led to an exchange of phone
numbers. She was Sandra, based in Owerri, a fine arts teacher in a school I didn’t hear the full name.
She invited me for a drink later in the evening
which i politely declined.
Day 4 was the arts exhibition day, we met once
again. It wasn’t a chance encounter as i had a hunch that she was following me.
She invited me again for a drink in the evening. I accepted the offer this time
around. It would be just a harmless chat.
It wouldn’t hurt to build a professional relationship with a colleague. Just
two glasses of sherry wine and i will take my leave under 20 minutes.
The bar
was feisty and crowded at7pm, we found a seat in the back. She looked even
lovelier that she was during the day, viewing her at a close range made me
realize that she was a temptation that must be resisted. Three cans of Don simon drink and red label
wine was on the table. I had not tasted alcohol in months, Emem was a teetoller
and frowned on alcohol consumption. However i had to live up to the expectation
of this beautiful lady seated beside me, a little alcohol will not hurt.
Sandra was a great conversationalist and it
became increasingly difficult for me to excuse myself from the chat. Her subtle
glances, suggestive phrases & words all teamed up to break down my stern
resolve. The intoxicating effect of the alcohol also broke down my inhibition.
I found myself leading Sandra on to the dance floor from where we headed to her
hotel room.
I woke up on the morning of the next day on Sandra’s
bed in her hotel room. I had cheated on Emem.
The guilt and remorse weighed heavily on my
mind as i packed my luggage for the journey back to Lagos. Will Emem ever
forgive me? I had broken my vow in a short moment of weakness. I had been
seduced by Sandra. Maybe I will tell her what transpired here two or three
years after we get married. It was my secret to keep.
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“Welcome Sweetheart!!!! “ how was your trip?
Emem fussed over me in the living room.
“It was terrific dear!! Look what i got for
you, I tossed the packaged designer corporate wear I bought at Kingsways stores
for her, she screamed with excitement, rushed forward and pecked me on the lips.
“will she find out that a strange woman pecked
this lips two nights ago?” I thought apprehensively in my mind.
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Four months after the incidence I had not
brought myself to tell my angel what happened in Lokoja. I had given her no
reason to doubt my faithfulness and sincerity, my commitment to our
relationship was 100%. Within this time i had met her parents and spoken with
her three siblings and they accepted me as a future in-law. We decided to take
a step further by making our relationship official. Our engagement party was
fixed for Sunday 17th November 2013 at Unilag’s poolside.
I was sitting with Emem on the leather couch in
the sitting room on a Saturday evening. She had gone shopping with Wendy for
some of the food items needed for our engagement party and had just returned. A
knock sounded on the door.
“Are you
expecting anyone” she asked me.
‘No” I replied, lemme see who is there.
I pulled the door open and Sandra was calmly
standing there hands akimbo, a sunshade on her eyes.
The shock quickly registered in my brain as i
opened my mouth wide agape, damn!! How did she found out my residence, I never
told her where I lived!
“What….what do you want?” I stuttered.
“Can I come in? she asked
She must be out of her mind!! Come in to meet
Emem?!
“Sorry, you can’t come in”…I said as I shut the
door and stepped out on the veranda.
“Sweetheart who’s that?” Emem called in a
ringing voice, i could sense her walking towards the door.
“I am pregnant!” Sandra blurted out.
Panic gripped me.
The sudden entrance of Emem into the scene
caught Sandra slightly unaware, I never told her I had a girlfriend.
“Pls who are you and what do you want?” Emem
queried
“Never mind sweetheart, I’ll handle this…. I
interrupted her and took her arm to lead her away, she shook me off.
“I am two months pregnant for him, we met at
Lokoja during the SNA conference. Sandra insisted.
The ground refused to open up to swallow me. I
knew Emem heard her clearly.
Emem turned towards me with a look of disbelief
in her eyes waiting for me to deny the allegation.
My face was like an open mirror, i wasn’t a
natural born actor that could put up a convincing deceitful act, all I could
mutter was ‘there’s a mix up somewhere”.
She saw the truth in my eyes.
She gave a sudden twitching movement and I
feared she was going to have a nervous attack but she turned around and ran into
the living room.
“I am sorry Charles, I didn’t mean to embarrass
you in this way“ Sandra said…..I need money for my upkeep”.
“Get out!!” I shouted at her and rushed inside.
Emem was huddled up on the sofa sobbing.
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She left me that day after a torrent of angry words,
I could feel the pain in her heart as the fiery words poured out, our
engagement was over. The bubble had burst and I was back to square one, a part
of me was gone.
Emem cut
off all contact with me, I couldn’t reach her on her mobile phone or at her
home. Wendy her friend avoided me like a plague, i had been declared a persona
non grata.
I turned
into a hermit and became a recluse. I turned to Alcohol for relief, this
resulted in me coming home late in the night totally drunk everyday. Consuming 7-10
bottles in a sitting trying to forget about Emem but her memories still lingered in my
mind. In my drunken state the wordings of a song by Don Williams really struck
me at that point.
“some broken hearts never mend,
some memories never end,
some tears will never dry,
my love for you will never die”.
I tried contacting Uduak, Emem’s elder sister to intervene on my
behalf but the feedback I got from her was negative, Emem apparently never
wanted to see me again, I had betrayed her trust. “Give her time to get over
it, if she truly loved you she will find a place in her heart to forgive you”
was the advice she gave me.
Two weeks after this our breakup my blood
pressure shot up, coupled with my heavy bouts of drinking I became bedridden, i
had to be taken to the hospital by Martins who turned up to checkon me. He
placed a call to my mum in Calabar.
John, obinna and Martins were at my bedside at
Tanoah Clinic, they had gotten a private room for me.
“Do you know that Prof Lahm of the Free University of Berlin says that one
in every 3 male suffers from heartbreak?” Martins informed the group.
‘Leave these westerners and their voodoo
statistics, how did he arrive at this conclusion? John queried.
“I really think it is unAfrican for a man like
Charles to suffering over heartbreak, when there are billions of women out
there, why should a man kill himself over one woman? It’s a pity”
“You guys will never understand that some
broken hearts never mend and some memories never end” I responded in a weak
voice.
They all shook their heads in pity.
On the second day of my stay in the hospital, a
shadow fell over the bed and i looked up and saw the familiar face of Davis
looking down at me.
“How did you get in here and what do you want?”
I asked him.
“well I
see your lover girl has left you over your little indiscretion so i came to offer
my sympathies” he said in a sarcastic voice.
“please leave”.
“Oh I also came to deliver this to you”….he
tossed an envelope at me.
“I opened the envelope, a picture was inside. I
brought it out and was stunned at the vivid picture of Sandra and me in a
compromising position in her hotel room.
In my state of shock he said…..”You see when
you took Emem from me, i was amazed at the ease at which you were able to get
her in a matter of few days, do you know how long I struggled before I could even
get her to talk to me?”.
“You bastard! I screamed rising up from the
bed, “you set me up!”
“well if that is what you call it. When I got
to know about your itinerary at Lokoja, I hired Sandra and put her on your
trail, she is not a fine arts professional and it wasn’t difficult to get her a
slot as a conference participant…you know what they say about money answering
all things?.....I have got good news for you bro, she aint pregnant, the pregnancy
scare was a stunt that worked.
I felt like a fool, Sandra was his accomplice
all this while. I should’ve been wise enough to decipher this.
“why did you do all these? I asked him.
“Like I told you earlier, I always have the
last laugh, I don’t lose”.
He strolled around the room, his hands in his
pocket like a champ.
“By the
way there are only two copies of this photo, the second copy was delivered to
Emem an hour ago. Guess who is having the last laugh now?”.
I rushed towards to punch him, to wipe that
arrogant smirk off his face, he calmly dodged my punch and walked out closing
the door behind him, I threw the plastic cup that was on the bedside’s table after
him in frustration, the cup hit the door and rolled down the floor.
I couldn’t bear to look at the photograph a
second time, Emem has seen this by now, what will she think of me?
I buried my face in my palms.
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“He needs to talk to a psychologist, I’ll
recommend one for you”…..That was the voice of Dr Kenneth the resident medical
doctor of Tanoah clinic talking to my
distressed mother. I had gone into induced sleep from the anti-depressant drugs
administered to me the previous night.
I was
given a clean bill of health and discharged from the hospital that morning.
Mom insisted on staying with me at home for a
while despite my assurances that i was okay and she shouldn’t allow her
business to suffer by her continuous absence. I had told her every detail of
the breakup story.
“Charles you need to let go of Emem, whatever
happened was in the past. Start your life on a clean slate. If she was meant
for you she’ll come back to you”.
I went back to work, burying myself in it. It
was getting to a month after our breakup but no matter how hard I tried i
couldn’t stop thinking about Emem. The hollow feeling in my heart was a
constant reminder of how much I needed her back. I was addicted to her, she was
a pattern I couldn’t break.
My friends shopped around and brought a lady in
the hope that she will deflect my mind from Emem. I paid her no attention and
after few futile visits she left.
A week to the Christmas festivities i was busy
at work editing photos of clients. The volume of work was quick high and my staff
had closed for the day. I heard soft footsteps approaching the door, a knock came
on the door. I looked up from the work and went out to find out who it was. There
was Emem standing at front door staring at me. She was in a flowing gown, her
long hair resting on her shoulders and she had an angelic and a demure look about
her.
I blinked my eyes in disbelief, it was real!
Swept
away in a wave of emotion i rushed towards her and she welcomed me with
outstretched arms resulting in a tight and warm hug with tears streaming down
our faces.
“I am sorry sweetheart” I whispered in her
ears.
“ I am sorry too” she replied.
It was a Christmas miracle, we were back
together in each other arms where we belonged.
"I have been touched by an angel, i have been blessed by the
power of love".
“Our love is unbreakable”…this was the last
thought in my mind as we fell on the couch still in each other’s arms
THE END.
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