AFTER I MET CHINWE. EPISODE 1

“Meeting you was by chance”

“Becoming your friend was a mistake”

“Falling in love with you I regret”

“You’re the worst person that ever happened to me”

Are you surprised at my choice of words, well don’t be because “Chinwe Okoye” deserved a more terrible statement than the above. 30th July 2010 was a date I promised myself that I would never forget. It was the day I stumbled into her, it was the day I was captivated by the beauty of a lady I felt couldn’t possibly be from earth, it was the day I saw her and turned again to look at who had just passed me by, it was the day I met Chinwe Okoye.

I had just finished lectures when I hurriedly told my friend that I needed to grab a plate of food from the nearby buttery. On my way, I noticed the unusual weather. It was like it wanted to rain but the sun kept shining and making a statement “Dear rain, let’s see who is boss”. Maybe that was a sign to me. In fact, I think it was more like a warning to me to beware of life-destroying ladies. “Oh! I should have known better”.

In the next five (5) minutes, I was standing in front of the woman selling amala- a locally made Yoruba meal. Apparently, she was busy calculating her stock and took a while before answering me. Annoyed, I stamped my feet gently on the ground as I waited for her to finish while I stared round the small but well-decorated buttery. That was when my eyes caught up with hers. I looked away but I just had to look again. “Oh my! She’s beautiful” I muttered under my breath. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Let me explain, she had long hair, was light-skinned, had brown eyes and smiled like an angel....in fact, she was an angel. I was so caught up in her beauty that I didn’t even notice when the amala woman was ready to attend to me. “Oga! Wetin you want?” she spoke in an annoying half English-half pidgin tone. I spent the next few minutes ordering for my meal. By the time I was done, I looked up to check for the beauty that I had just beheld but she was gone. I forced myself to hold the tears that had filled my tear gland........I needed to see this girl again. It was like she had jazzed me, it was like her beauty had held me captive, it was like I had found the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. How wrong I was!

With my plate of amala and gbegiri, I had a down-casted look written all over my face as I looked for the most suitable place to sit down and eat. Remembering that I was in a hurry, I began to quicken my foot-steps not minding if anybody was coming from the other direction. Unfortunately, I ran into a young lady who spilled my meal on me. “Oh shit!” I muttered as I tried to clean the soup from my trouser with my head bent down.

The lady was apologizing frantically. Just then, I looked up and saw the exact same lady I had just been admiring. My words “Oh shit!” changed to “Oh, I’m so sorry”. She simply smiled. If you don’t mind, I could wash your trouser and bring it for you. “What would I wear” I voiced out in a laugh.

“Boxers” she responded casually. It was like I had fallen in love already.

“Hi! I’m Emeka Onya” I whispered gently.

“Chinwe Okoye” she responded with a smile.