Must Read: A Teenage Love Affair

Episode 7 years ago

Must Read: A Teenage Love Affair

Orisha and Miriam were outside,standing at
the spot he’d led them to. “So what did you
wanna show me?”,she asked. “Look up”,he
replied. She did. It was a dark night,with a
crescent moon and twinkling stars as far as
the eye could see. “It’s beautiful”,she said in
awe. “I thought you’d think so”,hd said and
held her hand. She glanced at their joined
hands,smiled and then looked back up. “Are
you gonna show me the North Star?”,she
asked. “Err. . . No. I don’t know the first thing
about astrology”,he said with a rueful grin.




“Good. Cos i don’t either”,she said. “It’s just
so spectacular. There are billions of stars in
our galaxy alone. Just thinking of all the other
galaxies out there,and the billions of stars
and other wonders of creation therein. . .


The numbers are just mind-boggling”,he said.



“Yeah. We humans are pretty
small,insignificant in comparison”,she said
softly and continued about a minute
later;”I’m really glad that i’m here with you”.


“So am i”,he said in reply. They continued
holding hands,silently looking at the stars,just
soaking in the moment.


***

Meanwhile, Claire and Eghosa had just
finished desert. “I swear,Claire,this place is
outta this world”,Eghosa said. “I know. It’s
pretty amazing”. “Speaking of amazing,what’s
up with you and Owen? He’s an amazing guy”.
“Sure he is”,Claire said dryly. Owen was her
off and on boyfriend. He was a 23 year old
final-year Computer Science student in
Uniben. Claire and Owen had had so many
problems she could get away with not telling
Eghosa the exact details of what went down
between them. “I get you guys,together in a
relationship have been under a lotta
pressure,but all in all,he’s a good guy”. “I
know”,Claire said. “And you’d just break up
with him?”,Eghosa asked,eyebrow raised.


Claire didn’t say anything. “You’re
crazy,Claire. You have issues. You need to see
a shrink”. “I’ll go if you will”,Claire said with a
cheeky grin. Eghosa turned her head and was
looking directly at Owen. ‘He’s here early’,she
thought in shock. “Uhm Claire?”,she began.



“,she said,and continued;”I need to go to the ladies’ room”. “Okay”,Claire replied,and took a sip of her drink. Eghosa left just as Owen was making his way to Claire. “Claire. . . “,he said from behind her. She blinked and then muttered to herself;”Now i’m hearing things.


I really do need a shrink”. “Claire”,he said again,putting a hand on her shoulder. She whirled around sharply,almost knocking down her drink. “Owen?”,she asked with a gasp.


Owen was what you’d call classically handsome. He had thick,curly,jet-black hair,bushy(but not overly so)eyebrows,and black eyes so piercingly intense they seemed to stare into your very soul. He had a very nice nose;it wasn’t one of those humongous noses,nor was it small;it was just right. He had a very well-defined jaw which was,at the moment,covered in an untidy beard. He was a sharp contrast to Claire-where she was slight,he was huge-but not grotesquely so. He had broad shoulders,a body that could’ve been a prize-fighter’s and a dazzling smile-one of his best features. Owen Akingbade was gorgeous,he was the kind of man women drooled over,and he was all Claire’s-except she didn’t know it then. “How can you be here,Owen? You’re supposed to be in Chicago. Your flight left 3 days ago”,she said in confusion. “My flight left. I didn’t. I packed my stuff,got to the airport,and then i realized. . .


Then i realized i couldn’t leave,not with things between us the way they were”,he said. “How touching”,she said dryly,wits regained. “Claire,we need to talk”. “We’ve got nothing to talk about”,she replied. “The hell we don’t. You tell me you don’t wanna have a relationship with me,you break up with me, in a text message? My God,Claire,that’s cold,even for you”,he said in anger. She flinched at his words,they hurt more than she cared to admit,and then got angry herself. Among other things,Claire had a temper. Nothing as volatile as Miriam’s temper,of course(Miriam was her family’s hothead),but a temper nonetheless- when she could be bothered to get that worked up over something She’d perfected the art of world-weary indifference). “Ok enough of this bullshit Owen. Stop acting like you’re the victim in all this”,she said,seethin as she stood up and faced him. It was amazing how angry he could make her with just a few words. “Claire. . “,he began. “And how did you even know where i’d be?”,she cut in. “That’s not important”,he replied. “How did you know where i’d be?”,she asked again. “I called Eghosa. She. . She told me”. “Well i’ll be. . ” “Look,this isn’t her fault. Don’t get mad at her for this. I’d have found you anyway”,he said,and continued;”You weren’t picking my calls,you didn’t reply my messages,what did you think,that if you ignored me long enough i’d just fade away?” “That was the general idea”,she muttered under her breath. “Claire we have been together for over a year now. I know we’ve got issues,and individually we’re pretty dysfunctional,but we’ve also got something really good. Something worth fighting for. 14 months of our lives. That’s how long we’ve been together. 14 months. How can you just throw that away?”,he asked,genuinely confused. “I didn’t throw our relationship away. You did”,she said,her voice as cold as chips of ice. “What the hell are you talking about?”,he asked in frustration. “I’m not having this conversation anymore”,she said. At that point,Eghosa walked in. “Owen! Fancy meeting you here”,she said brightly,affecting surprise. “Drop the act,sis. I know you set this up. I’m going to the car. It’s about time we left”,she said and walked out on them both.
“You told her?”,Eghosa asked. “I’m sorry. It just. . . I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to drag you into this”,he replied. “She’s my sister. She may be mad at me now,but she’ll get over it. Now you,i’m not so sure of”. “She can’t keep doing this to me,Eghosa. She can’t keep punishing me for a crime i know nothing of. It’s not fair”,he said,sounding anguished. Eghosa saw,and recognised what he was-a man torn between his love for a woman and the pain she was causing him. Eghosa reached out to him an sq££zed his arm in a gesture of comfort. “One thing i’m absolutely sure of is that Claire cares about you. A lot. For what it’s worth,i think you guys are gonna work things out”,she said. “Thanks”,he replied. “You said something about her punishing you? Did you learn anything new?”,she asked seconds later.



“Not a helluva lot. Just that,apparently,there’s a method to her madness. She broke up with me through a text”,he said and was interrupted by Eghosa who said with a gasp;”A text?”. “Yeah”,he replied,and continued;”Anyway,tonight i figured out that she’s mad at me for something i did. The last thing she said was that i was the one who threw our relationship away,not her”. “So what did you do?”,Eghosa asked. “That’s just it. I have no idea”. “Figures”,Eghosa said with a shrug and continued;”I’ll talk to her. I’m not promising anything,but i’ll try to find out what’s going on in her head”. “Thank you”,he said gratefully. “Don’t thank me yet. It might be days before i find out anything useful.


Stick around”. “I will. At first i was just angry at her for being so cruel-that’s why i stayed away for so long,and maybe my pride had something to do with it,but after tonight,i know something’s up,and i’m not going anywhere until i find out what it is”. “That’s the spirit.


Gotta run. Oh snap! I almost forgot i’ve gotta pay the bill”. “Don’t worry. I got it”,he said. “Thanks”,she said and continued;”Bye!”. “Bye”,he replied as she left Chez Rouge.