Our eyes were locked in a battle
of emotions in which none of us was ready to throw in the towel. We were both
egoistic but I was eager to cut her wings to stamp my authority. I continued looking
her squarely in the eye while studying her reactions. She was startled although
she tried hard to hide it. She returned the look I gave her, and it felt as
though her hazy eye would burn through my soul. After a few awkward minutes of eye communication, I decided to withdraw
the eye-attack in order to initiate a
conversation with her.
“Hello sunshine,” I said, smiling
sheepishly.
No reply came as she was utterly
confused. It was so obvious that she was shocked to see me again.
“You were very mean yesterday. I
was only trying to be friendly, you know,” I said again.
“No, I wasn’t. I only did the most appropriate
thing, you were the jumpy one,” she countered defensively.
“All right, just forget it okay?
Let’s start this all over. I am Toba, and you are?” I said extending my hand
again. She tilted her lash eyelashes upward, shook her head, and finally burst
out into uncontrollable laughter.
A thousand and one thoughts rushed
into my mind as I tried figuring out what was going on within her. My mind
tried rationalizing the fact that she could refuse my offer the second time. “She is actually the one cutting your wings,”
the spirit of truth whispered.
“Aisha,” she said, jolting me
back into reality. Surprisingly, she shook my hand. The earth momentarily froze
as her tender palm touched my woody palm. I felt like a celestial being; I was
in heaven.
“Hey,” she cooed, bringing me
back from wonderland. “How about this night? 7:30, Love Garden,” she added.
“That’s all right,” I said,
trying to suppress the excitement welling-up within me. My intestines danced
for joy like a child who just got a new toy for Christmas. I wanted to scream
my head off. I had gotten Miss. World without having to travel round the world.
“Don’t be late,” she said, with
an air of finality while giving me a penetrating look. Her presence was swept
away with the swagger that endeared her to me in the first place.
Late? Never! I was never going to
miss such a coveted opportunity.
I tried to concentrate in class,
but I could not as thoughts of what could happen that night kept flashing
through my mind. I dreaded screwing up the budding romance.
The day passed by slowly like a
snail. Impatience was excessively pumped into my adrenal gland. Finally, 7pm
chimed on my clock, and I started getting dressed for our premature date. I put on my finest casual dress, perfumed my body
heavily and set off for our venue. I was going to play love at Love Garden.
I waited patiently for Aisha to
arrive, and at exactly 7:30pm, she arrived. Our date began in earnest. We
talked on everything we could lay our mouths upon. All through our discussion,
she clung to me like a baby scared of the dark. She pleaded that I sang for her,
and I obliged although I had a croaky voice; a toad would make a better singer.
Suddenly, our lips were fastened together with the thread of passion before
parting for our tongues to engage themselves in a frenzied dancing competition.
When we finally separated, I could see her chest heaving like an athlete who
had just finished a marathon race.
***
“Watch your front, Mr.!” A man
shouted at me, crudely bringing my thoughts to an abrupt end. I groggily made
my way towards Aisha while the old memories flooded my mind again. I remembered
the many bad moments we had together and how different circumstances threatened
to tear us apart. In the midst of those nagging thoughts, it became clear that
we were inseparable – the earth and the sky, fate made us.
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