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It was a 10 minutes drive from my office at Aroma to Ifite, given the traffic situation and my penchant for over speeding. The clock on my dashboard ticked 2:07 pm as I drove into Ifite, navigating the potholes that littered the road and trying to avoid oncoming vehicles conveying students which was usually much. I was nodding my head to the the sound of hip hop beats emanating from my speakers as I drove through the cluster of hostels and students lodges. I got to a junction with a sign post that had Royal Star junction written on it and drove right into it, making my way through the dirt track, I drove for another few seconds before stopping in front of a 3 storied building with the name Royal Star lodge boldly written on the walls. I cleared a little closer to the bushes by the side of the road and offed my engines. Picking my phone, I dialled Rita's number, the first call wasn't answered and I redialled, she picked on the second ring.
"I'm sorry, I was dressing up". She said on picking the call.
"No problems, So are you done preparing?"
"Ermm, yes I am" she said slowly "Where are you?"
"I'm here already, Just parked in front of your gate"
"Oh, really?"
"Yep!"
"You were fast, could you come up to my room please?"
"How do I find your room?" I asked after a little hesitation.
"It's actually on the third floor, Just knock on the first door you meet after climbing the stairs, its room 32A"
"Okay dear, I'm on my way up".
I locked my car and soon found my way into the premises and up the stairs. She didn't realize and I too also forgot that a building of that size should have more than 1 staircase. I got on the wrong one and found myself standing before a steel door at the end of the staircase. My knock was drowned by the sound of loud music coming from inside the room. I knocked again at the door, this time harder. The faint voice of a lady came through the noise asking who it was. I responded with another knock. The sound of a door bolt being pulled open came up and shortly after, the door opened to reveal a girl with surprise written all over her. We stared at each other for some seconds, she looking surprised and stunned and I totally amused by the look on her face.
"Hello" I said in my deep voice.
"Hi" she replied like she had just snapped out of a fiery daydream.
"I'm sorry but I'm looking for a girl, her name is Rita"
"Urrm, I don't know any Rita" she said shaking her head.
"Oh, Really?".
"Yea, did she tell you that she lives in this particular room?"
"Not really, she just said the door at the end of the stairs" I said with a grin.
"Ok, you could check the other stair, maybe it's that one" she said pointing at the supposed position of the other stair.
"Okay, thanks, I'll do just that".
I walked down the stairs and switched to the next one, Jingling my car keys and humming gently to a tune. I came to the last staircase and directly before me was a door with the number 32A written on it with white paint. I smiled at my forgetfulness and approached the door with all confidence. I dropped a light knock on the door and heard giggles from inside, they sounded very feminine. I knocked again and the door opened.
"Hello, I'm here for Rita" I said and the girl that opened the door smiled at me. She had a gap in between her two upper incisors and that seemed to make her smile a lot. She was on a loose pink blouse and a short that held against her laps, revealing her round hips that was slightly parted at the Centre.
"Okay, Rita!!" she shouted "You have a visitor".
She moved behind the door to allow me passage inside. I walked in slowly into the room sparsely lit by a green bulb to meet 2 other girls lying on the bed.
"Hey" I said nodding at them with a smile I valued to be one of my best on my lips.
"Hi" they chorused, lavishing me with their eyes. You could easily tell from the look on their faces that they were gushing over me. I gave a broad smile and made my way to a back chair resting against the wall at the edge of the bed. An unusual silence followed my presence, we all sat facing or pretending to be facing the TV while from the corner of my eyes, I observed the girls stealing glances at me and giggling at each other.
It wasn't long before Rita came out of the toilet and beamed an out of the world smile at me.
"Hope I was fast?" she asked
My mind flashed back to the first day we met, after I left her in my car and spent a long time in the post graduate school and coming back to ask her the same question "Hope I was fast?", I smiled at her idea of getting back at me and she replied with a giggle that spread to her beautiful eyes.
"Of course you were" I replied.
"Hmm Hmm" the girls cleared their throats at her and then at me.
"Introduce us naa" the one that had opened the door for me said and the others gave a nod of support. Rita smiled and clapped her hands together.
"Erm, so Jason, meet my friends" she started, beginning with the one that spoke " this pretty one here is Esther, and this gorgeous one is Loveth, while the last and beautiful one is Chinelo"
I nodded and followed her introduction of each person with my eyes and smiles were shared between me and each person she called her name.
"And girls, this is Jason" she finally said, facing me.
"Hi" the girls chorused and waved at me.
"Thanks ladies, nice to know you all" I said and winked at them.
"So is he the one?" Loveth blurted out and everyone turned to look at her.
"Ehe now, she should tell us" she protested at the sea of gazes pouring at her. I smiled at her and she smiled back.
"Erm, are you ready?" I asked, trying not to get entangled in all the girly stuff.
"Yes, we should go now so I can come back early" she replied, picking her handbag from the reading desk. We bade the girls goodbye and left the room.
"Oh my God, he's so cute"
I heard Esther gush as we went to down the stairs. I smiled and pretended I didn't hear.
* * * *
I stared at her from across the table, searching her face with my eyes, she tried her best in hiding it away from me but not for long, she had to occasionally bring it up to answer my questions.
"You didn't strike me at first as one who's shy" I said tapping my glass of wine.
"I have my moments" she replied slowly, playing away with her ice cream spoon.
"We all have our moments" I commented absent mindedly and she nodded.
"So tell me Rita, do you know why we are here?" I asked and she raised her eyes from her cup of ice cream to look at me.
"Because you wanted to see me?"
"Erm, that's right in a way but I have a superior reason to that"
"What could that superior reason be?"
"I always have this feeling that girls like you already know why a guy would ask them out on a date" I said trying to ease the tension that was already building up
"Girls like me?" she asked creasing her brow.
"Yes, girls like you" I replied looking straight into her eyes and romancing my glass.
"What are girls like me like?"
"Beautiful" I replied
"Wow, that's a new one" she said and popped a spoonful of the creamy ice cream into her mouth
"What's new?"
"Me being cute, nobody has ever told me that before" she replied
"Well, you are a lawyer in the making, lying is one of the ethics"
We both laughed and I looked at her, her laughter was so pure and I could observe from where I sat that it reached deep down to her heart. I couldn't wait to have her to myself.
"So you could also be lying about my being cute?" she asked after the laughter had subsided.
"Maybe, should we get a second opinion?" I asked and a smile crept out of her face. She shook her head and winked at me.
"But I wouldn't be lying if I said I needed you in my life"
That seemed to be sudden and straight to the point, it left her speechless as she avoided eye contact with me.
"Say something" I whispered, holding her hands on the table
"What do you want me to say?" she asked, opening her eyes slowly and shooting out the white layer of her eyes through a natural long bushy eyelash.
"I need you in my life, I don't want you Rita, I need you and you need to let me know that I can have you" I said with the seriousness in my voice and the plea in my eyes.
"I don't know, Jay, we just met and this is our second meeting, don't you think it's too early?"
"I don't think, Isaac and Rita fell in love the first day they set eyes on each other"
"So you know the Bible?" she asked with a smile
"Who doesn't know about the first Love at first sight in the bible" I asked still holding onto her hands.
"Everyone knows except you" she replied
"But I just told you about it now"
"Yes, except that it was Isaac and Rebecca and not Rita"
We both laughed and I squeezed her hand
"Which ever one, you can call me Isaac because the very first day I set my eyes on you, I couldn't picture any other woman so perfectly because you were always there to distort everything, now Rita, please tell me I have a Rebecca in you" I professed whilst I caressed her fingers.
"Jay, can I think about it?"
"Sure, you can," I replied, letting go off her hands and falling back on my seat.
"Thanks dear."
"Of course, we will continue the conversation after you are done thinking about it." I said and gave her a wink. She observed me with a bit of disbelief in her eyes and shook her head.
"You are impossible Jay." she gasped and I let out a dry laughter.
"It's simple Rita, you see a guy, that thing inside you, that thing that made me realize the first time I set my eyes on you, that I needed you in my life, it sprouts immediately and gives you the alarm, that alarm that you love this guy, you really don't have to think about it because the feeling should already be there."
"And if I said no? What would you do?" she asked in a manner that made me realize she was going to say yes eventually.
"Then I would get my trainers ready, because I am going to chase you to the end of the earth, and you had better get yours ready too."
She broke into a laughter, a feminine laughter that weakened me the more. She managed to get hold of herself and ripped my soul apart with the longest gaze she had ever given me since we met.
"I don't know how to run," she said with her eyes still fixed on mine.
"Then make it easier for us both."
I squeezed her hand on the table and she squeezed back, she still had her eyes on me like she was making the hardest decision of her life.
"Ask me again," she said softly.
"Rita, will you be my sunshine, to light my cold heart and keep me warm all through my personal winter?"
I leaned forward while I whispered the words to her across the table. She smiled and nodded shyly, covering her face with her palms.
"I didn't hear you sweetheart," I said, pulling her right hand from her face and caressing it.
"Yes Jay, I will light your world."
The load of emotion on her face could not be missed one tiny bit.
"Set my soul on fire." I whispered and pulled myself closer to kiss her her hand.
It was 7pm when we left the restaurant and headed back to her lodge, my right hand spent most of the time on her hair, caressing them like I couldn't get enough. She smiled occasionally through the darkness within the car and just nodded to every of my question. We were like newly wedded couples, drunk in love!
I did a turn at the junction that led into her lodge, observing a girl on a red, sleeveless gown, apparently, Rita hadn't seen her.
I drove straight to the gate and pulled over to the same side of the road where I had parked the very first time I came there.
Rita and I got down from the car at the same time, she walked over to my own side of the door and gave me a surprise hug, I was still recovering from the shock of it all when she iced it with a brief kiss on my lips.
"Hmm, and her I was thinking that you were shy," I said, holding onto her. She giggled.
"Well, I believe I know what I want now." she whispered not so boldly.
"I believe you always knew what you wanted," I told her, cupping her face with my hands.
"Well, I would seem cheap if I had fallen for you earlier than now."
"Not to me, you won't. You are too special to be cheap darling, even if you had walked up to me that day and wooed me, I would still have fallen for you and you will still be every bit a charmer to me."
She giggled and stroked my sideburns with her hand.
"I walked up to you the first time we set eyes on each other, does that make me seem a player?" I asked.
"You didn't have to do anything to seem a player dear, it's all over you," she revealed, throwing me a bit off balance.
"Oh my God, are you serious?"
"Jason, anyone could easily tell you are a playboy, I don't know why I fell for this one but I'm hoping something will change dear."
Her boldness came to me as a rude shock. I shrugged, she was a lawyer in the making anyways.
"Stop giving me that look, Jay, you reek of it, but just know, you wanted me and you got me"
"Oh, that's so soothing, after sledge hammering my fragile heart Rita."
She giggled and embraced me in the darkness.
"I have to go in now, I need you to get home early and safely too," she said, disengaging from me.
"Sure baby, today is going down in history as one of my best."
"Me too." She muttered and gave me a parting kiss.
I stood by the car and watched her walk into the gate and bade me goodnight. I climbed into the car and exhaled deeply. I started the engine, locked the door and managed to maneuver my way out of the tight corners and drove straight to the junction.
"You sure took your time," the girl on red said, climbing into the car.
"So where are you going to now?" I asked, pulling the car into the main road.
"Does it matter to you?" she asked.
"Not exactly."
"Jay, you don't ever change, do you?" she asked, turning to look at me, I kept my eyes on the road and observed her with the corner of my eye.
"Some things come at a man, things he is just too powerless to overcome."
"Was it like that with my sister?"
"Loveth, I love Gift, despite the mistake we made, she's my wife and I have no other choice but to love her and believe me when I say I love her because I do."
She scoffed in disbelief and kept mute for sometime.
"If only she knew how hard you are trying to prove that love for her." she scoffed again.
"What are you trying to say?" I asked and shifted my gaze to her.
"I'm just thinking out loud, if only Rita knows she's about to get her heart ripped again."
I ignored her and kept driving in silence for sometime.
"I'm going home with you." She said after a while.
"I know."
"Thank God, no argument this time around."
I smiled and pinched her cheek, she smiled back and held onto my hand.
she was my first sweetheart before her sister fell in the way.
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