Standing on the altar, in front of a man I love , exchanging heartfelt vows was something I never thought I was going to do. I believed in love, in having a soulmate, but after many failed relationships, I concluded mine did not exist.
" I, Ebele Adesewa, take you , Nnamdi Azikwe, to be
my husband, to have and you hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do us apart.
According to God’s holy law, in the presence of God I make this vow , “ I said with a smile on my face , the day we met was one of the worst days of my life, but I would relieve it a thousand times if it meant this day would come.
I had woken up nervous and eager for a job interview . After putting on the best cloth I could find and taking a long look at the mirror, I left. I got to the oil company, where I was applying for the position of a petroleum engineer, then got directed to an office where the hiring manager was.
The smile he had on his face when I entered was welcoming enough to get rid of my anxiety . It filled me with an overwhelming self confidence .
My resume was spectacular, I had experience, excellent work history, the skill set , everything I needed for this job. Every question he asked, I expected and I had a suitable answer for , or so I thought.
“ Do you work well with people?”, he asked ,”Because you know this job requires teamwork “. “ Yes, I do . I have worked with different people. None I wasn’t able to handle.
“ When you say handle”, what do you mean?, he asked and for a moment I was quiet thinking of the best answer to this question. But before I could get the chance to speak, he pressed something on his laptop , then turned it to me. It was a video of me in university, in a fight with one of my classmates
I couldn’t recall what had transpired but from what I could see, it was brutal. He paused the video, then looked me in the eye and said, “ So Miss. Adesewa , how do I handle this”?.
How was I supposed to convince him that the person in that video wasn’t who I was anymore, I couldn’t . So without another word, I grabbed my bag and left, fighting back my tears.
I entered the company restroom and I couldn’t help but imagine how many people had been there to cry over a failed interview. I opened one of the toilets and sat there to cry my eyes out but I wasn’t comfortable.
I needed an open space where I’d scream and no one would hear , so I went to the back of the company. One little mistake had ruined my life, depriving one form of life changing opportunity if I had just been less troublesome.
“Are you okay?” I heard someone say. I grabbed my bag, cleaned my tears with the back of my hand, then stood up to leave. “Don’t go if you’re not done , I’ll leave instead. I was not done, so I stayed and continued, louder this time.
The stranger didn’t go, he just sat by my side while I drowned in tears. After crying, I collected the tissue in his hand, cleaned my tears and said ,” I’m done now” and he smiled. A smile I thought was beautiful.
But then, not everyone that smiled had good intentions. That I learned the hard way. “ Do you want to talk about it?” “ No thanks”. Good he said and I looked at him, “ Food could cheer you up. It cheers me up always and there’s a restaurant close by.
“ Thanks, but I’m not hungry “? I said. Going out to eat with a complete stranger was not something I needed at the moment.
“Come on”
“ I’m not interested “
“ I swear I have no other intention , it is just good “.
“ Of course, it is , but no”, I said, then grabbed my bag and stood
“ Okay no offense taken”, he said and I smiled .
“ Thanks for the tissue”, I said and he smiled and nodded sad.
I felt the need to console him for the abrupt rejection so I said, “ You’ll forget about me “. Before walking away, “ I won’t “ , he shouted from behind and he didn’t.
About three weeks later we met again.
To be continued…………
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