I asked what her name was and she said Linda. Seconds later, a colleague of hers walked in and said, “Barbara, have you seen Philip around this morning?” She looked at my face, knowing I’ve seen her lie. I said, “You’re not Linda, right?” She responded, “Those who know me call me Barbara but strangers call me any name I give them. It’s a way of knowing the difference.” I laughed and she laughed. I asked, “What’s wrong if a stranger gets to know your real name? Everyone was once a stranger, remember?” She said, “I don’t have any reason but I usually give strangers a wrong name.”

I talked with her for a while. Before leaving, I said, “Linda, can I have your number? I promise I won’t worry you with calls.” She took a piece of paper and wrote her number down for me. I asked, “Is this Linda’s number or Barbara’s number?” Again, she laughed. She said, “When you call, you’ll know.” Right there I called. Her phone rang. I said, “Thank you.” She laughed while I walked away.

Two weeks later, I was in her office again. Immediately she saw me she started laughing. I said, “Sorry I never called. I misplaced the sheet you gave me.” (That was a lie.) She said, “But you called my line that very moment I gave it to you?” I said, “I forgot to save the number. When I went back to my call logs, it was long gone. Can I have your number again?” She said, “No you can’t have it.” I said, “Oh don’t do that.” She said, “If it was important to you, you would have kept it very well. I’m not giving it to you this time.”

I stood there with her for almost fifteen minutes coercing her to give her number again. She didn’t. That evening I called her. When she picked, I said, “Linda, you see I’ve found your number again?” She started laughing. She said, “You went to look for it? Lucky you found it.” We talked for a while and before I hang up she said, “Please stop calling me Linda, that’s not my name.” I said, “Thanks for giving me the permission to call you Barbara. It means I’m no longer a stranger to you, right?

She laughed. I was amazed by how she easily laughed at things that were not necessarily funny.

I called her every now and then and she was very receptive. No matter the time I chose to call her, she would be available to answer. One evening I asked her out and she said, “I don’t think I can go. I have church service to attend.” Days later, I asked again. She gave me the same answer; “There’s church service tonight. I can’t go out.” Days later, I asked again. Again, she gave me the same answer. I asked, “You go to church every evening?” She answered, “If there’s a program, yeah I do go every evening. If you don’t mind, why don’t you come to church with me?”

I went to church with her one evening and whenever she asked me, I went with her. After church one day, I proposed to her. She said, “I’ll tell you what I think later. Go home and sleep.”

That very night, she sent me a message; “I hope you are not lying to me about your feelings. If it’s sex you want, just say it.” I responded, “It’s you I want and nothing else.”

So, we started dating from that night. We went out very often but nothing would make her visit me in the house. I even begged her to come to see where I live but she said “No, this is not the right time.”

One Sunday, I was in church when I received a message from her. She said, “Look left.” I turned and she was sitting there smiling. She waved. I said, “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” She said, “I didn’t come because of you. I came to meet God here.”

After church, I said, “Let’s go home. You need to see where I live.” She said, “Not today. Maybe later.” We had dated for almost five months and this girl didn’t know where I lived. She had taken me to her house once. Even that one she didn’t let me enter her room. She showed me her door and the door of her parents and said, “Now you know where to find me.”

Six months into our relationship, she said, “I would like to come over this Friday, is it alright?” I said, “How can it not be alright? You can even come right now and it would be alright.”

Friday after work, she was in my room. She brought food and we ate together. Later in the evening, she asked where the washroom was and I showed her. After a shower, she said, “You’ve always asked me to come to your house. I’m here today. Now what?” She spent the night at my place. To date, I always remember that night and how we were both overtaken by passion. Saturday morning, I had to go to work. I thought she was going to leave with me but she stayed. I was at work but thinking of her. I couldn’t wait to close so I could run back to her.

I got back home, opened my door and couldn’t recognize my room. Everything was changed. My clothes had been washed and folded. The bed was beautifully laid, washroom cleaned, hall rearranged. If she had a paint, I guess she might have painted the walls too. I was in my own room but everything looked so different to me. I said to myself, “If she could bring this much order in an orderless room, then just imagine the kind of order she would bring to my life when given the chance.”

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She was already dressed up when I walked in. She said, “You came right on time. I’m leaving.” I said, “Thank you for the change you’ve brought here. You’ve been working all day I guess.” She said, “All I wanted was to sleep all day but I couldn’t so I had to do something to while away time. I’m glad you like it.”

I escorted her, came back home, called a friend who had a wedding not too long ago, and asked, “George, how much did it cost to have your wedding?” He asked, “Are you planning to get married soon?” I said, “Yeah, I want to do it before the year ends.” He said, “Meet with the girl’s family first and get the list. From there, you can plan how much to spend.”

Our relationship was only a year old when the two of us walked hand in hand to the altar, saying “I do” to each other. A kid and three years later, she’s still that girl who brings order and peace in my life. She laughs at my stale jokes and tells me better ones.

Some months ago, we were busy doing it when I called her Linda. She pushed me away and asked, “Who’s Linda? Your girlfriend is called Linda, right? I laughed. She said, “I’m not joking so stop laughing.” I said, “You’ve forgotten you told me your name was Linda?” She got the joke and burst out laughing. She said, “You don’t forget, do you?” I said, “I don’t forget names.”

–Aflakpui 

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