We had a well in our house so people came to fetch water when their taps weren’t flowing. Our house was a very popular place because of that. We didn’t sell it. It was there for anyone who needed water. One afternoon, a girl my age walked into the house alone to come and fetch water. I hadn’t seen her before but I liked her the very moment I saw her. I stood by just to look at her. After fetching the water she asked me to help her carry it on her head and I did.

She came again and again and each time I was the one who helped her lift the bucket of water on her head. I asked her name. “Susan,” She said. I asked where she lived and she used her index finger to point the way for me. I didn’t get it but I figured it was closer to our house. She was new. She had come to visit her aunt because schools had vacated. I was in my second year in junior high school and she was in her first year. I didn’t know myself that much but I knew I loved her. The feelings got stronger each time I saw her but I couldn’t express it. I hang around her, visiting her house every now and then until school reopened and she left. But before she was leaving, she told me she was going to return for the next vacation.

I dreamt of her. Whenever I thought about my future and the woman I wanted to spend it with, it was Susan who came to mind. I went to school and told all my friends that I had a girlfriend. They laughed at me when I told them I hadn’t proposed but she was my girlfriend. “That’s not how it works,” one of my friends told me. “A girlfriend is the one who has said yes to your proposal.” I promised them I was going to tell her the next time when she comes back on vacation.

I wrote her name behind my textbooks. Whenever I heard a love song, I put her name where there was a name in the song. I missed her every single day and couldn’t wait for the next vacation when I would see her again. I counted the days. Slowly the days went by. Days turned to weeks and weeks rolled into months until finally we vacated. The very next day after vacation, I went to her vicinity, hoping she would come and see me standing there. I spent all my day there but Susan didn’t show up. I went there consistently for a week but she didn’t show up. It was 2004, I was too young to exercise the courage to go and ask about her. My heart was breaking but I couldn’t talk about it to anyone. Schools reopened but Susan never showed up.

Loving someone always comes with hope. Hope and love are friends that’s why people who love have an abundance of hope. When they land in the wrong kind of love, they hope the one they love will one day change so they stick around. When a man proposes and the lady says no, he hopes one day the lady will change her mind so he keeps hanging around. Those in long-distance relationships have hopes. Susan disappointed me but I hoped she’ll come the next vacation. Hope is the oil that keeps the wheels of love going so I kept my heart full of hope but I never saw Susan again. The only thing we got to know about each other was our names. Before I completed junior high school, the aunt she came to visit had left the house she was living in. That meant the death of every hope I had in my heart.

But I never stopped thinking of her. I even dreamt of her in my sleep but at some point, I had to let the ghost go so I could live a new life. It was slow. I think it came with growing up. By the time I completed SHS, I had completely forgotten about Susan. My mind forgot about her but my heart kept her in a special place.

One day in 2021, I received a friend’s request on Facebook from a lady who was wearing a nose mask in her profile picture. She had a local name and profile title that read; “Welcome stalker. What do you want to know?” I read it and smiled. I accepted the friend’s request and moved on to something new. Later in the day I had a message from the account and it read; “You have the name of a long-lost friend. I met him in Koforidua when I went on vacation. He had a well in his house and he helped me carry my bucket any time I went to fetch water. If you’re the one, then this is Susan.”

I screamed in my head; “Susan! I can’t believe this is Susan. After how many years? I started counting in my head but before I got to the exact number of years, I was in her profile again going through her photos. She had changed but she didn’t lose any of her beauty. If anything, she had grown more beautiful. The only thing that remained the same was her smile. I saw her smile in one of her photos and I got the vibe of the very first day I set my eyes on her. I responded, “It’s me, Susan. I wasn’t just a friend. I was more than time would allow us to explore. What’s your number?”

I got her number at 6pm. I called her around 7pm. We said goodbye to each other while yawning at 3:19am. My credit got finished. She called. Hers got finished. I recharged and called back. It looked like we wanted to recover the seventeen years we lost while apart. I asked how she found me on Facebook and she said, “I sent the same message to everyone who had your name on Facebook. Almost all of them responded. They said they were not the one but would love to be friends with me. They are too many. They are in my inbox saying hello but they were not the ones I was looking for so I said nothing back. And then you came along.”

I told her about my suffering in love because of her. I told her how I went to her house every day for one week without seeing her. I told her everything and she said, “If you loved me that much then why didn’t you say it when you had the time?” “We were young. I didn’t know better,” I responded.

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We planned to meet but something came to destroy our plans each time we had to meet. I was working in Accra. She said she lived in Accra but working with an NGO in the northern region and that their operations would end soon and she would return to Accra. It was becoming like 2004 all over again but we had phones so we could talk and not lose connection again.

I think it was early February 2022 when she finally came to Accra. We met at the beach around 4pm and stayed there until late in the night. We were sitting on a cloth she brought while looking at the waves and talking about life and what we’ve lost and won. She asked, “So you have a girlfriend now, right?” I answered, “No I don’t. The last one left me during the Covid.”

That was a lie. I had a girlfriend I had dated for over two years. Our love was strong and everything showed we were going to get married in the very near future but it was Susan I was talking to, the girl who turned my heart upside down even before I knew what love was really about. I was ready to lose my two-year-old relationship because of her. In fact, before I met her that day, I had already drawn the road map to the destruction of my relationship so I could create space for Susan.”

When I told her I was single I also said, “It looks like the universe was preparing me for your return. I’ve loved no one else after the last breakup. I’m glad I found you again.” She put her head on my shoulder and asked, “Is that a proposal?” I answered, “Yeah, that’s if you’re single and still feel the same way.”

She sighed. She held my arm and the next thing I was expecting to hear was, “Yes, I’m single and ready to be with you.” For several seconds she didn’t say a word and then she uttered; “I would have been married by now had it not been the Covid. I’m back in Accra because my wedding is next month.”

It was my turn to go mute. I was shaking and she felt it. She asked if I was feeling cold and I said yes. “Then we should get going,” she said. “I’m glad I could see you again. Sad I met you too late.” I was hoping for a kiss and I knew if I tried she would have given me but I didn’t want to start a new memory at the point we were supposed to say our final goodbyes. I wished her well. I called the man she’s getting married to lucky and she apologized for the timing. She wanted closure but she ended up giving me a closure I didn’t know I needed.

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I married my girlfriend before the end of 2022. Susan was already married. I invited her but she didn’t come. I didn’t attend her wedding too. There’s a reason we both couldn’t honour our individual invitations but the good thing is, we are both happy in the love we found in the people we chose to be with. That’s all that matters now.

–Asan

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