I’d been single for four years. At some point, I thought the dating world had moved past me. I felt like a piece of history because no man came my way with a proposal.
I was single this Christmas and on Val’s day, I slept early because the friend who promised to take me out stood me up. I was single and getting scared but I wasn’t desperate to be in a relationship by all means.
Some days after Valentine, a guy I used to know came into my life. We were just friends previously. He told me he couldn’t propose to me the first time because he was scared. He thought he wasn’t in my league and he felt I would have said no if he did propose.
“So what makes you think I will say yes this time?”
“This time I’m a mature person and this time I know you’re not out of my league.”
It was funny but I loved his sincerity. Just when I was about to say yes to him, another guy came sweeping me off my feet. I was in a queue at a hospital when he came to call me. He told a nurse to process my file and also ensure I see a doctor as soon as possible.
After meeting the doctor, I went back to him to say thank you. That was when I got to know he was also a doctor. We exchanged contact and a week later I said yes to him. That was the end for the guy I once knew. I told him, “You came at a time when things were moving too fast in my life. I’m sorry, I said yes to someone else.”
This doctor has been a busy man. Our first time together as a couple was when he proposed and I said yes. We kissed and he brought me home.
The days ahead got busy for him. One morning he told me, “My schedule ends in the afternoon at 2pm. Immediately I sign off, I will run home to you.” I was so elated I started putting my room in order. I cooked some food, just in case he needed to eat something. At 4pm he called me, “Blessing, I’m sorry we had to cancel our meeting. Something urgent came up. I’ll call you when I’m done.”
I didn’t hear from him again that day.
That was the same time Coronavirus was in a full swing in Nigeria and taking over the media and individual discussions. It started with the Italian and then a few days later, the numbers started going up. We were not bothered much until rumors started swirling about a lockdown.
The doctor called and said, “It’s going to be busy in the coming days. I have to do all I can to see you over the weekend.”
He didn’t come on Friday and he didn’t come on Saturday. On Sunday he was with me. All the waiting and all the yearning to see him was over. I was with him when the president announced the lockdown of Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states.
He said, “Such a bad time for us. That means after today, it might take a long time before we see each other again. Citizens can’t move around and doctors are going to be needed more than ever.” “What do we do?” I asked him. He answered, “Let’s make the night memorable. It’s all we have.”
Memorable?
We were going to spend the whole night together so we were not in a rush. We ate, we bathed together, we got drunk and started making out. That was when he picked up his phone to record.
“Nooo don’t do that. That’s not safe.”
“Why? What are you afraid of?”
“I don’t want to end up on social media (I laughed).”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m also going to be in the video, remember?”
“But why do you want to record this?”
“I’m going to be away. I don’t know when again. I need this to keep you closer to me.”
I took a deep breath.
“And you believe it’s going to be safe?”
“Trust me. I’m a doctor. My integrity is very important to me. That’s why I’ll guard this with all my might.”
I let myself go and we had the best time of our lives. It was intense and relentless. The chemistry was so great. We slept like babies afterward until the sun came up the next day. When he was leaving, I reminded him of the safety of what he recorded. He only smiled and said, “You worry too much.”
Lagos is on lockdown. He’s busy trying to save COVID-19 patients and that makes it impossible for us to meet. He calls every night after work and we talk. He talks a lot about the video and how I did this and that when it was going down. Then he’ll say, “I’m here saving the world and what I see in the video keeps me going every day.”
I don’t like the idea of him having our sex video on his phone but he seems to like it and enjoy watching it. If he’s saving the world and the reason he keeps going, then I’ll like to believe allowing him to record that video was my little contribution to helping save the world. It doesn’t make sense but it makes me feel right for allowing that.
Love is smooth between us now but we’re only living on promises and promises are not solid grounds to build anything but I have hopes that this will end well.
—Blessing, Nigeria
#LoveOnALockDown
#SilentBeads
