Of Crushes and Crushers…

Two years.

That’s how long I hadn’t seen Dele.

Out of sight was pretty much out of mind. But forgetting or being forgotten never hurt as long as it was both ways. And I’d basically forgotten that I’d crushed on him for at least six months before he travelled.

My phone rang that Tuesday evening and it was Dele.

The caller ID had me really surprised. It was Dele’s Nigerian number. He was supposed to be somewhere in France, undergoing training for the multinational company he worked with.

“Dele bobo!!!” I screamed into the phone.

“Bims Bims! How far?”

“I’m good dear! When did you get back?”

“Omo, two days ago. How na? How you dey?”

I was surprised and mildly impressed that he’d remember me and call me upon his return.

We spent at least 10 minutes on the phone catching up and he said he would like to see me coz it had been a really long time. We agreed to hang out Friday night after work.

He picked me up from my office and we went to this really nice joint where we had catfish pepper soup and a few drinks. It was nothing out of the usual. Just two friends casually hanging out and having fun. Nothing out of the usual, but it was great. We talked a lot about his time in France and my ‘job’ here as a freelance writer. He teased me about some of my stories he’d read online and we generally had a good time. He dropped me off at my place at almost 11pm and bade me goodnight.

Saturday morning, I woke up feeling really light and thinking maybe, just maybe Dele and I could have something. It wouldn’t hurt to flirt a little and see where it would lead. I picked up my phone to send him a text and discovered he beat me to it.

“Bims! Had a great time last night. I missed you plenty and all your craze. Hope you have a decent weekend. Cheers”

I smiled warmly. I guess I wasn’t the only one getting ideas.

I typed out a reply almost immediately.

“Had a swell time too dear. Missed you loads as well. If you haven’t got plans today, I’m making egusi soup and pounded yam. I could give you a treat.”

“Haha. You want to put me in trouble with that your cooking abi? Issokay. I’ll come over in the evening. Actually working atm. Take care of you.”

I smiled again when I read his reply.  It was already 9am. Wait. He was working on a Saturday? Okay o.

I raced through my chores, cleaned up my cozy apartment, went to the market, came home and cooked. By the time I was done, it was 4pm. I hurriedly took a shower and put on a tank top and shorts. I looked myself over and figured it was too suggestive so I changed into a nice evening dress. The dress captured my figure pretty well but it looked alright.

Dele came over at 6pm wearing a frown. He’d had a very day stressful and would still have to work on Sunday. I hugged him warmly and encouraged him to make himself comfortable. I massaged his shoulders gently and watched him relax easily.

Few minutes later, I served him his food and we ate together. We talked and laughed a lot and it felt great. We had the most interesting flirty convos, throwing innuendos back and forth and next thing I knew, it was really late. I looked at the time on my phone and it was 9pm!

Dele was surprised as well.

“Man! The time sure flew by!” he said.

I nodded, dropped my phone and nestled my head on his chest. Somehow, we had ended up cuddled together and I honestly I couldn’t remember how. His cologne smelled really nice.

He stroked my hair gently.

“Can’t believe I have to work tomorrow.” He murmured.

“Pele dear.”

He sighed.

“Thanks Bimpe. You’ve really made my day.”

He raised his hand as though to leave but I held on to it.

“Where are you going to?” I purred.

He chuckled softly.

“Need to go home Bims.”

“Why?”

His voice was husky when he responded

“Because if I don’t leave now, I’ll kiss you.”

My heart thudded softly in my chest and the room temperature suddenly shot up.

I raised my head and looked into his eyes.

“That wouldn’t be bad now would it?”

He opened his mouth to protest- I think-, but I pressed my lips over his and kissed him softly and slowly. I must have taken him by surprise because he caught his breath sharply and then kissed me back seconds later. Soon his hands were running over my body and our clothes were flying all over the place. I didn’t pause to think and neither did he. Our bodies just moved in perfect sync, a rhythm that would make the best of musicians jealous.

Two hours later, I lay on my couch watching him amble around the room, picking up his clothes. He dressed pretty quickly then came and kissed my forehead.

“Stress reliever, one hundred percent. You’re great Bims.”

I blushed and curled my toes.

“Err, thanks?”

He smiled.

“You’re welcome. We’ll talk tomorrow dear. Goodnight.”

I watched him leave and I finally mustered the energy to get up and shut the door after he was gone.

Sunday morning, I woke up pretty late but there was an inexplicable happiness in my heart. It took me almost 10 minutes to recollect the happenings of the previous night and I blushed when I remembered.

I hurriedly took a bath and went to church.

By the time I returned at 2pm, I realized I hadn’t heard from Dele at all. I was slightly disappointed but I figured he had gotten himself lost in work.

By nightfall, there was still no word from Dele.

I called twice and left a message but still, no response.

Monday morning came and still nothing. I became worried. Was he okay? Did he have an accident?

I called twice and left even more messages but still nothing.

I had a couple of articles I was supposed to write and so I threw myself into them and temporarily forgot about Dele.

By nightfall, I went to his twitter and discovered he’d actually tweeted a few times. All work related. And then I became worried. Was Dele avoiding me?

Tuesday morning, I woke up to a message from Dele.

“Bimpe, I made a huge mistake on Saturday and I’ve been trying really hard to deal with it. What happened between us should not have happened. I am really sorry. I’m sorry for not taking your calls or replying your messages. I’m just trying to get a grip. This is one mistake I might not be able to remedy. I’m really sorry.”

I read the message over and again and my heart dropped. What did he mean by mistake? Did he feel like we were rushing things? Or did he feel sex between us shouldn’t have happened? I sighed.

“I’m sorry if what happened between us left you upset and disappointed. I was actually worried about you. Please don’t beat yourself up. Just take things easy. We should talk soon though.”

He needed to communicate to me what exactly he was thinking and feeling because at that point, I was absolutely clueless. Plus I figured if he didn’t want anything serious, he didn’t have to bother. I was cool. I just didn’t want things being weird or awkward between us. But damn! I think I was beginning to like him.

I went about my activities for the day and the next and the next.

Friday, Dele was still not taking my calls. At that point, I became slightly irritable. What was going on with him?! Plus, was that the point where I would begin to feel used? It didn’t make sense. Fine. We had sex. He didn’t want a relationship. Big deal?! I wasn’t going to force him into one. Plus did it mean that our friendship meant absolutely nothing to him? How could he just shut me down like that? I just wanted us to talk!

Sigh. It felt like I was crushing on him. Again.

Saturday was pretty much routine. I lazed in bed for a long time before getting anything done. As evening neared, I decided I would go for karaoke at Beer Hugz in ICM.

It took me quite some time to figure out what to wear. I found a cab and made my way there. I was late.

As soon as I opened the door, i noticed there was quite some buzz going on. There was a small crowd of people in one corner and they all had their phones up. Probably taking pictures or making a video. I could hear some guy singing Bruno Mars’ “Marry you” and he seemed to be the center of attention because I could not see him.

I went on to find a seat and soon there was lots of clapping and cheering. I heard someone say “She said yes” and I smiled. Some lucky girl just got a proposal. The crowd was thinning out as people returned to their seats and I chanced a sighting of the couple.

I looked in that general direction and what I saw caused my blood to freeze. Dele stood right there in the finest suit I ever saw, hugging some girl I had never seen or heard of my entire life and her finger sparkled with the ring Dele had evidently just put on it…