The Man I Love - Episode 1

 

Emeka and Hani were in a serious 
relationship, they were everything any
 single would dream of, their compatibility was on point.

They’ve been together for five years now, 
right from their undergraduate days. 

It was very early in the morning, 

Emeka called Hani and told her at the end of their conversation that he would call at her house on his way back from work.

"Okay dear, I will be at home” 
she responded.

He is well known to her family, 
although Emeka has no relatives in Benin save his younger brother that now leaves with him,

 who is presently learning interior 
decoration after his first degree as he was 
unable to secure a job.

 Hani’s mother is a domestic engineer, her
 father is a retired civil servant living on his pension, 

while her two younger brothers are still in
 secondary school and her eldest sister got married few years back.

As Emeka arrived at her house, he greeted 
everyone. 

It was a Sunday evening and the weather
 was perfect.

 Hani's father was sitting on the couch
 sniffing his tobacco,

 while her mother, siblings including her
 were busy watching TV. 

He knelt down bringing out a ring from his
 side pocket, and stretched it towards Hani,

 "Will you marry me?"

"O my God!...are you for real!" She shrieked

His proposal brought the sting of tears to
 her eyes.

"Emeka!

you are the best, yes yes yes!!!”

 She replied jumping on him in excitement.
everyone was filled with so much joy, it’s no longer news that these love birds are 
inseparable. 

Hani had just finished submitting her final
 year project and would be traveling to
 Isolo, Lagos where she intends to spend some time with her eldest sister pending when NYSC calls. 

Few days later her bag was set for the
 journey.

"Hani! I don't want you to go, please” Emeka said with a gloomy look on his face.

 "Don't worry dear, I just want to assist my
 sister since she has been having issues
 looking after her baby and attending to her office duties as the workload is much on
 her,

 it’s not like I’m going forever" she added.

"I will come around during clearance for 
result"...she replied persuasively.

Emeka has just finished his masters program in the University of Benin and he made a PhD grade, he actually wants to get married that same year.

“There's no need to rush dear, when i return from NYSC we can settle down” she said.

Their heart grew fonder as they communicated frequently through calls and social
 media. 

Hence, distance was a walkover even
 though they missed each other greatly.

Five Months later...

Hani was posted to Delta state for her NYSC, her Place of Primary Assignment was a lab,
and she was to take record of photographers that come to wash pictures on daily basis.

 She kept on doing her job with so much
 enthusiasm as though she was an 
employee.

She was oblivious of the fact that one of the
 joint owners of the lab worth millions of 
naira has been observing her, 

he was amazed by her resilience and 
commitment.

Few months to her passing out, Hani started experiencing depression. 

She wasn’t as vibrant as she used to be, her sadness made her despise Emeka, she felt
 irritate by his  calls and she soon started 
acting up.

On a particular day she  was so upset with Emeka that shetried so hard to fake her usual smiles at her place of primary assignment, yet Vil was able to see through her. 

He looked at her and said:

"You seem happy but there's so much pain on your inside..
 take this"...giving her his face towel.

“You can cry if you want," he continued, "just let it out, 

by the way I brought this gift for you" he handed a parcel to
 her ..

   She burst into a fresh bout of tears.
 Bowing her head, she quickly dashed the
 tears from her eyes using the face towel. 

She raised her head a litle higher and 
stretched out her hand to receive the
 parcel. 

Vil collects the face towel from her and
 wiped her  face thoroughly.

Hani was mesmerized by his actions.

"How can he be so concerned about me?” 
She asks rhetorically in her mind.

“You can go home dear since you aren’t 
doing too well” He permitted.

“Thank you sir”

 The next day was CDS which was Friday, it was work free day for corp members hence she won’t be able to see him again till 
Monday. 

Feeling bored on her return from CDS, she
 decides to open the parcel. It was a hand
 painting of her, 

“wow!” blushing to tears

Vil is good in works of art even though he
 manages to hide it from people. 

 Still caught up in  admiration of the
 painting, she found a note and It reads:

"You've captivated my heart, I could  give up my entire life just to protect you…"

She blushed.

From that moment She couldn't stop 
thinking about Vil…

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/the-man-i-love