Playing House

THIRTY ONE

Last last she let Gbenga go O! She was fooling herself thinking she could get into one of those loveless relationships or marriages. She couldn't do it! Not after experiencing that wild, pure and intense bond with Osaze.

She started asking herself why she was even so obsessed with this marriage of a thing.

She realized that everything she had done with her life, her achievements, her goals, her aspirations etc. was for society. She wanted to conform; she wanted the highest grades, the best job, the best husband all so she could impress other people. She never did anything for HERSELF.

She started coming to terms with how shallow it was that she cared way too much about other people's opinion of her.

Her mental breakdown during the 'pregnancy scare' was, mainly hinged on her fear of being judged for having a child out of wedlock rather than the actual fear of being unprepared.

Because, truth be told she could singlehandedly provide and care for a baby; her coworkers had big families, their kids went to the most expensive schools in Lagos and lived comfortably. She had no reason to freak out like that even if Osaze was not ready she could have handled raising a baby naw.

How did she even conclude that she wasn't ready? What was her reason for assuming she was not ready? No one is ever ready for a baby; no one has experience with it beforehand.

If market women on the streets are having kids and still going to the market to earn living, hawking goods on their heads, baby on their backs, what was her excuse.

Her company gives four months paid maternity leave, her job comes with a full health insurance coverage for herself, a spouse and up to four kids and she can afford nannies or the best day care centers on her own even without a husband. So what was she even afraid of?

Osaze is an amazing guy and she knew deep down that he would be a remarkable father. He has nieces that he always talked about and he is very warm, kind and smart. He would have been an amazing father, married to her or not.

But no, she was so blinded by her fixation on having a perfect wedding or being a Mrs. ASAP. She wanted to conform so bad she couldn't see the amazing man right in front of her, A man she really likes, She was so happy with him around.

She said some horrible things to him that night and she knew he was not going to forget or even forgive her, he would never look at her the same way he used to. She didn't even bother calling him.

Though she wished he would call her or even send her one of those his short texts to check up on her.

"Mumu Stop crying" She muttered as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

As the weeks passed, she got better, she worked on herself. She realigned her goals and purpose in life. She shed all that marriage pressure, and she tried to forget about him as well.

She even started taking yoga classes and joined a travel club.

One day like that she was at work when Farrah sent her a link on watsapp.

Farrah: See your friend o!  <link>

It was a link to a Forbes article, one of those lists of 'most promising African Tech entrepreneurs'. He was one of the people on the list. They listed all his degrees, talked about his first startup, then this new Indian company he is a part of.

She didn't know he was the Chief Technical Officer, wow! They wrote something about his exceptional coding skills and how he builds programs and softwares from scratch. Her heart swelled with so much pride just reading that.