June, 2009
Nadine opened the door and smiled, as she locked it behind her.
“Tony?” she called, taking off her coat and hanging it on the rack by the door.
There was no sign of her boyfriend but she could perceive an inviting aroma. The table was already laid out. She felt an incredible sense of déjà-vu and tried to shake it off. Tony came out of the bedroom. She walked towards him and he gave her a peck on the cheek.
“Sorry, I’m late. Work,” she said.
“Not a problem at all,” he reassured her, “So, are you ready to eat?”
“If I could just use your bathroom, please.”
“Oh. Yes, it’s over there,” he said, pointing, “Second door on the right.”
She walked past him and although she did not look back, she could feel his eyes on her.
Inside the bathroom, Nadine looked at her reflection in the mirror. She and Tony had been dating for six months now, and she had managed to successfully sequester thoughts of Raymond to the darkest recesses of her heart. One never forgot their first love. Or so, she had heard. But she did have to move on … she had moved on. Tony was a nice man. A good, nice, kind, Christian Igbo man who loved her. And honestly, she loved him too. Maybe not in the heady, maddening way she had loved Raymond but … why, oh why, was she comparing both men? Raymond was her past and she hadn’t consciously thought of him in a long time. True, recollections of him flitted across her mind from time to time, but those times had become few and far between, since she had started a relationship with Tony. Work was good, she had her health, her parents were excellent, and she had a good man who loved her and had gone to the trouble of ordering food from her favourite Indian restaurant. And she was hungry.
She opened the door and walked out of the bathroom. Tony was there on one knee. Her heart momentarily stopped before it began to beat faster.
“I had it … all planned,” he stuttered, “I was going to wait till after dinner, but … I just couldn’t.”
Then she saw the rock … all 2.5carats of it.
“Nadine Obiageli Ngozi Nwaturuegwu, I love you. You are kind, beautiful, amazing … everything I’ve ever wanted, yet never actually believed, existed. I would be lost without you, so would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”