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| RUNAWAY LOVE ❤🏃 (A true story) |
I almost collapsed when I saw her. I was in shock because I never thought I would behold her beautiful face again. I embraced her joyfully and pulled her away from our balcony. That was because I was living in a very strict home where no visitors, in spite of their gender, was allowed.
When we were a safe distance from our home, I turned joyfully to her and spoke.
"Solange! Oh my dear Solange. I have missed you."
"I have missed you, too, Phi. I can't believe I am seeing you again." She was extremely happy.
"Me too. Wow!! I am so relieved that Ethel finally got to you. I was so afraid she had forgotten. So, how did you find my house?"
"Love showed me the direction. When Ethel told me he saw you in Molyko, I almost collapsed. I couldn't believe you would come to Buea."
"I promised to come for you, right?" I smiled, rubbing her hands.
"Yes, you did, only if I wait for you and I have waited."
"Thank you so much, Solange. Thank you so very much. So, tell me. How have you been? How many guys have chatted you over this period we have been apart?"
"Ha! Can I count? A lot of them. But I know what they want. They are attracted to my bwests. So, I couldn't give in to any of them. They just wanted a taste of me."
"Can you blame them? I was also attracted by the same thing, but the difference is that I didn't just come to have a taste and disappear." I laughed.
"Yes, and also, my mind was always with you. So, I couldn't see myself dating any other person when I still had my prince charming."
"Wow!! I feel honoured to know that no one went into my thing while I was away. So, are you saying that everything is still in tact?"
"Yes, everything is still intact." She laughed.
We chatted for a while and she explained to me that Ethel gave her a vivid description of our house and that was why she was able to come right to the house.
"Solange, I missed you everyday. I am happy that I have found you again. Now, that I have found you again, I never want to let you go again."
"Me too, Phi. I hope we stay together forever."
After about two hours of chatting, I took her to the main road where she got a cab and headed home. We promised to see again the following Sunday.
That Sunday, I dressed very well and headed for Soppo where she lived. After I had been entertained at their house, which was a strange thing because I knew that house didn't tolerate male visitors, especially suspicious ones like me, we went to a cyber café together. As we walked, we talked.
"So, what is the situation with your father now?" I asked.
"Well, there's very little change. My uncle in the UK has been trying to mediate between us. It is that uncle that I am going to write to now." She replied.
"Is that all? The negotiation hasn't led to any substantial headway?"
"Well, my father, after a lot of difficulties, has finally accepted that I should come back home. So, if everything works out, I will be going back to Bamenda."
After we had finished sending the mail to her uncle in UK, we seperated happily and we both went to our respective homes. Three days later, that is on Wednesday, I was at my call box when a taxi stopped and Solange alighted, carrying a bag.
"Where to, Solange?" I asked.
"I am going to Bamenda just like I told you. Phi, I don't like the life I am living here. I am tired of being a housegirl. I want to go back to Bamenda so that I can go back to school."
I was sad that Solange was leaving again just a week after our reuniting. But it was very necessary. She had to go back so that her life could be improved. It was a hard decision, but it had to be done. I was silent for a while so, she asked.
"Are you alright?"
"Not really. I wish we could spend a longer time together. I have only just met you again after more than a year apart. Now, here you are, leaving again. " I lamented.
"You have to understand, Phi. It is very necessary for me to go. If you were leaving on your own, like you already had your own house, I would have simply moved in with you. But now, you live in a family house."
We hailed a taxi, got in and headed to Mile 17 Park. She said she was waiting for her uncle to send money for her fare. So, as soon as her uncle promised that he was going to send it that day, she parked her stuffs and left for the park.
I asked her if her boss or anyone at home knew she was leaving, but she answered in the negative. She said she left the small girl she was taking care of with the neighbours, left a note explaining why she had to leave, and left.
So, here we were at Mile 17 Park. She had left home without telling anyone. Everyone was either at work or in school when she left. She didn't have money to pay for her fare. I had only just moved to the city and my business was still at the budding stage. If I attempted to help her, I would have to dig into my capital which would be detrimental for me.
Time was against us. If her boss or any other person returned home, read the letter she left and realized that she had gone for good, they might begin a manhunt for her, and the first place they would begin searching was the Mile 17 Park.
We had been at the park now for almost three hours and that meant I had abandoned my business for that long. I was worried. So, I talked to her about it and she agreed that I could go back to my business while she waited for her uncle to send the money.
I had a feeling that I might not meet her when I returned. So, I kissed her tenderly and wished her the best in life. I asked her how I could contact her since she still didn't have a phone. She gave me a number that I could call. Then, she asked me to hand over my phone to her.
Wondering what she wanted to do, I gave the phone to her. It was a choronko because by then, Android phones had not come to Africa. The highest technology at that time was Java. So, she went to the SMS section of the phone and typed a message. It read:
"I love you and I will never forget you."
She handed the phone back to me and then, she spoke.
"Please, save what I have written in your draft amd make sure you never delete it. Always use it as an affirmation of my undying and never ending love for you."
"Okay, Solange." I replied with a teary eye.
I did as she requested, and with a heavy heart, turned around, got a taxi and headed back to my business place. Two hours later, I went back to check on her, but she had already left. Sad, I stood on the spot where I had last kissed her and many different types of emotions went through my mind. Finally, I got myself together and went back.
I missed Solange terribly for many days, especially as the number she had given me wasn't going through. After about a week, one day, I called the number and luckily for me. It went through. With my heart beating fast, I waited impatiently for the call to be picked.
"Hello." A soft female voice spoke. "May I know to whom I am talking?"
"Good afternoon. My name is Philips. Please, may I talk to Solange?"
"Okay, just give me a minute. Solange! Solange!! Your sweetheart wants to talk with you."
Solange was very happy that I had called. I asked her if her uncle finally sent the money for her fare. She said he didn't. She said as she was roaming the park in frustration, she met a bus driver who was her former neighbour. He was the one who carried her for free. We chatted for a long time and I finally dropped the call. Happy and satisfied, I promised to call again the next.
I was never to know but that was the last time I was going to talk to Solange for fifteen years. Yes, you heard me, fifteen whole years. I missed her everyday of those fifteen years, but what was I to do? The number she had given me had stopped going through.
After five years, one day, the number passed and the lady who picked had even forgotten who I was. After introducing myself, she finally remembered, but told me that Solange no longer lived in Bamenda. She had since moved to Dschang, and she too had lost contact with her. I made up my mind that I would never delete that number in spite of the fact that the very next day, the number stopped going through again.
During those fifteen years, for you know fifteen years is a very long time, a lot of things happened to me. Most of the things you have read about in my other stories happened within that period. I had also changed many phones too, and had even lost the one that had Solange's last message. But there was one thing I didn't lose. That was the number she had given me.
I had already graduated from the university with a Law degree. I had left Buea and was now settled in Kumba. I was in another relationship now. One day, I was lying on my bed when I heard my phone ringing. I checked and with shock, saw that it was that number I had saved fifteen years ago; the number Solange had given me.
I picked the call and the lady told me that she had found my love, Solange. She gave me her number and when the call ended, I called Solange.
It was like a miracle. After fifteen years, I was able to talk to my long lost sweetheart again. That day, we didn't sleep. We talked all evening and all night. I told her that I tried many times to look for her, but I didn't even know where to start. She too told me that she searched for me on the social network but couldn't find me because she had never brothered to ask for my full name.
At the end of the call, she proposed coming to see me in Kumba. She said she knew that I had moved on with my life and she was no longer a priority. However, she proposed that she wanted to come and spend some time with me so that she could at least carry my baby. She wanted a memory of me to hold on to.
That was however, not possible. My present girlfriend was a no nonsense lady. She had many times, embarrassed girls she had met in my house. So, I told Solange that it wasn't going to be possible. However, I proposed that she could come and be in a hotel. I could meet her there and get her pregnant. She refused and told me that she wasn't a hotel girl.
We lost contact again for about two years and one day, she called me and told me she was finally coming to Kumba, not for me, but for an NGO she was now attached to. She also informed me that she was now a mother of a baby boy. I felt bad, but what could I do? We had not seen for seventeen long years now.
Two weeks later, she called me and told me that she was in town. I was very excited and if not for the fact that she was living in a dangerous neighborhood, I would have gone to see her that night.
I did see her the following day, and the joy that we felt, couldn't be expressed in mere words. I wish I could record an audio. Seventeen years was not seventeen days. I took her to my house, but we didn't make love for reasons I cannot tell till date. The next day, she left and we lost contact again.
Then, about a year later, she called me and told me she had just put to bed to another child. So, she was now a mother of two. I was disappointed by that information and stopped talking to her. After a month, I tried to talk to her but once again, just like it had happened several times over the years, her number wasn't available.
Last month, she contacted me again and told me that for a long while, she had been offline. She now lived in Kribi with her children. She said she had been reading my stories online and was happy that I had become very popular on Facebook. She requested that I write a story about us; our love story. She suggested that I title it THE RUNAWAY LOVER. However, instead, I adjusted the title to RUNAWAY LOVE.
That is what you are reading now.
THE END