Unrequited Love

There was a new girl in school

Everyone talked about her

She had guys lining up and girls jealous,

But she only had eyes for one,

Lanre.

She smirked,

This new girl couldn’t have Lanre

Lanre was hers

He called her “The Queen of his heart”

She found her and taunted her,

“I hear you have a crush on Lanre.

Sorry, but he’s in love with me.”

She watched as the pupils in her eyes danced like flames of fire while she told stories of all the things Lanre had done for her

She didn’t want him but she wasn’t going to let anyone else have him.

She let Lanre pour all his love on her while begging for hers like a hungry puppy,

She put him down and poked holes in his ego time and time again,

She enjoyed his attention but she gave hers to other guys.

She watched Eje as he snored in bed

She wondered what lie he would tell when he eventually woke up

Would he put the blame on his car?

Or on his almost non-existent job?

She heard the cry of their son from the other room and went to check on him

She rocked him as he cooed and drooled on her pyjamas

She couldn’t help but wonder how her life had turned out this way

She heard someone call her name as she made her way to the boarding gate

She turned back to see Lanre

He was taller than the last time she saw him

He had also bulked up and his toned arms made her belly squirm

His smile though, it had remained all these years

And the way his face lit up at the sight of her!

She had not appreciated it back in school but the older her knew better

They caught up as he helped her with her hand luggage towards her boarding gate,

They exchanged email addresses before he left for his

His eyes lingered on hers for a bit before he walked away and she felt her knees go weak

Back in the separate universities, continents apart,

They rekindled their friendship

He had started his own business on his university campus and was hoping to expand it

She was towing the line of her father to become a successful attorney

She thought this could work

They could make something happen

But life got busy and soon,

The phone calls got shorter

Until they only came on birthdays

She was too proud to chase after him

He was too tired of chasing her

His family was here to see her family

They came to beg on his behalf

Her parents were entertaining them with drinks and fresh fish

She knew it was a sign of what their final decision would be

She stared at her son as he crawled on his mat, picking up something only he could see

Examining it before putting in his mouth

She chuckled,

Even her seven month old baby was wiser than she was,

She should have examined Eje properly before marrying him

She heard her mother call out her name

She waited for her to call three times before she responded

It was time

Time for her to go back to her life that she hated

“Marriage is forever”,they said

“Every marriage has its own challenges, one must learn to endure”.

She walked into the living room and locked eyes with the man who had made her miserable

His eyes were pleading, but she knew they were just a veil hiding their true intentions

He had nothing to lose

Tradition was on his side.

She found his Instagram page when an old classmate tagged him in a birthday post

She had spent hours on it, going through images of what his life looked like now

He had married the new girl in school

They had a beautiful son together

She won

She saw pictures of them in the snow and her heart ached

She hesitated before she double-tapped

A few hours later, a notification popped up on her screen,

“olanrewaju_ followed you”.