Onome's tales.....Episode 8

In less than 2 weeks Onome was done with her project and afterwards graduation ceremony came to pass. Onome’s mother was so proud of her daughter.  Onome was posted to Akwa –Ibom state after 3months of waiting at home for youth service, her PPA (Primary Place of Assignment) was a primary school in a very remote part of the state, she was a bit excited about the change of environment, meanwhile Mimi was posted to a first generation bank in Ogun state.

Alex was all the while in touch with Onome, the two love birds were so in love, but half way through Onome’s youth service year  Alex grew cold , he hardly called Onome let alone pick her calls, she became so worried after sending a lot of  messages without getting replies, she was so confused and didn’t know who to confide in, after several thoughts she decided to call Mimi and fill her in on the situation, Mimi advised Onome to forget about Alex and move on with her life, this was so difficult for Onome, as  she truly loved  Alex, Onome was so heartbroken that she flew in to Lagos from Akwa-ibom fortnightly to take solace in the company of her aunt, Mrs Sylvia tried convincing Onome to take her mind off it but she wouldn’t listen, after a few months Onome finished her youth service  and was fortunately absorbed by an oil and gas firm in eket the following year(with Mrs Sylvia’s connection though)she didn’t give up on Alex she kept trying every possible means to get in touch with him.

By  mid August  Mimi called Onome to tell her she heard Alex was back to Nigeria, Onome was so excited , Mimi was shocked that she could be excited by Alex after the long silence, but of course she didn’t want to make it her business…like they say, if it isn’t your own tail don’t wag it!

Onome immediately put a call through to Alex, but he wasn’t picking, for several days she tried but to no avail, it was then it dawned on her that something was wrong somewhere, she called Mimi to tell her that Alex was ignoring her calls and she replied;

Mimi: Ignore him too!

Onome: I wish it was that easy

Mimi: look Onome I don’t know exactly what your problem is, you have a good job now, why not focus on YOU< Alex isn’t the only man on planet earth for Christ sakes!

OnomeL ****(started crying)

Mimi: OMG! You don’t have to do this to yourself, just focus on you, very soon the right man will come your way

Onome: thank you….

Onome was doing well and was now responsible for her family’s welfare, her mum and brothers sometimes come to eket to spend time with her . On one occasion her mother had to ask her about Alex, Onome broke down in tears while explaining to her mum all that had happened and also told her mum that she wasn’t interested in jumping back into a relationship for now, but  mama Onome smiled and said (in pidgin English though);

  ‘ Realise that if you have time to whine and complain about something, then you have time to do something about it’ 

    She went further;

    ‘ My dear daughter if crying and complaining would solve all of this, I wouldn’t mind joining you, wipe your tears, at different times in our lives, we have disappointments and become broken , but the beauty of everything is the ability to wipe your tears and be firm on your feet again, moreover its better a broken relationship than a broken marriage’

Onome: Thank you mama

Six months later ,Onome’s boss sent her to Abuja to represent him at an event, Onome was called upon to give a speech which she brilliantly did, Alex was coincidentally asked to represent his firm, he came in while Onome was giving her speech, he was lost for words for the first few minutes, he finally got himself a seat and was waiting for when he would have a chance to speak with Onome, at the end of the event Onome was busy networking for her firm and took no cognisance of the fact that Alex was anywhere around her, Alex was unable to speak with Onome that day, he finally resolved to call her,on getting home he tried calling her but couldn’t reach her,(Onome was air borne at the time) he decided to send a text;

    ‘ hey, fantastic speech! proud of you!’

Onome finally got off the plane and  switched on her phone,she received the message and got to know that Alex was at the event and saw her, she decided to ignore the sms, as far as she was concerned he is in the past now. While she was waiting for the official driver to come pick her from the airport, a gentleman came to sit by her side, he smiled at Onome and she out of courtesy managed to smile back, after a few minutes, he tried to introduce himself;

Hi , my name is Efosa

Onome: Nice name!                         

Efosa: (Smiled) you don’t seem to be in a good mood

Onome: I am , I’m just not interested in telling you my name!

Efosa:wow….that’s not nice

Onome:I know

Efosa:hahahahaha, you are a very funny character,ok but I’m pleading…pppppllllleeeaaasssseeeee

Onome: (smiled) I’m Onome by name.

Efosa: beautiful name. I work here in eket, I’m a medical doctor and from Benin city

Onome: I work and stay in eket too, I work for an oil and gas firm as a business development executive.

Efosa: It’s a pleasure( shakes her)

Onome: same here.

Five minutes later Akpan, the driver called Onome that he was around and so she had to leave, they exchanged complimentary cards and Onome took her leave.

…………………………………………………..Check back in 48hours time for the next episode.