He picked his phone to call his ex.
It's been six years since they talked.
"Hello George, how are you? Long time no see, what a surprise!" the ex answered the call.
"Wow! You still have my number? I thought you lost it after you blocked me on Facebook" George said.
"I kept it so that I can ignore your calls in case you call me" she joked then laughed.
He gave out a chuckle and said "I see you still have a sense of humour"
"And you still have that sexy voice. What are you up to these days? You're still a hustler? You used to have big dreams that were going nowhere. Poor boy-child" she teased him then laughed.
"Just doing a few things here and there. Hey, let's meet. For old times sake" George asked her.
"Aah, I knew it. The poor guy misses me. I knew this day would come. You've missed checking out my beauty huh? I am a busy woman you know, still running my business, in fact we've opened up a branch in Victoria island and Lekki. But I can spare an hour for you on Thursday afternoon" she said.
"Perfect. I am really happy for you that your business is growing" said George.
"Excuse me. Don't insult my hard work. It is not a business, it is an empire. And by the way George, don't take me to a place I cannot drive my car to or walk in my heels. I am not a matatu person like you. And don't take me to a place you can't afford. You have to be a man and pay for things" said the ex.
"I hear you. There is a new eating place in Lekki phase 1, we can meet there. I will send you the pin location. How is Thursday at three in the afternoon?" asked George.
She said, "That is fine. I will be waiting for the pin. And George..."
"Yes..."
"I hate to admit it but I had actually missed your voice" the ex told him.
"Thank you. We did have some good times. See you on Thursday" said George.
Come Thursday, George was at the restaurant looking dapper in a suit then his ex walked in at exactly three.
"George! You look fine and this is such a lovely place. How did you find out about this restaurant?" the ex hugged him.
"You still give good hugs and you smell good. Nice cologne" the ex said.
"Well, are you not gonna pull up the chair for me? Or since we are no longer a couple you see no need to treat me like a lady?" complained the ex.
"Sorry, pardon my manners" George said as he pulled a seat for her.
She sat down.
"Really nice place over here. Wow! You have taste. Please tell me where you borrowed the suit, I remember the days you used to do the craziest things just to get my attention" the ex said putting her expensive bag on the seat next to her.
"My wife and I love to try out different restaurants. We stumbled upon this one last year when we were looking for a house to buy around here" said George.
"Your wife? You got married? When? To who" the ex asked as she finally noticed the ring on his finger.
"Yes I got married, four years ago to the most beautiful woman on earth. My best friend. She is actually in our car outside waiting for me. She knows I am here to meet you" said George.
"What!? How now? You have a car? What make?" the ex was shocked.
"I was hoping you would be excited that I got married but I see your focus is still on material things. The type of car we drive is not important, as long as it is ours. The reason why I am here is because I wanted to pay you back all the money you used to bragged that you gave me" he removed his cheque book.
"I believe it was one hundred and sixty thousand. When we were a couple, I thought you were helping me out of love but with any financial help you gave you kept putting me down because of it. You called me useless, you insulted my identity as a man, you told all your friends how much of a burden I was, you ordered me around and even dumped me because I didn't have money like you did" George continued as he opened up his cheque book.
"I kept begging you to believe in me, telling you that I will make it. Staying with you was not healthy, you crushed my self esteem. Then I met my wife, a woman who saw beyond my financial status. She saw the character in me that you were too blind to see. She believed in me and knew I was destined for greatness. She enquired about my vision and I enquired about hers and together we built a joint vision. She brought love, peace and favour in to my life. She inspires me everyday and when I fall short, she picks me up and I do the same for her. Wealth was bound to come and I am glad that when wealth finally came, we already had love. It is so empty to have money but with no one to share it with"
George then handed the cheque to his ex saying "You made me feel like a slave to you, reminding me of what you did for me and how I must pay back. You even calculated how much money you spent on our dates. Well, today I stop being a slave. I am paying you back. Thank you for all you did eventhough at the time I thought you did it out of love"
The ex said nothing.
"I have never seen you speechless but please allow me to go. My wife and I need to go buy a gift for our son's birthday. Feel free to order anything you want, I have already paid for it. Thank you for coming" said George.
As he was about to leave, his ex held his hand. They looked at each other eye to eye.
"Goodbye" he said, then walked away to his wife.
