Chima sat at the edge of the park bench that was situated opposite the large pond at his favourite amusement park, with his legs crossed over the other. He had the countenance of a confused bachelor struggling with regrets over his past decisions. One hand was pressed against his chin while the other rested inside his loose pocket.
The fine scenery reminded him of Olaedo, the most beautiful girl he had ever set his eyes on. They had met six months ago in this very spot. That day, he made a short visit to the park, as he had done every other Tuesday after work.
It was a refreshing routine he had settled into after his last relationship ended. He would head straight to the pond area to watch the little frogs rear their heads from beneath the water and he found comfort in taking photos of the landscape reflected in the pond.
Usually, it was calm, but that day, the weather was turbulent, forcing the trees to stretch out their branches and shed their leaves onto the cold ground. The clouds began to get darker, with drizzles of rain, and before he could run for shelter, the rain descended with full force. He turned to find a place to sit and immediately noticed a shade over him. It was Olaedo, covering him with an umbrella spacious enough for two.
"Hi, I'm Olaedo. I was sitting at the bench behind yours, and when the rain started, I thought you might need my help."
Chima looked up at her face. She had the most perfect lips that lined to accentuate her smile. Her skin was as beautiful as the daisies, and her eyes looked divine. The words in his heart became too jumbled to say out loud.
"I... I think you look, I mean, thank you so much. I didn't expect anyone would be thoughtful enough to consider a stranger like me under the rain," he finally said.
"Oh, it's nothing. I would expect someone to consider me, though," she replied while admiring his husky build and perfectly defined facial features.
He seemed a bit shy to Olaedo, but little did she know he was only struck by her beauty. In a bid to get him out of his perceived shyness, she asked,
"Do you want to tell me your name or stand under the rain until it washes our feet clean?"
He looked at her again, this time in firmness.
"We could do both. I'm Chima, and I want to stand here with you."
True to his words, he stood beside her under the umbrella, sharing familiar experiences of life and the dreams they held for the future until the rain finally stopped, after which they exchanged contacts and bade each other farewell.
The next day, Olaedo texted Chima, and what started as a simple check-in became a full-blown conversation about their identities. Days rolled into weeks and weeks into months, and their interaction became more frequent. They found themselves sharing regular good-morning texts, after-work check-ins, and visiting the park to go sit near the pond at least once a week.
Chima shared a lot with her, but avoided every conversation about love and romance. Olaedo finally understood that there might be something painful about his past experiences that he wasn't ready to share. So, she decided to respect his decision not to talk about it.
But it wasn't long before she realized she wasn't interested in playing it safe anymore, especially since she was attracted to him. She wanted to be in his life and finally decided she was going to express how she felt.
She called his phone after work on a Friday and, as always, he picked up almost immediately, which made her tease him in her usual way.
"Chima, I'm sure your device can already predict how excited you always are to pick my calls. You couldn't even wait a second to hear my voice," she said in a cheeky tone.
She could hear the sound of his giggles in the background.
"I know you expect me to deny it, but I'm tired of that. Have your way with your joke," he replied sheepishly.
They both shared the details of their day and went from one conversation to the other until Olaedo was ready to speak.
She took a deep breath before any word came out of her mouth.
"Chima, I have something to tell you," she muttered.
"What's it about?" Chima asked with bewildered eyes.
"It's about us. So... I've been thinking... These past months have been the most cheerful I've had this year. I know you said you haven't been open to new relationships, but I hope we can work past that because I already consider you a huge part of my life, and I'll take every chance to be closer to you."
There was total silence from Chima, not because he didn't fancy her enough, but because he had known for a while that he loved her romantically. He was scared of getting into a relationship as that would mean opening up completely to her and giving her power over his feelings.
He thought of his last relationship with his ex, how he gave everything to make it work, yet got hurt by her. She had loved him in a similar way to Olaedo. She acted thoughtfully towards him on every occasion and made promises to build a life with him, but ended up relocating to a new country with a new guy she met shortly after her master's graduation ceremony. His chest felt tight thinking about it.
"I don't know if I'm willing to take the risk," he said in a muffled tone.
"What risk?" Olaedo asked.
"See, I care about you and I respect your courage, but can we speak about this another time? I need to think of a good response that won't hurt anyone." He replied.
"Do you love me?" she asked with a shaky voice.
Chima went silent again and this hurt Olaedo so much because to her, a response was simply better than none.
"You know what, I'll let you be by yourself. I totally understand," she said as she hung up with an emotional goodbye being the last thing she muttered.
This was the beginning of the real silence between them. No good-morning calls, no sharing of memes in each other's inboxes, no sending of random gifts to each other's offices. Everything turned bleak.
Each time Chima tried to reach out, something held him back. He never found the courage to tell her how much he loved her. He looked at the space beside the bench and wished he had just let his guard down. Maybe if he had, she would've been sitting by his side right now with her head resting on his shoulder. But she wasn't there, and she hadn't been in a month. He missed her sorely, and the vacuum she had left was enough indication that he needed her.
He stood up abruptly from the park bench and walked to the parking lot, where he got into his car and drove to her office. On his way there, he kept praying in his heart to find her still at work since she no longer visited the park, or at least he thought so.
Luckily for him, when he arrived, Olaedo was on the other end of her office's parking lot, trying to get into an Uber that had come to pick her up.
He screamed at the top of his voice,
"Olaedo, please wait!"
Immediately, she turned, and surprise spread across her face. She could feel her heart beating so fast from anxiety, her face expressing annoyance, but deep down, his presence meant something to her.
He ran across to her, and hugged her tighty before she could say a word.
"I love you, Olaedo. I should've said it that day. But I was scared. Scared of being hurt again."
"So what changed?" she asked with curiosity while looking into his eyes.
"What changed is that I'm willing to take every risk with you. You came into my life and crushed the walls I've built so high. I don't mind anymore because I'd like you to climb up high if you still could. Please, forgive me."
Olaedo's face beamed with joy, and at the same time, tears filled her eyes. She stared at him, remembering how much his silence had hurt her and the nights she spent wondering if he didn't feel the same way. But she still loved him and thought his actions were forgivable. She still felt a bit of anxiety but fought over it to give him a response.
"I forgive you. I do" she said, touching his hands as they both kissed, leaving the Uber driver to experience a moment so joyous.
And that day began a new love story that nothing could ever break.
THANK YOU FOR READING MY SHORT STORY!馃尯
