My Instagram Love

Episode 10

Those words reverberated through my ears like the way a professionally panned sound effect would do with quality headphones on one’s ears. At this point, I was stuck between two tough choices: ignore him or adhere just for the sake of his cute and smart little daughter. Which one would be the most appropriate one to do?

I did a quick mental debate and settled on the positive side eventually.
“Fine. Give me 5 minutes.” I agreed, rolling my eyes dramatically. “I’ll be there in a jiffy.”

“Awesome!” Tunde blew out a breath of relief, sounding excited. “Holler back at me when you get there.”
“Yeah. Whatever.”

I hanged up the call and shot Jessica a disgruntled look. “Sometimes I wonder why you are so protective over this guy. You take sides with him all the time. Have you forgotten I’m your best friend?”

Jessica laughed, ignored me and raised her hands up, dancing her way toward the door. When she got there, she glanced back over her shoulder and said sweetly, “Time is ticking. Tick tock, tick tock. Run along!”
With that, she danced out of the room and shut the door gently. I was tempted to burst into laughter but I suppressed the urge with everything in me. Sighing again, I carried the laptop from the wooden stool, placed it on my laps and started to click on the keyboard as fast as a professional typist. I logged into my Skype account, located Prince Charming’s handle and initiated a video call with his own account.

In less than 3 minutes, we established a strong connection and it clicked. The first thing I noticed was the change of the background. Instead of a neat luxurious room painted in yellow and orange colors with multi-colored butterflies and fine rainbows designed on the walls, I saw a pale white wall with several electronic wires and other people seated in the background, using computers. The next thing I saw was Tunde’s fitted grey-colored T-shirt and his black sunglasses covering his eyes. His full hair and his clean beard matched with the colour of his shirt and his fancy shades. Lastly, I noticed his daughter sitting beside him, munching on a pack of Minimie Chin-Chin and a cone of vanilla flavoured ice-cream. Unlike before when Tunde wore a simple black singlet and Alice had just her pajamas on, both father and daughter were now dressed in new stunning outfits. Alice was wearing a pink flowing dress and a chain with an attractive Barbie doll pendant around her neck. I was left in awe at the sight of her full braided hair, packed neatly in a headband which held her hair back. I actually never knew she had this full hair and that it was well braided due to the hairnet she wore in the morning when I first saw her.
The striking resemblance between Tunde and Alice was an awe-inspiring sight indeed. I was still taking note of the details of everything I was seeing before Tunde disrupted my thoughts politely.
“Hi. You came.”

I snapped out of my daydream, blinked four times and replied, “Of course. I’m a lady of my words.”

Alice smiled at me. “Miss Lola.”
“Alice! It’s nice to see you again. You’re so beautiful.” I complimented her, and it only made her smile even more than before.
“So are you, Miss Lola. It’s nice to see you too.” She said, dropping her pack of chin-chin on the table and then waved at me with her free hand. I waved back at her too, smiling and giggling. After sharing pleasantries between each other, Alice stretched her ice-cream cone towards the screen and added: “Do you care for some yummy snacks, miss?”

“Absolutely.” I laughed, nodding my head in the affirmative. “I do care for some ice-cream and I want it so bad, but it’s quite sad that I can’t have it. We are so far apart.”
“Don’t worry, miss. I can mail it to you right now.” She grinned and laughed afterwards. Tunde and I couldn’t help it either. We both burst into laughter and the people behind them looked back in annoyance but said nothing to us.
“You are so funny like your dad.” I said after the humour and the intense laughter had died down. “How old are you?”
“Fiften minus six plus three minus five?”
“What?”

“That’s your clue.” She clarified, giggling. “Solve it, miss.”
“Isn’t that seven in total?”
“There you have it!” Alice affirmed, pouting her lips the same cute way she usually does. “I am 7 years old.”
“Unbelievable!” I gave a gasp of astonishment, thinking my ears were playing mild tricks on me. “You can’t be!”
“She’s telling the truth.” Tunde broke his intentional silence at last, taking off his cool shades to reveal his small but attractive eyes. “She’s just 7. I know you’re baffled because of how sharp she is. She took that from me. Didn’t you, sugar?”

Alice sipped her ice-cream, looked up at her father’s face and chuckled. “Yes, daddy.”
“Where are you guys now?” I asked, pointing at the odd background. “This place doesn’t look like your house.”
“That’s because we are at a cybercafé.”
“Oh. I see.”

“Where’s your friend?”
“Downstairs with my mother.”
“Don’t tell me she hasn’t returned to the room since I asked her to spare us some time to be together?”

“No. She actually left again a few minutes ago.” I explained, and added sweetly, “I think she likes you.”

“Don’t be silly.” Tunde frowned slightly. “If that’s true, I’ll suggest you kindly tell her I’m off-limits. I’m only interested in her friend.”

“If I were you, I’d go for her instead of this so-called ‘friend’ of hers you’re so concerned about.”

“The heart knows what it wants, Lola. You can’t decide what’s best for your heart. It chooses what’s best for you on its own.”
“You know, this is quite weird coming from a man who is ‘engaged’ and would soon be ‘tied’ to a prettier woman who has everything any responsible man could ever ask for.”

“Point of correction, not everything.” He shrugged a shoulder and looked at Alice whose concentration was now fixed on her snacks. She had no idea what we were both talking about so she soon lost interest as expected.

Tunde continued to speak: “I’ve been thinking about asking you something important, Lola, but I’m afraid you might think otherwise of me when I do so.”
“You know I won’t judge you for no valid reason.” I assured him with a faint smile. “It depends on how ‘important’ it is. Tell me what it is.”

sU-Cking in a deep breath, Tunde blinked two times, exhaled deeply and said the words almost in a whisper:
“I’d like us to meet one on one tonight.”
“What?” I almost screamed into the screen.

“Please, Lola.”
“But w-h-why?” I stuttered, struggling to retain my cool. “Why so soon? I mean, it’s still too early for goodness sake!”
“It doesn’t matter, Lola.” Tunde argued in a very soft tone. “Like I’ve said, the heart decides what it wants for itself. Sometimes, fate has a way of turning things around for the greater good. I don’t know what’s pushing me to say this but I know there’s a reason. There’s always a reason for everything. Just one friendly date is all I ask of you.”

“Tunde, can I think about this?”
He nodded in the affirmative. “I’m afraid you have until evening to decide.”
I heaved a rather frustrated sigh, scratching my hair rigorously. “I need more time!”
“That’s all I can give.” His voice remained ever calm and graceful. “Tonight, by 8 o’clock, I’ll be at the popular Camelo Mall in Banana Island waiting for you. Meet me there on time. If I wait for more than one hour and I don’t see you there, then I guess that’ll be all the confirmation I need to ascertain my curiosity of whether fate has more in store for us or not. Have a nice evening ahead, and do enjoy the rest of your day.”

“Wait. Hold on!”
“I hope you make the right decision.” He concluded, barely even giving me a chance to air my opinion. “Goodbye for now.”

After saying that, he terminated the video call and went offline. I tried dialing his number almost immediately but he was a more clever fellow than I even thought he was! His phone was switched off already and there was no other alternative for me to reach out to him.

This time around, I could sense the feeling of guilt, uneasiness and restlessness surging through my whole body. At this point, I could’ve sworn I felt a stinging s£nsat!on troubling my feeble conscience. I was on the verge of slamming my fists against the laptop’s blank screen, but I somehow managed to control myself not to do so. I was caught between the rock of intense guilt and the hard place of a raging conscience. I almost wished for the ground to open up and swallow me completely for living a lie till this very moment I dreaded most. This very moment I had been avoiding at all costs had finally occurred and I was stuck between making a choice out of two hard choices. One, to confess the pure truth and bear the humiliation that follows after that or two, to continue living a deceitful lifestyle at the detriment of other ignorant people who mattered most in my life.

What in this world was I supposed to do with a good for nothing wheelchair, especially on a supposed ‘friendly date’? What could I possibly do with crutches in the presence of Prince Charming and multitudes of other normal people?

My soul was so troubled and I was completely lost in thought, fighting back the bitter tears that threatened to slide down my dry cheeks.
At this point in time, I was more than doomed.