Valentine’s Day Palava: The things we do for love!

I went happily to Queens Cinema Market with my just withdrawn alawee to get my boyfriend two gifts: one for his birthday and the other, for Valentine’s Day.

‘Sister, Fine Sister, Ajoke to rewa….’

 They beckoned at me, to come and check out their men’s store. Finally I agreed to enter one of the seemingly cool stores to get suitable gifts for her man.

‘How much is this perf?’  I pointed at a well-packaged perfume with something that looked like a nice label.

‘Ha, Sister, you sef know good thing when you see am. That perf na original o.’

‘How much jare? U people too  get mouth, just talk price make I commot’, I retorted.

‘The thing be say that perf wey you point at na N12,500 o’, they finally summoned up courage to tell me the price.

 I thought to myself, that these guys must be big jokers to have thought that I didn’t have more than enough to buy the perfume but I didn’t make my thoughts obvious. I went on to bargain with them.

‘12 kini? No be N6000? Abi you people think say I no know this perf ni? Abegi. No be only perf I wan buy o’.

I pointed at several other things ranging from designer shirts to palm slippers to belts to ties and cufflinks. Finally, I was able to choose a beautiful ‘Next’ Shirt with the beautifully packaged perfume all at a price that I thought was well bargained.

Smiling, I left the store and headed home straight to package the gifts as I was sending them to Abeokuta through a friend to give to my boyfriend. The following day, I hurriedly went to the nearest cake shop (where lovely cakes were always available for emergencies like mine...lol) to get a beautiful cake that will accompany the gifts. I had just gotten home with the cake in my hands when my phone rang. It was my best friend, Tomi on the other end of the line.

‘ Dearie, please let me call you back, my hands are full.’

I rushed inside, put the already packed gifts in a big fancy bag and rushed out with them plus the cake, flagged down the next available bike to Bashorun, where my boyfriend’s colleague was to give him the package as he was travelling down to Abeokuta by weekend.

I did call back as promised and I gisted my friend about my shopping and surprise package for Kunle, my boyfriend. I made sure I gave her all the details, including the names of the designer things I had gotten. After relaying the whole story, Tomi  laughed so hard for about 10minutes and said she would meet me up after CDS meeting the following day. CDS meeting was different the following day as many Corpers displayed their goods in anticipation of the Valentine’s Day. It was a pleasant sight as many female corpers had shoes, perfumes, chocolates and the likes for sale. As I window-shopped, I saw the exact perf I had bought two days back for Kunle with a N3000 price tag on it. I thought to myself,

“these corpers ehn? They will do anything to make money, even to the point of selling imitations of original products. Na wa o”.

“Finest corper, how u dey?”  Tomi hugged me from behind.

‘You?’ I retorted. ‘I dey vex for you o. Anyways, how u dey? Good to see you.’

 “I’m alright”, Tomi answered and pulled me away from the displayed Valentine wares. We both left the meeting to a big and highly esteemed super market and Tomi showed me the perfume I had bought at a ridiculously high price. I felt like beating myself ‘cause I knew they couldn’t possibly sell fake perfumes in this mall. Tomi kept on with the laughter.

‘ I didn’t want to tell you on phone that you were duped by those guys. I bet the shirt was more than double the price you bought it. You should have told me you wanted to buy something like that now. Haba. Where do you know in this Ibadan? You’re a just a corper here’. Tomi rattled on.

But deep inside me, I wanted to go back to that store at Queens Cinema to give those guys a piece of my mind. But it wouldn’t have been worth it. I consoled myself with the fact that I did it all for Kunle, my love and as I had always said: I could do anything for Him. Plus, I thought to myself: “I had paid my dues in this city. It can’t happen again”.

Saturday was Valentine’s Day and I joyfully called my b.f to wish him a happy birthday and Valentine’s Day but he didn’t pick up.

‘He must be at the site again, today of all days’, I thought to myself.

I waited all day for his call but didn’t receive any. Annoyingly, I called up Deji, his colleague that was saddled with the responsibility of delivering the gifts.

“What’s up now? Haven’t you delivered the gifts?” I asked once he picked up without even saying hello.

A knock on my door interrupted the conversation. “I will call you back”, I said as I hung up.

It was Tomi at the door. I opened and just as I was about to reluctantly hug my friend, I saw Kunle behind her, wearing the shirt I bought for him. I screamed and immediately ran off to hug him tightly.

“What are you doing here? When did you get to Ib? How did you get here so fast?” I bombarded him with as many questions as I could come up with all at once. “Oh baby, it’s so good to see you”.

He just smiled and winked at Tomi who was the brain behind the whole ‘surprise visit’.

“Tomi told me about how you were duped and I know how things like that could get you moody for months, and how you would beat yourself for so long. So I thought I should make this year’s Valentine’s Day a memorable one by coming down to see you”.

I couldn’t contain my joy. I just kept on smiling as I ran off to hug my friend who was already inside by then. “Thanks, girl friend. You’re the best”, I winked at her.

I had such a wonderful Valentine’s Day that year as I cherished every moment with my boy friend and best friend.

I look forward to an even better Valentine’s Day, this year. *Winks*