Being Human (2)

Jay checked his wristwatch a second time. He tried not to call Dolapo a third time, he was beginning to lose his patience. For Pete's sake, the eatery where they usually had lunch was closer to Dolapo's office and farther from his. He knew it was her boss that was always standing in the way. Sometimes, he tried to figure out how Dolapo had been coping with the woman for 11months before he met her and how she still copes. He had not been a fan of the woman, ever since Dolapo told him about her 'excessive workaholic tendencies' and how she expects every member of staff to bury themselves into work like she does.
Jay sometimes wished he could get Dolapo a job elsewhere but it seemed Dolapo herself was enjoying the stress that came with her job.

"Jay, i'm so sorry... so so sorry. I had to finish up some urgent documentations, and boss won't let me go on lunch break without completing them..." Dolapo said, trying to catch her breath.
She had flown a bike down immediately after sending a message to Jay
not to be angry with her for keeping him waiting, again. She ran into the eatery, having sighted Jay at their usual spot in the restaurant.

"Calm down babe. Look at you, panting and sweating..." Jay smiled at his girlfriend. Even with stress written all over her face, she still swept him off his feet with her beauty. He knew it was work that had delayed her. Now he wished more than ever that he could get her another job without so much stress, something flexible like his own kind of job.

"So shall we order?" Jay said with a smile that made Dolapo smile back automatically. She wondered how he did that, he was so good at making her feel more relaxed.

"Yes please"... she said.

In no time, they were laughing over lunch. Suddenly, Jay paused on his meal.

"What's wrong, babe?" Dolapo couldn't but notice the silence, and the worry that was suddenly written all over Jay's face.

"Wanna talk about it?" she pressed further.

"I'd be leaving..." Jay finally said.
"I'd be leaving for Abuja next week..." he went on.

"Okay... till when?" Dolapo asked.

"Not sure i'd be coming back..." Jay said.

Dolapo was confused. Jay went on to explain that he had gotten a contract that will fetch him some really cool money for his business to be fully established. He felt it was a good deal and he had made up his mind that if it meant relocating to another part of the country or even outside the country, he was going to do just that.
The only issue he had to deal with was Dolapo. At the start of their friendship that led to their relationship, Dolapo had stated severally that she couldn't cope with a long-distance relationship.

"Abuja... wait Jay, you've completed plans for your relocation, signed the deal, even booked your ticket for the trip and you're just telling me? I don't understand... what am I supposed to do now?" Dolapo went on...

"I'm happy that your business is taking on huge leap and all, but I really don't know what you want me to do..." Dolapo paused a for a while.

"Babe, we'll be fine. I'd be in touch more than ever before, you won't even know i'm not around. I figured you won't give your blessings if I told you about the deal from the scratch. I'm sorry. I'm doing all these for us, for us babe..." Jay held Dolapo's hands, looked into her eys as if to figure out the tons of things going through his babe's mind.

Dolapo just looked away. She had lost her appetite...

***

"Lover girl. How you dey?..." Folusho was beaming with smiles that Dolapo could literally feel oozing out from the phone.

"I'm just there oh... hope you're good?"

"What's wrong? This isn't my Dolly-P now"

Folusho and Dolapo grew up in the same estate, went to the same primary and secondary school, did all they could to gain admission into the same University but it didn't work out. Dolapo had gained admission into University of Lagos while Folusho had gained admission into Federal University of Technology, Akure. But the two friends had kept in touch throughout.
Folusho was always the first person Dolapo talked to about almost anything, especially her relationships. Dolapo had to admit that she was an hopless romantic but had not been so lucky with relationships.
BBM had been very helpful as it helped them to keep in touch more often. She hadn't heard from her friend in a while and hadn't even checked up on her. She apologised for the silence as her job had become more demanding.

Dolapo went on to update Folusho on the latest about her relationship with Jay. She was obviously worried.

"I'm just scared. I don't want to have to go through another episode of what I went through with Shola. You know he never came back, and till date I haven't heard a word from him... besides, Jay is going to Abuja... it's Abuja oh..." Dolapo went on. She needed to pour out her fears.

Folusho tried not to laugh as it was her culture to lighten the mood.
"See ehn, Jay isn't Shola, let's have a bit of faith in him, and that this will be your final busstop, okay? It's too early to start thinking this way... don't worry, you'll both be fine... okay?" Folusho tried her best to calm her friend down before going to give her all the gist she had called her for.

Before long, Dolapo was rolling her on bed from laughter. Folusho was just a major clown and Dolapo was more than grateful that she called at this time.

"It's skype time dear" Folusho said. She and her boyfriend who was out of the country had their scheduled time to talk on skype.
"Gotta go now. I'd ping you once I'm done with boo, and if you're still awake, we'd continue our gist..." Folusho said as she ended the call.

***
She was beautiful, of moderate height, lovely skin-tone, with dark, long hair. She crossed her legs and leaned towards the guy she was seated with, laughing heartily at intervals.
Dolapo observed the ring on the lady's finger, she wasn't sure it was a wedding ring, it was most likely an engagement ring, she thought to herself. She silently wished she could become friends with this beautiful, ever-smiling lady. She had seen her a couple of times at some of their Youth programs in church, with this same guy. The guy was a church member, a member of the Protocol Unit.
She was not so active in church, so there was no way she could have known his name or gotten the chance to speak with him.

She had tried to concentrate on the Singles' Mingle Programme but for this gorgeous couple seated across her table.
Dolapo smiled to herself...
"Someday, Jay and I will be seated like this, laughing heartily, with a proper wedding ring on my finger though..." she smiled again..

"Ma'am, can you share your thoughts on the issue on ground?" Dolapo was brought back to consciousness by the gentle touch of the moderator who must have been standing beside her for a couple of seconds. She felt embarrased as all eyes were on her.
She got up from her seat, took the mic from the handsome Youth President, whispered to him to please repeat the question again, then went on to share her views on the subject matter she now found herself in, yet again - long distance relationships; and how to manage them...


*Being Human
*Faith Tunde-Yara
*photo credit: uptownmagazine.com