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Winifred Okoye got a call from the organisation she applied to that her appointment had been confirmed. She was so excited! She shouted really loud her mother ran out of the kitchen “Winifred, are you okay?” she asked “Mum, I have a job!!!” she screamed.
Her resumption date was in 3 weeks. She had called her sister in the US to send her lovely outfits and they came in early, thanks to her cousin Joy, who travelled for holiday and brought the outfits to her “Winifred, your sister truly went on a shopping spree for you, you must pay for extra luggage” she teased while they were both looking through the outfits as Joy unpacked” “that’s the prize for being the last born” Joy responded and they both had a laugh.
Getting to her place of work, she was introduced to the staff and her colleagues were warm towards her. Two hours after settling down, her brother called to check on her and she was excited to tell him everything was going well.
Weeks went by and in three months she could confidently say she has enjoying her job. All along, there was one of her colleagues who was usually being teased. His name is Lanre. Everyone would jokingly call him Winifred’s husband, and she would also laugh at the idea but one day, another colleague, Frank, went to her table and asked her if she would love to go for lunch with him. It wasn’t like he whispered it so everyone heard and Lanre, who sat two tables away responded, “She is not going anywhere” and everyone laughed out loud. Another colleague teased saying, “The ‘owner’ has spoken” and everyone went into another round of laughter.
At different times, Winifred would get teased at work and 90 percent of the time, Lanre always interjected. It started off being funny but she was gradually beginning to get irritated by the need for him to show “ownership” more so, because she thought everyone was just joking about two of them being partners, until Lanre actually asked her out for lunch and she didn’t think anything of it, so she agreed.
While having lunch, she observed Lanre began to behave weird, so she asked if he was ok. Though scared and not sure, he finally made his intentions known and she politely told him it wasn’t possible. “I am so sorry Lanre, I am truly honoured you taught of me as a suitable girlfriend but I honestly thought everyone was merely joking about it. I am sorry if their jokes gave you hope but, I genuinely do not see you that way”. He appreciated her honesty and after the lunch, they departed separately.
While driving home, she kept wondering how he would now be relating with her at work. However, to her surprise, he was very matured and didn’t stop relating with her as he would normally do but, she observed that the jokes had completely reduced “he must have told them to stop it” she thought.
A year later, another colleague was getting married and Lanre was chosen to be the Bestman. Coincidentally, the groom’s fiancée is Winifred’s best friend and she requested that she steps in as her Chief Bride’s Maid.
It was a glamorous wedding, and the most interesting part was when two lines were formed and the Groom’s men and Bride’s maids danced in pairs in-between the lines. Lanre and Winifred stole the show; they danced so well that everyone wondered if they were the next couple to say “I Do”.
After the wedding, they became closer, enjoyed each other’s company and after a year and a half, Lanre decided to ask again and though he was sure she now loved him, he was really scared to ask her not to be his girlfriend, but his wife. He had bought the ring and would wake up every night, his heart kept pounding, he was scared.
Finally he summoned up courage. He wasn’t going to tell anyone or do any open proposal so that if she said no, he would only be the person to know. Guess what? Winifred said YES!!!
She told her mum, dad and siblings. Her mother’s response made her shy “I told you that boy is a husband material” to which she responded “Mummy!!! How many yards?” her entire family shouted in unison, “100 yards”.
Winifred got a job somewhere else; she didn’t want to work in the same place with her man. The wedding was a huge success. It’s been five years and they are blessed with 3 children, two boys and a girl.
Kemi Ajumobi
