Something remarkable

A notification popped up on her phone, it was a friend request on Facebook. This person looked familiar, but she could not place where/if they had met. They had so many mutual friends, so why not she thought to herself. She accepted his request.

He sent messages, but she did not feel inclined to respond at first. A few days later, he buzzed again so she thought she would be polite. Before long, she realised that he drew her in, the guy knew how to hold a conversation. He made her laugh and their banter flowed naturally. She looked forward to chatting with him, which they did daily.

Tare caught herself imagining what it would be like to meet him. The topic came up and they finally set a date for him to visit. She was nervous, she had butterflies in her tummy, but it turned out to be such a beautiful time. She laughed like she had not done in such a long time. There was a strong attraction between them and on that front, she had not been getting any action.

Perception, Expectation and Reality

I recently had a conversation with a friend about perception, expectation and reality. It seems like people tend to be influenced strongly by other people's perception of them and this leads them to behave in certain ways.

The fact that sometimes people perceives you in a certain way does not mean that you are necessarily that way. On the other hand, one person's perception of you could influence other people's perception of you even before they have the chance to ever know you or meet you.
I am an advocate for creating impressions for yourself. A person's feelings or experiences do not have to be mine so I prefer to form that for myself.

It's not so big a deal!

There are some things that have been causing wahala for me and I am wondering if other people have the same experience.

Using people's photos as BBM or WhatsApp display pictures:

When it is a person's birthday, there is a trend where the person's photo is displayed  along with wishes. This extends to when someone is getting married, celebrating a wedding anniversary, a child's birthday and any possible thing to celebrate. 

This is an amazing thing to do and it sure makes people feel acknowledged and special.

 I have both of these applications on my phone and I use them like anyone else but there are certainly parts I know I do not explore.

On friendship

Zarah and Hassan had been friends for the longest time. They could have been described as best friends but for Hassan’s girlfriend. Zarah was cautious because she knew that Hassan’s girlfriend was not her biggest fan.

Hassan was known in Zarah’s family. When Hassan would visit the family house, he would call Zarah ahead to make a meal for him or bake for him or satisfy any food cravings he might have at the time of his visit. They supported each other, encouraged one another and they had a friendship that was worth admiring.

Years had passed and they both lived in different cities so they did not see each other as frequently as they used to. Zarah was going to leave for her studies overseas and Hassan was set to marry his girlfriend. Zarah and Hassan were not pleased that she would miss Hassan’s wedding, she had been looking forward to it. So Hassan went to Zarah’s family home to spend the weekend with her and her family before her departure. About a month after she left, the wedding took place. She spoke to the couple giving them her best wishes and for once, Hassan’s wife sounded pleasant. Zarah took it that her insecurities had been laid to rest.

Exploring manipulation 3

If you missed the last two parts, read part one here and two here

There were so many factors that stood against the relationship from the start; my dad had always said none of us would marry a non Igala person, he was a professor and wanted me to follow in his footsteps, he was from a place my people were already prejudiced about, I was in my final year while he was just starting university over again, even though he was 5 years older than me, and finally, I was a church girl and he was a bad boy. There were enough reasons to conclude that it wouldn’t work, the odds were against us. But something kept me close to him...I kept telling every one of my friends who asked me why I stayed that he has a beautiful heart. It didn’t make sense but that was it. I made things difficult for him. Somehow I had convinced myself that nothing good lasts forever so this great thing I had going wouldn't last, so I lived in hopeless fear that it would end. I kept breaking up with him, so I could save myself the trouble but he kept chasing me.

Anthea and Chris...The wedding pictures

Remember Anthea and Chris? The story in pictures:

TRADITIONAL WEDDING, JULY 26 2014

Anthea was dressed in this attire and taken out by her lovely friends to be identified by her husband-to-be.

Anthea and Chris...2

If you missed the first part, you just have to read it here.

For those who have followed the story, thank you for being patient ;)

Chris asked Anthea numerous times what her plans were for her birthday (August 2013). Anthea didn’t have any real plans so he scheduled dinner for two.

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Earlier in the day, Anthea’s brother, Mark and a friend, Ogba, went by to see her. Some of Chris’s friends and his sister, Tima, also checked on her to give their birthday wishes. Her friends suggested that they go clubbing after the 'romantic' dinner so Anthea was made to promise to call them afterwards.

At 7pm, Chris picked her up.  On their way, he suddenly stepped on his brakes stating that he forgot to get Anthea’s cake because he had ordered a birthday cake for her. They were already late for dinner so they decided that it would be picked up the next day as Anthea ordered a cake for herself also. 

When they got to the venue, a Chinese restaurant, he asked to go upstairs although downstairs was almost empty. Anthea wondered and somewhere in her heart was anticipating a surprise as she walked in but was disappointed, so she voiced it by saying she was expecting to see the place full but he simply smiled and told her that their table was upstairs.