THE MEETING - by Samuel Ibok

Sometimes it takes one meeting for our lives to change forever. It was never Femi's intention to join the league of exceptional gentlemen known for serving ladies "breakfast" at dinner. What didn't he do? I mean, he went by the book and was deliberate about not letting his status in society rob him of living a normal life. Well, maybe normal is not everyone's destiny. Despite fitting the profile of the much-dreaded Yoruba demons, Femi was barely seen at parties, and even when he was, you could sense that he came with work vibes! Femi was a strange guy, I must confess. A 26-year-old multimillionaire who barely wore jeans, cooked for himself, dressed like his 50-year-old dad, and adjusted his glasses twice every 5 minutes. A shy but smart guy. On his 27th birthday, Femi's life changed forever. After spending the entire day responding to birthday messages and saying amen to his relatives who only cared about his money, Femi decided to go to "The Place" by Ikeja City Mall. That was his chosen location to eat if he didn't cook. While eating, a beautiful young lady walked up to Femis' table and kindly asked if she could join him, but he wasn't paying attention and the food was too good! She sat down anyway. As Femi raised his head, he was in awe, and for like 10 seconds, he couldn't say a word. She was pondering why he was staring like that and why he didn't say anything. Well, you couldn't blame Femi; besides, he barely interacted with the outside world. I guess that's the life of a tech bro! E be like her beauty don take bro! He found it difficult to eat. I think he lost his appetite for food but picked up an appetite for her. who wouldn't? After a fierce staring battle and acting like they didn't see each other, she decided to break the ice by introducing herself and stretching her hands. With a smile, she said, "Hello, my name is Temi." It took him a few seconds to figure out that he was to shake her hand and equally introduce himself. Thank God he finally did. There was this aura of awkwardness and glitter - or maybe love - in the air. Maybe those things happen only in movies - something Femi spent most of his time watching. He tried to converse with her, but it was obvious he wasn't great at it. It was cute anyway. After a few minutes, a good-looking gentleman walked up to Temi, tapped her on the back, and said, "let's go." Femi thought to himself, "There goes nothing." Just before standing up, Temi smiled and said, "Elder Brothers, act like they are your dad!" That restored hope to Femi, and he mustered up the courage to ask for her digits. She smiled, looked him in the eyes, and asked, "Are you sure?" He nodded. She put her hands in her purse, brought out a card, and handed it over to Femi with an instruction. Don't call me at night! Femi was so happy, and what he felt was new to him. His excitement made him forget what she said, and he eventually called her at 9:30 p.m. She didn't pick up the first time but answered the second time. He was like, "Hello, good evening, Temi." "I am" - she interrupts and says Femi. He was surprised and asked, "How did you know?" and she replied, "You guys don't listen!" They somehow spoke for over an hour, and it was strange for Femi, who could barely keep up with conversations with the opposite sex. Well, there's a first time for everything. At about 11 p.m. that same day, Temi told Femi that she couldn't recall the last time she spoke this long with someone and that she didn't think it would happen again. Yeah, she was the outspoken type. Femi didn't know how to respond to that, although it was the perfect opportunity to use a reassuring catchphrase. After that night, Femi tried reaching Temi, but she wasn't picking up until he eventually sent her an email! She called immediately and laughed for about 10 seconds. He equally joined in; besides, it was humorous. Following this, they kept in touch and occasionally met up at "The Place." It became their spot. People noticed that Femi was "outside." It was really surprising, and his mom occasionally teased him. He seemed very happy, and she told him to be careful. After a couple of weeks of talking, Femi and Temi had "the talk." He asked her out, and she said yes. That was undoubtedly the happiest day of Femis' life. He had rehearsed the lines the entire week. Don't judge him; it was a pitch he didn't want to lose. He introduced her to his mother and childhood pal Kayode. They all loved her, and she had a positive effect on people. She also introduced Femi to her brother at the gym; it was quite strange because he was there with his gym buddies, who looked quite intimidating. Everything seemed rosy, and you could almost predict that these two lovebirds would soon transition into living happily ever after - I mean, getting married. They were cute together. One day Femi called Temi, but her phone was switched off. This seemed natural until it had been a week and he couldn't reach her. He tried reaching her brother, but he was equally unreachable. He went to the gym but was unable to locate him or his friends. What's the meaning of this? What's happening? Femi was restless and could only think of the worst. Two months later, Femi was still very concerned about her whereabouts. One morning, Femi woke up and saw that some money had been moved from his account and that there was strange activity on his Gmail. Now Femi was a very smart guy, and the chances of getting hacked were very slim. The money stolen didn't hit Femi, but the access to his mail got him scared. He changed his login details and moved money into a safe account. Femi received a distress call from one of his friends one morning, which shook the foundation of his life. The product he had been working on for over two years was launched by his competitors. This didn't make any sense because it was a trade secret that he shared with only three people. It was at this point that Femi connected the dots. In other words, his life changed again. "They say lightning never strikes twice, but in Femis' case, I guess it did." Only his friend and Temi were aware of this project. Femi was certain it wasn't his friend Kayode, but he found it hard to believe that Temi could have done him dirty. Besides, she was still in the wind, and this happened three months after she went into ghost mode. It was equally difficult to establish that the product idea was stolen because there was no evidence of foul play by his competitors. Femi was constantly haunted, and he kept pressing for solutions. He made it his life goal to find out who did him dirty, so he contracted a few hackers to help him. After a while, he was notified that there was a transaction on the dark web for a product identical to what he had been working on. What broke him was the seller's handle, @SheHulk. That was the Temis nickname. She was madly in love with the Hulk character; she had a brain the size of the Hulk (she was super smart); her alleged brother was equally muscular; and she claimed she had never been bullied in school. It was clear that it was her, but a part of Femi still wanted to deny the obvious. I guess this was the comfortable route - eluding reality - because of the perception he had of her. I guess love is leverage. Femi had SWEREVED into a dark phase, and his thoughts were clouded. He resorted to drinking, which got everyone scared. Three years after this terrible episode in Femi's life, he stumbled on a post with Temi and her brother kissing. Apparently, she moved to the United Kingdom during the time Femi was attempting to contact her. She got married to the same person she claimed was her brother. This shattered Femi's heart, and sadly, his wrath was felt by innocent or not-so-innocent ladies. He transformed his body, and he became the №1 bad boy in Lagos with the tag "Heartbreaker." He hooked up with several ladies and served them breakfast back-to-back. "Sometimes love causes more damage than it can repair." Femi had successfully tracked Temi, who has just moved to the UK. He is currently in Temi's apartment with a gun pointed at Temi and her "brother." What do you think Femi did? What would you do if you were Femi? What's the point of love? Is love blind?

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