Imperfectly Perfect Love by @Peero007

"I haven't written for a while, I'm not even sure I can piece words together to form beautiful sentences that would appeal to you the reader, but I do have a story, a really beautiful story...." I paused. Would that make for a good intro? Was something missing? As I pondered, my thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on the bedroom door, and the sight of a bearded light-skinned face peeping.
      "Hey Teddy Bear, you up yet?" Chuks said, as he came in.
      "No, you light-skinned bearded Ogre, I'm still fast asleep" I replied.
      "Light-skinned bearded Ogre? Damn! that's some deep comhear attack, I'm hurt"
      "awwwn, my coochipoochibooboo" I said as I reached up to pinch his cheek.
      "coochi-what? come here and àtone for thy sins you..you.." He said amidst chuckles, he never got to finish that sentence as I planted a kiss. He held me in his arms, looked me in the eyes and said.
      "My Queen, I'll love you & you only till my dying day" Tears welled up in my eyes, not of hurt, but of joy, of satisfaction, of gratitude. Five years of marriage and everyday we fell in love with each other over & over again.
      "And for you my King, my love is unconditional" I replied.
      "So my Lady, what say you, we go have breakfast?" He asked. Yeah, part of his many good attributes was that he could cook, I mean he was an excellent cook and truth be told I always looked forward to his meals, in fact we had a cooking roaster.
      "aha, lead the way my love" I said
      "No me lady, ladies first, you know I'm a gentleman"
      "For your mind ooo, okay" I knew where this was headed, he most definitely would comment about my backside.
      "kaiya! kawasakibumbaybumbum!" Chuks exclaimed- I knew it.
      "Arrrgh! you're still a light-skinned bearded Ogre!" I retorted as I ran downstairs to the kitchen.
After breakfast, we cleaned the kitchen, had some bathroom pleasure, dressed and got ready to go supervise our various money-making businesses.
      "Teddy bear, drive safe & if you must answer the phone.."
      "I know, park and answer... Roger that Daddy"
      "I was actually gonna say, use the handsfree" Chuks said, while making the tongue-out gesture.
      "OMG! did you just give me ela? well done well done" I clapped.
      "No na, oya no vex, park and answer the call"
      "I'll do my own back, just bribe me" I answered
      "Sorry na, okay I know how to pacify you"- Chuks.
      "Oshey, the pacifier, oga muscle" I clapped.
      "hahahaha, Dammy oooo, razz somebody" He laughed. I always loved to he him laugh, it made me feel relaxed, safe to say his laugh was therapeutic. I looked at him all dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, boots & a cap. Damn! he always looked good, to think I almost lost him at some point.
      "Anyway, be a good boy, don't snub babes that wink, smile or greet you, please be civil with them...come hug & kiss Mommy before you go"
.

Alright, you may be thinking, that's some perfect-fairytale-happily-ever-after-bullshit type of relationship, well, everyone's got their opinions based on individual perception, reasoning and experience. Chuks didn't fall from heaven, with full options or factory fitted everything, No! he was a man with flaws and imperfections, perhaps I should take you down memory lane to before we got married.

After my first degree in Nigeria, I went to the U.K. to do a second degree, then Masters. Well living abroad wasn't something I wanted, so I had made plans to come back to Nigeria to setup a business immediately after getting my M.Sc.

The day had finally come, I was back in Nigeria, I stepped out of the arrival hall and was greeted by the heat from the scorching sun.
      "Madam, where are your people?" the porter asked as he wheeled the trolley. Truth was I had no idea where they were.
      "Car hire Ma, with AC." An elderly man said. For a moment I was confused as I wasn't sure what to do, someone was supposed to pick me up, the thing was I didn't know how to identify the person, I turned around in confusion because I wasn’t sure whether to wait or just use a cab.

      “Hello Miss Damilola Oladeji” I heard my name and turned round to see who knew me, well he did look familiar, I just couldn’t place where and when I had seen the face.

      “Yes, Hello, who are you and how may I help you?” I queried. I wasn’t sure if I sounded rude or not because at that moment all I really wanted to do was go home.

      “Your Dad, Captain Boye asked me to come pick you up.” He replied.

      “My Dad sent you? Who are you?” I asked. Was that rude too? I think not, what with stories about kidnappers, one had to be sure, the issue was how was I to confirm if my Dad had sent him, the dude wasn’t even paying attention, he was punching his phone.

      “Hello Sir…yes Sir…she’s right here, okay Sir. Here your Dad” He said as he handed the phone to me, so the dude was calling my Dad the while I saw him punching the phone, why didn’t I even think of that?

      “Hello Daddy, the eagle has landed…hahahaha…I’m fine Daddy…yes…yes…okay….alright Dad, see you soon, love you” I handed the phone back to him.

      “You guys wait here while I go get the car from the park” He said.

He brought the car, I settled the porter and we were on our way home. I missed the sights and sounds of Lagos, from the mad drivers to the crazy riders, from the hawkers to the numerous uniformed personnel, Lagos was indeed unique. We drove in silence, save the music coming from the car stereo. It seemed like the fellow driving me wasn’t a talker, talking about the fellow, I stole another glance at him, he looked way too good and refined to be a driver, perhaps he was one of Dad’s I.T. experts ‘cause he dressed like them.

      “Would you like something to get something to eat?” He asked. Free food? I wasn’t one to turn down free food, never! But I was turning down this one, just this once.

      “Oh yes…I’m sorry, I mean no, thank you” I muttered. That’s what happens when the valve of brain to mouth is faulty.

We finally got home, home sweet home, nothing had changed, Agnes was still the maid, Okon was still the gateman, our next house neighbors were still the lousy, noisy, nosy Edo people they were years ago when I left. I inhaled and exhaled “ahhhh” the sweet smell of home, indeed nothing had changed, well except for the dude that came to pick me from the airport, I still didn’t want to believe he was a driver, there was no way he could be the driver, I mean he looked way too refined for that, anyway I intended to confirm from Dad.          One would expect that after my journey I would take about a week to get some rest before being in physical contact with the outside world, but no, Dad & Mom were at different parts of the world working and even though I was used to living without them around, this house was way too big to leave alone, the very next day I was up and about, getting prepared to step out. I needed to go see Chichi my childhood friend so we could discuss steps to take as regards starting a business here, she was the best person I could always run to for business ideas and advice.

We were out and on our way, then I noticed my too-refined-to-be-a-driver driver was about to take a route other than the one I knew.

      “Please what’s your name? and why do you want to take that route?” I asked?

      “Dave,To avoid traffic” He answered.

      “Sorry, but please use the normal route, there isn’t usually traffic there at this time” I said feeling like a boss, turned out my judgment was inaccurate, in fact we spent three and a half hours more time than we would have spent if we had followed Dave’s route. I was too stubborn to admit I knew nothing about Lagos traffic and detours to avoid them, it took three more faulty traffic decisions from me to acknowledge the fact that I should never question Dave’s traffic avoidance system.

We finally got to Chichi’s place, she was already outside waiting for me, the moment I stepped out from the car, she almost knocked me over as she ran to hug me.

      “DAMMMMY!” she screamed.

     “Chichi chikito of life, I’ve missed you ehnn” I said

     “I know right, you’re looking good, turn round, turn round let me see, see your curves ooo” She said, while turning me around, yeah she was a crazy one.

     “Which curves, abeg leave curves jare”

     “Sly! You just came back to Naija and you already have boyfriend ehnn, you didn’t think it good to tell me” She said, pointing at Dave in the car.

     “No no, he’s not, he’s my…” I made the driving gesture, ‘cause I still couldn’t bring myself to refer to him as “Diver”

     “Bros, I greet ooo” Chichi bent to greet Dave, Dave smiled back & waved at her back. I was in awe ‘cause I had never seen him smile, I mean I didn’t think he knew how to smile.

     “Babe, did you say he’s you’re a driver?” Chichi whispered in my ears

     “errr…something like that” I replied.

     “NA wa oo, this fine bobo, give me his number na since you don’t want”

     “Chichi so you haven’t changed, anyway I don’t even know anything about him apart from his name” I said

     “Collect the number na, you want to keep him here till night?” Chichi asked

     “Oh that’s true, I didn’t think about that”

     “How will you think, when you left your sense abroad, do and meet me inside”

I exchanged numbers with Dave and let him go so he could attend to other personal business rather than waste his time waiting for me. Chichi and I rather than plan and strategize just got lost in gossip, there was nothing or no one we didn’t talk about. Both of us had taken the decision to stay away from relationships for a while and that was because we both had been through hell in our previous relationships, for me, the decision included staying away from sex and I must say that was a very difficult thing to do, but I managed while Chichi on the other hand had found a way to satisfy her urge, she had become a heartbreaker, once she got what she wanted from a guy, she tossed him aside and continued living like he never existed, too bad I couldn’t be like that.

    “It’s already dark & we haven’t discussed what brought me here” I said.

    “Like you didn’t enjoy the gossip session, so what do you have in mind?” Chichi asked

    “Nothing, that’s why I came to you” I answered.

    “Dammy, need an honest opinion?”

    “No, I came all the way here for a false opinion abi”

    “Hehehe, Dammy get a job first, gain experience so you can have stuff to add to your CV, also you can earn money from work while you start the business on the side, just in case it fails, you’ll have something to cushion the effect.”

    “Work? Where do I start looking?” I asked.

    “I was right when I said you left your senses abroad, your Dad has companies, can’t you talk to him?”

There was no way I would go to Chichi with an issue and not leave with a solution, she was my guardian angel, I had never thought about what she suggested, it all made a lot of sense. I spoke to my Dad over the phone when I got home. His reply-

     “My baby, you have no idea how excited I am, now I’m very certain you’ve grown” I could feel the excitement in his voice.

It turned out there was a vacancy for the departmental head of human resources at one of his companies in Lagos. An interview was organized, not that it was necessary, it was just protocol. And that was how I got my first job, it was indeed a challenging experience for me. Dave was still the one who drove me around and we barely talked, all we did was greet each other, then each one to his own business.

One day my ex who had been disturbing me with talks about how he missed me and how he hoped we could start afresh requested we met and discussed. I got tired of his talks and decided to pay him a visit at his house so I could talk some sense into him, I told Chichi, she thought it was a terrible idea, but she wasn’t in my shoes so I didn’t expect her to understand. Dave drove me to his place, I told him I wasn’t staying long. My ex welcomed me, then started explaining and apologizing for the past while I just sat there sipping the drink he offered and waiting for him to finish talking so I could hit him hard with words he never expected. I just suddenly began to feel dizzy & horny at the same time- weird right? I tried to stand up but collapsed back into the chair, one look at my ex and the evil smile on his face told me I had been drugged. He stood up and came to me and whispered.

      “Let me take a bath, we’re ‘bout to have fun baby” He laughed, then turned up the volume of the music player before leaving, so screaming wasn’t even an option, I tried to stand up again, but couldn’t, legs were wobbly, I began to regret not listening to Chichi, I thought of who I could contact to save me immediately- Dave! With shaky hands I sent a text

      “Sav me drug weak rape music” was what I sent & silently prayed he would understand, I called him and can’t remember what I said or whether he heard at all. My ex came out & without much ado forcefully began kissing me, I felt so helpless because I didn’t have the strength to resist or put up a struggle,everything was beginning to spin fast like I was in a carousel and I couldn’t keep up, last I remembered before I passed out was Dave charging in, dealing my ex a big blow that knocked him out and carrying me out, for a brief moment there was this feeling of déjà vu, then I passed out.

I didn’t come round till the next day, I opened my eyes to find Dave & Chichi chatting, the walls of the room didn’t look familiar and the smell immediately told me I was in a hospital, how I had gotten there, I had no idea. Dave explained to me all that happened, truth was I could only remember going to my ex’s place and I couldn’t remember every other thing that happened. I wept and couldn’t thank Dave enough.

Months after, you would think Dave & I would have found a common ground, if nothing, he saved my life and saved me from getting violated the second time, because it would have been devastating for me, alas! Dave and I didn’t move an inch from the usual greetings. Chichi kept teasing me about him and I kept telling her he was not my type, he was too quiet, too fine for my liking, he didn’t even possess any of the qualities I wanted in my man, so nothing of sort could happen between us ever.

One afternoon at the office, I was looking for a document and had to go through really old files, then I saw a resume where it shouldn’t be and I thought to myself how someone could be so careless to put a C.V. in a folder for receipts. I quickly glanced at the qualifications and wondered why someone with that good a resume didn’t get the job, because the resume was just too loaded and the owner was even went to the same school as me, I looked up at the name, it looked very familiar then I checked the application form for the person’s passport photograph. When I saw the passport photograph, the color drained from my face and I became weak instantly, I looked at the name and the photograph again. Something had to be done, I was pretty sure my Dad wasn’t aware, so I called my Dad and he told me I was in charge and that he trusted  my judgment, I also called Chichi about my latest discovery, she was shocked too. I had an idea, I knew just what to do.

As we drove back home, different thoughts poured through my mind, lost memories began to surface.

     “Dave, I feel like doing junk food tonight” I said.

     “Okay” Was his reply, it was so difficult starting a conversation with him and he just flowed with other people, I wondered why my case was different. I fell back into my chasm of thoughts, travelling down memory lane to my university days in Nigeria, then the terrible experience I couldn’t remember all these years came and it felt like I was watching it in HD.

    “errr…We’re here” Dave nudged me and jolted me back to earth.

    “Oh, did we just get here?” I asked.

    “No, we’ve been here for like two minutes” He answered

    “Oh sorry…I didn’t know, I was so lost in thought” I said.

    “Obviously” he replied as he made to get out of the car, I held his arm

    “Mr. David Chukwuka Agu, I called his name & that got his attention.

    “How did you…” He asked,he sounded surprised.

    “Now I understand why you barely talk to me, you hate me and you have every right to, but just hear my side of the story first, please”

    “Wow, this is interesting, can we talk over dinner?”

Dave and I were in the same department in the University and even though he didn’t tell me to face, each time our paths crossed, there was always this disdainful look on his face, he was the most intelligent and rumor had it that he could take an exam for any course at all and come out tops, some students didn’t like him ‘cause he stole their shine, some lecturers hated him because he always proved them wrong. On one occasion I had crammed for the wrong paper, I wept because I could see myself having an “F”, out of pity Dave had decided to help me, we got caught, I paid my way out of trouble but Dave wasn’t given that opportunity, it soon became a very big case that cost him an extra year, I didn’t know how to thank him, I was really proud then and I never got to thank him. Again Dave had gotten beaten to pulp for rescuing me from guys that drugged me and each wanted to rape me, the first one had just penetrated when Dave scared them away, he carried me to the hospital and that was the last time I heard or saw him.

     “I’m so sorry, I don’t know how to ever repay you.” I said with tears welling in my eyes.

    “Honestly, it’s in the past, I’m curious though, all these while, you didn’t know it was me?” Dave replied

    “Well at the airport, your face did look familiar but I couldn’t place where…hey don’t blame, your glo up was epic” I said as I showed him the resume.

     “Oh my God, Dammy”

     “Dave what happened? I told Chichi you were too refined to be a driver, what I don’t understand is how you have such a heavy C.V. and you’re driving?”

He explained how he had dropped that the C.V. years back and had forgotten he submitted a C.V. then recently someone had asked him to look for a driver and he had delivered himself as a driver until something better came along.

And there began our friendship, the more we talked the more I got to know about him, I was very shocked when he said he had been an orphan from birth and had gotten involved in all kinds of hustle to get an education, I found myself warming up to him, but kept telling myself he wasn’t my type. We were recruiting, so it was the perfect time to fix him up, everyone who went through his C.V. knew he was a valuable asset to the company. He had many brilliant ideas, one of which he told Dad through me and it was a huge success, That made him like Dave more, in fact he loved Dave. That still didn’t make him my type of guy.

      “So Dammy, what’s up with you & Dave?” Chichi asked.

      “Nothing, you’re still on this issue? I’ve told you, he’s not my type” I was beginning to feel irritated.

      “Oh really, not your type abi? Sometimes I wonder what you use your brain for” Okay if I knew Chichi well, an atomic bomb was sure to follow

      “Not your type, all the guys you dated in the past were all your type, where are they today? It was your type that drugged you & almost raped you, it was your type that duped you, it was your type that almost talked you into scamming your own father, it was your type way back in Uni that arranged to have boys drug & rape you. Should I continue? Think Girl, use your head!” And that was the bomb. Anyone who heard Chichi reprimand me would think she was my elder Sister, but in reality I was older than her by a few months.

Let’s make a long story short, Dave and I fell in love, we began dating, it wasn’t a bed of roses, as you know I was stubborn and forward, but on the long run Dave’s calm attitude to my stubborn nature & the cynical smile on his face each time my stubbornness landed me in trouble made me decide to turn a new leave, just to make me happy he would deliberately not get something right. We dealt with our flaws but capitalized on our good, spiced up our relationship with little things people took for granted. Dad noticed our friendship wasn’t ordinary and started referring to him as “Your husband”. After courting for five years, we finally got married and at the reception Dave gave a short speech.

      “Nothing beats getting married to your best friend, it even gets better when that best friend was your crush from secondary school till you both finished from the same university….” I shed a tear, I couldn’t imagine if I had lost him due some stupid standards I had made. As we danced he whispered into my years.

     “Years ago, you said something about me hating you, truth is I never hated you, I loved you and always tried to look out for you. It just always pained me that I didn’t have the courage to talk to you.”. I looked at everyone around us, I saw Chichi and her man looking so in love, she saw me and winked, I winked back. The wedding had a somewhat dramatic twist to it when I threw the bouquet and Chichi caught it, her boyfriend proposed to her right there and then.

And that’s how as imperfect as we were, we worked hard to direct our relationship towards perfection, talking about an imperfectly perfect love.