*The Hanging Vine*
(episode 2)
Have you ever judged or written someone off before you even got the chance to know them personally and their core character? If yes, then it’s apparent that I’m not alone for what I did to Oscar that fateful day after the comedy show held at my school. However, before you accuse me of being sentimental and judgmental, first be aware that he actually did portray and show many signs that effortlessly concurred to the fact that he was indeed a proud spoilt brat. Regardless, that didn’t give me the right to totally write him off as though nothing good was ever going to come out of any sort of friendship or relationship with him due to his personality. At least the fact that he secretly paid the Uber driver that was to take me home that night without notifying me nor make a big announcement afterwards, kinda made me began to rethink my judgements about his character. Phew! There was just too many thoughts in my head at that moment that all I wanted was to go home, take a shower and hug my bed till morning as I was both physically and emotionally tired.
At last, the Uber arrived at my destination and I thanked the driver for the ride. As I walked into my apartment, my phone rang and it was no other person than Dora calling. I rolled my eyes and sighed due to tiredness before picking up the call. “Hi dear” I said as I tried to unlocked my door. “Are you home yet?” Dora inquired and I replied “Yes”. She informed me that she was calling to know if I had gotten home safely. I told her I just got back and shortly afterwards, we said “Goodnight” to each other before ending the call.
As much as I wanted to gist my best friend ‘Dora’ about Oscar, I was just too tired to do so that night. “Tomorrow is another day for this gist” I said to myself as I locked my apartment door. All through that night, I tried not to think of Oscar at all but it was just as impossible as telling me not to breathe. I sincerely didn’t want to go down that road but my emotions and feelings beat me to it. Regardless of how occupied my mind was, I tried to catch some sleep because I had both work and school activities the next day.
The alarm beeps got me jerking up from my bed the following morning. Despite still feeling sleepy, I knew I had to make it to the office before 9am as usual. Still tired and sleepy, I managed to pray, take my bath, eat, dress and head out. With every passing minute of the day, I got flashes of Oscar’s face in my memory. He was really handsome and such a ‘catch’ but I constantly tried to convinced myself that anyone with a proud spirit was ‘ugly’ on the inside which will definitely reflect on their outer beauty. Despite being everything he was, I honestly wasn’t interested and that wasn’t going to change or so I thought.
After work that very day, I went straight to school as my classes usually commenced by 6pm: I was an evening class student. When I got to class, Dora had already saved me a seat at the second roll. “Thanks babe!” I said as I sat on my chair. The lecture began shortly and by around 9pm, we were done with the two lectures we had for the day.
Instead of hurriedly taking a cab home, Dora and I decided to walk a little distance by foot before halting a cab and go our separate ways. Once we left the school premises, the long awaited gist I was holding back from her came to light. “I met a cute guy yesterday but every chemistry I felt I had towards him died before it even began” I calmly said.
Sincerely, Dora wasn’t as shocked as I expected her to be since she usually liked these kind of gists. All she did was chuckle and smile. Before I could inquire why she was acting strange, she dropped a shocker; “I saw you with the almighty ‘Oscar’ yesterday when you guys were leaving the hall. I didn’t want to interrupt you guys conversation so I stayed back and just watched as much as I could” she said with smiles all over her face.
For a moment, I was totally confused. The fact that Dora referred to Oscar as ‘almighty’ and also for the fact that she knew him got me really worried and also made me curious to know more. “Have you met him before? Also, why refer to him as Almighty Oscar, did he accompany Nil Armstrong to the moon or something?” I sarcastically inquired.
On seeing that I had no clue on what was going on, Dora began to fill me up. “Babe, that guy is a hot cake for most ladies in this town. His dad is really wealthy so all he does is demand for anything and it is his. This guy has done more harm than good to ladies, he is a chronic playboy and womanizer but ladies still flock around him. I heard one time that he traveled abroad for rehab due to his affiliations with hard drugs and bad guys. Calling him a spoilt brat would be an understatement of how spoilt, proud and arrogant he is. Despite all the troubles that comes with him, many ladies still worship the ground he walks on. I heard one time he threw a party and gave every lady that attended 100 dollars each. That guy is just bad news for a reserved lady like you that’s why you don’t see me shipping you both already” she said.
When Dora was done talking, it seemed as though I had finally realized why my spirit rejected Oscar from the very moment he introduced himself to me. “God never makes mistakes” I thought to myself as I shockingly digested Dora’s revelations about Oscar. There and then, I thanked God for giving me a discerning spirit to detect whom he was at the core at the very beginning without falling into a trap. I also thanked my bestie for saving the day before we unfortunately parted ways. That evening was the last time I ever thought of Oscar again. His memories died a natural death to me.
Shortly afterwards, life continued like nothing happened at the comedy show. I moved on from everything that had to do with Oscar but not until another encounter happened one fateful evening that aroused and doubled every dead feeling I once had for him.
On that day, I was just done with classes and was standing at the school gate waiting for a taxi to take me to Dora’s house. She was sick and couldn’t make it to class that day so I had to pay her a visit to see how she was faring.
As I stood at the school main entrance waiting for any available taxi to come by, a black sophisticated car drove by and stopped in front of me. Before I could move away from there for a better view of the main road, the car window wined down and I heard a familiar voice say “Hey Sophie”.
When I heard my name, I looked very well to see if I could identify the person behind the car steering and to my greatest surprise, it was Oscar. Immediately I confirmed his identity, my whole attitude and mood became as cold as Ice.
“Hey Sophie, I finally meet you again. It was hard tracking you down but I’m happy my efforts has paid off” Oscar said with a smile on his face. Despite not being impressed, I still managed to wave towards him with a faint smile on my face. “Get in let me take you to where you are headed” he requested with so much authority, “No thanks, I’m good. I was waiting for a taxi before you interrupted my search with your arrival” I bluntly said.
On seeing how uptight and a little defensive I was, Oscar smirked, got down from his car and locked it. Without hesitating, he walked closer and stood beside me. I was trying to avoid any form of eye contacts before he confidently said; “Let’s take the taxi together because I’m not leaving you or here this time around without your number”.
Shocked at such determination, guts and audacity, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Tbc
