NEW STORY ALERT!!
THE EMIRATI CONNECTION
CHAPTER 1
I had just purchased a new android phone. I was happy to have gotten a new phone because for almost two years, I had been using a phone that went off when the battery was at eighty percent. So, when I finally came into some small money, I decided to get a brand-new phone.
My former phone had suffered me. It always chose to go off when I was in an important call or chat. I had taken it to a repairer who after examining it, told me I needed to get a new battery. I did get a new battery no doubt. Still nothing changed. My nature of job required my phone to always be on but my phone was always disturbing me. It got to a point where I started having troubles with my boss just because he couldn’t get me whenever he wanted.
All that was in the past now. As soon as I got home from buying a new phone. I installed all the important apps I needed and set up the phone. Within a week, I noticed that there was small issue that was going to cause me some inconveniences. There was a problem with Messenger. All my other apps notified me when there was an engagement on my account, or when someone texted me. However, Messenger didn’t. In order for me to check my messages, I had to literally open the app. It was very frustrating for me. Because of this fault, I missed several important appointments because I couldn’t get my messages on time.
One day, I after I had gotten back from work, I laid on a sofa in my living room, got my phone and decided to check if I had any messages on Messenger. When I did, I realized that I had a number of messages. I replied some that I deemed were important to me and ignored the rest. Soon, I dozed off right there on the sofa. When I woke up some two hours later, I checked my messages again and realized that one of the contacts I ignored had written to me again. It was a female. I decided to open the message.
“Hi, please, don’t ignore my message. I know that I am a strange person, someone you have never met before. However, I am not a bad person. I just want to know you.” She wrote.
I paused for a while, thinking deeply. Most often on the social media, it was the males who made moves like this. How come a woman was doing this? My first though was that it was a scammer. However, when I checked her profile, I realized that she was genuine. So, I replied to her message.
“Good evening. How are you?” I asked.
“I am good and how are you too?”
“Great. Where are you from?”
“Cameroon but I live in Dubai.”
“Oh, that’s great. How’s Dubai today?”
“Great and how is Naija?”
“I am in Cameroon.”
“Your name sounds Nigerian.”
“Yes, I have some Nigerian links.”
“Ok, you are handsome.” She spoke.
“Thank you. When was the last time you were in the country?” I asked.
“Four years ago.”
“That’s pretty long. When do you intend to come again?”
“I don’t know.”
I had to go get something for supper. So, I told her goodbye and went offline. I didn’t go online again until the next morning when I got to work. I checked my messages and she had sent me her number and proposed that we continued our chat on WhatsApp. I was surprised that she gave me a Cameroonian number instead of an Emirati number. I knew it was possible to live in one country and still use the number of a different country on WhatsApp. However, something seemed not to be right with the whole thing. When I got home, I wrote to her.
“Hi”
“Hi.”
“How was work today?” I asked.
“Good. How about yours?”
“Great. I just got home.”
“Really? I just got home, too.”
Another doubt. It was just 3:00 PM and she was home already. What kind of work did she do in Dubai that enabled her close that early? I had never travelled to Dubai before. In fact, I had never travelled out of Africa. However, I had many friends in Dubai and they always complain of tight working schedules, late close from work and sometimes unfavourable job conditions; sometimes. So, this one that this gender closes at 3:00 PM surprised me. It’s either she was telling a lie, or she wasn’t in Dubai. However, I decided to let the matter lie for now.
“Wow!!” We closed same time. That’s great. What have you had for lunch?” I asked.
“Nothing much. I was at MacDonalds. Got something to eat there. And you?”
“I was at MacDaniels. I got akpu and egusi soup.”
“Which one is MacDaniels?” She asked laughing.
“Sorry, I was just joking. I got something to eat at the canteen of my workplace.”
“Alright, I want us to discuss something important tonight. After you have bathed and rested. Let me know. I will be online waiting for you.”
“Ok, I will.” I said and went offline.
At exactly 8:00 PM, I came online and wrote to her immediately, but she didn’t respond. It was possible she was not online. I left the bedroom and came to the living room. I turned on the TV and started watching a movie on Africa Magic Showcase. From time to time, I checked my phone to see if she had come online. However, she still hadn’t come online. After the movie finished, I checked my phone again and she had replied.
“Hi, I am sorry to be late. Went out to see a friend.”
“That’s okay.” I replied. “You said there was something you wanted to talk to me about.”
“Yes, that is true. Please, I want you to tell me the truth.”
“Okay, but truth is relative.”
“I understand. Please, tell me. Do you have a girlfriend or are you in any relationship?”
“Yes, I am in a relationship.”
“For how long now?”
“About three years. Why did you ask?”
“The truth is that I have fallen in love with you. I was hoping that you would be single.”
“But how can you fall in love with me? You have never met before. You have seen just my pictures.” I was concerned.
“Yes, that’s true. However, love is something from the heart and cannot be controlled.”
“That’s true. But don’t worry, we can remain friends, okay? Very good friends.”
“It’s okay, but I really wished you were mine.”
I was in a serious relationship, no doubt about that. I was in a relationship with someone I loved, cherished and treasured. But the question was, did the person feel the same? My lover had broken up with me three times for no obvious reason. She had never caught me cheating. She had never asked me for money, and I refused, as long as it was within my means. In spite of the fact that I loved her a lot and planned to marry her, that attitude of hers got me scared. So, I decided that I would keep this other window open. Just in case Madam break up finally broke up with me.
I had once been in a relationship before where the lady kept breaking up with me at the slightest opportunity. I can still remember how that particular relation ended. Like they say these days, it ended in tears. So, I was afraid not to make the same mistake, since the present lover was manifesting the same attitude as the former. They even looked alike physically.
The lady in Dubai continued chatting me up every day, mostly at night. She asked many questions about me, and I told her the truth will all sincerity. She also told me a lot about herself, though I didn’t know if all what she said was true. One afternoon, she started asking about my spirituality.
“Do you go to church?” She asked.
“Yes.”
“Which church?”
“Christ Embassy.”
“How often do you study your bible?” She asked.
“I don’t have a bible.”
“You don’t?”
“I don’t.”
“So how do you follow the pastor’s preaching in church?”
“I have a bible app on my phone.” I told her.
“Alright, but that is not enough.”
One day, she texted me that she had something important and nice for me. I wondered what that was and I was really excited. Two days later, she told me that she had given my number to her younger sister. She said her sister was going to call me and hand something to me. That afternoon, after work, her sister called me, and we arranged to meet in front of the main gate of the market. When I got there, I called her sister and after a little wait, she arrived. She handed a parcel to me. I said my thanks and went home without even opening the parcel.
When I got home, I opened the parcel and to my greatest surprise, it was a brand-new bible. I was very happy and my perspective about her changed immediately. I started contemplating deeply. If a female whom I had never met could care so much about my spirituality, then it could be she was a good girl and a wife material. From that day onwards, I decided to be more amicable with her. Sometimes, I even let our relationship go a bit off track. There were times I even called her ‘babe’ and we even ended our chats with “I love you.” Nevertheless, I kept reminding her that I was in a serious relationship and that we were better off as friends.
One evening, I was online chatting with her.
“Can you send me a recent picture of you?” I asked. “I have checked your profile and realized that the last time you posted was about three years ago.”
“Nope, I don’t have any recent picture.” She replied.
“Why?”
“I am not a fan of pictures. In fact, I am not very crazy about pictures.”
“Alright, I understand. Some people are like that. But for my sake, snap one and send to me.” I insisted.
“Nope, I won’t.”
I decided to let the matter go. But the fact that she was afraid or hesitant to send me a picture of hers made me suspicious of her. It made many things to run through my mind. However, I decided that I would let it go for now. One day, she texted me that she was coming to Cameroon in two weeks.
TO BE CONTINUED…
