“I should probably apologise for what I did last night, but I really don’t want to.”
It was camp fire night, and the last Saturday on camp. All corpers were to be seated according to their platoons, but David was sitting with Dara, who looked at him and asked, curious, “Yeah, what was that about?”
He was quiet for a minute, then he shrugged and replied, “I really, really like you. I wasn’t going to say anything about it because we’re only here for three weeks and then we’d go our separate ways, I didn’t want you to think all I wanted was just a fling. But the more I keep it to myself, the more the feeling grows, Dara. And last night, I just couldn’t help it. It didn’t help that you looked the way you did in that dress either.”
She laughed. “It’s an adorable dress, I totally agree.”
“I just wish I wasn’t redeploying or you were redeploying with me so we could be together.” He continued quietly, “Not that distance is really a barrier these days. If you feel the same way, that is.”
She noticed he was looking at her expectantly. She asked, lost, “What?”
He shifted his chair so they were no longer sitting side-by-side but face-to-face, and then he took her hand and said with utmost earnest, “Dara, I need to know that you feel something for me too…that you want me as badly as I want you…that you want to make this work like I do. We could try it out and see. I’m crazy about you and I don’t know how else to show it.”
“David.” The anticipation in his eyes broke her heart. She swallowed hard before telling him, “I do like you very much. I enjoy talking to you, you’ve been like my one true friend since we got here. But I’m afraid that might be all that I feel towards you. I’m sorry.”
He smiled but she thought she saw pain. As he returned back to position, she wondered if she should have given it more thought, or at least pretended to. She had never been in any romantic relationship before and somehow imagined that it would involve much stronger feelings than she had for him. What if she was wrong and the love could grow over time? What if he loved her enough for both of them or if she never met any other guy as sweet? But then again, what if she turned out right?!
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When she got her posting letter after the final camp parade on Tuesday was when it hit her what she had done—or hadn’t. Mum and dad had gone through so much trouble to get her relocated and she hadn’t followed through with the complete process. She didn’t want to imagine their reactions when she told them. The thought of it terrified her.
“Yayyyy, we got our relocation,” Kenny said in a sing-song, waving the redeployment letter and dancing towards Dara as she stood rehearsing how to break the news to her parents.
“Yay, I got posted…to a primary school in town,” she replied, trying to sound as enthusiastic.
Kenny smiled at her and asked, a little unsure, “It’s what you wanted, right? You wanted to stay?”
“My parents will be furious.” Dara bit her lower lip as she stared blindly into the posting letter. “I don’t even know what to think right now.”
Taiwo joined them then and told Kenny, “We’re good to go. The bus is leaving anytime from now.” They were heading to Lagos, where they had lived all their lives and had been redeployed back to. Dara would have to wait for some more days in Gombe to report at her Place of Primary Assignment (PPA) and settle her posting before she’d be able to travel.
“You’ll be good, right? Please take care of yourself,” Kenny said, concerned, and they hugged.
Taiwo hugged her goodbye too, and as she watched them leave for the bus, it took Dara all her willpower to keep the brave smile on her face.
David called to ask where she was, and he soon came, dragging his box behind him. “I didn’t get where I wanted, but where I got is close enough to be able to work something out with my employer,” he told her.
“Good for you,” she smiled back.
“So…I guess this is it. I’m going to miss you so much, Dara. I’ll call you everyday.”
She laughed. “Please don’t.”
“Are you sure? ‘Cause I could if you wanted.” He grinned.
“I’ll miss you too,” she said, meaning it. And as he walked away towards a Delta-bound bus, she tried to decide which of her parents to call first. Not that it mattered, the deed had already been done and there was little or nothing anyone could do to change it at that moment. They would have to accept eventually, and she would just have to live with the decision she had made, however it turned out to be.
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Morountodun is a writer and a microbiology graduate of University of Ilorin.
Twitter: @Morountosweet
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