Fate

I wasn't in for marriage, yet I was continually dating so many girls. I was clothed in my suit waiting for the girl I had tried to describe to My Dating App. I wanted marriage although I didn't want to show it, my heart was eager for it. Living a simple life with my wife and our children somewhere peaceful wouldn't be something hard to ask for. My past lovers called me the slow type but I called it my technique.

''What's she wearing?'' I asked the App as I parked my car. I smiled and checked if everything was alright. My perfume was perfect and it was Angel's favorite. She once told me that anytime I wore that perfume all the girls turned to look at me. I sat for some time imagining how she would look like today. It had been eight years away from high school and I hadn't heard a word from her.

I stood from the car and walked gently into the restaurant holding unto my phone, waiting impatiently for the answer to my question. The waiter took me to my seat and after looking at my phone for some time I turned to look around. 

''What if she's here already? I must look presentable before her.'' I smiled and then glanced at a familiar face. That particular face that I would be able to pinpoint even after a million years. 

It was Angel, my high school sweetheart. The only woman I have truly loved. The relationship between the both of us was based on what the fairytale lovers would have called true love, not physical features or anything like sex. Sex wasn't our focus in the relationship and I'm proud not to have slept with her not even once.

She seemed to be staring at me ever since I walked in. That blonde short bob of hers' that she had kept from high school. That orange cloth with black spots which she always liked. She wore clothes like that for easy identification and it always went so well with her complexion. Seeing her reminded me of the experiences we had shared together and then how she left without a word also came to mind. I could tell that she was waiting for my first impression and the smile surprised her. I walked over to her table and my phone beeped. Before I could begin to speak to her, the App had asked me a question instead of replying to mine.

''What are you wearing?'' the App asked and I described myself. I wasn't bothered because just like me she was also busy with her phone.

''Hi!'' she began.

''We are passed hi and you know that'' these words just came out of me before I could react and she laughed. The smile was still the same and that laughter that seemed like she had a pebble in her throat; ironically, I loved it. Nothing had changed except the fact that she had grown much more beautiful with age.

''Some things never change,'' she said and I smiled, ''so may I know what you are doing here?''

''I came to meet a friend.'' I lied. I didn't want to tell her that I had come to meet my date but I knew for a fact that she would find out after I had eventually met my date.

''What of you, what brings you here?'' I asked and she repeated my words. She put her hands through her hair just like I always liked it and I was tempted to touch her hair. Time had made me cautious and more strategic. I slightly raised up my hand and made it into a fist. She laughed again.

''You haven't changed,'' she added and I could feel the gloom in her voice.

''What if fate brought us together once again?'' I asked.

''You know for a fact that I do not believe in fate,'' she replied and our phones beeped together. It was the Dating App once again and it finally gave me the answer to my question. 

''She's dressed in orange casual wear with black spots.'' I turned to look at her and vice-versa. We laughed.

''I thought you were seeing a friend?'' Angel asked me and I giggled.

''What did you expect me to say. Frankly, I couldn't have told you that I was waiting for my date if I know very well that you have occupied that position before.'' I spoke sincerely and she held unto my hands. Through the time I've known Angel, I've known for a fact that she liked sincere men. Anytime she asked me a question, I found a pleasing way to tell her the truth. One thing that I could do so well.

With her tender fingers on my hands, I didn't know if what I was feeling was friendship or the rekindling of a love that actually never ended. I drew closer to her and I noticed her tears.

''I didn't want to leave but I had to. I knew you would follow me if I told you. You had an entire group of book publishers following you day-in-day-out and I couldn't destroy your dreams with my change of settlement.''

''At least a mail would have done. You left without telling a soul in high school. Your departure destroyed my dreams.'' I added much more sincerely remembering the names people used to give me after Angel had left. I remembered how insensitive I became to girls and the advice a fellow worker gave me to join a dating website and rekindle my feelings for women.

''Mum left me with Dad and run away to her lover's. Dad began to smoke and take in excessive alcohol that caused him stomach cancer. After months of battling it out with cancer, he died and left me with nothing than his alcohol debts. I moved to Grandma's residence before any of my neighbors asked me to pay for my father's debt. Granny's place was far away from the country and my nightmares became real in that house.'' she trembled as she said all these and I knew then that she was not to blame.

Who could actually concentrate on his/her love life if going through all these challenges?

''I understand you,'' I said sincerely and she believed me.

''So many awkward things happened at Granny's. Things I would not want to talk about. The truth is I thought you had forgotten about me. The feeling I had inside was and is still the same but I knew you would ever accept me.'' she cried this time around.

''I love you,'' I whispered to her.

''But do I?'' she replied in a questionable manner that got me surprised but all I cared about was the fact that we had met again and I had had the opportunity to see her face once again. That lady who was once the love of my heart...