Strangers to… Strangers?

NB: This story contains the use of strong language.

What time is it?

That phrase. That sentence. That line. How it changed so much.

That was the question I asked him the first night we met. If I knew then what I know now, I certainly would’ve asked someone else. Let’s backtrack shall we?

I was running late for class. It was 6:30 pm and class started at 6. I rushed out of my dorm and ran down stairs, bag barely packed. As I get on the road, I bumped into the stranger.

“Shit, I’m so sorry.” I said as he helped me pick up my stuff.

“It’s okay, maybe next time slow down. I’m Pete. What’s your name?”

Totally forgetting that I was late for class, I responded.

“Haha, right, I will. Nice to meet you Pete, I’m Daphne.”

Now, until now I hadn’t looked up but when I did, I can say that I was pleasantly shocked. What can I say, I am attracted to a handsome face. He had the warmest brown eyes, the cutest nose and the most plumped, pink lips. He was a nice shade of caramel and hmm, I must say, I had thoughts about indulging.

We made eye contact and for a second I felt lost in his eyes. He was talking but I didn’t know what he was saying because I was too focused on the thoughts in my head. Suddenly I remembered, fuck.

”What time is it?” I asked him.

“Almost 7, why?”

I gathered my legs in my hand and ran all the way to class. Can’t believe I was late to a class that was an hour and a half.

When I got there, I opened the lecture theatre door and snuck in at the back. Setting my bag down, a paper fell out. Hmm, interesting. I took it up and I don’t know when he had time to do that but it was a business card, with his name and number on it.

‘Cute’, I thought.

How wrong was I. Should’ve thrown that shit away before I had the thought to call him.

Class ended and I left the room only to go back to my dorm. ‘What a day’ I thought. While walking, I could feel a car coming behind me. ‘Shit, fuck fuck fuck, why me?’ I tried not to make it obvious that I knew they were behind me as I started to walk hastily.

“Daphne!”

I stopped. That voice. I knew it. I recognized it. Pete.

”Pete. Hello, hi. What are you doing?” I asked in confusion.

“I saw you walking and decided to check if it was really you. Do you want a ride?”

Now, before we start to tussle, I know I know, stranger danger, but yah girl was tired and over the day.

“Yes, sure. Thank you so much.”

I got in the car and we drove off. After giving him directions to my place, we started with small talk.

“So I saw the card you left, what was that about?”

“Well little miss Daphne, I had hoped you’d reached out and we’d go from there. But since we are here now, I can ask. Would you like to go to a candle making class with me?”

“Candle making? That’s an interesting choice for a first date.”

”Well I consider myself to be an interesting guy. Besides, dinner and movie seems too typical. I like different. So will you?”

“Yes, I actually think I would enjoy that. When? And what time?”

“Saturday, 2 pm. I’ll pick you up.”

”It’s a date.”

As we approach my dorm, I felt myself feeling a tinge of excitement for Saturday. He let me off, we said goodnight and he watched me walk away. As I walked in, I saw my friend, Freda.

“Freda, my baby, my darling, my lover.” I said to her while lazily throwing my arm over her shoulder.

“What do you want woman?” She asked while chuckling.

“First, I will take a piece of this patty. Secondly, help me decide what to wear to this date on Saturday.”

“DATE?????????” She shouted.

“Ssh ssh, loud ass. And yes date. This guy Pete, bumped into him earlier and well, it ended in a date.”

”Wow, look at you. Left for class dateless and single and came back date-filled and single-ish. Proud of you young one.” She said as we settled in our dorm. Yes we shared a room together.

Freda and I met in first year of uni and we have been inseparable since then. We shared a dorm room that was equipped with a bathroom and a small kitchen which was convenient for us. Freda was studying for a degree in psychology while I was pursuing one in physical therapy. She was the cooker and I was eater lol. She was 23 and I was 24 but yet she acted like the older one.

“So seeing that today is Thursday, what kinda vibe are we looking at for Saturday?”

”Well he said we are going to a candle making session. Never been, sounds fun. But I don’t think it’s a dressy dressy type. Thoughts?”

“Yea, maybe a nice jeans and a cute top would work. Want something nice , cute but also says your not doing too much.”

” Great. We’ll look for that tomorrow. Anyways, what’s for dinner tonight?” I asked cheekily. Freda got up shaking her head while going to the kitchen. Laughing, I took up my phone and remembered I had the card for Pete. Hm, I should text him, you know, just so he has my number .

Hey. It’s Daphne. Got home alright? ~ I typed out. Setting the phone down, I started to think about other things so my mind wouldn’t stay on waiting for his reply.

*Ding*

Hastily, I took up the phone and checked.

Hey, yes I did. Thanks for asking. I forgot to ask before, how old are you? ~ read the message.

Hmm, well, right off the bat huh.

I’m 24. You?

Not bad. That’s a good age. I’m 29, about to be 30 in a few months.

WTF.

This should’ve been my first red flag btw because we know what they say about older men. And even though I had no specific type, I still preferred dating within a 2/3 year difference. Nonetheless, we continued conversation until we fell asleep.

Saturday rolled around and I got myself together in the desired outfit. A nice brown flat slippers, light blue ripped jeans and nice off the shoulder brown blouse with a crossbody bag. As I sat outside waiting on him to pick me up, I reflected on our conversations. Soon, his black bmw rolled around and I stood up, waiting on him to open the door. He didn’t . Red flag number two .

Anyways, with my eyebrows scrunched, I went ahead and opened my own door. I got in and we had small conversations. The ride was good, the vibe was good, and when we got to the venue, it was even more beautiful. We got settled in and we began.

Honestly, we had a great time. We talked, had wine and the candle making was different and enjoyable. We got food after and found out more about ourselves.

Now, this wasn’t the date from hell that one would think but couple months after, we got a little serious and well, that’s when things started to take a turn for the worse.

We were dating for about 4 months now and I started to notice little things. At first, it was how he always wanted to know where I was at all times, even shared my location without me knowing. We had a conversation and he convinced me that it was because he knows campus isn’t safe and he was worried. I accepted it. Then another time he almost chewed my head off for tking to my classmate about a group assignment. So yea, things were not really looking up.

If I could go back, and I knew what I know now, I would’ve walked all the way to the dorm. Not stopping, not passing go. But we live, we learn and we grow.

Thats the funny thing about life you know, it always has a funny way of revealing the truth that’s been staring you in your face.