Modest Lola by Falodun Sadie


I am strolling through the aisle between long shelves of detergent  at the local supermarket, I am heading to the gift shop ,I am done shopping for groceries. It is Ben's birthday in two days ,practically a day and half. I need to get him a present fast. A wonderful gift ,a gift that is significant, a gift that will serve as a memory. That's why I haven't bought a long large bar of chocolate and junks . Ben is a  dab hand at junk consuming. I remember meeting him for the first time in an ice cream shop with a lot of it on his cone. He was slurping and tapping away at his phone . Amazingly Ben is a stud ,he is tall ,has muscles in all the right parts that he should . Firm chests and stomach with abbs ,hard abbs. I was getting ice cream for my niece Candice, she loved strawberry flavored ice cream.  I couldn't help but stop and stare at the gluttony stud. I wondered what it would feel like hugging him . I have been into three relationships and none were as sturdy as Ben, they were all skinny jerks,liars and cheaters. All of the boyfriends had cheated on me, it's like I am jinxed ,but my sister formulated a theory ,she says that I am too modest and modest girls are always cheated by guys with crazy ones ,although they would really like to keep the modest one and marry her. So in order to keep your man ,you have to be half gaga and half modest. I totally dispute that theory, I want to be real with anyone who loves me .And I can't take advice from my younger sister ,even though I am just older than her by 10 and a half months . My parents really messed up , I know they were young and couldn't keep their hands to themselves, according to them they were crazily in love . They are still crazily in love and still can't keep their hands to themselves. I have walked in on them plenty of times making out in the living room .  We both live with our parents even though I and my sister are twenty one almost twenty two . We have our very own jobs but according to Mr Akinsanya's policy we can't leave the house until we get married . Which is annoying ,really annoying and embarrassing too. 

 I walk into  the gift shop twinkling letters welcoming me . I nod at the cashier ,she doesn't nod back or mouth a greeting, how rude? The first section is full of stuffed bears ,roses ,cards mostly girly things ,you know what a man would give his girlfriend .No mostly what a secondary school boyfriend would give his secondary school girlfriend . I walked past all the blinding pink ,into a section where a lot of perfumes were on display, feminine and masculine. I wonder if I should buy Ben a cologne but I don't know the brand's name. I try to recall the scent of it ,which I mostly inhale during our prolonged squeezing hugs. My breasts squashed against his hard chest and his  right arm encircled around my little waist, his left on my left side of my butt. Or during our flaming kisses . The scent of the cologne always clouds my thinking.

I decide to smell each cologne and compare it with the scent of Ben's after about thirty one colognes later ,I decide to stop . All the strong smells were making me feel queasy and I was getting weird stares from the rude cashier .  I give up on perfumes and move unto gift cards ,I read the messages from five random colorful cards I pick . The messages are so sweet and romantic but cheap ,gift cards are cheap Ben is not.

I heave loudly and a lady with brown long braids looks at me like it is disgusting to heave. Some people in Lagos just think they are the ultimate posh especially ladies. I deliberately heave once more ,a spray of spittle probably landing on her stupid long braids . She didn't notice this so  I walked over to the next section, the last the gift shop is very small. The gifts in this section are random stuff , pens ,books ,journals dairies , whatever including panties and undershorts. Getting undershorts for Ben might be rude ,and what if he doesn't like the color and never wears it .I will never know anyway, because Ben and I have never had sex  and I have never spent the night at his house .Eniola thinks its lame ,but I want to be a virgin until I get married. Although I am scared Ben might cheat ,but so far in the two years we have been together. I haven't seen anything suspicious. What if he is being very careful about it . Eniola says she finds it impossible for a stud like Ben not to have sex. Plus I have never ever went to his house ,okay only thrice . What if she lives there with him . Why am I thinking about this so suddenly. I  took a stroll down the section but found nothing good . Disappointed , I walk out past the cashier who gives me the " after checking the whole store you didn't buy anything " look .

I walk into a store next to the small gift shop with the  rude cashier,this is bigger I walk to the gift section and look around ,then I see it ,a small bar of chocolate, its not really edible. It is a figurine. Can I call it that ? It is carved anyway. I decide to get this and a beautiful gift card ,with a beautiful message :

Dear lover.

You are sweet ,sweeter than chocolate ,caramel ,sugar and honey all put together. You sweeten up my life and light it up. 

On this lovely day I wish you all the good and sweet things life can offer .

                 Love from your sweet sweet heart. 



 The color of the card was chocolate  brown and all sweet things you could think of  were drawn on it . I smile and take down the chocolate bar and the card ,after paying  for it . I walk into a sweet shop and buy a lot of junk .

It's not really expensive but I think it is the perfect gift. Ben would love it and I hope Ben isn't cheating, I love him too much it would break my heart.

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