WHAT NOW? 3
Feelings, they say cannot be controlled. It’s a fact that you can’t control who falls in love with you, But can you really control whom YOU fall in love with?
Believe me, I tried but did I succeed? Well, let’s see….
As I said in the last episode, I was determined to keep myself, no man was going to use me and dump me. I certainly hadn’t factored in my feelings, hmmm sneaky little things….
Through all my survival tactics, I definitely didn’t take ‘Arthur’ into account. I would never forget the day Arthur walked into my life. I was sited with my friends at the quadrangle waiting for the next lecture and I hear a voice saying “Hello Beautiful”. At first, I ignore it because I really didn’t think it was meant for me, Six of us were sitting there and when you say beautiful, hmmm, I don’t think I ranked 1st or even 3rd on that list. Well, I think I need to explain.
I was what you called a ‘plain Jane’, Tall, very skinny, no makeup. That was me. I had an amazing shape and lovely straight legs though. Legs so Famous that got me offered competitions for Miss Hot legs several times, which I declined of course. They also got compliments every day, “Nice legs, Hot legs, Sexy legs” lol. But I still was plain Jane, you understand how making up enhances the features, don’t you. I was just ‘there’ as they say. One bonus thing though, i was told I had a great attitude, well, I didn’t realize that at the time.
But for some strange reason, out of all my sexy, beautiful, ‘Pre supposed’ upper-class friends, I got the most attention. Let me explain. Every time we walked from the hostels to the lecture room, almost everyone we met, and this is not an exaggeration, would say Hello to me and I would respond, “Hello, how are you?” O my gosh!, this infuriated my friends, they would get so upset “Why do you have to say hello to everyone? What’s wrong with you? These people are beneath you, bla! bla!!Bla!!!,” and they will go on. But did I care? I would just look at them, smile and say “Ladies, keep your wigs on, stop getting your knickers in a twist, these are people like you and I, do you want me to disrespect them? My dear friends will just roll their eyes up and down, ‘kiss their teeth’ and we will continue on our walk.
The truth is, I was never going to bow to peer pressure, become a snub, too proud to acknowledge a greeting? Of course not. I was my own person, no one will tell me what to do or what not to do. I wasn’t going to become something I wasn’t because I had friends who felt they were too cool to be seen talking to people they felt were beneath them. Absolutely not. Honestly, I didn’t if they were upset or not, no one was beneath me, why would saying hello to someone, demean me? I couldn’t understand it. So, “why won’t they stop being friends with me”, you ask? Well, I was the only one born abroad, and though you might not see it as a big deal now, back then it was a very big deal to be born abroad and in addition have a different accent, well, that was me.
Anyway, let’s get back to Arthur. I heard the voice again, this time everyone else did too, so I look up and there was this drop-dead gorgeous guy. I still remember that day like it was yesterday, he had on blue jeans, a lovely stripped T-shirt and a smile that could melt the hardest of hearts.
“Me?” I asked, feeling confused. “Yes, you, who else would I be referring too,” He said, looking around at my friends. Now, he certainly had my friends’ full attention, all waiting to see what will happen next. To their surprise, he held out his hand and said: “May I take you to lunch?.” Oh my gosh! , everyone gasped, “What? Why does she get the finest looking guy on campus, that’s not fair, Please God let her say no”. Those were my friends’ thoughts, I could read it on their faces. But I couldn’t be bothered, even when the one sitting beside me, nudged me and shuck her head, indicating that I should say No to Arthur’s offer. I ignored her, picked up my satchel and said: “Yes, you may”. Everyone froze in shock. Was Arthur finally going to be the one….
They were in for a very nice surprise….