On a night like this, you sit in the corner of your room and ruminate over life, about all the people you have met and how they impacted your life along the line. The good, the bad and the ugly. As I searched through my memory, Adaeze came striking. Ada’m as I often call her was the first girl I got acquainted with in Uni. If memory serves me right, I think we first met at the F O office during our Year One clearance, and we clicked.

How we choose to make the relationship platonic over the years is a mystery I still cannot unravel. However, I’m grateful for the gift of friendship we shared.

The second semester in our freshman year she fell helplessly in love with this easygoing guy in the faculty of Management. And because love was all she had in her heart, she gave it all out. Money, time, affection and whatnot, she spread it on her newfound lover.

It was rosy until one evening, early in the first semester of our second year she came crying like a child whose cookies had been seized.

A heart-wrenching break-up just happened. The boy was a player and a serial cheat who only took advantage of her swollen purse and good heart. He never loved her. It was after the heartbreak that she built a wall around herself. A wall so strong that everything we said about giving love a second chance couldn’t crack it. She swore never to love again. Never! And it continued that way until the second semester in our final year after exams.

I remember that night.

At a get-together party, the razzle-dazzle was top-notch, beautifully painted feminine faces scattered all over the hall and glamorous dresses competed for attention.

It was at that party that she met the person whose ordinary “Hi” cracked the foundation of this wall she thought was strong enough. An innocent “Hi” from a guy called Nathan, graduated into an exchange of pleasantries, accompanied by the exchange of phone numbers. With the whisk of time, a series of calls and chats followed, and she righteously lost guard and like the wall of Jericho; her wall fell flat.

Even without her permission, love happened. Who can dictate to the heart who to love? I call them the perfect example of what a loving relationship should be, blooming like a fluttering flower in the spring. A relationship so beautiful I bet Romeo and Juliet will be jealous. She finally agreed with me that it’s not enough to conclude that all guys are the same.

“There is something about Nathan that makes him different from all other guys,” she once said to me with a suppressed smile spreading across her face.

She got a good thing going for herself and I had my share of joy and struggles, too. We graduated and NYSC took her to the North and threw me in the West. Thanks to social media, we kept in touch until we didn’t. I made countless efforts to reach but they were all dead ends.

Then one evening after almost a year of incommunicado with her, I was busy preparing the beans I would have for dinner when my phone rang. It was an unsaved number so I was reluctant to pick, but I did. My “hello” was met with a strange yet recognisable voice–Adaeze’s voice. We exchanged pleasantries and were already into making up for lost time with gist and stories. It was going well until I asked about Nathan. Immediately, I could feel her countenance change. In a defeated voice she said.

“See, Igwe, I’m done with love. Never again in my lifetime will I open my heart to any man. Never. You won’t believe that b*****d is married and has given birth to two children already. I swear, he was playing me all this time”.

“Wait! No way…” I cut in. “You mean Nathan is married? How? Since when?”

“I discovered a few months ago” she retorted.

“A few months and I never knew? poor me. I’m sorry to hear this. I mean, I…”

She interrupted.

“You don’t need to be sorry, I intentionally did not tell you because I know you’ll want to preach me into believing that there’s always a reason for everything. For God’s sake, Igwe, these past few months have been the worst days of my life; I’ve cried myself to shreds, I’ve lost all traces of happiness and I no longer know what joy means. But you know what? All those things are behind me now and I’m done, I’m done looking for true love, I’m done with everything, my heart had been broken enough and now is my time to revenge. Don’t bother telling me otherwise because I won’t pay heed to that. It’s time for these boys to see my other colours”.

I tried to calm her down and said:

“There’s something I want you to under…”

She ended the call.

That was the last time I spoke or heard from Adaeze. I can only imagine where she is and what she does with her life now.

Tales of the people we meet along this journey called life.