City of Love (6)
By Emmeline Bisiikwa, Uganda
I wanted to go home with him but the thought of our blossoming relationship failing scared me. I decided to decline SK’s invitation. He drove me home while holding my hand the whole way and after walking me to my door, he hold me close and hugged me tight. While drawing apart, he held my face and kissed me sweetly.
I went into the house and entered bed. I kept replaying the kiss and wondering what things would be like if I had gone home with him. I fell asleep with a smile on my face, imagining what it would be like to fall asleep in his arms.
The day following our date started with a phone call. He asked how I was and how I had slept. Every day after that, he called, texted and passed by work just to see me. It was exciting to hear from him. Just seeing his name on the screen while he called put a smile on my face.
He asked me to come to his place again, this time just to hang out together. That Friday evening, he picked me up and drove me to his place. He took me on a tour of the house and when we reached the pool, he asked if I wanted to swim. We raced each other and had a good time.
He had had his cook prepare a delicious dinner for us and the table was set for two. In the middle of dinner his phone rang. There was an emergency at work and he had to leave. He dropped me home and gave me a chaste kiss before leaving.
He had to travel and I realized how big a part of my day he had become. There was the evening or morning phone call, the gym and sauna outings together, the dinners and simple 5 minute meet ups. He had become the highlight of my day without even trying.
He was all I thought about every day and night, the brightest thought in my head. Even though we hadn’t yet been intimate, SK became possessive and it thrilled me. He wanted to know who I was with, who I sat next to in the train, who had taken a certain picture I posted and who I was with if out.
I was an open book because I liked that he cared. I would remind him that I liked him and he had nothing to worry about. He started asking what I had told my friends about us and what they thought. I was happy that he wanted a label and happily elevated him to boyfriend status.
He went out of his way to make me feel special, making time for me if only for a few minutes and communicating regularly. I was so happy, except there was a cloud dimming my happiness. I realized that since the interrupted date at his place, we had never gone on another alone together. It was always the gym or sauna outings but he never pushed to see me again.
It bothered me. Who was he seeing? Why wasn’t he excited to get me to himself? When would we be intimate? Was he even into me? If he wasn’t calling and texting every day, I would have doubted that he wanted me. As it was, I had to remind myself that both of us were putting effort into building the relationship. Maybe things were moving slowly and I just had to wait for everything to fall into place.
I would give it more time. After all he was showing me that he wanted more and more with me. I could wait just a little longer
