Nene's Choice (2)

She had never felt so irrelevant in all her life. One minute he was being friendly and chatty then the next minute he had switched into this incredibly arrogant person. 

Who the hell did he think he was? She thought fuming silently but in time she would come to know more about this Jekyll and Hyde character that would be a hallmark for Zelinjo.

She walked briskly to the Library and hoped she never ever had the bad fortune of setting eyes on that creepy guy ever again.

But as fate would have it over the next few weeks, she seemed to always run into him loitering around as usual in front of her girls hostel, chatting up a number of random girls but never giving her a second glance or even acknowledging her as though he was doing his best to ignore her.

She too did the same and avoided any form of eye contact with him, especially as she had now decided after their brief encounter that she did not particularly like him or any of his stupid lay about friends.

They always seemed to move through a constant supply off fawning moronic girls and it never failed to amaze Nene how the stupid girls happily waited in turn to be asked out by any of those shady guys knowing they would be dumped for the next bimbo. 

Why were these girls forever stupid, she mused.

“Hey, watch it!" she heard what seemed like a frantic call. She had been lost in her musings and had not taken any notice of the white BMW heading in her direction. 

“I’m sorry,” she said on autopilot before turning around to see his face looking mildly irritated at her. 
“Why don’t you look where you’re going? I could have run you over just now and nothing would have happened remember this is Naija! Better pay attention! Next time you might not be so lucky, stupid jambite girl” he mouthed off rudely at her.


“What’s your problem with jambites sef? Why do you enjoy harassing people with your borrow, borrow dash me car…you too, look where you are going and use your stupid horn, old timer like you, mschew!” she responded with a hiss and he started laughing very loudly at her which made her even more annoyed.

“Okay, let’s call a truce. I am sorry if I harassed you just now, but you really should be more careful. 

There are many careless drivers about who are not even qualified to be on the road and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you,” he said trying to placate her.

“Wow, this is quite the turnaround. I don’t get you. Just a moment ago, you were ready to bite my head off and now you don’t want anything to happen to me,” she returned.

“It seems we got off on the wrong note,” he said in a conciliatory tone. All my friends tell me I am not very diplomatic and that I usually talk before I think, but once you get to know me, you will find out that my bark is usually worse than my bite.”

“I am Zelinjo by the way, but my friends call me Zel. What’s your name?” he asked.

“Hi Zel, I’m Nene."

“Nene, nice name for a nice girl; I like it. I see you around a lot but you always look so distant and aloof. I've been trying to get a chance to talk to you again, but you always seem disinterested," he said. “I would like to make a peace offering, how about I drop you off?”

“But you don’t even know where I am going?” she replied.

“Quite right and I intend to find out as hopefully you will point me in the right direction; hop in.” 

And that was how it all began. Zel, took to dropping on her every evening and taking her everywhere around town.

It started as a gradual friendship since Nene had misgivings based on the impression she had of him from their first encounter. 

She also had her reservations about his mood swings and the kind of friends he moved around with. She thought they were like chalk and cheese, she did not fit the profile of his type of girls who were normally flashy and happening campus chicks but as she got to know him better, she was able to adapt her ways to him.

 He kept telling she was special and different from all the other “airheads” he had dated.

It quickly grew into an intensely passionate affair as Nene found herself falling in love with him. 

She had never had a boyfriend and Zel was her first love, her friend, her confidante and she found it inevitable that they would become lovers in every sense of the word.

Nene however proved to be a welcome challenge for Zelinjo. He kept chasing her mainly because she had the will power to resist him unlike all the other girls he had been with. 

She had made him wait for eighteen months saying she had never been with any other man and she was afraid of getting intimate with a well known playboy who could love her and leave her as he had done with countless other girls. 

This singular action kept him interested and Nene became his obsession; he wanted her all to himself and could not bear to be apart from her until gradually he won her trust particularly as he never pressured her into doing anything she was not ready for.


 To be continued tomorrow