Perception – Episode 12

By Dr Ogonna Okeke
Don’t worry mummy. I will be fine” she replied and took her food to her room.

Madame Grace went  into Amoge’s room to discuss with her.They spent some time discussing about Nicky and the possible ways to bring her out of her present situation.

A week passed  by,Nicky was still feeling down. She decided that after her parent’s trip, she would go back to Aberdeen and sort out her issues with William.

Nicky was watching TV with Amoge and her parents. Her eyes were glued to the screen but her heart was far away.

“Nicole ,your dad and I have decided that we are going to visit Santorini this Saturday ,Madame Grace said to her.

“Really! that’s lovely mum. You both deserve the romantic get away”, she said to her parents.

Nicky excused herself and went to her bedroom sadly . The last time she either received a text message or missed call from William was 3 days ago.

She was beginning to get worried. “I guess he is tired of me “, she said to herself. I wonder if he is doing okay” she said to herself.

Nicky knew that if and when she decided to go back to William, it would have to be when she is comfortable with Amoge and William being together in her presence without an iota of jealousy.

Nicky realised that she wasn’t at that point yet.She missed him terribly but she didn’t want to complicate her relationship with her sister in law by prematurely running back to William.

As Nicky was scrolling through the pictures of William on her phone, she received an email alert from Arinze.

It was a flight reservation to Santorini, Greece that bore her name .

Nicky walked hurriedly to the living room where she left her parents and Amoge.

“Daddy I think there is a mix up. Arinze just sent me a flight reservation to Santorini. He probably made a mistake, she said to him.

“It is not an error. We want you to travel with us.We can’t leave you here like this.Your mum and I are worried about you . Besides,your mum would need a sight seeing buddy when my old and arthritic legs fail me” , he replied.

“Nicole my daughter, you need to relax . You are being too hard on your self. Come and cool off with us before you return to Aberdeen for your job interviews” ,Madame Grace said to Nicky with a smile .

Nicky was thrilled at the offer.”Mum but who is going to stay with Amoge when we all travel ?she asked .

“Don’t worry about me,I will be spending the weekend at my cousin’s place,you d3336854/perception-a-romantic-story-dr-ogo/6#50387251”>Re: Perception-A romantic story by Dr Ogo by oluwatymylehyn(m): 11:40am On Oct 21, 2016
Yeah, it’s paramount one tells his past to his partner. William got the shock of his life when he saw Nicole’ family pictures. I’m sure Amoge and Arinze was the least person he ever thought could be in those picture. Do you expect him to spill the bean at that instant he saw it? He never expected to see them. Why not tell her in their subsequent meetings rather than that instant?

Nicky was marvelled by the what she saw.”The view of the sea is simply breathtaking” she said to herself. She wished that William was there with her.

She loved her parents but being in such a romantic city with her parents, suddenly seemed like a bad idea.

Nicky had a shower and changed into a long purple flair sleeveless gown which nonetheless accentuated her curves. She let her hair down , put on a pair of white flat stylish sandals and carried her sweater in her left hand.

She was so hungry yet eager to explore the rest of the hotel that she decided to have dinner in the restaurant of the five star hotel.

She sat outside on the white terrace facing the caldera.The terrace was beautifully decorated with tiny light bulbs. Nicky marvelled at the splendour of God’s creation.

The view of the iconic Skaros rock was superb. She chose the perfect location for dinner as the sun was just beginning to set.

She was grateful that she was there alone.Nicky was indeed happy for the solitude because it gave her clarity.
Nothing else seemed to matter. No problem seemed too big.

“I love William “she said to herself as she waited for her food to arrive.” I don’t know why he hasn’t contacted me or replied my message but I won’t give up on him” ,she said to herself.

Nicky’s food finally arrived. The steak and fries were displayed on the plate so artistically. She felt like a queen. The steak was so juicy .

As Nicky was eating her dessert, a man walked up to her and handed her pamphlet .

He told her that the hotel offered boat rides at discounted prices on Friday nights.The bill would be added to the room so that she could pay while checking out .

“Hmmm, I will give it a try” she replied with excitement.

Nicky couldn’t resist the offer of a boat ride on an enchanting sea.She loved boat rides.

She quickly wore the white sweater she came with and asked for directions to the yacht. She finally got inside the yacht. Nicky was surprised that it looked empty.

All she saw was an empty exquisitely furnished living room. She wondered if people were in the upper and lower deck.”I Certainly won’t be a sailor tonight “she thought to herself .

She opened the small fridge by the mini bar and poured out a glass of cold ginger ale,her favourite drink.

While Nicky was contemplating on whether to stay on board or leave, the yacht began to sail slowly away.

She quickly sat down and picked a magazine to read from the stool beside her. She suddenly began to her music play inside the yacht. Nicky was surprised at what was happening.

She decided to go down the stairs that she saw to know if other guests were on board. On her way down, the lights went off. Nicky was happy she came with her phone. She hurriedly put on the torch of her almost battery drained phone to enable her see her way down.

There was pitch darkness. Nicky became scared.She stood quietly at a corner trying to figure out what was going on.

The lights suddenly came on .Nicky saw a white envelope on the table which bore her name and hotel room number. She opened it out of curiosity and found a pink note inside which read” it’s not too late “.At the lower right corner of the note,she saw a tiny inscription “the view is better from above “.

Nicky ran to the topmost floor of the yacht. She stood there alone.” The view of the sea is really more beautiful from here” She thought to herself .

The cold night breeze began to blow.Nicky became so cold that the sweater she wore felt like a scarf.

She wrapped her arms around her self to warm herself as she soaked in the beauty of the scenery.

She began to hear music playing in the background again .It was one of her favourite love songs playing. Nicky faced the sea and sang along. She suddenly felt two warm hands on her shoulder .

Nicky was frightened to her bones and turned around quickly to see who it was. A male voice said to her ” It’s not too late darling “.

She was so shocked but thrilled to see William standing right before her eyes.He was wearing an emerald green turtle neck sweater on a dark blue pair of jeans.

Nicky could not believe her eyes. “What are you doing here? “,she asked with excitement.

“I had to come and see you” he replied with a smile on his handsome face.

“How?,why?, who told you”…..Nicky tried to ask a million questions in a minute .

“Sshhhh”, William said and placed his index finger on her lips .

“I am so sorry Nicky. It’s all my fault !” ,he said to her with a soft voice.

“I didn’t want you to leave me that’s why I didn’t tell you immediately about Amoge. My world crashed when you left me and refused to hear me out” ,he said to her as he looked into her beautiful eyes.

“I am sorry about how I shut you out. It was my own way of dealing with the situation. I have been a shadow of myself”, she replied.

“Let’s go inside love. It’s really cold out here” he said to her.

Nicky followed him inside. They sat on the sofa together. The music continued playing in the background as they faced each other. Neither of them said a word to each other. It was as if they had been separated for decades. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her.

” I have made a lot of mistakes in my life Nicky. You came into my life at a point when I had given up on love.You brought colour to my world and taught me the definition of true friendship. You have given me the courage to love. Indeed, it’s an honour to be loved by an embodiment of grace, wisdom and beauty”.

Nicky smiled as he said those words to her .”My head is literally going to burst if you don’t stop all these compliments” , she said to him with modesty.

“Okay let us watch a movie then” he replied with a mischievous smile .

William put on the TV and inserted a film into the dvd player.It was her favourite romantic movie .
“This is my best movie “she blurted out with excitement.

“I know babe”, he replied.

They watched the movie to the end in each other’s arms.William removed the dvd and inserted another one inside .

” I am tired of watching movies, I need to sleep “, she said to him with a soft voice.

“You will love this one, I promise. You can sleep in my arms if it’s too boring though” , he replied.

This time she sat in front of him and rested her back on his chest because she was so tired.

The dvd started playing. It showed different short clips of Nicky and William which he recorded when they were eating together, studying and generally having fun.
Beautiful pictures of them together displayed next.

“This is so nice William, how did you put this together ?”she said to him with a broad smile.

Thanks love, he replied.

Nicky was so happy to see a pictorial display of the times they spent together. William seemed to know exactly how to make a lady feel special.

She continued looking at the pictures . She noticed that beneath the pictures were typed messages .He told a brief story about how they met .The pictures ended with a black blank page. Then a picture of Nicky followed by a smiling picture of William.

Nicky laughed when she saw the picture and continued looking at the screen of the TV. Next was a picture of his house in Aberdeen followed by a typed message on the screen.

William stood up and came in front of her.He smiled as he looked into her eyes.He knelt on one knee and brought out a black small box from his pocket.

“What’s going on?” Nicky asked with surprise.

She read the message again , it was a question.

“Will you make me happy forever my love?”.

William opened the box and brought out a beautiful ring. Nicky screamed in excitement.

“Before you came into my life Nicky, my life felt empty.

You put a smile on my face and gave me a reason to work hard everyday.I want you in my life forever. Let’s travel the world together babe!.I love you so much.

Please make me the happiest man alive .Will you marry me , my best friend? “he said to her with a soft voice.

…To be continued