The Quakers resumed the second semester and it was time for Mandy and her squad of friends to return to college. Everyone was excited about it but Mandy was more excited, she would see Ayo again and she would tell him all the events that took place during her birthday and the change that a simple act aroused in her life. Skylar's words and her gift, she would never forget them.
Mandy and Ifes entered their dorm room. Mandy quickly went to work and started unpacking her luggage. She could not wait. She'll give Ayo the full gist. Ian too, for he had been nice to her over the years.
Mandy finished unpacking and darted into the bathroom and had her shower. At that time, her roommate was exhausted and wanted to eat something good and sleep for a while. Mandy, on the other hAnd wasn't hungry or exhausted one bit.
"So, what do we make for dinner?"
"I'm not hungry," Mandy replied. "I'm going out now. You can figure out what to eat."
Ifes was too tired and decided that she would just have a nice sleep first before deciding on what to eat. Maybe by then, Mandy would be hungry as well. Mandy made to leave the dorm room when someone's knuckles rapped on their door.
She hoped that whoever was at the door wasn't going to stop her from going to do what she planned. Praying softly in her heart, she reached for the door and yanked it open.
Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened in pleasant surprise. Smiling, she drew in a sharp breath, stepped beside the door, and said, "Come on in."
Ayo was elated to see Mandy and her friend back in college. "I heard of your arrival so decided to come and see you. How are you?"
"I'm fine. It's good to see you," she replied, grinning broadly.
"Same here, I've missed you too, you know."
Mandy blushed. "Yeah, I was just about coming to see you," she said, ushering him to one of the seats in the dorm room.
The three of them exchanged pleasantries. Mandy could not wait to start telling him the whole gist.
Her roommate laid in bed, she turned on her side and slept off with the voice of Mandy and Ayo drifting away slowly as she navigated to dreamland.
"So how was your journey back to Pennsylvania? Hope it wasn't that stressful?"
"No, not at all!" Mandy replied, entering the kitchen and returned with a tray that contained two glasses of orange juice and her favorite biscuits. They continued speaking amidst eating.
"We both had an agreement that you'd tell me about how you spent your vacation when you return, so let's hear it."
Mandy's eyes glinted, and she started talking. "Yes, Alex, I've never celebrated my birthday as beautifully as I did this holiday!" Then, she made a pouting face. "Though I wished for one thing that didn't happen."
"Which was?" Ayo asked.
"I wished you were there!"
Ayo moved his hands. "I'm sorry. Hope you didn't miss me that much?"
"Of course, I did! But something else happened, something very beautiful, something you won't believe. Well, I don't know if you could imagine it or not."
He felt the glee in her voice as she spoke. "Well, let's hear it. You seem to be so excited about it."
"Yes, I am." She talked and laughed at the same time. "During the vacation, I was able to find the cause of my life." Mandy went on to elucidate everything to him.
"You said you came back to college with the Bible?" Ayo said.
"Yes I did."
"So where is it? I wanna look at it."
Mandy stood. "I'll be back."
"Here it is." She walked towards Ayo handing him the book that had altered the course of her life.
"It's beautiful," Ayo said. To him, both Mandy and the Bible were beautiful.
Mandy beamed. "I'm glad you like it." She returned the Bible to the nightstand and walked back to her seat.
"So, seeing that I missed out on your birthday, I'd like to make it up to you." As he spoke, he felt every fibre in him nudging and cheering him on. "That's if you don't mind though."
It was time he spoke to her already. "I waited, Lord. I waited and it was worth it!" No need keeping her or himself waiting again, he loved her so much and it was time she knew about it. Ayo looked forward to enjoying a great relationship. With Christ in the centre, all was going to go well.
He was so elated he wanted to punch his fist in the air but he wondered what Mandy would make of that. It wouldn't be good for her to tag him crazy at this point, so he fought to control his emotions.
He wanted to scoop her up in his arms, spin her around and tell her that this was the moment he was waiting for, but he still fought to control that as well.
Ayo shoved his hand into his right pocket, brought out two papers, and handed it over to Mandy.
"What's this?" she asked, taking the paper from his hands to read it herself.
"Movie tickets!" She exclaimed, looking at Ayo
"Yes, movie tickets. I'm inviting you. Can you come along?"
"Yeah!" Mandy said with so much excitement brewing from her voice. "Yes, I'll come along with you!"
"Alright then, I'll be waiting."
"Okay, let me go get dressed." She tossed the tickets to him, stood to make it to her room when Ayo held her hands, pulling her to a halt.
"You are beautiful this way. So, shall we?"
Mandy blushed with the way he looked at her, "Yes, let's go."
And the duo scurried out of the dorm room.
Ayo bought the ticket to one of Mandy's favorite movies. As she watched the movie, Ayo watched her. She was so thrilled with every action. Not being a movie person himself, Ayo only came because it was a valid means to spend time with her.
Only a few movies had been able to catch his attention, the same movies he told Ifes on their way to Pennsylvania.
He preferred watching documentaries. He could see the ten wonders of the world, how the world was developing and leaving Africa years behind. Discovery, science, everything happening like magic.
As Ayo continued in his reverie, someone tapped him. "Hey! Ayo, did you just take that in? Oh! That was quite good! I can't believe I was holding my breath all through that moment!"
Ayo quickly composed himself as though he was also flowing along with the movie and mimicked the way she reacted. "Yes, everything was captivating!" he said quickly, but Mandy did not notice that he was forging his excitement. Well, how could she have noticed? The way he reacted was even a surprise to himself.
"She didn't notice because she loves you," a voice said in his head.
"Yeah!" he replied, "I love her too!"
Mandy kept calling out to Ayo, wanting to discuss one or two scenes from the ongoing movie. Ayo knew that he must bring himself to concentrate on the movie if he was going to get what he wanted that day. So, he completely centered his focus on the movie.
After the movie, everyone began to file out of the cinema. Ayo intertwined his fingers with Mandy's as they strolled out.
"Thank you for taking me to the movies today!" Mandy said when they were well away from the cinema walking back to their dorm room.
She didn't offer that they drive in her car to the cinema because she wanted to walk with him. If they drove, they would reach the cinema in fifteen minutes' time, but walking with him would give her thirty minutes extra to be with him. She wouldn't mind walking for the whole day with Ayo.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."
"Yeah! I am glad too, especially because you came along with me."
Ayo pulled her to a stop and whirled her around so her gaze met his.
"Mandy!" He called out, his pulse running wild. He didn't trust his voice, but he was going to speak anyway. He wouldn't let this chance pass him by.
"Yes, Alex," she replied, her gaze matching his.
"I'm glad you enjoyed the movie. I am also glad that you were happy that I came along." He paused for a while, all he memorized he had forgotten. But blast it all. He would open his mind to this beautiful princess who'd emotionally captivated him, no matter what.
"I– I– I have something I'd like to tell you Mandy," Ayo continued after he had gulped down saliva.
"What is it, Ayo?" she asked, sensing his tense movements.
"I love you, Mandy!"
Those words echoed repeatedly in Mandy's head and heart. Perhaps, this was a dream. She wished Ifes were present to pinch her back to reality. She never saw this coming.
"I waited for you. I waited all this while because I wanted Christ to take root in your life first. And now that he did, nothing else is stopping me. Mandy, I'd like you to give me a place in your heart."
Mandy was still in her state of shock. She opened her mouth but closed it back when no sound came out. Ayo continued speaking.
"I love you, Mandy, so much!" he placed his hand on her chin and tilted up her face to look at him.
She grinned up at him. What wouldn't she give to be with this young man! 'Yes, yes! I've already given you a place in my heart for so long that you didn't know!' Mandy wanted to say.
Oh! If only she knew that Ayo had been aware of that.
"Yes, Alex, you've got a place in my heart already, and I love you!"
"I love you, too!" Ayo replied. Mandy threw her hands around his neck and embraced him happily.
Ayo now felt free to scoop her up in his arms and whirl her around, and he did.
Mandy laughed happily, the sound of her laughter was like a sweet melody in his ears. Her brown eyes shone, sparkling the reflection of the moon that was up in the sky.
Ayo looked up and could not express the glee he felt in his heart. He saw the stars and the moon, and felt like they were all rejoicing with him. They had witnessed the confession of his love for her.
"Oh! That's enough, Alex. You can now drop me. Please, drop me down now!"
"No, I won't!" He continued to hold her tight.
She hit him playfully on his chest.
"Ouch!" Ayo dropped her.
He chased after her playfully, threatening to get back at her for what she did. She kept running, giggling like a little child, dodging this way and that.
"You can't catch me! You can't catch me!"
"You think so? Let's see!"
Mandy laughed as she increased her pace, she knew it wouldn't be long before Ayo caught up with her. She couldn't run away from someone who was tall and had an athletic build like Ayo.
He finally got hold of her and yanked her closer to himself.
"Let go of me!" She hit him as she struggled to break loose but Ayo's grip was strong on her.
He tilted up her face to meet his gaze. "I love you!"
Mandy stopped protesting and gave in to the warmth that she felt. "Oh, Alex! I love you, too. I love you so much!"
----
Ifes woke up from her sleep and could not make out where she was and what happened before she slept. She tried opening her eyes after brushing her palms across her face.
She heard a growl from her stomach and remembered that she had been hungry but it was overpowered by her quest to sleep. This is what you get when you sleep on an empty stomach.
Slowly, she started gaining the knowledge of the environment she was in. So she was back to college?
She stood to call Mandy, then she remembered that the last thing that happened was, she saw Mandy and Ayo chatting before she drifted off to sleep. Now, where were they? She didn't know, but she would call Mandy anyway.
She got up from her bed and dragged herself to the kitchen to drink water from the dispenser when the door to her dorm room flung open,
Mandy darted in like a merry butterfly. Unable to hold back her excitement, she bolted towards Ifes, and embraced her so tightly that she almost choked the life out of innocent, hungry Ifes.
When Mandy let go of her, Ifes noticed her flushed face and the unusual smile that was etched on her face.
"From what I can recall, two people were chatting in my dorm before I slept off, but I woke up and couldn't find any of them," Ifes teased her.
Mandy could not wait to let the cat out of the bag. "He loves me. He loves me. He loves me!" Mandy was speaking rapidly that Ifes could barely grasp anything.
"Okay, calm down. Take a deep breath and start all over, because I can't make out any sense from all your blabbering."
"He told me that he's in love with me. Oh! you don't know how happy I am!" She embraced her roommate again "I just want to keep basking. The memories are so great. I will never erase it out of my heart!"
"So, you've started dating?" She asked as though she could still not register anything Mandy said in her head.
"Yes, yes, yes! We are. You've got to understand me, Ifes, I said we're dating!"
Ifes smiled and embraced her happily. "I'm so happy for you Mandy!"
"Oh, thank you so much! I know you would and that is why I could not wait to return and give you the good news."
As she went to bed that night, she thought of a greater life ahead with Ayo. If God had brought him into her life, he would preserve both of them. For now, she would continue to stand by him and love him.