The rain hit hard on the roof, the sound was louder than the blues playing from my speaker. I got up and turned my speaker off and got back in bed. Then I listened to the sound of the rain against the roof. It was weirdly more soothing and relaxing than the blues I was playing.
I was nearly drifting off to sleep when my phone buzzed. I didn't need to check to see who it was. I knew it was Bambi, again.
I leaned over and picked up my phone from the bedside table. Her message was brief but heavy,
We need to talk. It read.
I took a deep breath. I saw it coming. Her attitude lately was glaring that she was fed up with the way things were going on between us.
We've been together since university days. From the late-night study sessions. We developed deep feelings for ourselves that matured into a beautiful relationship, which we agreed to keep private. The late-night sneaking out for suya snacks at the junction to walking home under the stars, holding hands together.
But now, she wants more. We are done with school and almost settling in with life after school. She wanted clarity and commitment on where the relationship was headed. She was fed up with the privacy. She wants to meet my parents and new siblings, and she wants me to do the same with her family. She felt I was hiding her like some secret I was ashamed of.
But the truth was, Bambi has been the best thing to happen to me. I love her, God, I do. But I've always lived a private life, quiet without drama and gossip. And somehow I wished she would understand. Also, I didn't blame her; she's correct about what I felt for her; it was time I made my relationship with her known, at least to my family.
My phone buzzed again. It was Bambi again
*I’m outside." It read. I felt my chest tighten.
Jumping off the bed, I rushed to the door and opened it to see her drenched from hair to toe, shivering. God, how she looked beautiful even when drenched. I shook my head off the thought and quickly pulled her inside. Then I handed a blanket and a few of my warm sweaters over to her.
"You should have booked a ride or, better still, wait till the rain was over, Bambi?" I queried her. Then I handed the clothes to her, "Get yourself changed; I'll boil you some tea", I replied.
She didn't say a word. She just stood there looking at me. Her silence was louder than any shout. There was hardness on her face, a wall I hadn’t seen before.
I knew that any alteration at that moment wouldn't help things, so I turned and walked to the kitchen. Leaving her alone to change.
Her tea was almost ready when she walked into the kitchen. She leaned on the wall and stared at me.
"Bambi, you’re mad at me. Why not just let it all out of your chest and then keep silent on me?" I said, handing her the tea.
"Marriott, I'm tired," she finally said, her eyes piercing my soul.
"Of what exactly?," I asked, pulling out my kitchen stool and pushing it over to her. But she ignored my offer.
"Of treating me like I'm some secret. Or am I not good enough for you?" she asked.
"Why would you say that? Why would you even think of it?"
"Because I don't know what else to think." Her voice cracked. "Three years, Marriott. Three years, and you still feel okay playing our love like it's some hide-and-seek game. I’m done hiding. I want more. I need assurance that this is real”
"But I has always been real", I protested, reaching out to hold her, but she pulled back.
“Then what is it?” her voice softened.
I stepped back and took a deep breath. "You've always known how private I am. I don’t like people in my business.”
She tried to speak but paused, shut her eyes then she looked at me again. "I'm not asking you to put me on TV. I just need assurance that what we have is real. Do we even have a future together? Do you even see a future with me? Show me so that I'll know my stand in this relationship. I'm not getting any younger.”
I chuckled. I knew it wasn't the right expression but I just wished she could see my heart and see for herself how I picture her rocking our baby to sleep. Fighting over the last piece of fried plantain. I wished she could see it all.
"You know I do Bambi. You know that," I whispered, walking closer to her and holding her. This time she didn't retreat.
I could see tears gathering in her eyes. "Then I need you to pull up your socks and show me if you want me in your life or not" She pushed the tea cup back to me. She didn't even take a sip out of it. Then she walked out of the kitchen and out of my apartment.
I ran after her outside my apartment. The rain has stopped by now. "Bambi, wait. We can sort this out", grabbing her arms.
"No," she pulled her arms free. "Sort it out yourself". Then she walked away.
For days she avoided my calls. Realizing she needed space, I stopped trying. But everything felt empty, my heart, my life, it all felt hollow without her smile or laughter.
Then one evening, I found myself on my way to her house. I got to her door and knocked. I looked like a mess.
A few seconds later, the door opened, and there she stood, eyes wide with surprise.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"To make amends. To tell you that I'm ready... I'm ready to let you meet my parents. To show how committed I am. To show you that I see a future of us together. I don't care who knows, but I'm not letting what we have go".
She tried to hide her smile, but it was too obvious. "I don't know". Her voice was teary.
I pulled closer and looked into her eyes even though she tried to avoid my gaze. "Trust me, Bambi. I’m ready to pull up my socks and be the man you deserve. If you’ll still have me.”
"So what took you so long to realize this?" she asked with a smile while wiping her tears.
"Maybe I was a fool for not recognizing what I had".
She let out a shaky laugh, "Thank Goodness you know you're a fool"
"Okay, I shot myself in the foot with that one", I replied jokingly.
She laughed. I laughed too.
We laughed together.
She looked at me, her eyes softening. “Come in, before I change my mind.”
I stepped inside with her and shut the door, happy to be finally where my heart wanted to be.
A relationship that almost broke up, but was saved by the love they both felt for each other. Relationships are a constant struggle to keep the boat afloat.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Good day.
I understand how she felt. A relationship needs sacrifice from both ends and you needed to make one for it to work out.
At last the young man agreed to make his girlfriend, Bambi, known to his family. Happy night
some AI editing overlay. We have not withheld any curation on this basis. Can you confirm if you applied any editing to this piece at all, and if so what your process and resources were? This will help us to understand and analyse the output we are seeing in our software. Thank you, The Ink Well team.hello @marriot5464. I'm curious, did this meaningful relationship stay the course? It seems that you were both very invested in the outcome. A few points about your piece: Curation would have been higher if you had edited your piece to ensure that missing punctuation was remedied and interesting turns of phrase were identified and corrected (incorrect choice of words in a several sentences). Please ensure that you proofread and edit your stories if you wish for them to be considered for higher curation as we reserve this for authors who take this extra care to ensure that their submissions have been checked and corrected for basic spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors. Your piece also flagged for some AI influence in one of our detectors. It doesn't feel like an AI generated story but may have had
Hi @theinkwell, I used only Grammarly for correction purposes, as was explained by you guys in a previous post. No AI app was used. I've always avoided using apps that will paraphrase while editing and flag it as AI ever since one of my works was flagged as AI and wasn't curated.
This is my personal experience, why would I need AI to write it?
PS: I just did some editing to the work to correct some mistakes you pointed out. Thank you 😊.
Bambi is a very intentional lady. Some ladies literally run away when the guy tells them that they should come meet his family but this one, Bambi is the one pressuring you to meet your family
That’s so cute🥰
Okay, Marriott. May you and Bambi live happily as a married couple 😉
I understand that Bambi wanted a demonstration of security from you because she seems to be clear. I think it's good that you understood her and also that you have stepped forward.
Thank you @marriot5464 for sharing your story. Regards
Bambi indeed meant business because some ladies abandon relationships once it gets to taking them to see your family n