"I should have just been obedient when I saw the weather forecast, but no, I never paid attention nor left home with an umbrella; now I'm drenched and looked homeless, matches," Tola hissed and murmured as she entered the mall.
"Sorry, ma'am, you should have waited a little bit for the rain to calm down before heading out." the attendant who saw how drenched Tola was with rain showed concern.
"Don't mind me, I was arguing with the weather forecast, now see the result of my obstinance," Tola explained her ordeal.
"Sorry about that; let me get you a small towel to mob your hair at least," the attendant said as she quickly headed to the store room and returned with a small towel for Tola.
"Thank you so much for your kindness; I appreciate it," Tola said and returned the towel, then moved with a cart to shop for her needs.
"Drenched in the rain, drenched in the rain, stubborn Tola is drenched in the rain." Tola was humming this song when she bumped into another cart accidentally.
"Eh! I'm sorry, sir, I am so sorry, forgive my clumsiness", Tola said as she shifted her cart so that the man could have his way further.
"It's OK, ma'am; I've been listening to your song from the other side. You need a change of raiment, aren't you feeling chizzy with your soaked clothes on?", the man said.
"Forgive my manners, I'm Bolu, what about you?", the man asked before Tola could answer the first question.
"Mr. Bolu, nice to meet you, sir; I'm Tola. Hope you aren't making fun of my cracked voice; I quickly wanted to get the things I needed; I will head home soon; thanks for your concern, sir", Tola humbly replied.
"Okay, ma'am, let me leave you to hurry before you start feeling cold," Bolu said as he moved on.
"Hmm, what a cool and calm young man," Tola said with a smile as she continued her shopping.
After picking up all she needed, she went to the counter to pay; there was Bolu, the young man she had spoken with earlier.
"How much is my bill?", Tola asked after the attendant had calculated it all.
Bolu stretched his debit card to the attendant and asked her to deduct Tola's bill from it.
"Mr Bolu, you don't have to do that sir, please", Tola said innocently.
"I didn't do anything ma'am", Bolu said with a smile.
Looking around, Tola remembered an item was missing from what she had in mind to buy; she quickly rushed back to the shelf to pick it up, and on her return, she met Bolu still waiting for her. She paid for the last item with her card, and Bolu handed over the previous receipt to her, which his mobile number was written at the back.
They both stepped out of the mall smiling, and then Bolu requested Tola to join him so that he could drop her off, but Tola declined.
"I'm not going straight home, sir; thank you for your kind gestures; I wouldn't like to delay you," Tola humbly replied.
"Okay then, give me a call; that receipt has my number," Bolu said.
Tola, who was wondering where his number was, saw it written on the back of the receipt. She smiled and watched Bolu zoom off.
"He's not bad, okay, Tola? Let's get you home," Tola said to herself as she called up a cab and gave directions. Her car was with her mechanic so she was heading there to pick it up.
Later at night, Tola gave Bolu a call, and they had a nice time discussing. They began with casual calls and talks till late-night check-ups and eventually went on a date.
"Hello angel, how has your day been? Prepare for a date on Friday. Want you toʻ judge my cooking skill?" Bolu said jokingly.
"Handsome chef, I will be willing to be your guest judge. Do you mind dropping the location for the event?" Tola asked playfully.
On Friday, Tola dressed gorgeously and headed to the address given to her. On getting there, she called Bolu, and he came outside to open his gate, unaware that Tola had a car.
"Oh wow, you've got a beautiful baby there," Bolu said, pointing to Tola's car.
"Thank you Chef, and you've got a beautiful apartment too, a beauty to behold from outside", Tola said.
"I'm blushing, ma'am; thanks for coming," Bolu said with a broad smile as he led Tola inside.
"Wow, you have a nice place I must confess, this is so beautiful. I love the interiors", Tola said to Bolu with a wink.
"Thank you, I'm glad you like it. Sit ma'am, what would you like to have", Bolu asked.
"Emu (palmwine), that should do", Tola said jokingly.
"I'm sorry ma'am, i don't have that in my restaurant for now. If you don't mind, a chilled orange juice is available, so also is a chilled red wine, a very good one for your heart", Bolu said jokingly.
"Taking care of my heart is my utmost duty, I'll go for the one with the heart treatment doc", Tola said and they both laughed.
In no time, Bolu returned with a bottle of red wine and two glass cups. They drank and had a chitchat before heading to the dinning to eat. Bolu had prepared a yoruba (native) dish which Tola had told him earlier in their discussion that she liked and while eating, Tola confessed that Bolu is a good cook. The two had a nice time reminiscing on how they met and the future ahead of them.
"I'm glad I was obstinate that day and still left home for the mall despite the weather forecast. It wasn't a waste after all",Tola said with a smile.
"That's a heart shopping, you shopped for my heart", Bolu replied and they both continued their friendship which later end in a marriage.
Thanks for your time and your comments will be appreciated.
Posted Using INLEO
A shopping tale that ended in love. A very entertaining read, it's very interesting to see how the protagonists met and the chemistry that flowed between them.
Thanks for sharing your story with us.
Good day.
I was reading a very entertaining romantic comedy. A day that started out catastrophic and ended up being a nice dream.
I liked your story and how you met Tola shopping at that supermarket, forging a good friendship that led to marriage. Have a nice afternoon.
An interesting take on the prompt, @rare-gem, although the extensive use of dialogue slowed the pace of the story substantially. Be careful as this can turn a potentially good story into a tedious one. Unfortunately, the conversation also came across as being rather stilted and formal, and therefore didn't flow naturally. I recommend that you edit your work for simple spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors going forward if you wish to secure higher curation on your submissions.
Thank you for your observation, I will take note next time.