Simon, the son of a popular rich man in Nembe town was on the lookout for a marriage partner. It wasn't easy for him to make a choice.
His father confronted him one day, to know what was keeping him back from taking a decision,
"What kind of girl are you looking for?" His father had asked.
"I can't really say, dad, but, when I see her, I'll know", Simon answered.
"Are you sure you're not having any challenge you're keeping to yourself, without disclosing?"
"Nothing of such".
"I'm bothered because I've seen you with many friends, boys and girls yet..." The father didn't complete his sentence before Simon interjected.
"Don't worry dad, someday, it'll be over", he assured.
All this dragging of feet came to an end when he met Laura.She was a simple girl from a humble beginning.
Incidentally, the first day Simon took notice of Laura was a day he was strolling along the lane with Silvia, a classmate. The tone of voice with which Laura greeted them had something else to say to Simon. It spoke of humility and, there was a melody attached to it.
The next encounter was a day she and two other pupils with her, were caught up in the rain. They had ran under a shed to wait for the rain to subside when Simon was driving pass. He offered to drop them off and, reluctantly she accepted.
That's the day he knew her name and also that she was a primary school teacher with a small private school. She was taking those two pupils home because they were living close to each other.
Simon paid her a casual visit in the school two times, and on the third, requested for a date which she granted. They visited one newly established eatery. Their fried chicken, heavily spiced was good but, their cake wasn't fantastic. Laura teased that one had to force the cake down the throat with the aid of the taste of wine.
"If they call me, I'll teach them how to bake cake", Laura said.
"You know how to bake?" Simon asked.
"Sure, yes. My mom is good at that. I learned from her".
"That's interesting", Simon said.
They stayed for about two hours and decided to leave. As he was dropping her off, he stopped by the Presidential Shopping Mall for an unplanned shopping.
"It's a long time I visited here. They're used to having good items. I don't know the situation now", Simon said as they were entering the shop.
While they went round the shelves, Simon spotted an exotic "human hair" worth a million and asked Laura to pick it.
"Why? No. That's too expensive", she replied.
"Take it, I'll pay", Simon assured.
"Forget that. I need a wig but, not that class".
"Which class do you want?"
Laura led him to another section of a wig range, and pointed at one that was worth fifty thousand.
"That's ok", she said.
"Is that not damned too cheap?" He asked.
It's neither about being damned too cheap nor costly".
"So, what?"
"The issue is about value".
"Come clearer".
"That one you saw on the luxury shelf doesn't connote much of a value than name. They're just selling the name".
"The difference in price is so wide that their difference in quality should be as wide".
"That's the mistake. You saw the name, Kalahari? People who don't know what to do with money, buy it just to show off".
"Do you mean it's of low quality?"
"No but, it's quality is not higher than this one".
"Tell me something, Laura".
"Yes, besides, if I buy Kalahari today, and couldn't afford it tomorrow due to one thing or the other, have I made a good choice?"
With this question, Simon began to see the direction of Laura's mind. She was thinking of both the present and future. This made him to believe he had seen a good life partner.
He himself was born with a silver spoon, with virtually everything at his disposal. His rich parents brought him up in a way that he goes for the costliest items money can buy, not minding their true values and utilities. But, here was Laura with her own background which made her to view things differently. She weighs things based on their true value, not their price tags.
With this, he made up his mind. Few days later he made a marriage proposal to her.
When his father asked him what informed his choice of Laura, he said, "Father, I've seen someone who takes the unpredictable future into consideration in decision making. With Laura by my side, there's a very good chance of a satisfactory management of your estates".
Thanks for the curation. I'm glad.