LOVE TALES: My worst Valentine’s Day ever

On February 14, 2014,  the love of my life ( or so I thought at the time) had called at 7am to tell me about the evening that he had planned for us

PHOTO| FILE

What you need to know:

  • 45 passed with no sign of my knight in shining armour.  Although I had grown a tad impatient, I assured myself he must have come across a hiccup.
  • Traffic happens right? I did not dare call him at this point because I did not want to appear paranoid or desperate.
  • I figured that he had probably stopped over to grab me some roses, God forbid that I dampened his mood with nagging phone calls and risk ruining the special evening.
  • “Stay calm girl…tonight is yours for the taking,” I whispered to my now uncertain heart.

I have never been the inflexible type. In fact, I would bet a hefty amount on my objectivity and ability to remain calm during situations that make mere mortals fall to pieces.  However, some incidents are sure to throw anyone off their radar. For me, that was the day I couldn’t get reach my boyfriend for a solid three hours. With 30 phone calls going unanswered and a myriad of paranoid texts sent, I stared at the phone as my head spun with all sorts of wild thoughts of what might have happened to him.

On February 14, 2014,  the love of my life ( or so I thought at the time) had called at 7am to tell me about the evening that he had planned for us.  He would be working all day but had assured me that by 5 pm, he would have closed shop and soon after that would be on our way to a romance-packed evening. This would be our second Valentine’s Day together and I was over the moon with excitement to say the least

The previous year, babe and I had been miles apart as he was based in Eldoret while I was in Nairobi.  This is why I was so excited about the date.  I spent the entire day in preparation for my hot evening date. I sought to make myself the ultimate beauty, cautiously avoiding anything or anyone that could disturb my peace of mind or adulterate my flow of positive energy.

RIGHT ON TIME

As the clock hit 5pm sharp, I was up and ready, throwing sass like its confetti in a décolleté little black dress and waiting for his call.

 Karl Lagerfeld once said, “One is never over-dressed or under-dressed with a little black dress.” Taking this fashion tip as gospel truth, I meticulously chose the little black dress, accessorising it with a pair of pearl earrings, a matching pearl necklace, the right touch of makeup and a pair of ankle strapped kitten red heels to complete the smashing look. I was on a mission to leave him smitten, as we sipped tantalising Champaign in celebration of our love and bliss.

45 passed with no sign of my knight in shining armour.  Although I had grown a tad impatient, I assured myself he must have come across a hiccup. Traffic happens right? I did not dare call him at this point because I did not want to appear paranoid or desperate. I figured that he had probably stopped over to grab me some roses, God forbid that I dampened his mood with nagging phone calls and risk ruining the special evening. “Stay calm girl…tonight is yours for the taking,” I whispered to my now uncertain heart.

COMPLETELY LOST IT

However, by 7pm I had completely lost it. I started going ape with the text messages and calls that all went unanswered. I was convinced something had gone wrong and was soon sick with worry. A mix of anguish, worry, anger and disappointment pervaded me. Every instinct was telling me that something was terribly amiss. Alarm bells in my head rung riot and I spotted all shades of red flags.

I began calling my girlfriends to see if they had heard from him. They were surprised seeing that it had almost felt like their date too due to the countless times we had discussed it. Being the true definition of girl-power, they assured me all was well. When I shared my fears that he might have cancelled the date, they would hear none of it.

“He would never do that,” they said almost in unison.

Deep inside, there was that voice telling me I had been taken for a fool but because I could not see any possible reason for this kind of atrocity I dismissed the idea. Denial was certainly better that admitting that my very perfect boyfriend had failed me on this very special occasion.

Convinced that all was well and he was just playing a stupid joke on me, I decided to dilly dally on Facebook in a bid to distract myself as I wait. I went to his timeline and alas! There he was, in a picture that had been uploaded two minutes before looking more dashing than ever. His background? An outdoor setting with beautiful lights screaming romantic and classy, location and caption reading “feeling loved”. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief and refreshed my feed several times.  Just then a text came in, with the words, “I’m sorry”. I had been played.

DEEPEST OF HURTS

It is said that he heart is remarkably resilient with the ability to bounce back from the deepest of hurts. Although that incident knocked me down a good one, I recovered. I realised that sometimes people have to blunder and even act so blindingly foolish for us to realise that they are not “the one”. For instance, I had noticed a few things that were off in the relationship before the Valentine’s Day incident that made me question my happiness in the relationship. The fear of being alone and the hope that he would become a better man kept me clinging to what was evidently a doomed relationship. The disappointment on that Valentine’s Day stung immeasurably making it my worst Valentine’s Day ever. On the flip side, I broke free from that relationship and found an amazing man who treats me like a queen. I am looking forward to this Valentine’s Day, that’s all am saying lest I jinx it.