Promise Made, Promise Failed

Good evening dear friends.
It's a new week and the opening of a new month as we begin the second half of the year. Today, I want to join this narrative of failed promises.
First off, during my teenage years, when I was about to wrap up my secondary school, I used to run errands for some young fellas who were employed in high positions in the civil service.

One of the young fellas, Mr Donald, was very friendly. Their quarters were next to our home. During the weekends, when I was done with my chores, they would beckon on me to show them around town, especially to the fresh fish market. I knew all the nook and cranny of the market and how to negotiate with the fish sellers. So, my presence was quite a relief for Mr Donald and his friends.

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On one occasion, Mr Donald's fiancee almost caught him cheating with a local babe. The girl, Linda, flung herself at Mr Donald and he did not hesitate to swallow the hook, line and sinker. When I saw Miss Clara approaching through the gate, I sped off to alert Me Donald who quickly discharged her through the kitchen door.

I thought my wise and quick move saved the day. When Miss Clara left the weekend, Mr Donald promised to use his might to get me a civil service job as soon as I graduate.

This singular promise made me more active in assisting and running errands for Mr Donald and his friend every other weekend.

Fast forward to six years later, I had graduated and needed a job at all costs. My first point of ca was Mr Donald's office. When he saw me, he was glad and gave me a very nice reception at the state secretariat in Lagos. He has risen to the position of a director and has a lot of influences here and there from what I saw.

However, Mr Donald was unable to fulfill his promise to me. I kept applying for a state government job with Mr Donald advice and all my documents in his archive, I could not get the job. At some point, I just looked away and never went back to him. Mr Donald did not bother to ask what or request for my papers ever since.

On the other hand, in my own case, it was a matter of relationship. I met this beautiful lady named Vivian. She was a fresh graduate and an entrepreneur. She owned a very big unisex boutique.

I dated Vivian for twenty-six months. Our families have agreed that we could take the relationship to the next level. We were already looking towards fixing a date after I had proposed to her and she gladly accepted.

All of a sudden, I noticed that she started distancing herself without any disagreement. She had agreed to be my wife. We already exchanged vows. From all indications, Vivian was my wife made from heaven.

The suspicion became real when I called her while I was at work and she did not take her calls and did not return it. I went to her shop but met her absence and her staff told me she had not been to the shop that very day. Quickly, I dashed to her house where she lives with her parents but was told she had gone to the shop.

It was an unhappy day for me. I went home sad but as a man, I acted like nothing happened. I did not see her for two weeks and she would not take my calls nor call back.

One weekend, my uncle and his wife who lived with us were settling their differences and we laughed at them. I remember how I made jest of them that "two old people who are playing love like newlyweds".

My uncle's wife then asked, "What do I know about love? I could not give a reply. As I regurgitated what to say to her, she shut me with another statement.

You that your woman was seen with another man one early morning as she was escorted from the hotel where they have lodged.

This statement pierced me like an arrow. Everyone looked at me like a failure. I just summoned courage to go to my uncle's wife who told me everything. She was going to market one early morning to buy goods for the festive season when she saw Vivian walking out of a hotel with another man.

It was then I crossed the Ts and dotted the Is on why Vivian had been refusing that we meet again. She probably thought my uncle's wife would have told me. Believe it or not, till date, I have never been able to speak with Vivian and it has been over fifteen years now. All the promises she made were just on her lips, they were never from her heart. I was heartbroken though, after one year, I got married to the most beautiful woman ever. I am glad that I found my wife.