The graduation:
The graduation ceremony at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ife had come and gone, even without the presence of Mr. Tokunbo Ajayi. In a last moment of incertitude he had backed out of the attending the graduation alotogether. For, he could not attend the ceremony as the fiance of Yetunde, which he no longer felt that he was; and Bola who had by now been secretly dating him for the last few months could not help but agree that the situation was at best awkward for all involved.. A week before the wedding he hurrieldy purchased two airline tickets for London; his was to leave the next morning and Bolas was to nleave the day after the graduation ceremonies at Ife were over. The plan was for them to celebrate in London, this next great phase of their lives which waited ahead of them, a future though unknown was firmly rooted in their committment to stya together. Contrary to appearances this sequel of events had not been hurried or altogether unplanned either, as they had spent largely every weekend together over the last few months, when Bola had taken transport down to Lagos to meet him. They had found this arrangement necessary so as not to arouse any undue form of suspicion in Yetunde. Bola had even broken off her relationship with the married man whose misstress she had been for a good while. She had come to realise, and not altogether without reason, that most married men never leave their wives, and although it had been a lot of fun( what with weekend trips to Paris, and expensive gifts), whilst it lasted, she was aware that no more could be expected from such relationships. She knew well the fate of the sugar-daddy girls after their youth and beauty had long since faded they were inevitably abandoned by all of society and not least by the very men at whose hands they had been privileged to deserve such infamy. no, she was fully dteremined that that would not be her lot, or as the popular love song stated," Lord, that shall not be my portion.." She had been wise enough to surmise that to her married lover she had been nothing more than a temporary amusement, a passing one at that, which could just as easily and quickly be replaced by another young thing which could also be any young thing... As such she had beeen determined to leave this way of life behind as swiftly as she possibly could and before what little good remained of her name be lost forever. But all that was well and good, what made everythuing more attractive was that she was quite as much in love with Toks as he was with her. To her, he was as a breath of fresh air, she could nearly palpate the honor in his heart, and could smell the fragrant ardor of love and fidelity which he exuded around her.. In him she knew she never had to fear him becoming an old man fawning around young girls nor the plagues of infidelity. perhaps he would not be able to splurge on weekends in Paris, at short notice; but at least he had the means at his disposal to keep her in a certain level of society which was not altogether bad. In actuality, she wisely surmounted that it was always " better to not set one's eyes on things too great for her". Yet, her the daughter of a primary school pricipakl would still have done very well for herself. true, she had" lacked" much in that humble abode in Ondo state where she had grown up under adequate but quite meagre circumstances, thanks to the Nigerian government which could never pay salaries nor pensions on time, nor could it keep up the salary increases with the rates of inflation.. it was a world all gone amuck, not due to Papa's fault, as he had done all he was supposed to do. But what chance did he have as a sole upright principal surrounded by a corrupt government on every side. And so they had mostly suffered wants and wants, just lijke the other 99.5 % of the population. Her family had been duly ,albeit, informally intorduce dto the dashing Tokunbl, who in their eyes had been likened to a knight in shining armor coming riding in on a white horse to claim the hand of their beautiful but poor daughter. Both mother and father had been quite overcome, for it was obvious by his manners and presentation that he was from the upper echelons of society that they so greedily coveted.
" I had always known that she was destined for great things" Papa had blurted out after the fact, in excitement to his wife. And his wife was so overjoyed that words failed her and she nodded in agreement, as they had always known that this daughter whose beauty was indeed quite fabled would not fall short of the mark. Finally her mother added, " Yes, I always knew that she had a little white angel sitting on her shoulder, for her life has so been charmed".
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