Not This Time, Love Pt 14

When I finished reading the letter, I felt a kind of happiness I hadn’t expected. I didn’t know Lucy still thought about me. I’d convinced myself she’d moved on. I didn’t realise that in matters of the heart, distance hardly mattered. In that moment I understood how important it is to find someone who loves you back.

I couldn’t stop reading. I read the letter over and over until it was time for dinner. I didn’t want to eat, but my stomach won. I folded the letter into my pocket, grabbed my cutlery and bowl, and went to the dining hall. The food wasn’t ready yet, so as we waited I pulled the letter out and read it again.

I didn’t notice one of my roommates had come up behind me and was reading over my shoulder. All I heard was, “Ei KD, so you’ve started getting love letters?” I turned — it was Samy. I shoved the letter back into my pocket and he went away. I thought that was the end of it, but I was wrong.

Right after dining he came running back and pressed me for the author. I ignored him, but he kept at it. Then, as he walked off, he tossed over his shoulder, “Now that you’ve got a love letter, I hope you’ll stop coming to our class.”

“Hey, what are you talking about? Have you seen me in your class before?” I called after him.

“Oh yeah. I saw you there today, staring at one of our girls. If I see you near our class again, I’ll gather my boys and beat you up,” he said and marched to the dormitory.

This guy must be crazy, I thought. Threaten me over a girl whose name I don’t even know? He doesn’t know I’ve got a lover abroad. He doesn’t know she thinks about me every day. Does he think I’m joking? From now on, my hundred per cent commitment would be to Lucy and only Lucy. I’d cherish her and wait patiently.

I walked back to the dorm muttering to myself, probably loud enough for anyone to hear. The letter had me hooked—if just a letter could knock me off my feet, what would her being here do to me?

I rested a while, then packed my books for prep. I took the letter with me; it felt more precious than the Gh₵100 tucked with it. In class, I couldn’t focus. Lucy’s words kept crowding my head and I kept taking the letter out to read again. I wanted to show the letter to my friends, but that felt risky. I trusted almost no one. Jake was the only person I trusted a bit, but if I’d shown him he’d probably quote the Bible and tell me to run a mile from romance. So I kept it to myself — treasured it like jewellery.

By the end of prep, I had memorised the letter. On my way back, another science guy stopped me to ask if I was interested in a girl in their class. I was getting tired of all these questions. Why did everyone think I was a threat? Little did they know I’d got back my lost love. I wasn’t even interested in the nameless post office girl anymore.

Now I had a new problem: I had to reply to Lucy. But what should I write?