Calabar to Chaos

Beauty lived in Calabar. She was used to a slow and beautiful life. Meals were made with the freshest ingredients, peace and quiet filled the air. Neighbours were warm and close.

You could walk the streets and find people chatting, gisting at a kiosk, moving at their own pace and enjoying the simple, mundane things of life. Nobody was in a hurry. Nobody needed to be.

Facebook was a thing then. One day, a fine man replied to a comment Beauty had made. One thing led to another, and D was in her DMs.

Beauty asked D to share his picture.

Nothing prepared her for the creature she saw.

Tall. Dark. Broad shoulders. Eyes that, even through a screen, felt like she was being slowly undressed.

His legs were toned, and he wore coffee-brown, well-ironed trousers that sat on his skin the way plant-based oil sits on caramel – deliberately, like they had no interest in being anywhere else. He had paired them with a beautifully tailored cream shirt.

The boy knew his colours. It was loose on his muscled shoulders but not too free. Just the right amount of loose, the kind that takes either money or taste to get right. Dark shades. A quiet smile.

Beauty stared at that picture for a long time.

By the time she put her phone down, she had already fallen pregnant and birthed triplets.

In her head, she was living in a mansion with D. It was morning. She was on a balcony somewhere, sipping a non-existent coffee, the city below them still half-asleep.

D came from behind, wrapped both arms around her and pulled her into his chest. He was warm. He smelt good. He started blowing soft kisses along the side of her neck, working his way up slowly, taking his time, and just as his lips were about to finally reach hers, ITORO!

Her mother was back and calling from the kitchen. Itorobong is her native name and that is what she goes by at home. She nearly cussed out loud.

Beauty kept chatting with D and told every single one of her area friends about this new man.

Things moved along and their love graduated from Facebook to WhatsApp. Then D called her. If she was already pregnant from a picture, there’s no telling what D’s voice did to her.

It sounded like something you’d only hear in a romance poetry reading. Like a man who had never once been in a hurry. Thick, soft, slow and deep, the kind of voice that does not need to say anything particularly intelligent to hold your full attention. You just want it to keep going.

D was her man and that’s on period!

A little about Beauty. She was a very pretty and sharp girl. She had the curves Lagos baddies pay millions for, except hers came directly from God, no invoice. Hazel eyes, dark skin, and natural hair that was rich, full, long and thick.

It was said that her mother had gotten pregnant for a foreigner who came to work in Cross River back in the day. Beauty had never seen her father and had no idea what he looked like. But the man must have been fine as hell, because Beauty was genuinely a sight to behold.

D worked in Lagos. He was a big name at one of the top fintech companies, the kind of man who exists in a city and somehow makes the city feel like it arranged itself around him. Smooth, soft-spoken, unhurried, said all the right things without appearing to think about them.

Busy but somehow always available when it mattered. No matter the values you think you have, D is the kind of man who will test your convictions. You sef go fall, no worry 😊.

Their relationship was barely a month old but felt like a full year. When the plans came for Beauty to visit him in Lagos, she knew she had to be straight with him first.

She told D she was a virgin and had no plans to change that anytime soon. D laughed that laugh, and said, “Don’t play. You have all these curves and you have never had sex? Are Cross River boys blind? You are smart, well-spoken and hot. With all of that, you are still innocent?”

Beauty admitted, shy to her bones, but she held her ground. If they were going to be anything real, he had to agree before they went any further.

D told her to come to Lagos.

He booked her flight. Beauty got her hair done, spent longer than she would admit choosing her outfits, and said goodbye to her friends with the energy of a woman who knew exactly what she was walking into.

Lagos.

D came to the airport with a bouquet of flowers. He had on a light blue two-piece that was fire against his dark skin, his first 2 buttons open, just enough chest showing to make a point without trying to.

When she saw him standing there, Beauty felt something shift in her chest, the way it does when something you imagined turns out to be better in person.

When they hugged, she closed her eyes without planning to.

He smelt like a field the Lord himself had blessed and watered. Warm, sweet, clean and deep, the kind of smell that does not come from a bottle you can easily find.

She stayed in that hug a second longer than she meant to, and when she pulled back, he was already smiling. He made her wild and he KNEW it!

From the airport, they drove to Noir Lagos for dinner. The ambience was nothing like anything Beauty had experienced in Calabar. Soft lighting, low music, the kind of quiet that money buys.

The prices on the menu were frightening, but money was nothing that night. She ordered their Asian chilli buffalo wings, slow roast crispy pork belly, creamy pasta, and crêpes Suzette for dessert.

She did not understand any of those things, and honestly, they did not taste better than her mother’s food. But they tasted rich, and that was enough.

D barely looked at his food. He looked at her. Her eyes, her mouth when she laughed, the way she held herself. He said all the right things and said them like he meant them, which is the more dangerous version of saying the right things.

It was exactly like the dates you see in the movies. By the time it was over, they headed home.

D lived in the heart of Ikoyi. His house remains the most beautiful place Beauty has ever walked into. He had a proper chef who handed her a very cold smoothie and asked if she needed anything else.

You could see Lagos from the balcony. The television was large enough to be a cinema screen. The décor was luxurious in a quiet, deliberate way. The artworks alone could easily buy the home Beauty grew up in. They sat on the balcony and talked about beautiful nonsense for hours.

When it was finally time for bed, D helped her arrange her bags, then laid out his own clothes for her to change into after her shower. Even freshly washed, his pyjamas still held his scent. Say no to Aboki perfume.

After her shower, they lay down together and the room was quiet in a comfortable way. D leaned in slowly and kissed her.

Beauty did not pull back or think twice. The kiss started soft, almost careful, the kind that is asking a question before it commits to anything.

Then it built, still unhurried, still deliberate, his tongue searched for all the corners of her mouth that made her forget her identity for a hot minute. It got intense!

Then he pulled back. Just like that. He let her breathe, looked at her for a moment, and she looked like she wanted to ask him why he stopped.

He did not answer that question. He just pulled her gently onto his chest, settled her there, and began working his fingers slowly through her hair. He spoke quietly, sweet, easy nonsense and his voice in the dark of that room was even better than it had been over the phone.

Beauty was truly not interested in all that talk. Bro!!!

He did not kiss her again. He just kept talking, kept his hand moving through her hair, kept the atmosphere exactly where he had placed it. D is firmly on the A-list of playboys.

He knows exactly how to get his women without it ever looking like he tried. He sets the atmosphere and lets them come to him.

He had already done all the work. The flight, the flowers, the dinner, the balcony, the smell, the first kiss, then nothing. He knew exactly what he was doing. When Beauty could not wait any longer and leaned in herself to close the gap, that was D’s cue.

No, it did not end at the kiss. I know you love sin and want every single detail. Give your life to Christ and say no to iniquity, lol.

End of story!