How I met him.
By Tola Sunmonu
So you know how people say you can never find a boo at the club? Well, I used to be one of those people. When I was 18, I’d just graduated from boarding school in England and was spending my last summer in London before the big move to Stanford. Less than two weeks before moving, I was waiting outside a club in Leicester square for my friend Amanda. After waiting in KFC for over an hour, she finally graced me with her presence but by this point I was irritated, the club would only be open for another hour and I just wanted to go home. But after much convincing, I reluctantly went it.
I instantly perked up when I spotted the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. This dude looked like an Adonis, I had seen him around a couple of times and I was determined to make him fall madly in love with me at first sight. I was a woman on a mission and I wasn’t going to let anything stand in my way! So while forming my game plan I head over to the bar and I see Dennis, my friends prom date from a couple months back. I say hi, give him a quick hug and kind of acknowledge his friend standing next to him. I didn’t have time for conversation, I had an Adonis to catch!
Standing at the bar, I catch Dennis’s friend looking at me and I think ‘uggh please do not try and talk to me, I really don’t have time’. I hear him ask Dennis about me and Dennis’s response is “Yeh she is cool, give it a go.” Crap, it’s too late to plan my exit and before I can run, he leans in to make his move. Just as I am about to give my well rehearsed “I’m not interested speech,” I catch myself laughing. Could it be that he didn’t use a corny line like many of his Nigerian Bretheren?? I was shocked and for a second I briefly forgot about the Adonis. He offered to buy me a drink and I panicked. I was only 18 and didn’t know anything on a drink menu past a Smirnoff ice. So trying to sound casual and sophisticated, I asked for a martini with a splash of cranberry because I had heard my older sister order that once before. (He still teases me about this). So we start talking and I’m impressed that he isn’t trying to grind all over me. He tells me he is 21 and I’m in shock because I only ever get 35 year olds trying to hit on me and when he tells me he has a job, I just about pass out. (Goes to show the fools I was messing with before).
Anyway, I snap back to me senses and remember my Adonis, I make eye contact with Amanda, she comes over, makes up an excuse about needing me to help her with her makeup or something and I leave. I spend the whole night dancing around in my short tight black dress, hoping that the Adonis will take one look at me and scoop me away into the night. Instead, Dennis’s friend spots me, I try and duck but its too late. He says something corny about how he has been looking for me, I smile, say something awkward and walk away. I couldn’t waste anymore time with him, I had 15 minutes to try and close the deal with my Adonis.
The club closes. No Adonis. On the way home, Amanda asks me about Dennis’s friend, I say he is nice but not my type and quickly steer the conversation back to the Greek God.
3 days later, I catch myself thinking about Dennis’s friend. I wrote on Dennis’s wall, knowing that if his friend was looking for me, he would find me. Like clockwork, I get a facebook message “I finally found you after 72 hours of searching.” (I still tease him about the corniness of that line) A message turned into a 6 hour phone conversation. Before we knew it, we were sharing secrets like we had been friends for years. Over the next 10 days, I was on cloud 9, we couldn’t stay away from each other, it was such an extraordinary attraction. My 10 days were up and it was time to move to Stanford, we promised to stay in touch but at the airport I find myself bawling uncontrollably. It was supposed to be a fling but neither of us could stop thinking about each other. I swore I would never be in a long distance relationship but 4 years later, here we are. We are best friends and madly in love and I thank my lucky stars that the Adonis never looked my way.
