Against All Odds: The Elite & The Pauper (episode 4)
Love in most case, is that last straw of hope a person has at finding happiness again. We all know God comes first in our lives but you can’t deny the fact that there’s a vacuum in your heart that was even created by God for that special someone to fill. Most times, we see ourselves as unworthy of certain good things in life; whereas, we are more than deserving of those things.
How many times have you looked at yourself in the mirror and said “I’m not beautiful enough to have that kind of man, I’m not buoyant enough to attract that class of lady, I’m not this, I’m not that”. Well, what you fail to realise is that you rob yourself of every chance at happiness if you keep looking down and seeing yourself as not worthy enough. Words are powerful and you could be the one chasing that special someone away by the things you say to yourself because how you perceive and see yourself is how others would perceive and see you; so be your first ‘Fan’ before anyone else follows.
What a thing of relief it was to see that Naomi didn’t back down or discourage herself from taking that first step of faith to see Richard. She could have given herself a thousand reasons as to why she wasn’t his taste or class but she had confidence in herself and never let her background or condition determine her Fate. Naomi was a positive and strong woman and her vibes were good and not negative; I guess that’s why Richard always wanted more of her.
After whispering those lovely words into Naomi’s ears, she blushed and shyly used her hands to cover her face. Richard figured she was shy so he had to give her some space to breath and process everything he had just said to her. “Let’s get this date started, shall we?” He asked and gently stretched out the seat for Naomi to sit down. “Thank you very much” she replied as she took her seat.
The evening was still young but everything already seemed like it was going towards the right direction. Richard beckoned on the waiter to come and take their orders and when they were done ordering, a conversation started. “I wouldn’t have recognized you if you walked pass me on a normal day looking like this” Richard said and Naomi smiled, “Is this a compliment or?” she asked smiling, ‘It’s definitely a compliment” he said and they both laughed.
While they conversed, Richard couldn’t stop staring deeply at Naomi whenever it was her turn to say something. He was totally mesmerized by her presence and couldn’t help but wander in thoughts. While Richard was lost in thoughts, Naomi had no clue of the emotional unrest she was causing him. Despite the fact that he had revealed to be gradually falling for her, she didn’t fully understand what that implied and how serious he was. For all Naomi knew, Richard was a good friend to her whom she was careful not to attach so much emotional feelings to because he was too far off her level. Well, who could blame her for thinking such way?
Funny enough, even though Naomi could tell Richard was quite successful, she wasn’t yet aware of how wealthy he was because he never really talked about himself to her. Also, even though Richard could tell that Naomi was going through something, he wasn’t also aware of how bad her situation was because she never talked about it either. They both knew one or two things about each other, but didn’t have the complete raw and undiluted details about themselves. But not for too long!
Shortly afterwards, their meals were served and they both eat one spoon at a time. Naomi smiled at any slightest thing and it drove Richard even more crazy. Unable to bear it anymore, he asked; “Do you smile like this all the time? I’m asking because it’s beautiful”. Naomi smiled even more and placed her hand on her forehead, “In my world, happiness isn’t always guaranteed so whenever I get the slightest opportunity to smile and laugh, I don’t hold back at all” she said.
Those harmless words from Naomi yet again pierced Richard’s heart and this time around, he was determined to dig deeper to get her say more about herself. “You always speak in parables, can you let me into your world a little by speaking to me in terms I’ll understand” he said and she looked into his eyes and blinked hers. They kept staring into each other’s eyes with no one breaking the silence. Naomi smiled but looked a bit lost in thoughts and Richard could clearly see through her. “Did I say anything wrong? Why are you suddenly quiet?” he curiously asked, “No you haven’t done anything wrong, it’s just that it dawned on me that being here with you is even wrong because I’m not whom you think I am”.
The once happy atmosphere began to get tensed by what was suddenly occurring. Richard was a bit confused by what Naomi said and was ready to dig deeper. “Who are you then? Why not just tell me because I want to know?” he inquired. Naomi took a deep breath and said; “I believe you would take a hike and stop being friends with me once you know where I am coming from. Our worlds are entirely different places and I wouldn’t want you to feel deceived when you eventually find out about my struggles. Trust me when I say I want to let you in but I wouldn’t want anyone to pity me and start treating me like a charity project. I’m so sorry to ruin this lovely date but I have to take my leave. Goodnight Richard!”.
Immediately Naomi finished talking, tears started falling off her eyes and that was the first time Richard saw her cry. Before he could say anything, she got up and hurriedly zoomed out of the restaurant. He wanted to pursue her immediately she left but was just confused at that moment as to how a lovely date changed to something drastic really quick.
Deep in confusion, Richard picked up his phone and dialed Naomi’s number but she wasn’t picking up. He got up and went outside to see if he would catch a glimpse of her but she was nowhere to be found. He sadly beckoned on the waiter to get the bill so he could pay up because his mood was ruined for the evening. After paying, he left and went home.
All through that night, Richard was pissed, devastated and furious but couldn’t tell why. “What did I do wrong” he kept asking himself as he dialed Naomi’s number countlessly but she wasn’t picking up. On the other hand, Naomi cried bitterly immediately she got home and hated herself for behaving childish and not giving Richard the chance till proven otherwise. It was quite unfortunate that she judged him too soon without even knowing that his intensions were pure towards here. But were his intentions truly genuine and would he still stay if he found out whom she truly was? Well, we would find out.
Due to the little drama that happened during their first official date, Naomi felt too ashamed to talk to Richard so she refused to pick his calls or reply his messages. It’s been over a week since they hadn’t spoken to each other and everything began to feel problematic to Richard. He didn’t know where she lived otherwise he would have reached her house the very next day after that incident. Too sad!
They say all secrets have an expiry day; well, same with Naomi’s secrets because the truth was about to be revealed. It all happened one fateful evening when Annabelle escorted her friend whom was traveling out of the country to the airport. They went to weigh her friend’s luggage and she bumped into her worst nightmare ‘Naomi”.
When they both met, Annabelle was shocked to see her and also disgusted at the same time. Naomi was quick to recognize her but behaved professional and pretended as though they hadn’t met before. After Annabelle friend’s luggage was weighed, they went to sit at the waiting section and began talking. “This is the low life I was telling you about that Richard disrespected me for, can you just imagine how wretched she looks” Annabelle angrily said, “I can see, but what did Richard see in her or are you sure she isn’t lying to him about whom she is?” her friend said, “What do you mean? Do you think she’s claiming to be whom she isn’t and selling a lie to Richard?” Annabelle asked and her friend nodded ‘Yes’.
The discussion got heated and Annabelle’s friend continued. “My advice to you is to investigate who she really is and reveal to Richard so his eyes can clear. Follow her to know where she lives if you can” Her friend said. What an advice indeed and Annabelle thought deeply into it. Her friend’s flight was ready to board and they bid each other ‘Goodbye’.
As Annabelle was about leaving the airport, she saw Naomi leaving too. Coincidentally, Naomi’s shift was over for the day and she was on her way home so Annabelle didn’t hesitate in following her. The chase wasn’t easy because Naomi entered a bus at the junction and Annabelle had to follow that bus too. After over 30 minutes of secretly following Naomi, they arrived at a ‘face me I face you’ bungalows with no gate in the compound.
“What an imposter, low life dirty lady. My God! Imagine this wretched thing with my Richard. I believe he doesn’t know about this and I would be overly glad to break the news to him” Annabelle said and immediately drove off. On her way out, she dialed Richard’s number but he wasn’t picking up so she finally sent him a text that read “You have been fooled by Naomi, I have news, better pick up!”.
In less than a minute after the message was sent, Richard called back and Annabelle smiled and picked up; “So because it involved Naomi that’s why you called me back in a hurry after refusing to pick my calls all these while” she said, “You caused it, please just get to the news you have for me because I am kind of busy” he replied. Annabelle smiled faintly and said, “I know where your Naomi lives, don’t you want to find out? Because I know you definitely don’t know”.
Richard became more interested in what Annabelle was saying because he had been dying to know where Naomi lived. “I want to know, please can you take me there?” he asked, “Don’t you even want to find out how I was able to know her house?” she curiously asked and he said “I don’t care, please just take me there if you aren’t joking”.
It was getting quite late so Annabelle drove to Richard’s house to pick him up so they could go there together. It took over an hour plus for them to drive from the classy location of town down to the slumps Naomi leaved in. As they got closer, Richard was already getting clues on what to expect and all his doubts about her were getting confirmed one after the other.
They finally arrived at the front of Naomi’s compound and there she was, plaiting her sick mum’s hair outside. There were over 10 children playing around the compound, with people cooking outside. There was a well right in front of were Annabelle parked and dirty pits with bad water everywhere in the compound.
As Richard sat inside the car looking at Naomi plait her mum’s hair tying just wrapper, he was dumbfounded and extremely weak without knowing what his next course of action would be. “Surprised? I bet she lied to you only for you to just find out that you were sitting in a public place with such dirty thing” Annabelle said out of nowhere. Richard tiredly looked at her and said; “This person you refer to as a dirty thing has given me more joy in just a month of knowing her than you ever gave me in over two years of dating you. Grow up and clean your nasty degrading attitude because it makes you 100 times less attractive than you are”.
Before Annabelle could come out of the shock Richard had put her in, he opened the door, got down and screamed “Naomi”. She immediately looked up and almost dropped dead with the wrapper she was tying.
Confused and shocked, Naomi screamed “Oh no! why are you here?”, Richard walked closer to her and said “Stop it! is this what you were trying to hide from me?”, she nodded ‘Yes’ with tears of shame already falling off her eyes.
As Naomi stood there crying, Richard’s heart dropped and he leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her lips and said “I love you Naomi, don’t ever leave me like that again”.
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