I was still in my second year at university when I met Tobi. A quiet, calm, thoughtful boy. He wasn't loud or flashy. He was the definition of a gentleman.
I was still a young girl trying to find her way around the rough paths in school. I was naive yet I knew what I wanted with life. Something safe in a world that never quite felt stable. I had already seen what divorce could do to a family with my aunty. How it messed with her and her kids and almost left her crazy. So I had already learned earlier that finding love didn’t always mean finding peace. It could all be a blessing in disguise.
But with Tobi, it felt different. I threw caution to the wind. Maybe because he was my first love. I just couldn't tell.
I still remember his smile that Wednesday afternoon at the school cafeteria. I was trying to transfer from my bank, to pay for what I had ordered. But my network wasn't friendly. He’d walked up to the counter and offered to pay. I rejected at first, with the mindset that he was going to ask for something in return, which clearly I wasn't going to give.
But he had insisted and didn't ask for anything in return. That act made me think he was different. It painted a sweet picture of him in my mind.
I had forgotten about him when I bumped into him again and again in the school walkway. And on one of those days, we exchanged contacts and became close friends.
He didn't really do much to make me fall. There were no dramatic confessions. No unnecessary talking stage. Just small, consistent acts that felt like commitment. Like waiting for me after lectures, helping me with my final year project, and even getting materials for me from the school library.
He was the definition of a pure gentleman. Gradually, his presence became my home. I didn't even know when I started falling for him. Then he told me he was single. That was the icing on the cake. I fell even more. Giving him my time, my trust, and my softest self.
And like a match that was meant to be, he received all of it. For over a year.
Until he started acting busy, missing my calls with excuses that he slept off but I never questioned him. I was in love and had built this trust for him. So I never held up a scoreboard for him.
I even started saving to buy him birthday shoes and a pair of black sneakers he had once admired on our way home one evening. I remember skipping meals for two months just to save up money.
Then on his birthday, I went to the mall early to get a cake as a surprise to celebrate his day. When I saw him on a date with another girl. And no, it wasn't the regular kind of date.
It was the kind that they held her hands with each other and laughed in a way I thought was mine. They looked too comfortable with each other to be just friends or new lovers.
I didn’t let him see me. Neither did I confront him there. I just picked up the pieces of myself left and walked home. Then I hid under my duvet in my hostel bunk and cried myself to sleep.
He never called me all through that day. Neither did he return the birthday message I sent him earlier. That was when I knew he just wasn't mine to keep.
A few days later, I put my pride aside and called him to ask calmly what I had seen. I didn’t just want to believe what I already knew. Just when I thought he'd maybe lie to me. He sighed and said,
“I know, Zee. But yes. We’ve been together since level 100.”
I gasped. I was losing my breath. "But... But you told me you were single."
"It's just the game, dear. Don't hate the player, hate the game."
That was it. No apology. No remorse. It was just a quiet confirmation that I had been a placeholder for convenience.
I took the phone off my ear and stared at it like it had just spilled some dirty secrets. "Did he just say that to me?" I asked myself.
I can't tell where the strength came from. But I didn't scream or yell at him. I didn't curse or cry. I just ended the call, deleted our pictures, and blocked him everywhere. Then I forced myself to sleep. My head was hurting so bad.
I never told anyone what happened. I was too ashamed to talk to someone. I just grieved in silence. Then I gave out the shoes I bought for him to my younger brother.
It took me years to heal properly. To try again. To be able to tell my friends what really happened. Slowly, I built myself and my life. I learned to respect boundaries. To stop over-giving.
Then a few months ago, I ran into an old school friend at a wedding party. While catching up on old times, she spoke of Tobi. A soul I had long forgotten about. He had gotten married to the same girl he left me for. But it never really lasted. Their marriage had ended after he found out his wife had given him a kid that wasn't his. He couldn't handle the deceit that he began drowning himself with alcohol, seeking solace in the contents of a bottle. He became broke, jobless, and angry at the world.
I felt pity for him. Although my friends believed that he deserved it.
To them, it was karma paying him back in a language he alone understands.
That was a heavy payback. It's good that it ended that way.
People break hearts at whim, just as if it's a normal thing to do. I would say karma served him right!!!
What we sow is indeed what we reap. Thank God karma caught up with him
Tobi received from life the teaching that with the yardstick you measure you will be measured.have a happy evening.