I felt it, but I couldn’t put it into words. My relationship with Olumide was not going well. Today, those nagging thoughts at the back of my head came back, telling me that I still hadn’t found what I was looking for. It wasn’t anything he had done to upset me. He was still as thoughtful and as caring as he was when we first got together. He still bought me gifts and flowers, still took me out to dinner, and still cared about my welfare.

But my problem remained. His sweet words made me happy when I was with him, but I cried into my pillow when I got home. His touch gave me tingles on my skin, but my heart was still cold and numb.

We had gone out together earlier this evening. He was kind and attentive as usual. He took me to a bar some distance out of town, so that we could enjoy the long drive, and the fresher air. The bar was crowded with a lively mix of young people. Loud music blared from the speakers, and couples swayed together on the dance floor. We found a table near the entrance, and Olumide got us some drinks.

“How did you discover this place?” I asked him when he came back.

He smiled and shrugged. “I’m still current, you know.”

I smiled back and took a sip of my cocktail. It was very nice.

Soon he asked if I wanted to dance. I nodded and stood up. He took my arm and let me to the floor. We joined the other couples and I enjoyed feeling close to him, my head on his shoulder. After the song ended, I was thirsty and wanted to get another drink. Olumide nodded and I went up to the bar.

“A rum and coke please,” I said to the barman.

“No problem,” he replied. “What would your father like?”

“My.. father…?”

Then it all made sense.

© Tolulope Popoola

Tolulope-PopoolaFacebook: Tolulope Popoola
Twitter: @TolulopePopoola
Website: On Writing And Life
Publications: Nothing Comes Close

About the author:

Tolulope Popoola is a writer, blogger and voracious reader. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria. She moved to England for her university education where she studied BA Accounting and Business Economics and a Masters in Finance and Investment.. She started writing a blog in 2006, which rekindled her love for writing and telling stories. She took a few writing classes, created an online fiction series called In My Dreams It Was Simpler and started writing both fiction and non-fiction for magazines. In 2008, she left Accounting to concentrate on writing full-time. She writes short stories, flash fiction, poetry and articles for many print and online magazines. Nothing Comes Close is her first novel. ( bio originally posted on Smash Words)

About Author

I now write short stories, poems, flash fiction and articles for magazines. My first novel is titled Nothing Comes Close. It's based on the online fiction series, In My Dreams It Was Simpler which I created and co-wrote with eight other great bloggers.

13 Comments

  1. oh boy! he treated her like a father would a daughter and not like a father? or he was way older than her and could pass for her father?

  2. Toni Anne Omoyemwen Uwaifo on

    Very Very nice. Short and sweet. And that conclusion? Didn't see it coming. I imagined something more dramatic like a "coming out of the closet kinda stuff'. Great read

Leave A Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.