I loved him.

It was as simple as that.

I felt I had come to the juncture where I no longer had to search for that butterfly feeling in my tummy. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying I have not had it before. But with him, I knew those were just clones of the real thing. I discovered I had never actually been in love before.

He changed everything.

He loved me too, just in case you were wondering. He cherished and cared for me. That was what I thought.

Till I got the shocker of my life.

I thought love was meant to be selfless, accepting and, most importantly, trusting.

He summoned me one day for a dinner date, not asked but summon. “This should be done more romantically” I thought to myself, just like what you’re thinking at this moment.

Before you ask, I didn’t mind. I had heard so many proposal stories, I believed this was part of the plan for the big question.

Fortunately for me he let me finish my meal. It would have been a bigger blow if he hadn’t let me taste the sumptuous meal the restaurant provided.

But I guess he was being gracious; let her eat before I tell her I am a fake.

He started nicely, like they all do. He wanted to be with me. He wants to conquer the world and he could see I am a woman with gusto who could conquer the world with him.

People, my excitement was already mounting up. The usual “I cannot believe he is proposing” overwhelmed me. It took the spirits of my ancestors who didn’t want to see their descendant disgraced to keep me from screaming out “Yes!” even before he finished.

Oh, was I wrong!

“I really want us to do this together babe. But I am clean, so I need to know you are clean as well. I need you to test for HIV, Hepatitis, Tuberculosis, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Ebola, SARS, Bird flu, Zika virus and any other test my doctor finds important.”

Yeah! Exactly! The expression you have right now, that captures the expression I had on my face. He had to be kidding me. He couldn’t be serious.

With a calmness that belied everything going on inside, I asked, “How do you know you are clean?”

“This isn’t about me, I am a man. But if you care to know, I always protect myself, which I know, no offense, you wouldn’t have thought to do.”

“How can you be so selfish?” I screamed, not minding we were in public. “For some reason, you believe you are clean and I am not. Then you do not even have the courtesy to go do the test with me? What if you are the one with an issue, wouldn’t I be in danger as well?”

“Stop being so irrational,” he told me with an irritating smirk, like he was unruffled. “You are the one whose clock is ticking. I could get any girl I want whenever I am ready.”

At this point, my strongest ancestor couldn’t restrain me; I bathed him with my wine and walked out.

But I couldn’t help wondering; was I being irrational?