Chapter 7

"Laila, Phil seems to be a nice guy from what you've told me about him so far. Just give him time and see whether he really improves on cmmunication. Long distance relationships are not like these relationships between people living in the same town. They require double the time, effort and commitment than other normal relationships require. Don't worry tooo much about it okay. If this keeps bothering you then I'm afraid you will have to reconsider. At the end of the day, a relationship should be your happy place and not a stressful place." Susie told me "Yes Besty that's very true. I just can't imagine my life without Phil at this point. I have come to love him so deeply. I don't think I would survive a break up Besty" I lamented " Oh Laila sometimes things happen beyond our human control. I'm not saying Phil will break your heart. Just don't think too much about this whole thing. Don't let it stress you okay." Susie told me "I hear you bestfriend" I told her. We had a long chat that afternoon and even decided to visit a park near her place after little Daniel woke up. We went to the park and enjoyed ourselves over there. On our way back home, we decided to watch the sunset and it was priceless. Watching the sunrise and sunsets stole my heart each time. I enjoyed it so much. The serenity they brought to my soul were unexplainable. I didn't want to stop looking each time. There was something soothing about these experiences each time. It felt like the sunset and sunrise brought a certain peace that was beyond this world. The beauty of them literally tugged at my heart strings. This experience remains new each time I stand to gaze. It's as though I'm looking at it for the first time. I can safely say the sunset and sunrise do have their way with looks. They pull you to them so quickly but in a gentle way. They feel like real love.

Later that evening me and Laila decided to try out a new recipe for snacks we had seen online. We settled for making chips. So we got 8 potatoes, pealed them and then washed them. We used a mandolin slicer to slice them into the same shapes. After we were done. We got a medium sized bowl and put them there and then added vinegar to the bowl and also some salt to the chips and made sure the vinegar was not over the chips. We let them soak for two hours and then we removed them from the vinegar. We put a medium sized pot on the cooker and added enough oil to deep fry the chips. After the oil became a bit hot, we added the chips and started mixed them at intervals in the oil to prevent them from burning. Within an our, our snacks were ready. They looked so delicious and so was their taste. We ate them while watching a movie. Little Daniel was too tired to enjoy the movie with us. He slept off immediately we got home. After we finished watching the movie, we went to bed and slept. That night I had a dream. In that dream, I saw Phil and he was telling me that no matter what happened, he would fight for our love. I woke up in the middle of the night trying to understand the dream but I couldn't so I slept off and woke up the following morning. I told Susie about it and she said it could mean that Phil was willing to fight for our relationship come rain come sunshine. I took it as a positive meaning. I took my bath and had breakfast with my Besty and her boy. After breakfast, we went outside to wait for a taxi that could take me to the station. "Laila, I'm so glad you decided to pay me a visit after a while. I will really miss you my friend." Susie told me with a sad smile " oh don't be like that bestfriend. Now you're making me get emotional. I will miss you and will come around soon, hopefully" I told her and then gave her a hug. The taxi driver had arrived and was waiting for me to get in. I bid them farewell and got into the taxi. Within 30 minutes, we were at the bus station. I got my backpack and thanked the driver before leaving the car. I had already booked my ticked for the bus online so I just went in and took my seat near the window. On my way, I thought about the beautiful moments me and my bestfriend had. The fun we had with cooking, playing at the park. I thought about her advice concerning Phil as well. I told myself not to think too much about it and hoped Phil would reach out soon. I wondered how my first meeting with Phil would be in person. Would he still like me when he meets me? He calls me beautiful most of the time, so he'd still like me I guess. Phil had told me countless times that he'd come to my country to see me soon. I couldn't wait to meet him and just look at his beautiful gray eyes and get lost in them.

Maybe he is also thinking of me the way I am of him right now. Psychology says that if you're thinking about someone then they are also thinking of you. "Oh Phil, you have really stolen my heart" I whispered to myself and smiled. I hope that one day, me and Phil get married and have our own little munchkins running around the house. I want Phil to be the man I give my body to on our wedding night. He had won me over with his beautiful heart and loving gestures. Phil never for once raised his voice at me even if he was angry. He never shouted at me not for once. He never ever gaslighted me. My opinions always mattered to him.He had told me once that when we got married in future, he would never dim my spotlight in whatever I did. He'd be proud of me and show me off to the world as a proud husband. "Babe, when we have daughters in the future, I know they will be as beautiful as you are and disciplined too" he told me one evening on a call.

One evening during one of our usual calls, we began talking about how some men can be so abusive. A story was all over social media that day about how a husband caused the death of his wife because he was violent. Phil had told me how disappointed he was in men who used their hands to hit their wives or even girlfriends. "It's so disgusting for a man to beat up a lady. It's better to let her alone than kill her at last. Also, women should leave abusive men and move on with their lives other than staying all in the name of love. This woman who has been killed now has left 4 children behind. Who will take care of them now? It's really sad babe" he said " Yes baby, it's really sad. I feel for the children too. The saddest part is they had to watch their mother been ill treated by their wicked father which must have left a painful scar on them. As beautiful and young as she was, she allowed her worth to be determined by an ungrateful husband. This woman had become famous because of her beautiful designs but her husband ceased her YouTube channel and decided who she would design for and who she wouldn't. Her neighbors had tried to warn her to leave him for the sake of her children but she told them he would change especially when they threatened to report him to the police station . However, when they noticed she was defending him most of the time for his wicked behavior, they decided to draw back and let her handle things her own way. Now look at where this has landed her. In the grave at an young age" I told him . We talked that night until we got exhausted and slept off while the call was still ongoing. Phil was a rare gem and I had never come across a man like him. I had grown to trust him because he was always honest with me. Phil had never lied to me even if the truth would hurt him. Throughout that journey all I could think about was Phil. He'd told me how his ex girlfriend decided to break up with him because he complained about her manouverous behaviour. She felt he was been controlling when all he was doing was trying to look out for her. One day she told him if he was tired of the relationship he could leave and he did just that without thinking twice. Years later, she began to beg for them to get back together but he wasn't interested as he had fallen out of love with her the moment she decided to end the relationship. I told him about how my "relationship" ended and he was disappointed on behalf of the guy for wanting to sleep with me within a short period of time. He even told me to say it wasn't worth to be called a relationship cause it only lasted three weeks and that guy lacked morals. Phil always makes me feel safe. I could tell him anything without him judging me. Falling in love with him was one of the easiest things I've ever done.