Unspoken Bonds

Emma and I had a connection that spanned years, always dancing around the edges of our lives but never quite aligning. The day she agreed to move in with me marked the beginning of a new chapter, one that I had long dreamed of.

 

We had known each other since primary school, when she first arrived at my school in Class Five. Emma was beautiful, with her dark skin and infectious smile. Everyone loved her. She was the daughter of Mr. W.W, our headteacher, but her charm wasn’t just in her looks; she had a radiant joy that made her stand out, even among the girls in our school.

 

I was drawn to her from the start. Before I could confess my feelings, though, I was transferred to another school, and our paths began to diverge. There were no cell phones or easy ways to stay in touch, and life took us in different directions. Emma stayed with her brother Benjamin and her stepmother, but you wouldn’t know it - she was always cheerful and full of life.

 

Years passed, and Emma moved to a boarding school far from home. Her father, ever the educator, wanted the best for her. I had hoped to see her during school visits or at sports events, but she wasn’t much for games. I tried to send her letters through her schoolmates, but none seemed to reach her. Even so, I didn’t give up. Yet, as fate would have it, my family moved to the village, and the distance between us grew even wider.

 

Emma did well in high school and eventually went to college across the capital to pursue teaching, following in her father’s footsteps. That’s when I decided to try again. By now, we had Facebook, emails, and phones. I made contact, and to my surprise and delight, she remembered me. We reconnected, and soon, she became my girlfriend. Our relationship blossomed as we talked daily, and on weekends, she would visit me in the city.

 

I still remember the day she graduated. Emma had invited her family and close friends to the ceremony, and I was honored to be included. It felt like the beginning of something bigger, like all the years of waiting had led to this. She introduced me to her friends, and her brother Benjamin already knew about us. Although we didn’t tell her parents just yet, it felt like only a matter of time.

 

Before graduation, Emma had started teaching at a school near the highway to the city. She rented a small place with a friend, living a simple, humble life, always with that same joyful spirit. We met on weekends, and when we weren’t together, we talked for hours on the phone. We were inseparable.

 

On that special graduation evening, after her family had left, we celebrated her success in a small town near her school. We boarded a matatu to the city later, sitting in the back and enjoying each other’s company without a care in the world. We laughed, shared stories, kissed, and reveled in the moment. She got off at her stop along the highway to prepare for her lesson plans for the following day, while I headed back to the city for my exams.

 

The next weekend, she came to visit again, and it was then that I proposed something I had thought about for a while. I asked her to move in with me, so we could be together all the time and she could commute to work from the city. Her eyes lit up, and she agreed. We were finally ready to take that next step, to build the life we had both dreamed of for so long. She needed a week to sort out her things and make the move.

 

It felt like everything was finally falling into place. All the years of near misses, the letters that never arrived, the miles that separated us—it all seemed worth it now that we were finally together, ready to start a new life, side by side.