Staying Alive, Staying In Love.

Dayo and Sonia met at a friend's wedding one Saturday afternoon. During the bouquet toss, Dayo had stared at Sonia in amazement as she idly flipped through the wedding programme, boredom written on her face as girls squealed in excitement, each scrambling and pushing the other to get to the bouquet first. She hadn't seemed interested at all and it had intrigued him, so he'd walked up to her to say hello and they got talking.

Dayo asked her out on a date and she accepted and after a couple of dates, they fell in like and in no time they connected deeply.

A few more dates later and they both knew it was time to take it to the next level and an opportunity presented itself in a dinner date at Dayo's place.

They ate and afterwards had drinks and made small talk. But they both know they would be having sex that night.

And then they started making out. It got hot and so urgent. And then the clothes came off and the lights went out. They got into bed, touched and tasted each other some more and then Dayo made to enter into her. But Sonia stopped him.

"What is it, baby?" He asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Where's your condom?" She asked him

"Come on, baby, I can't use one with you" he laughed.

"Why not?" She asked

"Because you're my girlfriend, and I love you" he answered.

"That's not enough. I can't have sex with you without a condom" she stated.

"Wow! Do you think I have a disease or something?" he asked in a surprised tone

"Probably" she answered.

"What?" He got up, shocked.

"Baby, I love you too but we don't know each other well enough to have unprotected sex because we both don't know our HIV status. Apart from that there's the issue of unwanted pregnancy" she explained

"I can't believe you think I have HIV" he said in a hurt tone.

"Please, don't be fixated on that. Yes, I said you could have it. And you know what? I could have it too so let's just play safe for now until we find out our status and if we're both clean, I'll get on the pill and then we can have as much raw sex as we want. Please, baby" she begged him.

He let out a deep sigh and sat by her.

"Let's establish the fact that I really, really hate it that you make so much sense right now. I hope you understand that?" he said with a wry smile.

"I understand, baby" she replied, and moved closer to him, her round, firm and full breasts brushing against his arm.

"Hmmm" he bent to kiss her and murmurs in her mouth "What was our argument about again?"

"Baby, give me that condom now!!!!" She scowled.

He laughed and reached into his bedside drawer to bring out a pack of Durex. She picked out one sachet, tore it open with her teeth and fitted it on his throbbing manhood.

"Why, thank you" he teased.

"Shut up and kiss me" she held him by the shoulders and he pulled her close and started to kiss her as they both fell into the bed.

"Oh, Dayo" Sonia whispered his name. He was touching her in all of the right places and she moaned in ecstasy, thrashing about the bed.

She felt so good to touch and taste and he felt himself almost bursting with need. Her skin was smooth and soft, her round, full breasts filled his hands.

He put his mouth and hands to good use, and he had a feeling of satisfaction as she whimpered in pleasure.

He kissed her again, this time with great fervour as he was on the verge of losing control. He knew had to have her that moment, otherwise...

"Baby?" she whispered

"Yeah, Sweetie" his voice sounded funny to him, very hoarse.

"I'm so glad we're on the same page concerning this" she said

"What?" He looked lost. He was lost.

"I mean the condom thing. I'm so happy that you're with me on this" she explained.

"Oh, that! Yeah, you won" he shrugged.

"I won?" She looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean by that?"

"Goodness! Baby, you know now is not a good time for talking. Can't we talk about this later?"

"I need to know what you mean by I won" she insisted.

"God! Okay, what I mean is I don't like it but I wanna please you. There, I've said it"

"But I'm not pleased. Not with that attitude!" She exclaimed. " I want you to want to have safe sex with me. I want it to make sense to you, not just because you want to please me. We need to agree about that"

"But I'm wearing the damned condom, aren't I? What more do you want from me?" He jumped out of bed and started pacing the room.

Sonia looked at him as he paced in frustration. He was a sight to behold with his broad shoulders, flat and taut stomach, lean hips and long, strong legs. His bum fascinated her. He had a nice, round and tight ass that she just felt like biting at that moment.

She felt a funny sensation down the pit of her stomach as she beheld his still erect manhood. She swallowed and tore her gaze from his body.

"Dayo, my point is, I don't want it to seem like I'm bullying you into doing something you don't want to do. I want you to be okay with it." She pleaded.

"I won't lie to you, Baby, I'm not okay with it. But I'll do it anyway because I love you and want you to be happy"  he explained.

"I love you too, but that's not enough. We have to be on the same page about most things and this is one of them. Its really important that we are" she said softly.

He looked at her for a moment, his face expressionless, and then with one movement he tore the condom off his penis, found his clothes and started to dress up.

"What are you doing?" Sonia asked him, bewildered.

"Putting on my clothes. Isn't that obvious?" he retorted with deep sarcasm.

"Yeah, I can see that, but why?"

"I need to get some air, please. I'll be back later" he grabbed his car keys from the dresser and walked out, slamming the door behind him...

***
Dayo rushed out of the house, got in his car and screeched out. He just had to run out of his house because he didn’t want to say something wrong to Sonia.

Dammit, she got on his nerves. She was such a know-it-all. She always countered everything, well almost everything he said. She was difficult, stubborn and strong-headed. He was used to yielding women, ones who never argued with him. In truth, he had never slept with anyone without a condom but she was different. He loved her. She was so unlike any other woman he knew but he couldn’t continue with this kind of woman. He had to break up with her because she was driving him crazy!

If only she wasn’t so pretty and funny and kindhearted and loving and romantic and passionate and oh so sexy… The list was long.

He let out a long sigh as he made a turn. He didn’t even know where he was going. He just knew that he needed time to think. Perhaps, someone to talk to. Someone who would understand his point. Thank God he still had his best friend, Chuka. He would go see Chuka.

That decided, Dayo called Chuka who gave him directions to where he was, a bar not too far from his place, and in a few minutes Dayo was there.

“Hey, man, what’s up?” Chuka greeted, as they shook hands.

“I’m good, man. What’s up with you?” Dayo responded.

“Everything’s cool. Everyone’s cool but YOU!” Chuka pointed at Dayo with a deep chuckle.

“Well, you’re right about that” Dayo said tiredly.

“Okay, let’s get you a drink first, then we can talk”

***

Meanwhile In Dayo's Bedroom...

Sonia stared at the door in disbelief, unwilling to believe that Dayo had walked out on her in the middle of lovemaking.

"He would come back any minute because he's a guy and guys don't pass up on a chance to have sex, right?" She asked the room.

All hopes of Dayo coming back to bed were dashed when she heard his car screech out of the compound.

"Oh well, I guess I blew it" she said to herself.

She loved Dayo but she loved her life more so wanted to be responsible. She knew she couldn't do it all but she wanted to do her bit. She had seen so many girls ruin their lives because of just one night of unprotected sex. God knows she had been once as foolish but when her neighbour died of a poorly performed D&C operation, she'd  woken up and vowed to never make that kind of mistake again.

She wanted to be with Dayo, she wanted things to work between them. Oh God, he was such a great guy! He was her kind of guy. He was kind, decent, hardworking, funny, clean, romantic and very generous. He made her feel good about herself. Well, until tonight. Now she felt like such a pain and it wasn't a good feeling at all.

She had to leave, she couldn't wait for him to come back and end it with her because she was sure he would. She needed to leave...

***

At The Bar...

Chuka: You are not fine. Why's that?

Dayo: It's Sonia

Chuka: Ah! What did you do to her?

Dayo: What do you mean by that? You can just ask that question the other way around.

Chuka: Well, whenever you have woman trouble, it's always that you've done one thing or the other to her, or you're looking for a way to run.

Dayo: Quit playing around and help me, okay? This is serious.

Chuka: Okay, tell me.

Dayo: Okay. I like her a lot, no I love her a lot. You know that, right?

Chuka: I do

Dayo: Okay. I love Sonia and I've never given myself to any other girl like this before and now I'm thinking that I made a terrible mistake to have done that.

Chuka: Why do you say so?

Dayo: Well, we were supposed to have sex for the first time tonight, you know. We were both ready but she refused to have it without a condom.

Chuka:(Puzzled) And that's bad because...?

Dayo: Maybe it isn't bad but I don't think we should be having sex with condoms because we're so used to each other and we love each other too, you know. But she thinks we don't know each other well enough to do it without a condom. I tell you, I know her plenty. She knows me too. She was going on about HIV status, unwanted pregnancy and all that. Well, I agreed to do it with a condom but she still wants me to like the fact that I'm having sex with my girlfriend, whom I love with a condom! It was too hard to stomach so I walked out and here I am.

Chuka: Hmmm, so stupid of you and  mighty responsible of her.

Dayo: What? You mean I'm irresponsible?

Chuka: In this case, yes.

Dayo: What?

Chuka: Dayo, the truth is you really don't know each other that well. Knowing or not knowing each other enough is not even the point here. The point is, she's not your first sexual partner and you're not hers, so you don't know.

Dayo: I really thought she was different.

Chuka: You've had girlfriends before, right? Did anyone of them ever insist you wear a condom before sleeping with her? Truthfully?

Dayo: Well, no. Instead, I did the insisting.

Chuka: There, she's different. She's responsible and that kind of girl is hard to find these days. Most girls pray you don't even wear a condom so they could get pregnant for you and have you marry them. But this is different because she doesn't want you to have to marry her, she wants you to want to. That's rare. I think you have it good, man.

Dayo looked at his friend Chuka as the light in the words slowly dawned on him.

Dayo: I knew talking with you would help. I also want to marry someone because I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her, not because I'm forced to. Thanks Chuka.

Chuka: Anytime, pal.

Dayo: Okay, I need to talk to Sonia right now, Chuka so I have to go. Call you later.

And he rushed out with the same urgency which he came in.

"Drive carefully" Chuka yelled after him.

***
Dayo, drove like a drunk Danfo driver all the way home. He knew Sonia would be feeling bad and he didn't want her to feel that way for too long. He needed to get to her quickly, and he did, a few minutes later.

He was just in time because Sonia, fully dressed was just stepping out of his bedroom.

"Whoa, where are you going?" he stood before her.

"I want to go home. Dayo, I think you need time to think about this". She said tiredly.

"Come on" he took her hand, walked her to the sofa and sat her down. Then he sat beside her, looked into her eyes and brushed her cheek with his fingers, smiling tenderly.

"What is it, Dayo? You left so angrily and now you're back and smiling. What's going on?" She looked at him, her eyes narrowed.

"Baby, I'm sorry for storming out earlier and for making you feel bad. It's because I didn't get you then but I do now. I know exactly what you mean now. I want to be with you for you, not because I have to. I also want to stay alive so I can stay in love with you. I want to make sweet love to you, but I want us to do it exactly the way we should right now. With protection. It's my job to protect you, so I will do it with great joy because I love you so much"

Sonia smiled as she lifted her hand to cup his face. Her eyes shone with tears.

"Dayo, you're the best thing I've had happen to me in my whole life and I'm so happy. You've made me happy. You make me happy and I love you so much"

And she kissed him. He kissed her back and started caressing her body. She moaned when his hand massaged her breasts, his mouth still on hers.

She had no idea how or when it happened but they were out of their clothes and in bed. They touched, they kissed, they nibbled on and licked  each other's most sensitive and intimate parts.

This time, Dayo tore the condom pack open and fitted it on his throbbing manhood by himself.

He entered her in one fluid, gentle movement and he groaned at the way she fit him perfectly. She felt so good that he had to stop for a moment to hold back from exploding.

He didn't believe he'd almost passed up something so beautiful and sweet.

And then she started moving and he was lost. They moved together in unison, their hearts beating as one, their hands clasped together, their mouths on each other's, their bodies fused as one. Then they came together, each uttering guttural sounds and murmuring unintelligible words.

"Marry me, please, Sonia" Dayo murmured a moment later as he held her tightly.

"What?" Sonia asked in surprise.

"Marry me. I love everything about you. I want to live with you forever. Please, Sonia"

"But we still don't know if we're okay. I mean our HIV status" Sonia said hesitantly.

"Fine! Let's go find out tomorrow. But after then you're marrying me" he threatened.

"Okay, I will" she laughed and he pulled her close, kissing her hungrily.

"Hmmm! Well, hello Dayo Junior" she laughed as she felt his manhood hardening again.

"Aye" he laughed and proceeded to ...

Well, the next day, they went for blood tests. The Lab attendant was really nice. She smiled as she watched them tease each other lovingly. She prayed they would still be smiling when the results came back.

"Dayo, what if one of us...?" Sonia asked nervously.

"Baby, stop crossing the bridge before you get to it. Let's get there first, okay? I do have a good feeling about this, though" he looked confident.

"Yeah?" Her eyes were filled with hope.

"Sure. Now, relax and tell me where you want to go for our honeymoon" he urged.

"Awww, look at you trying to distract me. Okay, how about Calabar?"

"Wow! I was expecting to hear Paris. I'm so lucky to have found such a prudent woman" he teased and they both laughed.

At that moment the Lab lady came in, holding a sealed envelope and looking grim.

"Oh, come on, where's that pretty smile" Dayo smiled as he took the envelope from her. He turned his back to Sonia and tore it open. His eyes went straight to the foot of the two sheets of paper and then he sighed and bowed his head for a moment and then turned to face an alarmed Sonia.

"Oh baby" he looked very sad.

"What does it say?" She managed to say through the hard lump in her throat.

He was silent for a moment, then he exhaled deeply. He bowed his head again, shaking it, then he looked up at her, a mischievous smile playing at his lips.

"Negative, baby. We are both free!" He exclaimed.

"Oh my God! Dayo, I'm going to kill you!" She cried, jumping on him.

"Congratulations, ma'am. You should be on Nollywood TV. Your performance was priceless" he shook hands with the Lab lady who was grinning from ear to ear.

"You planned this with her? You two are so mean" Sonia laughed through her tears.

"Marry me?" He asked with seriousness.

"Of course!" She went into his arms, smiling happily.

The End.