Under the Crimson Sunset (a Nigerian Romance story)

Dave and Nancy bounced up and down the evening street, holding hands. They've always done this every evening, taking a stroll around the street. They'd run together, sit under the tree and discuss anything and everything. That evening, as they sat under large tree, Nancy began.

"Babe, I want to ask you something, but I don't know how to."

Dave, focusing his attention on her, said, "ask it as the spirit leads."

"Hmmm..." She smacked her teeth, bit her lower lip a bit. "If I tell you...if I...tell you that I don't want to get intimate with you till we get married, can you agree?" She faced the floor as she asked. Dave lifted her chin up with his finger. He smiled at her and attempted to speak when a voice cut in.

"Dave?! Oh my God, it's Dave!"

They both looked back and saw her coming. Nancy wondered who she was. She squinted her eyes and realized the skin looked so familiar. At once, Dave and Nancy knew who it was.

"Dorcas?" Dave exclaimed silently.

"Is that Dorcas?" Nancy questioned herself.

Dorcas approached them. Her skin was so white that children peeped around while chorusing "Oyinbo". She had an umbrella over her head, a singlet-like top with a jacket on it. She wore a mini skirt which reached the middle of her thick thighs and a black boot. Nancy reveled in her beauty,

"she is a walking sun" she exclaimed in a whispe as she watched Dorcas approach them. They stood up at once.

"What are you doing here?" Dave asked when she had gotten to their place.

"Well, happy to see you too."

"How come you're here in Nigeria? I thought you said you'd never come here."

"Well, stuffs happened. My dad died, so I had to come for his funeral and I'll soon go back. The sun here is roasting me alive."

"Oh, my condolences. Sorry for his loss."

"It's fine. He's old enough to die, tho." She shrugged. She noticed Nancy for the first time. She glued her eyes on her till Dave noticed. He cleared his throat.

"Let me introduce you. Sweetheart, this is Dorcas..."

"Sweetheart?" Dorcas whispered

"...my ex..."

"My ex?" She whispered again

"...Dorcas, this is my fiance, Nancy."

Dorcas seemed to space out a bit before she came around. She feigned a smile and shook hands with Nancy who found it awkward.

"You were quite in a haste to be with someone. Was that why you left me alone?"

Dave couldn't believe his ears. Was she really serious about playing victim? "Dorcas, you say what? Left you? Seems you've forgotten all that happened between us, right?"

"I waited for you."

"No. You left me because you were scared. You left me when I needed you the most. You knew my weakness, yet you left me when I could really use you as my strength." His breath was getting hard, he'd soon find it hard to breathe. Nancy noticed that he'd soon be uncontrollable, she held his hand and patted his shoulder.

"It's okay, hon. Let's go." She had to do something even though she was clueless about everything. Dave had narrated it to her, shee found it annoying that Dorcas would say something as shameless as that. Was she expecting Dave to come back to her? Quite a delusion. She pulled Dave away from her presence and they both walked away, leaving her dumbfoundedly.

Dave was still furious when they arrived at Nancy's room. He clenched and unclenched his fist as he paced around.

"Who does she think she is? Telling me she waited for me. Bloody liar!"

He went on ranting while Nancy tried to calm him down, he seemed undefeatable. She fetched him water from the kitchen, he took it down in a gulp and dropped the cup on the table. Nancy was getting scared because she had tried to make him relax. He didn't budge. He kept on rumbling and was getting ferocious. Nancy, not knowing what to do to keep him quiet, leant closer to him and kissed him. His body froze a bit. Nancy held his head his her palm tightly so he won't slip off. Dave closed his eyes to respond to the kiss and they moved their lips in sync. After a while, he calmed down. Nancy broke away from the kiss but their heads were in touch.

"You need to calm down, Dave. You scared me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know I'd overreacted that much."

"It's fine. Now, I know how to shut you up."

"It worked like magic. I love you so much."

"I love you most." Their lips met again.

Outside the gate, Dorcas, who had trailed them from the tree traced them to the apartment. She didn't know whose apartment it was, probably Dave's or his fiance's. She took out her phone and snapped the gate. She knew she'd be coming back for a better conversation with whosoever lived in the house. She smirked and walked away. "Fiance? What a joke, Dave."

While their kiss was getting intense, Nancy could feel the sensation again within her. She didn't know if she could continue or just break away. Dave hugged her tightly while working on their lips. Nancy broke away abruptly.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't bear it any longer." She was breathing hard. She wondered when she'd get a grip of herself and bear the burning urges in her.

"It's fine, dear." He brought her closer into his arms. "You asked me a question the other time before the interruption."

"Yes." She broke away from the hug and sat on the bed while Dave sat beside her.

"Well, I've told you I won't force you to do anything with me. Even if you say you don't want intimacy till the second year of our marriage, I'm fine with it. And if you want it right now, I'm fine with it. I just want you to be happy." He leant closer and kissed her temple.

Nancy smiled, "thank you for understanding." Then she remembered another question but she felt awkward asking him. "I have another question but it sounds very stupid."

"Ask, baby." He looked at her. At the sight of his gaze, Nancy's heart skipped few beats. She loved him more than anything.

"Well..." She swallowed hard, "do you, by any chance, know what foreplay is?" She quickly spilled it out.

"Hmm? Foreplay?" He couldn't believe his ears. Nancy realized how dumb her question sounded, she quickly told him not to worry.

"Yes, I know what foreplay is."

"Huh?" She was speechless. Why did she ask in the first place? She felt hot. "Well, forget I asked about it."

She got up, picked the cup on the table and raced to the kitchen. She could feel the inquisitiveness sprouting in her. Since Wumi explained everything to her, she channeled her research solely on the explanation and ended up knowing about new stuff which her body aches to try out. Now, she knew since Dave had answered in affirmative, her curiosity won't let her be. She took a glass of water and gulped it down her throat at once. For now, she needed to sort the Walking Sun out.