"This is the craziest idea I have ever heard of. I can't deal with your craziness Falak. Dating one person is not easy Falak... how are you going to date 30 in 30 freaking days?"
I stand grinning at my best friend and the look on her face is priceless. "I'm only planning to date 30 males Zainab I'm not planning to kill the president."
Zainab looks like she's about to punch me in the face, "It's ridiculous" she says exhaling, "you don't have to date 30 men to find love Falak. I mean look at me... I have been in a relationship with one man my whole life and I'm happy."
"You're no fun on God."
"You need to channel this energy to something more productive and you need be serious for once. First it was writing letters to your enemies and that led to three girls coming to our home to fight us, because you wrote FALAK AMIN boldly on each letter." I'm laughing hard now, those days were the best. I should consider doing that again.
"And now you want to date 30 men?? I hope you won't come up with the idea of kidnapping people soon?"
I burst out laughing again and say, "Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind..."
"What?" she asks confused.
"Oliver Wendell Holmes"
"Lord save me from this girl." Zainab says rushing towards our home door. I rush too laughing because I know that she is going to lock me out and call me a slowpoke.
It's night time, 8:00 to be precise, the beds are chirping, there's no electricity and we ran out of fuel since yesterday and have been unable to buy some more.
Zainab put on candles all over the apartment. We live alone in Abuja because we school here and our families stay in Kaduna. Zainab and I have been bestfriends for as long as I can remember.
"I'm really serious about this." I say to Zainab as soon as she enters our room. She's holding a plate that contains noodles and a lit candle. I walk up to her and collect the plate as she sets the candle on a bedside cupboard. I place the plate on our soft carpet and wait for her to join me so that we can eat.
The candle light is bright enough for the both of us to see each other, Zainab is wearing a loose sleep dress while I'm wearing Mickey Mouse pj's. She prays for a while before she begins to eat but I don't join her.
After a minute of eating she notices that I'm not eating and she says, "Why are you not eating?."
I decide to join her, it doesn't take us long before we finish eating the noodles and it tasted great.
After drinking water and belching I decide to tell Zainab about how serious my plan is. She doesn't know that I have had it in mind for so long before now.
"Zainab what story would you have to tell your kids about your school life?" I decide to ask first before the main topic.
Zainab thinks for a while, this assures me that she has none. We will be graduating this year and we don't have any interesting stories to tell about school. We have been confined for a long time and need to have fun before we graduate and graduation is in three months.
I cut her thinking by saying, "I know you have none because we have been anti social since we got into school. We have perfect grades but boring lives and it's so cringing to hear that I have had only one boyfriend since year two."
Zainab smiles "But it's not like you haven't been approached by guys, you just keep rejecting them. Why now?"
It's because I'm crazy and I just want to do it but I don't tell her this instead I say,
"I want this to be my way of having fun and exploring before I graduate."
"But this is harder than you think it's Falak. I mean, how would you meet 30 men in three months. What's the point of doing this when you won't even end up with one?"
"That's where you're wrong Zainab. I plan to go on 30 dates to see if I can find love or not. I haven't been asked out in two years and I want to have fun."
"This could be dangerous too. I think it's a bad idea."
I roll my eyes, Zainab is always the logical one who thinks out of the box and sometimes moves away from the box.
I don't want to tell my bestfriend that I want to do this to challenge myself and to also find myself. Because I haven't done anything spontaneous since we started school and we're graduating soon.
Zainab is smiling broadly at me, I know she's about to say something foolish so I motion for her to spit it out.
"What if I also go to 30 places I haven't been to in Abuja since we arrived." Zainab says squealing.
I jump on her and ruffle her silky black hair. "that's the spirit sister. We should test our limits and breakthrough."
Zainab laughs and we say, "Frozen" in unison.
We decide to talk about other things before we turn off all the candle lights and go to sleep. But before I sleep I decide to begin my mission on Monday.
"I'll ask them out if it's the only way I can fulfill my needs." I say before sleeping.
>>>>>>>>>
Sunday is the most lazy day in Zainabs and my life. Zainab doesn't wake up until 1pm on Sundays and so I'm usually the one who takes care of cleaning the house.
I pick a broom to clean up the parlor before proceeding to the kitchen to wash the dishes, while I sweep I begin to think of my plan again. Is dating 30 men really a good idea? I ask myself over and over again but a loud voice in my head tells me to go on with it. Afterall what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger.
This idea is just a huge step I'm taking towards self discovery. I hardly know who I'm and I feel like by meeting up with 30 random men I'd be able to get to know myself better.
As I clean the center table another idea pops into my head. I can also go on dates with girls, why should it be only men? But I discard the thought almost immediately, girls may not really be fun to talk to unless we have known each other for a while.
Zainab may think that I'm joking about this but I'm very serious about it. All my life I haven't had a relationship that has lasted more than three weeks and I have dated over ten men and so this decision is solely out of the need to see if I'm the problem or the men.
If by chance I find love before the end of the 30 dates then I'll win but if I don't find love after 30 dates I'll call it quits on love forever.
I also just want to have fun and live a little and this is the only I can think of. Me to myself: I like when the ideas come from you.
>>>>>>
It's still Sunday but 11 am and as I fill my mouth with oat Zainab enters the parlor, her hair is messy and there's saliva by the side of her mouth.
"You look like an ogress. Go wash your face and comb your hair."
Zainab makes sure she tongues out at me before going back to the room. Our apartment is not big but it's not also small. We have one room which Zainab and I share pathetic right? Well we never invited anyone over so we decided to get a one room, one parlor, one kitchen and one bathroom apartment.
We designed our home to look really good though. Zainab loves interior design and so she made sure we had the best. Starting from our wallpapers, to the best kitchen drawers, sofa etc. Our room is the most beautiful place in the house. It has a minimalist design, the walls are painted in a very light pink, almost like peach. We have a wardrobe and two bedside cupboards, one for Zainab and one for me.
>>>>>>>>
Zainab has been on the phone call with her boyfriend since she left the bathroom. She has been dating him since year one and their love just keeps growing stronger by the day.
I'm watching Teen Titans go and although the TV sound is loud I can still hear Zainab laughing hard. This makes me want to go ahead with my plan even more.
Five minutes into watching television Zainab comes rushing to the parlor and says to me that her boyfriend Haider would be coming to pick her up for a date by 8. It's already 7:30 pm.
"What do I wear? Jeans, a dress, a jilbaab?"
She's obstructing my view and all I want is for her to go away so I tell her to wear jeans and a nice top and to wear a turban. I know Zainab would not take my advice, she may end up wearing native clothes because she never listens to my advice.
She goes back to the room in no time and returns wearing a native dress. I knew that she'd not listen to me, her phone begins to ring and it's her boyfriend calling to tell her that he has arrived.
I curl myself under the blanket on the sofa and tell her to move away from the TV. It seems like he's telling her something important because she keeps nodding her head but I don't care I just want to see how Raven and Bizboy's argument would end. Robin from teentitansgo comes into their apartment and disrupts their conversation and I burst out laughing. Robin's a fool.
Teentitansgo would forever be my favorite cartoon. I'm so engrossed in the TV that I don't hear Zainab telling me to dress up.
"For what reason?" I say whining.
"Al-Amin wants you to come along with us because I told him that you'd be bored alone at home."
I send her a deadly glare. "Do I look bored to you? What is better than watching teentitansgo on a Sunday night and eating cheerios?"
She drags me off the sofa and pushes me to the room to get dressed. I decide to wear jeans and an off shoulder top and to complete the look I wear a shoe and a female-turban.
I never take long to get ready and by the time I get to the parlor Zainab has switched off the home appliances and we leave for God knows where.
The car ride is peaceful, the only sound in the car is emanating from the ac. I can see Zainab and Al-Amin holding hands and it makes me ask God when. In order to break the awkward silence I clear my throat and as Al-Amin where he plans to take us. He tells me that it's Tulip bistro, a popular restaurant in Abuja. I haven't been there before so this should be fun.
We arrive at the place in no time and when I come out of the car I'm greeted by so many flowers by the restaurant's entrance. "It's so beautiful." I hear myself saying.
We order food and eat. While eating from Zainab's mannerisms I can see that she wants to have as much fun as possible with Al-Amin and I really want her to because they don't meet very often. He has a busy schedule and she has school. It's 9:30 and while they plan to order for dessert I announce that I'd be leaving.
"But why?" Al-Amin enquiries.
I tell him that I am feeling dizzy and would like to sleep early but Zainab knows that I'm lying, I know that she's about to say something stupid so I close her mouth with my hands. Al-Amin offers to take me home but I tell him that I'd call a cab. I say goodnight to Al-Amin and tell Zainab to have fun while I leave.
The moment I step foot outside I feel the cold breeze hit my shoulder, the night is so cold and I regret not coming with a jacket. I decide to walk a few miles before getting a cab home. I know that Zainab is safe and wouldn't be home until later today.
The night is beautiful, the sky is dark the moon, is not very bright but the scattered stars make it very beautiful. My head is up as I admire the night sky then I accidentally hit someone when I find my composure I say sorry to the person. It is a guy and his back is turned but when he turns to face me I recognize the face immediately. It's the man that ruined my heart and my life and made me hate the word love, someone I never want to see ever again in my life.
Why did the universe choose today? I ask myself.
He begins to walk away after saying sorry too, I wonder if he recognizes me or if he's pretending not to. He looks sad and displaced. Was I that quick to forget? I ask myself. I fight all the urge to tell him I know him, to remind him of all that he had done to me but I decide to walk away too.
I take a taxi home and as I remove my shoes the only thoughts that run through my mind are if I should tell Zainab about who I saw or not and also about going on with my plan of dating thirty men.
I have my diary close to me, I begin to write down the apps I can meet with people and also thirty things I want to discover about men on these thirty dates. I write until my arm begins to hurt.
After checking the time and seeing that it's 12:00 am I know that Zainab is not ready to come back home so I switch off the room lights and draw a blanket over my body.
My first date begins tomorrow, hopefully.