OneJoblessBoy

Musings of the boy next door

All Night Browsing

Throwback to the days when showing love cost little. Looking good, the little gestures and a warm smile were enough to win her heart.

Do you remember when you only needed to afford a quality meal for two?

Do you remember those days when all you needed to do was walk her to the hostel?

I remember seeing a close friend of mine paying rapt attention during a Deeper Life service in school. That day, laugh wan tear my belle! I laughed so hard, not at the christian denomination but my friend. He had previously boasted that he will never have anything to do with someone who worships at Deeper Life Bible Church. His reason? They were so sanctimonious and sometimes even hypocritical. I laughed hard at him as I walked past the lecture theatre where the service held. He was seated close to the window and looked like he was about to confess some sins and then accept Jesus as his Lord and ‘Personal saviour’. Deep within, I knew one of the girls he was crushing on must have dragged him to that service.

Yes, life was that easy. You could win a girl’s heart by attending church service with her. The simple things really mattered then but it seems as we grow older everything changes so fast.

Do you remember when all you needed to do was book an all night browsing session for two at a choice Cyber-cafe?

Did you just recall walking several metres with her in the dark, hand-in-hand as you guys made way to the cafe. The All Night Browsing session will usually begin around 10pm and end at 5am or thereabout. This meant she would have to leave her hostel before it gets locked. You guys will hook up at a restaurant, you buy her a meal and you buy yourself a drink. While she eats, you look into her eyes and smile each time she swallows.

As you both walk to the internet cafe, the cool evening breeze throws some beautiful scent from your cologne into her nose. You find solace in sniffing her hair and your left hand is loosely hanging just above her waist. You are afraid of doing too little but scared of doing too much.

When you two finally get in, you face your monitor and she faces the next one. You both log on after a long wait, steal glances at each other and open Yahoo Messenger. You two start chatting, not with strangers but with each other. Periodically, you both giggle. Other times, you laugh at the giggles of another ‘couple’ surfing the internet at the other side of the table. The wooden divider won’t let you see them but you both imagine they are doing just the same thing you two are doing.

After a while, you both go outside. You smooch and kiss each other here before returning to your desks and of course Yahoo Messenger. You check your Hi5 account and respond to some messages. You check out MySpace accounts of your favourite artistes. Suddenly, you check the time and it is almost morning. She remembers a few assignments and researches she needs to do. As Superman, you come to the rescue. You begin downloading every PDF document you find about the topic into her flash drive as you pray the system is not virus-infested.

You look up and it’s 5am. You are logged out automatically and shortly after, she is logged out as well. As you both walk back to her hostel, you hold each other tighter. You both want something but you both remain silent. You hug right in front of her hostel and as you try to kiss her neck, she smiles and gives you a weak push. You wave as she walks in and you imagine a lifetime with her.

Now, you begin the very long walk back to your own hostel. You remember you had a term-paper to write and your own assignments. You feel disappointed for not even remembering what made you buy the browsing tickets in the first place. You reassure yourself that it wasn’t a bad night. After-all, you helped the person you consider your future-wife get through a few task. Something tells you how silly you sound but you choose to ignore it as you begin to walk even faster.

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