Zee's Dairy: I met a monster

Months passed and I had already forgotten about the incident at Bryan's house. I hadn't given him the chance to give an explanation for whatever transpired between us. He had sent me texts saying he wanted to explain things to me and it wasn't really how I thought it was. I thought it wasn't worth stressing and reopening wounds for, so I blocked him on every platform he could contact me on. I also instructed the security man at my house to not let him into the compound. Bryan always tipped him, so I sounded the warning into his ears like thunder.

It was six months since my birthday and I was just beginning to give new men audience. I was stressed out after work on a beautiful Tuesday and decided to unwind. I booked an Uber to a new lounge I had heard one of my colleagues at work talk about. It was located a few meters away from my place of work. I dressed smartly, not in a corporate outfit but something fit for a workplace and perfect for a lunch date with your partner.

It was 5pm when I got there. There were a handful of young men and women perching up in pairs on brown colored cane chairs and I sighted a man with grey hair and beards, he couldn't have been a young man. He was obviously in his late fifties or sixties. He looked neat and well dressed, unlike those old men who always wore lace attires and looked unkept, with their beards making their way into their mouth while they munch on food. These unkept old men were always seen in the company of young, beautiful ladies who were young enough to be their children, but this man here sat alone, sipping a glass of chilled bear and vibing to Ebenezer Obey's Kosogbon Tole Da. He seemed sad because he didn't look cheerful. 

I looked past him and went to sit at a table just beside the bar. A waiter came to take my order. I ordered for catfish pepper soup and a huge glass of Chapman. I sat moving my hips to Davido's Flora My Flawa . In a few minutes, the tall, slender, waiter came with my food, drink and a smile. I dug into the rich plate of pepper soup, it was spicy and really tasty. 

I was sipping my Chapman happily when a young, chocolate colored, handsome man of average height walked majestically to my table. He asked "do you mind?" while trying to pull out the seat opposite me on the table. I raised my hands indicating that he could sit there if he wanted.

"My name is George. I'm a medical doctor at the state teaching hospital. I was transferred here about six months ago and it's been a bit difficult blending into the environment and making new friends. I'm either at work or at home, no other place. And that's why I decided to check this new lounge out. I saw an ad on Instagram about the newly opened lounge and thought I should check it out since I'm free today. Can I meet you?", he said. I heard all these very faintly because I was listening to the song that was being played at the lounge. "Did you hear all I said?", he asked to be sure I was with him. "Oh yes, I did", I replied as my mind was brought back to the room. "Well, I work as a corporate lawyer at the biggest NGO in this city", I said. "Oh, SMILE, you mean?", he asked. "Oh yes, SMILE. I'm not new in this city though, I'm just a bit of an introvert and I decided to unwind today and check out this new place. My name is Zainab, you can call me Zee, and it's nice meeting you", I finally said. He heaved a sigh of relief as he thought I wasn't interested in having a conversation with him from how absentmindedly I acted initially.

We got chitchatty and soon it was 8pm and I picked up my phone to order a ride to take me home. He saw what I was trying to do and offered me a ride home. I was hesitant, but agreed. We rode in his car on the lit up, slightly busy road, with the cool evening breeze blessing our nostrils. He played Adele's Hello on a very low volume and shook his head at intervals to the rhythm of the music. About forty minutes later, I asked him to stop at the entrance of my street, but he insisted on dropping me off at my house. I smiled and pointed the way to my gate to him. We got there in not more than five minutes and he had to park his car outside the gate because the gateman didn't come out in time to open the gate for us. I suggested going in to open the gate by myself, but he refused saying "oh no dear, don't bother about it. Besides, I'd be going to my house now." I gave him a confused look and he asked "what's wrong?", I said "you shouldn't just go off like that there. Please come in for a drink, and I insist." Defeated, he agreed and came in with me.

We got into my apartment and I went into my kitchen to get him something to drink. As I poured the grape juice from the pouch into the glass cup, I felt a cold hand on my neck, pulling my hair together. I turned around and it was George. I gave a faint smile as I was confused as to why he came in to meet me there. He overlooked the discomfort on my face and proceeded to grab my waist. I relieved myself from his grip and in a flash, he grabbed my breasts and tried to tear off my skirt. Perplexed, I screamed and struggled to avoid being raped by this monster. Frank, my neighbor who stayed downstairs, ran upstairs with a stick in his hand to find out what the problem was. Upon sighting George and I struggling, he hit the stick on his head. He fell and staggered downstairs, to his car. Frank bent down to console me as I sat on the floor crying. I was terrified. That night, I slept in his room.

I called in sick at work the next day. I was still in shock. The monster, Frank and I were the only ones who knew about this ugly incident and I wanted it to remain that way. I didn't even call Layo. I stayed indoors all day.

He looked and sounded too good to have acted that way. "How could I have almost been raped at my age", I thought. Men.