Everything that Zina told Itohan kept ringing in her heart as she came back to her room.

Though she was not convinced about marrying Eric but doing so means express way to wealth.

Since she came in, Uloma lay down on her bed. Her eyes were closed but it was obvious that she was awake.

“Uloma please I am sorry for the way Zina talked to you. I apologize on her behalf,”Itohan pleaded.

“It’s okay. There is no problem about that. Zina is not completely wrong. I think I made a mistake on the way I went about the issue. It’s just that I don’t want you to make mistake. With all that we have passed through in the hand of our parents, it will be an error for us not to marry right.”

” Please, can you tell me why you don’t want me to give Eric a chance?”

“I.T relationship is a serious issue. I don’t want to dabble into it. Beside, I am not really qualified to give counsel on relationships. I will advise you to pray and take your decision. Whichever way you choose to go, I will give my support.”

“You mean you will support me, even if I choose Eric?” Itohan asked in a surprise tone.

“If you feel that you will be happy being with Eric, why not? I don’t have any personal issue against him. ”

Eric tried his best to convince Itohan of his undying love for her. He kept sending gifts but Itohan refused to collect any of the gift. She told him to keep the gifts till she make up her mind.

Meanwhile, Stanford called her on phone to apologize for the outburst. He wanted them to continue with the relationship but she told him to hold on for a while.

She decided to discuss with Uloma.

” Uloma something is seriously eating me up. I need you to advise me. Eric is on my neck; he want me to say yes to his proposal. Stanford is also back. He want us to continue. I don’t know what to do.”

“So, who do you prefer?”

“I don’t know. That is my challenge?”

“I.T it is lie. You know who you want. You should be the one to advise yourself,” Uloma told her.

“All things being equal, Stanford would have been my choice. He is humble and God fearing. But I am afraid of his financial status . Eric is rich, he is comfortable he is a child of God too. I feel that I should go for him.”

“You have already made your choice, so why do you need my advise,” Uloma asked.

“I have this guilt In my heart. Stanford may feel that I abandoned him”

“Is that all?”

“Hmm! The kind of peace and relaxation I have when I’m with Stanford is not so with Eric. He is somehow proud. Though he is rich anyway. Maybe that is why he does not listen to me the way Stanford listens to me.”

“I.T please, pray and take your decision. Let God be the one to direct you. He knows the future. He knows the one you will marry and be happy. Just do whatever he tells you to do. More importantly, don’t ignore the whispering of the Holy Spirit. He is the Infallible detective. Don’t silent his voice. I know he has been telling you something. Follow his leading to avoid regrets.”

Itohan’s phone kept ringing and she refused to take the call.

“Who is the caller?” Uloma asked.

“It is Stanford. I don’t know why he is disturbing me.”

“Really? Stanford’s call is now a disturbance to you. Anyway if you have made up your mind that you don’t want him, let him know. But I advise again that you pray before taking such decision,” Uloma told him.

***************
After church service on Sunday , Stanford decided to meet Itohan. He was no longer able to bear the suspense.

“I.T I am so sorry about everything that happened. I am sorry for the way I treated you please forgive me.”

“Why did you travel without telling me. You switched off your phone, so that I could not reach you”

“I am so sorry. Please forgive me for everything that happened. I didn’t travel, I went to the mountain for prayers. I got tired of everything that was happening in my life, and decided to sort it out with God.”

“It’s alright, I have heard you. Can I go?”

“You will go, but you didn’t even congratulate me on the new job I got. ”

“Congratulations,” Itohan said with a frowned face.

“I.T what is going on. Are you still angry with me. I am so sorry. Please forgive me,” Stanford pleaded.

“I have forgiven you. But I don’t think that we are meant for each other. I can’t continue with this relationship,” I.T said firmly.

“You are still angry with me. I will give you time to calm down. I believe you will come around. Let’s just continue being the good friends that we were,” Stanford responded.

“That is the issue. Stan please, I need space. I don’t like the way you are always calling me on phone. You are choking me with phone calls. Please, allow me to breathe.”

“Really? But that was the way I used to call your phone. What changed?”

“Then,we were in a relationship, but now we are not. Please, I need some space,” I.T told him and turned to leave.

” I.T please, wait. Do you hate me this much now?” Stanford asked.

“I don’t hate you.I just don’t want to be with you again.”

“Have you prayed about this?”

“What of you? Did you pray before telling me that we should pause for a while.”

“I didn’t pray. That is why that decision could not stand. But remember that I never told you that I was no longer interested in the relationship. I only told you that I needed time to sort out things. Lots of things were wrong with me. I needed to sort it out. Please, forgive me.”

“No problem, I decided to give you enough time so that you can sort out whatever you need to sort out. Just take your time.”

“But I said that I am sorry. Please, forgive me,” Stanford kept pleading.

” I have heard you. Can I be on my away?”

“It’s okay, you will go. Just give me 5 minutes, let me get you food from the eatry, so that you can have what to eat when you get home,” Stanford offered.

“Please, don’t bother yourself. I will take care of myself. Someone is waiting for me.”

“I’m so sorry . You should have told me.”

Eric have been waiting for Itohan. After a while, he became impatient and went to meet him where she was standing with Stanford and held her hand.

“I.T what is going on? Why did you keep me waiting. You should have told him that we are going out.” Eric told her.

“Please can you give me a minute, let me round off the discussion with him,” Itohan replied.

“No please. I can’t allow you to keep standing. It is not good for your health. Mr. Stan please, if you can excuse us, we have an occasion to attend,” Eric said firmly.

Stanford stood and watched as they walked away. Itohan was not really happy for what Eric did.

When they entered in the car, she had to tell him.

“Eric I understand that you have been waiting for me. But you should have given me few seconds to round off with Stan. He was really embarrassed by your action. If not that he is not a troublesome person, he would not have taken what you did lightly. He was really hurt.”

“I purposely did that. He need to know that you belong to me. If not, he will continue to harass you with phone calls. With what just happened, he will not disturb you again. You really showed him that you have made your choice. I appreciate you for choosing wisely. You will not regret choosing me.”

“But I am yet to say yes to you. Don’t make it look like we are already dating?” Itohan replied in anger.

“Don’t worry yourself. What matters is that you heart is with me and mine is with you. Every other thing is a formality. I also need to inform you that your diamond ring is ready. Whenever you are ready, I will give it to you. ”

“You mean that you got a diamond engagement ring for me?” Itohan asked in amazement.

“Ofcourse. Do you expect me to give you a cheap ring? I won’t do that . A diamond girl deserves a diamond engagement ring,” Eric told her in excitement.

“You know that you like to flatter me,” Itohan said with smiles.

“No, this is not flattering. I mean every word of it. There is this question I have been wanting to ask. Where will you want me to pop the question officially? I want to do it in church on a Sunday afternoon or on Saturday during your choir practice,” Eric asked.

“I don’t really like a public marriage proposal. ” Itohan replied.

“You have to like it. You are getting married to a rich man.”

“I’m considering Stan. I don’t want to make him feel bad. A couple of people knew that we were dating. Making a show of the proposal will make him feel less than a man.”

“I.T I have to tell you this. I don’t think that you love me. Why are you always talking of Stan when we are together. I am your man. Your concern should be how to make me happy. I want to show everybody that we belong to each other. It will help other girls to stop disturbing me,” Eric protested.

Itohan was not happy about the idea but he had to keep quiet in order not to make Eric angry.

Watch out for the next episode.