Crazy in Love
Stanley, 34, had, on a number of occasions, dated women in the past fifteen years. As a matter of fact, he had dated several women but took cognizance of the ordeals with eleven ladies in the last ten years. He made up his mind to walk down the aisle with the twelfth woman. Written in his diary of Women I Dated, Stanley’s stories were well spelt out. Alas, he’s dating women came as a result of the ‘crazy love’ he had for women, since his young teenage years, although there was a genesis that led to his promiscuity. Now, the question was asked: who would be the twelfth woman to walk the aisle with him?
At 8th grade, Stanley was fortunate to meet Emily, 15, a runner-up at the just-concluded Miss City High beauty competition. Emily, a very tall, slim-built and sound teenage woman, was at the time on top of the world; she had her academics working for her as unveiled by the exceptional grades obtained in the subjects she took part in, Emily’s social stance was a hub for her grade mates and others, below and above her in class to associate with, her eloquent ability mesmerized people she came across, her panache was a thing her colleagues, friends and teachers could not afford not to commend her.Stanley, one of the oldest in his class, pulled the bull by the horn and wooed Emily at the close of school period. Emily, rather than being egoistic and unfriendly, kindly responded rather in a suspense-like tone; telling him she will get a definite response. Emily, right from their first grade, had developed a crush on Stanley. Still, she did not admit it and make it obvious to him. Although Stanley was stunned at her very response, he was poised to have her green light. This would epitomize Stanley’s path to manhood.
After due consultations with her friends and self-conviction that she would become a ‘woman’, should she give a ‘yes’ answer to Stanley’s proposal, she eventually gave in-she replied by writing a letter of approval, saying that she is willing to give her heart to him, provided he, Stanley, showed commitment. It was so amazing to note that Emily was a sexually untouched young woman, despite her reputation and close relationships with her male peers and the school's "big boys".
On the other hand, this would be Stanley’s test as a man. In no time, a serious relationship was set up and both parties became one. Their relationship became ‘talk of the town’ as every Tom, Dick and Harry of City High School made it a reference in discussions. In fact, it got to the notice of the school’s authority. Majority of students, who happened to be friends with Stanley and Emily, gossiped and talked bad about them; they pointed to vague facts that Emily had lost her judgment in her choice of man. She will, in time, be ‘used and dumped’ by Stanley and her beau is nothing but an opportunist who will stop at nothing to get what he wants and leave her to the ugly side of fate. To the couple, however, they headed for a true bliss in their relationship, only to discover what the eventuality would be...
Their relationship triumphed through the trial of gossips and ugly side talks from the 8th to the final grade in high school. It was not too long that Stanley and Emily obtained their High School Certificates. With their exceptional grades, they applied, without contemplation, to the same college. The admission letters to study the courses applied came after a week and attached to them were scholarship packages that will see them through the years of study. This was one of the happiest moments of their lives. Together, they prepared for the challenges to be encountered in the school of their choice; South Hampshire College.
South Hampshire College played host to Stanley and Emily. Her beauty kept flourishing, two years after she won the Miss City High beauty contest. During their registration, many college boys sent wink signals at Emily, without Stanley’s knowledge. Stanley’s myopic sensitivity would abruptly end their two-year relationship. The admission process was completed in less than a month. Stanley and Emily, registered students of criminology, were ready to catch up with the on-going academic session. The session was characterized by the duo’s academic progress, excelling extra-curricular activities and more importantly, the mesmerizing beauty of Emily. The first semester exams were taken and results released. Stanley and Emily came out tops!
Their relationship, despite engaging academic schedules, thrived and was intact. At the end of the semester, Stanley told Emily he needed to see his family. Emily agreed. Unknown to Stanley, this exposed his beautiful Emily to the imminent dangers of other ‘better guys'
Emily and her friends decided to celebrate their academic triumph at a club. In their best of outfits, they dashed out of the Queen’s female hostel and waited to board a cab to the club. Hitting the club, the girls were warmly welcomed by their admirers who ran the club. Really, they had a swell time as they drank partied, ate and met people. Emily met a dashing young man whom she later knew as Natalie. Like a love-at-first-sight situation, Emily was lost for words the feelings she had for him. Without any dilly dally, Natalie, on getting her phone number, gave Emily his complementary card. The club partied till dawn and Emily, together with her friends decided to call the celebration quits.
Without Stanley knowing what was going on, Emily was seeing Natalie, without necessarily informing her friends and Stanley. Though Stanley calls regularly, Emily did not deem it fit to inform him. Not batting an eyelid, she would spend quality time with Natalie. It became so glaring that her relationship with Stanley was about hitting the rocks. Again, Stanley’s insensitivity was spelt out. He did not bother to ask about what was really going on, amidst all rumors of infidelity on the part of Emily. He took with a pinch of salt reports from his friends on the issue. It was at the beginning of second semester of academic study Stanley found out her double-dating lifestyle.
Emily and Stanley were out to prepare for a tough on-field test when Natalie, anonymous to Stanley, came around and altered the word ‘sweetheart’ to her. Stanley, apparentlyconfused, was undecided as to whether or not question Emily. However, briefly observing the time on his wrist watch, Stanley postponed the issue that just came up, because it was time for the test. The test was taken and both of them went to their meeting place, love garden, a stone throw from the Student Union Block. This would thwart Stanley’s intent of keeping the relationship with Emily…
After the test was concluded, Stanley and Emily headed to their hostel to settle their scores. In the hostel where both of them agreed to live together as a couple, Stanley angrily asked: “who the hell is he to you? What gave him the gut to call you SWEETHEART? Have you been seeing him lately? What’s he’s name? Are the rumors concerning your jump-round lifestyle correct?”
She flared up, an indication she’s guilty. Instead of politely answering the questions, she hastily replied Stanley: “you are such a funny man, you know. I should be the one to be blamed. I stooped low to being a relationship with you. But, like an ungrateful man, you keep interrogating unnecessarily. Well, Natalie is the name and happens to be to be my relative. Contrary to the rumors, I am still tied to you. This should be the first and last time you will echo such irrelevant questions again. Else, I will consider my relationship with you quits”.
Stanley, though shocked, had no choice because he unconditionally loved her.
Nevertheless, Stanley applied the ingenuity of his bosom friend, Justin, to keeping a close eye on her. This would be the last straw that broke the Carmel’s back.In suspicion, Stanley got to be close to Natalie, the supposed relative of Emily, and found clues to the correctness of rumors concerning her infidelity. It was towards the exam period of second semester that she developed the habit of not staying in the same abode with Stanley, especially during the night hours. Concerned he was, Stanley kept calling her mobile line in the middle of the night but she did not return any of the calls. This gave Stanley more cause to worry. Interestingly, knowing that Justin was Natalie’s close-door-neigbour and his cell phone number was registered in his phone contacts, Stanley decided to a call to Justin to know whether or not Emily was with Natalie, in a move to make vivid and more evident his suspicion of her illicit affair. “Yes”, Justin replied. He continued: “as a matter of fact, I am hearing some moaning as the sounds of sexual release is periodically being heated. I will do you the favor of videotaping this scene and send it to you as evidence.” He did what he promised; he did video-tape the sex scene involving Emily and Natalie and sent it to Stanley for his viewing.
It took the intuition of Justin to come over in time to his place and rightly console the apparently ailing Stanley just as he was about sending himself to the world beyond by suspending himself with a rope attached the ceiling fan of his room. It got to the point that Justin had to spend the rest of the night with him. In the morning hours of the day, both friends hurriedly went to take their baths and prepared for an early-morning lecture; Justin was a student of Criminal Intelligence and offered an elective course with Stanley. Stanley decided to halt the elective lecture in order to face Emily and let her known the wrongs committed. Emily came in and met the shocker of her life!
Stanley showed her the sex video on his phone. She was not only embarrassed but left with no choice other to fall on her needs and beg him in tears. Crocodile tears, Stanley thought, he decided to take her apology with a deaf ear. Stanley made up his mind to call it quits to their relationship. Emily broke in uncontrollable tears and went out of the abode to seek succor from her friends. It was on her way to seeing them that she got hit by an on-coming vehicle and after subsequent treatments were medically administered on her, she reaped what she sowed by carrying the burden of living with spinal paralysis for the rest of her life. Stanley, pitying her condition, decided to be there for her but NEVER to be her true love again. This opened an avenue for a flirtatious lifestyle that Stanley would explore and make the subsequent relationships with other women truncated by faulting trivial flops on their parts. Indeed, his mind was made up and there was no going back…
In an attempt to survive the hurting he experienced in the hands of Emily, Stanley directed all his focus on hisacademic work, saw women more as sex objects and used the remaining years in school to party well, if need be. Emily could not hold back her tears as she watched Stanley and his friends go clubbing and bringing home women of different kinds and sleeping with them. He worsened her predicament by unraveling his intended can of worms to her; dating as women as possible. In her paralyzed state did Emily witness Stanley go on a date with Linda, a friend of hers. As promised, his dating Linda ended abruptly, with incessant bedding becoming the order of the day. She had no choice other than pack her personal effects and say to him: ‘good bye. All the best in life! I will always love you till my very last breath’. This touched Stanley’s soft spot but he decided to be stone-hearted and carry on his new objective on women; fall in crazy love with them. Two months before graduation, he told Linda that he was done with the relationship, no apologies and never come to him again.
Both Stanley and Emily graduated with Second Class Upper. Emily, due to her condition, was sent to the India by her very opulent parents who would stop at nothing to give her the best of education, support and encouragement. Stanley was picked by a renowned intelligence firm and worked as an intelligence officer, after intense Para-military training in intelligence and definitive criminology.
During a foreign tour, he met a young dashing woman who disclosed herself as Daisy. Without further adieu, Stanley cut-short the process of dating and somehow, got what he wanted: sex. After he got tired of her, he used Daisy’s flaw of complacency against her. Then, he forcefully ended the relationship, even though Daisy showed love, commitment and never gave up on him. Disappointed she was, Daisy decided to move on with her life by getting herself occupied in her duties as Personal Assistant to one popular artiste, McCarty. Stanley’s salary tripled and as a result, he was able to secure a befitting apartment for himself in the city to act as a slaughter house for all women he was able catch with his net. He succeeded as he dated subsequently Tricia, Cameron, Tasha, Trish, Titana, Lovina, Maria, Nicole and Love, ‘slaughtering’ them in his apartment and getting away just like that. Indeed, he treated them more as sex objects. Still dissatisfied, he sought for what he wanted; one-night stand sex encounters with women who has attractive skirts. He did fulfill his lustful desire. However, he had it up to the neck the going about sexually abusing women; affected his working inputs, personal relationships and other vital activities. He wanted a new life.
In the quest for this, he sought for the counselor of his long-lost-but-found friend, Justin, now a top-ranking officer in the military. With his connections, Justin suggested that Stanley travel to India to meet a seasoned psychologist. He told Stanley that she knows what to do and is the best person to take care of his case. Stanley agreed. With arrangements concluded, all was set: Stanley would jet out to India to meet the hugest surprise of all times.
He went to India and sought immediately after the address given to him by Justin. He did locate the place and waited as one of the clients to be attended to. Soon, it got to his turn and the receptionist, with a smile, politely told him to go in. Stanley went in to meet a woman who is upright but not well-postured burst in tears saying: “Stanley, do you recognize me?”
In a state of surprise, Stanley replied: “I cannot re-collect where I met this face”.
“It’s me, Emily!” she exclaimed. Stanley could not believe his eyes. It was a laughter-tears session as both parties reconciled and got even for the wrongs that took place seven years ago.
It was at that point Stanley proposed: “will you marry me?”
“Yes!” she replied, looking more than serious.
Two weeks later, they traveled to the states to finalize their wedding plans. Thirty years later, they happily married with three children and a grandchild.