On Each Cake Was A Letter

It took place on the beach. There was food, sand, two knees and two dogs…

Planning

Wedding preparations are not easy. Everyone knows that.  But proposing? That’s the easy part. You just drop on one knee in a well-lighted place; she will cry and hug you. C’est finis!

Not so, my brother. What if you misplace the ring in a bid to ‘hide’ it from your fiancée before the D-day? Where should you propose-in the mall, office, restaurant or beach? Should you stand so you see her eyes when you pop the question or kneel? If you kneel, how many knees? Two knees to show submission or one knee to look good for the camera? A lot goes into a proposal, I tell you.

Before the D-day

In a bid to hide the ring from his sweetheart, the ring got missing. The Search for it is talk for another day. Anyway, 25 liters of fuel and two swear-words later, the ring was found.

Lily singing Eye Adaba by Asa at SS Lounge

I remember tagging along on the fateful week to Murphy’s, a karaoke bar. While the couple sang a Barry White song, I calmly sneaked my camera out expecting Chiladi to drop on his knee(s), Nothing Happened.  Two days later found us at SS Lounge. She (Lily) took the stage and sang a love song by Asa while he stared rapturously. This time, I adjusted the camera specifications on my phone to High Resolution. Nothing Happened.

It had to be The Beach then. I did my part. I made a collection and made sure to add Chidinma’s wedding anthem, ‘Kedike’ to it.

Bad belles, puhleeze don’t start talking about the implications of proposing near water.

Trip

So we loaded the dogs (yeah, I have a dog now*sighs* so much has happened since we last spoke people). We loaded the dogs, small chops, drinks and headed for the beach. We were yet to decide on a strategy for the proposal. That was the proposer’s sole headache.

Now; choice of beach. Woe betides the man who proposes at Elegushi or Oniru. That’s like proposing at the market place. So we headed to the Atikan Beach Resort, a secluded area after Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah.

Beach

A couple of friends had been invited, say twenty folks. We all milled around-eating, drinking, loloxing. I deejayed. Nobody danced. I moved on to greater things.

L-R Ogey (standing), Kes, Friend, Obinna, Seun Idowu (standing), Lily (holding cup of juice), Ferdy (wearing fisherman cap), Sammy, Banji Jackson, Singer, Tobore

As we ate, he fed her a piece of samosa and whispered in her ear, Nothing Happened.

They lay together on the white, wooden recliner wearing matching fisherman caps. Nothing happened.

They went close to the waves and allowed it wash against their feet. Nothing happened.

I kukuma left and raced the dogs. I can’t be stalking people all over the beach.

Sunset

Have you ever witnessed sunset on the beach? It’s epic. The water looks inky blue. The crashing waves sound far off. You might hear a scream from a tireless child still chasing a ball. It is chilly.

Seun Idowu and Chuks-professional photographer and hobbyist, lay on the sand and clicked away. A sunset on the beach is something to die for. That’s when Obinna tapped me and walked away. It Was Time.

Pre-

Me and Obi headed to the car. My German Shepherd and Boerboel crossbreed , Simba tagged dutifully behind. We opened the boot and there it was; a box of red velvet cupcakes. On each cake was a letter, made with white icing. They all formed the words ‘Will You Marry Me?’ In the middle of it, in an open black box, on a velvet pouf sat the equivalent of my house rent-a glittering engagement ring. The white box, blood-red cake, white icing all combined to make me hungry. I wanted to eat the cake that signified a second ‘R’ in the ‘Marry’. Surely, Lily will be too excited to notice spelling errors. But Obinna was taking the task too personal. I let it go.

#Game # Class #Sweg

Proposal

Kes is a world class baker. Rumour has it that he wakes up at night and sleep-bakes. I hope to spend a night in his house. I will sleep-eat. Anyways, he baked the Proposal Cake.

Someone (Obinna) distracted Lily for a while. Ferdy was given the box. I finally turned on my camera. As Lily turned back, Ferdy dropped on his two knees, Gbam! Lily looked at the box in wonder. For a brief moment, I was scared the cakes had been rearranged and she was not getting the message. Then I noticed she was just surprised (like the ladies in the movies).

Ferdy slipped the ring into her finger. Now, we were in a frenzy; snapping, cheering and hoping for some cake. It was too much for me. I danced some atilogwu.

Then someone remembered, ‘She has not given reply. She has not said anything’.

We were close to the water. There were about eight hefty men, all loyal to Ferdy looking at her. I was scared she would respond out of fear and not love. Then she looked at Bros, still on two knees, with his fisherman cap and said ‘Yess! Yess!!’

Epic. Err…I am the one in aviators. Please notice

Events after that are out of my hand. Fumby took to the stage and gave an outstanding rendition of ‘At Last’, an original composition of Etta James.  They danced. They kissed and announced that it was their First Kiss (There are rumours that refute this).

We headed home. The dogs slept immediately they hit the backseat.

Some time from now, I would like to tell a young boy of ‘The day your father proposed to your mother’.

Some time from now…

Congrats Ferdy and Lily