The Joy of the Pursuit by Joshua Olanrewaju
The first time I saw her I didn’t notice anything special; this was definitely not love at first sight. You see, I don’t believe in love at first sight mostly because I don’t believe in magic. Now, when I think back I wonder why it wasn’t love at first sight. It wasn’t even ‘notice at first sight’, I almost missed her. A few ‘sights’ later and I began to notice. Something in my heart began to unravel and I decided, she was someone who was worth knowing.
And so the pursuit began.
The first conversation was important, it was make or break. Well, nothing was broken so it’s safe to say something was made. It was great, it felt like I was talking to an old friend. I was funny, she laughed. She was smart, I listened. She ‘tit-ed’ and I ‘tat-ed’, she ‘ying-ed’ and I ‘yang-ed’, it was a brilliant exchange. People in faraway galaxies raised their glasses that night, in honour of our conversation.
And the pursuit continued.
True friendship is a gift, a rare gift. You don’t earn a gift and she didn’t make me work to earn her friendship. It was different from the first day. She was open and honest, sweet and charming. I loved the friendship and poured all I had into it. Soon the god Philotes of friendship was calling Cupid, an arrow needed to be shot. Cupid shot. He missed. Looked like I was lost forever in the emotive zone called friendship.
Still the pursuit continued.
‘The true evidence of desire is pursuit’, someone once said. Desire was aroused, once it was lit, it could not be doused. The friend-zone is great, it wasn’t my first time living here but not this time. This one was different. I crawled, I fought, I strategized, I prayed. I defied pity, disdain and the unfortunate occurrences of being thought stupid, I did not belong here.
Does the pursuit ever end?
I won, I overcame, I conquered. The victory was not as I expected – I did not get out of the friend-zone. I did not need to because she came to me right where I was. She came and with her, an arrow. Cupid shot, he did not miss, the arrow only took longer to hit. It did not matter where we were as long as I could open my eyes and I could see hers.
The pursuit is all there is.
This was not the end of my pursuit; this wasn’t a journey with an end. This was my life; my every waking moment would be spent in pursuit of her.
This is the joy of it all; I’m not the only one in pursuit.
