ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD

Being a nerdy, subdued and quiet girl who had always been ignored by cute guys, i could not but have been awe-struck and inevitably swayed by Roland when he turned his charms my way. He was all 6 foot 2 of male beauty. Chocolate skinned, broad shoulders, long black lashes with senewy biceps. He worked out constantly and did 10 laps in the pool 4 times a week, which explained for his fit physhic. He was as seductive as the Greek god Adornis himself. He was from a very comfortable family and had made his own way on his own. He was 29 years but already had his own software company which he ran. He probably was no Microsoft but his god father was a senator, so he had alot of connects. Which is why i was so surprised that he picked me to ask out. Little did i know that he did so because he could see that i was subservient and could easily be controlled.

I had always been a push over nomatter how much i hate to accept it. I was one of those nerds who was cute but quite anti-social. I was the type who saw spending hours in the library digging into mountains of dusty old books as fun.
 Everyone said he was such a good catch for me. And they never missed an opportunity to mention all his attributes while they compared them with my meagre accomplishments. I was an ace science student and was developing my own vaccine for meascles. But i guess to them since i wasn't anywhere near being a cool social animal, that didn't count for much.

At the begining it was all rosy. Maybe all too rosy infact. But i was too wrapped in the whole romance of it i thought it was my stars that were shinning in my favour. Roland was very attentive, he got on easily with my friends and my colleagues and they all gushed about how sweet he was. Never been one to date much, i wasn't well used to the expected behaviours in a relationship so i accepted most of the advice my friends gave me. "Bisi, dont screw this up oo, he might be the only the soji guy that will ask you out oo, so better give him green light"

He would drop by the lab where i was on internship unexpectedly to surprise me. Most times with lunch in a paper bag or sometimes just to steal a kiss and leave. It was all so sweet i didn't see the warning lights. On a certain day he came by my office and met the office bad boy Jide leaning in to me suggestively. It was an innocent thing as he saw me as untouchable cos i was the only girl he couldn't get in the department. When Roland saw us, there was a dark glint in his eyes as he grabbed my arm and pulled me to his side. My colleagues thought it was romantic of him to be protective of his girl. I though didn't really find it funny as his fingers kept biting into my flesh as he dragged me towards the parking lot where we had a heated argument before he drove off.

So the jealous spates kept going since then. I had gone over to see him after work one day and i left my phone in his living room while i was in the kitchen fixing a meal. I was bent over fishing for a put in a lower drawer and next thing, i felt a harsh slap on my butt. I turned immediately to see Roland looming over me with his arm raised ready for another smack. Before i could move away it landed hard on my stomach. It was then i quickly moved away towards the door. He got there before me and shut the door while pressing me against the closed door. He was waving my phone in my face saying "who the f*ck is he?  another boyfriend abi?" My eyes were teary already so couldn't see what it was he saw in my phone. I shook my head to clear the tears while i asked him what it was he was talking about. Just then he smacked me in the face raining all manners of obscenities at me. He shoved the phone at me and asked me to read the message on the screen out loud.

 It was a text message i had just received from an old toaster since way back in school and Roland had read it. His name was David and we had just reconnected after a while and we exchanged blackberry pins. He had obviously sent me one of those rowdy broadcast messages and was hinting at wanting to get down all kinky with me. David had always been the mischief maker and i was sure it was all a joke on his part and i tried to explain to Roland through my tears. Intsead he yanked at my hair and kept pulling me down till i was forced on my knees.

That was where he wanted me, at his feet groveling. I looked up at him and pleaded with him still wailing, his features relaxed and he bent down to hug me close to him, apologising for being that harsh with me. He put away the food, picked me up to the bed and gave me a soothing massage. While i drifted off to a light doze he brought in a tray with food for me to eat. when i was done eating he drove me back to my house.

So it went on and on. One day he was sweet, the other he was obsessively jealous when any guy showed me a little attention. He started picking fights with male waiters who served us at restaurants saying they were staring at me provocatively. He even made me stop talking with my best friend chris whom i used to confide in. Gradually i became a recluse, i only had him to talk to and we never did much of the talking anyway. Times came when i conducted conversations in my head for lack of who to talk to.

My mom called me on one of those depressed days and somehow she could sense that all wasn't well with me. She persuaded me to travel home and see her. I gave her a non commital answer because somehow i knew Roland wouldn't be all too pleased about me going away. I asked him anyway and just as i had guessed he refused! infact i got a whipping and a sore behind to show for it.

I think that was when i knew i had to do something. How sick had he become that he would attempt to alienate me from my family, my own mother? Two days later, i packed up my suitcase, went to the airport and took a flight to Lagos to see my mom. When I arrived at the airport at ikeja, my mom and my step-dad came to pick me up. My father died 15years ago and she had re-married 6 years ago when i left home for school.

As intuitive as mothers can be i am sure she figured something was amiss. As soon as we got home she began quizzing me lightly about my rather withdrawn countenance. I pretended as best as i could but on the eve of the day i was slated to leave, i broke down and told her everything. She was cross that i hadn't told her all this while! Infact i became scared that she was going to hop on a plane to Abuja and smack some sense into Roland's head. However, she calmed down and began strategizing on how best to haandle the situation. She convinced me to extend my ticket, call my office and request for some days off. She made me dispose of my sim card so Roland couldn't reach me even if he tried. I stayed back in Lagos and was pampered rotten. I had had so little fun in my life for the past 6 months that i had come to see myself as an old boring woman. The couple of days i spent in my mothers company refreshed and revitalized me. I even looked somewhat like my 24 years by the time i was leaving Lagos.

My mother had insisted on returning to Abuja with me. Upon our arrival, she took charge like the Alpha mother that she is. She began a house hunt for me. And in about a week i had settled down in a new house and since i had a good rapport with my boss, my mom asked to meet with him and she helped me secure a transfer to another of our labs. She even assisted me in filing a police report against Roland that should anything happen to me or should he ever come within 10 kilometers of me he will be thrown into jail. Her strength and determination made me realize that no matter how grown i thought i was, i was still her little baby.

She stayed for 2 weeks more and by the time she was leaving i felt like a new person, a new life given to me and the whole 9 yards of freedom. I swore to myself to go on a man cleanse until i feel better about being in another relationship. I learnt first hand that truly all that glitters, really isn't gold.