Acceptance

The end of term exams was fast approaching. The first term was a bit short for Chantel, but she was not that worried about that. She had two things bothering her mind though, the first one being Kevin, who was still waiting for Chantel to accept his proposal and the second was her father. Mr Asare was a very busy person, it is a well known fact, but he had never been too busy to get time for his baby girl. Chantel wondered what could be keeping her father from coming to see her.

So, she decided to use the pay phone card she got from Cynthia, to call her father. The school had five pay phones in different locations around the school compound. But anytime Chantel wanted to use any one of them, she would meet a queue of students already waiting to call their loved ones. That alone always made her give up from calling her father. Today was no exception, but she was determined to call her father and hear from him.

She joined the long queue she saw at the payphone booth. She stood for almost two hours before it got to her turn. When it got to her turn, she put the card in and began to dial her father's number. It rang once, twice, three times before he picked up.

"Hello," the person on the other line said.

"Hello. Daddy?" Chantel asked, making sure it was her father she was talking to.

"Chantel? Baby girl, is that you?" her father asked her.

She nodded her head as she spoke, as if her father could see her. "Yes, it is me, father. I miss you so much."

"I miss you so too, baby girl. How are you doing?" her father's soft voice spoke to her, making her smile.

"I am not fine, father. Why haven't you been here to see me? When I left for school, you were already in Canada. But, you are already back, and yet you haven't come to see me," she complained.

"Forgive me, baby girl. It's just that I have this business deal I have to close which is taking all of my time. But I promise you that, as soon as I am done, I will come see you immediately. I actually wanted to come see the school and speak to a few of your teachers." her father apologised to her.

"Okay father. I hope it will be soon, because I can't wait to see you and hug you and tell you how much I love you."

"I love you too, baby girl. I love you so much. Just bare with me this once and I will come to see you as soon as I can, okay?"

"Alright, father. Please take care of yourself."

"Take care of yourself too, my darling and don't hesitate to call me when you need anything, okay?"

"Yes, daddy. I love you, dad."

"Love you too, baby girl. Good bye."

"Good bye, daddy." she said and hanged up the phone.

Now that she had been able to talk to her father, she felt more at ease. She now had to talk to Kevin. He had come the day before to visit her and Chantel had asked him to come the following weekend for his answer. Today was the day, and Chantel was already feeling nervous about the whole thing. She had thought extensively about this, but she had this nagging feeling that things might not go the way she had planned it. She shook her head, and sent that negative feeling somewhere at the back of her mind. She went and stood under the mango tree and waited for Kevin.

She did not have to wait too long though, because Kevin was already there, with a huge smile on his face. When he was close enough to Chantel, he hugged her, making her blush a bright shade of red on her cheeks.

"Have you been waiting for long here?" Kevin asked, looking down at her in a sweet way. Chantel just shook her head.

"You know, you should have just waited at the dorm, I will just have sent someone to come get you for me," he said.

They finally broke the hug. "You always get someone to come get me from the dorm but today I decided to come here and wait for you to arrive."

"Alright. Thank you my angel, for being so thoughtful." Kevin mocked her. She hit his chest playfully, as she cracked up with laughter. She loved the nickname Kevin had given her just as she loves the nickname her father gave her.

"Alright so, I am guessing you might be wondering why I called you here. Well, it is about the proposal you gave me about some weeks ago. It has taken me long to give you an answer because, I wanted to get the time to know you a little bit more."

"So, where you able to learn something about me, then?" Kevin asked, playfully.

Chantel nodded. She used to be very shy of Kevin and always looked down whenever he spoke to her. But, in time, she got used to him and began being more comfortable around him. She was no longer shy of him like she used to.

"I have decided to be your girlfriend. I trust you and I know you won't do anything to hurt me, that is why I am giving you this chance. But, I want you to promise me something," Chantel said, with her hands in front of her as she looked into Kevin's eyes.

"What, angel? I will do whatever you ask of me," Kevin said.

"Promise me that, no matter what happens, you will love me to the end and will never disappoint me," Chantel said, wearing a serious look on her face.

Kevin raised one hand up and placed the other on his chest. "I promise to love you and never disappoint you. I will also promise not to cheat on you. You will be the only girl for me, for the rest of my life."

Chantel watched him carefully to see if she would see any traces of lies on his face but found none. Kevin was honest and genuine to her so she accepted his word and believed in him. Chantel smiled affectionately at him after he had promised her. Kevin looked around to see if anyone was watching them, then grew closer to Chantel. He held her in his arms, and Chantel got flustered all of a sudden.

"Chantel, I love you. And that will never change. So always remember that, okay?" He hugged her again and held her close, making sure there was no gap between them.

She nodded. He kissed her cheek and finally loosened his grip on her, making her flustered even more. Kevin smiled at the cute sight in front of him.

"Have I ever told you that you are the most beautiful girl I have ever met? Thank you, for accepting to be my girlfriend. Thank you for making me the most happiest guy on earth. Now, I will be able to sleep better."

All the compliments and sweet words Kevin was telling her was getting to her head. She smiled sweetly at him, and he smiled back.