Chapter 4 – Dr Bae

If I’m being a 100% honest I wasn’t all that into Dr Bae at first, he was much to serious for my liking. His conversations dull and juice-less but his friend kept insisting that he was just what I needed.  His stiffness and rigidity were apparently the very thing I needed to complement me, given that I go through life too freely and recklessly.  He was touted as the yin to my yang or whatever and also he drove the same car, same exact model and color as my boss and I saw the opportunity for a small joke and I am never one to miss the opportunity for a laugh, however small and childish.

Iv never been impressed by cars per se but I did find some sort of mirth in the thought of me driving to work in the same car , same color with the man who paid my salary.  I even fantasized about parking in his spot and rendering him confused as to why his car is already in the parking lot while he is still in it. I  thought he would be a little disoriented for a minute and who amongst us doesn’t secretly fancy playing a practical joke on the boss?

Anyway since he worked on site far out of town our courtship was via text. It started off slow, nerdy but I preserved and since he didn’t talk much it gave me the opportunity to unload all my thoughts on him, all he had to do was listen.  Our relationship (for lack of a better word) took a turn when he tested positive for Covid-19.

There is nothing to make you want a man more than learning of his eminent demise.  No longer did I find Dr Bae dull and boring, suddenly he became the most precious thing to me and I spent many a night bargaining with God for his life.  I couldn’t go see him obviously cause he was in isolation but I was blowing up his phone with messages of concern and trying to keep his spirits up. That man has to admit that I was his rock!

Scared by his life flashing before his very eyes, he too opened up to me. How he doesn’t want to die without a family and as stupid as it is now ,I was ready to get a marriage official wed  us as soon as he stepped out of that bed. A man I had only met once! But we were in the middle of a pandemic and I too didn’t want to die alone.  Also I have been guilty of promising people to marry them without proper consideration,  I already had been a runaway bride, one solid engagement,  two serious proposals that I got out of later,  and an almost elopement.  When people asks me to marry them I generally say yes and figure it out later.

Anyway Dr Bae did get better but he had to go back to work and we didn’t meet but the trajectory of our relationship had changed. I mean we had already gone through in sickness and in health so ….

In the following weeks we began to talk every day,  this time I was the one going through it, I was going through a depressive episode,  what with the Covid-19,  loss of income,  general sadness of winter and being locked down and worrying about my other lover so he became my rock too and he was quite understanding and adult about the whole thing. Even suggesting I talk to a professional.  In Lesotho, the average response to telling someone your mental health is not up to scratch is “Get over it” so I was glad to have someone who understood and was supportive without being overbearing.  My feelings towards Dr Bae softened and I was now waiting with bated breath for him to get home.