Our story began at a friend’s birthday party in university. She was there because she was friends with the birthday boy’s twin sister, and though we were in the same space that night, we didn’t exchange a single word.

Fate, however, had other plans.

One of my friends happened to have her BBM pin (yes, back in the good old BlackBerry Messenger days), and he passed it on to me. That was how we started talking, little by little, just casual chats at first, but enough to keep the connection alive.

After we both graduated from university, our conversations became more frequent, and eventually, we decided to meet up. Our first unofficial “date” happened at Ikeja City Mall. I say unofficial because it wasn’t just the two of us, she was there with her parents and siblings, while I came with my sister and my friend. It wasn’t exactly the romantic, candle-lit kind of date, but it was a start.

From there, we began seeing each other more often, in the most unplanned yet meaningful ways. She would stop by my office whenever she was on the island, and those little moments slowly but surely turned into something deeper.

And just like that, she became the best thing that has happened in my life and I knew this is who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. From small dates to the best 5 years of my life together with her. What started as a chance encounter at a party blossomed into the love story that has brought us here to our forever.