THE BOY WHO PROMISED FOREVER

I still remember how we met fifteen years ago during our university days.

I arrived at the University of Buea as a seventeen-year-old girl with more dreams than certainty. It was more than a place to earn a degree; it was where dreams collided with reality. Nestled at the foot of Mount Cameroon, the campus woke each morning to the cool mountain breeze and the chatter of students hurrying to lectures. Some arrived with carefully planned futures, while others, like me, came carrying nothing but hope. I had no idea that among thousands of students, I would meet someone whose presence would change the course of my life.

We met at a party organized by mutual friends. I was a first-year student, still trying to find my place in a new environment, while Ekema was in his final year. The party was held at a friend's hostel, and everyone had dressed in their finest clothes.

I wore a short dress that showed off my caramel-brown legs, paired with soft heels and a matching handbag. As I walked through the entrance, unaware that anyone was watching, Ekema noticed me from behind. Later, he told me that the moment he saw me, something inside him whispered that I was the woman he had been waiting for.

Too shy to approach me directly, he asked one of our mutual friends for my phone number. My friend agreed, and before long, we began talking.

To me, it felt like a fairy tale.

As a young woman just beginning university, I was still trying to understand life, love, and who I wanted to become. Meeting Ekema made everything seem brighter. He was kind, attentive, and thoughtful in ways I had never experienced before. Whenever I fell ill, he stayed by my side. I still remember the day he spent the last money in his pocket just to buy me medication. It wasn't the cost of the medicine that touched me it was knowing that my well-being meant more to him than his own comfort.

Then, one day, everything changed.

Ekema became distant. His calls became less frequent, and his messages grew shorter. I couldn't understand what had happened. I replayed every conversation in my mind, wondering if I had said or done something wrong.

Eventually, I confronted him, hoping for an explanation. Instead, I received vague answers that only left me more confused. I sent him messages on social media, desperate to understand why the man who had once cared so deeply now seemed to be slipping away.

When no clear answer came, I reached the painful conclusion that he no longer wanted me. I convinced myself that perhaps he had only been interested in sleeping with me, just like so many other men I had encountered before.

Then fate brought us together again.

One afternoon, I ran into him on campus. We stopped talking, and that's when he finally told me the truth.

His mother had died.