How I Popped My Big Question To TOPE … And She Said YES!!! (PART I)

Let me tell you the end upfront. She said YES!
Now for my uninteresting version of how it happened:

Guys, have you ever wanted something, anything really bad? I mean something from ‘the opposite side’ of … ehem … you know?
Then you know how it feels to really want your answer to be a yes but alas, it is not in your hands to control.
This is how it started … There is this girl … her name? Tope. Did you just smile? Kindly keep a straight face as I tell you this great tale of a great conquest.
Well, it was a couple of weeks ago at home that it suddenly dawned on me that I just couldn’t go on the way I was any more. I just had to ask Tope. I just had to let Tope know. I couldn’t help it anymore.
I groaned to myself as I considered my options. No man ever wants to receive a no for an answer. No matter how much you know that your chances are slim or that your chances are great, it still never makes it easier. I admit of course that if you know your answer will be positive, it makes things just a bit easier.
Will Tope say yes?
What are my chances?
Am I ready for the commitment it will take if she says yes?
Will the fire still burn way after the yes or one day will I wake up and wished I hadn’t asked?
Questions … questions … asking questions like I’ve never done before – words from a song I know too well.
Ladies! The things they make men go through! Somebody tell me. Do Ladies ever go through the things we men go through? Before I start the 3rd world war with this question, let me inform you upfront that there is no need to go to arms over it as the matter is currently being argued and deliberated on at the International Court Of Justice (that should be at the Hague, right?)
Back to story – So, I make up my mind. I will ask. If she says no, I will live. Maybe heartbroken but I will live.
So, later on in the week I head towards Tope’s table. I open up with some questions, comments, opinions etc on some of the work we were doing together in our team. Then the funniest thing happened. While talking and sharing a few laughs this BIG GIGANTIC Bill board pops up in my head – “DON’T DO IT. SHE WILL SAY NO!!!” Well, that’s just what I did. I didn’t ask. I just quietly left.
I went back to my office and sat down. Why? I ask myself again and again. Why didn’t I ask? Why didn’t I tell her what I was thinking? Why didn’t I just say what I felt? Why? Why? Was I afraid of getting a no? I wish Aladdin’s magic genie was there to grant me 3 wishes. The only problem is that made in China lamps are the only kind of lamps (rechargeable lamps) available these days. The Chinese version of Aladdin’s lamp don’t give you no 3 wishes no more. They only remind you of a wish – If only NEPA will one day start working well! If only!
What am I going to do I ask myself? I don’t have no magic genie and 3 wishes. I’ve got to give it one more try I hear myself telling me. “Yes. I have to try again.” This time it was me telling myself that I’ve got to try again. In the next couple of days, that was a round table conversation two of us will be having – me and myself. Later on, the third man, I, will join me and myself. It took the three of us – me, myself and I, to hatch out the plan that sealed the deal and got Tope to say YES!