From a Sweet Chef to a Sweetheart 👩‍🍳🍜➡️👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨 (Fiction)

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Like a sweet-smelling sacrifice making its smoky way to the skies, Akilapa could perceive the aroma of a sweet savor oozing from a nearby kitchen. The moment he inhaled the aroma, he felt like a god who just got a worthy sacrifice from a true worshipper.

“God bless my mother,” he said to himself. The aroma was so lovely that it could only bring back memories of his mother’s sweet-smelling and tasty delicacies. He felt an uncontrollable urge to locate whoever was the chef in charge of what he just inhaled.

Like he’s having an argument with an unseen person, “the chef can never be a guy, never!” He said to himself. As he made his way to the house, which had no gate, he was surprised that there was no one to challenge him upon entering the compound. But for security purposes, he decided to check around so he wouldn’t be treated as an intruder.

“Good afternoon, anyone home, please?” He got no response and seemed to be talking to himself. He decided to raise his voice. “Good day here; anyone home, please--” Before he could land his greetings, a voice from within the house replied to him. “Good afternoon. Please, who are you looking for?”

Akilapa was stunned because the voice he heard was one of the sweetest voices ever! “How can everything about this house be so sweet?” As he thought to himself, a beautiful lady emerged out of the house.

Like a man whose consciousness was withheld, Akilapa got lost for a moment as he was busy admiring her beauty from head to toe. As he was assessing the lady, he did not need to ask if she was the cook; her hands were stained with palm oil, and he could still perceive the aroma around her. “May I help you, please?” As the lady inquired, Akilapa came back to his senses and quickly comported himself.

“I am Akilapa from Ibadan. I am here for my service, as I have just completed my university degree.” Like a typewriter that got stuck, Akilapa was about to be short of words. “So you are a corper, all the way from Ibadan. I am Grace, by the way. But I have a question.” Akilapa was relieved by the welcoming statements he heard. “At least she is up for a conversation,” he said to himself.

“Why didn’t you work your service somewhere closer to your place? Why Imo state?” Grace asked. “For starters, I have heard a lot about Imo State, and when I got my callup letter, I was excited. I personally told everyone that wanted to help me with relocation not to worry, and seeing you, I think I made the right choice,” Akilapa replied.

“What did you just say about seeing me?” Grace asked, feigning anger. Like an overjoyed kid who just got gifts and toys from the parents, Grace was so happy deep down because it’s been a while since any decent guy shoot a romantic shot at her. Deep down, she was happy, but facially, her countenance was filled with rage.

Like a frightened prey in front of its cunning predator, Akilapa was afraid, as he didn’t know what he had done wrong. “I am sorry if I had said that to a lady in Ibadan; he would have smiled, I guess.” As Akilapa made the statement, he discovered he had just made things worse.

“So you are a womanizer?” Grace asked. “Again, I am sorry; I just don’t want to offend you. I guess I’ll see you some other time. I will be staying at the Corpers Lodge; please, can you direct me there?”

Although Akilapa knew his way to the Corpers Lodge as he had been well guided after the three-week camping exercise he had with his colleagues, he only tried this as a way of leaving without leaving any traces of trouble. Grace suspected that he knew the place, as she gave him a distrustful look.

One more thing that got her thinking was the strange connection they had. It seemed as if they had met somewhere. From the moment he saw Akilapa’s reaction through the kitchen window, especially the way he inhaled the aroma of her delicacy, she knew the guy was up to something, but she wasn’t going to sell herself cheap. Many of her mates had been impregnated and dumped by preceding Corps members, but she wasn’t going to have that.

"Go straight; the corper’s lodge is at the end of the street, very easy to locate." On a second thought, Grace decided to keep an open mind: “If you need anything, you can come here; this is my father’s compound, and I’ll be here for the next three weeks before going back to school. See you later, Akilapa.”

Like a revelation uncovering the secrets that are hidden, Akilapa was again shocked at Grace’s response, it was obvious she liked him. As he waved her goodbye, he smiled to himself, knowing their first meeting was just a step toward their marriage.

From all his nose had communicated to him right from the moment he encountered Grace’s delicacy, he knew his heart was telling him the right thing. “This is my wife!” he said to himself.

Akilapa was very correct with his thoughts. Grace turned out to be one of the sweetest ladies he had ever met. Her heart was as sweet as the aroma of her delicacy. “I know my coming to Imo State was not in vain,” he said to himself.

Although Akilapa had a few challenges with his mother due to her reservations, she wanted Akilapa to marry from his tribe and at first didn’t want to accept Grace, but after hearing how they met and how Grace is the second woman on the planet to cook like she does, at least from Akilapa's point of view, she believed her son was in safe hands.

After Grace was done with her studies, they got married before she went for her service. Akilapa wasn’t going to take any chances and lose her to another man. He was happy he could convert her from a sweet chef to his sweet heart.