LOVE COMES AT FORTY

W eather temperature was just about thirty degrees Celsius; perfect warmth for Rebecca Dansowaa Brown, who was sharing a warm breakfast of clean dark coffee, and garnished ginger bread with Charles Richmond kwesi Anim, her partner of four years.

They were one of three couples occupying the open terrace of African Tea & Coffee Lounge that late Saturday morning— a ritual they have been consistent with for about three years. On Saturday mornings, she took the wheels and steered them to this luxurious lounge, where they enjoyed their first mealtime— just because they wanted to, and because could afford it.

Six months into their now sturdy love affair, Richmond put his lavish ten-bedroom residence on the market for renting, and moved in with her when they had the ‘next step’ conversation; where they agreed they wanted to come home to each other; witness crack of dawns together, and talk tirelessly in bed, until sleep found them in each other’s arms.

Richmond was an ‘A list’ in his field, like herself. As a fifty-five years old medical economist, he was a multiple homeowner, with a financial blanket as thick as any untouched forest. Over the course of ten years, he had gently managed to swim out of the vast sea of despair that almost drowned him when he suddenly lost his loving wife and their two children in a tragic car accident. Those were some unbearable years for him, but thanks to friends and family, he slowly wiped his tears and started mending his life into what he had now— creating new memories with Rebecca— a woman who took his breath away; whose love and care was helping to restore his faith in goodness again.

“I’m so relieved our recent brands are finally registered on the stocks market,” she said after sipping some coffee.

“Of course!” he looked up at her when he uttered the words. His eyes were in the pages of the Weekend Mirror Newspaper, “I knew they were going to meet all the checks and standards. You’re a meticulous businesswoman,” his warmest smile filled his beautiful face and she reciprocated.

She was finally in love with the man for her; she knew that for sure. Because he was everything, her previous lovers had not been. Like a year and half ago, when she underwent a surgery and had to stay put for a month, he was faithfully her arms and legs; unlike her ex-husband who blamed her for the miscarriages she experienced during their three years together.

Her subsequent relationship was with a man who wanted all of her time always, even though he was aware she was in the middle of building a business, “I just don’t know how I entangled myself with a woman like you who thinks she can have it all like a man!.” He bitterly spewed the statement at her the last time he stormed out of her presence. Yet, here was Richmond, eight years down the line, who was all about empowering and making room for her to continue growing and shining in all possible ways.

Before Richmond walked in her picture, she had a moment with a younger man who rather unfortunately, also took her genuine care and affection for granted; thinking she was his pathway to the extravagant lifestyle he wanted, and yet had no intentions of working towards it. The last thing she wanted was to be was a sugar-mummy; so she ended things with him and annulated his presence from all her social platforms.

****

She told herself her faith in love had not waned, but she found herself turning down every date offer that came her way afterwards. Instead, she offered all her time and energy to building her cosmetic brand, “Brown Skin Cosmetics,” which deservingly, had recently been listed among the most reputable brands created by a local entrepreneur.

Within those periods, she also found herself talking to a professional therapist; Anna, who had become a confidante, coached her into finding her voice in ways that enabled her to start setting pragmatic goals, and clear intentions regarding the kind of woman she wanted to become and the relationships she wanted to attract into her life.

***

That was why three years after the demise of her last relationship, when she interacted with Richmond at a business executive’s social gathering, she knew there was something uniquely different about him.

It was the way he validated her business experiences when her other male counterparts only tried to diminish her efforts. He pulled her into their conversations and encouraged her to make her points, “Don’t let them bully you. You have a right to be here,” he told her when they had some time to themselves.

At the closing of the event, he expressed his desire to stay in touch, and so she offered her contact details and he relinquished his— they have been inseparable since; nurturing this caring and heartfelt relationship, which had blossomed to become a refuge for them.

Truth was, when her marriage ended, and then followed by two failed relationships, she gave up on finding love and happiness in the eyes of another special someone. As painfully as it was, she made peace with the thought that she just might spend the rest of her life alone. After all, she was already forty years old when she told that young man not to contact her again. Little did she know love was enduring, timeless; an eternal gift to humankind, which could find everyone and anyone, whenever.

***

Now here she was at forty- seven years sitting outside with this generous love of her life, eating breakfast whiles enjoying the sun and quiet breeze— all because love still comes, even after forty.