Not The Life He Wanted
Antonio was bent over his desk that night, his eyes were bulging and red. He had not had a sleep in 18 hours. His lazy fingers shuffled the pages of his text books which were irregularly pilled up on his desk. He raised his tired eyes to the silver-white clock. It was an hour past midnight. He rubbed his eyes and placed his spectacles on the desk with gentle but shaky fingers and went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. He stood in the kitchen and drank while his mind went back 3 years ago during his second year in the university.
He had been a bright and hard-working student. His classmates often joked about his efforts at his studies. Antonio was intelligent yet lived an active social life. But he never allowed his social life interfer with his academics. He never attended parties or any social event that didn't have any meaningful thing to add to his life. He had already envisioned himself graduating university with the highest possible honors, then acquiring his second and third degrees. Then he would venture into research and God willing he would donn the professor suit in a couple of years. Nothing was going to interfere with that dream. Even when his best female friend on campus had her white wedding, he had only been around long enough to witness the exchange of vows and give gifts to the couple. His motto was: “Pain Now, Play Later.”
Whenever his friends tempted him with stories of how they'd had fun at parties, did drugs, liquor, and met interesting young ladies, he would repeat that phrase to them. One day his friend Philly took him up on that.
“Dude you need to lighten up and have some fun. Life is not only about the serious stuff. If you can't socially connect with people now you might have relationship problems later in life.”
Antonio laughed.
“Don't worry friend, I will lighten up only when I achieved my academic dreams. There will be plenty of time for that.”
Philly kept pressuring Antonio until one day Antonio agreed to attend a birthday party of one of the lecturers. The agreement was that he wouldn't spend much time there. During the party, the host granted him the honor of addressing the crowd. His speech was accompanied by cheers and hearty laughter, when he wanted to drop the mike the crowd clamoured for more, and he continued. After the speech he sat at a table with three friends while they drank wine from glasses and had light discussion.
When Antonio came home from the party he was surprised at himself. He didn't know he could hold and entertain people like he did at the party. He had been trying to suppress the charming, funny part of him because of his academic aspirations but now he felt differently. Maybe it wasn't too bad attending social gatherings, so far they were fun and didn't interfere with his academics.
In his third year in the university he had developed that life-of-the-party personality and the girls were going crazy for him. But it wasn't long before he found out the devasting effect that threw unto his academic life.
He tried to stop his partying lifestyle but it was difficult. He was enjoying that lifestyle because it made everyone like him. His grades were no more what they once were and his dream of graduating university with the highest possible honors was fading away.
“I regret agreeing to attend that party. That was the worst decision I ever made in my life.”
He was standing in the kitchen and the cup of coffee, now half empty, was shaking in his hands and some of the liquid spilled unto the kitchen floor. His eyes misted up and he wiped them with a handkerchief and went back to his desk. Exams were just 3 days away and he'd not even read half the required materials.
It was Antonio's last examination at the university and he walked into the hall that day a shadow of himself. He knew his academic dreams were done for good, there was certainly no redemption for him.
Each night he returned from an event or social gathering where he'd officiated, he'd sit calmly with a steaming cup of coffee and let his mind wander. His life might have been different now had he followed his academic dreams as he'd planned it. But he had discovered a new exciting life as a socialite and events host. People contacted him far and wide to host their social events and he always charmed the crowd with his funny wit. His fortune had changed when the president invited him to be the MC at his birthday celebration. From there he became an overnight celebrity and the money flowed.
A part of him still yearned for academics but maybe he'd found a suitable substitute. He just couldn't decide which gave him the greater thrill, his life as a funny, witty and charming socialite or his previous academic ambitions. He heaved a heavy sigh and took a light sip from the coffee cup with shaky fingers.
All images generated with Meta AI.
The End. Thanks For Reading.
