Chapter One

Zara

The city is as lively as ever. Couples pass me by, donned in red and white, a symbol of the festivity in the air.

It's February 14th, also known as Valentine’s day worldwide. They say it is a day for lovers to celebrate love but I call bullshit.

Love does not exist. Trust me, I’ve tried searching. Over the past ten years of my life, I have been in and out of relationships but my past partners only seemed to want one thing – sex.

Apparently, finding a relationship without sex in this day and age is akin to what the pastor in my mum’s local church had used to describe rich men who wanted to make it to heaven; a camel passing through the eye of a needle.

My first relationship had been in High school, with a boy named Carter. He was sweet at first, buying me coffee and walking me home after school. One day after he walked me home, he asked to come in. He had made a move then, trying to get under my clothes. I had fought him ferociously , holding tightly on to the material of my flowy skirt. 

The next day, a rumor about me being a prude who wore’ granny panties’ , had made it’s rounds at school. I became the butt of the kids’ jokes for the remaining years of High school. I was known by the names; Virgin Mary, Grandma Betty, Zealous Zara. 

Of course, I wasn’t bothered. I had sworn a chastity oath at the age of thirteen, to keep my bed and body undefiled until marriage.

My second boyfriend wasn’t until my third year in college. He was a guy in my school’s campus fellowship. I was wary of him at first but he seemed to understand my principle. I couldn’t be happier at the time. He was perfect; going to Bible study with me, taking me on dates, supporting my every decision. He was perfect, until he wasn’t . On one of our date nights, we had taken a walk around school and he suggested we sat somewhere for a while. I noticed a bit too late, how eerily quiet the place was. He leaned in to kiss me then and I moved just in time to have his lips land on my cheek.

For lack of better words to describe his reaction, he was livid. His face turned a ghastly shade of red as he towered above me in my sitting position. I believe his words had been along the lines of;

“ How long do we have to do this whole back and forth. I know you’re just pretending.”

I had looked at him in pure shock. “ What do you mean, I’m just pretending?”

He scoffed then and mumbled under his breath, “ I should’ve known this was going to fail”. I heard him.

“ What are you talking about?”

He ran his hands through his hair and sighed in frustration . “ I made a bet with the boys in the fellowship, to seduce you.”

I remember my reaction then, a very comic illustration of shock; mouth opening and closing, with bulging eyes.

The memory makes me cringe. 

My third and last relationship had been with Mike. Mike with the dreamy eyes and wide smile. Mike , the romantic. We almost got married, not until I caught him shamelessly rutting into another woman , a month after he proposed to me. 

What was it he said? Right. “ You’re an amazing woman , Zara but you’re too plain. You wear these hideous looking dresses and skirts and I wish you could improve on that. You’re beautiful, just not enough.”

That had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. I didn’t cry. I had come to accept my fate. Love didn’t exist. Just a bunch of hyenas wishing to take advantage of the word. 

That was yesterday.

Today, I had decided to take my fate into my own hands. The priest that had led the vow of chastity had said, we could find love if we kept ourselves pure. He lied. 

I look up at the tall building in front me. The first step to my metamorphosis. After tonight, I’ll no longer be Grandma Betty or Virgin Mary. Tonight, I’m giving it all away.

I walk into the first clothing store I sight. The attendant, a bubbly young woman walks up to me with a wide smile. “ Welcome ma’am . Is there anything I can help you find?”

I take a deep breath. “ Yes, please. Something that can get me laid tonight”

Her smile grows even wider. “ I got you. Right, this way”

She leads me through rows and rows of clothes, until we’re standing in front of a row of tiny looking dresses. She picks a few and hands them to me.

“ The changing rooms are right over there”

I make my way towards the rows of cubicles and step into one. The first dress I try on, is a tight black leather dress,  moulding all my curves into one delectable piece.  I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I look …hot. My breasts that always look droopy due it’s large size, spills atop the dress in a way that made me look sexy. The curve of my hips look very pronounced. This is it. I’m going for dangerous tonight, so this will have to do.

I take tentative steps outside the room, looking around the shop to make sure no eyes were on me. The attendant spots me first and as she nears me, she exclaims,

“ I hope you’re taking that dress, because it was definitely made for you!”

I laugh shyly, as I feel a blush coming on. She looks at my sandaled feet and walks away, returning with a pair of black strapped heels. After I wear them, she nods in approval.

“Pardon my intrusion, but you said you want to get laid tonight. Do you mind if I offer a suggestion”

“ Oh…yeah, sure”

“ A friend of mine runs a spa and salon next door. Would you be up for a makeover?”

I take a look at myself in a mirror by the corner. My hair looks frizzy and my face ,splotchy from walking around all day. A makeover sounds like a good plan . I turn towards her and nod slowly.

“ That’s perfect. I’m about to get off work, so I’ll just ring you up real quick”

She stops by a lingerie rack and picks a nude lace set, holding it in front of me , as if assessing my size. She nods to herself and keeps moving . 

What a strange woman she is.

She makes quick work of ringing me up and we depart the store together.

Before we walk into the next store, she turns to me with a smile and says, “ I’m Valerie. It’s very nice to meet you”.

“ Zara”

“ Alright, Zara, let’s get you ready for the most memorable night of your life”