Zeresh and Perez

On the day he went to interview for the job 
He went with his best friend 
He had been searching for a job for since 
they graduated from the University 
His friend had been the highly favoured one 
Since they graduated, (five years) his 
friend had worked in three big companies 
and was as at that day managing a 
bureau de change 
They were on the opposite side of life's 
spectrum 
His friend was with the haves 
He was with the have nots 
What he did to keep body and soul together 
was to hang around a popular Hotel in 
Ikeja posing as a journalist and sometimes 
even impersonating journalists from 
well-known news establishments in order to 
make some money 
The freelance thing sometimes made him 
5000 Naira a week 
There was a stingy man who contracts him 
to do some specialized reporting on his 
TV programme including scripting and 
voice over the man was a user 
One of those who would never be wealthy 
because he mistook taking advantage of 
others as the secret behind being wealthy. 
The income he made from his hustle was 
able to feed him daily 
He was living with his uncle 
His uncle's wife decides whether to feed 
him or not 
He understood his uncle and his wife 
didn't want him to be too comfortable 
in their guest room 
He was a regular in church and he prayed 
fervently every day for a breakthrough 
that will change his story 
It was during this season when he could 
barely afford to change his own
socks that he met her 
She drove down to the ATM to cash some 
money 
He was there too, trying to get some 
money to barb his hair 
Unfortunately, the ATM seized his card 
He wasn't whether he pressed the 
wrong code or there was just a general 
glitch 
What he knew was that the moment he
saw her, he was distracted
It was difficult to explain without going 
all gooey and moony 
He wasn't much of a poet 
He was 29 years old and he grew up among 
four sisters 
He was the only boy 
There was nothing special about any girl in 
his opinion until that moment 
It felt as if all the air in the atmosphere was 
sucked up and he was drowning 
It took him about a minute before he realized 
he was holding his breath 
She was his wife 
She knew it too somehow 
She looked at him, saw him shake his 
head as the ATM made some blips and 
retained the card 
He stood there wondering what to do 
Unlike before when he would have gone 
into full panic mode 
Her presence constrained him from 
feeling the pain and acting as he would 
He couldn't afford to let her see that he 
was in distress 
His hormones wouldn't let him down so 
easily
She withdrew the cash she wanted and 
walked away 
He watched her leave 
He wanted to follow her but he felt she 
would assume he wanted to beg for help 
or borrow money 
She was the kind of girl he would rather 
walk to London and back before begging 
from 
He wouldn't want to lose her respect 
She looked back twice 
At a point, he guessed she wanted to 
turn back and walk up to him but she 
hesitated and walked on to her car 
He left the ATM 
She started the car and reversed towards 
him 
He paused 
When she got right by his side 
She wound down the windows and
said "Sorry about the ATM card, it 
happened to me last week and i was 
stranded. Do you need a lift somewhere?" 
He had knelt down and prayed for a good 
job for years, he had gone for special 
programmes, vigils and counseling 
sessions to destroy the yoke of stagnancy 
in his life
The one thing he never prayed for was a 
wife or a life partner! 
He always felt he wasn't ready 
As he jumped into the passenger seat that 
fateful day, he knew he was ready 
She was the one 
They didn't say much for the first few 
minutes 
Then she told him her name 
She said "I am a cobbler" 
That was what broke the ice 
She said there was a scheme the state 
government started to empower people 
She couldn't get a job after she graduated 
and rather than sit down at home and 
hope, she decided to enroll for the 
empowerment scheme 
She said she had always had a
passion for fashion and fashion accessories 
but the space available was for cobbling 
and she chose it 
She didn't know she would take to it like 
fish to water 
When she was done, she was given a stipend 
and some materials to start off 
Three months after she started, a member of
her church who had a chain of supermarkets 
invested 5 million in the business as a partner 
started selling her shoes in his supermarkets 
That was how she grew and started expanding 
By the time she was done with the story, 
he was almost in tears 
He told her his "life is not fair" story but 
somehow the story had lost its emotional value 
He had met someone who didn't sit down in 
one spot while crying and waiting for the 
Siege of the Syrians to end 
She invited him to her factory 
She had grown to the point where she 
had to employ five cobblers to cope with
demands 
If not because he was so sure she was 
his wife, he would have asked or even 
begged her for a job 
They became friends that day 
She insisted on giving him five thousand 
Naira 
when she dropped him off at home 
She told him to consider it a loan 
Meeting her was the turning point in his life 
He couldn't eat throughout the weekend 
that followed 
He needed to marry her 
He needed a job 
He needed his own accommodation 
He needed to be able to provide for her 
She didn't tell him she had someone 
she was dating but he was very sure
that if he didn't do anything, he would
lose her 
She was his "to have or to lose" 
When he had considered all his 
alternatives and nothing viable seemed 
to come forth 
He called his best friend 
He told him about the girl he met and 
the strong conviction he had in his heart 
that she was his wife 
He told his friend to help him secure a job 
by any means necessary 
He didn't feel it would be appropriate to 
see her again without giving her a piece 
of good news about his own condition 
He was owing her some money 
He intended to repay her and ask her out 
His friend told him not to be foolish 
She was way out of his league 
The best thing to do, according to his 
friend was to leverage on her feelings 
for him to get a good job through her or 
milk her financially as much as possible 
before she moves on 
He believed his friend didn't see what 
he saw or perhaps his friend didn't get
he was saying 
The following day, he took his friend to 
her factory 
He called her ahead to ensure she would 
be around 
His friend borrowed him the five thousand 
Naira she loaned him 
She was very warm and receptive 
She took them round the factory
They saw her branded vans and other 
assets 
Wow!!!
His friend was convinced she was an 
asset 
As soon as they left her office, his friend 
promised him he would do everything to 
help him secure a good job 
Three days later, he got a text message 
It was from a new TV station based in Lagos 
His friend knew the manager of the station
and pushed some buttons on his behalf 
On the day of the interview, his friend 
drove him down and wished him luck 
When he was done with the interview 
His phone rang 
It was her 
She sounded confused 
She said his friend just left her office 
She said his friend had proposed to 
marry her
He called his friend immediately
"...I don't understand, So and So said
you came to see her and you proposed
to her..."
His friend said "I had to. I am sorry
i didn't inform you about that decision
earlier. i didn't want you to be distracted
while you were preparing for the interview!
I actually, took her out of a date last
Saturday
I wanted to be sure what I felt for her was 
real 
When i got home that day, my mother
looked at me and said "Make sure you
keep this one, she is a blessing to any
home she makes her habitation" 
And you know my mother does not
just say things like that
So I got the ring yesterday and decided
to tie up the loose ends once and
for all!"
He couldn't even respond
He just cut the call
His heart was in tatters
He could feel the knife of betrayal tearing
his entire system to pieces
Indeed, he didn't have what it takes
to get married yet
It is also true that both her friend and
the lady were ready to settle down
But..."
There was only one thing he knew with
clarity
The friendship was dead and buried
The second thing had to be dealt with
without delay...
He called her
She picked
He didn't know what to say
She also didn't say anything
Just hearing each other breath was
enough
Eventually, he said "You changed my
life just by coming into it
You are my wife
I know this as surely as i know my
own name
I have nothing to offer you now
But i love you with all my heart.
Will you marry me?"
She said YES!
It was a foolish decision by every 
logical point of reasoning
He had sat on his hands for five years
without improving on himself
That was a No-No in her books
Lack of drive in a man was a red
flag for her
He had nothing to offer her yet, but
she had been holding on to a word
of prophecy that the Brother in 
Jeans and T-shirt gave to her at the
Night of Glory of tagged Perez in 2019
He said "You have been flourishing
in every area but find your marital
destiny to be a desert and you desire 
to get married soon
Wealth and joy shall come to you 
in disguise and the rich shall come for
you in the open
Like Zeresh and Perez...
Whichever of these two that you pick
will lead you down different paths
but i will counsel you to say yes
to the one who seemed to be nothing
and yet has been provoked to erupt
soon!

PS: They got married in December 2019
She practically sponsored her own
wedding
Everyone around her felt she had lost
her mind
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told
her to hold on to the Word of God 
Which is worth more than a bullion van 
filled with gold
On February 3, 2020, he was offered
a job by a chain of Hotels in the UK
as their Public Relations Officer
The Salary they offered him per annum
was very good
He had applied for the job via an app
as a joke
Five weeks later, they relocated!

GSW's notes: She called me today to
announce two pleasant news
The first was that she was pregnant
The second was that someone had
proposed to buy her business or
buy half its worth for a lot of money
As for her husband's job, she said the
virus didn't affect him adversely
She had seen him prosper in a manner
that defeats logic
I have seen people who received a
word of prophecy and got bogged
down by it
I have also seen those whose course
in life was set right by the word of 
prophecy
If you walk with a prophetic word
with a carnal mindset, you will not
see that moment or profit thereby
If you are spiritually minded, you
will ride the wind of prophecy 
into your wealthy place!

Hope you got it!