Forever & Always

It was January 26th, 2011 when he first saw her. She was meeting up with friends on the University of Botswana campus to go out to celebrate her birthday. He wasn't invited. She had just landed in southern Africa a few weeks earlier and meeting a guy was the farthest thing from her mind. A few days later they had a short chat in the laundry room. Then they met up at a house party where Shannon declined his dance request. A few days later they happened to sit next to each other at a bar to watch Super Bowl XLV. Surrounded by Packers fans, they both were cheering for the Steelers. By this point Fungai already knew he really wanted to get to know this girl, but Shannon was more interested in making friends than boyfriends. He invited her to come to the University's Poetry Open Mic. She didn't realize he was performing. His way with words started to win her over. They started hanging out every night. They would sit on the stairs of a gazebo between their dorm rooms and talk for hours. Their friendship grew stronger and stronger until neither of them could deny their chemistry which grew into love.