When Joyceline received an order for her handmade dresses, it led to an unexpected romance…
As the crown was placed on my head, I was bursting with pride.
‘The winner is Joyceline Kalu,’ came the announcement.
I’d just won a beauty pageant in my home country of Nigeria and was on top of the world.
I was called the queen and looking out at the audience in my glamorous sequinned dress, I really felt like one.
The publicity from it helped to draw lots of new customers to my crochet business.
I made bikinis and dresses that I often wore myself.
I was thankful that I’d managed to turn my hobby into a successful business.
One day, I got a message from a man called Dino.
Your dresses are sexy. I’d love to buy some for my three girlfriends, it read.
I couldn’t help but laugh at how honest he was.
I asked him what sizes, but he turned the conversation flirty.
You’re very attractive, he messaged.
Oh really? I replied, flattered.
From his profile picture, I could tell he was older than me.
I found him sexy too, but knowing he had three girlfriends put me off pursuing anything more.
We can be friends, I told him.
He was understanding and messages continued to fly back and forth.
Dino praised me on my crochet designs and how well I’d done for myself.
I thought that was sweet.
Only when he told me he was 54, I was shocked.
I was only 25, so there was an almost 30-year age gap between us.
He’s old enough to be my dad, I realised.
But the more we messaged, the more I realised it didn’t matter to me.
What mattered was his personality.
A week later, we’d sent countless messages and talked on video calls.
I’d never met a man so caring and kind before.
I was developing feelings for him.
He told me he was a family nurse practitioner and a single dad.
It didn’t faze me that he was a father.
If anything, it made him more endearing.
But then he told me his eldest daughter was 33.
Older than me!
Then he revealed he’d also been another kind of dad for years… a sugar daddy.
It explained why he had three girlfriends.
But I didn’t like the idea of being number four.
I told him that if I was going to be with someone, it had to be a monogamous relationship.
I would happily dump my sugar babies for you if you’ll be my girlfriend? he said.
At first, I was hesitant.
I’d never been with an older man before.
But I couldn’t deny our connection.
Yes, I’ll be your girlfriend, I replied happily.
The only snag was that we lived thousands of miles apart.
‘Why don’t you visit and just see if you like me in person,’ he said during one of our calls. ‘I’ll help you with your business too.’
It was a big decision, so I took some time to think about it.
But my feelings only got stronger for him and I realised I had nothing to lose.
If it doesn’t work out, at least I would’ve had a holiday, I thought.
Dino was over the moon.
‘I love you,’ he told me on Facetime.
‘Love you too,’ I replied, smiling.
I confided in my brother about everything and he was supportive.
Soon, I booked a flight and decided I’d stay with Dino for a month.
That way, we could really see if there was a chance for us.
Two months later, I was on my way to the airport.
I was excited but nervous.
What if Dino’s not as nice in real life? I worried.
But I knew I could go home early if I needed to.
When I finally got off the plane and walked into arrivals, I spotted Dino waiting for me.
‘You’re here!’ he exclaimed as he scooped me up into his arms.
‘I can’t believe I’m actually hugging you,’ I laughed.
When we got back to his beautiful home, I was in awe.
‘Is this all real? I feel like I’m in a dream being here with you,’ I said.
‘It’s definitely real,’ he smiled.
We had a blast spending time together every day.
I felt comfortable opening up to him about losing my mum as a child and all the hardships I’d faced growing up.
Dino treated me like a queen and I felt so loved.
How did I get so lucky? I thought.
When the month was up, I was dreading going home.
One evening, we were relaxing on the sofa when he turned to me.
‘Joyceline, I’ve realised I don’t want you to be my girlfriend anymore,’ he said.
‘What?’ I replied, confused.
‘I want you to be my wife,’ he said.
Suddenly, he took out a small box from his pocket.
I opened it and gasped at the beautiful ring inside.
‘Yes! I would love to be your wife,’ I replied.
I was the happiest I’d ever been.
Later, I cancelled my return flight home.
We knew we had to tell Dino’s children about us sooner or later.
But for now, we wanted to stay in our loved-up bubble, just the two of us.
Only, then I began to feel extremely ill.
One day, Dino took me to hospital.
‘You have lupus,’ a doctor said.
He explained it was an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacked its own tissues and organs.
I was shocked and Dino was understandably worried.
But after 10 days in hospital, I was discharged.
‘This has made me realise how precious life is,’ Dino began. ‘Let’s get married tomorrow!’
‘Really? OK,’ I agreed excitedly.
I was still recovering, so the next day I couldn’t bring myself to get glammed up.
‘I want you to be my wife’
Instead, I wore joggers and a T-shirt while Dino wore a shirt and shorts.
But as we stood on the beach - just the two of us - it felt right.
When the minister pronounced us husband and wife, I was on cloud nine.
Dino wrapped his arms around me and planted a kiss on my lips.
‘I’m so lucky,’ he said.
A few days later, Dino was debating whether to do a Facebook post about our wedding.
He decided against it, but suddenly his face dropped.
‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.
‘I accidentally posted it!’ he exclaimed.
Within seconds, his children were sending him messages.
Is your wife older than me? read one.
I was mortified.
It wasn’t how I’d wanted them to find out and I was worried they wouldn’t accept me.
But we soon got on a FaceTime with his two daughters and they welcomed me with open arms.
‘As long as you make our dad happy that’s all that matters,’ said one.
‘We thought he’d always be a sugar daddy! You must be special Joyceline,’ said the other.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, we spoke to his son and mum.
Thankfully, they were supportive of our relationship too.
A few weeks later, we flew to meet them.
We had a great time and they treated me like one of the family.
‘You must be special Joyceline’
Now, we’ve been together over two years.
When we started posting about our relationship online, we received horrible comments.
She’s obviously cheating on him, read one.
She’s using him for his money, read another.
We just laughed it off.
We don’t let negativity get to us, because we know our love is real.
Besides, a lot of people don’t realise I was making good money before I met Dino.
I wouldn’t need to use him for that and I was never his sugar baby.
It was all thanks to my business that we met in the first place.
It was meant to be, because Dino gave up his sugar daddy ways to marry this crochet queen!
By Joyceline Soriano, 27