|
Monitor Man of the Month hits it off with 'new' catch at Munyonyo
Henry Tushabe was relieved when he met his date at the reception at The Monitor headquarters.
![]() |
| Top: Henry takes Rehemah through the rigours of swimming. |
![]() |
| The couple enjoys a boat ride and the horses at Munyonyo (Photos by Bruno Birakwate). | His friends and sister had encouraged him to apply to be Man of the Month and he was both nervous and excited.
"I was worried somebody might not show up," he said. At this stage of the date, Henry was optimistic.
"She was nice, pretty, had a gentle voice and was really presentable; she was somebody to date, wonderful and intelligent," he said.
Wonderful as she was, making conversation was tough. "It was a bit hard for me to get a subject that really made her feel comfortable... She said she was a Law student and I tried to talk about things in the legal profession, in the field of Law," he said.
At Munyonyo, she checked into Room Nine while he checked into Room Ten.
He was still nervous and wanted to eat just outside their rooms but she wanted to go to the Stables Restaurant.
Initially, lunch was good. Rehemah started to relax. They made an appointment to take a boat ride the following day. But then, Rehemah asked him if it would be okay if she invited her friends to join them at Munyonyo.
"I told her there was no problem, [but] I was not happy, I lost morale, that showed me she was not into it," Henry said.
After lunch they went for a walk and it became even clearer to Henry that she was not interested. "I was trying to hold her hand, she would pull it off, she would look around trying to dodge me holding her. I got worried. I wondered whether she was married," he said.
Rehemah then went back to the Stables Restaurant and Henry went back to his room.
"I waited in vain," he said. Afternoon turned into early evening. He watched Big Brother.
He ordered food. But he couldn't make himself feel better. "I felt very bad; I thought she would be there for me, I really wanted her there, I started feeling pain in the heart and in the stomach," he said.
It was then that he decided to try and salvage the evening. He left the room and asked the receptionist what his entertainment options were. The receptionist suggested Stables Restaurant but he couldn't face seeing Rehemah and her friends there.
He decided to walk in the garden and there he met some friends. "I felt so much relief because they were talking to me nicely," he said.
It was then that he met a woman called Shakira and the night took a turn for the better.
"She seemed to give me what I had been looking for; she seemed to be everything I wanted all along. She smiled at me, she allowed me to feel comfortable with her," he said.
Part of the joy at meeting Shakira was because of the contrast between her and Rehemah.
Rehemah had scorned him when he offered her his heart. "When I gave it to Shakira, she took it with both hands," he said. If he hadn't met Shakira, he would have been tempted to return home.
It was now getting late and he didn't want her to go. "I told her to stay with me, there were two beds in the room," he said.
In the morning, Rehemah called his room to ask about the boat ride. "I told her I have company, I hope you understand," he said.
Rehemah didn't seem to be bothered. The two women met and were polite to each other.
"I told Shakira I had come with somebody, so she knew what was going on," he said.
Shakira waited at the hotel while Rehemah and Henry went on the boat ride. The Monitor photographer arrived.
"I thought for the sake of the photograph she would sit next to me, but she didn't. It was like an obligation for her," he said.
The boat ride lasted about half an hour and then they went to the swimming pool, where Henry played with Rehemah in the pool while Shakira sat at the poolside.
Shakira then left, having exchanged telephone numbers with Henry, and he spent the remaining part of the date with Rehemah.
"It was like a duty [ to her]. She was not bothered. [But] because I had met Shakira, I was happy," he said.
At the end, he was relaxed about the outcome. 'Not everything you do meets with success; if I had not gone on that date, I would not have met Shakira," he said.
| 
