JIB Hearts - Sherri and Ayo's Geeky Love Story

Hey family!!!! 

How's it going with y'al? 

I truly hope you're as excited as I am feeling
right now as I share the amazing love story of one of my close friends, Sherifa Yesufu and her beau, Ayo Rufai. 

Love happens when we least expect it or when we're looking for something other than love; my darling girl claims she was looking for a mentor but as a sharp guy, Ayo understood the body language. 

Enjoy this beautiful story, sweeties!

How did you meet?

Ayo: Sherri and I met in 2015 in a rather unconventional way. I had received a yahoo email notification from LinkedIn inviting me to connect with her. I checked out her profile and saw this beautiful, innocent and sophisticated looking lady. I was even more impressed with her academic achievements (yeah, I’m a hopeless sapiosexual). At the time, I was in Nigeria for a short visit. I immediately accepted her invite to connect, then went in search of her on Facebook and sent an invite which she accepted.

The next day, I slid into her inbox and the conversation went thus:

Me: Hello, You the one that just connected on LinkedIn right?

Sherri: Hi, Yeah I am.

Me: Oh cool, Hope you’ve been having fun at UCL?

Sherri: Hahah not particularly.

Me: It’s always nice to meet a brainiac that’s cute.

Sherri: You’re the brainiac…

We continued chatting throughout my stay in Nigeria, I think we skyped once or twice. Three weeks later, I was back in London and we had our first date almost immediately. Seeing her in person was a wonderful experience, she was so much more beautiful and very tall (I had thought she was petite all along). I remember thinking to myself: I have found my wife! The rest, they say, is history!

Sherri's Story

We fell in love on a cold autumn day...

I had just begun a Masters Degree Programme at University College London (UCL). I was a bit overwhelmed by the work load at first and so I turned to LinkedIn to look for 'mentors' in the area. Ayo, being a Ph.D. student at Imperial College London and a fellow Chemical Engineer, was on the list of suggested contacts for my search criteria. I sent a bunch of requests to a lot of people and waited for any potential mentors to accept. Hahah, pathetic, I know.

Not only did he accept my LinkedIn request, but he found me on Facebook and sent me a request there too! Sigh, this age of social media love. We talked everyday after that. I'd tell him about my hectic day at school, and he'd combine his flirting expertly with words of encouragement. Lol.

I chickened out of what was to be our first meeting. I made up some silly excuse that I can't even remember anymore. I was in London to 'face my book' (like my mum would say), not 'follow man'! We did eventually arrange to meet for dinner and a movie. My first impression of him was that he was so handsome but rather skinny then, and that he had cat-fished me with fatter pictures. Lol.  He was very gentlemanly. I remember he gave me his jacket that night because it was freezing. It was incredibly easy to fall for him.

Lol! 

It's amazing how our parents tell us to face our books and never advise us to balance academics with extra curriular activities.. But Sherifa somehow found love and still topped her class...

Isn't she just brilliant?!

There's more, fam! You better watch this space...

xxx

Credits:
Photography: Sergiu Iliev
Locations: 
Red Dress/Blue Blazers: Hyde Park, London Jeans: Love Lane, London
Black Dress: Royal Albert Hall, London
Styled by: #SHAY