When these young boys come to serve, they are usually inexperienced in many aspects of life except maybe farming. Gradually they begin to cope with city life, they learn to write and read (writing comes first for them). They learn how to talk to people as you can’t predict who will be your next big business catch.
The apprentice will also see that city girls are quite different from those in his hometown; city girls have class and so even if the hometown girls are prettier than the city girls, the apprentice may not take this into consideration, and this is if he is thinking about Juliet at all.
Being inexperienced in most aspects of life, he may or may not have had a shot at romance. Now, whether it is a yes or no, under his master, he has nothing to bring to the table of romance; not money for gifts nor time for dates and wooing recitations.
If he is interested in love affairs, for the seven years or more that he is to stay with his master, staying without ‘love’ might be a difficult call for him, especially if he has reached a certain age before embarking on his apprenticeship journey. Some are patient and as such will wait, for some romance is not at the top of their list, not that they are against it but they love money or success more than love. For those who will try to give it a shot from time to time; their day is occupied with the business affairs while the night is occupied with service at home. The solution will be to steal time as much as they can to be with their Juliet.
If he has been caught by a damsel, one of the best ways to know is when he begins to do things he would rather not have done or go to places he wouldn’t go without being compelled. For example, when he begins to love church programs suddenly then know that he has found a girl in church who has won his heart. If he starts ‘inventing’ work outside the house, maybe volunteering to get things needed in the house like groceries from outside, going to fetch water or he just finds funny reasons to go out, then it is most likely that there is a girl in the neighborhood who gives him joy.
There have been instances where apprentices have wrecked their masters business by using the business capital to show love to their girlfriends. There was an instance where the line of trade had to do with female wears. The apprentice in this case kept on giving out clothes for free to his girlfriends, and with time the business crumbled.
An apprentice falling in love is an unwritten taboo, if he must as all men may, he has wait till he becomes free and not just free, but must have been able to build a fortune deep enough that no demand of love can dry.
