Chapter 2 (Can It Be All So Simple)


Joshua was seated in the front passenger seat of Idris's car, just outside Juliet's house. Her street was a long dirt road, filled with newly built houses, or houses under construction. The neighborhood was just outside the estate Idris and Joshua lived in.


Every now and then, a car would drive by, but people rarely walked by on foot. So when he finally caught the figure of someone from the car's side mirror, he paid rapt attention. He quickly discovered that the tall and chubby woman dressed in black actually had a little toddler beside her. The boy couldn't have been more than 3 years old, and he was in a dark blue school uniform. He seemed to be a spoiled brat, as he couldn't be controlled. He would walk close to the gutter and not listen when the woman who seemed to be his mom called him over


When they got to the side of Idris’s car, the boy decided he didn't want to walk again, and leaned on the Corolla. The lady apologized to Joshua before pulling him off the car. While walking with him on her shoulder, he kept yanking at her hair, till she finally dropped him. He punched her leg when he was on his feet, and when he decided to kick her, he missed, swung around, and fell on his butt. It cracked Joshua up.


After trying her best to get him off the ground, and the boy resisting with all his might, the mother left him and kept walking, slowly. Just then, Idris emerged from a house close to where the boy was seated with a cigarette in his hand. He stopped to inhale, and exhale, before starting the walk towards the car. The boy, still on the ground, had his head tilted, looking up at Idris. When Idris was just about to get close to him, he got up and ran towards his mom, crying. Joshua cracked up for a second time.


As Idris approached the car, walking with a bounce, Joshua's mind wandered off again. He had agreed to the plan, even though he had to pay double of what he had initially given Idris. The idea Idris came up with fascinated him, and he felt it was worth that much. Even if it didn't work out, he knew he was about to have a really great time. 


Just before he got into the driver's side of the car, Idris let his cigarette fall to the floor, and squashed it with his foot. "Damn! It's hot in here." He said as he turned the key in the ignition. A few seconds after, he turned on the car's AC and wound up the car's windows. "Did Juliet come out at any point while I was gone?" He asked, and Joshua shook his head. He pulled out his phone from his jeans pocket, and as he was about to dial her number, the gate slowly swung open. 


A dog emerged first, wagging its tail, and leaping in the air. And then Juliet stepped out, talking on the phone, and trying to avoid the Alsatian from messing up her clothes. She had on a simple, short tiny strapped sky blue gown, clinging to her body. Black sunglasses were placed up on her forehead. Sun rays reflected off her glossed up succulent looking lips, and her brown skin was glistening under the sunlight. Joshua got excited just looking at her, and wondered how Idris was able to convince to agree to the plan so quickly


Still talking on the phone, she made a hand gesture for the dog to get in, and it reluctantly did so, while shaking its rear, and wagging its tail. Her voice got louder and louder as she approached the car, and the feminine sound of it turned Joshua on. Just before she got in the car she said bye to the person she was talking to, and ended the call. "Sorry for the delay guys. So...what's up?" She said with a smile on her face, looking from Idris to Joshua, who were both turned around in their seats, looking at her.


"You look...really good." Joshua said.


"Awwww! Thank you babe." She said with a smile, and it left Joshua stunned for a second. Idris turned to look at Joshua with a smile on his face, before turning back to Juliet. "So...are we heading to the party now?" Juliet said and looked at her wristwatch. 


"Yea, but first, I need you guys to get into character." He said and she smiled as she turned to look at Joshua. In a seductive manner, she patted the side of her seat with her eyes on him all along. Joshua smiled and turned to look at Idris, who then motioned with his head for him to join her in the backseat. This was all meant to be acting, but she was doing such a damn good job it felt real. Joshua laughed lightly before opening the door and getting out of the car. He strengthened up the white polo top he had on, and adjusted his belt before proceeding to get in the back seat of the car. 


Sitting side by side, Juliet slowly rested her head on his shoulder. Joshua was mesmerised by smooth and spotless skin for a few seconds. His eyes traveled from her arms, to her legs, and back to her legs before slowly holding her hand. She took it a step further by intertwining their fingers together. Idris smiled at them from the front seat. Even Idris himself was surprised at how perfectly they meshed together. "Perfect! Just stay like that." Idris said before turning around. He put the car in drive, looked at them one last time in the rearview mirror before driving off.

jupitre:
Next chapter oo

Okay.

Bonab:
You're a good writer. I just wanted to binge read,but your story sucked me in till the end.

Thanks. I really appreciate this comment.

Can it Be All So Simple 


By 


Kayode Odusanya




Chapter 1


Joshua was sitting in bed rubbing his right eye, till it got bloodshot, and his vision got blurry. He had stayed awake all night staring at his phone screen, watching YouTube videos on how to approach women. The more videos he watched, the less easy the task seemed to him. Now, it was mid-day, a couple of hours to the party he was going to attend, and he still wasn’t confident he would be able to walk up to Gloria at the party later on. 


The standing fan by his bedside made a constant sound, other than that, the whole apartment was quiet. His dad was never in his life, and ever since his mom passed two years ago, he had become more reclusive than ever. He had no siblings, and his aunt whom he currently lived with had no kids, so she was the only major family member he had in his life. At 23, he felt like an orphan, even though his father was still alive. 


He got off the bed and stretched. The gym was where he always found solace, but he hadn’t been going a lot lately. Over the years, he had built a very fit and athletic physique. Add that to the fact that he was dark skin and good looking; he naturally would attract women, if he went out more often.  


He heard voices outside the house and raced to his room window. It was Idris, getting out of his mom's Corolla with a couple of paper bags in his hand. A girl got out shortly afterwards, laughing at what he was saying, as she walked over to his side. Idris was tall, buff, good looking, and was always dressed in the latest fashion. Joshua always watched him from a distance, mesmerized at how easily it was for his neighbor to get girls. As they disappeared from his view into the building, an idea came to his mind. 


A few minutes later, he was out his apartment, in the hallway, rehearsing what he was going to say to Idris. They lived on the ground floor of a 3 floor building, with apartments opposite each other. He heard voices coming from above, and was about to run back into his apartment when he recognized who it was. The young couple that just moved into the apartment above him. The man living right above them was a church friend of theirs and they usually visited him often. When he heard their door close shut, and their voices muffled, he took a deep breath and headed towards the door in front of him. 


Joshua noticed his first set of knocks weren't audible, because Idris and the girl he had in there with him kept talking. On the second round of knocking, there was silence. He waited a few seconds before knocking again. And then he stopped when the door started to open, slowly. He was shocked to see it was the girl that had come to the door. "Hello." She said, waiting for him to state his purpose as he had been caught off guard, and was mesmerized by her beauty. She had short natural hair, with a charming smile. 

"Umm...I want to see Idris." He finally uttered out. She was about his height, which he considered tall for a girl. 


"Idris isn't around right now." She said and averted her eyes. A few seconds later, Idris walked up to the door, and gently pushed her to the side. "What's up?" Idris said, with eyes squinted. The girl smiled while looking at Joshua, embarrassed to have just lied to hum, and then slowly walked backwards into the house. 


"Idris...umm, can I talk to you privately?" Idris kept his stare on Joshua for a few seconds before stepping out, and shutting the door behind him. There was awkward silence in the hallway for a while before Joshua blurted out, "I need your help with something."


"Hmm… Let me guess. You scratched up your aunt's car again?" Joshua laughed lightly, and Idris went on to say, "I'm charging you double this time."


"It's not that." 


"Then what is it?" Idris asked, and opened the door briefly to look in, and then turn back around. "As you can see, I'm a little busy at the moment, so you need to speak up."


"Umm... I'm going to a party later today, and I need to learn how to talk to a girl."


Idris stared at him for a while before bursting out laughing. "Are you serious?"


Joshua immediately started walking to his door dejected, and then changed his mind halfway and walked back towards Idris. "I'll pay you." He said with a sharp tone.


Idris stopped laughing when he saw how serious Joshua looked. "Bro, it doesn't work that way. You either got it or you don't" Joshua didn't say anything. He just put his hand in his jeans pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. After counting out fifteen pieces of the blue Naira note, he dipped the rest back in his jeans pocket. "You must want this girl really bad." Idris said, his eyes stuck on the wad of cash Joshua was now holding up to him. He slowly collected the money, looking Joshua in the eye, wondering if this was a prank. After counting it, he looked down for a few seconds before saying, "What time is your party?"


"5pm."


He looked at his watch for a prolonged time, and then looked up at Joshua. "Okay. We're in business." He said and shook Joshua's hand.  "I have an idea on how to help you out."

Good day to you all. This is a 10,000 word romance novelette, with 10-12 chapters... short chapters.

dammyd46:
Just like they say some artiste have no bad songs, same goes to you. No bad stories yet, pen game on fire 🔥.

Thanks a lot for this comment. I appreciate all your compliments over the years...6+ years of motivational comments. I appreciate you.

calamus:
Just read this and I felt the need to encourage the writer.
Beautiful piece. Keep it up.

Thanks...I appreciate your comment.

Legitdimple:
Lovely story as always

Thanks.

Tweetyyy:
I really don't understand how your stories end but let's keep quiet. Nice story tho

Lol...Okay.

Legitdimple:
Wow! That was very interesting although short.
Remind me to give that angel of death a resounding slap when he comes for me😀
Seriously you’re good at what you do,keep it up.

Thanks. I appreciate this comment.

Legitdimple:
Wow! That was very interesting although short.
Remind me to give that angel of death a resounding slap when he comes for me😀
Seriously you’re good at what you do,keep it up.

The bolded made me laugh.

Abieekay:
You can give an app called medium a try

Okay. Thanks.

Legitdimple:
Please don’t stop posting on nairaland

I won't. Nairaland helped my growth a lot in the past. I can't forget that.

Ohibenemma:
Nice story @Kayo80. Shey na true-life story be dis? Na you true true?

Hmmmmmm

YoungBruzzy:
This is a lovely read
Kudos to you once again @Kayo80
Your work just have a way of hitting home straight despite it being a short story.
Please do well to tag me to your next work, even make I dey France then, I go find time read am lol

Lol...thanks.

Thank you all for your time dedicated to reading and commenting...

You can read this story I'm currently completing...https://www.nairaland.com/7646359/one-thing-sure-kayode-odusanya

Adeola25:
Lovely story. Thanks for the update

Thanks.

Chapter 7


The decoration in the hall was blue themed; blue balloons, blue ribbons, and blue lights. As expected, it was a small gathering of family and friends, and the fifty-person capacity hall was packed. Every table contained four guests and there were about a dozen tables in the hall. One service person handled one table, so it was very easy for everyone to be attended to. Angela was just happy the party wasn't held at her aunt’s house as that would have made things more intimate. In the hall, she could successfully pull off her fake boyfriends scheme.


 So far, she had introduced Kola to her mom, a few family members, and even her celebrant aunt. The loud music made it hard for them to carry out long conversations, and the traffic of people coming and going kept everyone on the move. Every now and then, Kola would lean in to talk to her. Because of how loud the music was, he would have to talk into her ear. Every time he did that, his fresh breath and baritone voice, and just the fact that he was that close to her gave her butterflies in her stomach. Sometimes he would just mumble gibberish in her ear and make her laugh. He was so playful and she loved it. 


The DJ was playing mainly 80s disco music, like Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ A lot of Angela's aunt's friends were on their feet dancing most of the time. It wasn't the kind of setting Angela was expecting. But she realised her aunty wasn't really that old; at 50, she was in her teens in the late 80s. Angela was still lost in thought when she saw Kola wave at a girl, and then excuse himself before getting up to meet the girl halfway. Her heart skipped a beat. Would the girl blow their plan? Is the girl a friend to Kola's real girlfriend? Did Kola have a real girlfriend? She asked herself so many questions within a couple of seconds. The girl had on a black tight fitting gown, with a low plunging neckline and Angela thought her exposed cleavage was too sexy for a gathering like this. She felt a little jealous of the girl’s height and how loosely she interacted with Kola. Just then, he said something to the girl that made her look in Angela's direction and smile. She waved, and Angela waved back at her with a forced smile on her face. 


When Kola returned to her side, he let her know the girl is an old schoolmate. Angela had seen them exchange contacts and wondered if she was someone he liked back in the day. She knew this was none of her business, but she didn't want anyone thinking her 'boyfriend' was a flirt. Just like he read her mind, Kola leaned in and told her the girl and his twin sister, Tola used to be bestfriends at one point. She smiled, with her eyes still tailing the girl around the hall, wondering what side of the family she was from. Just then, her eyes met with her aunt who was waving her over to the front of the hall. Apparently, it was picture taking time. She got up and wanted to whisper to Kola that she would be right back when she saw her aunt waving to her, indicating she should come over with him. 'Oops!' She thought to herself. Her fake boyfriend was going to get in a real family portrait. 


He had seen the interaction between her and her aunt and smiled when she turned to him. "Picture time." He said with a smile as he got on his feet. She smiled, held his hand and led the way. From the corner of her eye, she caught a lot of people looking their way; family members, smiling in approval. It made her smile too. It felt good, at least for now. 


They took a couple of group family pictures and were about to head back to their seats when her aunt pulled her back, and insisted she needed a picture with just her and Kola. They stood on both sides of her aunty, and smiled for the camera. Between the time it took for the cameraman to snap the picture, Angela's eyes travelled into the crowd in front of them. One person in particular that caught her attention was the girl that Kola greeted earlier. She was standing close to the cameraman, with her phone out to snap. ‘Oh shoot, the girl is going to post it on social media.’ Angela thought to herself. She stood in one spot, stunned for a couple of seconds after the picture was taken before Kola came around and put his arm around her waist. Within a split second, another set of pictures were taken. A shot of them as a couple was taken by the cameraman, and the mystery girl. 'Kola is really having fun with this whole thing.' She thought to herself as he led her back to their seat. 


A few minutes after sitting lost in thought, thinking of whether or not the girl would post the picture on her social media, Angela suddenly didn't want to be at the party anymore. She looked at Kola, and he looked restless. They had been at the party for 3 hours now, and things were already winding down. "Let's leave in 5 minutes." She leaned in to whisper in his ear, and he nodded his head in agreement. He had really tried, she thought to herself. 


After making solo rounds to greet family members and say her goodbyes, she returned to get Kola, and they headed out of the hall. 


"Phew! That went well, right?" He asked her as they walked to the parking lot.


"Well, maybe, except for the part where your girlfriend took our picture." Angela said.


He laughed a little before saying, "I told you she was Tola's close friend in school." He laughed a little before saying, "Besides, she isn't going to post random pictures on her social media if that’s your fear." As they walked in silence, Kola closed up the gap between them and placed his arm around her waist. She wondered if he was still in character or this was really what he wanted to do. "Do you want to go somewhere and grab a few bottles?" He said.


"Nope. I'm tired. I just want to go home." She said without looking up.


"Okay." 


She thought she was a little harsh with her response and turned to look at him. "I'm sorry, I'm not really the outdoors type."


"It's okay. I understand."


Angela kept looking at him to gauge how he really felt. "Thanks a lot. I really appreciate what you did for me."  She said, but he didn’t say anything back. He just looked at her with a smile on his face and nodded. "What are you doing tomorrow after church?" She asked.


"Why? You want to book another fake date appointment?"


She laughed before saying, "No. I'm not that ruthless." She playfully nudged his side and said, "You're so funny." They took a few steps in silence before she said, "I just thought we could go for the drinks you talked about."


"Oh."


"Yeah; bottles on me. It will be my way of paying you back." She said with a smile. 


"Oh, that would be cool."


"Yeah."


"So, it's a date then."


"Yeah, it's a date."

You can read the story from the start again to refresh your memory before reading the new chapter.

YoungBruzzy:
Thanks for the update boss Man
Biko drop us long update next oh baba


Btw, It’s been a while tho, hope you good?

I'm back...

bimberry1307:
@kayo80 just left us hanging. It's been months, bro.

I'm back.

Yeah, I'm back to finally complete this story...next chapter dropping in a bit.

Chapter 13 : The End?


I started slowly, flirting with her on the phone, complimenting her looks whenever we saw, and holding her hand whenever we were walking together. In subtle ways, I would also touch her gently every now and then. I was slowly walking my way out of the friendzone. She seemed to flow with everything I was doing. The only complaint I got once in a while was when I got a little too touchy with the hands. 


I kept my little plan going for a couple of weeks, I made her get used to the new me, and then I made my intentions very clear to her. ‘Helen, I like you more than just a friend. I want you to be my girlfriend.’ She didn't seem surprised when she heard what I had to say, and I wasn't surprised either when she told me she saw me as just a friend and didn't see me in any other light. I knew all along that all she needed me for was to be a shoulder to cry on, and I really didn’t want to be any girl’s crutch. We had the conversation in my car, on my way to drop her off at home after a hangout. I showed no expression on my face as the car got silent the remainder of the journey.


While parked outside her house, I turned to face her and let her know I wasn't used to having female friends this close, unless we were dating. And since we couldn't date, we could still be casual friends, but I didn't think we should be as close as we were. After a prolonged silence, she said, ‘okay’ and got out of the car. We said our goodbyes and then I drove off.


I turned up the volume on my car's sound system as I drove home, listening to Avril Lavidne's first album. Loud sound of drums and bass guitar filled the air and helped me deal with what I had just done. It was A very difficult decision, but it needed to be done. Daniella was away with her family, and she had told me she won't be back for months. Now, I had more or less cut off Helen. Like in a circus performance, where the acrobat lets go of the trapeze and leaps in mid air to catch another trapeze, with the risk of falling to his death, I had to totally let go. I needed to be totally free to make the move to my next level. I had to be totally single before I could meet someone I would have the urge to pursue; with Helen always there, my subconscious mind might think I'm in a relationship. 


……….




The next couple of weeks were one of my worst. I felt so alone and lonely, and fought hard the urge to go back to the way things were. It was like the withdrawal stage of an addiction. I knew it was going to be hard, but I had no idea it would be that hard. We still viewed each other's social media statuses, but she didn't call, and neither did I. 


After about four weeks of no communications with her in any way, I was a new man, with no attachments. I decided to make good use of my new free time to focus fully on levelling up with my career.  I discovered the wonders of advertising my books on Amazon. The more money I spent on advertisements, the more popular I got, and the more my books sold, which translated to more money in the bank. I put most of the money into growing my poultry business, and into buying more land. 


I was in a good place mentally, and I was in a great place financially. I was open to a relationship, but if I never found The One, and I lived my life all by myself like Nikola Tesla, then I was okay too. I had reached the point of total freedom, and didn't want societal dictates to be the judge of my life and my happiness. I was totally comfortable with being 40 and single. 


As I currently stand on top of a rock, on the land I just purchased, watching the sun go down, I feel fulfilled. The land is green, the air is fresh. I inhale, exhale, and smile. ‘Life is good.’


The END

Closing chapter coming...

Chapter 12 : Helen : Part 2


I usually gave my workers on my poultry farm two weeks' break during the Christmas holidays, and because I would still have some chickens on the farm, I had to take care of them myself. As one of my entrepreneur friends usually said, bosses don't sleep. Even on Christmas day, I drove down to my poultry farm to feed the birds for about five hours before spending the rest of the day all by myself, in my apartment. The more successful I got, the more I longed for a companion.


A couple of weeks into the new year, I set up a date with Helen at an ice cream spot close to her house. We had been talking on the phone regularly during the holidays and had gotten even closer. I still had no plans of dating her, but I needed someone to talk to, the old school way. 


The place was filled with teenagers and couples in their early twenties due to its proximity to the university of Ibadan. It had wooden benches and tables drilled to the ground. A table had two benches on opposite sides, and a thatched roof for shade; there were about a dozen of such arrangements scattered around the gardenlike place. There was a merch wire fence around the perimeter of the property, and I sat facing the road waiting for her to arrive, as I watched cars zoom by. 


When she finally arrived, her eyes searched the place for me as she waited for her change after paying the bike man that had brought her. When our eyes finally met, she smiled. It was so clear to me that she was genuinely happy to see me and it made me want to consider having something serious to do with her. Love and attraction can grow over time, I told myself. I stood up to give her a hug when she got to me, and she apologised for coming late. The bodycon gown she had on was the colour of the sky, and looking at her in that dress brightened up my day. 


Even though we had been constantly talking on the phone for weeks now, seeing in person was a lot different. You could catch cues, and body language you can't see on the phone. She seemed genuinely excited to be with me, and I was already considering a relationship with her when she said, "I met a guy I think I like." It hit me off guard, and if she was vigilant, she would have noticed the look of shock on my face, but I quickly acted nonchalant. I asked her more about the guy, and advised her to give him a try if she really liked him.


We both got quiet after the potential boyfriend discussion, and I was thinking of calling it a day when she hit me with another bombshell. Lillian had been acting cold towards her since the day I had given her the chicken. She said she stopped answering her calls, and always gave her a cold shoulder whenever they saw each other in church. Her conclusion was that Lillian was pissed at her for still talking to her alleged enemy, me. She said she had tried her best to keep the friendship going for weeks, but had since given up on that. According to her, they no longer greeted each other when they saw each other in church, and she no longer considered Lillian her friend. 


I felt guilty. I was the cause of two friends becoming foes. But then again, I thought to myself; if I could do that, it meant they never really were friends in the first place. 


Shortly after the talk about Lillian, she went back to the new man in her life. It was obvious she was excited about the whole thing as she talked about him for the remainder of our date. After that day, half our conversations were about him. And when they eventually started dating, most of our discussion was about her new relationship. My worst nightmare had become reality, I thought to myself. I had slowly become the emotional support, the shoulder to cry on, the bestie with no benefits. Damn!


This was not the position I wanted to ever be in again, because I had realised how much of a time waster it can be from being in such a position in the past. When I sat down to think things through, I realised that, from all the stories Helen had told me about herself, she always had a male friend on the side, even when she was dating. She was used to having a guy on the side for emotional support. There is nothing wrong with that, if the guy was a willing participant, but that was the last role I wanted to play in a girl's life at this stage in my life. 


I had no problem with having a casual friend of the opposite sex, but Helen wanted to talk to me multiple times a day, all week. When I really stopped to think about it, I wondered how I would ever have time for another girl. I knew I had to do something about it when I started getting angry at myself for getting into the friendzone position. 


I  knew this couldn’t go on if I wanted to meet a girl of my own, and I had to do something about it. Because she was such a good friend, I didn’t know exactly what to do. Everything I thought of doing sounded immature in my head. I just had to slowly detach myself from her, but I decided to do something first.

There are two chapters left in this story. I have always had it in mind that this would be a series.

A short chapter is coming up.

Chapter 11 : Helen


My world felt empty after things between Lillian and I ended, but I knew I had made the right decision. It was time to move on for good, and look out for something more serious. Helen was a girl Lillian had tried to get me to date, but whom I wasn't interested in. She was fairly pretty, brown skinned, slim, and of average height; a nice catch, she just didn’t tickle my fancy. Even though I wasn't physically attracted to her, I still chatted with her on the phone once in a while, or talked to her when we saw each other in church. So after things ended between Lillian and I, I felt I had to tell her my side of the story, because I knew Lillian's version would paint me in a very bad light. 


For my story to make sense to her, I had to tell Helen the whole story, starting from when Lillian and I were lovers in the past. I was shocked when she didn't seem surprised at this revelation. When I asked if Lillian already told her about our love life in the past, she said no, but that she had put two and two together. After further probing, she told me she got to know from one of the discussions I had had with Lillian in her presence. According to her, she had always suspected we were lovers in the past, but told me that day had removed any doubts in her mind. When I asked her what exactly we had said that day, she said not to worry about it. 


Helen went ahead to tell me Lillian had told her her own side of the story, leaving out the part about us once being lovers in the past. All she told Helen was that I had tried to have sex with her when she visited me. Anyone that didn't know we had a history would have sided with her; now I understood why people always say, 'hear the other side of the story before making conclusions on a matter.' I acknowledged the fact that it would have been hard for her to tell Helen that we used to be lovers because she wanted her to date me at some point, but telling Helen a half truth was painting me like some sort of creep in her eyes.


The weeks that followed had Helen trying to reconcile the conflict, even as I broke it down to her that there was no use for that. I didn't hate her friend, but I knew it was best we stay apart henceforth. Helen didn't want to have to choose a side in the fight. We spoke a lot on the phone, as she was always trying to convince me that Lillian and I could still be friends. By the time she finally gave up on that task, I realised I had gotten so used to us talking to her that I started longing for her call everyday. If I didn't call, she would call. I always found the idea of having a female best friend absurd, but I slowly found myself in those shoes with Helen. There was still no physical attraction there, but she made me laugh, and she was intrigued by my out-of-the-ordinary way of life, and this was the glue between us. 


On Christmas eve of that year, I included Helen and Daniella on the list of the people I would be gifting chickens. I started giving out chickens to friends and family  during the yuletide season three years ago, when things started going well for me financially. The year before, I had given out twenty, and this particular year I had decided to up it to fifty chickens. 


I was parked at the side of the road, a spot that was close to both Daniella and Helen's houses. There were five chickens on the floor in the back seat section of my car; quiet, except for the occasional clucking sound when they felt uncomfortable. I knew I would have to take my car to the carwash after this, but what was most important to me was making sure I got the chickens to all the people on my list. 


Daniella came first, collected her chicken, and headed back home to drop it off with plans of coming back to meet me. Helen snuck up on me from behind and scared me while I was standing by the side of my car, going through messages on my phone. After laughing it off, I reached in the back seat of the car for her chicken; a big white rooster. When her jaw dropped, I thought it was because of the size of the chicken, till I saw her eyes admiring my car.  I just realised it was the first time she was seeing my car. I handed her the chicken, as she jokingly asked when I would be taking her out to celebrate buying the car. I just smiled at her and said nothing. We had a little chit chat before she headed back home. 


A few minutes after Helen left, Daniella came back with a small bowl of ice cream in her hand. She was going to take me to her grandma's house, and also accompany me to a couple of other places where I had to drop off the remaining chickens in my car. We got in the car, I started it up, and just as I was about to drive off, she fed me a spoon full of ice cream. As I turned my head to make sure I didn't spill any ice cream in my car, I saw Helen walking back to the bus stop with the chicken still in her hand, and a girl by her side. When I took one more look as I drove off, I saw it was Lillian beside her.

Chapter 10 : In Lillian’s Universe : Part 4


The following morning, while laying in bed, talking, she found a way to weave the discussion to our relationship status; asking what we were now. I told her straight away we were friends. There was no need to sugarcoat anything. If I hadn't called yesterday, she probably would have spent the night with the guy she walked to the bus stop when I came over, and as much as I liked her, it was clear she was still very confused on what she really wanted from me. Sleeping with her last night would have made things more complicated, and I was glad we didn't go beyond second base. 


By the time I was leaving her apartment that day, I told myself never to take it that far with her again. She was okay with us being just friends, till Daniella got in the picture. It was clear to me she only wanted to claim me because someone else wanted me. At this point, I wished I had never come back into her life. Before, I wasn't ready to date her, which caused us to disconnect for three years. I came back wanting to date her, but she was now too complicated for me. I wanted to slowly walk away, but it was so hard; my life had been deeply interwoven into hers. I had gotten so used to doing my writing at her place, and also we now attended the same church. 


I was able to reduce my visits to her place as time went on, and managed to never be in a room with her alone. I had paid her a visit one day, and while walking me to the bus stop, we passed by Daniella’s house, and got talking about her. She discovered Daniella hadn't been in my life for weeks now, and when I said there was no girl in my life currently, she smiled. At the bus stop, just before I got into the cab, she hugged me tightly, and told me she would come see me the following day. At this point, I had to tell myself the truth that she was not the only one that was confused. I was also complicating the whole thing. I should have never made her feel I was available again. 


The next day, around the time she was to come, I sat in bed, battling with the idea of calling her to cancel. But I felt that would be worse than if she came and I didn't make a move on her. When she finally arrived, I was genuinely happy to see her. She was really a great girl, with a warm personality. But it was her indecision, and the fact that she had multiple secret lovers that made me no longer want to get serious with her. 


We were both sitting on my bed talking when she got up to take off the white blouse she had on, saying she didn't want it to get rumpled. I had made up my mind that nothing was going to happen, so when I saw the cleavage, I looked away, and slowly moved a few inches away from her on the bed. She was laughing at something she had read on her phone, and asked me to move closer to see it. I did. Now I was sitting next to her in shorts and a singlet, our bare arms rubbing against each other, and her chest shaking every time she laughed at something; this was slowly turning me on. I hadn't seen Daniella in weeks, and my libido ws through the roof. I couldn't help myself any longer, and I made a move.


I was shocked when she turned to me with an angry face, asking what was wrong with me in a disdainful manner. The look on her face was that of disappointment and irritation. At this point, I was angry, wondering what exactly she wanted. I became cold afterwards.


While chatting after she had left, I told her I didn't like how she raised her voice at me when I had made a move on her earlier on. She hit me back with a torrential onslaught of abuses. I had never seen her that angry before. She kept hammering on the fact that all I was after was her body. She was really done with me this time, I guessed, because she hit me with a lot of degrading abuses, using what I had told her in secret against me. I was shocked, but didn't hit back. After I responded with, "no matter how much you abuse me, it wouldn’t get to me" she blocked me. At that point, I knew that was the end. She had poured out her heart, saying all the negative things about me she had kept to herself all this while, and now she really didn't want to have anything to do with me again. And I also felt, even though I liked her as a friend, it was best I just let her be.