Chapter 2: My First Meeting with Joy


For our first meeting, I wanted somewhere neutral; not on her school campus or my house. I gave her the assignment of finding a conducive spot close to her school campus she would be comfortable meeting; somewhere not too formal. She got back to me with the address of a hotel in the area that had a cool poolside bar.

On the meeting day, a Friday, I got to the place an hour early to check the place out. It wasn’t bad. Cool music oozed out of speakers, placed in strategic points at the number 7 shaped outside bar. The bar was built along the length and breadth of one side of the swimming pool.
There is a saying; you never get a second chance to make a first impression, so I paid a lot of attention to how I dressed for the date. Brown loafers on my feet, with blue jeans, and my favorite navy blue polo top on made me feel ready for the day.

After checking out the bar, I walked out of the hotel premises to use the ATM across the road from the hotel gate. I caught a slim and tall brown skinned beauty staring at me I crossed the road. She was on the other side of the road, wearing a tight fitted black gown hat stopped just above her knees. Standing on the median, in the middle of road, waiting to cross the second half of the road, she still had her eyes on me. She looked away after a while, and then looked in my direction one more time before walking into the bank premises, and heading to the ATM gallery, which was just by the security post.

I crossed the road, walked into the same compound, and ended up right behind her on the ATM queue. She looked back and we locked eyes for a few seconds before she looked away. If it wasn’t clear to me before, it was now crystal clear that the girl was physically attracted to me. The normal thing to do would have been to find a simple way to talk to her. A lot of guys wouldn’t have found that hard to do, but to me, it was the hardest thing in the world; my heart started beating fast just from the thought of that. My palms got sweaty quickly, and my head went low. I hated myself for feeling this way. People always told me I would outgrow this, but here I was at 28, still too weak to approach and talk to someone of the opposite sex.

The girl looked back a few more times, but stopped after a while. I felt miserable watching her walk away after she was done using the machine. From the corner of my eye, I saw her look at me one last time. Why are you such a lily-livered guy, all you had to do was talk to her, she already gave you the green light. A voice in my head said. But it just wasn’t that easy for me. “Excuse me, the ATM is free.” A man behind me said, and I looked back at him, before realizing I had been lost in thought. I smiled and stepped up to the machine.

……….

I was back at the bar now, sitting by a table for four, all by myself, sipping on my cup of Guinness stout. I was seated facing the swimming pool, focused on the people in the pool. An athletically fit dark skinned guy was teaching a girl to swim. He made her lay horizontally on the pool, with his hands around her back and legs, while asking her to continually flap her legs. After a while, he would withdraw his hands, and she would stay on the surface of the water for a few seconds, floating, before struggling to stay afloat. He would then help her up, and they would both laugh, and then do it again.

Elsewhere in the swimming pool, to the extreme right from where I sat, was a bunch of teenage girls taken underwater shots as they swam around in circles. They were about 4 of them. I was still amazed at how long they could stay underwater when, from the corner of my eye, I saw someone approaching. She smiled when I turned to look at her. She was a lot shorter than I thought, about 5ft3, but she was breathtakingly beautiful. She had on a white, blue, and red stripped blouse, with sky blue jeans, and brown sandals. I particularly liked the navy blue scarf she had covering her head.

I got up to hug her when she got close enough, and she apologized for coming late before taking the seat next to me. I told her she looked finer in person, and she said I also looked more attractive in person. I couldn’t tell if she meant it or she just said it because I had said that. The alcohol I had in my system gave me some confident, and it made me very relaxed around her.

We had started talking about how it was odd we were finally meeting after chatting for months when a waitress disrupted our conversation. Joy ordered for a bottle of malt, and I asked if she would like anything to eat. She shook her head, and I asked if she was sure. She looked into space for a while before asking the slim dark skinned girl in a black t shirt in front of us if they had Asun. She said yes, and I ordered two plates.

We remained silent after the girl left. It was odd communicating on the phone for so long, and now seeing physically. You need time to get used to the person next to you as opposed to how you had imagined they would be in your head. I broke the silence by asking if she could swim, and she said no. She asked if I could swim, and I said no. We went silent again, watching the people having fun in the water. The waitress came back with her bottle of Malt, and I ordered a second bottle of Guinness for myself.

She was a bit shy when she first got to the place, but she relaxed with time, and started talking freely. The swimming pool instructor reminded her of her first love, so she went down memory lane, telling me about her love life as a naïve teenage. Occasional, she would smile while narrating a story from the past. She looked more attractive up-close, especially when she smiled. Her voice turned me on. It was raspy and felt like it was dipped in chocolate.

Just before we called it a day, I decided it would be cool for us to take pictures. I pulled out my phone from my jeans pocket and started taking photos of us both, from different angles. She was really close to me, and at a point, I asked her to kiss me. And like I had hypnotized her, she was about to do it, then quickly pulled back, laughing. It was so cool looking at her laugh, with her cute smile and great set of teeth.

As we walked out of the bar after the date, she asked of my chickens. I had a special breed that grew as big as turkeys, and she eventually told me one of the reasons she wanted so much to come over to my place was to see the birds. I knew she loved animals, but I didn’t know she was that into animals that she would want to visit me just to see the chickens.

I asked if she would be cool with coming over next weekend, and she was silent for a few seconds before saying, “Okay.” We didn’t say much after that, till we said our goodbyes when she was about to get in the Uber I had ordered for her.

Thanks to you guys for always showing support...next chapter coming up...

Chapter 1: How Joy Came Into My Life

As a loner, I spent most of my time on my backyard poultry farm alone, or indoors, surfing the internet. Chickens can’t talk, but I sometimes talk to them. It might be hard for a lot of people to understand, but they always kept me company. Watching the way they interact in the little community I created for them always kept me entertained.

The bungalow I lived in had no fences, and thus I had no barricade for the birds, but they never went past my compound. As long as I fed them when due, I was their master. They depended on me, but little did they know I also depended on them for my sanity. Living alone was a choice, but I have never believed man was meant to live alone.

While in college I always planned to live on my own terms after graduation. I was never good with one on one interaction with people, in fact, I dreaded it. So, my plan was to cut down my interaction with people to the barest minimum after leaving school. I was lucky to get a large chunk of money from a house sale in the family, and that helped me relocate to a neighboring state, rent a house all to myself, and start my backyard poultry farm.

This particular day, I was scrolling through Instagram when I came across a video of a resort place with Tigers; sort of like a mini safari, but with just Tigers. The tour guide was in the midst of three large Tigers, and the striped beats were all over him as he spoke into the camera. One of the Tigers was standing on its hinds legs, trying to chew the man’s skull, but he seemed unbothered. I guessed it was an act of play, but it still scared me. I was intrigued by the post, and I left a quick comment below the post, saying I would love to visit the place in the future.

I navigated out of Instagram and was checking my email when I saw a notification message from Instagram. Someone had responded to my comment on the post about the Tigers. The first thing that caught my attention was the profile picture of the girl. She was light skinned, had a red turtleneck top, with strands of brown braids resting on her chest. Her beauty was captivating.

She had replied with, “Really? You’re not scared of getting eaten up by the Tigers?” I read it a few times, highly excited. I replied with, “I’d take the risk. I love animals that much.” I put a little smiley face at the end of my comment. I didn’t want to appear like I didn’t have anything else to do with my life than wait for a response from a stranger, so I put my phone in sleep mode, put it in my pocket and was walking over to check on the chickens when my phone beeped.

It was another reply from her saying, “I love animals too, but I don’t know if I’m bold enough for this.” We continued to go back and forth from there on. When the conversation was getting too long, I went over to her DM, and we continued to talk from there on. I found out we were in the same city. What were the odds? I thought to myself. I felt the universe was trying to tell me something. I asked for her phone number, and she gladly gave it to me. I switched to chatting on Whatsapp, and the rest of the week saw us getting closer and closer.

Joy was doing her Maters program at the University of Ibadan, which wasn’t too far from where I lived. Over the next couple of weeks, we made a lot of appointments to meet up, but something always came up last minute that made either one of us cancel at last minute. One day, while chatting with her, bored in bed, I asked if she would love to come over and know my place. We had been communicating via phone now over 4 months, and I didn’t see us as strangers anymore. Her response was a laugh, and after a few seconds of silence, she said she didn’t feel comfortable coming over. I didn’t push it any further, and I continued our conversation.

A few days later, I was cleaning my chicken cage when my phone beeped and it was a message from her. She said she had a short break in school and asked if she could come over to my place for three days, as she didn’t want to go home. Even though I eagerly wanted to see her in person, the thought of her spending three days at my place made me anxious. I mean, we had been talking for almost half a year now, but I still hadn’t seen her physically. I didn’t know how she was like in person, and she didn’t know how I was like.

What if she didn’t like my house? I thought to myself. I live alone, and I was sure there were some things I would overlook in my house that a visitor won’t. I just wasn’t comfortable with her coming over, so I told her I was sorry I had just fumigated my bungalow, and was heading over to spend some days at my friend’s place. Of course, it was a lie.

I could tell from the tone of her text messages afterwards that she was disappointed, but I just couldn’t have her over for a whole three days.

When the next weekend came around, she hit me up again with a request to come over. This time, I really had a reason. I had just discovered the health benefits of garlic, and had been eating a couple of garlic cloves daily, for like a week. There was no way in hell I would want to see her for the first time with my garlic breath. That would definitely kill the whole vibe we had built over time. I felt so bad lying to her a second time, this time via a phone conversation. I could tell she knew I was lying.

The next couple of days that followed, she responded to my texts with monotonous answers. Sometimes she would respond after hours of me sending her a text message. I gave myself a full week for the garlic to leave my system, and then I called her up to schedule a meeting.

Hello guys... So, this story is not your conventional type of love story...this story is based on the love life of Sam...a lily-livered loner. Some guys talk to and attract girls so easily, but some guys have sweaty palms, and start to stutter when they have to approach the girl they like. That is the kind of guy Sam is.

The first chapter is coming up in about an hour. I hope you like it.

Love Life of a Lily-Livered Loner
By

Kayode Odusanya


A lot of stories are told of alpha males that have dozens of girls swooning over them. I’m sure you have read many stories, and watched many moves where the boy is smooth, says all the right words, and gets the girl to fall head over heels for him. Stories are even told of geeks that end of with the hottest girl in the school and live happily ever after.

These stories might be unrealistic to some extent, but people love them. Now, the thing is, no one ever tells the story of the lily-livered guy that has a miserable love life. There are even some instances where guys like that get the girl of their dreams, and then an alpha male comes along and takes the girl away from them, easily.

My name is Sam and I welcome you to my world…the world of a lily-livered loner.

OlufemiWhit:
I just read this again......and I've read it before .....4 years ago

Nice. Hope you enjoyed it again?

skinnybleed:
Good stuff, weldone bro

Thanks.

Bodydiialect57:
Resilience, bravery among others are catalyst for adrenaline surge.
Nice story.

Thanks.

One of my all time favorite stories of mine

Kawo9ze:
Had to read this story again this year!
Such a fascinating story!
Welldone @Kayo80

Thanks

HerCuteness:
sorry

In the mean time...you can read some of my other stories...

https://www.nairaland.com/4057216/links-all-kayode-odusanya-stories

Update...

36. What's Love.
https://www.nairaland.com/6560737/whats-love-romance-novelette-kayode

Once again, I am so happy to have completed this story, even though some don't like the end or don't like that it ended so soon. I write novelettes, not novels. For the last couple of years, my stories have been constantly the same length...10-15k words. Also, this particular story is fiction, but was inspired by true events. So, the end might not be the happily ever after that some expected. As much as I enjoyed writing this story, it really took a toll on me. You guys might not understand.

Anyway, I appreciate all that enjoyed the story. I'm going off for a while to rejuvenate myself. I wish you all the best in life.

bimberry1307:
Phew! What a ride! You're a wonderful writer kayo80. Thanks for this great piece.

Thank a lot for the compliment. I really appreciate you appreciating the story.

Phew! It has been one hell of a run. The last couple of weeks hasn't been easy...ups and downs, going through some of the emotions some of the characters in this story were going through, power supply issues, etc. Thanks to all the readers (registered readers and ghost readers) of this story, I appreciate you all.

Chapter 12

The next day at work was awful; I just went through the day on autopilot. They say it is darkest just before the dawn, so I started to have the belief that the dark clouds over me were about to clear for a brighter day. I still wanted to talk to Ejiro, because right now, everything depended on her decision. So, on my way back from work, I called her up. We spoke, and she agreed for us to meet at her house. I got there around 7:30pm. Tony’s Camry was nowhere in sight and I guessed he wasn’t back from work yet. At this point, neither Ejiro nor I cared if Tony knew about what was going on anyway.

It was dark now, but there were street lights in their cul-de-sac, so I saw her come out of her gate up ahead, wearing a white sleeveless blouse with black jeans. She walked with her face down.

After the initial greetings when she got into the car, we remained silent for a while, before I went on to ask, “So…what’s up? Are we good?” She shook her head and I understood exactly what she meant.
“You know I like you a lot, but I don’t think I can date you.” She said and I sighed. “I’m sorry Olu.”
I was quiet for a while before saying, “So, how are you and Abike?” If this was going to be a no thing, I had to make sure at least I didn’t damage her friendship with Abike.
“It isn’t rosy, but don’t worry about us.”
“Ejiro… we could take things slow and…” I was saying but stopped when she started shaking her head.
“I’m really sorry Olu. I really do like you, but I just can’t go ahead with this.”
“Okay.” I said and she turned to look at me. I could tell she wanted to make me happy, but she just couldn’t go ahead with the whole thing. “It’s okay.” I said and put out my hand for a low five; we slapped palms and I shook her hand a few times before letting it go.
“I was doing something for my mom before you called.” She said as she started getting out of the car. “I’ll chat with you later. Okay?”
“Okay.” I said to her as she slowly closed the door of the car. I sat there and watched her walk away, thinking how that was the end of a very short chapter of my life.

I was still deep in thought when she got to the gate and turned around, wondering why I hadn’t started up my car. I turned the key in the ignition, and blinked the car headlights at her before she entered her house. I backed out of the street, and drove off, thinking of what was next for me. I was officially single, and directionless. The events of the last three weeks had changed the entire course of my life.

What really is love? I thought to myself. I didn’t even know. But what I knew was that love was developed over time, and love wasn’t selfish. I was still deep in thought when my phone started ringing. With one hand on the steering wheel, I used my other hand to pull my phone out my pocket and hold it up to see who was calling. It was Gloria. I picked up. “Hello.”
“Hey, OOA. How are you doing?”
“I’m cool. And by the way, you don’t have to keep calling me OOA.” I said and she laughed. “Just call me Olu.”
“Okay. Olu.”
“So what’s up?”
“I just wanted to be sure you were still using this line.”
“Okay.” I said and the line went silent. “So…how was work today.” I asked.
“Fine; I’m actually a teacher, so I close quite early.”
“Okay.” The line was quiet for a while, and it was clear she wasn’t ready to end the call. “So, will you be free tomorrow after work?” I asked.
“Umm...Yeah.”
“Okay. Cool. I’d like to see you and catch up.”
“Okay. That would be cool.”
“Okay then. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.” The line disconnected and I thought to myself, this could be the start of something new; something fresh. It could be that the events of the last three weeks cleared the way for this; who knows. I had to find out. I switched to gear three, and sped up with a smile on my face.

The End

The last chapter of this story, a short one, is coming up.

Chapter 11

Groove Gardens was a massive open air bar along Lekki-Epe express way in Lagos. The place was just off the express way, with a large car park. Most people going home after a hard day’s work would usually branched off to relax at the bar because of the constant traffic congestion on that route. It was really a strategic location, and it was always like a carnival every night of the week. Even people that didn’t drink alcohol went there for other things like their legendary Suya, or the ice cream stand that operated till midnight.

I had parked my car, and was making my way to the Suya spot now. The car park was about three acres on its own, with well tendered carpet grass, and floodlights illuminating every inch of the place. You had to walk through the car park to get to the bar. Just after the car park was a straight line of small stalls that housed the drinks and food vendors. And when you walk through the space between any two of the stalls, you see chairs and tents as far as the eyes can see in front of you, well arranged in an orderly fashion. I had walked past the stalls now and was heading to the extreme left corner of the walkway between the stalls and the chairs, heading to the Suya spot. Afro beats music was playing at a low volume. I hadn’t made it far when I heard a female voice call out ‘OOA.’ I was shocked. The only people who called me that were my co-workers at the factory. OOA were my initials; Olumide Olutayo Abiodun. We all went by initials at work for smoother communication.

I kept walking and ignored the person, but the voice kept getting closer, and I was forced to stop and turn around. Walking towards me hurriedly was an excited looking tall girl with long braids. She had on a black tight gown that fitted her hour glass shape perfectly. When she got a lot closer to me, I recognized her. “Gloria.” I said just before she hugged me. “What are you doing here?” I asked as she pulled away from the embrace.
“I’m in Lagos now. I’m serving here.”
“Wow! You’re done with school?” I asked with a shocked look on my face.
“Yes.”
“Wow! Time flies.” Gloria did her IT at my factory a couple of years ago, and we developed a bound over time. But when she went back to school, we gradually lost touch. We sometimes would communicate on Whatsapp, but I couldn’t remember the last time I chatted with her.
“I saw you at the mall a couple of days ago.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You were with a girl, and I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“Oh, yeah.” I said and for a second my mind traveled. I focused back on Gloria and saw she was looking behind me. When I turned around, I saw Abike standing there. Her hair was parked in a bun, and she had on a white tank top and jeans bum shorts. One hand was holding the strap of the small bag she had on her shoulder, and the other was holding a black paper bag.
“It was nice seeing you OOA.” Gloria said and I turned back around to face her. She was slowly backing off, still facing me, with a smile still on her face.
“Yeah. It was nice seeing you.” I said and smiled at her. She waved at me before turning around and walking off.
“Hmm. OOA. What an interesting name. It sounds like a secret agent name.” Abike said when I turned around to face her. My eyes went to the black paper bag in her right hand; I guessed she had the Suya in there. “Let’s walk to your car.”
“Okay.” I said and led the way out of the spot. As we proceeded, I scanned the place and saw Gloria with a bunch of girls. She looked back at me at a point, but quickly looked away. I guessed Abike really intimidated her. I would have loved to talk to her a little longer, but maybe another time. I still had her number on my phone and would call her when I get the time to do so. “So…did your dad send you for that?” I asked as I turned to Abike and pointed at the paper bag in her hand.
“Nope.”
“Okay.” We kept walking. I wanted to make more small talk so I said, “How is your boyfriend?” She looked at me with a smile on her face and slowly shook her head.
“He is not my boyfriend; just like you weren’t my boyfriend.”
“Oh. I get.” I said. We walked silently after that till we got to my car. There was still traffic on the road, and I thought I probably should have bought drinks, because we definitely were still going to be here a while.
“I got you something.” She said as we got into the car. I saw her going through her bag and she pulled out a small white paper bag. Inside it was a green apple.
“An apple?” I said with a shocked look on my face.
She rolled her eyes before saying, “Just say thank you.”
“Thank you.” I said and collected the apple from her.
“So…how are you?”
“I’m fine.” I answered as I looked for where to put the apple.
“How much do you hate me today?”
I turned to look at her for a while before saying, “Why did you want to see me?”
“I just wanted to see you.”
“You just wanted to see me?”
She was silent for a while before saying, “It’s complicated.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t know jor.” She said and turned to look at me. “I miss you a lot, but…”
“But?”
“But…but I also like some other things you don’t have the capacity to do for me.”
“Hmm.”
“Olu, I’m just being realistic.”
“Okay.”
“I wanted to ask if we could just go back to you know…how we used to be, without the attachments, but then I see you and Ejiro are kind of a thing now.” I didn’t say anything, and she went on to say, “It hurt though. I mean, seeing you with her.”
“Have you spoken with her?” I said after a prolonged silence.
“Yes.”
“And?”
She sighed before saying, “Don’t worry about that. It’s girl stuff.”
“Okay.”
There was silence for a while again before she said, “You can do whatever you like, but to be totally honest with you, I can never be comfortable with both of you together.”
“Hmm.”
“I’m sorry if I’m messing up your happily ever after story.” She said and placed her hand on mine. “I’m only human.” My mind had wondered off, but I was brought back to reality when she started rubbing my hand up and down. I slowly removed her hand from mine. “I’m sorry.” She said before sitting back. The car was silent for a while before she said, “So what are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, you can date both of us. That’s a fantasy many guys have, right?” She said with a smile on her face. When I turned to look at her, she laughed lightly before saying, “I’m kidding.”
I sighed before saying, “Abike, let me drop you at home.”
“Okay.” She said and I started up the car. As I put the car in gear and attempted to move, the apple she had given me rolled over on the dashboard, and she caught it as it fell. She held it up to me before saying, “You asked why I gave you the apple right?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s the forbidden fruit. If you get intimate with Ejiro, you would be eating the forbidden fruit.” I hadn’t known her to be so poetic and deep and I turned to face her. “I’m sorry, but even if you don’t want to be with me, please don’t be with Ejiro. I like both of you too much for you to do that.” I had never been this confused in my life. I sighed, put the car in gear one and drove off.

Good morning guys. So, there are two chapters left in this story; two short chapters. By the grace of God, if Nepa doesn't mess up, I will post both of them this morning. Oops! Speak of the devil. NEPA just struck. lol.

Anyway, let me quickly post chapter 11.

The update is actually exactly the same length as the last chapter...1,300.

Once again, my chapters are usually 1,000-1,700 words.

aprilwise:
which sport do you watch?

I'm not really a sports guy, and I don't watch TV at all. But I like boxing...I watch it every now and then.

Chapter 11 will drop when chapter 10 gets 100 likes.
















Hahahaha! Just kidding. Chapter 11 will drop when chapter 10 gets 40 likes.

Chapter 10

After church the following day, still in my white native attire, I drove down to the home of a friend of mine I hadn't seen in a while. I needed someone to talk to; someone that knew me well. The last thing Ejiro had told me before dropping from my car the day before was that she needed some time to think of all that was going on, and that she also needed time to talk to Abike. She indirectly was telling me she wouldn't be seeing me for a couple of days. I didn't blame her. She had acted off of pure emotions till she actually ran into Abike at the mall and was faced with the reality of what she had done. The honeymoon phase was over. I just wished it lasted longer.

My friend stayed in the back flat of a four flat building, and he had a personal gate leading to the little backyard space he had carved out for himself. The black gate made noise as it scrapped the ground when I opened it and Jack, my friend shouted out "Olu!"

"What's up bro? You need to get a welder to fix this your gate." I said and he started laughing. I closed the gate behind me and walked towards the entrance to his apartment. He had clothes hanging on the clothlines to my right, and the wall after the lines was painted yellow, different from the faded cream color the rest of the walls in the compound was painted in. "I hope you have my two bottles of big stout ready." I said as I tried to open the door. It was locked. A few seconds later, I heard the key turn in the door, and Jack swung it open. "Jack my guy." I said and gave him an excited handshake.

"Olu maintain." He said out loud while still laughing. Jack was a short guy that wore glasses and resembled the former Ekiti state Governor, Fayose. The only difference was that he was quite short, the opposite of the former Governor. He was a lot older than me, but we had worked together as factory supervisors for a couple of years at my present place of work before he left. "Olu maintain my guy." He said, still shaking my hand and beaming from ear to ear. He was in blue jeans shorts and a white tank top.
"Jack the ripper." I said and the smile on his face disappeared. It was replaced by a frown.
"Bro, you know I don't like that name." He said and I laughed. He laughed too and stepped out of the apartment. "Let's sit outside. Inside is hot. No light since morning." He said and shouted out a name. A teenage boy came out, and Jack instructed him to bring out chairs and drinks he had asked him to buy earlier.

We were seated side by side now, just outside his door, facing his gate. After catching up on old times, I briefed him about by dilemma with Abike and Ejiro. I even showed him some of their pictures on my phone. He picked up his white pack of Chestafield cigarette from the window sill, pulled out a stick, and stuck it in his mouth. I sat there, waiting for him to talk as he lit his cigarette with a sterling silver zippo lighter. After turning to the side to blow smoke out his mouth, he turned to me and said, “First of all, I don’t care how much you like that first girl…what did you call her name?”
“Abike.”
“Yeah, Abike. Please don’t go back to that girl.” He stopped to take another drag from his cigarette stick before saying, “From what you have told me and the pictures I saw, she seems like the kind that can never be satisfied with a guy like you.” I already knew that, but it was good hearing it again. He felt he had bruised my ego, and he went on to say, “Olu, you know I am a straightforward guy. I’m just being honest with you as a friend.”
“I understand.”
“Come, how you take hold that girl sef.” He said in broken English and looked at me for a while before adding, “You must be a pro in za oza room.” I couldn’t help but laugh at his assumption. He joined me in laughing and it made me laugh even more. When things got quiet, he said “The other girl. She would have been perfect for you, but the whole thing is just too complex with her."
“Hmm."
“You said the brother is your good friend, and she is the best friend of the other girl?” He asked and I nodded. “Hmm. That’s really complicated Olu. You have to make up your mind on that one."
I sighed and sat back in my seat. If it was left to me, I would choose to be with Ejiro against all odds. But it seemed like she was having cold feet. Even though it was something we both had secretly thought about, we jumped into it too quickly and probably at the wrong time. I hadn’t even told Tony about the whole thing, and honestly, I couldn’t say for sure how he would react. Ejiro was 23, and she could think for herself, but he still treated her like she was a little girl, even though, like me, he was just 3 years older than her. He had always been overprotective of her. He was a wild boy, and so were his friends, so he never wanted any of them anywhere near his sister. But, I was different. Still, he could flip out if he heard I was dating her, even if he knew I was going to be a perfect gentleman with her.
“So, how is madam and the kids?” I asked, trying not to make the whole day about me.
“They are fine o.” He answered with a smile and a faraway look on his face. Jack had gotten deported from England over some illegal activities, but his wife and kids remained there. He was working on traveling to another European country, and having his family join him there. But it had been four years now. I wondered how he felt. His problem was way more complex than mine. For the rest of my stay there, I decided to focus the discussion on him.

……….

After leaving Jack’s house, I got stuck in traffic on the Lekki Express Way heading back home. I was more or less driving on autopilot as my mind wondered off. All is fair in love and war, but Ejiro and I hadn’t yet had enough time to grow in love. We hadn’t had time to discover each other’s negative sides. No one is perfect; she might hate the fact that I sometimes like to be on my own for days. I might not like some things about her.

My phone beeped on my lap. I looked down at it briefly and saw it was a message from Abike. The message read, 'let's talk when you're free.' I wondered if her and Ejiro had talked about the whole thing. I was curious to know what she could want to say to me again. After thinking it through, I picked up my phone and dialed her number. She picked up almost immediately. "What's up Olu." She said in an almost inaudible voice. There was loud afro beats music playing in the background.
"Where are you?"
"I'm at Groove Gardens." The music sounded lower now. She probably was walking away from the speakers. "I came here to buy Suya. I'm alone."
"Okay. I'm actually approaching the spot now. I'll be there soon."
"Okay. I'll be close to the Suya spot."
"Okay. See you soon."