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Chapter 8  

  

He didn't know if it was the ice-cold ice cream he was taking, the air conditioning in the place, or the fact that he was about to ask her a life changing question, but for some reason, he felt chilly inside. They were seated, facing each other, in the white painted spot, talking about random things like politics, and the state of the country. He never thought she was this talkative, but he did like her talking. Her command of English was excellent, and not in a show off kind of way. Even though he had known her for years now, he was noticing her perfect set of teeth for the first time; well aligned, and white like a baby's teeth. Her cheeks shone under the light every time she smiled. Get a grip of yourself Tobi, this is your friend's ex. He said to himself. 

  

He noticed he hadn't been digging into his cup of ice cream, and she was more than halfway done with hers, so he picked up pace, and started shoving the cream in his mouth. It was funny to him that he could respond to all her questions, have a fluent conversation with her, yet be deep in thought at the same time. He kept looking for the right time to bring up the subject. When there was finally a little silence on their table, he blurted out, "Did we have sex yesterday?" 

  

She almost spat out the ice cream in her mouth as she coughed and sat up. She looked around for a few seconds before leaning in and saying, "We're in an ice cream Parlor, Tobi." 

  

"Sorry, but it's been bothering me all week." He said and took a small scoop from his cup before adding, "I didn't know how else to ask." 

  

"So, you don't remember that either?" She asked with her full attention on him. 

  

"What do you mean?" 

  

She looked at him for a long while before saying, "We decided we wouldn't talk about it." 

  

His eyes grew bigger as he said, "Wait, what?" 

  

She sighed before saying, "I thought you at least would remember that part." 

  

"Did we have sex, yes or no?" 

  

Her head was bowed, as if disappointed in herself. When she looked up, she looked like a different person. The glow was gone, replaced by the look of a heartbroken person. "Yes, Tobi we did." At that moment, it felt like he was a big balloon, that just got punctured; deflated. She reached out and grabbed his hand on the table before saying, "It's not your fault. I was very vulnerable, and you were drunk." 

  

Slowly, he withdrew his hand, with his head bowed he said, "This is messed up." 

  

She looked at him for a long time before saying, "I still can't believe you don't remember that part. You seemed very conscious of what you were doing." 

  

"I told you before Francisca, I blank out when I have too much to drink." He said, and sat back in his seat. After a few seconds of silence, he sat back up and said, "Please, can we leave now. I need to get back to something at home." 

  

She still had her eyes on him, staring at him as if not believing he didn't remember anything. "Okay." She finally said and got up. "I'll catch up with you, I need to get little Tinothy's ice cream." 

  

"Okay." He said and got off the chair, cracked his neck and started walking towards the entrance of the spot. His mind was in chaos. He couldn't believe what he just heard. Much more, he couldn't believe she didn't see it as a big deal. How the hell was he going to tell Edem about this, he thought to himself. Even though his friend was a flirt, this was betrayal. He knew his self control and discipline was what always kept him from letting his longing for her flourish, but he felt she should have refused him, being the sober one in the situation. She could have left the house, or slapped some sense into him, but she let him. Why? He thought To himself. 

  

He was by his car now, and decided to sit on the hood, instead of going inside. He looked up at the skies, and for some weird reason, he remembered the old school superman movie, where superman had flown to outer space to turn the earth back around, just to reverse time. He wished he could do that right now.  

  

A few minutes went by before Francisca appeared, but to him it felt like seconds. After standing in front of him for some seconds, she sat next to him on the hood of the car and said, "Is there anything I can do or say to make you feel better?" He didn't say anything back, and she went on to add, "Anything at all?" 

  

After a few seconds of silence, Tobi said, "You can tell me this is all a dream, and it never happened."  

  

"Well, it did happen...but in your dreams." She said and started laughing. 

  

"What the..." He turned to look at her laughing before saying, "Are you for real right now?" 

  

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to be evil for a little while. Nothing happened." 

  

Tobi took two deep breaths before saying, "Nothing happened?" 

  

"Yeah, nothing happened Tobi. You threw up on my shirt when I was listening to you talk on and on about your ex." 

  

"Oh my God. Thank God." 

  

"I cleaned up, and wanted to go home right away, but then I was scared to leave you alone." 

  

"Thank God." He repeated again with eyes closed. 

  

"We once had a patient brought in dead, from choking on his vomit, I kept thinking of that and decided to stay close to you." 

Tobi had his head bowed, as if saying a prayer. It made her chuckle. "I'm sorry I put you through this. I was spontaneous with it." 

  

"Oh my God, this is the best news I have heard all year." 

  

She laughed some more before saying, "Now can you please lets go, before little Timothy's ice cream melts." 

  

"Okay. Okay." He said and laughed a little as he got off the car. "I feel like buying little Timothy and big Timothy both a big bucket of ice cream right now." He said and they both laughed.

Next chapter coming soon.

Chapter 7 

  

The ride to the mall was a quiet one. She was on her phone most of the time, chatting with her fellow doctors in the group they had formed on WhatsApp. Besides that, it was a five-minute drive to the spot, so he didn't think it was a great idea to bring up the topic that had been on his mind all week. Now, they were at the mall, and she was rushing through the cold aisles of her favorite store, pushing a metallic trolley, and throwing things in it without much examination. It felt like she was getting equipment she needed to save a patient in the ER.  

  

Once in a while, she would look back to make sure he was still behind her, smile and apologize. For someone that just broke up with her boyfriend, she appeared really happy, he thought to himself. She looked the happiest he had seen her in a long while. Maybe she should be happy; leaving his friend probably feels like lifting a heavy weight off her chest. They were at the liquor section now, and she said something he didn't hear. He hadn't been following half of her conversations, he just nodded most of the time. But this time, she had stopped, and it looked like she wanted an answer from him. When he focused, he realized she was asking if he wanted a bottle of Jack Daniel. When she picked it up and waved it at his face, he frowned, and she laughed lightly before putting it back on the shelf.  

  

They kept walking and he felt really weird. He was walking around the mall with his best friend's Ex girlfriend, not even up to a week after their breakup. It wasn't like anything was going on with them, but it just felt odd deep down in his soul. Not even the fact that he had known her long before he came along could shake that feeling off him. He was happy when he saw her finally heading towards the counter.  

  

She was back on her phone again, pushing the trolley absentmindedly every time someone left the queue. From the corner of his eye, he saw a tall dark skin girl looking there way from the store's exit. She looked away when he looked her way. When she looked back just before she stepped out of the store, he could tell from the look in her eyes that she was contemplating walking over to where he stood, and then decided not to. The black gown she had on was tight, stopped above her knees, and was low plugging in the front; she didn't look like someone he would know. 

  

He was still lost in thought, wondering who the girl was when his phone beeped. He almost had a heart attack when he pulled it out his jeans pocket and saw it was a missed call from Edem. He was still staring at his phone screen when a message came in. Edem wanted to know where he was. He looked around the mall for a second before typing, 'I'm at my mom's.' He felt bad about lying with his mom, but he knew that was the only thing he could say that would stop his friend from asking any further questions. And just like he thought, Edem hit back with, 'Okay. I'll come by tomorrow.' 

  

They were in front of the cashier now, and he put his phone away as he helped Francisca offload everything in her trolley. After paying, they piled the things back in the large metal basket on wheels and headed out of the mall. He wondered if she always shopped this heavy or took advantage of the fact that he had driven her down to the mall.  

  

As they pushed the trolley down the hallway that led to the parking lot, he saw a guy staring at Francisca. She was still on her phone and didn't notice the guy's prying eyes. The way he looked at her made Tobi also look, and for the first time that night, he noticed how sexy she was dressed. Her curves were on full display in the sky-blue body-hugging gown she had on. He felt guilty even looking and quickly looked away, but not fast enough. "Wait, were you staring at my ass?" She said in a low voice as she turned around to look at him. She stopped walking and waited for him to catch up with her. Her jaw dropped, like she was shocked, but he could tell from the look in her eyes that she wasn't particularly angry. 

  

"What? No." He said, defensive. He was shocked she would say that out loud so calmly. 

  

"Oh my. You're being naughty Mr. Johnson." 

  

"I wasn't looking at..." He started to say but couldn't say the last word, and it made her laugh.  

  

They continued to walk in silence, till they got out to the parking lot. The weather was chilly, and it felt like it was going to rain soon. When they got to the car, he popped the trunk, and they started loading all she had bought into the car. Halfway through dropping all her stuff in the trunk, she stopped and said, "Shoot! I forgot to get little Timothy's ice cream." 

  

"Oh." 

  

"Please, we have to go back inside." She said in a worried tone as she looked up at him. 

  

"It's okay." He said and helped her get the rest of the things in the trunk quickly. "Why do you call him little Timothy?" 

  

"My dad's name is Timothy." 

  

"Oh." 

  

"You guys were like besties at one time, how don't you not know that?" 

  

"I know his other first name.... his tribal first name." 

  

"Oh, yeah. People were always pronouncing it wrong, so he decided to drop it." 

  

"Oh, okay." He said, looking at her standing in one spot, typing. "So.." 

  

"I'm so sorry." She said with a little laugh as she put her phone in the small bag hanging from her shoulder, "I really am not like this, but there is an interesting topic going on in the group." 

  

"Okay." 

  

"So, you like ice cream?" She asked with a twinkle in her eyes. 

  

"Well, yeah." 

  

"Cool. I'm going to buy you some for your time." She said, and grabbed his hand as she led him back into the mall.

Chapter 6 

  

Francisca was on an 18 hour shift the next day, and the day after she usually spent sleeping. Tobi had to wait till the third day to get in touch with her, because she was also not picking his calls. On the third day, he decided to walk over to her house. He couldn't take the suspense any longer; the last couple of days was hell for him. He had never seen his friend as vulnerable as he was, and it was difficult listening to him talk about her, knowing he might have slept with her a few days ago. He needed answers, fast. 

  

Francisca's house had a shop in front of it, where her stepmom sold household items. It served as an entrance for people that didn't want to go through the main gate. As he approached the shop, he heard Timothy, Francisca's hyperactive 5-year-old stepbrother talking nonstop. He was asking his mom why God created snakes when he knew they would bite humans. His mom was ignoring him, and he kept repeating his question. When Tobi came into view, he jumped off the small plastic chair he was sitting on and ran towards him. Tobi grabbed him as he leaped in the air, wondering if he had mistaken him for someone else, as he didn't believe he came to their house enough times for him to feel comfortable running over to greet him. The shop had racks filled with groceries, and a small glass shelf in the middle with doughnuts and sausages on display.  

  

"Good afternoon ma." Tobi said, greeting Francisca's stepmom, while trying to put a now clingy little boy down as Timothy held on to the left side of the sky-blue short sleeves' shirt Tobi had on.  

  

"Good afternoon. How is work?" She said with a smile. Mrs. Osazuwa was a slender, light skinned, pretty, middle aged woman that could pass for Francisca's sister.  

  

"Fine," 

  

"Daddy or Francisca?" She asked. 

  

"Umm...Francisca." 

  

"Mommy, don't you know he is Aunt Francisca's husband?" he said confidently as Tobi finally got him to stand on his own two feet. Tobi and the lady burst out laughing. "It's true. It's true." The little boy repeated, looking angry that he was being doubted. 

  

"Alright Timothy, we believe you." His mom said and pulled him in. She looked up at Tobi and said, "She's doing her laundry at the back." 

  

"Okay." 

  

"Come, I will show you. She is washing." The little boy said as he held on to Tobi's hand and pulled him along. He managed to not knock off some well-arranged biscuit boxes as the little boy pulled him to the back door of the shop, into the compound. A big dog barked as they stepped onto the compound and he jumped, it made the boy laugh. "That's my daddy's dog, Jax." He said, excited that their dog had scared someone. He jumped up and down a few times, before proceeding to pull Tobi along again.  

  

Francisca's dad was the chairman of the landlord association committee on their street, and Tobi regularly visited the house a lot in the past when he was the treasurer of the association, but he hadn't been to the place in a while. The walls had recently been painted, the yellow was bright like the sun; and new flower pots lined the pathway to the backyard. The little boy pulled on an aloe vera plant as he walked along, and it snapped back when he let it go.  

  

As they approached the back of the house, he could hear the rumbling sound of the washing machine, and sweet-sounding humming from a female voice. They say you know what someone really thinks of you when you sneak up on them. When Tobi took that bend to be in view of Francisca, it was first shock on her face, which was quickly replaced by a big smile. "Sorry, you weren't picking up, so I had to come over." He said to her. She had on jeans shots and a grey tank top.  

  

"Sister Francisca, I brought your husband for you, will you buy me ice cream now?" Timothy said, standing in their middle, looking from one person to the other.  

  

"Timothy, go and meet your mommy." She said, as she gently pushed him towards the direction they had come from.  

  

"Will you buy me ice cream?" 

  

"Okay, I will buy you ice cream." She said and the boy ran along. "How are you?" She said, looking at Tobi, laughing at what her stepbrother had said. 

  

"I'm fine." He said. She pulled up a white plastic chair for him to sit on, but he chose to lean on the wall next to the washing machine.  "The hangover was bad...but not as bad as the suspense." 

  

She looked at him with eyes squinted, trying to understand the last thing he said, and then when she did, she smiled. "Sorry. I had to run off, and I've been busy since." 

  

"So. what happened?" 

  

"What happened? I don't understand." She had a lost look on her face. 

  

"Umm...I can't remember much about that night." 

  

"Wait a minute, what was the last thing you remembered?" She asked with hands at akimbo.  

  

"Umm...we were in my living room, drinking, and listening to music." 

  

Her eyes grew bigger before saying, "Are you for real? That's the last thing you remember?" 

  

"Yes." 

  

"Are you serious?" 

  

"Yes. I've told you before, I blank out when I drink too much hard liquor." 

  

"Wow! I didn't know it was that serious." She said and walked over to open the washing machine. It was the type where you had to rinse manually after washing, and she pulled a big red bucket towards herself as she planned to drop the clothes in it. "So, you don't remember everything we talked about?" She asked as she dumped the wet clothes one after the other in the bucket. 

  

"Umm...maybe before I blanked out." He said and laughed.  

  

"But can you remember telling me about Funmi?" 

  

"What? How do you know about Funmi?" 

  

"Wow! So, you can't remember that?" 

  

"Damn! I have to stop drinking; I can't believe I told you about Funmi." he said, and she started laughing. She stopped for a second, and then started laughing again. "Wait, what else did I tell you?" 

  

She just kept smiling as she continued to rinse her clothes. He could see she was deep in thought, and he let her be. He wanted her to take her time to revisit everything that happened that night before asking her about the main question he had. From her body language, he didn't think anything serious happened, but still, that image of her getting out of his bed in underwear couldn't leave his head.  

  

She didn't spend as much time as he would expect pushing up her glasses, and it surprised him, because whenever he did physical activities like this, he always had to constantly push them up his nose to prevent them from falling off. She was quick on her feet. He watched her in standing positions, squatting position, and bent over position as she rinsed her clothes, and dried them, and she didn't seem exhausted in any position. He guessed being a doctor in the ER most of the time gave her the agility.  

  

"Can you please drive me to the mall?" She said to him after a prolonged silence.  

  

"Umm...okay." 

  

"Thank you. I need to do a little shopping." 

  

"Oh, okay." 

  

"And I have to get little Timothy his ice cream." She said with a smile. 

  

"Oh, yeah, we can't forget little Timothy's ice cream." He said and they both laughed.  

  

She continued with her laundry, and Tobi looked for a way to get her to talk about last night. The elephant in the room had to be addressed, but he had to find the right time to ask the question. 

  

When she was done spreading her clothes, she looked at him and said, "Do you want to come in?" 

  

"Is your dad home?" 

  

"Yes." 

  

"Okay, I'd rather stay out here." 

  

She laughed a little before saying, "I thought you guys were besties." 

  

"Well, maybe when I was his treasurer. But it seems he always appears pissed whenever he sees me these days." 

  

She laughed some more before saying, "My dad loves you. You have no idea." She parked her hair properly in a ponytail before saying, "Okay, give me like 10 minutes to change, I'll be out soon." 

  

"Okay." He said and she laughed some more before running off inside through the back door. He sat on the chair she had offered him earlier. He couldn't wait till they were at the mall; at least he would have time to ask her for more information on what happened that night.  

  

He had been sitting alone, lost in thought for a minute when he heard a baritone voice say, "Tobi. Tobi. It's been a while." 

  

"Good evening, sir." He said, as he got off his seat to greet Francisca's dad. He was a heavy set, average height man in his 60s; a few greys here and there, but his hair was still mostly black and full. He was dressed in a loose black polo top, khaki shorts, and sandals.  

  

"My runaway assistant." he said, and Tobi laughed lightly. His eyeglasses were resting on his chest, held on by a strap, and they moved here and there as he approached Tobi. "So, if not for my daughter, I won't see you in my house again?" 

  

"It's not like that sir." 

  

"How is work?"  He asked with a smile on his face as he shook Tobi's hand. 

  

"Fine sir." 

  

"The work that took you away from me." Tobi just laughed. "It's good to see you though." He said and patted Tobi on the back. 

  

"It's good to see you too sir." 

  

"I'm sorry I have to end the bromance." Francisca said as she walked out the building. "But I have a lot of things to buy." 

  

"Just make sure you're back before 12." Her dad joked. 

  

"It's not a date dad." Francisca said with a little laugh. 

  

"A lot of things don't seem like what they are at first." The man said with a wink. 

  

"Dad..." She said, pecked him on the cheek, and grabbed Tobi's hand as she dragged him along, "I'll be back within an hour."

Chapter 5 

  

After taking a cold shower, and having a light breakfast, he was able to get in the right mindset for work online. Every now and then, he would take a break to check his phone if he had gotten a message from Francisca. He was dying to know what happened last night.  

  

When he was done with his work for the day, he checked his phone and saw Edem had sent him a message about an hour ago talking about coming over in an hour, and that they really needed to talk. Why couldn't he wait till 7, did she tell him something, he thought to himself.  

  

He immediately called Francisca. The phone kept ringing but she didn't pick up. After trying three times without a response, he put his phone down and headed to his living room. He pulled out the bottle of Vodka from his fridge and took a quick gulp from it. Considering the fact that it had gotten him in the mess he was currently in, that was the wrong thing to do. But right now, he needed all the confidence he could get to face Edem. He was about putting the bottle to his mouth once more when he heard a knock at the door. " Who is it?"  He shouted out and looked down at what he was wearing. Jeans and a tight-fitting white tee shirt were okay to attend to any visitor, he thought to himself.  

  

"It's me." Edem said out loud.  

  

"I'm coming." Tobi said and put the bottle back in the fridge. On his way to the door, he thought of what he was walking into. "What's up." He said when he opened the door. His friend just walked past him into the living room without saying a word. At least he didn't look like he knew his girl slept at his place yesterday. "Why didn't you call?" 

  

"Bro, I've called you like 10 times in the last couple of hours," he said and grabbed the bottle of vodka from the fridge. He stopped for a second to examine the bottle before heading to the kitchen. He was dressed cooperate; white long sleeve shirt, tucked into grey coloured wool trousers, and black loafers. "You really have been drinking lately." He said in a low voice as he walked back out of the kitchen. He had the bottle twisted to one side in his hand, looking at it as he walked, with a glass cup in his other hand. He looked up at his friend with squinted eyes, but Tobi smiled and sat on the couch.  

  

"So..has anything happened since the last time we spoke?" Tobi asked as Edem sat opposite him. "You sounded like you had something really urgent you wanted to talk about." 

  

Edem took his time to take down the shot he had poured in the cup, poured himself another shot, and then sighed before saying, "I think she has found another guy." 

  

"Uh!" Edem swallowed spit before adding, "how do you know that?" 

  

"She didn't sleep at home last night." 

  

Tobi's heart started beating fast now as he wondered how much Edem knew about last night. But he quickly concluded in his mind that if Edem knew where his girl was last night, he would have been very direct with him, because he had always been a straight shooter, not one to beat around the bush. It was killing him that he had to keep the truth from his friend, at least till he got to talk to Francisca. "How do you know she didn't sleep at home last night?" Tobi asked. 

  

"I spoke to..." he was saying with a lost look on his face and stopped to take down the content in his glass, and then looked straight at Tobi as his eyes grew bigger. "She was here yesterday; did she tell you where she was going after she left your place?" 

  

"Nope." Tobi responded sharply. 

  

Edem looked lost again, and the room got quiet for a few seconds before he said in a low voice, "She dropped the phone off at my estate security post, with a note." 

  

"Oh!" 

  

"Yeah...she said she is done." 

  

"Hmm..." 

  

His eyes focused on Tobi again before saying, "What did you guys talk about?" 

  

"Well...she just talked about being tired of overlooking a lot of the things you do." 

  

"The things I do?" 

  

"Come on bro, you know what I mean." 

  

He looked straight ahead for a few seconds before saying, "but you know I love her. Regardless of all that, I still loved her." He looked at the bottle again, and then looked at Tobi. "Wait, why were you drinking?" 

  

"What?" The question caught Tobi off guard, and he didn't know how to respond. "I... I just finished a big workload and decided to take a few shots." 

  

"It's really weird though." He said and looked at him with eyes squinted. "How is your mom?" 

  

"She's fine." He answered, and his mind traveled. His mom had been hospitalized a few times over the last couple of years for complications caused by diabetes. She had managed it well most of her adult life, but it had gotten harder to control as she grew older. It had drained Tobi, financially, emotionally, and physically, as he had to be by her side most of the time, while still keeping his job. But they had gotten everything under control now, and as long as she watched her diet, and took her insulin shots when due, she was fine.  

  

Edem was looking at the ceiling now, with his arm on the arm rest, and his head bent backward, resting on the couch. He never thought she would actually leave him. He had been a playboy all his adult life, and Francisca was one of the girls he actually stayed with for a relatively long period of time, and now he was back single, but it looked like he didn't want to live that life any longer. "Did you at least try to talk her into forgiving me?" He asked. Before Tobi could answer, he said, "Never mind, she already had her mind made up. She found someone else." 

  

Tobi wished he could tell his friend there was no one, that she was just tired of all his shenanigans. When a woman is fed up, there is really nothing you can do about it.  

  

There were no words he could use to cheer his friend up, so he sat there in silence with him, lost in his own thoughts. He couldn't get his mind off last night and what could have happened. His worst nightmare would be if he and Francisca got intimate yesterday. He couldn't remember anything, but he remembered her getting out of his bed half naked this morning. He understood if she decided to stay because she didn't want to leave him in his drunken state, but what could have made her get undressed and lay in bed with him. He couldn't make sense out of the whole thing, and he knew he had to get answers fast, before one of Edem's informants on his street told him Francisca actually slept at his house last night.

Chapter 4 

  

He woke up with a throbbing headache. The scent of a woman's perfume filled the air, and he wondered what was going on. With eyes still shut, he thought of the last thing he remembered. Just then, he felt movement on the bed, as if someone was getting off it. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw Francisca in underwear, tiptoeing out his room. He quickly closed his eyes, when she turned around to look his way. "Tobi. Tobi." She called out a few times in a low voice, but he didn't answer. He wanted this to be a dream, and he felt answering would make it a reality.  

  

She walked back towards the bed and stopped a few inches from where he lay. After a couple of seconds of stillness, she dug into her white nylon bag, which was on the bed side stool, pulled out a pen and a little piece of paper. It was a receipt, with a blank back. She sat by the edge of the bed and started scribbling something on the paper. After a few minutes she took a few seconds to read what she had written, and then placed it beside him on the bed. She leaned in a little too close, like she wanted to be sure he was still breathing. He could smell Colgate toothpaste on her breath, and a little tint of alcohol.  

  

He did his best impression of a person deep in sleep, and she walked off after a few seconds. The bathroom door in his room opened and shut. He knew she was in there, out of sight for now, but didn't want to risk her seeing he was awake, so he kept his eyes shut. His other senses did the investigation; he could hear birds chipping outside and couldn't feel the rays of sun in the room, so he concluded it was early in the morning, like 7 am. He could tell he was bare-chested under the sheets, but the fact that he still felt his jeans on gave him some hope that maybe nothing really happened last night.  

  

When the bathroom door opened again, he heard her footsteps getting closer, and could smell the scent of her perfume getting closer and closer. For a few seconds, he could tell she was standing in front of him, on his side of the bed this time. After a while, he felt her move away, and walk off. He heard when she picked up the white nylon bag and walk towards the room door. A few seconds after hearing the door open, he opened his eyes just to see her walk out of his room, fully clothed now. 

  

He slowly sat up in bed when he heard the front door close shut. His head was still throbbing as he put a pillow behind his back for support. He looked under the sheets to confirm with his eyes that he still had his jeans on. Maybe nothing happened, he thought to himself. But why was she in underwear, lying next to you on the bed, another voice in his head said. "Shit!" He cursed under his breath. Just then his phone started to ring, and it startled him. He almost fell off the bed as he reached for it on the bed side stool. His eyes still blurry as he looked at the screen of the phone. "Shit." He cursed again, out loud this time when he realized it was Edem calling.  

  

"Hey what's up?" He said after picking up.  

  

"What happened to you? I've been calling you since last night." Edem said on the other end. 

  

"Oh. Sorry. I..." 

  

"Did you see her yesterday?" 

  

"Umm...yeah." 

  

"Cool. So.. how did it go?" 

  

"Umm...can you give me 5 minutes; I need to do something really quick."  

  

"Wait...just tell me what she said." 

  

"I'll call you back." Tobi said and quickly cut the call. He went through his phone and saw a couple of missed calls, and text messages. Mostly from Edem. A few were from an unknown number, and he guessed it must have been from Edem's other line he didn't have. His head still throbbed as he got off the bed and rubbed his neck. The sweet smell of his Irish spring soap hit him as he headed towards the bathroom. It told him she took her bath not quite long before leaving. He turned around to throw his phone on his bed before stepping into his bathroom. Towels well arranged on the towel bar, and foot mat not haphazardly placed. He turned to the wall mirror and saw something was written on it with a finger, "Call me when you wake up." Then he remembered she had left a note by his bedside stool. He opened the tap, splashed water on his face a few times, and grabbed a towel to clean his face as he stepped out of the bathroom. 

  

By the bedside stool now, he picked up the little piece of paper and squinted as he read her illegible doctor's handwriting. Same thing that was written on the mirror was written on paper in the first paragraph; the second paragraph had her talking about having to rush off somewhere and apologizing for leaving him alone. He turned the paper around, as if there could be some other clue on the other side, but saw it contained a breakdown of what she had bought at the store yesterday. He turned the piece of paper around again, to read the note one more time before dropping it on the stool.  

  

His living room was exactly as he had remembered it when they were talking yesterday. Leaning on the wall for support, he closed his eyes and tried to rewind time in his mind. The last thing he remembered was them listening to music in silence. He walked into the kitchen and saw an empty carton of Pizza on the counter. He had a quick flashback of eating Pizza, but he didn't have an extensive memory of that. He just remembered eating it with her.  

  

He opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. His phone started to ring in the room as he took quick gulps of water. Not in a rush at all to get to his phone, he took time to quench his taste, and then proceeded to head towards the bedroom. The water made him feel a little better.  

  

The phone had stopped ringing by the time he got to it, and he picked it up with his free hand. Just then, it started ringing again. Caller ID showed it was Francisca. For some reason, his heart started beating fast. "Hello." He said after picking up. 

  

"Hey, how are you...Glad you're up. I..." She was saying then stopped. There was a lot of chatter in the background. "Hey Tobi, I'll call you later. I just need to know you're good." 

  

"Okay." He said and the line got disconnected. He was still staring at his phone screen when it started ringing again. It was Edem this time. He picked up and said, "What's up..." 

  

"What's up? You said you would call me back." 

  

"Oh! Sorry. Umm...so let's see later in the evening and talk." 

  

"Can't you tell me what she said now on the phone?" 

  

"I don't think there is a simple yes or no answer. We need to see." 

  

"Umm...Okay. I'll come by your place around 7." 

  

"Cool." He said and the line went dead. He looked into space for a few seconds, thinking of what he had gotten himself into. "Bleep!" He said out loud before doing a free fall on his bed.

Chapter 3 

  

Tobi had always been attracted to light skin girls, and Francisca was a typical example of the type of girl that would catch his attention. She was light skin pretty without makeup, had smooth skin, and to top it off, she had a very cool disposition. The cornrow hairdo made her whole face very visible; he particularly liked how her glasses sat on her attractive pointed nose. As he sat there watching her talk, he realized he had not spent this long of a time with her alone, in a private place before, and he was just realizing how weak he was to her charm. He would look away every now and then to stay in control, and not let his thoughts wander off.  

  

The more refills she had, the more open she got. They say there are two sides to every story, but from the passion in her voice while narrating her side of the story, it was obvious to him she wasn't lying. His friend had put her through a lot in the twelve months they had been dating. She had become numb to his cheating ways, but the last one hit her badly because he had gone and messed with her friend. Tobi kind of felt really bad, because he was more or less responsible for them dating. She was someone he had built a genuine platonic friendship with over the years, and she believed she trusted his judgment when he decided to matchmake her and Edem. But deep down, knowing the type of person his friend was, he never wanted to introduce them; he just carved into his friend's persistence of always asking him to hook them up. He never really believed they would kick it off the way they did, but he guessed his friend was very good with women.  

  

Now she was sitting opposite him, in his living room, zoned out, gently shaking her cup as the ice cubes in it made clunking sounds as they hit the sides of the glass cup. She had her head bowed, and he looked at her from where he sat, wishing he could do something to make her pain go away. He didn't even know if he wanted to help Edem out any longer. She deserved better. Then again, he thought to himself, she is an adult. She has stuck with him for a year, through his philandering ways. Maybe it wasn't his choice to decide what she wanted or deserved.  

  

Her head slowly started to come up, and he had enough time to look away. She smiled and let out a little laugh. He smiled back at her; it was obvious she had caught him staring. He was dumbfounded. He had no words. "What of your girl? I hope you don't treat her the way Edem treats me." 

  

"Umm...I'm single right now. But..." 

  

"You wouldn't treat a woman that way, I know." She said, cutting him off. 

  

"Not like I'm a saint, but I really won't." 

  

"I know that, Tobi. You're so different from your friend, I always wondered why you guys are friends." She said and removed her glasses to rub her eyes. She placed the glasses on the side stool and looked his way. She looked like an entirely different person; she had a different kind of beauty with her glasses off. People say liquor makes people appear more attractive, and he was thinking it was what was happening right now. He had had a few more glasses of liquor than usual, and he felt that was the only thing that could explain why he was thinking of his friend's ex-girlfriend the way he was right now.  

  

The living room remained quiet as the two of them were lost in their own thoughts. Tobi wondered what she had on her mind; the way she looked at him every now and then, it felt like she was thinking of him in the same light he was, but he couldn't be sure it wasn't the liquor messing with his mind. This is dangerous territory, he thought to himself. She took the last gulp from her cup, twirled the ice around for a few seconds, and then looked up at Tobi, "Hope you don't think I'm some sort of alcoholic." 

  

"Nope." 

  

"It's just...it's just that I needed to remove any inhibitions when I talked to you about the whole thing." The bowl of ice was by her side; more water than ice now. She poured the ice water in her cup till it was hallway full, then topped it up with some wine. Tobi was a light drinker, but wanted her to feel as comfortable as possible, so every time she filled her glass up with wine, he did the same, but with Jack Daniel whiskey.  

  

"It's chilly." She said and hugged herself.  

  

"You want me to lower the..." 

  

"No. No. In a funny way, I kind of like it." She said and put her glasses back on. For the first time since she had been around, she actually took time to look around his living room. "Something is different." She said with her eyes focusing on his big sound system by the other end of the room.  

  

"Yeah, no more TV." 

  

"Oh!" 

  

"Yeah, TVs can be a big distraction...at least for me." 

  

"True. True." 

  

"Now, I have this gigantic sound system instead." 

  

"Nice." 

  

He got off his seat and walked over to grab a remote from the standby the wall. He fumbled with it for a couple of seconds, till the lights of the sound system came on, and then Ed Sheeran's "Thinking out Loud" started booming out his system. "Maybe this isn't the right song to play right now." He said till she said, "Don't change it. I love this song." He looked her way and saw her eyes closed, while she vibed to the song, moving her head slowly from side to side. She was in a zone. He just took a seat and sipped his drink, trying not to look at her too much.  

  

She said something he didn't hear, and he turned down the volume of the music a little to say, "What?" 

  

"Can you please put the song on repeat?" 

  

"Oh, okay." He pressed the repeat button on the controller and sat back in his seat. Looking at the bottle of Jack Daniel made him realize how much he had actually drunk in the last one hour. I have to slow down; he made a mental note to himself.  

  

For the next couple of minutes, his eyes wandered from the cup in his hand, to Francisca zoning out to the song. When he became really restless, he decided to actually listen to the lyrics of the song. After a few minutes, he understood why she was connecting with the song so much at the moment. He looked at her and wished she got what she really wanted. He wished.

Chapter 2 

  

He adjusted his glasses every now and then as he went through some documents on his laptop screen. The 2020 Pandemic had a lot of people working from home. Tobi was one of them. After the pandemic, the finance company he worked for realized their staff didn't really need to come in 5 days a week, which led to Tobi working from home 3 days of the week, and only going to the office on Mondays, and Fridays. Whenever he had to do a zoom meeting, he would be dressed up and in his living room. But for regular work that he was currently doing, he usually was in his room, wearing just underwear.  

  

The temperature in the room was the same as that of his office on a regular day; 18 degrees Celsius, thanks to the air conditioner. It usually took a lot of self-discipline not to jump in bed while working, as the bed was right there, parallel to his reading table.  

  

He leaned back in the chair when he was finally done with work and cracked his neck here and there. Four hours straight of work had gotten his joints a bit stiff. He leaned forward after a few seconds, to carefully read through the report he was about to send into his boss. After about five minutes of going through the document, he hit send on his computer screen and sighed. His work was done for the day. He relaxed in his seat and thought of what to do next. His car key was on the table, next to the empty white ceramic mug that once contained a cold drink of cocoa. The mug still had condensation on it. Next to the cup was a white rectangular box. His eyes settled on the box, and his mind wandered off.  

  

"Why did I agree to get myself in the middle of this?" He said out loud and sighed.  

  

Tobi had a habit of never procrastinating, and getting things done right away. Just do it was his favorite slogan. Over the years, he realized a lot more gets done with that mentality. He picked up his phone from beside his laptop, went to his contacts, and started scrolling. When he got to names starting with the letter F, he stopped and dialed a number in the batch.  

  

"Hey! Hello." A female voice said from the other end of the line.  

  

"Hey Francisca..." 

  

"You know what's funny?" She said, cutting him off. 

  

"What?" 

  

"I was just about to call you?" 

  

"Oh, really?" 

  

"Yeah, I'm literally by your gate right now." 

  

"Oh!" He said and almost fell off his chair as he had it titled at an angle. He was confused. Why was she outside his house? 

  

"Edem told me he left something for me with you but didn't tell me what it was." 

  

"Oh, yeah." Tobi answered and cleared his throat before adding, "Umm...give me a minute, I'll be right out."  

  

"Okay." 

  

After the line got disconnected, he hurriedly got off the chair, and went in search of what to wear. As he rummaged through the clothes in his wardrobe, his mind raced, thinking of what was really going on. Maybe they had made up, he thought to himself.  

  

After getting into jeans, and a white tee shirt he hurriedly made his way out his room. He was by his apartment's entrance door when he realized he didn't have the phone with him. He froze for a second, trying to decide whether to go back into his room to get it, or go and at least let her in first; he chose the latter.  

  

As he stepped out of the house, he saw her legs beneath his black house gate. The grey clogs she had on made funny noises as she paced back and forth. He guessed she was somewhat nervous.  

  

"Hey, what's up." He said to her when he swung the small part of the gate open. Francisca was about 5ft4, light skin, curvy, with a pretty face behind the glasses. She had on a black bodycon gown. His eyes went to the white nylon bag she had in her hand. 

  

"Hey." She said with a smile as she looked down at what was in her hand. She looked back up and pushed up her glasses before saying, "I went to the store to get some things." 

  

"Okay. Umm...can you come in, I forgot to come out with the...the surprise." He said with a smile as he stepped aside for her to walk into the compound. 

  

"Okay."  

  

There was awkward silence as he led the way towards his apartment. Tobi had a rule of never getting too close to any of his friends' girlfriends or wives. There was a time they had been close when he had just moved into the neighborhood, and he worked closely with her dad. He even felt something for her at a point, but he had never taken action on the feelings he had for her. And when Edem started dating her, he drew even further away from her.    

  

"Umm...please take a seat, let me go get the...the thing..." He said, pointing to one of the couches in his dimly lit living room. He had very little furniture; two small couches opposite each other, and a wooden centre table. The sound of the old wall unit air conditioner filled the air as he walked off. He heard her mutter something under her breath that sounded like 'okay' but wasn't sure. The drop in her voice made him wonder if she had really come to get the gift or talk about Edem. Even though he had agreed to help his friend out, and she was now in his house, he didn't know if he was up for this.  

  

He grabbed the box that contained the phone from his reading table and headed out of the room, shutting the door behind him as he walked down the short corridor that led to his living room. "So, this is the surprise gift." He said as he walked into the centre of the living room, facing her, with the box outstretched. "It's a phone." 

  

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that was what it was." She collected it and gently opened the box. The room went quiet, and Tobi thought how best to address her issue with Edem. Maybe it's best to ease into it, he thought. He sat on the couch opposite her, close to his kitchen door. 

  

"So.. how is work?"  

  

"Cool. Cool." She said, not looking up at him as she put the phone back in the box.  

  

"Umm...do you want anything to drink?" He asked when she put the phone in the white nylon bag, and still remained seated. It was clear she wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere.  

  

"No thanks." She said and looked into space for a couple of seconds before adding, "On second thought, do you have ice cubes?" 

  

"Ice cubes?" 

  

"Yeah, ice cubes" She repeated herself with a smile on her face.  

  

"Umm...I think I still do." He stood up, still wondering why she was asking for that, and then she opened the nylon bag in her hand and pulled out a bottle of red wine.  

  

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a doctor." She said with a smile before adding, "but I'm still human." 

  

"Okay. I'm not judging." He said with a smile before walking off to the refrigerator that was just by his kitchen entrance. As he went through his fridge, he was thinking of how odd the whole thing was. His best friend's ex-girlfriend  was in his living room, about to start drinking a bottle of red wine. 

  

"Any luck?" She said from where she was seated.  

  

"Umm...yeah. Just give me a minute." 

  

"Okay." 

  

Tobi closed the fridge and walked into the kitchen with the ice cube container in hand. He set it on his kitchen counter and opened a top cupboard. After a few seconds of remerging through it, he pulled out a sky-blue plastic bowl. As he walked to the other end of the kitchen to wash the bowl at the sink, he wondered what was going through her mind right now. What was she really here for, cos she damn sure wasn't here for the phone alone, he thought to himself.  

  

"Can I come and help?" She shouted out from the living room. 

  

"Nah! I'll soon be with you." He said as he emptied the ice cubes in the bowl. The clinking sound the ice cubes made as they slid into the bowl gave him a quick flashback to when he was a bartender. What a lifetime ago, he thought to himself. "Umm, Francisca do you want a regular glass cup, or a tall one?" He said out loud. 

  

"Regular." 

  

"Okay." 

  

"Hope you would be drinking with me too." 

  

"Umm..." 

  

"Come on, don't kill the vibe." She said and laughed lightly.  

  

"Okay." He said and pulled out two glass cups from the top cupboard in the kitchen. He headed over to the sink to wash them, and then held both with one hand, and grabbed the bowl of ice cubes with his other hand. When he walked into the living room, she had her head low, going through her phone. She looked up when she heard his footsteps approaching, dropped her phone, stood and walked over to collect the bowl of ice cubes from him. She set it on the centre table, took one cup from him, and went down to a crouching position as she scooped up ice into the cup in her hand. He waited for her to finish, and then squatted opposite her to scoop up ice while she uncapped the bottle of wine, and slowly poured herself a glass full.  

  

"Umm...I think I'll drink something else." He said as he stood up looking at her. She looked up at him as she took her seat. "I'm not really a... I don't like the aftertaste of wine." He added. 

  

"What? That's the best part." 

  

"Well, I'm not just a fan of that sour taste."  He said and headed to the refrigerator. "I'll drink this instead." He said as he pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel whiskey. 

  

"Oh, okay. Okay. But..." 

  

"Don't worry, I won't be drinking a lot." He said, cutting her off.  

  

She smiled before saying, "Alright."  

  

They both sat back, with their drinks in their hands, waiting for the ice to melt into the drink before taking a sip. The room was awkwardly silent till Francisca said, "So..let's address the elephant in the room."

Chapter 1 

  

Dark clouds filled the skies, giving in it a grey look. The weather had taken a swift change, from very hot and sunny, to dark and cloudy in a matter of minutes. Tobi was under a tree outside the Anglican church he had driven his dad to. He pushed his glasses up his nose, checked his watch again to see how much time had gone by and sighed. It was meant to be a ten-minute thing, now an hour had gone by, and his dad still wasn't out. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. At 6ft4 in height, and 115 kg in weight, his physique could be compared to that of the boxer, Tyson Fury; not a slob, but not muscular either. Haircut low, clean shaven, smooth dark skin, and good looks were his charm in getting girls when he was a teenager. Now in his late twenties, he was still that way, only that he was more focused on his career. 

  

Something dropped on his shoulder from the mango tree, and it felt warm. He had a frown on his face as he used his handkerchief to dust it off. He had heard that a bird unexpectedly pooping on you was good luck but considering the fact that it had just put a stain on the all-white traditional outfit he had on, he didn't care about that. His phone started to ring just then, and he froze with the ruined white peace of clothe in his hand, wondering what to do to it before reaching for his phone. He finally decided to dump it in the thrash can a few feet away from hm.  

  

"Hey what's up Edem?" He said after picking the call.  

  

"Can you come outside? I'm at the car park of your church." His friend said from the other end. 

  

"Oh, shoot! I didn't know you'd be coming this early." 

  

"Where are you?" 

  

"I'm at All Saints church?" 

  

"What?" 

  

"I'm sorry, my dad had to see his friend briefly. 

  

"Okay. That's not far from here. Should I come over, or wait here?" 

  

"Umm..." 

  

"It's not far from here. I'm on my way." 

  

"Okay." Tobi said and ended the call. He was about to dial a number but changed his mind. Just then, he looked up and saw his dad crossing the road and heading in his direction. Cars were parked on both sides of the road, with people walking briskly as they suspected it would start raining any time soon. 

  

For a man in his early 80s, his dad still had a strong posture. Tobi stepped out of the shadows, and his dad smiled when he saw him. Head filled with greys but looked pretty smart in the expensive looking navy blue agbada he had on. His 6-foot frame appeared real regal in the outfit. 

  

"Sorry, help me put this in the car. I'll be right back." He handed Tobi a black paper bag, turned around, and headed in the direction he had been coming from. "Just five more minutes." He said before crossing the road. Tobi took a quick peek in the bag and saw a bundle of white lace fabric. As he walked towards the car, he thought of how time with his old friends on Sundays was something his dad always looked forward too, and he was a little less angry. Both his parents were in their 80s and all they did nowadays was attend burials of their dead friends, weddings of their friends' children, and watch Nollywood movies all day. Tobi was their last child, and the only one still in the country. He visited them twice a week and made sure to always drive them to church on Sundays. Sometimes he would stay a couple of nights if there was an emergency. Even though his dad was really healthy, his mom wasn't so lucky with good health. 

  

He put the paper bag in the trunk of the white Sonata, and as he slammed it shut, a grey coloured Honda Accord approaching from the opposite direction started flashing its headlights at him. He smiled and motioned with his hands for his friend to park behind his car. "That was fast." He said to Edem as the driver's side window of the Accord came down. 

  

"It's really not that far." 

  

Tobi was heading towards the front passenger side of the car as his friend parked but changed his mind and headed back to his car. He opened it, leaned in to pull out a small rectangular box from his glove compartment, shut the door, and headed to his friend's car. 

  

"What's up bro?" He said to Edem as he opened the car passenger's side door and got in. He placed the box on his lap, and they slapped hands in greeting. While Tobi was a big dude, Edem was a short guy with big energy. He was a handsome and light skin guy, with an afro. "I thought you would come after church." 

  

"I didn't go today. Let me see it." Edem said and Tobi handed him the box. He turned it here and there, and then proceeded to open the box. He was also dressed in a traditional attire; long sleeve, black, with gold cufflinks that were blinding to Tobi's eyes when they reflected the sun's light as Edem turned his wrists here and there. "Can't we do 80k?" 

  

"Bro, this is new...in the shop, it currently goes for 120k. The..." 

  

"Alright! Alright. I'll pay the 100k you asked for." Edem said as he went through the content of the box. " No earpiece." 

  

"Samsung phones no longer come with that." 

  

"Hmm... I hope she accepts it." He said under his breath.  

  

"What?" 

  

"Nothing." He said out loud and looked into space for a few seconds before saying, "Tobi, I need your help with something." 

  

"What?" 

  

"Can you help me talk to Francisca?" 

  

"Talk to Francisca?" 

  

He put the phone back in the box and placed the box on the car's centre console before proceeding to say, "I messed up?" 

  

"How?" 

  

"Umm...she saw me with another girl...at my place." 

  

"Oh!" Tobi said and sank in his seat before saying in a low voice, "that's bad." 

  

After a prolonged silence, Edem said, "Please help me talk to her." 

  

"Bro, why do you think me talking to her will change anything?" 

  

"I don't know...you know you guys are in the glasses wearing club." He said and laughed lightly. "But seriously bro, Francisca really respects you. She will listen to you, trust me." 

  

"Dude, what am I meant to say to her?" 

  

Edem sighed before saying, "I can't lose this girl. I can't." He sighed and sat back in his seat. 

  

The car was quiet as Tobi thought of the situation at hand. He knew how much his friend loved Francisca, but he also knew Edem was a flirt. Did she really deserve being put through all Edem put her through? Definitely not. He thought to himself. Edem was the last of his friends that wasn't married yet, and that was what had brought them even closer together over the last couple of years. But they had different ideologies when it comes to dating. While Edem was the philandering one, Tobi was a one-man one-woman type of person.  

  

"I promised to get her a new phone before this whole thing happened. I intend to keep that promise, but I don't know if she would even see me, talk less of collecting this from me." He held up the phone for a couple of seconds before saying, "you could help me deliver it to her." 

  

"And what makes you think she will collect it from me?" 

  

"Just tell her you are meant to have given it to her since last week." 

  

"How does that change anything?" 

  

"She caught me cheating just two days ago. Just act like you don't know we have issues." 

  

Tobi brought out his phone and looked at it ring in silent mode, "My dad is probably looking for me." He said before gently opening the car door. 

  

"Will you do it?" Edem asked. 

  

Tobi picked up the box from the centre console before saying, "Call me later today."

Nothing Was The Same (Book 1)

by

Kayode Odusanya

How much do you charge per book cover?

Good day my good people of Nairaland. This is the first part of a three part series...each part is going to be about 15,000 words long.

Thanks guys! Kay is cooking...I'll be back very soon.

contactmusa:
Hello Kayode,

Thanks for your response. Sadly I don't know how to extract the contact details from profiles. My WhatsApp number is 08028944837. If you wish to reach me. I m trying to get direction on how best to transition to a full time writer as you have done. Hope to hear from you soonest. Best regards

Okay.

So Okabooks is no more. Hmm... I left the platform like 4 years ago when I noticed my books stopped selling when I was about to hit their 10,000 naira withdrawal threshold. I just used the money in my wallet to buy books of other authors on the platform, removed my books and bounced.

contactmusa:
Hello Kayode,

I have followed your stories on Naira land and have checked out some of your books published on Amazon, everand etc. Great and inspiring they are bro. I do write myself but don't know how to publish my work anywhere. Will like to have a chat with you about this. It appears you have done well in this area and will most definitely be the right person to seek direction from. I will be glad if you decide to help a brother. Let me know if this is okay by you. Regards

Good day. Thanks for the compliment. You can reach me through the number in my profile...That's my Whatsapp number.

dammyd46:
The best so far when it comes to pen and Paper. Well done Mr Kayo80..[b] I just love the way you paint all your stories, [/b]it's a gift I hope to develop some day. Still your biggest fan Boss

Thanks a lot for the bolded. I always love to know people notice what I always try to do when I write. And thanks for being a long time dedicated fan. I appreciate you.

Till I come your way again, you can read some of my old stories (if you're a new fan).

*Me, You, and Them (https://www.nairaland.com/3307549/me-book-1-romance-novellete)

*Underlying Love (
https://www.nairaland.com/4044960/underlying-love-romance-novelette-kayode)

*The Midnight Encounter (https://www.nairaland.com/4470765/midnight-encounter-short-crime-story)

*Magical Attraction (https://www.nairaland.com/4855924/magical-attraction-romance-suspense-novelette)

*Sniper (https://www.nairaland.com/4979449/sniper-short-crime-story-olumide)

*One Night with Anna (https://www.nairaland.com/6776501/night-anna-short-romance-story)

*Jack and the Residents of No. 7 Cole Street (https://www.nairaland.com/4583693/jack-residents-no-7-cole)

crystalmoon:
Well
It didn't end the way I expected
But all the best you did a wonderful job

Okay. Thanks.