Good Riddance... (7)

Happy new year, lovelies. It shall be a glorious year for us all, by God's grace. I'll save apologies and other pleasantries for later. Here's episode 7 for your reading pleasure. Enjoy the read, and please keep the comments coming.
I love you all, especially because you remain ever so patient with me... *coversface*.
Have a great 2016.
xoxo.
... Faith Tunde-Yara

"Hey you..." He sounded excited.

"Hey..." I rolled my eyes in annoyance, and pretended that he had just disturbed my sleep. My response was cold, I knew it and I wanted it to be that way.

"You're mad at me. I know and I'm sorry."
"I wanna make it up to you, okay?" He continued.

"What's up?" I replied disinterestedly.

"Errrm... lunch? 2.00pm?" I could sense the smile that was forming on his lips.
I was quiet for a moment, and he waited till I spoke up.

"Fine. Pick me up at 1.30" I continued in my cold tone. I was not going to stress myself over some random person, I told myself.

I jumped out of bed after he dropped the call and rushed to the bathroom. In approximately 30 minutes, I was ready. I wasn't a time waster when it came to dressing up for an emergency date, especially when it was one I had been dreaming of. I figured I should look as casual as possible in order to suppress any obvious suggestions on the way I have longed for the date.
I checked the time, it was just 12.15pm.
"What would I be doing till the next hour and 45 minutes?" I asked myself.

I was nervous, excited, anxious all at the same time. Then it occurred to me that I could top up my scanty collection of pictures by taking some pictures today, all on my own, without any motivation from Jess. So, I started with the pictures.

The call from Jess disrupted my photo session.

"Yes, babe. I'm home...
You're coming now?" I rolled my eyes.

That instant, I genuinely wished Jess worked in a bank or some extremely busy place. I couldn't let her find out about this date and I couldn't say no to her coming over at this time. Jess had been the only true friend in my life for five consistent years. And when I was at the hospital, she visited every day. Since I got discharged, we had barely hung out and I couldn't blame her. She had things to attend to but social media helped a lot, even though our chats were reducing by the day.

"Okay then. I'll be here". I stumbled back into my bed after she hung up and my mood dampened immediately.
I stared endlessly into the ceiling.

***
The gate opened. I peeped out the window to see who was driving in. It was Demola. I hurried out of bed, touched up my powder, and in splits seconds, I was back to my excited mood. I was so happy he showed up earlier than expected. This way, I could easily call Jess that something urgent came up and that I would check up on her after attending to whatever it was that came up. And that was exactly what I did.

I hurried downstairs, composed myself and waited patiently for him to knock on the door.

"Hey..." he was all smiles as I opened the door for him to enter.

"Hey" I replied softly; this time I had managed to conceal the excitement. I just had a regular weak smile on my face.

"Errmm... hope you don't mind my early arrival? I had a few things to do outside the office and I figured we could do lunch now before I returned to the office finally" he explained.

"No, it's fine" I replied gently.
What I wanted to say was "you just know the right to time to show up, and I love you even more for that". I smiled wide at the thought.

"Madam...
Shall we?" He opened the door that was only slightly shut in the first place and made way for me to pass through.

"Oh... yes" I snapped back into reality and brushed off the stupid smile from my face. I don't know why I do this - get carried away by some random, unrealistic thoughts in the middle of a conversation. I hoped he didn't notice. But I would be wrong to think that.

"What are you smiling so wide at?" He proved my thoughts right. Demola was not the type to miss a thing.

"Nothing" I replied sharply, as I helped myself into the car.

"Nothing?" he asked again.

"yes, nothing." I retorted.
"Is it everything you must notice?" I blurted. He laughed, got into the car and drove on.

It was high time I stopped being shy around Demola, I thought to myself. He was a cool guy that joked around a lot. I should just enjoy every moment and forget about something real coming out of this, I continued conversing with myself.

***
"I'm very sorry, Jess. I'll stop by on my way, I promise" I pleaded.

"You had better keep your promise." She replied.
I knew she was upset but whatever it was she wanted to see me for could wait. This right here, could not. She hung up before I could say a proper 'good bye'.

"What are you doing, Jess?" He asked.

"The right thing. Can't you see?" She retorted.

"What is right about you telling your friend about us?" he went on.

"See ehn, that Tola you're looking at has helped my life a lot, Okay?"
"It doesn't matter how tough I look, or how excited we both feel. I just want to do the right thing and have a clear conscience. I can't ruin my friendship with her, okay?" Jessica continued.

He stood up from the chair, walked closer to where Jess was, held her hands and pulled her up from the seat.

"But you told me you were certain she wasn't into me" he said softly.

"Yes, I'm certain. But it still doesn't change the fact that this is all wrong; everything; from day one. We shouldn't have..."

"Shhhh... don't you love me? Don't you enjoy my company?" He interrupted her, placed her hands in his, and rubbed her palms gently.

"You know I do, Okay? Just stop it. You're not making me think straight." She freed her hands from his and walked to the other side of the room. She was confused. She couldn't hurt her friend any longer, but she couldn't deny that she enjoyed Segun's company.

It all started as a joke but they both had reasons to be in the same space several times and for longer periods due to numerous reasons or coincidences, as she called it. She honestly didn't feel Tola was making any effort to reciprocate his love and affection and she didn't think a gentle man like Segun deserved that sort of treatment. The hospital ordeal brought them even closer and she couldn't stop herself from telling Segun how Tola really felt about him, even though it was none of her business and the wrongest time ever to break such news.
His reaction to the whole revelation was surprising but Jessica embraced the attention, visits and gifts that followed the news she broke to Segun. It was one of the reasons she had not been in touch with Tola as usual.
How was she going to tell Tola that she cared deeply about Segun more than she had ever seen Tola care for and about him? It didn't make sense.

"I think you should leave now. She's not home, so I can't go to her place. And she's promised to stop by before going home. I won't like her to meet you here" Jessica said coldly.
She wished she could totally drive Segun out of her life, but there were some things that could not be helped, she thought.

"Okay." He took his jacket from the chair, walked towards Jessica, gave her a light peck on the cheek and walked out without saying another word.

***
The ride to the restaurant was the quietest ride I had ever taken with anyone, apart from Segun. It all felt awkward at first but as his collection of soft music played on, with the light traffic and the little chats and smiles we exchanged here and there, it felt very peaceful.

"Why am I so emotional?...
No it's not a good look, gain some self-control...
And deep down, I know this never works...
But you can lay with me so it doesn't hurt...

Oh, won't you stay with me, 'cause you're all I need...
This ain't love, it's clear to see...
But darling, stay with me....
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh..."

The perfect song (that had now become my favorite) began to play and I joined Sam Smith in singing out loud. Before long, Demola joined in the singing. We paused intermittently to smile at each other but we never stopped singing.


*** Good Riddance by Faith Tunde-Yara
***Photocredit: www.gettyimages.com