A thought kept buzzing in my mind as I closed for work that Friday evening. The thought of a romantic weekend with my lady. I hastily packed my bag, placing my laptop upside down – I never do that! And humming Don Williams’ Shelter of Your Eyes with a bright smile on my face. She should almost be home now, if not already. Moyin likes to surprise me, or so she thinks, whenever she visits. But the way her face lights up when I feign surprise gives me a kind of happiness that makes me want to keep that smile on her forever. It has been five months since she last visited. So, you can imagine my excitement when she called me in the evening of Wednesday to tell me that she was coming in two days. Of course that meant a romantic dinner, crazy cuddling; we would stare at the night’s sky in each other’s arms giggling like kids, and I would not bother to tell you about the sex, other than it always left us breathless and satisfied.
I walked out of the office feeling good. Certainly, the driver caught a hint of my very nice mood when I hailed his cab – he would make me give him a huge tip, and I just don’t do that. The traffic was light. I looked at my watch and it was 6:10 already: I was going to be late, “step on it!” I yelled. He most likely would have earned a better living cracking jokes, I thought – as I had been carried away by his quirky chattiness. I had to get home as soon as possible though; I had planned to start my weekend early. Any other Friday night, I would call my best friend, John, to let us go see a movie or something. We would go back to my place after, or sometimes his, and play video games all night while sharing gist about the week – all we must have left out in our chats. I would tell him about the stupid guy I met and how I wished I could have punched him in the face, but was scared. For he was huge, really huge. And I wasn’t going home with a broken nose from trying to settle a score, so I let it go and smiled instead. John would tell me about the hot girl that came to his workplace. He would say he was convinced that she is his soul mate and had made up the best conversation ever, with her, in his head but was too shy to walk up to her. We would drink beers some nights and play games some. We rarely go to parties or visit clubs, and the reason is simple, we don’t see a point to it. The last time we went to a club was a friend’s birthday and I woke up with the worst hangover the next morning with no memory of how I got home. That day, I vowed never to get drunk again. But those are just some Friday nights, tonight was going to be different. I mused.
Moyin is visiting. Tonight will be one of my best nights in five months and I can hardly contain my joy. I hastily got down as the cab pulled up in front of my apartment. I let the driver go before putting my phone back together after it dropped – when I jumped out of the car in the euphoria of her warm hugs and wet kisses. I put it in my pocket and rushed into the building. I live on the first floor of the three-storey, so I took the stairs. Hence, I had to take about a minute or so to catch my breath as my heart was racing heavily when I got to the door. I wanted, as best as I could, to have a neutral look on my face when I saw her. I put my key in the lock as I began singing: “…tune out the world, and rest my head, ‘neath the shelter of your eyes”. She kept the door locked whenever she wanted to surprise me. But tonight, the door was not bolted. I paused for just a split second, then continued, thinking she probably forgot to lock it.
I stepped into my apartment and the first thing I saw made me pause again. There she was, seated in the couch, looking like the angel that she was. But there was a brace-yourself-for-what-comes-next look on her face. I smiled at her nonetheless: dropping my bag as she got up to meet me. I gave her a tight hug that said “I’ve missed you so much, babe” which she barely returned. I let go of her, wondering what was wrong. She finally muttered “Segun, we need to talk”.
It has been twenty minutes since she left and I was staring at nothing. That statement of woe kept ringing in my ears while I was still trying to figure out what I had done wrong. Of course she gave me the cliché speech of “it’s not you, it’s me” and “I need to work on myself”, but all she said after that first statement barely registered. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me. She was a prize, a god sent, and I knew that. I treated her like a princess that she was. I adored her. So, I couldn’t understand what just happened. After a while I picked my phone to call John only to discover the damaged screen from the drop earlier. I dialled his number anyway, but the call did not go through. I got up, walked to the fridge and got a can of beer. I tried John’s other line and it rang.
“Moyin just dumped me” I said.
“Oh!” he paused for a while, then “get dressed, I’m getting you drunk tonight”.
Twenty minutes later we were heading to a club.
I woke up the next morning with a banging headache, I tried to figure out where I was, and the events of the night before. I turned in bed trying to locate my phone so I could check the time. I felt for it on the nightstand and it was there. But the lights had me squinting. I checked the time; it was 10:53. I was about to put the phone down when I noticed I had 5 missed calls. Eagerly, I tried to unlock the phone but the pin would not work. I tried two times again, but the same “Wrong Pin” alert. Confused, I examined the phone to confirm if it was mine or maybe last night’s event had messed with my head so badly that I could not remember my pin. It was then I realised that it was John’s phone. We use the same type of phone, as such, we sometimes take one for the other. He is my best friend and I know his pin, so I entered the right one this time thinking he had probably already noticed that he took my phone instead of his, and had called, trying to tell me. Just as I thought, my name was the first on the list, but the other four calls were from Moyin.
I was curious. Why would she be calling my best friend after dumping me the night before? Was she concerned about me? Or perhaps, she had called me and John told her his phone was with me. Thoughts were racing through my mind and I ignored the pounding in my head for a minute. My excitement was building up again as I saw a message bearing her name. I opened the message, my hand shaking slightly, the message read:
“John, where are you? Waited up all night for you. Call me back as soon as you get this.” I was confused. Why would she send him this message? I was more curious now, so I checked to see if there was a message before that. And lo and behold, there was!
“Hi, I finally ended things with Segun. I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell him now as he looked pretty shaken when I left his place just now. I’ll be at your place in thirty minutes. XO”.
A wave of nausea hit me, and I rushed into the bathroom to throw up. The headache now seemed stronger. I could not breathe. My brothers used to call me a sissy because, they said I was too emotional and emotions are for sissies. I did not think about that as I sat there and cried my eyes out. When I was done with self-pity, I got up and cleaned myself. I did not know what I was going to do but I knew I needed answers. As I finished dressing, John came in. He greeted me laughing – like he would any other day. I smiled back him. He told me he left his phone and I replied “I know” handing his phone to him. My sombre expression must have told him my response was double packed; I knew he left his phone and I knew what he did not want me to know.
He spent the next ten minutes telling me how they had just connected but did not act on it, because they respected me. He told me how they had stayed away from each other trying to see if the feelings would go away. I tried to remember the last time they were together in a room for more than ten minutes but could not – John always had an excuse for having to leave. He also told me they did not cheat on me, because that would be wrong – which was why she decided to end the relationship. I just sat there and listened. He told me that they did not mean to hurt me, and he could not have explained everything to me last night – the way I was, so, he suggested we went to the club.
He is my best friend. I love him like a brother. But now, my angel, my god sent has picked him over me. I know things would not be the same from that moment, but instead I told him I understood what he was saying. After all, I did understand what he was saying, it was just hard to believe that it really was him saying those words to me.
That weekend turned out to be a type I had not had in five months and over. It turned out to be the worst weekend of my life so far. I lost a best friend, and a lover. Thinking about it now only reminds me that life is a like a book, some chapters interesting while others, not quite interesting. But you would not know how the story goes until you flip to the next page. I learnt this six months after things ended with Moyin: when I decided to close that bitter-sweet chapter of my life, and open a new one. I started seeing a therapist, Dr Kemisola, to help move on with my life. Turns out Moyin breaking up with me only happened so I could meet the right woman for me. It’s been three years now. Kemisola and I are set to tie the knot in two weeks. Today, John and I are going to get the wedding suits, he said he would be honoured to be my best man.
