"What truth are you talking about in God's name? Joan and I are just friends and you know it!" Steve yelled at his mother.
"Oh really? I didn't know friends now have sex with each other. Or is it the new thing amongst your generation now?" She asked with a slightly raised brow.
Both Joan and Steve, knew she had hit them below the belt. That was a punch line. They both kept quiet since they had nothing to say in their defense.
"Oh you don't have anything to say now, do you? We both walked in on you both, after sharing a night of passion. And only God knows for how long this has been going on, and you stand there saying you are just friends. Indeed." Lola added sarcastically when she noticed they were speechless.
"Whatever happened between the both of us last night is actually our business, and not yours. We are two consenting adults, and we can choose whether or not we want our friendship to go beyond being platonic, without any interference from any of you. Thank you." Steve finally spoke, after being silent and listening to his mom speak.
"Very good, same way you both decided to take your relationship further, and started having sex, that's the exact same way you both should decide and agree to be each other's partner. Because, This. Is. Happening." Lola made sure to enunciate the last sentence, just so they would know how serious she was.
"No! This can't happen! It won't work! You can't force us into doing what we don't want to. It is a free world and we are adults! What is this? Are we in the seventeenth century?" Joan shook her head as she spoke, more like she was trying to convince herself that this wasn't happening.
"My darling Joan, I'm afraid it is actually happening. We've always had a special bond anyway, so we best to be my daughter in-law?" Lola asked with a soft smile before turning to Steve, "We have all decided that this is the best decision to strengthen the friendship bond between our families, and it's also good for the family business. I'm sorry to say this, but you both have no choice in this matter." She concluded.
"What?" Joan asked in disbelief.
"She is right. So the sooner you both come to terms with your new reality, the better for us all." Bisi added.
"You are kidding, right? This has to be some sort of prank." Steve said with disbelief.
"No I'm not. I'm afraid we aren't. We will leave you both to talk things over." Lola said as herself and Bisi stood up to leave.
"I don't need to tell you that we need to talk, right?" Bisi asked her daughter before walking away with Lola, leaving both Steve and Joan to think about the bombshell they had just dropped on them.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Steve exclaimed.
Joan who was still stunned from what had just happened, quietly lowered herself on one of the dining chairs as she tried to process everything that has just happened.
"I'm very sure, they are both joking. Why on earth would they suggest we get married? What the fuck were they thinking about?" Steve asked as he turned to glance at Joan who was sitting down quietly, but she said nothing so he started pacing around the house.
Joan watched him pace the entire perimeter of the dining and living room as he continued to cuss, and talk about their parents asking them to marry being the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.
She had always seen him as just her best male friend, and didn't love him, or have any romantic feeling whatsoever toward him. But last night when they had sex, she had actually felt some sort of chemistry during their moment of heated passion, or maybe it was just the alcohol.
"Why are you not saying anything?" Steve asked her, as he stopped pacing and turned to look at her.
"I'm just here, wondering why you are getting yourself worked up over nothing. It's obvious they are both trying to play a prank on us, and you are falling for it." She said as she stood up and carried her cold mug of coffee into the kitchen to empty it. Although she wasn't exactly confident about her claim that their mothers were playing a prank on them, but she just wanted to leave Steve's house as quickly as she could without discussing the ridiculous subject of marriage.
"So you think this is a joke?" Steve asked as he followed her into the kitchen and watched as she watched the mug and placed it on the drainer.
"Yes it is. You of all people should know your mom. This is something she is good at." Joan said in a very confident tone even though somewhere deep down, she doubted it was a joke. Maybe what she needed right now was to go home to her parents, and hear directly from her father, unfortunately she wasn't looking forward to that, since that would mean having 'The Talk' with her mother.
"Yeah. I think you're right." Steve said, and then they both paused when Joan turned around to look at him. There was an awkward silence between them as they both wondered what they would do if it turned out that it wasn't a prank.
"About last night..."
"I think I should..." They both stopped when they started speaking at the same time.
"You can go first." Joan suggested.
"No, you go first. Ladies first." Steve said with an awkward smile.
"I think I should be on my way." Joan said as she dipped both hands in her pocket, in a way that told Steve she was very uncomfortable. He knew her well enough to know what that move meant.