She is nervous. Why is she nervous? She walks into her apartment and notices that her friends are waiting for her, and they are all seated like it is a meeting.
Amanda turns to look at her, and says, "Welcome home."
Afoma starts removing her shoes, and she asks, "Is something special happening today?"
Tiwa replies, "You tell us. You have been avoiding us for days."
"You come back home very late, and leave very early as if you killed someone, and we will find out," Aliya continues.
Amanda being the most forward one asks, "Did you perhaps sleep with Nonso? Is that why you are avoiding us?"
Afoma immediately shouts, "What? No!"
She shrugs her shoulders, and says, "I'm just saying. You know we support girls' rights and wrongs, and we all know Nonso is a fine man so, we will understand. At least he has never been an abusive guy."
She immediately sits on the couch, and says, "I did not sleep with Nonso. I just kissed him." At that, all the girls look at her, and Tiwa looks at Amanda and Aliya, smirks, and says, "You guys should give me my money right now."
Afoma looks at her, and asks, "What for?"
Tiwa says, "I told them that you guys will kiss on or before your date. I have seen the man now. He is twenty-hot. I thought twenty-four-year-old him was on another level, but twenty nine year old Nonso, is crazy. I understand. I am even surprised you did not jump into his bed. You are really God's strongest soldier."
Afoma gives her friend a 'what the hell' face, and asks, "How am I still friends with you?" She shrugs, smirks, and says, "I mean, I am your only funny friend."
Aliya hits the back of her head, and says, "Pride comes before a fall. Plus, you are not the only funny one." Tiwa rubs her head, rolls her eyes, and asks, "So how was the kiss?"
She replies, "Mid."
They all snicker, and Amanda says, "I am sure it was mid because that is exactly why you were ignoring." She smirks, while eating grapes. "It was so bad right? We can tell." She flips her friends off, and groans, "Can you guys please leave me alone?"
They collectively reply, "No!"
She groans, and says, "I hate you guys."
"We love you too."
"Which is why we are telling you to tell us how the kiss with Nonso was," Aliya says. "You know we will never judge you unless you do something out of pocket. We also know you are confused, but please, if you want to accept him back, at least make sure he grovels. God forbid you to accept him quickly."
She glares at her, and says, "There is no accepting him back, to be honest. It was just a kiss. A mistake I have been regretting. It will not happen again. Also, you all should stop insinuating I am accepting the guy back. He has not even gone halfway to getting my forgiveness. So, chill out. I can not forget what I faced, and the embarrassment as well. I have enough self-respect to know that I will not be accepting him back. Talk less of accepting him back quickly. Just because I swabbed saliva with him does not mean I will be his fiancée again. My parents have not even been subtle enough in hinting at the fact that he is the only one I brought to meet my parents. I am still ashamed please."
They all sigh, and Tiwa says, "We know, but we are telling you though. The heart wants what it wants."
"Well, the only thing my heart wants right now is for you all to forget Nonso and the kiss."
Aliya snickers, and asks, "The same Nonso you are going out with on Friday next week?"
She waves her hands, and says, "It is just a business meeting."
They all laugh, and Amanda wipes her eyes, and says, "I can not believe my own best friend is this delusional. You who graduated with honors again in law. Truly truly, book is not all that matters."
She glares at her, and says," I do not blame you. Did I tell you guys that Nonso wants me to date him exclusively for the whole ten dates?"
They all shout, and Tiwa laughs, "He thinks he is an alpha. My God. This guy will not kill me with laughter."
Aliya says, "The audacity is mind blowing. We should at least applaud him for his delusion." Amanda says, "You guys should calm down. Let us first hear what Afoma picked so that we can pretend to support her if she decides to exclusively date Nonso."
Tiwa then adds, "To be honest, if I am the one, even though I did not plan to date anyone, best believe I will be dating plenty of guys." Aliya and Amanda say, "I swear."
Afoma rolls her eyes, and asks, "Are you guys done?" They nod while looking at her suspiciously. "Did you guys really think I would be dating just Nonso? Even though I am busy, I will make time to date someone that is not Nonso. You guys are underrating me. I am insulted. Is it because of an ordinary kiss that I would turn into a fool? The kiss was not even all that."
"Me when I say chocolate tastes like sand," Aliya says. The girls all laugh, and Afoma rolls her eyes, and says, "Very funny."
Tiwa says, "Don't be angry, but remember we have seen you guys kiss. If it was not all that then it was not Nonso you kissed. Plus, you once described the palpitations your heart suffered because of the kiss. It was definitely all that because it has probably been a year since you last kissed unless you are keeping things from your best friends." I throw a pillow at her, and she laughs, "You see, you just proved me right."
Afoma rolls her eyes, and Amanda says, "Be careful please. We do not want your eyeballs on the couch." She rolls her eyes one more time,and tells them everything that happened. She also shows them the bracelet. They all sigh dreamily, and she hits her head lightly, and Aliya asks, "So you have been hiding this gift from us? What kind of a friend are you?"
"The best? At least I am giving you guys the full story."
Tiwa says, "Try and tell us the story earlier please. We do not have all day. What if we perish because of lack of gist?"
"You should have been an actress. It is not too late to be one."
Tiwa laughs, and says, "No, please. I will not subject myself to reading those literature books set in the 1500s to early 2000s. I can barely read the romance novels you give me."
Afoma scoffa, and says, "No wonder your intellect isn't your strongest suit."
Tiwa throws three pillows at her, flips her off, and swears under her breath. The other girls laugh.
"You are not invited to my wedding." They all laugh, and she says, "You can not chase me away. It is my wedding as much as yours."
"By the time the security men throw you out, you will know I am serious."
Afoma laughs, and Amanda says, "I will be coming tomorrow."
Afoma asks, "Do you want your husband to arrest me? You have been coming to see me too much." Amanda rolls her eyes, and says, "Please, that toddler in my house can not provide me with this kind of information." Amanda refers to her two-year-old son. Aliya says, "Please, repeat that statement."
"So that you will send it to my husband, right?" Amanda scoffs, and says, "Just because I am married does not mean I will not be in on the happenings of our dear friend's life. Especially when her life is more than interesting right now. Thanks to Nonso."
Tiwa says, "I swear. The way she was breathing in her job, I was already getting worried. She was going on dates as if she was reading the constitution."
"What do you mean by that?"
Aliya says, "You were going on dates whether you wanted to or not. You did not really want it to go forward."
"You guys are exaggerating."
Tiaa asks, "Are we though?" She looks at me, and continues, "I am just happy you are giving us entertainment we were not going to get to be honest. At least, you are getting something out of it. The charm bracelet is beautiful. Nonso always had a taste."
Afoma says, "I mean, I should hope so considering he dated me." They laugh, and Amanda asks, "For the date, are you at least wearing the gown, jewelry, shoe and bag that he bought?"
"I don't know."
Tiwa says, "You can not tell me you have not felt like wearing that gown. It is gorgeous, and it will look smoking hot on you. The way he still knows your size is endearing. I am all for making him grovel, but he does have a way of almost making people soften up. His only red flag was that mother of his."
Afoma laughs, and asks, "Do you guys remember when she brought his ex-girlfriend, the one they wanted him to marry, the second time I went to eat with them?"
Aliya nods, and says, "She was a certified witch. You are better than me."
"I mean, I was willing to try for Nonso. Plus they were awfully rich, and from a higher class. Most people prefer marrying within their caliber."
Amanda rolls her eyes, and replies, "Your family is far from poor. They both raised five children till the university level."
Afoma nods and says, "Yeah, but they are no politicians. If anything, it pained my parents to be around them because they believe the politicians are the problem in this country, which is not a lie, but at least they were respectful about it, and tried very hard to separate the jobs from the people."
Aliya says, "I am sure it pained your mum that she could not tell them about the state of the country."
In between laughs, Afoma says, "It was the hardest, but they liked Nonso, and were willing to try. The day she brought Nonso's date over for dinner, she pretended like she did not know I was coming. Nonso was seething, and she even tried to make the woman sit beside Nonso, but his sister, God bless her, rushed to sit beside Nonso instead. The funniest part was when his ex was trying to make feel insecure, when Nonso already told me that she was going to take an extra year in private university due to her failures, but her dad paid them off."
They all laugh, and Amanda says, "The audacity of her trying to make you feel inferior."
She grins, "Exactly. I was earning over a thousand dollars a month because I was writing so, it was very hilarious when she tried to shove her father's wealth down my throat as if I was starving. It physically pained her when I was not fazed. It was even funnier when Nonso denied that she was ever his ex. He said, 'Stop this nonsense about us ever being a thing. I went on two dates with you because of my parents' persuasion, and I told you we could never be together. I would appreciate it if you stopped feeding my mother with your lies, and respect my girlfriend, and also not come over to my house for no reason. You can see yourself out.' I still regret not recording that scene to be honest. His sister found it so hard to hold in her laugh, and she was cackling."
Tiwa says, "To me, you guys were definitely going to get married."
She smiles and says, "Me too babe, but everything happens for a reason. If not for anything, I am very grateful everything happened before any talks of marriage. Imagine having such a woman as a mother-in-law. Even my self-control is not that good."
Aliya snickers, "To be honest, you are still very strong. You endured his mother for a while."
Amanda says, "I hope for Nonso's future wife that she has changed. A lot of women will not be able to tolerate her."
Afoma feels a pang in her chest at the thought of Nonso's future wife. She shakes it off immediately.
Amanda decides it is time for her to leave before her husband calls her. Titi, Aliya and Afoma continue catching up, while the pending date is in the back of her mind.