Desperate Moves

18

I flung the phone far from me and stretched out on the bed. So I was losing my man too. I was bitter and depressed. One would think that by now, my tear duct would be empty, but no. the tears came flowing in torrents. Sobs shook me from head to toe. I laid there and enjoyed the luxury of crying without being asked to stop. I was still in that state when Tosin knocked on my door.

I sat up and hurriedly wiped the tears from my eyes. He knocked again, this time louder than the first. I cleared my throat before answering.

“Come in.”

He walked in and his gaze fell on my face

“Were you crying?”

I couldn’t deny because I’m sure it was obvious from my tear-stained face.

“You know already, so why ask?”

He was silent for a while, moved close to the bed and sat down on it before saying softly “For how long will you keep crying?”

It was my turn to be silent. I fiddled with the hem of my top for a while, then without thinking I blurted out “Sam is leaving me.”

He immediately turned to face me.

“What do you mean by leaving?”

“He’s been acting strange since after the incident. We barely talk. Even when I make the effort for us to talk, he sometimes comes up with a lame excuse of being busy or we don’t flow. It was not like this before the incident.” My voice was a little edgy.

“I think you guys just need to talk things through. When last did you speak with him?

“I spoke with him about half an hour ago.”

“Did you mention to him the possibility of being pregnant?”

“Tosin, I’m not pregnant.”

“We are not sure of that yet. That means you never mentioned it to him.” It was more of a statement.

“I did not see the need to mention it.”

“Edi, I believe he will come around. Stop worrying yourself over nothing.”

“You can’t call that nothing. We are to be married in less than a year from now.”

“So will you kill yourself over it? The best you can do is talk things over with him.”

I hated that he was correct most of the times. He was always thoughtful and he had a lot of wits about him.

“A million for your thoughts miss?” he had a smirk on his face.

I rolled my eyes at him. I liked the fact that he knew how to inject mirth into a tense situation.

“Are you set? He asked halfheartedly.

“Yes, I’m all good.”

He made an effort to get up but stopped halfway.

“Have you eaten?”

Arrh! This was going to be a tough one, knowing how Tosin is.

“No.” I put on a straight and serious face to try to deter him from pursuing the issue further. Unfortunately, that did not work; he saw right through my trick.

“No matter how long your face gets, you are not leaving this house without eating. You don’t know how long the visit with the doctor is going to last.”

I decided to change tactics. I pulled out the victim card.

“You know I will throw up as soon as I eat. Anytime I eat in the morning, it is usually like that.” That was not entirely true. Even though I usually felt nauseous most of the times after having breakfast-breakfast was becoming rare by the day - I was able to rein it in sometimes. I put on the poutiest face possible.

He was not having any of that. “Edi, none of your tricks is working today. You will not throw up.” then he added in a very patronizing tone “I promise you tiger nuts.” He had a mischievous hint in his eyes.

He knew I wouldn’t pass over tiger nuts for anything. I was so darn freaky about it. My face lit up in a small smile.

“You are so manipulative!” I said, feigning annoyance.

“So did that work?” his had a grin plastered to his face.

I simply rolled my eyes and went over to prepare something to eat. My breakfast was a simple meal of tea and biscuits. I would have preferred to take the tea with bread, but at the moment I didn’t have bread in the house and going out to buy was the last thing on my mind; hence, settling for biscuits. I ate in silence while Tosin kept himself occupied with his phone. He was smiling from time to time, apparently having a nice time with whatever he was doing. I decided to tease him after watching him for a while. I was putting away the cup and plate I used in eating.

“You are chatting with your girlfriends and grinning from ear to ear like someone that just won a lottery.” I had my back to him and was smirking at him.

“You know I don’t have a girlfriend.” I guess what he meant was that he was not going steady with any girl because girls were drooling over him and he made good use of that.

“Stories for the gods!” I rolled my eyes again. “All the girls that have been coming here are what?”

“Those ones are just flings. Some of them have nothing to offer other than s*x. I have not met any lady that challenges me among them. Some of them are so cheap that it takes just a “hi” to get them to bed.”

“Tosin, you are aware you are talking about ladies in such a derogatory manner in front of me?” I was getting genuinely upset now.

“No offence. You are one person I know that is much unbiased and I know you agree with me that some ladies cheapen themselves before men. But I’m glad I met you, ‘cos you are so different.”

“You are saying that because I am here or that you are here with me. That is exactly how you brainwash those ones that fall for you and then you use and dump them.”

“Ouch! That hurts.” He made a show of clutching his heart. “But seriously, Edidiong, you are different. You have earned my respect.” His tone was serious.

I turned to give him a side wards glance, put on a straight face and then asked “What’s the deal between you and Cynthia? Are you two dating?”

“Me? Date Cynthia? You should know me better than that.” He had a scowl on his face.

“Then what is happening between you two?”

“Why do you ask? Am I sensing jealousy?”

“What?” I sounded alarmed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I be jealous?”

“I was only asking. I actually wish I could have you being jealous.” He winked at me.

“What exactly are you talking about?” I was staring at him intently, a little confused.

“Nothing. I was just kidding.” He had a smirk on his face. “Cynthia wants to have me by all means, so we’ve slept together a few times. Nothing more!” he shrugged.

How could people possibly behave like this? I knew Cynthia didn’t have very high moral standards but I didn’t think it was that bad. And Tosin... well, what do I know? My mouth must have been drooping in shock and disappointment.

“Oh, come off it. I was on my own, she came to me. What would I have done? Turn down a plate of food? No way! You see, that is exactly what I was talking about; some ladies have cheapened themselves. I am only consoled in the fact that there are still a few good ones, like you. And I’m privileged to have you as a friend.”