chapter 2: The meeting

Tobi had not come back from the night before. I had slept alone,I didnt even know when I slept off, I guess I was just tired out from last night, it stil felt like a dream, like it never happened at all, I wish it never did.

Honkkkkkk.. I heard from outside, it was Tobi, he was back from the night club, I felt numb all over again I didn't know what to do, I just felt numb. I just lay down in bed staring at the window blinds and my YSL shoes from last night. "Sims" "babes" I heard from downstairs, I felt anxious, it felt like my blood was boiling from within while he called my name. "Sims" he yelled louder as he walked through the bedroom door, "oh baby, there you are" I could feel him climbing the bed, "Baby I'm sorry" "Sims's" he dragged, I got that nickname from him on our second meeting, after Davido's concert, I had danced all through the night without caring who was watching because obviously davido was my favorite artist then, and I remember clearly Tobi blushing throughout the night just staring at me and saying "you are so beautiful" on our way out tobi had found a new name for me, he called me "simsssss" dragging the S longer than a snakes hiss, it was a shorter form for simi and for some reason it felt so cute and that was his way of calming me down anytime I feel sad, but this time it just felt disgusting to me.

I felt Tobi's hand on my shoulder, caressing my arm as he whispered to my ear "baby girl are you angry" I didn't know what to do, tobi had his way of making everything feel so calm even when it was not, I slowly shifted away moving to the edge of the bed, with tears in my eye almost soaking halfway through the pillow, sniffling I muttered "you did it again".

Tobi stood up coming to the window side where I was facing, he took my palm holding it softly in his palm, he said gently "work kept me babe, I'm sorry" I stared at Tobi and I was numb again, Tobi had lied to me again, this was not his first time lying to me but everytime feels like the first time, i stood up gently removing my hand from his, I wanted to shout, I wanted to scream at him and just end this right there but I didn't I walked close to the window blinds opened it gently and just stared outside remembering where it all started.

I had just moved back to Nigeria from Canada 5 years ago, it was my best friend's wedding so obviously I had to be there, we had known each other for almost 24 years and I was 25 so we had known each other all our lives , our parents were so close that we just had to be closer, for some reason we attended events together, same school, same church and had the same vacation, I remember a time my mum had said to me that she wished Simbi was a boy so we could get married, we became official best friends in high school (jss1) when simbi had fought for me during a schools dinner when a senior tried to bully me for my dinner, simbi was taller then and almost the size of our seniors too, so she was Never picked on and sometimes could hang out with seniors unlike us who were half our seniors heights so we were easily picked on and sent around, that day I had found a sister In simbi and from that day we were officially best friends, we were called the "SS twins" because we both had names that started with S.

I had to be back for simbi's wedding simbi had found love really early on our first year in Canada for college, Simbi had met Jamal who was also a Nigerian citizen, and they both took it up from there, unlike me, I had gone through 7 breakups just in my first year, I felt unlucky with love and I was just never really happy, simbi tried all she could to set me up with Jamal's friends but it never worked out so we stopped trying, I had put the same energy into my book and had come out with best graduating student of my set, then I agreed that I was not made for the love life.

Simbi made a beautiful bride on her wedding day and I couldn't stop tearing up, my best friend was getting married wow! I also felt like the bride, even though my mother kept reminding me that by next year I should be married too with a kid and guess what it was December, so she technically gave me a month to get married.