You meet someone today and you don’t like them but as time goes on, you see certain qualities in them and it’s those qualities that change your mind. That’s what happened between me and Alex. His grandma died and they came for thanksgiving service in our church. I was sitting in front of him so he tried to pick a conversation with me. When there was something he didn’t understand about the service, he asked me and I answered. He would crack jokes too and I will laugh. After service, I went to a youth meeting so I didn’t see him. It was after the youth meeting that I saw him. I was with Gladys, my childhood friend.
Immediately I saw him coming I whispered to Gladys, “This guy is coming to me. I wonder why he’s still hanging around here.” She asked me, “Do you know him?” By the time I could answer her question, Alex was right in front of us. He asked for my name and I told him. He said he wanted my number. I didn’t hesitate and I gave my number to him. He spoke with both of us for a while and even told Gladys to take care of me as if I was a baby.” When he left, Gladys asked where I met him and I told her the story of our meeting. She said, “Eiii guys, wherever they go, they want to get someone they’ll eat from there, even in church.”
I laughed and told her, “Then he has gotten the wrong meat this time because I’m not the kind of meat for him.” We walked for a few seconds and saw him entering his car. He bade us goodbye and left. From there, anytime I spoke to Gladys, she asked about me and Alex. I told her, “Oh forget about him. He’s been trying to get my attention since that day but I don’t think I like him. He’s been flirting with me and telling me things to get my attention but I don’t see myself dating a guy like that.” She asked why and I told her, “I don’t know him that much. His height too is a problem. You know I like them tall. This one is too short for my liking.”
I was telling her the truth because, at that time, I didn’t know Alex that much but we continued talking. One day, I met him in town and he took me out. The conversation was good and everything he told me about himself was something I like about a man. I started having a change of mind about him and started entertaining him more. About three months later, he asked me to visit him at his house and I asked him, “Can I come with my friend? From your place, we would have to attend an event together so I want it to be easier on her.” He responded gleefully, “Oh why not? She’s also my friend, remember?” I needed a shield just in case and Gladys was that shield.
I went to his house with Gladys and immediately we stepped there, Gladys started asking all the questions; “Do you live here all alone? Is it your own house? Wow, then your parents are rich. Do you have a room for rent here? Like I would come and rent it and live here with you, it’s a very nice place.” What she said sounded like a joke so we all laughed. The house belongs to his parents but they both lived abroad with his two other siblings so he was the only one living in that big house. We spent about an hour there and left.
The next morning, Gladys texted, “He has a nice house and he’s a nice guy. I would have advised you to say yes to him but he’s too short to be allowed into the family.” I sent a laughing emoji and responded, “Yeah, his height is the problem but he looks like a guy with a good heart.” She asked me, “So are you changing your mind towards him?” I responded, “Of course not. If only he can increase his height then I’m game.” She sent laughing emojis and I sent a lot of them back.”
Alex hadn’t; proposed then so I didn’t know why we were even having that conversation in the first place. Anytime we gossiped about him and he called me and he was cosy with me, I got a pinch of guilt. I was like, “See how clean and awesome he sounds but we always say bad things about him.” One day he proposed. I didn’t think twice about it. I answered, “Yes, I would be your girlfriend.” I thought I knew him enough. Yeah, I was not too fond of his height but that wasn’t everything. He was human and was kind and made me laugh anytime we talked. Those were good qualities too so I considered those qualities and let myself go. I had dated tall men and it never ended anywhere. It was time for me to leave my comfort zone and see the goodness that may come from the outside.
I didn’t tell Gladys about it though she asked questions about us often. We dated for two months before I opened up to her about our love stories. She was shocked for a while. I was like, “Why are you surprised? I mean he’s a good person and you know me very well that I won’t let a good person go.” She asked, “You told me you didn’t like him because he was short.” I answered, “Yeah I said that but the heart wants what it wants and what my heart wants this time is him.” “Or it’s because of his money?” She asked me. I responded, “Oh far from that. You should know me by this time that I don’t do it because of money. Kofi had a lot of money but in the end what happened between us? Nothing. It’s not about that at all.”
A month or so later, I received four different screenshots from Gladys. I was online so immediately after she sent it I started going through them. They were screenshots of messages between her and me. I read the first one and was about to go to the next one when the messages got deleted. She sent a message back to tell me, “Oh I’m very sorry. They weren’t meant for you.” Apparently, she didn’t know I read the first one before she deleted them so I asked her, “What were they about and who are you sending them to.” She answered, “Oh nothing. They were screenshots a colleague sent me and I was forwarding them to another colleague.”
I read the first one. They were our messages and the messages were about the things I said about Alex right from the onset, about his height and why I thought he wasn’t good for me. My heart started beating faster and my mind began throwing questions around; “Or she was sending them to Alex? But does she have his contact? How would she get it? Or she was sending it to another mutual friend she had been gossiping about us?” I didn’t ask her any further questions. I pretended I didn’t know anything about the screenshot. She called to make sure that indeed I didn’t see the messages. I told her, “They were images of a chat but I didn’t read the chats.” She told me, “It was about office gossip so even if you read it, you wouldn’t have understood anything.”
I called Alex; “Has Gladys been talking to you? As in she has your number?” He hesitated before he said yes. I asked him how she got his number and he told me, “She called one day and said you gave her my number.” I asked, “And you didn’t tell me about it? So you’ve been talking to her?” He answered, “Not often but once in a while she texts and we talk. Has she told you anything about me?” His answers were not convincing. Like he was trying hard to suppress certain information. I told him, “Oh nothing. Just asking but don’t tell her I asked about her. She might take it wrongly.
Something was wrong and I was determined to find what that something was. I asked Alex for his phone to make a call one day and I saw how he has saved Gladys’ name. I quickly went through his chats and went straight to exchange photos and saw all the screenshots Gladys mistakenly sent to me and later deleted them. I scanned through their chats but I realized he was looking at me so I stopped quickly and gave his phone back to him. I knew what was going on. Gladys had told him everything I said when I first met him. The bad things I said about him had been shared with him but I wanted to know why she would do that so I went to her place and also requested her phone to make a call. I dialled Alex’s number and she had saved it with only heart emojis.
I started going through their chats. She had visited him on different occasions and they had had sex on the first date and each of them had warned the other they shouldn’t let me know about it. I went through their exchanged photos and saw photos of both of them in Alex’s house and even saw semi-nude photos.
I gave her phone back to her and told her, “Thank you for everything. Now, I’m out of the way so you can have him all to yourself.” She looked stunned. “What are you talking about?” She asked me. I answered, “Alex. I’m talking about Alex and what you both are doing behind me. Take him. You want him but remember this, you won’t go unpunished for such a betrayal. Why would you tell him the things I’ve shared with you in confidence? Just to destroy me and take my place? It hurts me so much that I gave myself to him the way I did. Thanks to you, he’s been sleeping with two friends and he’s happy about it. This is the kind of man you want to snatch from me? Keep him.”
She couldn’t utter a word. She was there shaking as if I was going to hit her or something. Right in front of her, I called Alex and put it on a loudspeaker. “Alex, I’m here with your other girlfriend. You succeeded in sleeping with both of us and I called to congratulate you. For a man your height, you’re not short of tricks to get two friends into your bed. I’m clapping for you but remember you didn’t fool me. I trusted you and gave you my all. I was being honest to a fool and it hurts me. Other than that, you two deserve each other. Keep her. She’s here, would you like to talk to her?” He cut the line and I left Gladys’s place with a smile on my lips.
I should have been crying but even tears deserted me. I should have been hurt but surprisingly my heart was so calm as if nothing had happened to it. The relationship was new so I could easily let go. What hurts the most was the childhood friend I was losing but a friend like Gladys ought to be let go so I did. She couldn’t even apologize. She stopped coming to church because she thought I would spread it. Alex wrote a thesis of apology trying to explain his side of the story but I was already far gone.
Two months later Gladys is here telling me she didn’t know what came over her and all that so I should forgive her. I told her, “I did two months ago that’s how come I could be calm about it. I hope you two are enjoying the ride, you and Alex?” She asked me, “Do you honestly think we could go on again after everything?” I said sorry to her but I was not ready to welcome her back into my life. She asked for a loan from me and I laughed out loud. I couldn’t trust you with my man but I could trust you with my money? What pills are you on?” We are still in the same church but hardly talk to each other. Alex? Maybe he’s somewhere out there bragging about how he was able to ‘chop’ two best friends.
