25

The following days, Sheila did not get to see David. He would wake up early and leave for work. She figured out that he must be avoiding her.
That realisation did not sit well with her.
She was trying to concentrate on her designing when her phone rang. At first, she thought it was Fred calling so she hesitated to pick up the call. After that fateful day, he never called her again.
She figured out that he might be angry at her for turning him down.
Sheila could only hope that he would come around and realise that we don’t get to choose who to fall in love with or not.
Resigning to her fate, she picked up her phone and a bright smile painted her lips upon seeing who Just called.
It was none other than Vanessa, her sister and best friend.
” Hello girl?” Sheila greeted cheerfully.
” Did you miss me darling?” Vee replied in her sweet voice.
” Of Course I missed you. You don’t need to ask that. you know I’ll always miss you especially after you disappeared at me .” Sheila replied, her voice holding an accusatory tone.
” Sorry about that. I had an out of country assignment so that’s why I left.” Vee replied apologetically.
” Anyway now that I’m back, why don’t we meet up. I have some juicy gossip.” Vee said giggling, making Sheila smile to herself.
” Is this about your latest sex escapades in foreign land?” Sheila asked. When it comes to Vee, that scenario wasn’t hard to come across.
Her friend was a natural flirt.
She would seduce men, sleep with Them and then dump them.
To her, relationships involve sex and once she is done with you, she’ll dump you.
Sheila could still remember how men would be running after her friend only to be rejected with the phrase,” I don’t take the same meal twice.”
Actually, she was not always like this but after her parents sent her to a man’s bed before she could even be of age.
That incident had scarred her life and changed her perspective about men and relationships.
” What latest escapade? Meet Me at our usual. I have two days off.” Vee retorted, disconnecting the call immediately.
Sheila chuckled. If it was someone else , he or she could have gotten mad over that question but this was Vee, she was never scared of discussing her sex life with Sheila.
Actually, Sheila could swear that she knew every other man vee had managed to bed. That’s because she would tell her about it the following day.
Sheila never judged Vee. She wasn’t in the position to understand what it is her friend went through but something was sure, whatever it is she went through was traumatic and that’s what changed her completely.
After changing clothes, Sheila headed straight to their usual cafe, the same cafe she met with Fred.
That had always been their meeting point ever since highschool days.
She could also use this chance to ask some advice about her and David’s relationship.
He had been avoiding her and that didn’t sit well with her.
She would rather move out of the house than have him be uncomfortable in his own house.
Thirty minutes later, she arrived at the cafe. Vee was already waiting for her as she sipped in her cup of cappuccino and chocolate cake for dessert.
Sheila walked straight to their usual table before hugging Vee tightly.
” I just confirmed that you really missed me, ” Vee said with a smile, making Sheila roll her eyes at her.
” So what’s up, how was your trip to country B?” Sheila inquired.. That had been the area she had gone to gather information From.
Everything was good but guess what, something better happened!” Vee exclaimed, excited.
” Oh really! ” Sheila probed, she had the ‘ I don’t believe you ‘ expression on her face.
Ofcourse, Vanessa saw her expression and pouted.
” You think I’m lying to you?” Vanessa complained, her voice sounding aggrieved.
” I didn’t say that!” Sheila obviously denied with a smile.
” Oh but your expression tells it all!” She countered.
” Nevermind, you’ll understand what I mean after you listen to my story.” Vee added, clapping hands excitedly.
She couldn’t wait to share her good news to her friend.
She knew that her friend would be excited too by her decision.
” So I met this Man…” Vee started only to stop narrating after seeing the immediately bored expression on Sheila’s face.
” I swear this is not about one of my Crazy one night stands.” Vee Said pouting. She knew what her friend was thinking, making her frustrated.
She couldn’t blame her though. That has always been something she would narrate almost every night to Sheila to the extent that Sheila would get bored.
Ofcourse, Vee knew that her friend would never say that she’s bored. She could always count on her to listen to her most stupid talks but Sheila being the virgin Mary she was would find matters about sexuality uncomfortable.
Sheila nodded, urging Vee to continue.
” I met this guy in country B. He’s nice and handsome with the best body I have ever seen. We clicked off and I got attracted to him. So this one night, we stayed up late and without knowing, we told each other the stories of our life. He’s just like me, broken and shattered. We didn’t do anything but he did ask me something.” She paused to take a breath.
” He asked me to give Him a chance to love me and to be to love him and I decided to take that step of faith so I said Yes.”
To say that Sheila was surprised would be such an understatement, she was taken aback.
Knowing Vanessa, she was the last person to ever take relationships seriously.
Taking such a big decision was a clear indication that her friend was willing to leave everything behind. Leave her ugly past behind and embrace a new life. Sheila couldn’t be any happier.
Looking at her with teary eyes, Sheila smiled at vee.
She was about to say something when Vee interrupted her.
” I know what you want to say so save it. I Know that I have led my life carelessly and that you’ve always been worried about me. I understand that and I am very grateful. Now I want to do things differently. I want to have something with someone special. I want to build a family and settle down.” Vee added.
Sheila stood from her seat and hugged Vee.
They didn’t need to say anything to each other. They understood each other perfectly well.
” Tell me about yourself dear? how have you been?” Vee Inquired. She had received her voice note informing her to call immediately when she got back to the country.
” Well nothing important but I have something bothering me.” Sheila said.
She really hoped Vee could help her deal with the matter with David.
” Well I’m here to listen and I have all the time in the world to listen to you.” Vee replied.
” I have a boyfriend.” Sheila confessed and the widening eyes replaced by a grin by Vee told her that she was in for some teasing.
” Wow dear, I didn’t Know i would be receiving some good news immediately after seeing you.” Vee said excited about the news.
” Well yeah and no teasing please, I’m serious here.” Sheila implored.
” Before I listen to anything you say, who is your boyfriend? Is Fred back?” Vee asked seriously.
She was aware about how vee felt about Fred. Of Course she could not tell whether the attraction between them was romantic but after seeing Sheila not interested in having a boyfriend, she concluded.
” Why would you think that Fred is my boyfriend?” Sheila asked, a deep frown marred on her face.
” And yes, Fred is back and he proposed to me but I rejected him.” Sheila dropped the second bomb for the day.
” What!” vee shrieked , her loud voice catching the attention of the people.
” Keep your voice down!” She regretted telling her something like that in the public. She should have known that vee was not one to keep her voice down in the public, especially if in shock or happiness.
” Don’t mind them, they can watch all they want me it’s not like I give a damn about that.” Vee shrugged.
She believed that nothing Should make her control herself From expressing her emotions.
” Tell me about it. I’m excited to know about this proposal.” She said, clapping her hands excitedly. Looking at her, she resembled a child who was promised to be bought her favourite cotton candy.
” What’s there to tell. He came the other day and we met up here at this very same cafe. After a few days he asked me out and I agreed. He took me to a farmhouse with so many flowers surrounding it and fruits grown. That’s when he confessed that he has always liked me and that he would like to have a relationship with me but I said no.” Sheila explained nonchalantly.
She didn’t see anything interesting about Fred’s proposal. All she knew was that the idea of her and Fred becoming an item didn’t give her butterflies in the stomach like thinking about a particular person who has been avoiding her each day.
” Oh gosh! I can’t believe you said no to him!” Vee uttered in disbelief.
After racking her brains out, she didn’t see any reason as to why Sheila would say no to Fred’s proposal.
If you were to ask her , the two were perfect for each other. They were a match made in heaven.
” What do you mean you can’t believe I said no? was I supposed to say Yes?” Sheila asked, perplexed.
” I thought you have always been in Love with Fred even before he left for abroad. Why would you say no to him after he proposes? Make me understand something Sheila, why would you deny yourself a chance to be with the person you love?” Vee asked.
” I am not in love with Fred. Okay, I admit to liking him in the past but that’s not love.” Sheila clarified.
” What do you mean?” Vee probed.
” I simply mean that I’ve never been in love with Fred. My feelings for him have been purely brotherly. I am in love with someone else.” Sheila confessed, leaving Vee’s mouth wide agape.