So now that we know there’s some shakiness in Marcus’ foundation, this should get interesting…

“Oh my goodness, look at those Nutella lava cakes! They look soooo appetizing!” Temwani squealed in excitement at the photo of the culinary delight on her tablet.

Marcus shook his head and chuckled as he drove them and the two young lads at the back to their home. “Temmy and her insatiable appetite.”

They had had quite a great day, Marcus treating her and her twin nephews, James and Jonny to a pretty memorable time. They had gone to Silverbird to watch the latest Disney-Pixar release, Finding Dory, and went to Pizza Hut afterward. The eleven year-olds had thoroughly enjoyed themselves and were worn out by the day’s activities, as they were already fast asleep in the backseat of Marcus’ Hyundai Elantra.

Temwani, meanwhile, was busy checking out one of her favourite Twitter accounts. Food Porn.

She was a lover of food, particularly good-looking pastries. Not many things piqued her interest as much as cakes and luxurious desserts. And somehow, whenever she had time, she’d feast her eyes upon the wonderful sights regularly posted on that account. Marcus was used to it, though. He even sometimes found it cute and amusing to see her face light up at seeing all those cuisines.

As he slowed down at a traffic light, she tapped him furiously on the arm, almost whispering, “Look, Marc, look! Ice cream sandwich cake! Oh my God, this must be heaven’s dessert!”

He rolled his eyes. “Ei, Temmy, really? You and your sweet tooth…”

He stopped as she showed him the new picture that had caught her attention.

His mouth dropped open. It looked beyond good; it looked amazingly good. Anyone with a sweet tooth would ignore any internal resistance to sink their teeth into that cake. “Kwԑԑԑ! This cake is outtadisworld, wai. Herh!”

“Good. Now take a good look at it. Because when I start having your babies, you’re buying all this when the hunger pangs strike.”

Marcus groaned. “I knew you were gonna say that. In other words, add it to the chicken wraps, mozzarella sticks and the Cinnabon French toast.”

“Exactly! And don’t forget the kelewele. Kelewele is bae.”

***

About half an hour later, they arrived at the front gate of Temwani’s sister’s house. Waking the boys up, she spoke to them in their local dialect, got them to thank Marcus, then enter the house.

Holding her darling’s hand once they had entered the house, she said gently, “Stay safe as you get back home, sweetie. Thanks for the good time.”

“Not a problem, A-“ Marcus started, then quickly caught himself as he realized he nearly spit out the wrong name.

Closing his eyes, he scrunched up his nose to fake an oncoming sneeze, then shook it violently. “Ugh, I hate it when you get the urge to sneeze and you end up not doing so. So annoying,” he complained to take away the brief look of confusion on Temwani’s face.

“Oh yeah, so irritating. Anyway, don’t wanna stay out here too long. Joyce is waiting. Paweme, my love.” She kissed him on the cheek and hopped out of the vehicle.

The confusion already encircling his brain made his goodbye response less enthusiastic as he turned his vehicle and drove away.

***

“Temwani! Welcome home! You must be tired,” Joyce, Temwani’s older sister welcomed her as she walked through the door and into the living room, the sounds of ‘Filankonka’ by Sife, their beloved local gospel song, on deck.

“Thank you, my sister. And yes, I’m exhausted!” Temwani confirmed, crashing into the nearest chair. “But it was great! We had such a good time.”

Joyce nodded. “That’s good, that’s good. So things are going smoothly with Marcus.”

“Absolutely!” Temwani replied excitedly. “Honestly, I think I fall deeper and deeper in love with that man every single day. It’s been six months, I know, but… Joyce, I just feel so safe and content with him. He’s just… so loving, so kind… he’s just the one for me, you know.”

Joyce smirked, watching her younger sister grow dreamy-eyed. “Ha! Sistele! The queen of hopeless romantics!”

Temwani giggled. “I’m learning from you and our old folks, please. You’ve set the precedent for me on beautiful relationships, so I must follow.”

“Hahaha! I won’t mind you on your reference to me, but yeah, we learned from the best. Who would have thought that following Uncle Mwansa here would have worked out this well for us?”

“Honestly! I was really hoping for the best when we moved here, in terms of setting up the business and all, and I cheekily prayed that God should send a fine Ghanaian man my way. And look at how that’s panned out! I couldn’t be any happier, Joyce, I really couldn’t.”

Joyce nodded. “I’m so happy to hear that, my sister. It’s so good to know. And his friends have embraced you?”

“Oh yes, yes! When I joined him at his friend’s housewarming party a few weeks back, they were really nice. Especially this one lady, her name is Sefakor. My goodness, Joyce, I have never met a lady as hilarious as her! She’s absolutely crazy! But she’s such a sweet person as well. It’s like we just clicked once we met. And it turns out she’s dating Marcus’s best friend, so… more double dates on the way!”

“Sweet! So uh, you see this going all the way, right?”

Temwani nodded. “I know it’s him. I just know it’s him I’m meant to be with. I’m definitely convinced.”

“Mmmmm. Well, we’re pretty much established in Ghana, to be fair. So you marrying a Ghanaian man shouldn’t be a problem at all. But hey, let’s take things one day at a time.”

“Oh, I’m not worried at all about that,” Temwani assured her. “As you said, Uncle Mwansa’s now gotten our family established here, so moving back and forth shouldn’t be hard. I mean, Marcus and I will be here, but we’ll be going back home on a regular basis. Spend some time with the old folks and all, yeah…”

Joyce laughed out loud. “Wow, Temmy, you’ve really figured it all out, haven’t you?”

Giggling, Temwani shrugged. “What more can I say? I love him and I can’t see my future with any other man but him, so… I might as well psyche myself up accordingly.”

***

“Oh okay, okay. Once you create the group, that be all… sure, sure, we go dey wait for the updates. No problem, my guy, no problem. Chale, I just catch house, me then Temwani then ein nephews go out, so chale, I taya pass… serious ooo… sure, sure, chale. We go talk later, alright… ok, bye.”

That phone call from Basit was a welcome distraction, but ultimately a temporary one. Now that it had ended, it was back to his current, unpleasant reality.

That feelings for Allison were pulling an unwanted Lazarus on him.

“Aaaargh!! I can’t believe this is happening! I thought I was totally over Allison, especially after that cold shoulder and all. Why the hell are these feelings resurfacing at a time like this?” Marcus growled at his bedroom wall.

Indeed, since the party two weeks ago, it was as if the feelings he had had for Allison back then were undergoing a resurgence. They hadn’t talked much since – he had chosen to avoid her briefly – but his mind was filled with confusing thoughts. Considerations of whether to give her a chance or not.

But at the same time, how the hell could he just decide to leave Temwani? It didn’t make any sense whatsoever. There was no reason to do so. Absolutely none.

“It’s not like I’m unhappy or anything,” he continued to speak to the wall. “Sure, she may love a little too much pampering, but for a queen like her, I’m more than happy to oblige. I love her so much, I really do. Why this feeling then? Where from it? Why? Whyyyy?”

He threw himself onto his bed, feeling quite frustrated. When she had first approached him with the prospect of starting over, he had felt absolutely nothing. It had even felt good, in a way, to rub it in her face that he had moved on. So as to why he was suddenly smitten with her after that talk, he couldn’t get it.

He hadn’t spoken to any of his guys yet, and at the present moment, he’d rather not. After the hard stance he had taken, he’d rather not spill out the internal chaos plaguing his mind.

He turned on his laptop. “Maybe a few episodes of Friends will help me get over my state of mind,” he murmured to himself.

As the screen lit up with the episodes of the old sitcom, he giggled and shook his head at the mishaps and crazy statements made by the characters.

“Yiee, Joey Tribbiani paa diɛ…”

In the middle of the third episode he was watching for the night, his attention drifted from the action onscreen as his eyes started to grow heavy…

Laughing heartily, Marcus put his arm around Allison as they both watched people getting pranked on ‘Just For Laughs’.

“Eei, look at how he reacted to the sound of the puppy when those potatoes fell down?” she laughed. “Scared kraaa!”

“I tell you! He doesn’t want trouble at all,” he responded gleefully. Calming down after a moment, he looked at his lady. Noticing his gaze, she turned her eyes from the TV screen to him. They shared a brief kiss.

“You know, it’s wonderful to finally be with you. I’ve never loved any woman the way I’ve loved you,” Marcus said, drawing her closer to himself.

Allison giggled. “Awww, boo. You know I love you too. Took me a while to get to my senses, but… there’s nothing else I’d prefer to this. I knew you’d come back for me eventually.” She paused. “Can’t lie, though, there are times I feel a little bit sorry for that Zambian girl. Whatever happened with her?”

Marcus shrugged. “Let’s not go there. You’re here. That’s what matters.”

They leaned towards each other, prepping themselves up for another lip-lock…

“NO!”

Sharply, Marcus snapped out of his reverie. He sprung up from his bed in frustration.

“AAAAARRRGHH!!! What the freaking hell is wrong with me?? How did that get through my brain? Stop it!! Stop it!!!” he growled loudly to himself, banging the sides of his head with his fists. “This is ridiculous. I shouldn’t be feeling this way. I shouldn’t.”

His phone vibrated. He picked it up from the bed.

Two separate messages.

Hey baby boo! Started watching ‘How To Get Away With Murder’. Liking it so far. Don’t you dare drop any spoilers, or else… lol, ttyl <3… from Temwani.

Hi Marcus. Been a while. I kinda miss u. just checking up, don’t wanna disturb u now. Regards to your gf. Allison.

As he read both messages, the whirlwind in his brain took off yet again.

This was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

He loved Temwani, and to break up with her was just utterly preposterous an idea. Yet these lingering feelings for Allison had just popped up out of nowhere, and they were refusing to go away or be ignored.

He dropped onto the bed again, a short moan escaping his lips. “I’m so messed up right now.”

For real, Marcus? I thought it was a straightforward deal. Jeez! Ah well, we can only wonder what comes up subsequently…