“See, Abrefa, the girl is just manipulative! Ah, what sort of nonsense is that?”

“Ashock sef. If you have a man in your life, and someone who likes you distances himself from you, isn’t that a welcome thing? The girl just wanted to keep him as a backup option, that’s all.”

“True, true. It’s stupid mind games she’s playing with you, Abrefa. She wants to eat her cake and have it, meanwhile, it doesn’t work that way. She really no be serious girl.”

“At all at all! Abby, forget am. Better is coming your way. Forget about this girl. She’s not worth it.”

Abrefa sighed as he turned into a parking spot at the Marina Mall. He turned the engine off and rubbed his eyes.

Yeah, Abilene and Joey were right. She certainly was not worth it.

Who was this ‘she’ in question?

Miss Joelah.

So two years had passed since the whole issue with Adobea. It had taken a while, but Abrefa had totally and completely gotten over her. She had left the country the previous year to pursue her Masters’ Degree in Philosophy, anyways, so that chapter was well and truly done and dusted. There had been a few talking stages, but they didn’t go anywhere fast.

Joelah had come into the picture just around the time Adobea left for Canada. Not a regular member of their church, she visited a couple of times and became familiar with quite a few of the other young adults there.

Abrefa wasn’t one of the guys she became friends with. He did take notice of her with time, though, and he began to really like what he saw.

A chocolate-skinned sweetheart with the gentlest speech one would hear and an apparent desire to help people as much as she possibly could. Her chubby cheeks and adorable smile were hard to ignore, too, and though he had only said hi to her on a few occasions, Abrefa found her quite a fascinating personality.

About three months in, and she stopped coming altogether. She had been added to one of their WhatsApp groups, however, so it was easy for Abrefa to reach out to her personally.

After being told that some special assignments from the pastor of another church was the reason she had stopped coming, he continued to engage her. They spent about two to three hours chatting about random stuff before going to bed.

And that was how it all began.

For the next six months, Abrefa and Joelah developed the tightest of bonds. Not a day passed by when they did not chat with each other. Daily WhatsApp conversations turned to weekly visits at her workplace. And it was during that period that Abrefa’s desire for the sweet young lady grew stronger.

His impression of her as a kind-hearted human being grew even stronger after one particular morning she called him and asked him to meet her at the Lapaz Community Hospital. Her Good Samaritan genes had kicked in upon seeing an injured lady on the streets being ignored by everyone and had immediately taken her to the hospital and contacted her relatives.

To say Abrefa was impressed by this would be an understatement; he was absolutely wowed by this girl’s love for humanity, and it made him like her even more.

It wasn’t too long after that he decided to make things official with her. So he told her that he liked her and wanted her to be his girl one Wednesday evening.

Her response? Another hesitant ‘let me think about it’.

Kinda similar to Adobea’s response. But hey, surely it was gonna be different. After all, they were so close and talked to each other all the time, and were clearly very fond of each other. The actual response would be a positive one for certain.

Around 1 am, having slept off two hours earlier, Abrefa woke up to numerous messages from Joelah.

She confessed to really liking him and finding him amazing.

But there was an issue.

There was already someone she was in a relationship with.

If that didn’t sting Abrefa enough, it was her claim that she would have said yes to him if the other guy was not in the picture and he had come earlier.

What followed was two weeks of regrets and pain, as Abrefa mulled over the fact that someone who said she liked him back was already taken. It was around that time that he confided in a friend in the church, Abilene, who he sometimes shared certain stuff with.

And her reaction to Joelah pretty much surprised him.

“So she’s saying you’d come earlier, she would have said yes? Please, you can’t put a time on how you feel about someone. I honestly think she’s being selfish by telling you she likes you too, but oh, flip side is I got a man. I mean, if she really liked you, that ‘I have a boyfriend’ matter won’t even be an issue.”

Abrefa was stunned as he listened to Abilene rip into her.

“I’m sure this isn’t what you expected to hear, pardon me wai, but chale, this girl is not woman enough to openly tell you the truth. She’s rather making excuses and letting you feel like it’s your fault for not asking on time. That’s just wrong! And it bores me.”

Indeed, it wasn’t what he had expected. At all. But hey, being a woman, she’d know how the game goes.

So what happened next?

Well, Joelah kept reaching out to him and sparking up conversations whenever she could. He could see she was trying to keep the relationship as it was. This hardly did him any favours, though; he still had deep feelings for her and wanted to be with her. She didn’t make things any easier with references to her boyfriend every now and then.

At a point, Abrefa decided they needed some space. That would be the only way to get over his desire for her and see her as a friend. So he went ahead and told her. She seemed quite understanding and okayed it, saying she respected his honesty and she was totally fine with his decision.

Only thing was, she actually wasn’t.

The previous night, two weeks after that decision was made, she messaged him, complaining about the silence between them, and how she felt something had been taken away from her. Puzzled, Abrefa reminded her of their prior agreement.

In response, she told him point blank that she was not happy that he was leaving her. That in her opinion, his request was actually a selfish one and had no regard for how she felt and what she was going through. That she trusted him as a friend and not a lover, and he wasn’t being fair to her.

Abrefa was, to say the least, astounded.

Where was this coming from?

Hadn’t they agreed on this already? And where from this talk about leaving her? Didn’t she have a boyfriend? Didn’t she make it clear that she enjoyed her relationship? So how in the world was she talking like this?

What followed was a long and unpleasant argument between the two, where Joelah insisted his actions were not right, and Abrefa stood firm and stated that he owed her no apologies.

Eventually, Joelah stated, “Ok. I’ve heard your side. I hear you.”

That was the end of their conversation.

Since then, Abrefa had not heard from her, and he was quite sure it would be that way for a long time to come.

And in the ten minutes prior to Abrefa parking in the Marina Mall, he had listened to Abilene and Joey in a conference call as they decimated Joelah for being selfish, manipulative and immature. As far as they were concerned, she simply wanted to take advantage of Abrefa’s love for her and keep him on a leash.

“Well, she’s not spoken to me since. And I guess it’s gonna be that way from now on,” he said.

“All the better. Chale, Abrefa, forget this girl!” Joey passionately stated. “You’ll find someone who truly loves you and chooses you over every other man. As for this clown girl, make she go chew bitumen. Mtcheww.”

Eiii, relax!” Abilene laughed. “She bores me too, but Joey, relax small. But yeah, Abrefa, move on. Abi I told you from the beginning that she’s not a serious girl. You see the cowardly behaviour? Massa, move on. When you first proposed, she said you didn’t come early. Now that you’re moving on, she’s coming to talk rubbish. Leave her and live your life, wai.”

Abrefa nodded. “Sure, sure. I’m not going to mind her anymore. I’m done with her.”

“That’s all!”

“Alright, chale, I’m going to buy some stuff. I’ll talk to you guys later.”

As he said his goodbyes and hung up, he leaned back in his seat and sighed.

Such high hopes he had had for him and Joelah. He really thought he had found a sweet, lovable cutie he’d shower with affection for the rest of his life. Instead, what he had encountered was one of the ugliest relationship attempts ever.

Chale, I’m tired. I really am. Just when I thought I’ve found some happiness in this thing called love, I get all these slaps in the face. Is this love thing really my portion in this life? Coz I don’t think it is. I really don’t…