"Oh fuck! Then why the hell would she let me believe that you were her boyfriend!?" Tunde asked, feeling deflated.
He suddenly felt drained of energy when he realized he just messed up and this person might influence Abby against him. He plopped himself back on the chair and leaned back his head in frustration.
"Why would she let me believe a lie... Why for goodness sake!?" He said and continually muttered to himself. "Oh, God! I fucked up! I fucked up big time!"
"Ohh... Now I get it! So you thought I was her boyfriend eh?..." Josh asked and burst out laughing. "C'mon man, you mean you've been so disrespectful, andxz murdering me over and over in your head all this while because you thought my sister, Abby and I are dating?" Josh asked again.
"Yeah basically."
"Jesus!..." Josh exclaimed and laughed at the now helpless look on Tunde's face.
"I'm sorry man, so sorry alright?" Tunde stood up again and apologized to Josh praying in his mind for Josh to forgive him. He had to apologize, who knows the man could be his future brother-in-law.
"No! No need for apologies man," Josh said. Since his sister loved this man then he wanted them to be cool with each other. He could tell that he had feelings for Abby, otherwise, why would he be prepared to fight another man over a girl? He certainly doesn't seem like that kind of man to him.
"It's okay... We're cool..." Josh said in assurance. "You know when I first came in and saw you... Man! Was I scared for my sister?... But now, I understand why you have that expression on your face and I appreciate the fact that you like her enough to fight another man for her."
Shegz on his part was surprised. He had never seen his boss this humbled before any man, he had also never witnessed his boss apologized to anyone before. When it seemed his attention was not needed, he went back to keeping guard by the door.
"Please have a seat, what would you like to drink" Tunde immediately offered, to make amends for his bad attitude earlier.
"I'll certainly drink, but only when we are done talking about my sister," Josh said and sat down.
"Okay, fair enough," Tunde said with a smile.
"You like her don't you? I mean I'm not just imagining things here?" Josh asked to be sure
"No, you're not imagining things... I do like her. I like her a lot."
"Thank God for that... Look man, I know being here is not proper, it's kinda weird I understand... But I had to see you, I just can't afford to see her get hurt. She's been through a lot... I don't know if you understand.
"I understood.." Tunde said and wondered what Josh meant by 'Abby being through a lot.'
"I would be lying if I said I didn't feel like punching you in the face when I saw she had been crying... And because I've heard about you from her before today, I was also kinda disappointed.
Now what happened between you two isn't my business, I'm not here to discuss that. I just want to know what the deal was with you and her. Mere looking at you, I could tell she's not your type, and I don't want to see her get hurt... Regardless of whatever you tell me now, I'd still share a bottle with you man, no hard feelings."
Tunde nodded his head, followed by a long pause before he answered
"Truth is... I don't do love, and I totally avoid relationships. I cant just deal with the headache that comes with it. Sex bartering, friends with benefits... was more up my alley... And, Abby and I were supposed to be business as usual for me..."
He said his mind, looking towards Josh apologetically... He was expecting to see a displeased look on Josh's face... He was surprised though when Josh just nodded in understanding towards him. He started thinking how it would be great to have a cool brother-in-law like Josh.
"Ever since the first day I saw her six weeks ago... I couldn't get her out of my mind. I told myself it was just sexual attraction between us and nothing more.
I even had a bet with my brother who first told me I was falling for her. I was just supposed to have sex with her, give her a worthwhile gift, and walk away without emotion...
I lost the bet you see... I found out that my brother was right after all. I just couldn't walk away from her. Even though she nearly drove me crazy..." He said the last part with a smile and a dreamy look on his face which never escaped Josh's attention as he smiled too.
Seeing her ran into your arms makes me wanna kill you man, I swear. God! I was stupidly jealous..." Tunde said and they both laughed.
"If eyes could kill, I would have been dead and buried by now. Really man, that looks of yours was scary you know!" Josh exclaimed and they both laughed again. "But I really appreciate your honesty."
"Yeah, thanks for coming to see me."
"Today is her 20th birthday"
"Oh, really? She didn't say anything about today being her birthday to me."
"We planned a surprise party for her at the Golden Gate hotel." Josh brought out his phone and showed Tunde video clips and pictures from the party.
"She likes you, man... She likes you a lot and my sister has never liked any man, never even had a boyfriend. I'm not supposed to tell you all this, but since we're being honest with each other, I thought it would be right if you also know about her feelings."
"I really appreciate you telling me this. You don't know how much it means to me. I like her so much that not being with her right now is driving me crazy. Even though I can't put a name to what I'm feeling for her right now, I know for a fact that I can't bear to be away from her.
"This is Mike right?..." Tunde asked, pointing toward somebody inside the pictures Josh was showing him.
"Yeah, how did you know?..."
"Well, Abby mentioned he preferred him to me."
"Abby really said that to you?" Josh asked and laughed. He was amused at Tunde's tone of voice and wondered why Abby would say such to the man she likes.
Well, as far as I know, Mike is not important to her. He's the one who refused to give up on my sister... He knows Abby doesn't love him...but he's still hopeful that she would come around."