"Tess, are you okay?" it's my best friend. Since we got home after that night, she's been unusually weird and she said it's me that's being weird. How?
Well, maybe because we usually talk about everything yet I haven't said a word about what happened the other day and she hasn't asked. It's just crazy but everything will be fine. I just don't want her to fret that I had the best sex and time of my life with a handsome nameless stranger. And trust Josephine to be really scared at that. She knows that no matter how bad bitch I am, I'm still a softie and a traditional lover girl at heart. However, I have to make sure she doesn't worry. Not that I won't tell her, but not yet. I honestly don't know what I'm waiting for, maybe to be sure it's not a dream since but I guess it's not cos dreams have never been so happy for me. And that was way too vivid to be a dream. But then, I also think that if it were a dream, I wouldn't have wanted to wake up so soon because why would life be that perfect and…"Hello! Earth to Tessa. What's going on?" Jose says, looking really bothered, and this time I smile, hoping it looks real enough to believe and when it looks as if all is clear, I finally speak to reassure her that it's really okay. "Jose, I am fine. It's nothing. Let me have my bath and we'll talk." I say as I get down from the bed and trudge down to the bathroom. I consider what Jose thinks is wrong with me because I honestly don't think anything is wrong, at least not from the outside. I just don't understand why I feel this way myself. It's been a week already and that night still feels unreal. The fact that I assumed I'd be over it already is enough proof that I should never have put my hands there in the first place. It just shouldn't be this hard though. I'm sure he's somewhere else with a pretty lady, or well just doing something that doesn't concern me and I'm here moping like a kid who lost her shoe. Maybe it's because I am a lot of things and I have a lot of traits, but having a steeled heart is not one. And if Jose can think that something is wrong with me because of that night, then I need to do better. I decide to put it all out of my mind. After all, I'm not the first person to have a one-night stand.When I get out of the bathroom, I walk straight to the kitchen and see Jose making omelettes and pancakes, one of my favourites. "Mmmm, yummmmmm," She looks up and laughs widely."Common take your seat!"I plop onto the chair on the counter and smile up at her as she makes pancakes with my name. "That smells so heavenly, ughhhhh. Godddd." I say, sniffing the air and making her laugh. And then I decide to say something that she doesn't always want to hear it consider."Josephine, just hear me out. You're so good at this. Why not just… I don't know, just make it a business? Wait," I say as I see her obvious eye roll, a clear notation that she doesn't want to go there again. We've danced this dance a million times over already. But I continue regardless."You bake and cook so well yet every day you go out to teach! Jose, teach. You went to culinary school, for Christ's sake," I ignore her, "it was only for a month" and I continue."Even if you didn't go, you've always been good with your hands. I don't know, I just feel like you're wasting this talent but cooking and baking only here. I don't know, Jose." I shrug and pick at the pancakes she's now put at my front. She sighs deeply, and for a minute I almost hate myself for bringing it up but I just couldn't help myself. Girl's too good. Then as if she's tired of having the conversation, she drags a stool and sits on it and starts talking. "Tess, we've talked about this. You and I both know that I want this more than anything else in the world. Anything. But where's the money? Money is not going to fly, Tess. And you know it. The little savings we gather, we pay to this stupid landlord that we have with his insane increase every month. The teaching job keeps me sane at least, and I like it. If I didn't, I'd not even be there. Sure, the pay is wack but it's something at least. It's something. And till I'm able to save enough to open a new shop, get a food truck or something, I'll have to keep on teaching, and…" she stops as I want to interrupt and say something. "No, Tess. Just drop it. And how are we talking about me when we're supposed to be talking about you? Girl, how did you do that? Just start spilling, start talking."Instead of coming up with some witty comeback or something, I just blurt out, "we had sex."Nothing could have prepared me for Jose almost choking. I mean, I know she'd be shocked by choking. Come on. "Have some water, you naughty head and stop making me feel like a prude."She finally calms down enough to scream the building down. "Girl, what the fuck? What!!! You had sex with a stranger and you've kept it away from me for a week? Was it that good? And what were you thinking? Tess, a stranger! Do you even know his name? And I'm not judging but I never pegged you, my sweet and hoooooly friend, to do a one-night stand." She laughs at my obvious shock at what she's saying but she continues. "I'm sorry, just pulling your legs. I like it for you, but that's if you enjoyed it, so did you?" She says, waiting to hear the whole scoop.I just sigh unconsciously when I want to laugh it off instead. And trust Jose, she only says, "that bad, huh." And I don't even know when I start laughing. I laugh so hard I almost cry. "Yeah, Jose. Yeah, that bad. Best fucking night of my life. And I don't know his name."Jose whistles at first—something she's annoyingly good at—then she says, "start from the beginning. From when we left this house, I'm all ears." So I start, I tell her everything that happened, how it made me feel, and how I don't know what to think of it, how I don't know for sure if he heard my name. It's all so weird, talking about it, yet it feels normal. When I'm done, Jose just looks at me, smiles her pretty smile and gives me such a warm deep hug I want to cry. "I'd give you an ass spanking for not telling me earlier. But that was so… I can't find words. I can't find words and holy shit—she says as she sees the time—that's because I'm late. Damn! Love you, baby, we'll talk when I get back. Bye!" And then she's gone. I sink deeper, if that's possible, wondering how I even got myself here. Instead of drowning myself in what could have been, I decide to focus on what is and what I'd going to happen. I check the time and I see why Jose ran out that way. 8:15 am! Her boss is one of the most time-conscious people I know and I laugh out loud thinking of how she'd get through explaining her lateness, and how I'll explain mine if I let that happen. I've been jobless for some time, which is part of what caused my momentary depression, but I've been applying for jobs and I'm scheduled for an interview by 10:00 am today, which I was going to tell Jose cos we've been praying for forever for one. But I completely forgot and I'd tell her when she gets back. That's not what's so important now though, and my only thought as I clean up is what the hell I'd do at an interview I'm not too sure I'm prepared for. Anyhow, I just hope I get the job, I desperately need one.One hour later when I step in front of the mirror, it's with serious thanks that the company is not too far and I've been able to do a brush up. As I walk out of the house to hail a cab, my mind wanders again."Content Writer" for X'Development, a marketing agency. That was what the application form stated when I applied. I didn't even tell Jose when I applied because she'd warned me that in the bid not to be desperate, I shouldn't apply for every single job I see. And honestly, I understand that.When I think of it, it's funny how I studied Accounting yet my source of income is from Writing, a talent and a skill I honed. Getting out of the university and seeing that there was no job anywhere was tough. I applied to places that my CV resonated with, yet I wasn't able to get a decent job with decent pay. Everyone everywhere else said it was better to get a skill and I almost laughed at that, at first. You mean I spent four years and then some in a university only to come out and not see a job and then get a skill to get one? Why then did I disturb myself with the university process when I could have easily sat at home to learn a skill after secondary school? I asked myself that question a mi
"Girl, you're definitely kidding!" Vera laughs hysterically, making Jose join her."No, wait. Common! The man hit on you? Like continually? Guys, don't laugh. Stop now, don't laugh," but Tolani keeps on laughing as she's talking. And since I dropped the bomb, Kaisha hasn't been able to say a thing, she's been too busy laughing. She only asked if he was indeed bald and then fired up her laughter. I do blame myself for springing it up on them. I was just going to mention it like a passing thought since what I actually wanted to tell them was Jose still working at the school. And now, in our once-weekly or whenever-we-can virtual meeting, they're all laughing."Guys, stop. I trust Tess to hold her own against any bald lover-man, or boss," Jose chokes out and they all go another round laughing. But she continues, "Y'all, I wanted to tell you something else. Something sweet. You see, our girl here has a loverrrrr boy." She drags out and I groan and start walking to the room but Jose pulls
I lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling and wondering why the hell life is so twisted. On the outside, I have the perfect life. Multi-billionaire before 30. Engaged to the perfect woman (perfect woman my ass. If I had the chance, I'd run so far away from Clare). Son of a dragoness, as the press call her, but it's not really like that. It has never been and never will be.I just need some peace, is that too much to ask for? I slide my eyes to the wall clock next to my bed frame and my thought wanders to her. Tessa. The woman who has not been able to leave my mind ever since that night. Damn best night of my life. I'd forever be grateful to Lucas for making me go to that place. He doesn't know I've gone back there. In hopes that I'll see her. All fire and ice. Hot and beautiful, supple and sweet. Tessa. I can still remember what it felt like to have her under me. The arch of her back, the numerous sweet little moles she has on her body and how I'd take my sweet time to kiss them all
Rnnnng rnnng… rrmnnnggggOh, fuck! I hate alarms. And why do I even have an alarm on?? Last I checked, I was jobless. Oh my God! Oh my freaking!!! I jump out of bed and grab my phone to check the time. Oh my God! 8:00 am! Damn! Why the fuck did Jose not wake me?I see my answer as I slide my eyes over to the next room where I see Josephine snoring her ass off. Her boss will kill her, I think, as I almost laugh but I run over and smack her instead. It's crazy because even on weekends, this has never happened. So why does it have to happen on a Monday? My first day of work for fuck's sake?Jose rushes up and runs to the bathroom. I join her immediately and in five minutes, we are both out, still not saying a thing because we don't have the time for words. Before 8:30, we are both out of the house.Yes, it's my first day and work resumes by 9:00 am, but the steely-eyed Rachel –the receptionist–had told me to come early so she could show me around. And she didn't seem like she liked me, n
When I get into the house with a last glance at the back to be sure he didn't actually follow me, I see Jose sitting and looking weary, but I'm too immersed in my own problems to note that something is actually wrong. So I plop down on our three-sitter couch and start explaining my day, but I stop halfway when I notice that she's not really responsive."Babes, is everything okay? Or wait, your boss gave you hell for coming late, right? Nothing serious nau, cheer up abeg, let's get pepper soup, I'm stressed," I say, hoping to make her feel better, because pepper soup always does that to her, and for me, it's ice cream, but that's hardly the point, so I scoot closer to her and see the tear streaks which makes me freak out massively. Josephine is anything but a crybaby. In fact, since we've been best friends, I can count how many times I've seen her cry. "Baby? Josephine, what happened, please? Is it from home? Did you kill anybody? Where's the body so we can bury it, you'll hold the to
So we take the rest of the day to get cosy and discuss business plans. Not only is she a pastry chef, but she also cooks intercontinental dishes, so we agree that starting all might be too much and stressful to handle, and after much deliberation, she decides to start with pastries and desserts first. We draw up a business plan, create our buyer persona, and note that her target audience is brides-to-be or events and we decide to get in touch with an events planner to make everything better. Then she remembers that Tolani has a friend who does event planning, so we make a note to tell her after we break it to the girls. "And by the way, babe, they'll be so pissed at you for taking the fun away from them," I laugh because that's so apt, "Don't worry, I have the girls in my palm. I'll handle it, and there's still a lot more to discuss, and a lot more to do, but I think we've done so well for one night. Don't you think?" And then she looks teary again so I quickly bark at her to not get
It's been one month. One month of both the best and the worst. And trust me, it's not me that's been experiencing the former in my personal life, but Jose. I've tried so hard, so, so hard because I want to be happy, I want to keep this job, I want to have something of my own, but I guess one month is long enough to figure out that my future doesn't lie in X'Development. On the other hand, making the decision to start all over was the best decision that Jose could have ever made. In the past month, things have been going well. We passed through some obstacles, like our landlord insisting that we couldn't use the house to bake, even after we explained how nothing could go wrong, and how we have taken all the precautions and a million other things. When the old bastard finally accepted it, he said everything he wanted to eat from Jose's business would be free. Imagine his audacity. Jose didn't really mind though. She said he'd change and I really hoped so. Aside from the man, nothing re
"So Tessa," he begins, "How has your one month been so far? To me, you've been doing beautifully well and I look forward to many more months. But let me know what you think. And then I know we're yet to have those meetings with the rest of the team but…"All of a sudden, I'm so angry, at everything else and most especially, the fact that they lie so blatantly even right to my face. "What team, sir? Is there actually a team?" I ask. And trust his wife to jump us asking what I mean by that and that I should explain immediately while her husband doesn't really look like he wants to hear that."Gladly, ma'am. Before I came here, the job description was as a content writer. I got here and found out that it was an SEO content writer you needed instead but I didn't complain, because thankfully, I have some experience there. I worked hard every day doing not just the role of SEO content writer, but everyone else who's supposed to be on the team. If we're going to go further after this month,