Zee's Diary: A shoulder to lean on.

I woke up by 3pm, hungry. I tore the transparent nylon off the hamper and opened the pack of apples in it. I washed and ate two of it, then I began to prepare stew and jollof rice. I got the snail and beef from the fridge and seasoned the beef with thyme, curry, seasoning cubes, onions, salt, ginger, garlic and black pepper. I cooked the snails with lesser ingredients.

By 4pm I was almost done with cooking the jollof rice. I went into my room to get my phone and before I could say "Jack Robinson", I could perceive my food burning. I ran to the kitchen and turned off the gas cooker. It smelt like party jollof rice. 

I treated myself to a meal of jollof rice, peppered snails and beef. "I should own a restaurant some day", I thought to myself and laughed because I knew the impossibility of that.

I checked my phone and saw five missed calls from Bryan, twenty missed calls from Layo and uncountable messages on WhatsApp. I was only away for a few hours. I opened Bryan's message and he was yelling at me for leaving his house unannounced. I started typing "I wonder if you take me for a fool or you just want to joggle two women at a go. I need you to know that I can never settle for being an option in anyone's life, including you! Your girlfriend is a nice person. Only God knows what would've happened if she didn't have a kind heart; maybe she would've bathed me with acid or hot water...", I stopped and cleared everything and simply typed, "I'm sorry. Your girlfriend came around and I was kind of in a hurry to leave because I felt uncomfortable. Thanks for yesterday" and sent it.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes and I tried to stop them from dropping but they eventually did. I called Layo and she was asking why I didn't pick my calls. I asked if she was at home, she said "yes, I am" and in less than an hour, I was in a vehicle to her place.

When I got to her doorstep and knocked the door, she opened it and I gave her a tight hug. She knew something was amiss. She hugged me and rubbed my back. We went in and she offered me some home made meat pie and pineapple juice. I ate it slowly and she asked "babes, what's wrong?" I tried talking but I wasn't hearing myself. I shut my mouth again. I was finally able to talk to her about what transpired between Bryan and I. She moved closer to me and hugged me. She knew how I felt and she said "these men are not worth your tears. Cheer up!" I needed to be reminded of this. Men are not worth crying over. They're bunch of humans without emotions. All my life, I've never met a man who has cared for or loved me like I did, except for Mr. Brown. I was in 200 level in the university when I met him; he was good looking and very kind. I had fallen in love with him, not until I discovered he was married.  I've always been heartbroken. I cried in Layo's arms. She rubbed my back and consoled me.

We talked about a number of things; about work, the different men we encountered daily, planning our next shopping spree and all. I loved shopping, so I giggled when we talked about the latest clothes we were going to get. 

It was already getting dark and I suggested that I left to my house but Layo pleaded that I spent the night at her place. I agreed. The following day was Sunday and I wasn't going to church. I couldn't even remember the last time I attended church. "Maybe that's why my life is like this", I thought.

Layo prepared plantain and eggs for dinner. We ate, watched TV and chatted till late in the night before we slept. I enjoyed and loved every moment I spent with Layo. She was the best thing Unilag gave to me, not even the first class certificate I bagged in Law could beat this.