“Jessica!” Richard called out.
“Yes”, she said, snapping back to reality.
“Alright, I’ll pick you up this evening”, he said to her and she widened her eyes.
The yes was a response to him calling her name and not the date. She was still
figuring out what to say to him and now she didn’t know how to tell him that she
didn’t say yes in response to that.
“Will you like to go in your work clothes or will you want to go home to change?”
He asked her and she nodded.
“Jessica are you okay?” He asked, chuckling.
“Yeahhh, I am”.
“I asked a question and you just nodded”.
“What was the question?”
“You didn’t hear what I just asked?”
“Sorry, I drifted off”.
“Are you sure everything is okay?”
“Yeah”.
“You sure?”
“Yes Richard. I’m okay, everything is okay”, she said, smiling.
“Okay. So I was asking if you would want to go for the date in your work clothes
or will you want to go home to change?”
“No, I can’t go home. Dean will be at home”, she said to herself.
“I’ll go in my work clothes”, she said, smiling.
“Alright. I’ll be back to pick you up”.
“You going somewhere?”
“Yeah, I have to attend to some meetings”.
“Oh okay”.
“Yeahh”.
“Alright, I have to get back to my office”, she said, getting on her feet and he also
got on his feet.
“Jessica”, he called out and she turned around to see his arms opened.
She chuckled and walked up to him and he hugged her.
“You smell so good”, he said to her and she could feel his hot breath on her neck.
“Thank you”, she said to him and they stayed in that position for a while.
“I have to go now”, she said, whispering in his ear.
“Alright, I’ll see you tonight”, he said to her.
“Okay”, she said, smiling and she walked towards the door.
She turned the knob to unlock the door and she walked out.
“Jessica”, Lisa called out.
“Shoot!” She said to herself.
“Have you lost your way? That’s Mr Day’s bedroom”.
“Yeah, I was actually trying to find out what was in there”, Jessica said, chuckling.
“Don’t tell me you met him in there”, Lisa said, chuckling.
“Yeah, I did”.
“Oh my God! What did he say?” She said, laughing.
“Nothing, I told him I was sorry and he just looked at me”.
“Oh Jessica, why did you have to poke your nose. You would have gotten into
serious trouble”.
“Yeahh but I guess today is my lucky day”, she said, smiling.
“Thank your stars. Was he sleeping? I need to speak to him”.
“No, he wasn’t”.
“Okay, I’ll just knock and wait for him to step out then”.
“Alright”, she said to her and she walked into her office.
“Oh God”, she said, panting when she walked in.
“That was a quick save. I’ll have to be more careful next time”, she said to herself
and she took her seat and got back to work.
As she was typing, Lisa walked in.
“Jess, we have a serious business to talk about”.
“A business?? What business?”
“Hmm”, she said, taking her seat and Jessica stared at her, wondering what she
was about to say.
“Is Dean single?” She asked and Jessica was surprised.
“Are you being serious?”
“Yeahhh, I just want to know before I start having some funny ideas”.
“I don’t really know how to answer that. It’s complicated”.
“How complicated? Maybe I can give him some clarity”, she said, wiggling her
brows.
“It’s not something I can really explain, he likes someone and they’re still working
it out”.
“Still working it out?”
“Lisa, just get your eyes off”.
“Mmm, I really wanted to get to know him”, she said, frowning. “Since it’s not
really serious, maybe I can shoot my shot”.
“Lisa, stop being so thirsty”, she said, chuckling.
“I can’t oo. Have you seen Dean? Wait, how do you even stay so close to him
without catching feelings?” She asked and Jessica was quiet.
“Oh wait, you have feelings for himmmmm! I knew it! Like how can you not?” She
said, teasing her and she laughed.
“Oh, you’re not even denying it! Well, I can’t blame you, he’s super hot and he
seems like a nice person”.
“Yeah, he is”.
“So why haven’t you told him about it”?
“Hmm, I have, we actually spoke about it the night of your birthday”.
“Oh now, I understand the complication you were talking about. What’s
complicated about it? Doesn’t he like you that way?”
“He does but there’s someone else in my life”.
“What? Who else is fit to compete with Dean and he’s your bestfriend!”
“It’s not that easy and trust me, this other person is a whole package on his own”.
“Mmm, how long have you known this person for?”
“Couple of weeks”.
“Weeks?? Are you serious?”
“I really like him and he’s been so sweet to me and I can’t shake him off”.
“But you’ve known Dean for a longer time right?” She asked and Jessica nodded.
“Hmmm, anyway, if you don’t like him, then uncomplicate things for Dean and set
him free for me”, she said, wiggling her brows.
“I’m kidding though. Now that I know that you like him, I’ll back off but you’ll
have to make a choice soon or you’ll lose them both”.
“Yeahh, I’m having a hard time making a choice and what makes things worse is
that I live with Dean”.
“You live with Dean?!” She asked, surprised.
“Yeahhh”.
“Girl, you two are literally married. There’s no way you going to move on with
another man”.
“Yeah, that’s why I have to move out to get a clear head”.
“So you’re going to keep them both till you move out?”
“I don’t know”, she said, facepalming.
“Mmm, so have you two ever slept together?” She asked and Jessica widened her
eyes.
“What? No”.
“Not even a kiss?”
“Just once and it happened recently and didn’t even last more than 2 seconds”.
“Wow, you two really have a strong will power”.
“It’s not been easy but as a Christian, I can’t really play with that. I’m keeping
myself for my husband”.
“Aww, that’s nice and Dean is doing the same?”
“He’s struggling with it”.
“I see. And he’s never made a move on you?”
“No, he respects my values. He actually held on to his feelings because he felt like
if we get into a relationship, we’ll get sexual and so he was trying to prevent
that”.
“Aww, that’s so sweet of him. That’s actually a selfless thing to do!”
“Yeahhh”.
“And you’re still confused on who to go with?”
“If you knew the other guy, you would understand my confusion”.
“Hmm, you’ll definitely need to make a choice soon or you’ll lose both”.
“Yeahh, I know”.
“I’m team Dean though. You two will be so cute together”, she said to her and
Jessica chuckled.
“Anyway, I came here to get his contact but since he’s occupied, I’ll just stay in my
lane”, she said, chuckling.
“Philip is there for you”, Jessica said, chuckling.
“Ooh!!! So, Philip doesn’t stand a chance. I actually forgot about the fact that he
likes you. Oh too bad. I was actually rooting for him, I guess I’ll have to pass on
the bad news”.
“Yeah, pass it on so he that he leaves me alone”, she said, laughing.
“Or maybe he can keep shooting his shot. Who knows, you might dump the other
two for him”, she said, laughing and Jessica glared at her.
“No way!”
“You never know! Anyway, I have to get going, I’ll see you at lunch”, she said,
getting on her feet and she left.
Jessica’s conversation with Lisa made her a bit worried and more confused.
“How did I go from being the girl on the sidelines to having Richard Day and my
childhood crush at the same time. Oh Lord, when I asked for love, I didn’t ask for
two”, she said, facepalming.
“If I pick Richard, my friendship with Dean will be weird and I’ll probably have to
move out quickly. And then if I pick Dean, it’ll be so weird being in this place with
Richard. Like how are we going to act around each other?” She said to herself.
“And dating Richard would also be a risk to my job but it’s a risk I’m willing to
take”, she thought to herself.
“And I can’t imagine my life without Dean. Oh Lord! What is wrong with me?!”
She said, hitting her forehead.
As she was busy in her thoughts, her phone went off and when she saw the caller
ID, she widened her eyes.
“Oh Dean, how am I going to tell you that I’m bailing on you?” She said to herself
and she picked up the call.
“Is this is a good time to call?” He asked in an excited tone.
“Yeahh”.
“Okay, how are you doing?”
“I’m good. How are you also doing?”
“Very good! I have something huge to share with you. I wanted to wait till I see
you tonight but it’s too huge for me to keep to myself”, he said, grinning.
“What is it?” She asked, getting excited.
“I’ve just been promoted to a senior IT officer!”
“Oh my God!!!” She exclaimed.
“What? How? You didn’t even become a junior IT officer? Straight to a senior
officer? Within a short period of time? What juju did you use on these people?”
She asked, laughing.
“It’s your prayers and my mum’s prayers! Like everything is still like a dream to
me!!
“What happened?!”
“Hmm, so apparently we got hacked. Like all our systems were compromised and
vital information was being leaked. The senior IT officers couldn’t even figure out
how to block the hackers and my co-workers and I were not even involved in the
whole thing because they didn’t think that we would have the intel to figure it out
but you know how I like to poke my nose in things that don’t concern me”, he
said to her and she laughed.
“So whiles my co-workers were talking about the whole situation, I got to work.
You know I was once a hacker in the university till I saw the light”, he said,
laughing.
“So yeah, I figured out how to block the hackers and cut them off. And at first no
one was willing to hear me out and when nothing seemed to be working out, they
had no other option than to hear what I had to say. So I told them what to do and
honestly I was shaking in my boots and I wasn’t 100% sure that it was going to
work but then it did!!!”
“Wow!!!! I always knew that you were a genius! And so everything is fixed now?”
“They’ve been able to prevent the hackers from getting in but we couldn’t do
much about the information which was leaked”.
“Wow, and so they promoted you?”
“Yes! The director literally hugged me and shook my hands. And right there, he
just moved me up! Like I’m still in shock and everyone is also in shock”.
“Oh my God!!! I’m so happy for you. I remember how you were saying that you
wanted to be a junior IT officer and now you even got a bigger position! Wow!
God is really working on your case!”
“Yes! He is and guess what this promotion comes with with?”
“A house?”
“I wish”, he said, laughing.
“It comes with a car for easy transportation and I’m not going to pay rent
anymore! My rent will be catered for! And there are more benefits and
allowances too! I’m still yet to receive the contract to read the whole thing. These
are just speculations from my co-workers”.
“Oh God! I’m literally in tears. I’m so happy for you! I wish I was there to hug you
right now! You deserve this and more! You’re smart and you’re hardworking”.
“Everything still feels like a dream honestly! When I told my mum, she screamed
so loud! And according to my dad, she was rolling on the floor”, he said, laughing.
“Of course she has to roll! This is so big. Like you just got the job last year and
now you’ve moved to a higher rank?! We need to celebrate this!” She exclaimed.
“Yes!! I was thinking that we should cancel the movie and do something else”, he
said in excitement and her face dropped when she realized that she had a date
night with Richard.
“Hello?” He said to her.
“Yeahh yeah”.
“So what do you think we should do? Should we eat out? Or just take a walk and
grab some snacks?!” He asked.
“That’s a good idea”, she said to him.
“Alright, I’ll pick you up from work, is that cool?”
“Yeahh”.
“Alright. See you”, he said to her and he hung up.
“Arghhh!!! Why is this happening to me?” She said in frustration.
“I can’t bail on Dean”, she said, facepalming.
“I guess I’ll just have to bail on Richard but will he understand? He’s set up a
whole yacht for tonight”.
“Hmm”, she said to herself and she got back to work.
As the night drew on, she decided to bail on Richard. She took her phone out and
called him.
“Hey beautiful”, he said to her. “Am I late?” He asked.
“No, no, uhmm, can we do this tomorrow?” She asked and he was quiet.
“Did I upset him?” She said to herself and she was about to speak but he walked
into her office.
“Why tomorrow?” He asked, looking at her and she was surprised to see him. She
placed her phone down and she looked up at him.
“Something came home at home”.
“What? Did something happen?” He asked, concerned.
“No, no. It’s just that uhm, my, I….”
“Did Erica send you on an errand?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
“No no, it’s not that. So, my best friend got a huge promotion today and he wants
us to celebrate it”, she said to him and she looked down at her fingers as she
awaited his response.
“Your bestfriend? Who? Dean?”
“Yeahhhh”.
“Ohh, that’s great. Where does he work at?”
“JB IT solutions”.
“JB? I know JB, he’s friends with my dad”, he said to her and she wasn’t too
surprised.
“Alright, that’s fine. We can do it tomorrow”, he said to her and her eyes lit up.
“Oh God, he’s so understanding! Like he’s just so perfect!” She said to herself.
“You’re spacing out again”, he said to her.
“Oh, I’m sorry. And Thank you so much for understanding, I didn’t think that
you’ll be cool with it”.
“He’s your bestfriend and you have to be there for him, I understand. But he’s
going to have to understand that you’ve got a man now. Give him the heads up for
next time”, he said to her and she chuckled.
“So do you want to me to drop you off?”
“Oh no, he’s coming to pick me up”.
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then”, he said, walking up to her.
“Enjoy your evening”, he said, pecking her on the cheek and he left.
Dean was in an Uber, waiting in the car park for Jessica.
“Heyyyy”, she said, getting into the car and she hugged him.
“Congratulations”, she said to him and she released her grip of him.
“Thank you”, he said to her.
“So where are we going to eat at?”
“I was thinking that we should go to the beach”.
“Late night beach? I’m down with that”, she said, smiling.
“I knew you would love it”, he said, smiling.
“Driver, we can go now”, he said to the driver and the driver drove off.
Few minutes later, they arrived at the beach and they sat at one of the huts which
was closer to the sea shore.
“What drink will you like to take?” He asked her.
“Coconut water, duh”, she said to him.
“And what will you like to eat?”
“Crab legs”.
“So typical of you”, he said to her and she chuckled.
He called the waiter who was on stand by and he gave them their orders.
“I’m really happy for you Dean. Have you been able to read the contract yet?”
“No, I’ll get it tomorrow”.
“So everything will be sealed tomorrow?”
“Yeahhh”.
“I really wish they’ll give you a house or wait, you can move to a better place and
get them to pay for it”.
“Well, I don’t know if I can do that. I’ll read the contract tomorrow and see what
it’s in it”.
“Mmm, okay”.
“It’ll be nice for us to move to a new place though”, he said, smiling.
“Us? I’m planning to find my own place”, she said, chuckling and he frowned.
“Why? I’m not chasing you”.
“Dean, I can’t keep living with you. I only moved in because I didn’t want to stay
with my parents and I told you that I’ll move out when I get a job and some
money to secure a place”.
“Yeahh but you don’t have to spend your money on a new place. I don’t mind if
you keep living with me”.
