“I know, I don’t mind living with you but I think we need our space. We’ve been in
each other’s space for a long time now and it’s not healthy. We’re becoming too
codependent on each other”.
“Mmmm, you’re right. But it’ll take a while for you to save up to secure a place”.
“Yeah but I might take an advance”.
“Is that possible?”
“Yeah, Richard said I could do that”.
“Richard, I bet he’s the one who talked you into this”.
“No, he didn’t. We were just..”
“It’s fine, if you want to move out, it’s okay”.
“Deann”, she said, grabbing his hands.
“Oh, it’s actually fine. I’m not pissed”.
“You sure?”
“Yeahh”.
“Mmm, okay”.
“So how’s work? And how’s your friend Lisa?” He asked and she gave him a look.
“Work is fine and Lisa is also fine. She actually…” she started to say but she
stopped herself from telling Dean about Lisa’s interest in him.
“She what?”
“She asked of you”.
“Oh okay. She’s really a nice person, I think she’ll be a very good friend to you, atleast you’ll have one sensible female friend”, he said, chuckling.
“Yeah she is. She’s bubbly and she always has everyone’s interest at heart”.
“Yeah, I could tell with the number of people who were cheering her on at the
dinner, I can see that she’s loved by so many”.
“Yeah, she’s like the sweetheart of everyone at work”.
“That’s nice”, he said, smiling.
“Do you find her attractive?” She asked him.
“What? Why will ask me that?”
“Just asking”.
“She’s beautiful but my eyes are pretty occupied”, he said, wiggling his brows at
her.
“You’re so corny”, she said, giving him a face.
“Well, you like it that way”, he said to her and she chuckled.
They talked for a while till the food arrived.
“Yayyyy”, Jessica said, smiling. “I’ve really missed sea food”, she said, smiling.
She quickly grabbed the crab legs, snapped the top shell and used her fingers to
take out the meaty part.
Dean stared at her and he chuckled.
“You’re just something else”, he said, laughing.
“Do you want some?” She asked.
“No, I’m okay with my chicken wings”, he said, teasing her because he knew how
she also liked chicken wings.
“I want some of the chicken”, she said to him and before he could respond, she
placed her hands in his plate.
“Yes, you can have some”, he said in a sarcastic manner and she ignored him and
grabbed the chicken wings.
“You’re welcome”.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I offered you my crab legs and you
declined. So…”, she said, shrugging.
“You’re free to eat whatever you want to eat your royal highness”, he said to her
and she waved her hands in the air like a princess.
“Thank you my loyal servant”, she said to him and they laughed.
“We’re acting like we are two”, she said, laughing.
“I remember the last time we came here, we were still in school…”
“No, no, don’t talk about it”.
“Why?”
“I actually cried that night”, she said, chuckling.
“You cried? Why?”
“You didn’t pay no attention to me the whole time and I remember you were
asked who you had a crush on and you said Tanya”, she said, rolling her eyes.
“Really?? I can’t even remember. I’m sure I was just messing around. And please,
no day goes by without me paying attention to you. I practically steal glances at
you every freaking day”.
“Well, I didn’t notice that and you said you had a crush on Tanya. That’s what I
focused on”.
“I was just messing around”.
“Well, it hurt me”, she said, sipping her drink.
“I’m sorry”.
“You’ll have to do better than that”, she said, rolling her eyes.
“I can see you want to be tickled in public”, he said to her and she widened her
eyes.
“Apology accepted”.
“That’s more like it”, he said, chuckling.
They continued with their food and when they were done, they took a walk along
the shoreline of the beach with their hands joined together.
“This is actually my best year so far. I’ve got a huge job promotion and now I
finally have you”, he said to her and she smiled.
“I know you’re waiting for me to make a decision and I’m really scared because I
might lose you if I go with Richard”.
“No, you’re not going to lose me. It’s you and me forever as friends even if we end
up together or not”.
“Hmm, you’re saying this now but you don’t know what can happen”.
“Can we just pause with this conversation and enjoy the moment”, he said to her
and she nodded.
They stood by a rock and they leaned on it as they stared at the sea.
Dean wrapped his hands around her and she placed her head on him.
“This scenery is everything and the breeze is cold”, she said, smiling.
“Yeahh, is it making you cold?”
“No, I like it”.
“Okay”.
They stayed in that position for a long while and as the weather got into the
them, they kissed and things started to her heated but Dean pulled back.
“I’m really sorry”, he said to her.
“No, it’s not you. It’s the both of us and I’m really sorry too Dean. I can’t keep
doing this with you and also be with Richard. He has no idea what’s going on and
I feel like I’m cheating and being unfair to him. This shouldn’t have happened”,
she said to him with her hands on her the two sides of a her cheek.
“Jessica…”
“I’m a Christian and I’m just playing with two people’s hearts and kissing them
and just doing anything. I don’t even know what’s wrong with me”, she said,
facepalming.
“I need some air”, she said, walking away.
“Jess”, Dean said, following her.
“It’s getting late. You can’t walk around here on your own. Let’s just go home”.
“Take the lead, I’ll come by myself”.
“No, I can’t leave you here. Let’s go home and I’ll give you the space you need”.
“Dean, I..”
“Jess! there’s no way I’m leaving you here. It’s either we both stay here and you
have me all up in your face or we go home and you get all the space you want”.
“Sure, let’s go home”, she said, folding her arms and looking down at the sand.
“Let’s take one of the cabs home”.
“Sure”, she said to him and they walked towards the exit.
When they got home, Jessica walked into her room and Dean walked into his.
She took off her clothes, walked into her bathroom and took a cold shower.
As she was taking a shower, what Lisa said started ringing in her ears and she
knew that she had to make a choice before things got more heated and
complicated.
After taking her shower, she sat on her bed and said some prayers, trying to get
more clarification but it wasn’t really helping.
She placed her hands on the two sides of her head and thought about everything
for a long while till she came to a decision on who she was going to pick.
