My Instagram Love

Episode 9

Meanwhile, Jessica returned into the room after Tunde’s fiancée had abused me verbally. I had called her to come back inside precisely after he informed me not to worry about him and quickly apologized for the inconvenience that his rude fiancée had caused, then he turned off our video call and logged out immediately.

It’s been 2 hours since that ugly incident occurred but it felt like 2 minutes to me. I wondered what he was going through in her hands wherever he was. I wondered if he still had sanity and peace of mind because I was so sure she would flare up at him the same way she had done to me. I could only imagine what would’ve happened to me if I happened to be within her reach when she saw me on the laptop’s screen during the video call. She looked bigger, taller and probably stronger than I was, so I knew that the chances of survival for me in such a situation would be equal to zero percent. I knew it was a complete bad idea to share too much intimacy with someone else’s man, so I was hellbent on keeping whatever Prince Charming and I were building up together in the friend zone level. Henceforth, I made up my mind not to exceed the limits of friendship. Everything we would text and joke about during our chats or say and laugh about during our video calls would be based on strict friendship rules. Nothing more, nothing less than that.

As much as this decision was a hard one for me to make, I knew it was for the greater good and for the sake of my dear life and dignity. Half bread they say is better than none. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Still battling with these troubling thoughts in my head, I received a phone call from the very person I was thinking about. I never wanted to pick it up but Jessica persuaded me to do so. Reluctantly, I did.
“Hello.” I mouthed indifferently.

Tunde must have noticed the indifference from my voice when he asked, “You sound quite odd, Lola. Why is that so?”
“Nothing.” I said tersely. “What can I do for you?”

“Well…” I could sense the instability of his voice as he talked. He almost trailed off but got back on track in no time. “Are you less busy right now?”
“Sort of.”

He hesitated a bit before speaking, “Since you are currently free, can you come back online on Skype, please?”
“No.” I said bluntly, forgetting that the call was on loudspeaker and that my friend could hear us clearly. She gave me a weird look when I said no.

“Why?” Tunde asked, sounding off-key. “I was really looking forward to video calling with you.”

“Well, I’m not interested for now.”
Jessica’s trademark frown registered a place on her face as usual and she whispered: “Don’t be stupid, Lola. Stop forming to be an iron lady or some sort of powerful goddess and do as he says.”
“Leave me alone.” I snapped back at her in a rather soft but audible whisper. Unfortunately, Tunde heard me clearly.

“Pardon?”
“I wasn’t referring to you.”
“Okay.” He said, and added softly: “Should I be expecting you on Skype soon?”

“I said I’m not interested for now.” I repeated, stressing the words just in case he didn’t hear me clearly the first time. “Read my lips! I AM NOT INTERESTED.”
“Alice wants to see you.”