TONGUE-TIED.

Iyameni watched with a smile on her face as Arinze got up and walked to the window. He was a beautiful specimen. Tall, dark and solid, even in his nudity.She watched the supple muscles move and the veins twitch. He was beautiful to look at. 

The room was cold from the air conditioner. She tucked herself further into the covers. Her grandmother had told her with all seriousness, with that voice that comes with age and wisdom and concern, "Meni, my dear. You have to grab what you want. People are generally stupid. Don't let their stupidity cloud your judgement." She believed grandma. She believed grandma all the time.

Arinze was her classmate at the University of Southampton. He had come there for his Master's program which he had almost completed. He was like her academically, though more passionate about Public Health than she was. He had a good heart, caring for the less privileged, helping the orphans and the women whom life had dealt a hard blow. He was a lovely man. Above all, he knew how to treat a lady. Boy, he was good!

Her phone rang. It was her boyfriend. "My sweetheart!!!", her voice rang out. And then a deep laughter at something he said. "Sweetheart, the workload here is killing. Thank you for always checking up on me. You're the best." She blew a kiss through the phone and smiled. Then she tucked herself further into the covers and made a content noise. She was a naughty girl, yes, but she was a naughty and satisfied girl. She loved her life.

Arinze was done starring out the window. She thought he was there to rearrange his thoughts. She didn't mind whatever he did. They were friends. Friends with benefits. He lived his life.Just as she lived hers. Both respected each others choices and both knew the rules. He walked up to her and pulled her to him. He was strong. He planted a kiss on her forehead. A well thought kiss. She sensed the emotion. She shifted and asked him, "Nze, I hope we are still on the same page?" He smiled and nodded. Smiles lie. She didn't believe his smile.

On her drive back to her quarters, she thought about her options. Both guys were beautiful. With beautiful souls. She didn't know what made her undertake such a venture in the first place. It just happened. She liked both. She took both. Grandma was right. Not taking what you want makes you unhappy. She had spent some time thinking. She didn't like it but then, life always have a way of sorting things out. Especially things like this.

Some weeks later, close to their final exams, she called Arinze to know if he was done with his abstract. He prepared such things better than she did. And she needed his work for reference. A female voice spoke into the phone. She welcomed it. Zoba was his girlfriend. A remainder that both were taken and in serious relationships. Taken. That word.

But then, she had no ring on her finger. Neither did he promise anyone anything. She defined TAKEN as a word that starts when he gets down on one knee and pops the million dollar question, "Will you marry me? And she replies with all zest, "YES!!!". Seeing as this hadn't happened to them both, she considered herself free. FREE!!! That word ignited happiness.

"Arinze has been seriously sick for the past two days. I have called the Medical Center. They are taking care of him", Zoba said. "Ok. He's in good hands," Iyameni replied. Zoba knew they were friends. Iyameni wasn't close to Zoba. She was a new student, beautiful, curvy, intelligent and timid. Very timid. Maybe that's why she never bothered to make Zoba her friend. Iyameni had always hated timid girls. Girls who knew what they wanted but were too timid to take it. They weren't the type of friends she made.

Iyameni was still basking in her self confidence and happiness when she heard a knock on her door. She opened it. "Zoba, what's up? How's he?" "Don't Zoba me! I know what you've been doing. Taking care of him. Cooking for him. Calling him all the time. Inviting him over. For what? Who do you think you are? I am Chizoba. His girlfriend!!!! I can take care of him better than any girl can. Stay away from MY MAN! Else I'll deal with you. I'm not happy with you one bit. Nonsense."

Iyameni looked at her. She liked her face but she looked at her with sadness. Zoba reeked of low self-esteem. And fear. Iyameni wanted to tell her that he was not  HER MAN. She wanted to tell to own her relationship, to handle it like a BOSS. She wanted to tell her to be confident. She wanted to tell her that he was just a friend, somebody she considered as 'public property'. A friend she had no such interest in. She wanted to tell her that he wouldn't have gotten into her life if she (Zoba) had done her work well. She had a lot to tell her.

But she simply said, "NOTED". She pitied her. For the first time in her adult life, she was TONGUE-TIED.


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