IMADE AND JAMAL

JAMAL.

"Jamal?"

I still could not believe it. Of all places to meet Imade, it had to be at my company. My place of work.

After I had already planned a thousand ways to avoid her or anything to do with her, she shows up right in front of me and I temporarily froze when our eyes met.

I had no idea how to react. I thought of just walking away from her but knowing Imade, she would have made it her mission to know why I ignored her and I didn't want that to happened cause it wouldn't end well for her.

Should I have at least acknowledged that I knew her instead of denying to know her completely? My guilty conscience tries to reason but at the end of the day, I still think I did the right thing. Acknowledging I knew her would put me in an uncomfortable situation and at the moment I can't afford to be in any kind of situation.

"What's on your mind?" A voice interrupts my thoughts and I look up to see Natasha standing behind my table with her usual one sided smile.

"Hello beautiful." I greet with a wink, earning a dimpled smile from her. "What can I do for you?" I add quickly, watching as she sashayed seductively towards me and immediately sits my thighs. Typical Tasha. "There's only one thing you can do for me right now and I'm pretty sure, you know what I'm talking about." She whispers quietly and if that was her attempt to be seductive, she wasn't doing a bad job at it but unfortunately for her, I wasn't in the mood at all. My mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of Imade and I was curious to know exactly what her job here is.

"I know what you want Tasha but unfortunately I'll have to take a raincheck on your invitation, I'm currently busy but I promise, I'll come through later, okay?" I tell her calmly and plant a quick kiss on her lips to avoid her temper tantrum.

"Does your sudden mood have anything to do with the lady you met earlier?" She asks suddenly, with a slight frown on her face.

"And how did you know I met a lady earlier?" I retort cluelessly, although I already knew the answer to my own question.

"Just answer the question Jamal. Is your bad mood because of that intern you met earlier?" She asks again, this time sounding upset. "Why? Are you jealous?" I reply with a playful laugh and her frown deepens.

"Just answer me Jamal. Who is she?" She questions and knowing her as well as I did, she wasn't going to back down till I told her.

"She's just an old friend." I reply quickly, hoping she would let it go but instead something about my reply seemed a little funny to her and I raised my brows at her wondering why she laughed.

"Give it to me straight Jamal, she's one of your past conquests, right? And let me guess, you broke her heart, just like you always do, am I right?" She asks with a short mocking laugh and the confidence she had whilst saying all that, slightly infuriated me but I was able to calm myself down and wear a fake smile on my face.

"She's not a past conquest Tasha, she's an old friend and she was a good one but now she's past tense and I'd rather she remained that way, okay?" I tell her off quickly but as usual, her synthetic head didn't get the memo.

"Hmm... Seeing you getting so defensive over her is making me feel slightly anxious. Should I be worried? Is she supposed to be competition? If so, I don't think she's any match for me as a rival. She's way too bland, boring and I know, she's not your type." She says proudly and confidently and I could not help the laugh that escaped my lips.

"Wow! Your confidence is scaring me. You seem way too sure that she's not my type but what if she is? You know I'm not one to enjoy the same thing for too long. I love to switch and taste every flavour available." I state calmly and I could immediately tell that my reply had provoked her as I expected and I mentally chuckle at how easy it was to play with her emotions.

"I know you can't be serious Jamal. That bland loser can never be your type and I'm confident about that because I know you well and I know you hate slow girls like her and she obviously has burden written all over her so my confidence has a reason." She scoffs and I yawn.

"This is getting tiring Natasha. You didn't even meet this girl and yet you already know what she looks like. Don't you ever get tired?." I ask and she smirks.

"As you already know, I hate competition and I don't mind you fooling around with any rat that comes your way but don't you dare get attached to any of them. Remember, they're just pass time and they should not cross that line." She warns sternly, placing a quick kiss on my lips before walking out of the office.

"Crazy bitch!" I mutter to myself as soon as she leaves, wondering why I still keep her around me. Well truth be told, she's not someone I can easily get rid of and I genuinely cared about her even if sometimes she infuriated me to no end.

I contemplate on whether or not to leave the office but decide against leaving since I still haven't found out what Imade does here but whatever it is she's doing here, she'll have to stop cause she can't be here. I can't allow that.

...

"Jamal, you've barely said a word since we got here. What's wrong with you?" Daniel asks worriedly.

"Nothing bro, I'm good." I reply calmly, gulping down another cup of water.

"Well, it doesn't look like nothing to me." Joshua chimes in randomly, earning a scowl from me.

"Mind your fucking business, you prick!" I hiss back at him and he scoffs.

"Someone forgot to take their anger management pills today. Why don't you be a good boy jamjam and take your pills to avoid acting out like a fucking toddler." He jeers at me and I turn towards to hit him but Daniel was quick to pull my hand back.

"Stop it you two! Stop acting like children." He warns and I hear Joshua scoff beside me.

"He started it by being a prick. I was only asking him why he looked gloomy. Not that I care though." He says and I roll my eyes.

"Next time, don't ask if you don't care." I snap back at him.

"I'm sorry to say this guys, but sometimes, you two embarrass me and I'm starting to think we shouldn't be hanging out together. I shouldn't be dealing with your bad energy." Daniel says all of a sudden and we simultaneously turn to him with a what the fuck are you saying look on our faces.

"He says too much nonsense, let's ignore him." Joshua says boredly and I agree with him. It wasn't exactly the first time Daniel would say such nonsense but he never really meant it cause at the end of the day, we were his best friends and he loves us.

"Let's order something quickly cause that weird dude is starting to stare at us like we're beggars or something." Joshua points out and we look towards the direction to see an elderly man giving us the stink eye but trying to hide it with a tight lipped smile.

"Maybe he thinks we're just going to drink water and leave, some people do that a lot and it's pretty upsetting." Daniel explains and I chuckle a little before calling for a waiter.

"Can we get a waiter!" I yell out and almost immediately my phone beeps in my pocket, distracting me temporarily.

I look at my phone and see it's a text from Natasha. I ignore it and look back up at the waiter and to say I'm beyond surprised to see the person standing right in front of me would be an understatement. "Uncle Jamal?" She gasps dramatically and I mentally roll my eyes. Typical Lolade, always dramatising. A look of surprise and curiosity grew up both Daniel and Joshua's faces but I ignore them and turn to face the girl in front of me.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I ask, pretending to be stunned. Both Joshua and Daniel keep staring at us curiously and I could tell Joshua was itching to say something stupid but Daniel's glare seems to be stopping him.

"So you've forgotten me? I'm hurt o. Well, I don't blame you sha, last time you saw me I was just a short twelve year old with K-leg. It would have been a miracle if you had recognised me." She says with a sheepish grin and I almost smiled back at her. Keyword almost.

"I still don't remember you miss, can you just take our order? We're starving." I tell her calmly to avoid sounding too rude or harsh.

"Oh, I'm so sorry sirs, I got carried away. It's just, seeing him made me very excited but I guess he doesn't even remember but it's fine. I'm Lolade Adeleke, an old acquaintance." She replies me trying to sound bold and less embarrassed but I could tell she was disappointed.

"What would you men like to have? Here are our specials for today." She hands each of us our menu and quickly points out the specials she mentioned.

"This looks good. I'll take beef stew. " Daniel chirps excitedly, handing the menu back to her.

"I'll take the same thing." I tell her quickly and hand over my menu.

"I'm vegetarian so I'll take fish and chips instead." Joshua says and hands her his own menu.

"I'll be right back with your order." She replies with a curt nod and walks away.

"Bro, don't tell me you were banging a twelve year old girl!" Josh exclaims immediately she was out of sight.

"I knew you were crazy but dude! She was twelve! Didn't you have any shame?" He yells a little and I was thankful Daniel hit him, if not, I would have done it myself and it would not have ended well. "Watch what you say Josh, people are listening." He whispers harshly and the idiot scoffed nonchalantly.

"You should be reprimanding him instead for being a pedophile." He hisses, I grunt.

"Stop saying nonsense you fool. Why would I be sleeping around with a twelve year old? What the actual fuck bro! She's just the little sister of an old friend of mine." I blurt angrily, regretting the last sentence. "Oohh, so you recognised her and still denied it? Why?" Daniel asks and I sigh. This wasn't supposed to come out.

"Yes, I recognise her but I don't want to acknowledge both she and her sister cause they're in the past and I want them to remain that way. Her elder sister used to be my best friend but after I moved, we lost contact with each other and now I no longer give a shit about them so please, respect my decision and shut your mouths." I warn sternly.

"Wow! You're really very selfish bro and I'm very disappointed in you but oh well, it's your business, not mine." Daniel shrugs and quickly turns his attention to his phone.

"Did she like you? Were you two lovers?" Joshua asks, I frown.

"Not lovers just best friends. She always used to be there for me but at this point in my life, I'd prefer it if she stayed in my head as a memory from the past. She's a complicated person and I don't need such people in my life." I reply him and he nods in understanding.

"Complicated girls are really the worst! I can't even deal with girls in general. They're very annoying." He says irritatedly and although I don't completely agree with him, I kept quiet since I understand why he hates women.

"Did you like this girl? Does she have a name? Have you met her since you came back?" Daniel asks curiously.

"Bro, he just got back to Nigeria like a week ago and you expect them to meet just like that? Life isn't exactly Hollywood, ya know?" Josh replies him and I roll my eyes.

"Well unfortunately, my life seems to be playing out like Hollywood cause I met her at the company earlier today and ended up running to her sister on the same day!" I tell them and a smug expression appears on Daniel's face.

"Now, who's the fool?" He retorts at Daniel who simply ignores him.

"Here's what you ordered." Lolade returns with a smile plastered on her face as she places our food on the table.

"Thank you very much." Daniel says to her, making Josh and I look ungrateful for a meal we're paying for.

"You're welcome Sir. Enjoy your meal." She replies him and immediately scurries away.

"I don't think you should avoid them. They are your old friends." Daniel speaks up after shoving a spoon fool of beef stew in his mouth.

"I completely disagree bro. Avoid them like a plague cause things with people like them never end well." Joshua argues and I throw him a dirty look.

"Look guys, let's just drop the subject. She's old news and I really don't care what happens to her anymore. So mind your business and forget they even exist, okay?" I warn strictly and they both nod positive although I could tell Daniel wasn't too happy with my decision.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐