When you come from a family where everyone is naturally slim with flat tummies because you grew up thinking eating once a day was normal, you don’t take anyone who shuns money seriously.
“I’m telling you, Adjeley, that was the sweetest love story I’ve ever watched,” my friend Delali gushed over the movie that had irritated me for an hour. I would have even stopped watching if I had been watching alone.
“She’s so foolish!” I finally snapped, letting out the opinion that had been on my mind for the past hour. “There’s nothing romantic about suffering when you can receive help from someone who loves you.”
“But she didn’t want him to think that she was with him for his money. She proved to him that she was there for love,” Delali argued.
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, please. She knew she liked that man, and he returned her feelings. Taking the help he was offering didn’t mean that she wasn’t in love with him. The money she needed was just a pittance to him anyway. Her sister almost died because of stupid pride and a measly GHS 2,000 that is chump change for a man who comes from generational wealth. I wanted to slap some sense into her when she kept refusing the money.”
Delali laughed. “You are so…!”
“I am so…what? Am I lying? It’s even different if you’re not interested in the guy. Here is a guy you’re crazy about and whom you have accepted to date. Refusing the perks of dating a rich guy is just crazy to me. Especially for a woman like Nadia who clearly needed some relief. Even if she didn’t want the money for herself, she could have at least considered her poor sister, who sleeps in the dark because there’s no money for electricity sometimes and who dreads going to school because she gets teased about her threadbare uniform. ‘Dan, it’s too much! I can’t accept this!’ How can you be poor and still have a poverty mentality? He spent about 5-10x more on one designer clothing item than the money she needed to pay back the loan shark harassing her. If Dan hadn’t witnessed one such harassment, she wouldn’t have told him or asked for help. Nah, that girl irked me so badly.”
Delali laughed again. “You’re so annoying. I thought the movie was romantic, but here you go, dismantling my perspective.”
“You know I am right. Imagine me saying, ‘No, thanks,’ when Evans offers me money in my present situation. Ridiculous!”
“Hey, talking about Evans, when did you last —”
She was interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing.
“Oh, speak of the devil,” I said after reading the Caller ID. “It’s Evans.”
“Hey, babe, how are you doing?” he asked when I connected the call.
I sighed inwardly, giving up on telling him not to call me ‘Babe’. “I’m great, and you?”
“I’m good too; I just miss you so much. Can I see you tonight, please?”
Just the invitation had my treacherous heart skipping a beat and my lady parts waking up from slumber.
There was no way I would say no. I never said no.
“Sure, same time?”
“Yes, thank you. I can’t wait to see you.”
“I have missed you too,” I admitted, and I could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “That’s lovely to hear.”
I rarely ever showed how deeply I felt for him. There was no point in doing so right now. It would only complicate matters.
“See you soon,” I said, not really wanting to end the call. I loved talking to Evans on the phone, no matter how brief or what the discussion was about.
“See you soon,” he echoed, then waited for me to hang up. He never hangs up first, always preferring that I do so. I hang up to face a grinning Delali.
“You really like Evans, don’t you? The way your whole demeanour changed was something else. This is getting seriouser.”
I sighed. Of course, I did. He was almost perfect. “Yes, I do like him, but we’re not doing anything serious.”
Delali laughed. “The two of you are very funny, but I won’t bother you. Let me leave you to get ready for your date with Mr. Dream Man.”
“It’s not really a date!” I called after my flatmate as she walked to her door.
“What is it, then?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, turning around.
“It’s just sex. Our relationship is purely physical.”
Delali laughed. “Right, if you say so. And damn you for ruining the movie for me!”
“My pleasure!” I called after her with a laugh, ignoring the first part of her sentence.
I didn’t even bother to suppress the giddiness while I prepared to go visit Evans. I would just be fooling myself. I could simply do a reset after I return home.
“I thought you said you would stop fooling yourself,” my inner critique commented. I ignored the busybody.
I always felt wonderful after spending time with Evans at his place. Not only was he a very generous lover who knew how to skilfully extract multiple orgasms from me, but he also made the whole experience romantic with food prepared or ordered and gifts waiting for me. He always had gifts for me that ranged from clothes to accessories. Occasionally, we even watch a movie or play a game before clothes come off. Although there is also kissing and smooching in between. So Delali was right about it being a date every time. But I will not admit it to her.
This time was no different. He fed me food from the Oak Plaza Hotel and then put on a movie for us to watch on Netflix as we snuggled on his sofa with the lights dimmed. I love when he does that. The foreplay started with light touching, then more lingering touches, before little pecks on my neck and shoulder. Then finally, he turned my head for the next kiss. The foreplay was so fun and arousing that by the end of the movie, I was ready for some orgasms.
When it was over, he watched me as I dressed up.
“Are you sure you can’t stay? Please?”
I sighed inwardly.
“Sorry, you know I can’t.”
“Or won’t,” he muttered under his breath.
“Sorry?” I asked even though I had heard him.
“Never mind,” he answered, meeting my eyes in the mirror. He watched me for a while, and I could feel the question coming.
Four…three…two…
“So, when are you going to date me for real?” he asked, as he always did every time we met.
There it was.
“I still can’t afford a boyfriend yet,” I told him like always. I was already emotionally exhausted from my family. Trying to complete my degree by doing the top-up on my diploma and running a business for survival was also exhausting. I didn’t want the responsibilities associated with a relationship at this point in my life. This arrangement where we saw each other a few times a month worked for me.
In a way, we were in a relationship, even though it was unofficial and there were no commitments involved. He was the only man I was seeing, and even though he hadn’t explicitly told me, it looked like I was the only girl he was dating. His friends think he’s single, and I never see him with other women, especially on his very active socials. The only woman he posted—when I allowed it—was me. And there were other more subtle signs, things he did that only I would know or understand. Like how he would post a piece of yarn I was crocheting, the food we ordered when we were together, or even the half-empty tub of ice cream I left in his freezer. He was always taking pictures when we were together, like pieces of me to keep in memory, which he would post over time until we met again. He cared about me, and so did I. We were even probably in love, but I didn’t want to examine my feelings too much, and he knew I wasn’t ready to hear it.
“One day? Soon?” he asked, his tone hesitant and hopeful and more insistent than he had ever been. His stare was intense, and knowing him, I could tell that he was struggling to keep eye contact with me, but he held his ground.
“One day — soon,” I agreed. It was getting harder to deny what was obviously between us.
The smile that transformed his face and the warm feelings that almost blew my breath away told me that I had been delusional to think that our relationship was just friendship with great benefits.
A ping on my phone alerted me that my Uber had arrived. He walked with me outside and handed me the gifts he had been holding for me. I knew there would be a fat envelope inside one of those bags. There always was.
“Thank you,” I whispered gratefully as I hugged him goodbye again—until next time.
“For the sex or the gifts?” he teased as he pulled back.
I grinned at him. “Both. The sex was great, but money is sweeter.”
I blew him a kiss as I got into my Uber, leaving him laughing. Life was good.
