#JUST_BEST_FRIENDS

Author: Sam Freddy

CHAPTER 18: FINAL WARNING.

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Coming out of his favorite cyber cafe, Yomi sighed satisfactorily and was about to plug in his earphones when he sighted a familiar fairsome lady just across the road.

Shocked, Yomi's mouth fell wide open. Why? Because the lady was none other than Candice, and she wasn't alone. She was holding hands with a bald-headed, thin man while they both chatted cheerfully in front of a big bookshop. And also because Candice had personally told him that she'd be absent in school during the day, because she had to do some photoshoots for a modelling agency, and then perform a makeover for a distinguished client of hers at a private spar later on.

‘Goodness gracious! Is this what she meant by all of that? That she'd be hanging out with some tall, hairless man right here in campus? Unbelievable!’

In his state of amazement, Yomi crossed the road and walked straight up to his girlfriend, and then dragged her hand violently. “You liar!”

Frightened, the lady turned around to face Yomi, and that was when he realized that she wasn't his beloved girlfriend, but an actual look-alike.

“Sh*t!”

“Get your hands off my fiancee!” The tall man pushed Yomi away as he stood before his lady like a bodyguard. “What's your problem, bro?”

“I'm sorry, man.” Yomi apologized, stepping back. “I thought she was my girlfriend. Don't be offended, miss. I'm so sorry.”

“No, it's fine,” the lady said, stepping into Yomi's sight. “I understand you perfectly well, sir. As a matter of fact, situations like this happen a lot to me and my younger sister, like, all the time, so it's not new to me anymore. I'm not offended at all.”

For some reason, Yomi couldn't stop looking at the woman up and down. She had almost the same hot little figure as Candice, and her skin, lips and cheekbones were also similar to Candice's own. “Sorry, did you just say you have a younger sister?”

“Yes, sir,” replied the lady. “I did.”

“What's her name, please?”

“Dude!” The thin man frowned at Yomi. “You're really starting to piss me off!”

“Relax, Fred. He means no harm.”

Hesitantly, Fred said, “Mmm. If you say so, Lauretta.”

“Well, I'm sorry about that, sir.” Lauretta forced a smile, referring to Yomi. “Um, to answer your question, my sister's name is Candice, and she schools here, funnily enough.”

“Wow.” Yomi's eyes widened in surprise. “I can't believe… I can't believe this,” he stuttered a bit. “Are you actually Candice's sister?”

“Yes!” Lauretta said out loud, giggling. “It seems to me like you know my baby sister, don't you?”

“Of course. Not only do I know her; she's also my girlfriend, ma'am.”

“Whoa, that's amazing!” Lauretta exclaimed, scrutinizing Yomi's features. “And if I must confess, you look pretty decent for her, sir. What's your name?”

“Yomi.”

“Aw. A Yoruba guy. Nice!” said Lauretta. “But I could've sworn you were a foreigner at first sight, Yomi. It's a bummer you aren't.”

“Yeah.” Yomi laughed at Lauretta's remark. She was, indeed, as funny as her silly sister. “I get that every time. Ain't new to me no more.”

“I know, right?” Lauretta offered Yomi a small, playful grin. “Anyway, as you must've heard before, my name is Lauretta, and this is my fiancé Fred. Say hello to Yomi, Fred.”

Nodding his head, Fred held out his hand to Yomi. “What's up, bro? Sorry about how I reacted. I was just looking out for my girl, you know?”

“Yeah, I get it. It's all good, man.” Yomi shook Fred's hand gently. “I would do the same for mine a thousand times and more. Can't blame a guy for loving his woman, after all.”

“Absolutely true.” Fred said. “It's good to know you, bro.”

“Same here, man.” Yomi grinned. “And congratulations to you both for your engagement. It's not easy at all.”

“Ha, ha, ha. You don't say!” Lauretta shook Yomi's hand as well. “Thank you, Yomi. Means a lot.”

“You're welcome, Lauretta.” Yomi said with a nod. “May God be with you two in all the days of your union.”

“Amen.” Lauretta and Fred said in unison. Grinning sweetly, Lauretta added softly, “May God be with you, too, Yomi. All the days of your life.”

“Amen.” Yomi said chirpily, his grin widening. “It is well, by God's grace.”

“Mmm. I think I'm starting to like this guy, love.” Lauretta chuckled, looking up at Fred. “He's very gentle.”

“What?” Fred frowned playfully. “Am I a joke to you, sunrise?”

Yomi and Lauretta burst into laughter when they heard that.

“Of course not. Chill out, love. You're too jealous. Ha!”

“Can't help it, bae.” Fred pulled Lauretta closer to his side. “I can't stand you falling for anybody else but me. I'm that jealous.”

“Aww.” Yomi watched them both in admiration. “Relax, bro. She's all yours.”

“Indeed.” Fred planted a soft kiss on Lauretta's forehead. “She's all mine, to infinity and beyond.”

“Absolutely, bruh. Absolutely.”

__________

At night—at 8:08 to be precise—Idara logged on to WhatsApp and discovered that she'd been added to a strange group chat. Funnily enough, there were eleven members in the group (including herself), and those members were all people she knew in reality.

Idara's nickname was Dara, while the others were Jon-B (Jonathan), TY (Tayo), Candy (Candice), Bettie (Betty), Aurora (Isioma), Stevey (Steve), JD (Jordan), Yomee (Yomi), Asia (Anastasia), and Kitty-Kat (Alice).

And the exciting part was that they were all online, chatting in the group. Idara couldn't wait to join the conversation!

DARA: Knock, knock. Anybody home?

TY: Yay! Welcome aboard, Dara. I thought you'd never come.

YOMEE: So did I. I was going to call that mumu sef... Gud tin she's here now

DARA: Hahahaha, u guys are 4ny sha *_*

AURORA: Heyo, baby gal. What took you so long?

DARA: Long story, Isioma. What's popping here na?

JD: Nothing much o. Welcome buddy!

STEVEY: Hellooo Daraaa

ASIA: See how they are even greeting this one sef, mtcheew. I'm not at home now, but I can bet she's blushing right there.

KITTY-KAT: Osheyyy, set awon seers!! Where you dey, Asia?

ASIA: In my brother's crib o.

KITTY-KAT: Kk

BETTIE: Nawa o

JON-B: Betty baby how far na, valentine's day is on Sunday ooo, will u be my val?

TY: LOL

YOMEE: Lol

BETTIE: Over my dead body. Ew! I'd rather chew glass than go out with u

AURORA: Chisos! Haewww!

JD: Dayum! That was cold.

DARA: Ice colllddd 4 dat matter [broken heart emoji]

JON-B: Pfft, whatever. Alice hw abt u? Can we be frndz with benefits?

KITTY-KAT: Tankz but no tankz. I av a boyfriend •_•

AURORA: Looool! Buuurrrn!

JON-B: So what? It doesn't matter na, he doesn't av 2 knw abt us ;)

KITTY-KAT: Guy free me jare. You're just horny •_•

STEVEY: Hmm

JON-B: lmao, whatever. Suit yourself then

KITTY-KAT: Yea yea yea, wateva boy. By the way, why is Candice silent, Yomi?

YOMEE: Why ask me? I should be asking u dat instead. Ain't you ha roommate?

BETTIE: She's not around joor. Maybe she's at your place. Confess!

CANDY: Lmfao! See these clowns oh. I'm actually in a bus folks. Can't text properly 'cause there's this fat woman squeezing the life out of me here. Ugh!

JD: OMG. Sorry.

YOMEE: Lol... sorry babe <3

Inwardly, Idara cringed at the heart emoji Yomi used for Candice, but thankfully she was in a good mood tonight and refused to let it get to her emotions. A simple emoji wasn't going to ruin this pleasant night for her. No. Not at all.

Quietly, Idara stared at her phone's screen without commenting on Candice's message. Not that she didn't want to empathize with her or anything, but Idara just wasn't sure how to put her words together without looking like an attention seeker or a hypocrite to Candice. So, she simply decided to stay low for a while.

BETTIE: Kikikiki.... See gobe! Sorry dear

CANDY: Lmaoooo thanks folks, I'm all good :)

Aurora changed the group icon.

TY: So what's this group all about anyway?

Aurora added Kaffy to the group chat.

Yomee removed Kaffy from the group chat.

AURORA: Haba! Why did you remove my friend na Daddy Yo?

YOMEE: Sorry but dis group is meant 4 only d ppl in our circle Isioma. She doesn't belong here

JD: Ouchey-wawa!

AURORA: Okay o, sorry o. I didn't know o.

YOMEE: Itz ok, no yawa

TY: Um, I asked a question?

ASIA: ...

YOMEE: Sorry abt that bros T. I'll answer ur question straight away

TY: Okay, G.

BETTIE: Oya ooo, we are waiting

YOMEE: Ok. So guys I want us to hang out at the beach on val's day. Abi hw una see am?

“Cool. Great! Awesome. On point! Naso! Superb! Mad ooo!” and so on. Those were some of the replies Yomi got for his question. Everyone obviously loved the idea, and it gave Yomi the zeal to proceed with his plan.

YOMEE: But guys it's not free o... Anyone who's interested would pay 1k into my baby's account

AURORA: Shoo! As per why? :/

YOMEE: Why what?

AURORA: Why must we pay into your so-called baby's account?

CANDY: Because I'm the treasurer. Duh!

YOMEE: That's right. But hey it's not mandatory ooo. Any1 who's interested can still come on that day, but they shouldn't expect to eat anytin from our home-made food sha ooo

JD: lol. Savage!

AURORA: Looool. Home-made food indeed. So who's gonna be cooking the food biko?

CANDY: Yours truly. :)

AURORA: LMAO! May God be with you all.

CANDY: I beg your pardon? What's that supposed to mean?

Instantly, Idara gnawed on her bottom lip to keep herself from laughing. She knew exactly what Isioma's message implied because she'd eaten Candice's food once, and, in all honesty, Idara wouldn't even pray for such awful situation to befall her sworn enemy, because they might not live to tell the tale like she'd told Isioma during the day.

AURORA: Haha, nothing o. Don't worry, Idara and I understand better. ^_^

Barely a minute after Isioma's message dropped in the group chat, Idara received a private message from Candice saying:

“This is your final warning, Idara. You won't like what happens the next time you cross me. Be careful!”

Drum rolls!!! Dum dum dum dum!

Who knows what Candice is truly capable of? Maybe Idara's nightmare might just come to pass! Just maybe! 😅🤙