#JUST_BEST_FRIENDS

Author: Sam Freddy

CHAPTER 21: LOVE IS BLIND.

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Skipping lectures had become a habit for Yomi ever since he met Candice, but he didn't care though. To him, if spending time with her would make him happy, then it was totally worth it.

Today being Monday, Yomi was busy driving on a freeway with Candice by his side, who apparently had no idea where he was taking her to since he refused to reveal their destination. However, one thing she knew for sure was that every trip with Yomi always ended up super-duper cool. So, basically, she had no cause for alarm, except for the fact that her patience was running out gradually, due to the long duration of the ride.

Groaning, Candice glanced at her smartphone's screen and said, “Ain't we there yet? It's twelve o'clock already.”

“Chill, babe. We're almost there.”

“Right. You've been sayin' that since morning. Only God knows where we are headed.”

Yomi offered her a sideways smirk, twerking his eyebrows flirtatiously. “Just chill. Patience is a virtue.”

“Yeah, right.” Candice huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Waheva.”

Yomi simply chuckled at her antics.

If only Candice knew the unique surprise he had in store for her, she'd have exercised a little more patience for sure. So, he couldn't really blame her for losing her cool. After all, Candice also "boycotted" her class to be with Yomi. So, in essence, she definitely had every right to be impatient, as far as Yomi was concerned.

“Why didn't you tell me about the encounter you had with my sister and her fiancé last week?”

Yomi instantly shot Candice a surprised look. “Gee! I can't believe I totally forgot about that.”

Candice shook her head in disappointment. “May God help you and your short-term memory. Say, "Amen."”

Yomi laughed, turning the gear stick carefully. “Amen,” he scoffed. “How did you find out, anyway?”

“Lauretta told me, of course.”

“When?”

“This morning.”

“Wow.” Yomi sighed, hitting the car horn. “What exactly did she say?”

“Nothing much. Just some stuff about how awkwardly good your first impression was, and how handsome you are.” Candice replied, staring at Yomi suspiciously. “Though I still don't understand what she meant by the "awkwardly good" impression of yours, Yomi.”

Yomi smirked widely, sensing Candice's suspicion. “Babe, I know what you're thinking, but trust me, you've got it all wrong.”

“Have I?” Candice scoffed, raising an eyebrow for emphasis. “Dude, I didn't even accuse you of anything. Why're you gettin' worked up all of a sudden?”

“Come on, Candy. Does it look like I'm panicking to you?” Yomi asked rhetorically, hitting the brakes. “I'm just saying that you shouldn't think towards that direction at all, 'cause I can see the weird look you're giving me already. It's creepy.”

Candice laughed, looking away. “I don't know, man. It's just, I've never heard Lauretta speak about any man I ever dated the way she spoke about you today. I mean, she was all bubbly and stuff on the phone. Kinda had me thinkin' if y'all are probably into each other, you know.”

“What?” Yomi burst into laughter, glancing at Candice in amazement. “That's the silliest thing I've ever heard from you, babe. Like, wait a second. You actually thought that I was hitting on an engaged woman? Your sister for that matter?”

“Bruv, this is Lagos. Nothing's impossible.” Candice shrugged, smiling from ear to ear. “I mean, the fact that you didn't tell me 'bout the encounter y'all had together made me think that you were hidin' somethin' for sure. If you were in my shoes, you'd have thought the same thang.”

“Nope, I wouldn't have.” Yomi giggled, keeping his eyes on the road. “Wanna know why?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Because I love you, and I trust you.” He smiled sheepishly, glancing at Candice's eyes. “You know that, right?”

“Sure stuff. It's obvious you do.”

“Thank you.” Yomi breathed coolly, casting another glance at Candice. “Now, don't you love me?”

“Of course I do. Geez! I won't be rollin' with you if I don't.”

“If so, then why don't you trust me?”

Candice rolled her eyes, kicking her feet up on Yomi's dash. “Look, I trust you, Yomi. What I said before was only as a result of my suspicion. Don't be angry.”

“Nah, I'm not angry. I'm totally cool, as you can see,” Yomi said. “And, by the way, I believe what Lauretta meant by my "awkwardly good" impression was the violent way I approached her at first, and then the civilized way I behaved after getting her attention.”

“Oh, wow.” Candice chuckled, wagging her head in amusement. “Don't tell me you actually thought that she was me, because of the resemblance we share, huh?”

“Matter of fact, I did.” Yomi confessed, shaking his head at the awkward but hilarious memory. “At first I didn't see her face because her back was facing my direction. All I knew was that she had like your silky blond hair, your alluring complexion, figure, and height. And, to make matters worse, she wore almost the same blue cropped-top and gray palazzo trousers which you wore on that day. God, I was stunned as hell when I found out you weren't the one, for real. I almost melted on the spot, babe.”

“Damn!” Candice burst out laughing, slapping Yomi's upper arm impulsively. “This is frickin' funny. Gosh!”

Yomi started laughing too. “I know, right?”

All of a sudden, Candice's laughter turned to a heavy cough, which made her start beating her chest rapidly like the iconic King Kong. But the only difference between Candice and the notorious beast was that Candice used only one hand to beat her chest while coughing, while King Kong always used its two hands to do so while bragging or showing its superiority over its opponents before, during or after a battle.

“Darling, are you all right?”

Coughing for the last time, Candice said, “Yeah. I'm all good.”

“You sure?”

“Yep. I'm sure.” Candice cleared her throat, forcing a smile at Yomi. “It's just this weird cough that happens to me once in a while. It's nothin' to worry about.”

“Mmm. Weird.” Yomi muttered, driving into a beautifully tarred street. “Should we go to a hospital?”

“No, thank you. That wouldn't be necessary.”

“All right, then.” Yomi heaved a sigh of relief, pulling up by the side of the road. “Your wish is my command.”

Candice's smile widened at that. “Hey, why are we stopping?”

“We have arrived.”

“Whoo! Finally!” Candice looked out the car windows, seeing nothing but extremely nice buildings and lawns everywhere. “Whoa! Where are we?”

“Don't worry, just chill. You'll see.”

That said, Yomi got out of his car and then walked over to the other side to open the door for Candice.

As she stepped out of the car, Candice's eyes roamed around the environment in awe. She was so fascinated by its neatness and quietness that she uttered another “Whoa!” without even realizing it.

“You like what you see, don't ya?”

“Hell, yeah! This place is freakin' beautiful!”

“Hehe. I knew you'd like the hood.” Yomi smiled proudly, wrapping his arm around Candice's shoulders. “Just wait till you see what's coming next.”

Having said that, Yomi dialled a friend's number on his phone and then informed him about his presence in the area after he'd picked up his call.

In less than a minute, a young man came out through the front gate of a three storey building across the road, carrying a white puppy in his hands like an actual human baby.

“Who's that?”

“Oh, that's Danladi, my G from school.”

“Damn. He's hot.”

Yomi instantly shot Candice a funny look. “Seriously?”

“Chill. I meant the dog.”

“Mm.” Yomi scoffed at Candice's clever excuse. “You're not serious sha. Move jor, let's cross.”

With that, Yomi and Candice crossed the road to meet Danladi. After they'd all exchanged pleasantries, they walked into the compound together, and that was when Candice's curiosity started to kick in more harder than ever.

“Yomi, where is this place? What're we doing here?”

Yomi didn't say a single word to her as they both followed Danladi's lead. Despite all the other questions that Candice threw at Yomi, he just kept quiet until they all halted before a fine marble door that looked just like his own at home.

“Welcome home, babe.”

Candice gazed at Yomi in confusion. “God knows that I'm completely lost right now. Can somebody please tell me what's going on here?”

Yomi laughed, ignoring Candice's question on purpose. “Danladi, please open the door, bro.”

“A'ight.” Danladi held his puppy with one hand as he opened the door with the other. “Done, bro.”

“Thank you, man.” Yomi said, looking back at his pretty heartthrob. “Now, go inside, darling. The answers you seek are confined within those walls. Believe me.”

Curiously, Candice walked into the house, hoping to see something extremely fascinating, but all she saw was an empty room that looked quite expensive from the unique way it was designed; plus, she noticed that there were two other smaller closed rooms that seemed to be the bathroom and the kitchen of the house.

“Um, I don't understand.” Candice muttered, looking around the place very carefully. “This is a nice crib and all. I mean, I totally dig it for sure, but why exactly are we here, Yomi?”

Grinning proudly, Yomi walked right up to Candice and handed her a neatly folded piece of paper in response. Candice found it odd that Yomi wasn't answering her questions, but she opened the paper anyway.

Scanning through the note, Candice realized that there was a poem written on it in some sort of computerised form, but why Yomi gave her a poem in response to her question was way beyond her reasoning ability.

‘Is he nuts?’ Candice wondered, looking up at Yomi. ‘I honestly don't think he's okay upstairs.’

“That's the loveliest poem I've ever read, Candy.” Yomi confessed, staring at Candice in admiration. “I can't believe you actually composed that for me.”

Candice was instantly taken aback by Yomi's final statement. “Um, sorry?”

“Come on, stop pretending. I know you're the one behind that lovely masterpiece.” Yomi chuckled, offering her his signature smirk. “Aren't you?”

Candice swallowed hard, thinking of what to tell Yomi.

Another look at the note in her hands gave her a clue about who the original author of the poem might be. It had to be Idara's doing, for it was only she who sought after Yomi's heart so seriously.

As expected, the mere thought of that irritated Candice to the bone. She was indeed amazed and disgusted at Idara's audacity, but if Idara's plan was to snatch Yomi from her through an ordinary poem, then she was more than ready to make that plan fail miserably.

“Candice?”

At the sound of Yomi's voice, Candice snapped back to reality. “Yes?”

“Come on, say something. Did you write the poem yourself?”

“Of course, I did.” Candice grinned awkwardly, holding the note against her chest. “It came from the bottom of my heart, specially for you, darlin'.”

Yomi snapped his fingers as he said, “Boom! I knew it.”

All of a sudden, Danladi coughed on purpose, drawing the attention of the couple.

“Oh. Sorry, man!” Yomi exclaimed, scratching his hair nervously. “I almost forgot you were still here. Yikes!”

Danladi smiled, stroking his dog's little head with love and affection. “I figured. Y'all take your time.”

Seeing that Danladi wasn't upset, Yomi faced Candice and folded his arms casually. “Anyway,” he cleared his throat, keeping a straight face, “do you remember when you once mentioned something about needing a shop and an apartment of your own, Candy?”

“Yes, I do.” Candice said. “Why did you ask?”

“Well, it might interest you to know that I've been secretly making plans for your house and shop for some time now.” Yomi replied calmly, widening his stance. “And Danladi here, whose father is the landlord of this building, is willing to take you in for lesser the price of what he normally charges other people.”

“Whoa!” Candice's eyes widened as she looked at Danladi. “Are you guys for real?”

Danladi nodded his head. “Absolutely real, lady.”

“Wow!” Candice looked back at Yomi, a smile creeping up on her face. “Baby, are you saying that you want to rent this particular place for me?”

“Yes, exactly. But only if you like it, though.”

“What? Of course I like it!” Candice screamed with glee, throwing the A4 paper away. “Oh, my God!”

Both Yomi and Danladi burst into laughter when Candice screamed her lungs out. Their laughter intensified when she jumped and hugged Yomi so tight that he almost collapsed on the spot.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Candice continued screaming, delivering very soft kisses all over Yomi's spotless face. “Oh, Yomi, you're the best boyfriend ever!”

Yomi's cheeks were on the verge of turning bright red as a result of Candice's romantic actions. “Thank you, baby. The pleasure's all mine.”

“Ew!” Danladi grimaced, averting his eyes from their direction. “I'mma just go outside now.”

Candice and Yomi simply laughed when Danladi walked out of their presence.

Slowly, Candice planted her final kiss on Yomi's lips before pulling back from his arms. “I love you so much.”

“Shut up. I love you more.” Yomi teased her, crouching to pick the paper on the floor, but Candice beat him to it.

“Hey, give it to me!”

Candice stood back up, pulling Yomi to his feet very wildly. “Under one condition.”

Yomi groaned out loud. “What?”

“Well, let me drive us back home. I've been wanting to flex that your dope whip for a long time now.”

“Is that all?”

Candice nodded in response.

“Okay.” Yomi shrugged. “Deal.”

With that, Candice wrapped her arms around Yomi again and screamed, “Yay!”

“You know, if you keep disturbing me this way, I might just consider buying you a car someday.”

Candice's face lit up at that. “Really?”

“Trust me.” Yomi confirmed, kissing her cheekbone softly. “I mean it.”

“Oh, Yomi.” Candice chuckled sweetly, slipping the note back in Yomi's trouser pocket. “What would I ever do without you?”

A strong sense of pride washed upon Yomi's heart when he heard those alluring words from Candice.

“No, Candice.” Yomi objected, caressing her face whilst making heavy eye contact with her. “That poem you wrote for me means the world to me. Personally, I think the correct question should be, what would I ever do without your love, Candice?”

Yomi is a big fool, honestly! 😅

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