"I hope you don't mind working late?" Bym was asking Chike.

"That comes with the job," he replied.

"And your girlfriend wouldn't mind?" Bym asked. She was acting so classless and I was running out of patience with the whole display.

"I don't have a girlfriend and I'm not seeing anyone right now. Who would want to date a mechanic?" Chike looked at me as he spoke.

I took a sharp intake of breath at his words, he must have heard me introduce him as a mechanic. I bit my lips.

"Oh, lots of people." Bym giggled.

"We have to leave," I said to her when the cab arrived.

"Alright, I'll call you." Bym hugged Chike before getting inside the waiting cab. She was too busty to be hugging anyone that wasn't her husband.

"Wait," I said to Chike when he walked towards the truck.

"I'll let you know when your car is ready," Chike said and closed the door as he got in.

He didn't even spare me a glance. I stepped back as I heard the engine of the truck start. The cab driver honked behind me and I joined Bym in the cab.

"Why are you moody? I'm not going to poach your mechanic if it makes you uncomfortable," Bym said after she saw she wasn't getting any reply from me as she gushed about Chike's physique.

"What made me uncomfortable was the way you acted around him."

"It was just for fun, you really don't think I want anything to do with him."

"You tell me." I turned from the window to look at her.

"I was only admiring him, there's no crime in that."

"You have a husband." Was she that clueless?

"So?"

"So that's cheating."

"You're too rigid."

"I don't think I'm in the mood to go out." I took my bag from the seat and held it on my lap.

"You're going to bail on me?" She looked at me with surprise in her eyes.

"I have to."

"Are you fucking serious? Because I flirted with your mechanic?"

"Because I'm tired." I really was tired. I should have just gone home after leaving the office.

"You're fucking annoying as usual."

As usual, meaning the time I got annoyed with her when the guy I liked in Uni. asked for her number, and she gave him without discouraging his advances. Of course, everyone had sided with her so I'd let it go, also I was a firm believer that women should stick together so we swept everything under the rug.

I told the driver to stop and I got out of the car when he did. Bym's mouth was agape as she watched me walk away.

"I'll talk to you later," I turned to say to her.

"Are you fucking serious right now?"

"Yes." I requested for another Uber and continued walking.

"C'mon, Jade," Bym called out.

I kept walking and when I turned back after few minutes, the cab she was in was gone. I got home and ignored the calls I was getting from all my friends, they were blowing up my phone as expected. Bym probably told them her side of the story, I waited until they stopped calling and rang Chike. His phone went off after the fifth ring and I buried my head in the pillow.

When I saw 'daddy' pop on the screen of my phone the following morning, I answered.

"Are you at home? I'm bringing your car," Chike spoke, there was no usual 'sweet face' greeting.

"Yes, I am. I've been-" The line went dead before I could finish.

I went into the bathroom and hurriedly took my bath. I found a very skimpy skirt and paired it with a bralette. I didn't know how to appease him but if I looked sexy enough, maybe he'd forget about it. I rushed to the front of my house when I heard a honk and I saw Chike get out of the car.

"It's fixed," he said as I stood close to him.

"Thanks. How much did it cost?"

"You don't have to worry about that. I left the shop's business card in your car in case you have any problem in future."

"Will you come inside?" I asked when he dropped the keys in my palm without saying anything. "Please," I added when he didn't move.

Chike walked into the house and I walked behind him.

"Do you want anything to drink?" I asked after he crossed his legs when he sat.

"No."

"Are you okay?" I asked. I sat beside the sofa near him and waited for him to talk.

"Why did you introduce me as a mechanic? Are you ashamed of being with me?"

I knew this was coming so I answered as best as I could. "I'm not. That was the obvious lie, and you were dressed like a mechanic."

"For your fucking car, because you needed my help. You wanted me in a fucking suit and tie fixing your car?" Chike uncrossed his legs and sat upright as he spoke.

"I didn't know you heard," I said the truth.

"You know what you are? You're a fucking classist, I'm good enough to be in your bed but obviously not enough to be seen with."

"What did you want me to say? I couldn't say you were my fuck buddy." It wasn't that big of a deal but 'subjective Chike' took offense.

"Not a friend? A colleague, something not demeaning."

"I wasn't trying to be demeaning." I was actually being evasive.

"That's a fucking lie, you're so rooted into this nonsense lifestyle that you don't even realize how snobbish you are." His chest puffed as he spoke.

"I'm not snobbish." I didn't know what he was getting on. It was just a lie, a white lie at that.

"All you care about is meeting up to a certain standard and I don't want to be any part of it." Chike stood and walked to the door.

"Wait, I'm sorry." I hurried after him.

He turned to look at me. "You're not, you're almost as bad as my parents. The only time you apologize is when you're not done using someone as a doormat."

"How is that at all true?" How could he compare me to his parents? I was nothing like them.

"They mocked my job, you did the same. They want me to be who I'm not, you bought me clothes to decorate me. You said I had no ambition, they called me visionless. Can you fucking see the similarities?"

Welp! "I was trying to help when I got the clothes."

"I don't have to live my life the way you want me to, wear certain clothes, be a certain person. You're the one who continued to have consensual sex with me. I don't have to be shit for you, go find someone else to control."

I moved backwards when he walked closer to me. "I wasn't trying to control you, I never even attempted to." I wished I could control how fast things were getting out of hand though.

"Why are you dressed like that then? You think I'm going to take one look at you and be back in your bed?"

"No," I lied. I placed my hand on my forehead and sighed, things were taking an unexpected turn and I couldn't do a thing to change the course.

"It's not going to happen until you start acting differently. If you want to see me, you know where to find me."

I watched him leave and went back to the sofa. I took a tissue and wiped the tears leaking from the side of my eyes. He was too difficult, I couldn't cope. Everything I ever did for him was taken in the wrong way. I didn't know what else to do. I balled the tissue in my fist when another tear dropped.

I didn't know why I was crying for him, I hardly ever cried and he didn't deserve my tears. He was just another hurdle I had to cross, because he was a big challenge. We were okay one day and fighting the next. Just the other week we'd gone to a lawn tennis court, everything had gone smoothly then this happened. I couldn't keep up.

I went to the bedroom and changed into something modest then drove to the office. :Being alone in the house was messing with me emotionally, and all I wanted to do was to ball up in a corner and cry which was very unusual. The office scene would surely make me feel better because I was a strong ass woman and I wouldn't waste my tears on a man again, not even Chike.

When I got to the office, Dave was in a lengthy kimono running around.

"Why are you here on a Saturday, don't you have a date with nobody?" Dave asked when he noticed me.

"Stop calling him that and the fashion weekend is in two weeks. Where else would I be?"

"You never show up on Saturday since you started seeing him."

I couldn't believe I'd been slacking at work because of the time I spent with Chike. Things were surely going to change. I needed every hour of the day before the upcoming fashion weekend.

"Get back to work." I made my way to my office.

"Your friends called, all of them. Isn't that a coincidence? I told them you weren't in the office."

"I'll call them later. What are you working on?" I paused at the door.

"I'm separating the outfits the models will wear from the general stock."

"Pick the best designs for them."

"Absolutely, you'll see the end result before the fashion show."

"Alright, I'll try to come up with more concept while I'm in the office."

"Okey dokey," Dave said happily.

I was glad he didn't pick on my sadness, I hated when my personal life followed me to work. No matter how bad things got, I never let it affect my workers or business.

I booted my laptop and couldn't concentrated on writing descriptions for the pieces available. I couldn't work without my mind going back to what ensued in my living room so I thought of doing something else. When I tried sketching outfits, I was sketching on a body that was unmistakably Chike's. I took a tissue from its box and wiped my eyes as they teared up again. Gosh, I shouldn't be crying. I was a big girl. I was becoming too emotional and I hated that side of me.

I could call Chike to resolve the matter but I was scared he wasn't going to pick my calls. Even when I told him I was sorry, he said it was a lie. How could you apologize to someone who thought you didn't mean it? He thought the worse of me for no apparent reason. I sniffed and decided to continue sketching, I let the pain motivate me and I soon got lost in the art I was making.