As soon as he saw the caller ID, Daniel frowned and glared at me.
“Him? Why is he calling you at this time?”
“I told him to come,” I replied, my voice steady.
“What the f*ck! You called—”
I picked up the call, ignoring his outburst.
“Are you here? Okay. I’ll step out now. Thank you.”
Daniel’s face darkened. “Wait. How did he get my address?” He paused, then forced a smile, masking his growing irritation. “If you really wanted to leave, you could’ve told me. I would have driven you home. Do you understand how it feels to have another man pick up my girl from my house in the middle of the night? Wait! Are you going to his place?”
He followed me as I made my way toward the door. I didn’t respond.
He grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop. “I’m talking to you. Say something.”
“Daniel, please, just let me go. We can talk about this later. I’m not in the right frame of mind right now.”
He let out a heavy sigh, took my hand, and led me toward the gate. Wrapping his arm around my waist, he walked me to where Yemi’s car was parked. The security guard ran ahead to open the gate.
Yemi was standing by his car, his hand raised as if ready to knock on the gate. His eyes met mine with concern, but they shifted sharply to Daniel as we approached.
“Hi,” Daniel said, scanning Yemi from head to toe.
Yemi ignored him completely and walked straight to me.
“Dami, are you okay?”
“Of course, she’s okay,” Daniel cut in, but Yemi didn’t even glance his way.
“Damilola, I asked if you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” I replied softly. “Can we go now?”
I subtly pulled my hand from Daniel’s grasp. He tried to plant a kiss on my lips, but I turned my face away. Yemi walked over, opened the passenger door, and gestured for me to get in. Once I was seated, Daniel called out,
“Make sure you tell me when you get home! I don’t want anything happening to my girl.”
Yemi closed the door, walked to the driver’s side, got in, and drove off without a word. Through the side mirror, I could see Daniel still standing at the gate. If looks could kill, both Yemi and I would’ve been six feet under.
Yemi handed me his phone with the map app open. “Type in your address.”
I did as he asked.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Were you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” I replied. “I just wasn’t comfortable spending the night there. Thank you so much for coming on such short notice. I really appreciate it.”
“Not a problem,” he said quietly.
We drove in silence for about 15 minutes before he spoke again.
“Damilola, can I say something? I hope you don’t take it the wrong way.”
I glanced at him but said nothing, giving him the floor to continue.
“You really need to start thinking more highly of yourself and taking yourself seriously.”
“Where is this coming from?” I asked, irritated.
“Calm down, babe,” he said, his tone even. “This is me talking to you as a friend. You can’t let someone toss you around and play with your emotions. It’s still too early in your relationship with Daniel to have issues serious enough to call someone else to pick you up in the middle of the night. You need to reevaluate things.”
“I don’t understand why you’re so concerned,” I snapped. “I’m an adult, and Daniel is an adult. Relationships have friction at the beginning. That’s how you get to know each other better. It’s not like you’re interested in me, so why does this matter to you?”
“And who says I’m not interested in you?” he countered. “I just don’t believe in throwing another man under the bus to win over a lady. But if you were my younger sister, I wouldn’t let you fall into the wrong hands. That’s why I’m telling you this. I saw Daniel walk into that club holding another woman’s waist. Yet, somehow, he convinced you to go home with him. That’s why I left when I overheard your conversation. I didn’t have a fire emergency; I just couldn’t sit there and watch you get hurt.”
I stared at him, processing his words. My mind was spinning.
“So, why didn’t you stay and make it clear you wanted to be in my life?” I asked quietly. “Why didn’t you try to convince me to leave Daniel if you think he’s so bad for me?”
“Like I said, I don’t compete for a woman’s affection. If I have to fight another man to prove my worth, then she isn’t for me. Besides, I don’t lack love at home.”
“Ouch,” I retorted, my voice rising. “I thought you were different. I thought that, even if we didn’t work out romantically, we could at least remain friends. But here you are, trying to hurt me because I didn’t choose you.”
I was furious, my voice echoing in the car. If it weren’t so late, I might have asked him to stop and let me out. But I knew better than to risk my safety out of anger.
Yemi remained silent.
After a few moments, he spoke again, his voice softer this time. “Babe, I’m sorry about saying something so hurtful to you. It’s just that I’ve come a long way and I don’t want to mess things up. I have something called a messiah complex. I’m always feeling like I need to save others from themselves. It has messed me up and landed me in one too many troubles but in romantic relationships and business. I live in my own house in Lekki; fully paid for. That’s to show you how well I must have been doing to afford that kind of life but here I am, starting a new business from scratch. I have been locked up before because I was trying to save a girl I loved from a seemingly dangerous man. And I find that I always attracted those kind of people in my life. So, I started therapy and I have done really well in therapy. So, discovering that I was doing the same thing with you was a trigger and I knew I needed to pull away. The event at the club last night was the last straw for me.”
I was still fuming. “I don’t get. Who told you that I needed saving?”
“Your decisions in the past few weeks have shown that, babe.”
“Oh, please. I don’t need saving. I am a full-grown adult. I have climbed the career ladder by my own sheer intelligence. I didn’t have to sleep my way through. I have made smart decisions for my company that placed me as one of the top account managers in my organisation, so please, miss me with your sentiments.”
“Dami, try to get therapy. That’s what you need. You may think that you can hold your own and prove your worth everywhere else, but romantically, you need help. In another life and universe, I would have loved you crazily and worshipped the ground you stepped on because you are a great girl. But I need to be truthful to myself and tell myself that I need to protect me too. And that’s why I am doing this…. We are almost at your place. I just hope you think this through.”
By now, we had reached my compound. He pulled over and parked.
“Thank you for the ride, but please, don’t call me again, don’t text me, don’t reach out to me in any way. I have never felt as insulted as you’ve done to me this morning. And to think that you’ve only known me for 3 weeks but felt like you have all the information to judge me. You are just a sore loser.”
Without waiting for him to say anything, I opened the car door, banged it and walked straight into my compound without looking back. I didn’t want him to see the tears that were beginning to well in my eyes as I walked away.