DRAVITE EYES

It Was A Pleasure

The days flew by like the year was in a hurry to end and with every passing day, Mario knew he was getting closer and closer to not seeing Jide for the next couple of months. Before Jide left his dorm room on Boxing Day, he promised to see Mario everyday till the end of the year and surprisingly, he kept to that promise. They even counted down to the new year together at a bar close to the stadium where they normally shot fireworks. And just like that, January was upon them and a new school year began.

Mario sat on his bed as he listened to Bolaji, Fola and Joshua talk about their break. Bolaji had spent his Christmas in his village with his annoying cousins, Fola was about the whore life with some married man in Abuja while Joshua just came back from Dubai with his family. When they asked Mario what he did, all they could hear him talk about was Jide and how amazing he is.
"So you two are now official? I swear I didn't see that coming" Joshua chuckled
"What about Osas?" Fola asked and immediately, there was an awkward silence.

***
That evening, Mario walked into the dormitory to see Osas standing by his door.

"Hey, I was knocking. How are you?" He asked

Mario had earlier made up his mind to me no longer speak to Osas cause he was mad at him but the Osas who stood before him shook his knees. He looked better than he did the previous year. New haircut, bigger chest and of course, his beautiful lips. Mario tried to say nothing but then, he couldn't help it.

"You look different." He said.

"It's probably the haircut. Also, I'm- I'm sorry for, you know, disappearing. I shouldn't have done that but I had so much in my head that I needed to clear. Now I'm good, and I'm hoping we could kick off from where we stopped... if that's possible"

"You might be a little too late"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm in a relationship. And unlike you, I wouldn't break up with my partner to be with someone else"

"Did you really have to bring that up?"

"Yes. I thought about it. If you could break up with someone to be with me, you could definitely break up with me to be with someone else..."

"Well, I'm sorry to burst your little bubble but Chrissy and I weren't actually dating. I just made that up cause I wasn't ready to come out to you yet. Like I said, I was confused."

"Now I'm even angrier. And I don't know why. Maybe cause you're a manipulative..."

"...manipulative what?" Osas interrupted with a straight face

"See, Osas, Jide and I are in a happy place and I won't let you ruin that for me. And tomorrow is the last day I'll see Jide in a while. That is enough to make me sad and I'm not ready to have you double my sadness. So, maybe we should talk some other time."

Osas stood still as he watched Mario enter his room and lock his door. He didn't know if to knock or walk away. He just stood there, waiting. Waiting for his senses to come back so he could walk away. Mario on the other side, walked up to his wardrobe. Jide had texted him earlier to get ready for a date the next day and he needed to pick out his clothes on time since he was always indecisive. He thought about Osas for a moment and realized he was rude to him but when he opened the door to see if Osas was still around, Osas had gone away.

The day flew by quickly and Mario spent most of it watching family guy. He thought his friends would have bothered him again, he wished they did. But they were busy cleaning up their dusty rooms, especially Joshua who had left his windows open giving the harmattan dust free entry. He called Jide for the third time that evening but Jide, the busy bee, didn't pick up or text back. Mario had gotten used to Jide not picking his calls and later, texting or calling back whenever he was 'less busy and available for a conversation'. So, he just lay on his bed and eventually, his eyes closed only to open to a smooth, rhythmic knock on his door.