My best friend's crush [i need advice]

I've been friends with Lolade for about eight years now. There is literally nothing we do not tell each other. Looking back at my life up till now, I don't think I could have asked for a better friend. She has been my pillar through everything and I trust her with every single thing I have.

After law school, I got a job at a law firm in Ikoyi while Lolade started working with a logistics company somewhere in Victoria Island. We shared a tiny self contained apartment somewhere in Lekki. We called it our little hideout away from our parent’s wahala.

A week after I had been working with the firm, I was having serious issues as to how I would be getting to and from work because that traffic was just from the pit of hell. I discussed with  Aaron, the guy I shared an office with, and he offered to come pick me and drop me off since my house was on his route.

Aaron was a nice looking young man with a warm smile and a good heart. He did not talk a lot outside our office but people couldn't help liking him. I’m sure that was partly due to how his one sided dimple and perfectly white teeth seemed to be in harmony whenever he smiled. Or the way his shirt always fitted his well toned body. He was really tall and looked like he never missed a day at the gym.

He had the kind of beard that made you just want to play with his face all day. There was just something that made him standout in any crowd. He was smart and quick witted and was always willing to lend a helping hand. I remember thinking, in passing, about how lucky the woman who would eventually end up with him would be.

I invited Aaron for Lolade’s birthday the next month and introduced them to each other. They seemed to hit it off immediately and I couldn't quite figure out why that made me a tad bit jealous. I mean, I hadn't ever thought of Aaron in a romantic way, but something about the way they smiled at each other made my tummy churn. Immediately the party was over and all the guests had gone, Lolade couldn't stop gushing about Aaron. She didn't leave me until I promised to give him her number.

The next day, on our way to work ,I told Aaron what Lolade had confided to me.When I was done with my narration, I noticed that Aaron didn't utter a word. I decided to push a little bit more but he’d rather just changed the topic. At work, he avoided me totally until it was time for lunch. We went to our usual spot to eat but something felt weird. As I was enjoying my amala and gbegiri, I could see Aaron looking at me from my side eye but the food was too sweet for me to pay him any attention at that point in time.

I guess Aaron couldn't keep quiet any longer, so he said, a little too silently, “Tinuade, why are you trying to hook me up with your friend when you know I'm in love with you”. At that point, the amala tasted like sand in my mouth. I was absolutely dumbfounded. I guess he didn't notice it because he went on about how he had been in love with me from the first day we met and I had hurt his feelings with what I had said in the car that morning.

I needed time to process all what I had just heard. Aaron was in love with me? How didn't I notice?

That evening, we decided to go out for dinner to talk about the issue.

It felt different being with him that evening. I couldn't help seeing him in another light. It wasn't Aaron my coworker anymore. It was now Aaron, the guy I was on a date with, the guy I might actually really like. All of a sudden he looked much more handsome to me.

Well, to cut the long story short, we had an awesome dinner and we tried to define what we wanted from each other. At the end of the night, we shared a very intense kiss…twice. He gave me a meaningful kiss on my forehead that meant much more than everything we had said to each other that night. Just as his lips parted from my forehead, I raised my head to look into his eyes and the desire in them mirrored how I felt.

We kissed again and this time it made my toes curl. He slowly kissed my neck and pushed my hair backwards. After exploring every crevice of my neck he went lower down to my chest, tracing the edges of my low cut top. He pushed it to the side and went in to say hello to my breasts .His kisses felt like little whispers from butterflies on my skin. Everything about him felt so good.

Just as I threw my head back to give him more room for exploration, Lolade popped into my head and I immediately pulled away. I gave him a perfunctory good night and ran into the house immediately, my breasts were still tingling and my head was still clouded with desire.

I met Lolade in the living room watching a movie but I couldn’t look her in the eye. I just gave her a flimsy excuse about having menstrual pain and ran into the room. On my bed that night, I couldn't stop thinking about Aaron. The thought of him gave me butterflies in my tummy all of a sudden and I craved his lips on mine again. I was so excited to see him the next day.

Maybe we'd kiss in the car before we got to work.

Just as I was thinking about Aaron and his lips a mixture of dread and guilt washed over me…what was I going to do about Lolade? What was I going to tell her when she asked me what Aaron said when I told him she liked him?

Tell me guys, what do you think I should do

(Poll)

Written by Kofoworola Oyegunle.

Kofoworola Oyegunle is a lawyer in equity.She loves meeting new people and exploring new adventures in her spare time.