I met Jide through a mutual friend at a get-together where a small group of my old schoolmates had organized. It wasn't the typical alumni reunion, but the atmosphere that evening was warm, incredibly amazing, and genuinely welcoming. It was Richard's housewarming. He's always been that bright, respectful, and ambitious kind of guy. We got really close after college, attending the same coaching center while preparing for IJMB with my best friend, Lara. Six years passed since we left college, but our bond remains just as strong as it was before uni and the strides of life. Richard had always been the one who remembered everybody's birthday, checked up on people without expecting anything in return, and somehow managed to bring people together even when life had scattered us in different directions. So when he invited us to celebrate his new apartment in Lekki, I didn't hesitate. Lara and I arrived a little after seven in the evening. The apartment was beautiful, the music was soft, and the smell of grilled chicken, peppered gizzard, and freshly prepared jollof rice filled the air. Everybody seemed to have a story to tell. There was Tobi, who had recently returned from the UK and wouldn't stop talking about the weather. There was Sandra, who had just gotten engaged and kept flashing her ring at anybody who cared to look. And there was Femi, who had somehow managed to turn a simple conversation about rent into a twenty-minute lecture about the country's spiral economy. I was laughing at one of his jokes when Richard suddenly appeared beside me with a tall, dark-skinned man dressed in a black shirt and cream trousers. "There's somebody I want you to meet," Richard said, smiling mischievously. I looked at him suspiciously. "Richard, if this is another one of your friends you're trying to set me up with, please, I'm not interested." The stranger laughed. "Wow. You haven't even met me, and I've already been rejected?" I turned to him. "And you haven't even introduced yourself, and you're already complaining." He leaned forward. "Fair enough. My name is Jide." "Okay, Jide." "Just okay?" "What else do you want me to say?" He smiled. "At least tell me your name so I can remember the woman who destroyed my confidence in less than thirty seconds." I laughed it off cause I'm just that blunt type. "You're dramatic." "And you're avoiding the question." I told him my name, and he repeated it slowly, as if he wanted to commit it to memory. Richard shook his head. "Please, both of you should behave yourselves. Jide, this is my friend. She's a very stubborn woman, so don't let her innocent face deceive you." I rolled my eyes. "And Richard is a very annoying man, so don't let his good manners deceive you." Everybody laughed, and just like that, Jide found himself standing beside me for the next twenty minutes. He wasn't the loudest man in the room. He didn't spend the evening bragging about his car, his job, or the amount of money in his account. He listened when people spoke, asked thoughtful questions, and laughed without trying to dominate every conversation. When I mentioned that I work in the digital marketing industry, he didn't immediately ask how much I earning or whether my company was hiring. Instead, he asked what I enjoyed most about my work. I remember thinking that it was refreshing to meet a man who seemed genuinely interested in the person standing in front of him. At some point, he offered to get me a drink. "Anything without alcohol," I said. "Noted." He returned with a bottle of water and a glass of juice. I smiled. "Thank you." "You're welcome." It was such a small thing, but I noticed it. Maybe that was where my problem started. I began noticing every little thing he did. The way he pulled out a chair when I wanted to sit. The way he looked at me whenever I spoke, as though there was nobody else in the room. Before the evening ended, we had exchanged numbers. And when I got home that night, I found a message waiting for me. Jide: I hope you got home safely. Me: Yes, I did. Thank you. Jide: Good. I enjoyed talking to you tonight. Me: Same here. Jide: Can I see you again? I stared at the message for a while before replying. Me: Let's see how it goes. Jide: I'll take that as a challenge. I laughed and dropped my phone on the bed. I had no idea that, months later, I would look at that very conversation and wish I had never replied. Because if I had known what I know now, I would have walked away from Jide the moment he introduced himself. But life doesn't give you spoilers. Sometimes, it gives you exactly what you prayed for, only for you to discover that your prayer came wrapped in a lesson you never asked to learn. And Jide? Jide was about to become the most expensive lesson of my life. To be continued........

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