Unconventional

“TT my man, you really have it bad” Big G said, starting to sympathise with his friend. Amaya seemed to be turning Tresh’s life upside down. Tresh was absentminded the rest of their get together.

“You have no idea, man” Tresh responded. Big G and Blaze understood his frustrations better than anyone because their lifestyle was similar to his. “I can’t believe that I have to reschedule the stupid event because I don’t want to accept a payout from Amaya” he added, still in disbelief.

“At least you know that she is not after your money” Blaze suggested. That was the biggest challenge they all had when it came to dating and settling down. The women they attracted were either into the lavish lifestyle and fame or gold diggers.

“I don’t know man, I would take an easy chick anytime. I’m starting to appreciate them now” Tresh confessed.

Big G laughed “No you wouldn’t. You have found her worthy of your time and money”

“The irony is that the one you want to spend your bucks on does not want it nor does she require it” Blaze added. “I should find myself one of those. When am I meeting that friend of hers?” he asked.

“You are not!” Tresh exclaimed. He was strangely very protective of Mandy who has become a good friend.

“Seriously Tresh, you are my homie” Blaze responded feeling all wronged.

“Mandy is a friend, you are bad news”

“We shall all be friends, perhaps kissing friends?” Blaze teased.

Big G laughed “You walked right into that one, TT”

“It’s good to know that my friends find my struggles amusing” Tresh responded, sulking.

That evening after his friends left him, Tresh called his manager to do some damage control to avoid taking Amaya’s money.

Lenny could not believe his luck when he discovered the reason for Tresh’s call. Besides being paid as his manager, he also received a lot of benefits and bribes from other people who wanted to do business with Tresh, the current sponsor included. In no time he had informed the sponsor of the new developments. The sponsor was more than elated to learn that Tresh had rescheduled. They did not mind reorganising the whole event because it was guaranteed to bring them a lot of profit. In just an hour, the social media had reported that the event was on again. Tresh had also updated his social media page apologetic for not showing up and promised to give away some limited edition sneakers to the first fifty fans to arrive at the event.

That night before the event, Tresh called Amaya. He spent the rest of the evening wondering if she was upset about tasting another woman’s lip gloss on his lips when they kissed earlier.

“Hello” Amaya answered.

“Are you upset?” he asked, his fingers crossed.

“Why would I be upset?” she asked, pretending to be naive. His popularity with women was the reason she vowed never to confess her feelings for him. The thousands of photographs of him with different women and the many stories about how gifted and good he was in the bedroom was enough to convince her that dating him would be too risky and stupid despite her feelings.

“About cherry and peach” he reminded her.

“Does she have herpes type 2?” she asked, all formal.

Tresh shook his head, a smile forming in his lips. The question was so typical Amaya. “No, I don’t think so” he responded not caring to ask what that entailed.

“Then I don’t see why I would be upset” she said carelessly trying to convince him that she did not care about his playboy life. She spent the rest of the afternoon reminding herself that he was just a friend, she had no grounds for being jealous at all.

“Can I come and see you?” he asked charmingly.

“It’s late, I’m getting ready for bed” Amaya responded, she had already decided to spend as less time with him as possible.

“You are upset” he said softly.

“I am not!” she said sternly, sounding more defensive than she would have liked.

“Let me come over” he insisted.

“Tresh!” she exclaimed, he was being too persistent for her liking.

“Which part upsets you? The idea of me kissing another woman or the imagination of what else I did with her?” he asked, pushing her buttons. Amaya might not confess her feelings for him but he was smart enough to know that what he felt for her was not one sided. When she was with Lucas, just the knowledge that she was with him drove him crazy. He concluded that she might be as jealous as well.

“Fine, come over!” she snapped, conceding to avoid answering his question.

“I am outside, open the door” he said, amused and impressed by his victory.

Amaya sighed, opening the door “You were already outside” she said, not impressed with him for tricking her.

“Good evening Amaya, how do you do?” he greeted her with a grin using her usual formal demeanour.

“Good evening Mr Taylor, now that you have satisfied your eyes that I am indeed not upset, can I go to sleep?” she asked.

He chuckled at her cold and distant approach and decided to test his suspicions “We kissed and fucked right before you showed up. Three rounds to be exact” he confessed while watching her every expression.

Amaya froze for a second before recollecting herself and responding “Congratulations!”.

Her response caught him off guard “Congratulations?” he asked, wrinkling his eyebrows. Did she not care whom he took to bed? Did he read too much to their relationship? Doubt which had dissipated after her break-up with Lucas started forming in his mind again.

“Sexual intercourse has several benefits, it boosts one’s immune system, libido, lowers blood pressure and counts as an exercise, benefits of which are well known, hence the congratulations” she responded with a straight face, shrugging her shoulders.

Tresh was green with envy wondering if Amaya had sex with Lucas for the many benefits she listed. He left Amaya’s house disappointed. His plan had not gone according plan, now Amaya felt so distant to him. He should have known not to use conventional methods for an unconventional woman.

The following day, Amaya and Mandy sat in front of the screen watching Tresh’s sponsor concert.

“I don’t see why we should sit through the whole concert” Amaya complained. She was already struggling enough with how to stand by her resolve  with Tresh, she did not need to see him shirtless and listen to his husky sexy voice for four whole hours while making sure she is not blushing in front of her friend who would definitely read more to it.

“You said you two are just friends, we are watching and supporting a friend. Unless of course there is more to it” Mandy responded.

“I am starting to wonder if I still have a best friend or Tresh stole you already” Amaya snapped, getting frustrated.

“I was thinking the same thing, we use to talk openly about everything but with Tresh you are all secretive. I don’t understand your choices anymore. I feel like I lost you” Mandy responded, sulking.

Amaya sighed knowing that her friend had a point. She has been keeping her thoughts to herself because Mandy happened to be Tresh’s biggest fan “You can never loose me Mandy, you should know that” she said softly, feeling guilty. Deep down she knew that her friend would never divulge anything she told her in confidence even to her favourite artist.

“Then speak to me Amaya. One minute I think you are crazy about Tresh, the next you are cold towards him. What’s going on with you?” Mandy asked, right before the usual chaos began at Tresh’s concert as his fans literally fought and pushed each other to get to the stage to make up with him. “Are you okay?” Mandy asked, watching Amaya’s every expression.

“Why would I not be okay?” Amaya asked, avoiding looking at the screen.

“Your man is on screen making out with another woman”

“He is not my man” Amaya responded, defensive.

“Amaya, I know you better than you think”

“What do you want me to say, Mandy? That I have fallen for him? That I can’t fall asleep until I hear his husky voice? That I am suppose to master my own brain and thought processes but I can’t stop it from wondering about intimate details about him? That I hate the effect he has on me? That I know that he can never be really mine because expecting him to be would be selfish on my part? Which part do you need me to confess, Mandy?”Amaya babbled, more frustrated with herself than her friend.

“You poor thing, you feel vulnerable with him” Mandy responded sympathetic. For the first time since Tresh showed up, she completely understood her friend’s actions.

“You know how I hate that” Amaya responded softly.

“Tresh is not Eric, Amaya”

“No, he is not. He is a thousand worse. I vowed never to loose myself to a man like that again” Amaya responded with a lump in her throat.

“What are going to do?” Mandy asked wondering how her friend would be able to stand by her vow with Tresh always around her. Dating another man did not help but seemed to have brought the two closer instead.

“I was thinking of being someone’s surrogate, pregnancy tends to repel a lot of man”

“That’s madness!” Mandy exclaimed in disbelief. This was too extreme even for Amaya.

“Do you have a better suggestion beside marrying someone else?” Amaya asked, desperation evident in her voice.

“Amaya!” Mandy was shocked at the extent her friend was willing to go to avoid being with Tresh.

“I have thought of every possibility, my last resort is moving abroad. I have offers from several countries, we could move together. I have checked, they have a job for you too.”

Mandy was now shocked at how much Amaya had been thinking and planning “Amaya, this is extreme. If what you feel for him is so strong that you have thought of such extreme methods, do you honestly think they will suddenly disappear because you moved to another country?” she asked.

“As my best friend, you are not helping at all” Amaya complained.

“I don’t think anyone can really run away from their soulmate, Amaya”

“Seriously Mandy, how many times do I have to tell you that there is no such!” Amaya snapped at her hopeless romantic friend.

That afternoon, Tresh could not believe his luck when he turned on his phone and discovered a long voice message from Amaya. Listening to it, he concluded that her phone had pocket-dialled him. He was happy to learn that she had fallen for him but the rest left him depressed. Was Amaya really contemplating such extreme methods to get rid of him? Not knowing how to deal with everything he had learned, he decided to start with what seemed to be the source of it all.

“Danny, I need information on a guy called Eric” he instructed.

“Eric who, Sir?” Danny asked, always ready to do his best.

“I have no idea, he might have had a relationship with Dr Lorgan” Tresh explained.

“Right away, Sir” Danny responded. Amaya was well known especially in the medical field, a fact he discovered when he did a background check on her for his boss a few months back. It should not be difficult to find out about anyone she dated, he thought and he was right. Before nightfall he already had a report for his boss. Even Tresh was surprised by his exceptional efficiency. Paging through the file, he now knew more about Amaya’s ex Dr Eric Sparks, a renowned handsome Neurosurgeon. His parents were wealthy professors in Genetics, Eric being their only child was an heir to all of that wealth. He and Amaya dated since high school and for most of their medical school years. They were even engaged at some point but Amaya broke off the engagement because of consistent infidelity on his part. Tresh’s expression darkened when he saw that the two were still in contact but soon relaxed when he discovered that Eric was now engaged to someone else. The last thing he needed was to compete with Amaya’s high school and university sweetheart. Reading the rest of the file, he discovered that in essence, Eric was a different version of himself, a fact he now understood was spooking Amaya.