Tell your story#73 | He Brought Me Flowers, Then Tried to Hook Me Up With His Friend

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I don't know which hurts the most between unrequited love and watching your crush play matchmaker. The first makes your heart ache in pain. The other makes your face burn in shame. Last week, I found myself trapped in the middle of both.

The guy, let's call him Tom, and I have been friends since last year. Tom is one of those men who people easily gravitate towards. He always wears a warm smile, has a good sense of humour and knows just how to make a woman feel heard and understood.

_{Love. The one thing that can make or break us Unsplash}
I knew that I was in love with him from the very moment I set my eyes on him. We got to know each other some weeks after and that's how the spark ignited. I was single. He was single. I flirted. He returned the flirt. Then, like it's expected in my culture, I waited. I waited for him to respond to the "greenlights". And that moment did come. Phew!

He sent me a message on Thursday, requesting that we go on a dinner date at a fancy restaurant. The message was detailed. It contained the time, venue, and dress code. I could feel my heart swarm in joy. The moment I had long expected was finally here!

_{What a gentleman! Unsplash}

Ladies, this guy was so sweet. He booked my Bolt ride. Greeted me with some a bouquet of flowers when I arrived, while I gifted him the packet of cookies I got on my way to the place.

We spent the evening talking about our lives, our interests, and our futures. Since it was Valentine day, my imagination ran wild. "Would he pop the question?" "Will he ask me out?" "Will we finally be an item?" Oh, somebody, catch me!

I thought of the many couple content we'd create on Instagram. The shape of our children's heads. The feeling of finally having his thick arms wrapped round my waist. But seven words threw me out of my daydream.

"I'd like you to meet my friend."

He explained that a friend had seen my pictures from our visit to the Ibom Golf Resort on his WhatsApp status and was desperate to meet me.

"And you said?" I asked, hoping he’d tell me he told the guy I was off-limits. But my big-headed crush continued, "Ah! No o! I can't stop you from meeting your destiny helper."

Then he went on to listing my amazing quality and explaining why I was a catch.

_{The pain! Unsplash}
Sincerely, I don't know how others do it. But I knew in that moment that there was no way a guy who found me romantically attracted would toss me to his friend. The realisation of unrequited love didn't hurt as much as watching him try to toss me around as some puppet incapable of making delicate decisions. When I left that eatery, I dropped whatever love had eaten its way to my heart and picked King Nebuchadnezzar's pride.

Sometimes, when we experience unrequited love, the best gift we can give to ourselves in leaving with our dignity intact.

_{Thank you for the invitation @mannatnawaz. Extending the invite to @mkponke-ouwa, @chant, @ilorgic @ninapenda}