We were the “IT” couple everyone pointed to and said, “ This is how love is supposed to be”.
We made love look easy and most people envied us without admitting it. Our love wasn’t dramatic but yet demanded attention and people affirm it because it seems certain.
We took the best pictures, survived arguments that were meant to break other people.
He held my hand like he is afraid I might disappear one day.
Then there was her.
She was always there, somewhere in the background like a hidden gem. She never arrived as a threat, was never introduced as a problem but somehow she was mentioned casually and slipped into our conversations like “she’s just a friend”
He say it the way people say good morning without thinking, the way people say things they’ve rehearsed only once because they never thought they would need to say them again. So I believed him not because I was foolish but because love had a way of teaching you to trust explanations that comes too easily.
She had both of us on instagram and each time a story is posted especially of both of us she never liked mine but was always on his making comments like “ You were the glow the picture ever needed”. It was a subtle shade to me and each time I brought it up, it made no sense to him and he will say things like “ You know she’s our friend right?”
Our?
They'll proceed to explain the next inside joke like they have same algorithm on social media and that left me questioning if I was doing too much or he was just refusing to see it.
However we practically spent almost all the time together so I didn’t have to worry about her because she was clearly getting no attention but somehow she is always around.
She was becoming to seem so important as she was always the topic up for discussion and that made me feel some type of way so I decided she was invisible to me and I’ll continue that way.
Our love kept growing stronger, we were still good. Still the couple people looked at and said “I want what they have”. We argued and recovered, planed futures that felt solid in our mouths. I slept peacefully, convincing myself that a love like ours had no room for intruders.
I didn’t like her but for the sake of my relationship
I called a truce. All of a sudden, I didn’t need to worry about her. She laughed at the right moments, stood at an appropriate distance, just existed on the edge of things.
One day, He got a distress call from home and had to travel down to Lagos.
And what was supposed to be for a few days, turned out to be the longest weeks of my life because we've never been away from each other that long
They weren’t the best days of his life because he lost his favourite aunt and was grieving.
I tried my best to be there for him but it seemed like he was pushing me away. At first I told myself people grieve differently so I’d understand.
He started returning my missed calls hours later and gradually he stopped picking them up. I had no choice but to reach out to her.
We were supposed to meet up then she told me she traveled and that she’s also in Lagos to
sort out something real quick. I never read meaning to that , just went ahead to ask her if she was able to reach Tunde but she said he isn’t available so we should be calm and he would definitely come around.
For the first time since we called a truce, she sounded like a “girls girl”.
Apparently she had gone to see him in Lagos at his family's house and his people knew her to that extent. They spent time together, went to the beach, hang out late at night all in the name of trying to get over what happened and there I was in the dark, clueless and holding on to the fact that he gave me his word.
Weeks later, on a night that felt so calm, I opened instagram without thinking just to enjoy the reels.
I hadn’t checked his page in days. Instagram did it for me. Suggested for you and the story loaded before I could change my mind.
There she was. On his story. Not tagged, no caption that feels abnormal just a moment too intimate to be accidental, too casual to be innocent and even familiar enough for the algorithm to remember her.
I stared longer than i should have, hoping context would appear if I waited long enough. It didn’t.
And suddenly, every reassurance came back to me but this time around it wearing a different face.
Everything he said back then played back with new subtitles. “she’s just a friend” echoed again.
But this time, it sounded different.
I didn’t confront him immediately. Not because I was afraid but because something had already ended quietly in me and confrontation felt unnecessary when the truth had already presented itself without permission.
Later on, I was able to get hold of him and we had a conversation. It was quite short.
Me: “I saw your story”.
Tunde: “Oh, her? It’s nothing”.
Me: “I know.
He exhaled slowly, like he’s choosing his words instead of the truth
Tunde: “It’s not what you’re thinking. I told you there was nothing to worry about”.
Me: “I haven’t told you what I am thinking. You know you’ve been very consistent”. I said with a smile that looks very fake.
He paused and frowns. With a voice a bit louder than normal he asked
Tunde: “Wait! What does that mean?
She was just around. That’s all.
Me: “Just around? Somehow she just found herself in Lagos? I’m supposed to believe that right?
Oh well you never changed the story.
Silence envelopes the place
Tunde: “You’re upset and I get it. Nothing happened between us.
Me: “ No I’m not upset but very clear about what I’m saying and yes nothing might have happened but you waited until it didn’t need to.
I know something happened but it just didn’t start today. That is why I'm ending this relationship.
Tunde: You’re really ending this over that? Over an instagram story?
Me: “ I wish it was just a story. I’m ending it over how confident you were that I wouldn’t.
He explained, he always do but explanations don’t undo patterns.
Now when I think of us, I still remember the love. I don’t deny it. It was real, warm, envied even. It just wasn’t protected.
And somewhere between “don’t worry about her” and a quiet instagram story, I learnt that the most dangerous third person is the one you’re told not to see.
Anie's Note:
Love doesn't always end because it fades. Sometimes it ends because trust was misplaced. I believe not every betrayal begins with cheating, some begin the moment you're told you have nothing to worry about.
Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to comment and tell me what y'all think.
.jpeg)
