Tina remembered how her friend Prisca had come to her house and deceived her into following her to see a friend, claiming that they wouldn't stay long—just a few minutes.
"Please, Tina, come with me; let’s go see Sharon. I promise we won't stay long, just for a few minutes. Please don’t say no," Prisca begged.
Tina agreed and followed Prisca out of her father's house to see Sharon.
Prisca knew that if she had told Tina the truth about considering dating Patrick, Tina would not have agreed.
Tina had repeatedly said that she didn’t want a boyfriend. She didn’t want to lose her virginity or disappoint her poor mother, who had been struggling to feed her and her two younger brothers ever since their father abandoned them and ran away with another woman, leaving them without any trace of his whereabouts.
As they stepped out onto the village road, Prisca stopped a bike man and dragged Tina onto the bike with her before Tina could change her mind.
When they arrived at the apartment where Sharon lived with her older brother, Tina scanned the front view of the house, already feeling uncomfortable. She saw a dark man step out of the house and walk up to the compound's exit gate to meet them.
Tina's heart raced as she saw the guy approach, and he hugged Prisca excitedly as they greeted each other before he left. Tina felt very uncomfortable as she noticed the way the guy had stared at her before leaving.
"Prisca, why don't you just call Sharon instead of us going into the house? Just tell her we’re outside waiting for her," Tina suggested.
Prisca, already knowing that Sharon was not yet home, replied, "No, Tina, we have to go inside the house to wait for Sharon to arrive." Ignoring the suggestion to call Sharon again, Prisca walked up to the front door of the house and unlocked it without knocking for the homeowners to step out.
Tina gulped as she stood aside, staring at Prisca, blaming herself for following her without knowing the way back to her own village.
As Prisca opened the door to go inside, she paused and said to Tina, "It's not safe to stay out here alone, Tina. Come inside. It's Sharon's brother's house. Let's wait for Sharon to arrive."
"Sharon's brother's house?" Tina frowned, repeating Prisca's words. To her knowledge, Prisca had never mentioned they were going to Sharon's brother's house; she thought they were going to see Sharon at her family home.
Tina frowned further, subtly blaming herself for following Prisca. She didn’t even know the way back to her father’s house, and she reluctantly followed Prisca into the beautiful bungalow.
Prisca Johnathan was thrilled to see Sharon's brother, Patrick Scott, a handsome black man around 25 years old, wearing just shorts as he stepped out from the kitchen into the living room, not expecting to see Prisca.
Patrick's eyes lit up when he saw Tina Praise too. He was only in his boxer shorts and hadn’t anticipated Prisca visiting his house with her.
He remembered trying to woo Tina several times, all to no avail, as she kept rejecting him and stating she was not interested in a relationship.
Prisca immediately rushed up to give Patrick a warm hug, causing him to fall backward onto the nearest blue couch, making her sit on his thighs and pressing against his length as she stared at him sweetly.
Patrick's gaze, however, was fixed on Tina, who stood nervously by the entrance door. Noticing she refused to move away from the door, Patrick excused himself from Prisca, telling her, "Prisca, why not sit on the couch? Let me properly welcome you and your friend. She looks uncomfortable, and I'm still cooking too."
"Okay, Patrick," Prisca replied, finally moving away from his thighs to sit beside him on the couch.
Patrick then stood up from the blue couch, of which he had about seven in his living room, and smiled as he walked over to Tina, who still wouldn’t meet his gaze.
Patrick recalled how he had tried to woo Tina several times but she always ran away from him. He had asked one of his younger sisters, Sharon Scott, to talk to Tina on his behalf.
Sharon attended the same government school as Tina, but she refused. Sharon had been corrupt, sleeping with different men at the age of 16, appearing more mature than her years, even though she was slim. Sharon bluntly told him, "Tina and I are not friends, and you can't expect me to walk with that local champion. I cannot speak to her for you."
Patrick remembered begging and bribing his younger sister until she finally introduced Prisca to him. But in Prisca's mind, she thought he wanted a relationship with her. Patrick recalled seeing Prisca and Tina walking down their village road together whenever he drove home to see his parents.
He lived outside the village in a nearby city, which was different from Tina's.
Patrick had even asked Prisca, "Prisca, I want to ask you, how about your fair-skinned friend that I see you walking with on the village road?" Prisca thought he was just curious and told him, "You mean Tina Praise? She doesn’t have time for guys or relationships. Forget about her. Tina is always at home taking care of her brothers or doing her homework; I can’t bring her here to see you."
Patrick knew that Prisca thought he wanted a relationship with her, but he was well aware that Prisca was a cheat, much like Sharon, sleeping with different men for money.
He didn’t bother asking Prisca any further questions about Tina, but he kept giving Prisca gifts for her friend whenever she visited, asking her to try to bring Tina along when she came to see Sharon.
Now, here they were.
Patrick finally approached Tina and spoke, "Hi, pretty lady. I'm sorry your friend doesn’t want to introduce us so we can get to know each other better. I'm Patrick Scott. Come have a seat." He gestured for Tina to sit on one of the seven couches in the living room, but she remained rooted by the door, staring at Patrick’s face, recalling that she had seen him before. He was one of the guys who had been pursuing her for a relationship.
Tina looked at Prisca's face, but Prisca turned away from her in jealousy, rolling her eyes as she stared back at Patrick.
Patrick then gestured for Tina to have a seat, but she remained rooted by the door, not responding until he repeated, "Have a seat, please."
Finally, Tina moved away from the door and walked over to sit on one of the blue couches in the living room, closer to the exit door. She felt afraid and uneasy being in a man's house.
Patrick smiled as he watched Tina finally sit on one of his living room couches. He was still wearing only his boxer shorts, and his chiseled masculine chest was bare.
Prisca then stood up from the blue couch she had been sitting on and walked over to Patrick. She held his right arm with both hands and said, "Why not leave my friend alone, Patrick? Let’s go inside and enjoy ourselves since Sharon isn't home yet?"
Patrick frowned and stared at Prisca's face. At 25 years old, he knew he was doing well for himself and owned the house. He recognized that all Prisca ever wanted from him was sex and money, and he had refused her advances several times, only asking for Tina. Yet Prisca didn’t want to give up, hoping that he would date her.
Finally, Patrick excused himself from Prisca's hold and said, "No, Prisca. Why not make your friend feel comfortable? Let me go inside and get you both some drinks." He immediately excused himself from Prisca and went into the corridor to put on his clothes and fetch them some drinks.
