ESCAPING THE FRIEND ZONE

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He could feel his heart beating nine times faster than it normally did, as soon as he sent the text he regretted it but he knew that things couldn’t continue as they were. Jay had been in love with Maddy from the very first time he met her and her friends at a house party but they had become such good friends he hadn’t been able to break past just being friends with her.

Jay had just moved back to Nigeria from the US, he was a good-looking man by all standards and he was also what you’d call a “good guy”. He was hard-working, fairly religious, took care of his family, had no kids and no ex’s (at least not in Nigeria) and he was pretty stable financially. He was smart and loyal and very dependable but even with all these qualities, he had very terrible luck with the ladies.

The only son of his parents, his mother had employed every trick in the book to get her son to settle down and give her grandchildren but him being in America hadn’t helped at all. Finally, Lady Luck had smiled her way when Jay informed her of his decision to move back home, she was ecstatic!!!

She immediately began to make arrangements for prospective matches, her son was quite a catch but given her age and the fact that all the other mothers in her age grade were on their second or third grandchildren, she knew she couldn’t be picky when it came to setting him up for marriage.
Jay however frustrated all her efforts at matchmaking always coming back with a silly reason why “she talked too much mom, she was too quiet mom, we didn’t have anything in common mom” and the silliest reason yet “we just didn’t vibe mom”.

“Does a vibe affect her ability to give me healthy good looking grandchildren?” His mother asked with a look on her face that informed him of her utter dissatisfaction with his excuses.
“We can’t exactly connect intimately if we don’t vibe mom, we need to share a connection” Jay responded hoping against hope that his mother would understand and drop the topic. On any other day, she might have but given the fact that she had currently run out of matchmaking options, she was determined to make this one work. “Darling I didn’t know your father before we got married, let alone VIBE. My parents and his parents decided that we were good for each other and that was that…you young people overcomplicate everything.”

“I am perfectly capable of finding myself a wife Ma…I know what I want and these girls aren’t her.” Jay let out a sigh of frustration. He knew he had just made a mistake by admitting that there might be her, his mother would never let up until she found out who and where she was. His mother was excited and wouldn’t stop pushing until he told her all about this beautiful Nursing student he was obsessed with, who drove him crazy when he was awake and asleep. Who could make Okra soup that tasted just as good as his mother’s, whose smile made him smile even more?

“No wonder non of my girls were good enough for you, you’re in love.” his mother said to him drawing a little closer. “What is the hold up then? Why haven’t I met this girl Jay?”
“She doesn't see me the way I see her mom” he responded softly, his eyes holding a sadness that broke his mother's heart. “She said she doesn't want you??” his mother asked perplexed.
“Mom I've tried to show her in a thousand ways, I've done everything but she still only sees me like a brother, she doesn't like me like that”
“So she said she doesn't want you?” his mother asked again wondering what more this girl could want...her son was EVERYTHING, and she wasn't just saying that because she was his mom.

“Well we haven't talked about it, it's never been a good time...she’s always busy, and its always been too complicated”, in truth Maddy always seemed uninterested in guys and dating, he had seen her shoot down several better looking, more interesting, richer guys.
“Tell her how you feel, or give Nkechi another chance Junior!!! I'm not getting any younger.” his mother ordered in that voice that always fixed his mischievous tendencies as a child.
He knew Tammy was working and wouldn't pick up her phone if he called so he sent her a message.

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“Hey Tammy, I love you. Not the way I normally say it when we've had a nice night out...you are the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing on my mind when I close my eyes to sleep at night...I understand if you don't feel the same way but if you think there's any possibility that you could see me the way I see you...please let me know before my mother forces me to marry Nkechi and breed her grandchildren she can brag about in her Catholic women organizations meeting. Your Jay Jay”.

It had been a very long shift for Tamara and all she wanted was to go home to her cat and curl up in a ball and binge-watch friends, this was her daily routine except on rare occasions when she would break this routine and go out with Jay...Speaking of Jay she had seen a message from him earlier but hadn't been able to read and reply because she had been on her feet for hours, as she walked to her car she opened the text and stopped in her tracks...maybe she finally had more than just her cat to look forward to.