The Dating Manual

Chapter 3: When faced with (shocking) news about your newfound friends

Warning: contains black panther spoilers.

I was happy to say that the movie was amazing. Mimi chatted nonstop afterward, about the technology, the costumes.

Everything was even made better because Isaac never let go of my hand.

"My favourite character was Mbaku, hands down." Tolu said, hands in his pocket.

"Mine was definitely Killmonger."

"Yeah we could tell by the way you were screaming like a banshee when he took of his shirt." Isaac snickered.

I rolled my eyes. "He died anyway."

Mimi gave me a dirty look and huffed. I simply chuckled.

We all walked together, chatting about the movie. I never once felt left out. At some point, I even forgot that I wasn't from that country. Their slangs and behaviour felt natural to me.

Isaac suggested him and I have dinner together to close the evening and of course I accepted. Free food plus amazing company was a definite yes.

He drove us to a restaurant called Genesis a short distance from Spar. It had ceiling-high glass windows all round such that you could see everyone inside from outside. We sat by the window. And he left momentarily to get our food.

He returned with two trays of steaming jollof rice and bottled waters. I felt my mouth water at the sight.

"Did you have fun at the cinema?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah I did. It was amazing." I said, nodding eagerly.

"I'm glad." He said with a genuine smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners. It caused me to smile too.

We ate with slight conversation. I felt completely at ease.

We were in the middle of an argument on whether Killmonger should've died or not when a shadow fell over us.

"Isaac?" A feminine voice asked, causing me to look up.

A fair-skinned beauty graced my eyes, accompanied with one of the darkest boys I've ever seen in my life.

"Hey, Mercy. Meet Mavis." Isaac introduced with a warm smile.

"Great to meet you, Mavis." She said warmly. "This is Kesiena." She said, gesturing to the dark boy.

He nodded at us both.

"Mercy and I are family friends," Isaac explained to which I nodded.

"It's been what? Three years? Fancy seeing you here." Mercy said, chuckling. "How's Dami? Are you still together?"

I felt a frown grace my features. Surely it wasn't my friend who'd helped me get ready for my date.

Isaac shifted uncomfortably. "No, we broke up last year."

"Oh I'm sorry, didn't know. Anyways enjoy your dinner. Was nice meeting you, Mavis. I hope we'll see sometime soon." Mercy said before exiting with Kesiena.

"Dami?" I asked.

"We used to date in SS1 and SS2. We broke up when she cheated on me with my cousin." Isaac explained. He seemed over it.

"Oh. I had no idea." I said, feeling foolish. Of course I was the only one who didn't know I was actually going on a date with my friend's ex.

"It's not important. I thought you knew already, considering how close you guys seem to be. I was wrong apparently." He said.

"Yeah, that's okay." I said, suddenly losing my appetite. Something didn't sit well with me. Why didn't Dami mention this earlier?

"You seem upset." Isaac said pointedly.