She was lost in thoughts. Thinking and planning as always. She involuntarily took her pen and wrote down everything she ought to do in the next month. Out of her never ending list was the plan to at least meet the man of her dreams. In her mid thirties and still single,  Seun couldn't help but question herself. Needed to know exactly why she wasn't attracting men. Ok she was, but they weren't her kind.

She knew better than to settle for the least. CEO of a respectable brand. She was established, rich but still unhappy.  In retrospect, she remembered her encounter with Segun, the man she was in love with for a very long while. He was a business partner and their friendship had kicked off on the right note.

She already knew she would agree to date him if he asked. Almost a year later, Segun had not asked if they could date but was showing affections like he was interested. She was glad that they had a good foundation for a relationship since they were good friends. She waited patiently for the moment that never came.

Months later,  Segun invited her to a dinner and she was so elated she thought "this is it"... On getting there, she realized they had company.


"Hey love", she said to Segun.

"Hi Miss, you look lovely, as usual"

"Thank you" she said as she looked at the third party and quickly gazed at Segun, obviously expecting an introduction.

Segun: "Seun, I'd like to introduce my fianceé, Tola. Tola, this is Seun, my long-time business associate and close friend"

Seun in disbelief, put on a wry smile and stretched her arms for a hand shake.

"Nice to meet you Tola. And Segun how come you kept this away from me? Congratulations" she said as she took to her seat and settled for a long disheartening dinner.

The rest of the evening was sour for her.  She couldn't help but replay his statement in her head. "Long-time business associate and CLOSE FRIEND"

CLOSE FRIEND??

Misconceptions of friend zone.

She thought she got signals from him since their friendship was good. Well, she thought it was.
She got friend zoned while waiting for the man she was in love with to ask her out on a date. In her mind, she thought the friend zone was something they both shared since it was sort of a pre-requisite for her to get into a relationship with someone. Little did she know that while she was busy zoning, her "man" was busy having a relationship.

"Seun, Seun. What in the world are you thinking about again?"

Tiwa's voice jolted her back to the reality she very much dreaded.

"Seriously Tiwa, how does a girl escape the friend zone?"
********

Waiting for your comments lovely readers. hugs