I and Sylvia had been friends for so long I don’t even remember the time our friendship started. We shared everything and did a lot of things together. In our future plans, we planned not to live far from each other. We didn’t want to live life without each other. That was how close we were together.

She was lucky with men. I would be walking with her and she would be the one men would call. It didn’t bother me. She had all the body features that got men attracted. Talk about front and behind. Talk about a pretty face. Talk about a beautiful complexion. She had it all so I wasn’t surprised she was the one always getting the calls from men. Because of that, she had many boyfriends and even had others on the waiting list. I didn’t judge her. Our motto was to do whatever made us happy.

I on the other hand had issues with guys. I could get a man today and tomorrow he’s gone. I was the one crying all the time because men were leaving my life. I didn’t fancy dating more than one man at a time. I believed in building a relationship that would last and also take us to the altar. I was careful when it came to the selection of men but no matter how careful I was, the guys always came and left.

At some point in my life, I decided I’ve had enough. The heartbreaks were becoming many so I decided to pull out of everything relationship and concentrate on building my own life. She advised me to double date. She even sent some men my way but I rejected all of them. I was determined not to date again until I was so sure.

One evening, she asked me to escort her to see a friend. She added, “Please, dress very well. You don’t know who we might meet.” I did my best. I put my best dress on and put my confidence on. I followed her to meet her friend. The friend was an old man. Judging from everything that was happening around us, I could clearly see there was something going on between her and the old man. Not too long afterward, another old man came to join our table. Sylvia called me on the side and said, “That man there, he has everything and this is your chance to shine. Entertain him. Get closer to him and be receptive. I believe you can easily get him.” I told her, “I came here because you said I should follow you. I have no desire for any man. Hurry up and let’s go.”

When the old man realized that I wasn’t interested in him, he left me in peace. When we were going home, Sylvia never stopped talking about the opportunity I’d missed. I didn’t mind her. She even blamed me for cutting the night short because I couldn’t engage the man. I didn’t talk back, all I wanted to do was to get home in one full piece.

Not too long afterward, I met a guy who looked like a decent piece of human. He introduced himself to me as King. He worked at the bank and it was at the bank that I met him and exchanged contacts. I was doubtful at first so I didn’t want to entertain him but as time went on he did the little things to win my heart. I decided I would give him a chance. I told Sylvia and she was so happy for me. She said, “At long last.” I said, “You can say that again but this one looks genuine that’s why I’m giving him a chance.”

The day I accepted his proposal, I told him about Sylvia. He was fascinated by the stories I shared about her. He said, “I can’t wait to meet this your friend.” I said, “Next time, I’m coming with her.” I went with her the next time I was going to see him. You can trust Sylvia to own the conversation and pull out surprises to make the meeting exciting and that was exactly what she did.

After that day, whatever happened between me and my King, I told Sylvia about it, to the extent that I even told her the size of his joystick. She asked, “I hope he’s able to use it well?” I said, “I wanted to run away the first time. He nearly killed me.” We both laughed. Those were the little gossips that kept our friendship tight.

One night I was with King when I realized I’d missed calls from Sylvia. She didn’t usually call me twice so I was surprised I saw her three missed calls on my phone. I tried calling and I was told I didn’t have enough call credit. I picked King’s phone and dialed her number. Immediately I tapped on the call button ‘Syl’ appeared on the phone. I thought I’d mistakenly tapped on a different number on the phone so I dialed the number again. Syl appeared again. I couldn’t understand. “How? Why? Since when has he had Sylvia’s number?” I quietly deleted the call log from his phone.

That night I went through his phone. All the messaging apps on his phone didn’t have any chat records between them. My soul was still restless. I needed answers. The following weekend, while Sylvia was in the kitchen cooking, I picked her phone and went through it. She had saved his name with his initials. When I went through her phone, I saw they have exchanged tons of messages. I started going through the messages. My heart started breaking. All of a sudden, I became weak. She asked him in the message, “So what are you going to do with my friend?” King answered, “Let’s wait and see what happens. Her time will surely come.” I screamed, “Sylvia!” She rushed out of the kitchen. I said, “Why would you do this to me?” She saw her phone in my hand. She asked, “What are you talking about?” I asked, “Since when have you been seeing King behind my back?” She said, “I don’t understand.” I showed her the messages. The crazy photos she had sent to him. The discussion of the night they had together. The question about what king was going to do with me.”

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She stood there speechless and shaking. She didn’t know what to say. I kept screaming, “I thought we were sisters. Why would you do this to me, Sylvia?” She said, “We haven’t done anything. We were just talking.” I said, “Liar…all these photos are part of the talking?” I was so shocked I couldn’t even cry. I called King right away. I asked, “King, what’s going on between you and Sylvia?” He asked, “What are you talking about?” I told him, “Sylvia is here. I read her messages. I’ve seen the photos you guys have exchanged. I’ve read about your first night. I thought you were different.” He was speechless on the phone until he dropped the line.

The next day, Sylvia called me telling me rehearsed lies; “I was testing him to see if he was faithful to you but nothing happened. I can swear on that.” King also called giving me stories upon stories, begging me not to do anything stupid. I told him, “I can curse you two right now and the next moment you two would be gone. Don’t you dare me!”

I’ve seen so many disappointments in love and in life so this shouldn’t have hurt. Sylvia’s involvement made all the difference. I got worse by the day. Nobody could believe Sylvia could do that to me. I walk around feeling empty. I cry for no reason at all. I lost a seven-month relationship and a lifetime friend in a single day. It’s been a month already but the pain doesn’t seem to go away. Maybe sharing my story here would help ease the pain but for now, I don’t know if I can ever get over the trauma.

–Virginia

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