Say It To My Face

Amara saw her immediately.

Kemi was sitting at the far corner of the café, fingers wrapped around a glass of juice she clearly hadn’t touched. Her leg was shaking under the table.

That alone was strange.

Kemi was never nervous.

Never.

But today?

She looked… unsettled.

The moment their eyes met, Kemi stood up quickly.

“Amara.”

Her voice was soft. Careful.

Like someone walking on broken glass.

Amara didn’t respond.

She just walked closer.

Slow.

Steady.

Each step carrying anger, confusion, and something heavier… disappointment.

“Sit down,” Kemi said gently.

Amara sat.

Silence.

Thick. Uncomfortable silence.

A waiter passed, asked if she wanted anything. Amara shook her head without even looking at him.

Her eyes were locked on Kemi.

Waiting.

Kemi swallowed.

“I’ve been calling you,” she said.

“I saw.”

“Why didn’t you pick?”

Amara leaned back slightly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Straight to the point.

No soft landing.

Kemi froze.

Just for a second.

But Amara saw it.

That hesitation.

That tiny crack.

And it was enough.

“Tell me what?” Kemi asked quietly.

Amara let out a short laugh.

Not funny.

Not amused.

Just pain.

“Don’t do that,” she said. “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

Kemi looked down at the table.

Then back up.

“Amara…”

“Is it true?”

Silence.

That was the moment everything slowed down again.

Because the answer was coming.

And Amara wasn’t ready for it.

“Answer me,” she said, her voice lower now. “Is it true?”

Kemi’s eyes filled with something.

Guilt.

There was no mistake.

Amara saw it clearly.

And her heart broke a little more.

“Yes,” Kemi said softly.

That was it.

One word.

But it hit like a truck.

Amara blinked slowly.

Like maybe she heard wrong.

“You’re joking,” she said.

Kemi shook her head.

“I’m not.”

Amara laughed again.

This time louder.

A few people turned to look.

She didn’t care.

“You’re actually serious,” she said. “You… and Femi?”

Kemi nodded.

Amara’s chest tightened painfully.

“For how long?” she asked.

Kemi hesitated.

That hesitation again.

Amara leaned forward.

“For how long, Kemi?”

“…five months,” Kemi whispered.

Everything inside Amara went still.

Five months.

Five.

That meant…

“You were with him while I was still with him.”

It wasn’t a question.

It was a realization.

Kemi didn’t speak.

Didn’t deny it.

And that silence confirmed everything.

Amara leaned back slowly.

Her eyes were glassy now.

“So all those nights,” she said quietly, “when I was crying to you about him…”

Kemi looked down.

“You already knew.”

Tears gathered in Amara’s eyes, but she blinked them back.

No.

She refused to cry here.

Not in public.

Not in front of her.

“You were telling me to leave him,” Amara continued, her voice shaking, “while you were already with him?”

“Amara, it wasn’t like that,” Kemi said quickly.

“Then how was it?” she snapped.

Kemi struggled for words.

“It just… happened.”

Amara stared at her.

Then shook her head slowly.

“That is the most useless explanation I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“I didn’t plan it,” Kemi said. “We didn’t plan it.”

“We?”

That word burned.

“So now it’s ‘we’?”

Kemi closed her eyes briefly.

“Please listen to me.”

“I’ve been listening,” Amara fired back. “I’ve been listening to lies for months apparently.”

“It wasn’t a lie!”

“You hid it from me!”

“Because I knew it would hurt you!”

Amara laughed bitterly.

“Oh, thank you. That really helped.”

Kemi’s voice broke slightly.

“I didn’t want to lose you.”

Amara froze.

Then slowly leaned forward again.

“But you were okay losing me in secret?”

That line landed hard.

Kemi had no answer.

And that silence said everything.

Amara nodded slowly.

“Wow.”

She wiped under her eye quickly.

Still refusing to cry.

“Do you know what hurts the most?” she asked quietly.

Kemi looked at her, eyes already wet.

Amara’s voice dropped.

“It’s not even him.”

Kemi blinked.

“It’s you.”

That hit deeper.

“I expected nonsense from Femi,” Amara continued. “He already showed me who he was.”

Her voice cracked slightly.

“But you…”

She shook her head.

“I trusted you.”

Kemi’s tears finally fell.

“I’m sorry.”

Amara laughed again.

“That word is too small for this kind of damage.”

Silence.

Heavy.

Painful.

“I love him,” Kemi said suddenly.

Amara’s head snapped up.

“What?”

“I didn’t plan to,” Kemi continued, her voice shaking. “But I do. I love him.”

That was it.

That was the final blow.

Amara felt something inside her close up completely.

Like a door slamming shut.

“Say that again,” she said slowly.

Kemi hesitated.

Then repeated it.

“I love him.”

Amara nodded.

Once.

Twice.

Then she stood up.

Calm.

Too calm.

“Okay,” she said.

Kemi looked confused.

“Okay?”

“Yeah. That’s all I needed to hear.”

“Amara, please don’t do this,” Kemi said quickly, standing up too.

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t walk away like this.”

Amara picked up her bag.

“Like what?”

“Like you don’t care.”

Amara looked at her.

And for the first time…

Her face was completely blank.

“No,” she said quietly. “I care.”

Kemi’s face softened slightly.

But Amara continued.

“I just don’t care about you anymore.”

That one landed like silence after thunder.

Kemi froze.

“Amara…”

But she was already turning.

Walking away.

Step by step.

Out of the café.

Out of that friendship.

Out of that version of her life.

Outside, the Lagos noise hit her again.

Loud. Busy. Unforgiving.

She walked past people without seeing them.

Her vision slightly blurred now.

Her chest tight.

Her throat burning.

Then she stopped.

Because Tobi was there.

Leaning against a car across the road.

Watching her.

Like he had been waiting.

He straightened immediately when he saw her face.

“What happened?” he asked.

Amara didn’t answer.

She just looked at him.

And that was enough.

He saw it.

The pain.

The betrayal.

The heartbreak layered on top of heartbreak.

“She admitted it?” he asked quietly.

Amara nodded once.

That was all she could manage.

Tobi exhaled slowly.

Then looked back at her.

“I’m sorry.”

Amara let out a shaky breath.

Then finally…

The tears came.

She laughed weakly through them.

“Two heartbreaks,” she said. “Same people.”

Tobi stepped closer.

Not too close.

Just enough.

“Life doesn’t even give warning,” she added.

“No, it doesn’t,” he agreed.

She wiped her face roughly.

“I feel stupid.”

“You’re not.”

“I trusted the wrong people.”

“That doesn’t make you stupid.”

Amara shook her head.

Then looked at him.

“Why are you even here?” she asked. “Why are you helping me?”

Tobi hesitated.

That hesitation again.

But this time…

It felt heavier.

“Because,” he said slowly, “this is not the end of it.”

Amara frowned.

“What does that mean?”

Tobi looked back toward the café briefly.

Then at her again.

“There’s more you don’t know.”

Her stomach dropped.

“What more?”

Tobi’s expression turned serious.

“Femi didn’t just cheat on you,” he said.

Amara’s heart started pounding again.

“What are you talking about?”

Tobi held her gaze.

“He used you.”

Silence.

Pure silence.

Because that sentence…

Did not make any sense.

At all.

Amara blinked.

“…used me how?”

Tobi didn’t answer immediately.

And somehow…

That made it even worse.

To be continued…