I was feeling down one Friday evening, overwhelmed with a lot of depressing thoughts. I decided to text my male best friend, asking if we could go out to take shots at a lounge and unwind. He affirmed but changed the narrative, suggesting we go to a restaurant instead. I was like, “If that’s what you want, cool.” Three hours before he came to pick me up, I got an alert and a message from him, saying I should go to a boutique and pick a dress of my choice, and even do makeup if I wanted. I laughed and thought, “Oga, is it not just food and shots I want? There’s no need for makeup.” We got to the restaurant, and as we were gisting, I started feeling relieved. Out of the blue, my male best friend of over seven years confessed that he loves me. At first, I thought it was a joke, so I laughed it off, thinking,
“This must be one of his usual jokes.” But then, with a straight face, he told me he wasn’t joking. The food I was eating suddenly wouldn’t go down my throat. I was bewildered. I’m having a hard time processing this because, if there’s anyone I’d ever think would do this, it’s definitely not Emmanuel. Like, this guy has the book of my life in his hands—he knows everything about me. So why would he do this to me? And believe me when I say I don’t have any romantic feelings for him. I’ve always seen him as my very good friend. I’ve even done sleepovers at his place, and in seven years, he has never made any advances toward me. Our friendship was purely platonic, and I’m really pained that he’s doing this now. I can’t look at him the same way anymore. Everything feels awkward.
The ride back home that night was so uncomfortable, it was madddd 😭. To make matters worse, he sent me money afterward with the description: “I hope your mood lightens up a bit.” You guys, how do I turn him down politely and still keep the friendship? Is it even possible? We haven’t spoken for five days now, and this is someone I talk to every single day. I don’t have friends at all—he’s one of the few genuine ones I have. It’s such a shame that the foundation of our friendship feels like it’s shaking.
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