Tife followed his movements excitedly with her eyes. He dribbled past the first defender and proceeded with great skill towards the penalty box. Before the last two defenders could stop him, he curled the ball and watched it fly towards the post. The field was quiet for the few seconds the ball rolled in the air. Everyone followed its movement in anticipation. It slightly brushed the bar and then found its way past the goal line.

He scored.

"Goal!!" Tife heard herself shout. She pushed up from the pavement she was seated on and squealed, jumping around like a child. She watched him pull his shirt off and race towards the spectators in celebration. Her mouth fell open.

Damn! He was a real man.

Tife wondered what it would feel like running her hands along his hard chest and toned abs. She bit back a moan at the tingling sensation she felt between her legs.

He was perfect. Not your regular huge guy. But he was tall and had a hot workout body. Together with his pointed nose, slender eyes and beard-free devilishly handsome face, he would pass off for an African version of Actor Lee Jae Wook.

Tife giggled when she realized she now had an obsession. He was the major reason she never missed the Estate's football games every Saturday evening. She happened to see him on her way back from the salon one evening and like a magnet, he pulled her to himself. She would stroll around the estate every evening after that day with the hope that they would collide somewhere, somehow. But they never did.

The sound of the referee's whistle disrupted the celebration.

"No goal." the referee yelled, crossing his hands at the mid-forearm point. "It's offside."

Tife watched his face grow red with annoyance. No one would believe he had a smile on his face a few moments back. Murmurs from every corner of the field filled the air.

"Wetin this guy dey talk now?" the captain of the supposed winning team queried, "Femi scored in the middle of the eighteen box."

Femi.

As much as she was happy that she was able to discover her newly found obsession's name, she was equally sad. Her three ex-boyfriends bore the exact name. Her life was jinxed. And males that bore that demonic name were Ph.D holders in flirting. They all cheated on her with low class 'things'.

I can't fall for this. Tife you can't fall for him!

But she knew her feelings were deeper, deeper than she could imagine. She couldn't help it. She officially had the 'Femi Syndrome.'

She watched Femi march towards the unreasonable referee. She smiled. The short dark male needed someone to put him in his place.

"That goal was nothing close to being offside." The tone of his voice was lower than the anger she saw on his face seconds ago. She was slightly disappointed. She wanted action.

Action speaks louder than words right?

"It was offside. I saw it clearly," the referee insisted.

"You saw it clearly and you didn't blow the whistle immediately? We were almost done celebrating the goal before you decided to see it was offside." She could see how much he was struggling to restrain himself. "Or does your brain find it difficult to interpret a simple visual signal on time?"

Vawulence!

She waited for the referee's comeback but when he remained mute, she shook with laughter. Fortunately, there was no one beside her to feel the effect of the laughter. The small man was obviously intimidated.

"Guys, I'm out." Femi announced with his two hands up in surrender. He picked up his backpack and strolled out of the field, ignoring the screams from his teammates.

That's all?

No 'decking'?

She hissed, "So not entertaining."

She adjusted her outfit and ran after him. At least, she should get his number before he disappeared again.

…………….........………

"Come in," Femi responded to the slight knock on his large office mahogany door. The door was opened and a short, light-skinned, middle aged woman who he had come to identify as his mother, stepped into the office. Her wavy human hair wig and her yellow bubu with black  embroidery designs only gave her an exquisite youthful appearance.

A sincere smile played on Femi's heart-shaped lips when their eyes met. "Iya Femi, this one you remembered your son today.."

"At least I remembered. When was the last time you even called me? You completely forgot about your own mother."

Femi chuckled, shaking his head. So typical of his overly dramatic mother. "Mummy, what do you want?"

"So I cannot visit my own son again without wanting something?" She frowned, sensing the mischief in her son's voice. Femi let out the laughter he had been trying to hold.

"Oya let me rephrase. How much do you need for the 'designers' asoebi or handbag or lace?"

"Ahhh... Femi?!"

"Maami!"

The duo stared at each other for a while before bursting into laughter. His mother made herself comfortable on the chair opposite his and brought out a medium sized lunch box from her bag.

Femi smiled.

That 'Sweet mother' song should be dedicated specially to his mum because he couldn't find any mum sweeter.

She was always on time. He was about going to the cafeteria when she walked in. Now, he wouldn't have to go through that stress.

"I heard that your father is trying to set you up with omo Williams. I just came to confirm from you….." she glared at him briefly before adding, ".....and not for asoebi money. I'll sha collect that one later."

Where did I see this woman from?

Femi laughed, pulling the cover of the lunch box open. The aroma of the well-prepared jollof rice filled his entire office. He dug into it immediately. The pool of saliva in his mouth would have fallen out if he didn't.

"So…..?"

Femi sighed, swallowing the last portion of food in his mouth. "Mum, he's not the one setting us up. I brought up the suggestion. We really need this union to help stabilise our income. Our company has not been doing well financially for a while now."

"But must you marry her? You can form the merger without the marriage. Why will you put yourself through that stress, nitori olorun?"

"Mum, you know how Mr. Williams can get. He might decide to call off the merger when things are very stable. I don't want him backing out. And besides, Tomiwa is a nice, intelligent girl. She's beautiful too." No matter how much he tried to hide it, the smile came naturally as he muttered the last part.

"This boy is in love o! Femi, you are in love!" She said it like she couldn't believe it herself. He only smiled harder.

"Tell me the truth, you like her, sheyyy?" His mum smirked, wiggling her eyebrows at him. He tried resisting the constant urge to blush.

"Mummy, please…..."

His mum laughed, "Anyways, it's good news. I'll be sharing asoebi very soon."

When he said nothing in reply, she continued. "Ehen, oko mi, you know Iya Temi's last daughter's wedding is coming up next month."

He stared at her in amusement, munching another spoon full of jollof rice. "Iya Femi, you said you were not here because of asoebi?"

"Eh.. Yes. I'm here because of money for the asoebi."

Femi shook his head with a grin.

What a life!

………………………

Femi relaxed on his king-sized bed, his full attention on the flat screen TV opposite his bed. The sound of the air conditioner coupled with that of the movie characters speaking weirdly helps Femi keep his mind off the miseries of life.

"Coker," A voice interrupted his moment of peace. He groaned, scrambling around in search of the TV's remote control. The door to his room bursted open and he raced to the corner of the TV where he switched it off directly from the power source.

"Dayo…. Guy, how far…?" Femi gave off a guilty smile. Dayo raised his eyebrows in suspicion.

"Why are you behaving like Adam after he had eaten the forbidden fruit?"

Femi gave a sigh of relief, strolling back to his bed to take a seat. "No reason am."

Before he could protest, Dayo turned the TV on and the voices of the Korean actors filled the room.

Dayo threw his head back in laughter. "What?"

Femi turned his attention to the iphone 12 pro max in his hands.

"Coker, I thought we agreed you'd stop watching these girly dramas."

"They are not girly…"

"But you're watching it because of a girl."

"Well she gives good movie reviews," Femi shrugged. Dayo picked the bag of chips from the vanity table before making himself comfortable on the bed.

"I honestly can't believe you've suddenly become a kdrama fan because of a girl you haven't even met."

"I like her. And I like the movies too. It's just you guys that want to tag them 'girly'. This alchemy of Souls I'm watching now is nothing close to being girly."

"Okay, fine. I believe you'll be over it soon. Not like you're going to meet her anytime soon."

"We're getting married." Dayo stared at Femi with his mouth agape. The chips in his mouth struggled to remain in place. "Don't drop those chips on my white sheets please."

Dayo learned forward with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry, I didn't quite grab. What do you mean by you're getting married?"

"It's just as I said it, we're getting married." Dayo opened his mouth to ask another question but Femi was quick to interrupt, "I'll tell you about it when everything is settled."

Dayo raised his two hands, "Fine then. But what of that hot babe you gave your number to? I thought something was starting to, you know,....."

Femi laughed, "Oh, the one with Femi syndrome?"

Dayo shook his head in amusement, "You always meet weird ladies."

He still wondered why a beautiful lady would say such a dumb and miserable sentence just to woo a guy.

"I blocked her number." He answered sincerely.

"Are you serious?" Femi nodded, capturing his bottom lip in between his teeth. Dayo laughed, "You wicked o. After giving her the Femi Syndrome."

"Nah… I would rather have the Iretomiwa syndrome."

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Media: Sapa is real guys. Always collect your change!😂

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