⬆️📍 That's Gbenga lol. (Edit: that's Actor Mawuli Gavor i shall unveil Osaze in the next chapter 😂)

Osaze threw himself into his work entirely after he moved out. He did not have the time to think too hard about her. He was literally getting only 3 hours of sleep in 24hrs because he had so much work to do on the app.

The app had gone viral in India and there was so much work he needed to do with the increasing users there were new bugs to fix every other minute, modifications, new functionality to add it was crazy! 

He didn't even have time to eat. But, he still thought about her.

In first 30 minutes of those 3 hours of sleep he got,  she was all he could think about, her smile, her soft hands on his neck, her kiss, her love. He wanted her but he needed to stay focused and give her some breathing space as well.

She responded to his text, said she was okay. But she was responding with one word lines. Was she still mad at him? He knew getting intimate was definitely the last thing on her mind right now so he didn't even try one of his funny or cheesy texts. But he wanted her so bad!

After 3 weeks his friend, Rahul asked him to fly to Bangalore for a while. The company was about to receive a series B financing round so he needed to be there for paper work since he owned 5% of it.

The app was also generating revenue now and Rahul had hired more developers to help Osaze so he needed to go down to train them and work closely with the team to keep up with the rapid growth.

He wanted to see her before leaving because, he didn't know how long he was going to be away. He had missed her so much, he couldn't wait to tell her about how far they'd come with the app, he wanted to see her smile again, laugh at his jokes and teasing.

He hated his apartment, it was plain and lifeless not homely and warm like her house, it didn't smell nice like her house. His apartment still smelled of paint and wood from all the renovation work they did on it before he moved in. He really hated it there.

He also wanted her to know he was leaving the country, but not 'running away' or 'giving up' like the other time, he wanted her to know it was only a temporary move. He didn't want to talk about this over the phone she was still being awkward with him on the phone.

Lastly, he wanted her to help him reschedule his flight ticket to India if it was possible. He still had an electronic copy of the ticket in his email, he could have called the airline himself, but he needed an excuse to drop by and just do something with her. He couldn't wait to see her beautiful face, and maybe get a hug, or a kiss he thought as he rang the doorbell eagerly. He knew the passcode to the lock but he didn't want to embarrass himself just in case she has changed it.

The door flung open and his smile disappeared when his eyes landed on a MAN. Who is this one?, where is my baby? He looked at the man carefully and realized it was that freaking BMW guy. This guy again!

"Yes?" The dark skinned guy asked him.

Osaze was thanking God at this point that he was just as tall as this guy, maybe not buff but at least tall...even taller than him small because the punk was trying to be intimidating with his body language.. Was he trying to be territorial? Does he know that he is finally standing here because he moved out? Clown.

"I'm here to see Toyin" He answered him giving off the same passive aggressive vibe.

The guy scanned him for a bit then stepped back for him to enter.

"Toyin you have a visitor!" He said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes because, the eyes were still on Osaze as he called out to her.

She came from the kitchen; she was very shocked when she saw him. He could see from her eyes that she was both excited and panicking at the same time. He has missed that too, the way her big beautiful eyes pops out whenever she is surprised.

"Osaze! Hi" She said.

"Gbenga this is my friend, Osaze" She said nervously as she wiped her hands on her apron.

Okay, so he has never had a problem with her introducing him as her friend because what they had.....have was not defined and he cared more about the thing they had going even though it was just between them. He cared more about the substance of it than labels but right now it pissed him off. 

Her, calling him a friend was very accurate but it hurt him like hell right now. Like, she was almost his baby mama ffs!, For the first time he wished that test came out positive.

"This is Gbenga.....my boyfriend" She added.

He smiled, nodded, and then held out his hand to the guy. Kuku kill me Toyin.

So he is really the Gbenga guy. He has heard about him, one time he overheard her and Sofi talking about a 'Gbenga'. It was one of those days he had to remain in his room because Sofi didn't know about them yet.

On that particular day he wanted to get water from the kitchen but couldn't go out of his room because Sofi was around so he had texted her to help him pass the water and she refused, she told him to drink water from the toilet because they were too busy gisting about the Gbenga guy. 

Sofi was hyping the Gbenga guy up, talking about how he looked like one American actor like that and how he was a gentleman but that day he just laughed to himself as he worked quietly because he knew Hanty Toyin would end up in his bed that night and Gbenga was a dreamer.

And she did end up in his bed that night because when her friend left she brought the water for him but he pretended to be asleep, she dropped it on his bedside table and kissed his cheek apologizing for ignoring him but he suddenly opened her his eyes and hauled her into bed with him. So he was never worried about the toaster named Gbenga, or the BMW guy either but now that he realized Gbenga = BMW guy wanted to die.

"Chairman, nice to meet you" He said as he shook his hand firmly.

Gbenga excused himself, said he was going to the kitchen to help her keep an eye on the food she was cooking.

"How have you been?" He asked her.

"Great!" She answered with a fake smile. He knows her too well to know that that was not her normal smile plus that is not how she normally responds to his 'how are you?' greetings. Normally she would respond with something witty, ignore him......, or kiss him.

He realized she was waiting for him to say why he came. Oh, right! He does not live here anymore.

"Urrm, so you remember the flight we cancelled"

She nodded. He saw a little worry form on her face, was she worried he was leaving? Does she want him to stay?

"I want to change the destination, do you know if that's possible" He said.

"errrm I am not sure, but let me check the terms and conditions" She said as she turned to her room to get the ticket.

He followed her.

"Where are you going?" She asked him.

"Bangalore"

She wanted to say something but she just kept quiet.

She rummaged through her dresser drawers and found the papers. When she turned to him she froze and stepped back, because he was looking her intensely, looking at her the way he couldn't look at her with Gbenga in the living room, giving her that look he always gives her right before he grabs her to kiss her.

He hated it that she looked more beautiful than ever, she looked peaceful, calmer. Of course she'd be calmer without him here stressing her. There were fresh flowers in a vase on the dresser. That same dresser where he'd place her before doing crazy things to her, same dresser where she placed the test result that ruined everything.

Did she like flowers? He never bought flowers for her he was so jealous of that Gbenga guy right now. She deserved nice things, she deserved to be taken care of, she deserved a stable man..... like Gbenga who could give her more than words and flower emojis. Not him and his 'potential'.

Even if she waits for him now, how is he sure that he would not hurt her in the future? he was very unstable, unsettled, and took way too many risks considering how he could not commit to his perfect job and girlfriend in the past.

Even he had doubts about himself talk more of someone like her. Maybe this is God punishing him for wasting his ex's time.

He was a clown for even thinking that she would be here waiting on him when he offered her nothing but trouble. She on the other hand gave him everything, her home, her time, her body her heart. He should be thanking Gbenga for giving her the one thing he couldn't give her instead of beefing him. Gbenga is good for her.

"Why are you going to India" She broke the silence.

"Work"

"Oh" She smiled. This time it was her real smile.

So ethereal, he missed her so much. He wanted to kiss her in that instant, take her away with him.

But to where? Him that was out here recycling flight ticket? what is he going to do for her now?

She looked at the ticket again then handed it to him, "I think you can change it, we left it open, but that is if Bangalore is one of their destinations"

"Thank you. I'll call the airline" He moved closer to her again but she didn't step back. Does she want him back? Does she want him to stay? Her eyes, said all that but what about freaking Gbenga?  does she want to be with Gbenga instead? Does she like Gbenga more? Is she over him?

"Toyin! I need your help!" Gbenga's voice interrupted them; The plantain was burning or something.

Osaze rolled his eyes then realized she was waiting for him to move, he was in her way... literally. He was blocking the door and she needed to go meet hEr BoYfRiEnD in the kitchen.

"Okay thanks, i'll see myself out. Take care of yourself" he said. She only nodded at that.

He headed to the door and as he twisted the doorknob she called his name. He turned back, she was standing by the kitchen entrance.

"Good luck Osaze" She said smiling sadly. It was so heartwarming and heartbreaking at same time because it felt like she was saying goodbye to him but it meant the world to him that even after everything and with all these complications she was still out here being his number one cheerleader. His eyes watered as he nodded then stepped out.

How could he even stay mad at her for moving on. Any responsible girl who knew what she was doing would take the opportunity to move on than gamble with him.

In the uber ride from her house to his place, he sorted the flight within 15 minutes.

As he left for India he decided to focus all his energy on the work, they were about to build a billion dollar company, at least he had that going for him even if he did not have her.

One month after his arrival in Bangalore the company moved into a new building and he was leading a team of eight developers, the app was no 1 on app store and play store in India. Everything was moving so fast they were gaining roughly 1million new subscribers every week.

His friend who was the owner and CEO handled all the official, legal, and business stuff while he held down the tech team. It was crazy for him he was literally working round the clock sleeping for only 20mins to1hr anytime he finds something to lay his head on. 

But you see, even with all the craziness he still though about her before closing his eyes....every single time.

A/N; So guys i am so sorry i missed like 2 updates. I had writer's block for the first time last week. I think it happened because i worked on the sequel.

Playing house has an end already but i just couldn't write again last week because i had to remove all the spoilers for the sequel that appeared in this book.  So you'd notice that scenes were Sofi appears are kinda incomplete lol. 

Anyway thank you for your patience, votes, comments and compliments. 

5 more chapters to go and we will do 2 more chapters tomorrow (I promise )

⬇️⬇️⬇️Don't forget to vote. Thanks!