Torn between Samantha and Hazel

By Eric Mariwa

Hazel lived with her parents. As we drove to her place, we discussed little other than what she planned to do with her life and how it felt to still be at home at her age.

She was easy going, occasionally letting out coquettish laughter and caressing my left hand when it was not on the steering wheel. That was all my raging hormones needed.

Once we got to her gate, I was tempted to stretch my luck. I grabbed her head and gave her a hug, a passionate kiss then wished her goodnight.

That set my head in a spin. A first day kiss with a second woman I hardly knew! Things were moving too fast for me. I drove off minutes later after she expressed fear that her parents might walk out of the gate for their evening stroll with the dog. I promised to call her once I got home.

As I turned on the ignition, it hit me that I had not replied to Samantha’s texts. The thing is, men can hardly multi-task. Here I was, swept off my feet by an office intern to the point where I could hardly remember my current flame.

I thought I had lost my marbles. I scrolled through my texts and found one from Samantha that jolted me.

"Hi Eric, u think u can run away? Never. Meet me at your house tonight. Alice the cleaner was hia, did washing and made dinner. Luv Sama."

seek exile

That was not good news. I braced myself for the worst and drove into the night not knowing whether to spend the night at my house or seek exile at my friend Sam’s place.

I scratched my head and braced for the mother of all battles. With gentle Hazel in the picture, I was beginning to have second thoughts about Samantha. Where was this relationship going to take me? What was the worst that could happen to me?

The rule of thumb generally is; boy meets girl; girl likes man; girl falls in love; then a few cups of tea before one can kiss and fondle. Sex was always a few more dates away.

No doubt I had turned the game on its head. We had kissed and sex was already ticked with Samantha. But was I in love?

Not really, but I liked Samantha all the same. Yet despite that, I felt I needed more than ‘like’ to make the affair complete and exciting.

There have been crazy instances where sex has preceded marriage, which preceded love. I was about to call Sam to request asylum when I found an unread text message from Samantha.

"Darling, how far are you? Thx."

I drove home where a radiant Samantha met me. I was given a tight embrace and a sweet peck. Her breath turned me on and, even before I could enjoy dinner, I readied myself for another bout of an explosive night.