Valley of Decisions episode 3

valley of Decisions
Episode Three
 
BEN
“Ben, You know you have to stop playing games with Laila at some
point. Enough of stringing her along; just break it off with her,
already.”
Here we go again! I thought.
My friend, Matthew always has something to say when we get
together. We just had lunch together and we were catching up. He
never misses an opportunity to jump to Laila’s defence as if she paid
him.
“Matt, let’s not do this now,” I said as I stood up from the dining table.
“I’ve told you I need to keep my options open. I have to be sure if I
want Laila, if I want Lola or if I want Dee.” I grinned. “Until I am
sure, three of them remain my ladies. Besides, why are you always
fighting for Laila and not the other two? They are also good women,
you know.”
Matthew took a bite of his apple. “Well, you have been with Laila the
longest and she has not slept with you which by the way, I’m proud
of her for being able to put you in your place concerning that.
Secondly, she is the one who keeps bailing you out of trouble. She is
a good woman, Ben.” He paused. “Listen, brother, you are wrong and
you know it. I’m still not sure what she sees in you. I never knew it
was possible to be so accomplished yet so insecure.”
I lifted up my hands and shook my head. “Please don’t start with me
on this again.” As I cleared the dishes off the table, I paused and
looked at Matthew. “Hey, and what do you mean by you’re not sure
what she sees in me?” I asked. “I don’t appreciate that comment. I’ll
have you know I’m a pretty decent catch, Mr Smith.”
Matthew smirked. “Tell that to the birds,” he said as he followed me
into the kitchen. “I cannot believe I used to think like you before. You
sound ridiculous.”
I tapped his shoulders, and said, “Stop acting like a saint. You were
once a bad boy.”
Matthew looked at me. “Exactly! The key word is ‘were’. That’s a
thing of the past. Once I became born again, everything wrong about
me got right. Remember that’s why I broke up with Danielle? To start
everything in my life afresh. My life has never been the same since
then.”
We walked out of the kitchen and headed to the patio. “How can I
forget?” I asked. “It was around the same time you abruptly ended
our friendsh¡p. It’s a miracle that I get to see you these days. At first, I
didn’t see you for almost 3 wh0le years, Matt.”
Matthew took a sip of his glass of water and sat down. “Well I needed
to stay clear of a toxic environment and besides I told you why I gave
it all up but you were not interested. Don’t get it twisted; I’m still
waiting for you to see the light.”
I shook my head and said, “Not interested, Pastor Matthew Smith.”
Matthew laughed a little too loudly and said, “Very funny. You don’t
have to be interested. Trust me, you’ll come to a point when you
wouldn’t see it as an option. In fact, you’ll be pushed to make that
decision for your own good.”
My facial expression was enough to let Matthew know how
exhausted I was from his preaching to me. “Hold on, are you here to
check up on me or preach to me?” I asked.
He looked at me un-phased and said, “Both, actually.”
“Okay, preaching over,” I said as I sat down across from him. “Now
let’s get back to the checking up on me. Actually, let me check up on
you, Mr Smith. How’s life?”
A huge grin appeared on his face. “Life is great. Thank God. Since the
promotion at work, I have been stretched a wh0le lot more but I
enjoy it and most importantly, lives are getting changed each day.”
Matthew has always been ambitious. In fact, he has always been a
go-getter. He was one of those guys who joked around all day with
everyone and then at night while we were all asleep, he’d be in the
library studying his way to the top. We all wondered how he
excelled in school while we crawled our way to a pass mark until I
caught him sneaking out to study one night.
He graduated with one of the highest grades in the entire
Department of Engineering. He was one of the three fortunate
Engineering graduates at our school to get a job at OXTEN, the
largest chemical plant in the city, and he started out at the top. He
never joked with his education and quest for knowledge. No wonder,
it’s paying off now.
I stared at him intently. “Every time I hear from you, you have either
just been promoted or you got some type of award. There is just no
stopping you, man.”
Matthew looked up and said, “It is all God, Ben.”
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Seriously, why can’t you just say
thank you? Everything is always about God.”
He walked over to the edge of the deck. “Ben, I can’t separate myself
from my lifeline so what do you expect?”
Okay, that’s deep, I thought.
“You need to quit your job and become a Pastor somewhere,” I said.
He turned around and said, “I won’t mind that but I won’t do it unless
God speaks to me Himself.”
I jumped up and stood beside him. “Okay let’s not start that
conversation again. Moving on. Who’s the lady in your life?”
Matthew chuckled. “None at the moment, Ben. I’m actually ready to
settle down but I’m praying and watching before I make a move.”
“So there is someone?” I grinned. “Do tell.”
Matthew shook his head and lifted up his hands. “Oh no. No telling
going on. Not yet, anyway. When the time is right, you’ll be one of
the first to know.”
“So is this lady even aware? You’re just watching her from afar?” I
asked.
Matthew smiled. “Yes, I’m watching. But that’s not all I’m doing. I’m
praying, and I’m waiting. I want to be absolutely sure before
approaching. I’m not interested in joking around, Ben.”
I rubbed my hands together and grinned, ready to impart some
wisdom. “Well, while you’re doing all that, let me give you some tips,
bro.”
He waved me off and snickered. “Thanks. But no thanks.”
My eyes w¡dened in disbelief. “Matthew! Come on. I’ve got 3 ladies in
my life and they know nothing about each other. Won’t you want
some advice from someone like me?”
Matthew raised his eyebrows and placed his right hand on my
shoulder. “I’m praying for you, Ben Manda,” he said as he laughed.
“No offence, bro but unless I want to become like you, I would never
accept any relationsh¡p advice from you. We both know I don’t
condone what you are doing one bit.”
I shook his hand off and walked over to sit down. “Okay, Mr
preacher man. Let’s see how this your praying works out.”
Matthew hummed a tune and laughed. “Trust me, my prayers don’t
fail. They never have. They never will.”