A NO ALWAYS MEANS A NO AND NOT A MAYBE!

Nooo!

-You know you want it

-I don’t

-Are you playing hard to get -You know I am only in town for a few days?

-No. Can I leave now?

In November, Dan and May became friends on Facebook; chatting on messenger, video calling, tagging each other on funny posts, liking each other’s posts and mentioning each other on pages. Dan arrived in Ghana for the Christmas and things took another turn.

To him, all their activities on Facebook meant they ‘had a thing going on’.To May, they were just using the medium and its features as it should.

-Why did you agree to visit me then?

-Why not? To see what my friend virtual looks like.

-So what, after seeing me, you didn’t like what you saw or I am to do some time in your school of excuses and on graduation day, I get some?

He laughed. May did not.

Later that day, Dan told his friends that he felt May liked him but was just playing the overused and outmoded hard-to-get-card. ‘Good things don’t come easy’, so they cheered him on.

After apologizing for his actions over the phone, he asked they meet. He was a good host this time and she commended him for that. The visit was drama-free although the movie they were seeing was action-packed.

Dan decided to try again towards the end of the movie. May wouldn’t go down easily; he  was aware of that, but May smiled and in what seemed like the chips were about to  come down, she asked him to sit and facing each other, hand in hand, she said to him ;

“ Daniel Ohene, I get the fact that there are instances in life where people are indecisive and need a push in order to make decisions. There are others too, who know exactly what they want and would say YES or NO to an offer. My No is a strong one. I am not playing hard to get. I am not going to give in even if you try to convince me by being sly and if you use your strength to press me hard against your body and overpower me, that will be rape; Do you want to do jail time for a fleeting 5mins ecstasy or less all because you mistook a simple two-letter word?

Think about the shame you will bring on to yourself, your family and how that will jeopardize your future?

Don’t be deceived that I will be the victim and culprit because of that overused line,” she wanted it and that’s why she visited you, crap”. Wake up !we are in 2020! You will rot in jail.

Dan began to sweat. If it was not for this talk he had been given, he would have ended up in jail. The boys had told him to play gentle for about 10mins and if she didn’t give him, he should go haaaaard.”She will scream, No, please No, but the screams will get faint and vanish”, they had told him.

May was looking him straight in the eye. He let go of her hands and gave her a hug. Even though he felt like a loser, he apologized and thanked her for the advice.

He walked her to the waiting Uber. She gave him a hug and said, “No means no. It doesn’t mean convince me. And there is no need to act like a child about it. We can still be good friends. Take care.”

What a chic! Dan thought.