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Aminah nodes sagely. ‘Turns out my stressing was my blessing. My crisis was my catharsis.’

My heart overflows with pure, undistilled love for my fiercely protective, sensitive, strong best friend and I squeeze her hand. ‘Thanks, Meenz. Andyouknow that Kofi is worth it. And. . . he’s walking towards us. Do you want to say what you said to me to him? Minah, he loves you so much. He only wants to be there for you, and you really don’t have to carry all of this on your own. You don’t have to act like you feel together when you don’t. Let him help you.’

Aminah nods, her big doe eyes gleaming, and throws her arms around me. ‘Thank you, sister. Also thank you for knowing where to find me.’

‘It wasn’t too hard. How are the cupcakes?’

‘Honestly? Kind of dry. Can’t lie. Maybe Lesedi should have stuck to her day job.’

Regardless of anything, it’s comforting to know that I remain utterly obsessed with Aminah Bakare.

Aminah throws herself into Kofi’s arms when he reaches the table, and I slip inside the café where Malakai joins me. We watch them as they talk intently outside, their hands gripping each other’s for dear life.

‘They’re OK, right?’ Malakai asks, sipping his coffee. ‘Because I don’t think I could handle it if Kofi and Aminah broke up. Aminah would give up all her visitation rights for me immediately.’

I cackle. ‘Oh, come on. She may send you a “HBD” once a year.’

‘She already did that for the entirety of the time you and I were together. No emojis or anything.’

I snort and Malakai tilts his head at me, his eyes glittering with something that makes hope sing in my veins. ‘Last night was. . .’

‘Amazing.’

He grins a slow, sexy smile. ‘You were amazing. I was just doing what you inspire. And I don’t want to put any pressure on us. I get that you’re coming out of a. . .serious relationship.’ I can tell that saying it is uncomfortable for him, but he reaches for my hand across the table, and when I place it in his palm he grips tight. ‘But I want you to know when I said I wasn’t built for something long-term, what I really meant was that I’m not built for something long-term with someone that ain’t you, Scotch. So I’m ready to go at your pace. We can date again. Go with the flow. Whatever you want. All I know is that you’re all I want, Kiki.’

I didn’t think it was possible to feel this particular flavour of joy again. It’s sweet and hot and I want to dive head first into it, which is the very thing that makes me hesitate. I can’t play with this. I need to make sure I have what it takes to carry the new weight of an evolved relationship with Malakai. Man, being a responsible adult is so boring, but I don’t know what baggage I’m carrying from my relationship with Bakari, the same way I didn’t know the baggage I was carrying over from my relationship with Malakai to the one with Bakari. I owe this new iteration of us all of me.

I squeeze his hand in response. ‘You know what I haven’t done in ages?’

‘It’s only been, like, four hours, Kiki. Chill. I’m not a piece of meat.’

‘Oh. My bad. You’re right. I mean I was gonna saykissed you in public, but...’

Malakai grins and it’s wide. His joy is a reflection of my own, I know. ‘I’m sirloin. Ribeye. Wagyu. Suya. Saki. A whole fucking barbecue. Get over here, Kiki Banjo.’

I walk over to him so I can sit myself on his lap in the middle of a café, because this is the sort of thing I do when I’m with Kai. My arms wind around his neck, and he cradles my face delicately, smiling tenderly as he pulls my lips into his mouth, his tongue gentle, sweet, joint melting. Just as we tear apart from a dizzying kiss that is just shy of probably getting us thrown out, Kofi and Aminah come in, hand in hand, pulling up a chair to our table. I get extreme déjà vu–or is it nostalgia?–and the memory washes over me, warming me: all of us at a table at the campus coffee shop, or Sweetest Ting, eating plantain waffles and suya burgers and taking the piss out of each other andhappy,no worries and pressures other than maybe an assignment and an ACS event and how we’re going to spend more time with each other after spending all our time with each other.

Aminah grins brightly, and it’s now that it’s gone that I see the shadow that was cast over her before. Her spark is back and thriving, and I’m affirmed of this when she says, ‘Aww. I’ve missed you guys being a threat to public decency!’

I baulk at this, because, really, the nerve. ‘Need I remind you about the photobooth during Afro Winter Ball?’ Aminah stares at me incredulously. ‘Exactly.Photobooth.Privacy.’

‘So I’m guessing you guys are good?’ Malakai asks, expertly derailing our conversation, years of knowing my and Aminah’s patter patterns paying off. Aminah and Kofi smile at each other, their hands clasped.

‘Yes,’ Aminah says, ‘we’re really good. Talked everything through.’

Kofi continues: ‘So it turns out that we’re both feeling the pressure from the wedding.’

‘Right. So it isn’t that I don’t want to get married. Other people’s voices were the issue, but I think that now that we’ve recognised the issue it’ll probably be a lot easier.’

I nod slowly. ‘How?’

Aminah shrugs. ‘The thing is the traditional wedding is most important to both of us, anyway, and it isn’t that we don’t want to share it with our family. It’s just that we need to make our voices louder.’

I’m still not hearing any practical steps. ‘Aminah, in a dream world, what would your ideal wedding be? I mean right now.’

‘It used to be the huge fairytale wedding. The whole works. And I don’t know. . .some of that is important to me, but also. . .something small could be cute too. A beautiful backdrop. My friends. Ew, who am I?! I sound like someone who gets married in a refashioned barn and serves champagne in mason jars. Next thing you know, I’m gonna say I want a bouquet of wildflowers. I’m just saying maybe I’m realising it doesn’t have to be crazy elaborate to be special, just. . . elegant,intimate—’

My brain is whirring as a wild idea begins to fall into place. Malakai adjusts himself so he’s able to look at my face and at the same time he and Aminah say, ‘What’s your plan?’