She took my man, now I want him back! (2)

He was not just interested in a serious relationship with me.
"Let's just stay as friends and professional colleagues," he told me one day when I had gone to his house to do his laundry. I begged and pleaded with him, telling him how much I loved him and wanted to be with him. But he still refused.

Later, I heard he had started going out with Kari. I was not surprised considering the way he had been all over her at Monica's birthday party. I felt bad and hurt, but maybe because I was more mature now, I decided not to fight with Kari over the matter like I did back in school when the same thing happened with Dan...

Lost love
Dan was my boyfriend back then whom I loved very much and whom I thought cared for me too. Everything was going well until he met Kari. Dan was the son of a top politician and businessman in town.

We met at a party and as soon as I set my eyes on him, I liked him instantly. Which was strange because it took me a while before I usually got to like a guy much less date him.

So that night Dan and I got chatting and from the way he was acting, I knew he liked me too. Kari had not attended the party as she was down with malaria.

A week later, Dan came to visit me in school and I introduced. She had recovered by then and was her usual bubbly self, cracking jokes, making him laugh.

Before leaving, he promised to take both of us out the following weekend. On the date, I noticed he spent more time chatting with Kari than me. I was a bit uneasy and somewhat jealous that he was paying more attention to my friend.

But I did not suspect anything and just decided to enjoy the outing.

Two weeks later, when I had not heard from Dan, I was not worried because I knew he would eventually come to see me.

Then, a classmate of mine who attends classes from home, informed me she had seen Kari and Dan at a shopping mall in town.

I questioned her closely on the matter.
"They seemed to be shopping. It looked as if he bought a lot of stuff for her as she was carrying many shopping bags," she disclosed.

I found that difficult to believe. Why would Dan, my supposed boyfriend be shopping with my best friend, I wondered.

I shrugged off the incident, believing it was just a coincidence, that they had met at the mall by chance.

Later that week, I called Dan on phone but an Assistant who answered the call, informed me that Dan had travelled out of town and would be away for sometime.

You can therefore imagine my surprise when I had gone one evening to visit Kari in her room a few days later, to see him with Kari on the verandah of her room. They were standing close, talking quietly and looked really cosy together.

"When did you return from your trip?" I asked him. He shrugged and gave me a vague answer.
He shrugged and gave a vague answer.

Later, as I saw him off at the car park, I asked him if we could see that weekend. He shook his head, saying he would be busy. As I watched him drive off, I had this feeling that something was not quite right.

When I called him later that week, he told me bluntly that I should stop calling him, that he was no longer interested in seeing me.

I was shocked, wondering what I had done wrong. Though we had been dating for a short time, I had fallen in love with him and I didn't want to lose him.

So, I pleaded with him to reconsider and remain with me. He said it was not possible as he was in love with someone else.

"Is it Kari?" I asked sharply. 
"Yes," he confessed.

I felt as if I had been struck by a big blow. It was bad enough losing my boyfriend; it was a double blow losing him to my best friend.
The following day, I confronted Kari on the matter, calling her a 'thief,' a boyfriend snatcher and a traitor who betrayed me, her best friend. 

We had a big quarrel which caused a rift between us. For the rest of that semester, we were not on speaking terms and we went our separate ways.

From being best friends, Kari and I nearly became sworn enemies. Some mutual friends of ours tried reconciling us but I was not ready to budge. I felt betrayed by her. 

A good friend did not snatch another's boyfriend as she had done to me so I swore never to have anything to do with her again. Though it was difficult since we were still in school, I tried as much as possible to avoid her. 

Once in a while, I would see her together with Dan and it really hurt me to see how close they had become. Dan, from what I heard from some of the other girls, was crazily in love with Kari and there were rumours that he had proposed marriage to her.

Normally, I should be happy with her at her good fortune but because of the circumstances, I could not. I felt bitter and angry with both of them. There was a particular day I was coming from lectures and saw them in front of the hostel, holding hands and chatting earnestly. 

I was so angry, I could have killed her then. I just ignored them though and went up quietly to my room. 

After that semester's exams, I went home for the short holiday. From the campus gossips, I learnt Kari had travelled to the U.K with Dan to shop for their wedding.

"I heard they will be getting married as soon as Kari graduates. She's so lucky! I wish I can get someone as rich as Dan," Fanny, a classmate said. I was not interested in their wedding plans, a wedding I had no intention of attending anyway.

Suicide attempt
We finally resumed for our last semester in school. I decided to focus on my studies as our final year exams were approaching. Then, one Saturday morning, I was in my hostel doing my washing when Fanny rushed in.

"Have you heard?" she asked breathlessly. 
I shook my head wondering what bad thing could have happened on campus again for Fanny was usually the harbinger of bad news.

"Kari and Dan have broken up! I heard she's so devastated that she wanted to commit suicide by jumping down from the verandah on the third floor of her hostel!"

It was shocking news indeed. What could have happened to cause the break-up, I wondered.
They seemed to be so much in love and were even engaged to be married.

Fanny was not done yet.
"I heard it was Dan's parents especially the Mum that was against the relationship. They want him to marry another girl, the daughter of a family friend and business partner. I understand they are equally as rich as Dan's family..." 

After Fanny left, I sat on my bed thinking over what she had just told me. I will be lying if I say I did not feel some perverse joy in hearing what had happened to Kari. 

'Serves her right,' I thought as my mind wandered back to the time when Dan and I had been together before Kari took him away from me. Now, someone else had done the same to her. She will now know what it is like to be dumped, I said to myself.

For some days, I did not see Kari around campus. I later heard from one of her roommates that she had gone home to her parents, 'to cool off from the break-up of her relationship to Dan.'

Together again
Then sometime later, I was returning from seeing a friend one evening when I ran into Kari on the staircase of her hall. For the first time in months, we exchanged greetings. I noticed she looked downcast and dull-looking, not her usual effervescent self. It was obvious she was still nursing her broken heart. 

We stood chatting for a while before she said in a pain-laden voice: 

"You must have heard what happened."    

I nodded. 

I didn't say anything at first but just kept staring at her. In all the years I had known Kari, I had never seen her look so miserable. What had happened to that bubbly, cheerful girl, I thought.

At that moment, my heart went out to her and I forgot about our quarrel and the fact that she was the one who had taken Dan from me. Feeling sorry for her, I stated:
"It's ok, Kari. Everything will be alright."

"It's easy for you to say, Susan. How can it be alright when Dan has left me!" Then she suddenly broke down and started weeping. To avoid prying eyes of students walking up and down the stairs, I quickly took her to her room. 

By then she had stopped crying so I told her to lie down a bit to rest. She immediately slept off and before leaving, I told one of her roommates, Claire who was around to keep an eye on her.

After that day, Kari and I got back together. Our other friends were surprised to see us together again but they didn't understand that there was a bond between us that nothing could break, not even a guy. 

With time, she recovered a bit and life went on. After the split, Kari discovered she was pregnant for Dan. I advised her to contact him, to let him know about it. But she refused. She decided to handle the situation in her own. 

What she did and the devastating consequences of her actions was a secret between us, unknown to others...



What is this dark secret between Susan and Kari? Details will be revealed tomorrow so don't fail to log in!

***

Valentine Day Xtra

Is love and romance dead as some will have us believe? As a lead up to Valentine Day on February 14, we will, starting from Thursday present the story of Amara and Ebi. Their story is proof that true love still exists and can happen to even the most cynical and sceptical of us...

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