Ene
I drove into the spacious car park
of the restaurant some minutes after 12 noon. As I alighted from the car, I
wondered what I was doing keeping the appointment with Harry.
I could have turned him down,
insisted I was not interested in seeing him. But I didn't.
He had kept calling me on phone
after the day he came to the house to get the file for Ben.
"Ene, we need to see. Just to
talk, nothing more," he said.
When I asked what he wanted to talk
about, he noted:
"A lot, Ene. So many things I
need to tell you. Please..."
Maybe it was the pleading tone that
made me relent on my hard stance of not meeting up with him.
Now, here I was at the restaurant
with me heading towards the booth where we had sat several times when we were
still together.
Harry stood up and drew my chair
out for me on sighting me.
"So glad you could come, Ene.
You look beautiful," he said, giving me an admiring look.
"Thanks. So, what's this all
about? I don't have too much time as I have to be home to prepare my
husband's food before he gets back from his outing," I said briskly.
Being a Saturday, Ben had gone to
the club to play tennis and meet up with friends.
"Hmm. 'My husband' you say. Do
you realise Ene, that it's me Harry you should be calling that?" he said.
I looked at him quizzically.
"And whose fault is it that
things didn't work out between us? You caused it, Harry, ruined things for us!
Is that why you wanted to see me? I think I better leave!" I stated in a
pissed tone, picking up my bag.
He pleaded with me not to leave and
I sat down again.
"What will you like to
eat"? He then asked.
"Nothing yet. Just a malt
drink will do for now," I told him.
He spoke as we took our drinks,
about his life since we parted, how hard things had been for him.
"It's like you took away all
the good luck in my life when you left, Ene," he said in a joking manner.
I did not find it funny and simply
stayed quiet till he spoke up again.
About
Tilda...
How she turned out to be a big
mistake, something he regretted till date.
"Throwing you out and bringing
in Tilda was the biggest mistake of my life. She turned out to be lazy, untidy,
wouldn't lift a finger to do anything in the house. Worse, she was a slut. She
was going out with two other men in my unit including Major Mo, whom you
know," he stated. "We broke up less than six months after you
left," he revealed.
He continued speaking.
"I guess I've no one to blame
but myself. I got carried away by her background- her father being a top
politician and former Senator and all that. I thought with her in my life, I'll
have better prospects career wise and in other areas of my life. How wrong I
was!" he said, a note of bitterness in his voice.
I studied him for a moment, noting
the sad look on his face. What did he want from me? Pity? Sympathy?
He had no one to blame for
everything including our break up.
"So, why are you telling me
all this?" I now asked, taking a sip of my drink.
"Just for you to understand
what happened, Ene and to beg for your forgiveness. Find it in your heart to
forgive me. For the way I treated you. For not realizing your worth, that you
were special, that..."
"I forgave you long ago,"
I cut in.
"For real?" he asked
eagerly.
I nodded.
"I forgave you but I never
forgot. The pain that was like a knife slicing through my heart, the hurt, the
heartbreak. I went through hell, Harry. You have no idea what I went
through," I said, in a slightly shaky voice.
He reached out to hold my hand in
his.
"I'm so sorry, Ene. So so
sorry!" he said in a contrite tone.
We spoke for quite some time before
Harry got us some food. As we ate, we chatted in a more relaxed manner, even
reminiscing about some funny incidents in our past life together which made us
laugh.
"I've enjoyed our time
together today. Maybe, we can do this some other time?" Harry asked as he
saw me off to my car.
I knew the risks involved in
hanging out with him. What would Ben say if he found out I was seeing my ex-
fiancé who was his subordinate?
So, I did not give a definite
answer and drove home.
***
We saw several times after that
day. We either met at the restaurant or some other place where we could sit and
talk. With each outing, I realized one thing: that I still loved Harry, in fact
that I never stopped loving him.
He hurt me badly, dumped me and
broke my heart, yet I still love him? Girl, are you crazy, I can just hear some
readers say.
Well, blame my silly heart for
that. The heart is a strange thing; it loves who it wants for no specific
reason. I just knew that I loved him, missed him and wanted to be with him.
Some weeks later, Ben travelled to
Jos for a security conference that was to last over a week.
A few days later, I got a call from
Harry.
"Just checking on you. What's
up?" he inquired.
"Nothing much," I
replied. "Just chilling at home. Feeling bored."
"How about we go out then? We
could have dinner," he said and paused. "Then, we could go somewhere
private where we could be together. Just you and I..."
I knew what he meant. He had been
dropping heavy hints for us to get back together, as we were before. But I had
been stalling. I was married afterall and I did not fancy cheating on my
husband who loved me so much.
But I knew it was a matter of time
before I succumbed.
Like a drug, I could not resist
Harry or stay away from him.
So, though I knew I was playing
with fire, I went upstairs, took a bath and got ready for my date with Harry.
Before leaving the house, I
informed my maid I was going to my sister's house and might not return till the
next day.
I was full of excitement as I drove
down to the hotel where we planned to meet.
I felt as I did when we just met
years ago, in the early days of our relationship.
As I passed through the building's
gate, I received a text message. I parked before checking my phone.
It was from Ben, asking how I was
doing and if I was missing him the way he was missing me.
"My Sweet wife, each day apart
from you is torture. Hope to be home soon so I can see your lovely face again.
Love you, miss you like crazy..."
I smiled as I read his message,
then I sat for a while, thinking. About what I was about to do.
To Ben, our marriage. Our life
together.
How could I treat a man like my
husband so badly, a man who had been so good to me, who gave me a reason to
live again after what Harry did to me? The same Harry I was planning to spend
the night with?
What had come over me?
'No. I can't do this,' I thought,
shaking my head. I could not afford to lose Ben who meant the world to me. He
was one in a million, and it would be foolish of me to lose such a man because
of an old love...
Starting the car, I drove quickly
out of the hotel premises
I was some distance from the hotel
when I got another message, this time from Harry.
At a red light in traffic, I
perused his message.
"Baby, where are you? I'm in
Rm 37. Can't wait to be with you again. It's been so long. This time, things
will be different cos I'll never let you go again. Kiss, kiss..."
I deleted the sms, switched off the
phone and used my second phone to call my husband.
As I spoke to him, I knew then it
was time to let go of the past, my love and obsession for Harry and embrace the
future.
Which was Ben, my marriage and the
wonderful life we would build together...
The
End!
Many
thanks to all readers who visited my blog today and have been following this
story and the others. Stay blessed!
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