Second Chance?

“Babe, can we talk”? asked Charles, my boyfriend.

“Yeah, sure we can, I can hear you, go ahead,” I said absentmindedly.

“Like could you please stop what you are doing and look at me?”

“Babe please, you know the wedding is tomorrow and I am not done with these stitches,” I said giving him the puppy face look that he found irresistible.

“Can you give me just 5 minutes, please?”

“Ohh, God! Charles Richardson what in God’s name is the problem?” I said getting frustrated.

While I was trying to wrap up with the last stitch on my dress so I could give my boyfriend all the attention that he wanted, Charles dropped the bombshell, I didn’t know if it was my mind that was playing games with me, or I absolutely didn’t hear him correctly.

“IB Vanessa kissed me”,

“IB I said Vanessa kissed me, are you even listening?

I heard the first and the second time but honestly, I didn’t know what to say or how to react. I didn’t know if it was the shock I got from the magnitude of what he did or his accomplice’s name who was supposed to be my friend that made me freeze.

“Charles, Vanessa kissed you? Like my friend, Vanessa kissed you?" At this point I was facing him directly; my squinting eyes and head went along in unison as I asked him the question.

“Yes baby she did, I am so sorry, it happened during our last fight, I never knew we would ever get back together again. She was sick and she told me how she was going to need surgery to take out whatever was in her body, she was so vulnerable that day, she cried bitterly and I could see fear and sadness in her eyes, I kept on consoling her and in the heat of the moment we got carried away” he said hurriedly and sad.

“Oh bravo! I applaud your effort in making her feel better” I said sarcastically.

“Babe don’t be like that please.”

“Don’t be like what? Of all the men in the world, my boyfriend whom I was having issues with was the right person for Vanessa to share her problems with and a bonus kiss attached to the therapy session?” I went frantic, spilling out everything without giving a hoot.

”Babe I am so sorry, It's been so hard keeping this secret from you ever since we got back together, I have been looking for the perfect time to tell you, I was worried and scared that it would ruin everything, “ he said with pleading eyes.

“Thank you Father Theresa, for your kind gesture, and congratulations to you and Venessa for fooling me all these months”.

I immediately moved past him, threw all my clothes into my duffle bag, and the wedding dress as well, at that moment I didn’t care if all the stones fell off from the dress or if I was even going to the wedding, I just wanted to leave his house.

It was 10 pm already and everywhere was dark, on a good day I would have managed to sleep in the guest room and leave very early in the morning, but I just couldn’t contain the anger in me to stay in the same house as a betrayer-cum-boyfriend.

My battery was low, but good thing it was enough to allow me book a ride to my apartment.

As I made the trip to my apartment I was boiling, the fury I felt could literally cook a pot of rice, the voices in my head kept taking turns, they kept whispering crazy and annoying things in my ears and they finally won, I just couldn’t help it again, I started crying.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” My Uber driver asked concern laced in his voice. Like that question was the only command I needed, to let the ocean out, I was crying and my whole body was shaking in the passenger's seat where I sat.

“Are you hurt, Ma’am?” The Uber driver had to stop the car abruptly to know what was wrong with his weird passenger.

“Sir I am fine, could you please drive faster” I muttered under my breath.

“Sure,” he said, hitting the accelerator harder this time.

I finally got to my apartment, confused, sad, and pained.

All through the ride Charles kept on calling, I had to eventually switch off my phone after I got a call from Vanessa as well.

“ohh he informed her already, “ I said to myself.

Days rolled by and I couldn’t wrap my head around what Charles and Vanessa did to me.

They were both blowing up my phone at different intervals, I had tons of calls and text messages from them and was sure they came to my house several times, good thing I went to my cousin’s house to relax and unwind from all the drama, and luckily for me they didn’t know my cousin’s house and school was on holiday too.

I finally left my cousin’s house, feeling refreshed and sane again, I was ready to move on with my life, I was done with the whole Charles and Vanessa's drama, not like Charles was my husband or anything, so moving on was the goal.

Two weeks passed and I was beginning to feel a lot better, the calls and text messages were still coming in, but not as much as they came before, I wasn’t that hurt anymore, with each day that passed by I felt better and better.

One Saturday morning while I was getting ready to go to the salon to make my hair, I heard a knock on my door, I thought it was the plumber because he forgot some of his tools in my house as he left in a hurry to meet with his next client, I quickly opened the door. To my uttermost surprise, it was Charles.

“Oh wow, I said “, moving aside so he could enter my house.

“Babe I am so sorry “He started apologizing right from the door, oh that’s so noble of him I thought to myself.

“Could you please forgive me? I know what I did is unforgivable, but I feel so bad, and this is actually what I was trying to avoid that was why I couldn’t tell you.

While he was apologizing, I kept on staring into empty space, trying to process everything, all the hurt I was able to move past, came afresh again.

“Please baby, I am so sorry, it’s been weeks and I have been unable to sleep or function properly, I really love you IB and I just discovered that you are the one person I really want to be with.

Yes, I did miss him, I missed hugging and kissing him but what he did was indeed unforgivable.

“Can we start all over again? Leaving all the secrets on the table babe? I promise to be completely honest with you. I miss you IB and I am not going to even pretend “ He said with a sad face and I could see the sincerity on his face.

I concluded that day that he was the man that I loved and if building our relationship meant starting on a clean slate I was game.