INSEPARABLE

•°24°•

(Frank Mustafa in the media)

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3 whole weeks of no Ashton in sight. No call from him, no text. I don't even see him nor his friends on campus. It's like they vanished from the surface of the earth.

Knock!

Knock!

"Go away!"
I shout, irritated.

"Hey babe."

Ashton?

Jokes on me. It's Jake. Jake?! What's he doing here?

"What do you want?"
He gives me a smile that would have incapacitated me but it didn't anymore. Ruminating what we had makes me flinch in revulsion.

"Is that the way to greet your boyfriend?"

"What do you want??"
I ask again, louder this time, not standing the sight of him.

"I live here."
I actually forgot that this is his place.
I don't even know where to go. The money I made from working at the cafe isn't adequate to pay for an apartment.

Suddenly, a thought popped up into my mind.

"You want your house back right? Here."
I give him his keys back. The memories of this place will haunt and taunt me but a day like this had to come. Not just sooner. I head upstairs in urgency.

I come back down with my huge luggage on one hand and my black handbag on the other. I thrust into my handbag and pulled out a locket which I never got the courage to wear. Like I knew.

"You can as well give this to Danny."
He chuckles. Clearly making fun of me.

"I still love you so much Shay."

I kissed my teeth and smacked his stupid looking horny face so hard that it would print.
He looks at me emotionlessly. At first i thought he was gonna hit me back, but instead he smiled devilishly. I can't believe I once loved the monster standing right before me. Disgusting!

I walk out of the apartment and sat outside for a while, waiting for a taxi, which I called five minutes gone. Along the line, I broke down. Crying about almost everything. Mostly my life. What have I done to deserve this type of pain? Is it wrong to love? I cried and cried until I didn't have anymore tears left in me.

I feel so small in a big world. No one to talk to. The only friends I had were Danny, well now I know- and Megan, but she cheerlessly went back to her country, Angola.

I scan the cab which pulled over before me. I wiped my face of any excess moist, making my way to the car.

~○~
~○~  ~○~

I grievously pulled my all together. My thoughts and my emotions so to say.

Just as my knuckles came in contact with the hard wooden door, the door opened, exposing my co-worker, Yara?

"Hey Mrs Mustafa."

She greets erratically and calmness irradiated my heart a bit. How does Yara know about my marriage to Ashton. And what is she doing here? This is not the time for questions. I have my old enemy behind these thick walls unmindful of my arrival. I tell you what, I never wanted anyone dying in my name, but at this moment, I got a black outfit and some dark shades.

"You are so lucky. You came at the right time." I bounce back from my thoughts just in time.

"What are you talking about?"
She only laughs and pulls me inside, all the way to the huge living room. She orders one of the man to take my handbag and luggage to one of the rooms. I quietly scan the view. Walls covered in landscape portrait, pictures. Beautiful- scratch that. Breathtaking. They must have cost a fortune.

I am suddenly emotional, If I kill a fly, I might mourn it's death. As long as I'm here, I cannot cry in front of anyone. I won't cry. I'm gonna be  tough and hardboiled throughout my stay here.

"Baby sis. I heard what happened between you and Ashton." Hearing his name still breaks my heart. Have I fallen for him? Whatever. Yara is so sweet. I always feel safe around her. 
She's a year older than me but she looks nothing like it.

Back at work, she made my first day  joyful and now that I'm here, I'll be just fine.

"I want you to be strong." She says, giggling.

It's half to five. No sight of Frank or Ashton. I can't say we are watching a movie cause this movie is definitely watching me. I'm mentally rehearsing what I'm gonna say to Ashton when he comes home. Did I say, I've decided to move into Frank's house. Well, now you know.

Laughter and snickering buzzed from outside. Just then, Ashton and Andre walked in.

"Why do you like making the air around me so thick?" Frank asks me from nowhere and I stand my ground. I don't know what he means by that. He once told me that if he ever sees me around his house he would kill me. Maybe I won't need the black outfit but a white one.

"Dad, Shallo must be- tired and hungry." Ashton eases the tension just in time. He strolled to my side, placed a hand at my back and walked me to the kitchen, with Yara behind us.

"Judy, please prepare chocolate muffins for us."
Yara says excitedly, overstepping us. Judy looks like she's in her early forties. She's chocolate dark, tall and petite. She is attractive. Her hair is pulled in a low bun with loose strands on the side.

"Yes ma'am." Judy says getting everything ready.

"Judy, my wife won't eat muffins for dinner. Make her something with cheese in it. Continental dish? Anything. With cheese." He scans around the room, clearly searching for someone.

"Ah, there you are. Marcelo, take my wife's luggage to my room." He ordered.

My heart melts at the sound of his words. His voice. And the fact that he still knows my type of food. He still won't look at me. He walks out and Yara hugs me from behind.

"Did you see that?"

I speak up, my eyes stuck on the figure that is now disappearing in the hallway. Andre winks at me and follows his friend shortly behind.

  "I saw everything." She yelps again jumping around.

"No. He didn't even look at me."
I simplified it for her. And she confidently stood in front of me.

"He's hurt. Just a matter of time Shallo. He's my cousin, I know him."