The Birch's Petals

Thirty Five

“WE NEED to talk.”

Ian couldn’t count how many times he read that text message from his girlfriend. He tried comprehending what it meant but only concluded that things between them were getting down to the wire. He wasn’t blind and saw the telltale signs. They didn’t spend as much time together as before, Alicia gave him little to no attention, her mind drifted off between conversations, and would jump startled if called out.

She hesitated to text him back, he watched as three dots pop on and off until she sent one-word texts. He tried reaching out to her for two days only to find her phone number busy, he tried reaching out to her through Jessica only for the latter to ask him to give her space.

As he sat in a restaurant in Town he scrolled through their past messages, he opened his gallery and sighed heavily, they looked so happy and in love. He wondered what had changed, if he had done anything wrong, he wanted to apologise and work things out. He just prayed it wasn’t too late.

His breath caught in his throat when he saw his girlfriend walk through the door, a tiny smile made its way across his lips as his heart fluttered in his chest. He thought of how beautiful she looked with her hair neatly tied back, her facial features softly and beautifully gracing her. She wore a white blouse tucked into blue faded ripped jeans, which were complemented by her white docs. A small black sling bag hung from her shoulders.

Alicia plastered a smile on her face when she saw Ian’s eyes glint with love. Ian stood up and pressed a soft kiss on her cheek before pulling her chair back for her. Mumbling a tiny thank you, Alicia sat down and released a soft sigh.

A waiter made his way to their table holding menus in his arms, he placed them on their table offering them a polite forced smile. Taking their orders and quickly walking back to order for them, he left the couple in unnerving silence.

Ian stared at his girlfriend with love twinkling in his eyes, he knew how lucky he was to call her his. He heard what people said about Alicia, how blessed in more ways than one, she was, and saw how men and women alike ogled her. He even had to fight off one of his friends because he insulted Alicia, he lost a friend but kept the most amazing woman, after his mother of course.

That was one of the things Alicia loved about Ian, the guy loved his mother so much. He also respected all women, which in a man is a desirable attribute, and was never blinkered about sensitive topics.

“You look beautiful baby.” Ian complimented reaching out for her hand across the table, Alicia’s heart fluttered in response, and a warm grin formed on her lips. She thanked him by kissing the back of his hands, and Ian gazed at her adoringly.

Alicia felt suffocated, the air around her thinned, Ian didn’t deserve what she wanted to do. Her smile faltered, and she pursed her lips as her thoughts drifted off from Ian’s presence. This didn’t go unnoticed by Ian, he sighed deeply and clenched his jaw. Letting go of her hand, he reclined in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest.

‘What could she be thinking about?’ He mused. He couldn’t dismiss the tension between them, his gut told him that something was wrong, but his heart just wouldn’t accept it. He wanted to listen to his gut, and just make it easy for Alicia because he could see how much she struggled.

However, his heart wanted him to believe that they were alright, and Alicia wasn’t planning on breaking up with him.
Alicia snapped out of her trance when their food was placed on the table, they dined on chicken shawarma served with yoghurt sauce. Alicia kept her gaze solely on her plate, she felt her stomach churn with the idea of hurting Ian’s feelings. She hesitated to take a bite, and when she did she felt it coming right back up.

Taking a deep breath and ignoring the delicacies’ aroma, she swallowed the bite and immediately took a huge gulp of her drink. She felt a tightening in her stomach, her saliva tasted bitter in her mouth like she was about to regurgitate. She sighed heavily, lowered her head, and closed her eyes for a moment.

“Are you alright babe?” Ian asked as he stood up from his chair, he squatted in front of her placing his hand on Alicia’s seat. Alicia gave him a small nod and a wave, she took a deep breath and sat up straight.

“I’m fine love.” She smiled warmly at him.

“Just a little nauseous.”

“Is it bad? We can go back to the hostels if you’re not feeling well. I’ll get the cheque, wait here.” Ian quickly got up to walk away, Alicia’s hold halted his movement, and he looked back at her with concern.

“I’m alright Ian, it will go—” She stopped mid-statement when the feeling came back and bitter tasteless saliva filled her mouth, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach and quickly stood up. Ian waved at one of the waiters and asked them for the ladies’ washrooms. Helping his girlfriend to the bathroom, Ian stood outside as he heard her regurgitate, his face scrunched in disgust, he was always squeamish in the presence of blood and vomit.

He heard the toilet flushing, and got off the wall he was leaning against. A few minutes later his girlfriend weakly walked out of the bathroom holding her stomach.

“Did you eat something bad?” He asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist to help walk her back to their table, they didn’t make it further when she suddenly pulled away and rushed back to the bathroom and puked her guts out. Alicia clutched the toilet seat with all her might, she breathed heavily, stood up weakly, and staggered to the sink.

Staring at her reflection, she noticed how pale she looked, her eyes looked hooded. She turned on the faucet and gathered a palm filled with cold water and gaggled. Pressing on her stomach, she could feel slight pain. She didn’t recall eating anything that might have caused food poisoning, or the pain.

One thought struck her hard, her eyes widened in suspicion, her heart raced and she felt tears clouding her eyes. Biting hard on her bottom lips, she kept her tears at bay. She inhaled heavily and exhaled, “I can’t be.” She mumbled, her bottom lips trembling.

She splashed water on her face, grabbed a paper towel and dried her face, and then her hands. Taking a deep breath, she managed an uneasy smile which she knew Ian would know right away that she was faking it. She opened the door to find Ian waiting for her with her sling bag on his shoulder and a large brown bag in his other smile. He smiled at her, “I asked them to pack it up for us.”

Offering her his hand, he walked them out of the restaurant. Alicia sighed into his arms, she couldn’t tell him. Not what she was suspecting, and not about Zedina, she just could not put him through the pain, she felt guilty for feeling relief about not telling him. She decided to first clear her suspicion and then talk to him.

Author's Note

Do you think Alicia is what she suspects she is? Things are not working out for her huh? Did you like the chapter? Leave a vote or comment, please:)