Delicate Love

40

"Martins!" They all said.

"Hello, guys." Martins greeted them all as he entered the house together with Rhema.

"What are you doing here?" Susan asked him, anger showing evidently on her face.

"Hello, guys." Rhema greeted the house.

"Hey, Man!" Charles replied giving Rhema a firm handshake. "What is he doing here?" Charles whispered the question to Rhema.

"He wants to apologize."

"Apologize? After all these years?" Charles asked, baffled.

"Yes." Martins confirmed, "I'm here to apologize to you all, and especially to Rose."

"Me?" Rose asked, confused as to why Martins would apologize to her, "you didn't wrong me, as far as I know." She said and everyone looked at her with pity in their eyes, except Charles, "What, guys?"

"Martins wronged you," Susan said.

"But how?" Rose asked looking at them all for answers.

"Let's sit down first," Rhema said and all of them sat down on the comfortable sofa.

"Rose. I'm really sorry for what I did to you." Martins started.

"Martins, you must be confused, but I'm quite sure you did nothing to me."

"Okay, Rose. Why haven't you forgiven Charles yet?" Susan asked.

"I... I don't hold any grudges against Charles."

"Lie!" Susan blurted, "I've seen the two of you, and there is something that is still making you guys not together yet, and I feel it's about that thing that happened ten years ago."

"Susan... Let's not talk about that." Rose cautioned her.

"Noo, we have to, cause I cannot stand seeing the loveliest couple on campus then, being so... so distant towards each other because of some misunderstanding that wasn't dealt with ten years ago."

"Susan..." Rose cautioned her, giving her a warning stare.

"Rose, you were my best friend then, and even till now I still see you as one. I haven't seen anybody that I can call my friend after knowing you, and seeing you still hung up about what happened then, is, is really killing me. It was a misunderstanding. The article was a misunderstanding. It wasn't... It wasn't Charles that..."

"I was the one!" Martins confessed, "I was the one that posted that article, it wasn't Charles. Charles was innocent concerning the article, I wrote the article and paid someone to post it, because..."

"Because what Martins? What did I ever do to you?" Rose cried.

"Because... Because of a misunderstanding that I had with... You."

"With me? I never knew you, Martins. I never, so what misunderstanding are you talking about?" Rose said making everyone confused again. Charles gave both Rhema and Martins a sign that says she can't remember it yet.

"It was something that I thought... That I thought you did." Martins lied.

"So just because of that, you posted a very terrible thing to the whole school that tainted my reputation?" Rose asked, still crying. She couldn't believe what she just heard. What was the thing that caused a misunderstanding between her and Martins that he would go to the extent of tainting her image in the university?

"I'm sorry, it was just recently I learned the whole truth, that it wasn't your father..."

"Martins!" Charles cautioned him.