The Best Part of Her

Chapter Nine

One Wednesday afternoon, while Sapita was grocery shopping, she bumped into Fred in the toy section of the supermarket. Sapita seemed to be literally waltzing and floating in that long, flowery dress of hers, which complemented her now very visible tummy, when she felt someone approaching her from behind. She then heard her name, but not in the way that everyone else said it... She knew who it was.

"Sapi..."

Slowly, she put down the little pink plush dolphin she was holding and turned in a bid not to give reason to what she thought was a hallucination.

"Fred..." she said in disbelief.

"Yes, Sapi. How have you been?"

"I've been...fine. How are you here? I mean, how are you?" She responded still in disbelief and slowly turning around.

"I'm fine. I actually saw you from a distance and said, 'I know that walk anywhere,'" he said, trying to chuckle then proceeded because she was just blank staring at him and not saying anything.
"I can see your tummy has grown really beautifully; I mean, you've always been beautiful, but this makes you even more so...okay, I think I should stop talking."

"Yeah... well, thank you."

"You're welcome. So..."

"So... where have you been all this while?" She said,  addressing the elephant in the room.

"I've been...around. A few shoots here and there. I actually had a shoot earlier this morning, just came to grab some snacks before heading back out. Business has been really good I must say."

"Around huh?" She asked sarcastically.

A part of her wanted to scream and yell at him. It wanted an explanation for why and how he could abandon her like this for all this while without any explanation. The other wanted to sink into his arms and tell him how much she missed him and all she had been through. For a split second, she saw the possibility of her dream of having a home and family with the man she loves coming true. But an even greater part of her knew it was a bad idea considering how they separated and how confusing her present DNA situation was. So she took a silent, deep breath and said "I should get going now" then started to walk away.

"How is Conrad? I mean, I'm sure he is excited to be a father. I know I would be." he said, almost timidly.

Sapita paused for a minute and had to suck in her tears. She felt them flooding her eyes, but then just quickly walked off, leaving her groceries. She wasn't that strong, she figured.

***

Back home, Mandy walks in to find Sapita lying back in her chair.

"Girlllll... You will not believe what happened to me today. One stupid taxi driver who took me from that junction up the road to here wanted to charge me extra because of fuel prices. How is that my business that fuel has increased? Can you imagine? He was even threatening to beat me up and seize my luggage if I don't pay everything. But you know me, I gave it to him hot.

"I saw Fred today," Sapita said dryly. For a moment, there was a heavy silence that filled the room. "I saw him, Mandy, I saw him," she said, trying to sit up straight. "I saw him standing there as if it were nothing. At least not for him. He hasn't changed at all, but I, on the other hand... look at me."

"Shhhh, don't say that, baby... Oh, I'm so sorry. I dreaded this day would come."

"Do you know what he said? He asked me about Conrad!" She let out crying.

"Oh no, he didn't."

"Yes, he did! Mandy, I was so ashamed of myself."

"No, no, no, no, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Stop this," she said, holding her friend in her arms, who was now crying uncontrollably. Sapita then angrily stood and continued her narration, which soon became a monologue.