Forging Resilience: A Tale Of Betrayal, Belonging and Triumph

My first love

The next day was a Wednesday. I was dressed in official attire, ate breakfast, and left the house.
I got to the coffee shop, but I was a few minutes late for the interview. Thankfully, I didn't lose the job because of that.
I was interviewed, and I was employed immediately. It was a 7 a.m.–6 p.m. job, so I had time to also do other jobs in the evening, like working in a hotel on Mondays and Thursdays from 7 p.m.–4 a.m. and another job at a club on Wednesdays and Fridays. I only had one day to rest.

I continued working at those three places for one year and six months; nothing good or interesting happened. My 17th birthday was nothing to really talk about; it was the worst I have had in my lifetime.

No one from the orphanage came to check on me. The manager, whom I always thought was a mother figure, seemed to suddenly disappear from the surface of the earth.

I was even denied entry several times whenever I wanted to check on both Sandra and the manager at the orphanage.

Until I met a guy, he came to the coffee shop every Monday and Thursday for brainstorming, like he said. I noticed that he started flirting with me, but I overlooked it.

He came to the coffee shop every Monday and Thursday, as he claimed, for brainstorming, until I met a guy. He started flirting with me, which I saw, but I chose to ignore it until I started to have a little crush on him.
Whenever I served him, he would occasionally touch the hem of my skirt or blouse or abruptly touch my hands, and he always smiled. In all honesty, his grin warmed my heart.
Suddenly, he started coming to the club whenever I was working and leaving whenever I left, but I wasn't still suspecting anything like, "How did he know everything about me? I was such a fool, right?" I said, smiling to myself.

I was shy, so I always tried to avoid eye contact with him. It was always easy for him to make me blush. I once thought that it was just because he was so cute and beautifully gorgeous, but I just realized that I was just too vulnerable, which made it easy for him to strike.
He then decided to talk to me one-on-one after about six months of flirting during work hours. I never thought for a moment why he never talked to me in person, why he didn't also send any letters, or why he never asked for my number. All he did was stare and wink at me while working for six good months. I was indeed a fool.
"Like, would any guy in love wait for that long when he also knew that the lady was also giving attention?"

I guess after all my thinking, God finally decided to give me a gift. He finally approached me.
He stopped me that particular Monday evening, when I was closing from work at the coffee shop.
"Hey, babe, I want to talk to you for a few minutes," he said, giving me the most seductive smile I have ever seen. I couldn't stop myself from blushing; my cheeks were hot and, for sure, as red as tomatoes. I couldn't even give him an answer.
"Give me your phone number" he said in the most commanding tone I have ever heard, but, "was I too blind to notice it?".

"I was so stupid," I thought to myself, hitting my head violently on the wall beside my table.

"Hmm sure," I smiled as I collected his phone and entered my digits, and he snatched the phone out of my hands after he was done and walked away instantly without saying even a word.
"Was I that cheap and oblivious?"

I didn't see his call, and he didn't come to the coffee shop or the club for almost two months. I was so worried and kept expecting that he would show up one day.

Fortunately—no, it's unfortunately—I saw him with an elderly woman in a store, and immediately after he sighted me, he looked away and continued with the shopping.
I left the store a little disappointed but surprised. I was angry and heartbroken. "Why did he ignore me like that?" I kept asking myself.
After about a week, I saw a missed call from an unknown number, which I later found out was his. He didn't even apologize for not calling.
He only told me that his name was Steve David and that he was a very busy man.

He totally ignored my persistence on what I saw the other day, but I thought that it could have been his mom, and maybe he didn't see me, so I overlooked it and focused on building the chemistry we had.
It started like that, and our relationship started growing, but I was so blinded by the love he was showering on me that I ignored the fact that he was never ready to agree that he was in the wrong, thinking that he was just egoistic like every other male.

He gave me the attention I always wanted, and this made me overlook all that he did because I was scared of losing him. He made me feel special and treated me in a way that no one had ever treated me before.

He finally asked me out after 6 months when he tried to kiss me, and I made a fuss about it, saying that we weren't more than friends, and friends with benefits wasn't something I could do.
Let me do you the honor of explaining his ever-perfect proposal.
That day, he picked me up from work, and on getting home, I thanked him for taking me home and walked over to the huge front door that was the entrance for all tenants of the building.
Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm. I was so startled by his sudden appearance at my side, having been so intent on finding the right key for the door. "How did you get here?" I asked surprisingly.
He placed his hand on my delicate waist and asked, "Wouldn't you give your friend a proper goodbye, huh?". I didn't understand what he meant when he said, "What do you mean?"

He pulled me closer to him, and there was hardly any space for air to pass through us. My face turned crimson red. I had never been that close to a guy before.

I knew absolutely nothing about this world because I was shadowed by the four walls of the orphanage. There was nothing like coming this close to someone of the opposite sex, not to mention flirting.
Steve parted his lips and spoke. "I want to claim those lips of yours and do some nasty crazy things with them," he said in the most sweet and seductive voice I have ever heard.

After hearing that, I stared into his blue eyes. Having been affected by his voice, I didn't know when his mouth claimed mine.

His touch was tender and cautious, like he wanted it to be a perfect moment for me, and I absolutely didn't want him to stop. But as time passed, his lips grew more forceful, almost demanding.
Startled, my eyes widened at the sudden change in approach. That was when I came back to my senses and pushed him away. It was my first kiss, and I wanted it to be special, not stolen. "Why did you do that?" I glared at him.
"My little thing hasn't kissed before." He laughed before he continued. "I wanted you to experience the fun that you have been missing," he said, sounding so proud of himself.
"thing? I was just a thing to him." I took a sip of my coffee.
I was so angry about him kissing me that I didn't hear that he called me a thing.

"I asked why you did that," I challenged him again—something I have never done before. "Why are you making a fuss about this thing, huh? I just wanted to taste a little of you."

"It was my first, for heaven's sake. I wanted it to be special, with someone that I have a relationship with, someone that would take responsibility for taking my first kiss away," I sobbed gently. "Why do you keep riding me on when you don't want something with me?"

I wanted more than just friendship, but it was obvious that he wasn't ready to be serious with me.
Steve started to yell, "Is that what you want? You want me to take responsibility? he continued. "That's not a problem. Be my girlfriend if that's what you want." He sounded so rude, but in my ears, it was sweetest thing I have ever heard.