After Her Desire

1 (Freda's POV)

"You don't understand Isi..." I shake my head profoundly feeling defeated.

"I can't be in the same room with him.." I mutter...
I feel my heart clenched together as I finally embrace the truth.
The truth I've long been hiding from.

"I don't understand you, Freda. Hold on a second. Are you still in love with him" she asks

"This isn't about love, it's about the fucking desire I can't seem to control each time he's near me... Babe, it's like a magnetic force that draws me unwilling to him... I swear, I thought I was over him. I believed I was. Even after not seeing him for such a long time, a small part of me was convinced that I was done with him for good.

But look at me now.

Making a mess for him." I lament.

"I dunno what to say to you, my love, I don't. But I just want you to be happy. Be with who makes you happy..." She held me closer to her chest.

"I was happy, I was living on well with my life. He was completely erased and forgotten, but I was wrong" I say pulling away from her.

"No babe. Don't beat yourself up for it. Honestly, no one would blame you for feeling this way. But you can't hide forever... It's a small world. Not as big as we imagined it to be...

Look at how it turned out. You ran away from him, yet he found you here. After three long years in a different country." she points out.

"Life sure knows how to play a cruel joke on me..." I stand to my feet. Hanging my bag on my shoulder

"It isn't funny... The turn of events is scaring the shit out of me." I say before grabbing my phone from her glass table.

She just stared blankly at me as I walked to the door.

Just as I was about to step outside she blurted.

"Where to.?..."

"To do right by him," I say and slam the door shut.

*
*
*

11 YEARS BACK

"Oh come on, I'm marrying you," I say to Raj as he blushes shyly.
"Sister, how many husbands will you marry now...??? What about Ameel..?" my cousin, Farida asked jokingly.
"I'll divorce him too," I say and they all laugh...
"That's child abuse..." Nariah bellows and they all chuckled.
I waited until they were all engrossed in their discussion before speaking up.
"Hey..." I call out to Suraj... And he turns his head to face me.
"Which class are you now.?" I try to start a conversation with him.
"Secondary school," he answers nonchalantly.
"Hmmm... Not bad." I say more to myself.
"Why polytechnic" he asked me
"Because my mom doesn't have money and life happens... But it's not as bad as it looks like." I reply trying not to explain further.
And he shrugs.
"You know I'm like 6 or 5 years older than you but we are almost the same height," I tell him and he just nods...
Hmmm!!!!
Not much of a speaker.
"Would you like to marry me.?" I teased him smiling sheepishly at him.
"No," he replies abruptly
"Ouch!" I fake hurt
"Whatever, come and give me a piggyback if you don't want to marry me," I say to him.
"You have too much weight..." he grumbles.
"Good... It's official, you're my husband..." I declare giving him no room for argument before running off to join the elders in the kitchen.
"Freda.." my aunt calls out to me
"Yes, mom..." I screamed before walking to her room.
"Share chin-chin and soft drinks for the children," she instructed
"Okay."