MUNA

PART 12 : THE EX PT. 3

Maybe our girlfriends are our soulmates and guys are just people to have fun with.

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Muna knew she had to say exactly what was on her mind, and it had to be said this night. She could hear her mother's voice in her head, scolding her for being quiet at the worst possible moments. Speak up, Som. Nobody can read your mind. Be brave enough to say no when you mean no, and don't say yes to please anyone. Ever.

She thought of making use of the drive back home as an avenue to tell her boyfriend, who suddenly turned 'fiancé', how she felt about the bomb he slid on her fingers.

She was uncomfortable and she could feel something like a knot of distress in the pit of her belly. Snared, she thought. She felt trapped. Trapped into accepting the congratulations from multiple well-wishers from the diners at the restaurant and the staff as well, even as they stood up to leave,. Plus, she needed booze energy for the showdown that was to ensue before the day broke.

Muna made sure to finish up the wine in her glass and took the remaining bottle of champagne with her, which was half empty. No oenophile would let a good wine go to waste like that.

 Although she smiled cheerfully as Mordecai led her outside, she was mentally reordering her words, but no matter how hard she tried, her thoughts were Sisyphean. She decided to stick to being cliché and now concluded her starting line was going to be "We need to talk." She also prepared herself for the unpleasant reaction that Mordecai would give once the showdown commenced.

The ring on her finger weighed like two dumbbells, and it was glittering in the streetlights.

"We could go to my place, babe."

He gave her a little twirl and caught her in his arms as they stood beside his car. He took her hand with the ring and kissed the back of it softly.

"And we could really celebrate there." He drew her closer to his body and nuzzled her neck.

"No, I've got to be at the office early and prep for an afternoon studio session tomorrow, and... Mordecai, we need to talk."

He'd noticed she'd used his full name and wondered what else she wanted to talk about, but didn't reference it.

"Alright, baby, whatever you want." He pecked her cheek and opened the door to the front seat of the car for her, then gestured for her to get in.

He got behind the wheels and pressed the button for the ignition. He revved the engine for a bit before taking the car out of park and into drive.

"It's a lovely Saturday night, isn't it, baby?"

She nodded with a faint smile as he drove off. Far from it, her belly was in a tight knot and she was beginning to feel queasy, with an emerging headache by her left temple.

The drive to Muna's place was really quiet and he tried breaking the silence.

"I'll send you some pictures of some apartments I have checked out; see which ones you prefer. That cool?"

"Mhhmm."

He didn't notice the tepid tone of her reply and just increased the volume of the music playing from his car's stereo system so that the song 'Bad and Bougee' by Migos was blasting too loud for Muna's liking.

Her phone dinged and when she swiped down to see the new notification, it was from her brother, Dave.

Yo M, Is everything okay with you and your guy? He just posted something weird on his WhatsApp status. Seen it?