Dear Laura 2

Chapter 14

He came back the next evening.

"Hey. You're due for an interview for that assistant job." He told me as he searched the fridge for something to drink.

"Okay, thanks. Send me the address."

"Cool." He poured himself juice then sat down to watch business news.

"That;s it?" I stood in front of him with my hands on my waist.

"What do you mean?" He was focused on whatever he was watching and was clearly uninterested in having a conversation with me.

"You can't expect us not to talk about what happened last night Abdul. We have to talk about it and fix it."

"What's broken?" He nonchalantly asked. A lump grew in my throat, and I struggled to swallow it in time for my next sentence which resulted in me choking on my words.

"You don't care, do you? You did not call, you did not text, nothing. You just disappeared. Is this the kind of relationship you want us to have? The kind where you do as you please but would flip if I disappeared for twenty four hours whilst being unreachable?"

He did not come back with flowers to apologise and that clearly meant he did not think he was wrong and neither did he want to talk about it. I guess it was business as usual with Abdul. He came back home and expected everything to go back to normal. I groaned and left him there to go to the kitchen when he increased the volume of the TV.

"Dish up for me, will you?"

"I did not cook." I said.

"Why not?" I squinted my eyes in confusion.

"Uh... I did not know I was supposed to."

"You didn't know you were supposed to cook for your boyfriend? Slobby much?" My stomach dropped at his judgment, but I took it like a queen. He knew that I was not a slob, he just wanted to hurt me.

"Exactly, boyfriend. I am not obligated to do anything for you. Not without a ring on this finger."

"That promise ring means nothing to you?" He scoffed.

I swallowed before lying to him, "no. It does not."

"Clearly. Maybe a wedding ring would have made you give it up last night." He scoffed and it hurt my heart.

I was right, he did not think he was wrong. He thought he was entitled to my body. He thought he owned me. He thought I did not have the choice to turn him down. He thought I should not have that right. He thought marrying me would take away that right.

"Oh, now you can talk about it?" I attempted to yell but my voice got stuck in my throat and broke mid-sentence. I wanted to scream. I wished I could hate him. I wanted to know where he got the courage to say such hurtful words to me. Who broke him? Who told him hurting people like that was okay? Hurting people he claimed to love.

"Did it ever occur to you that you are hurting me, Abdul? Or do you not care? As long as you get your way right? Screw this, I'm out of here." And when I attempted to leave, he got up and grabbed my wrist.

"Let go off me!"

"Where do you think you're going?"

"So, you can leave but I can't?" I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"I asked you a question." He gritted through his teeth.

"Away from here. Let go!" I pressed and attempted to set myself free but failed miserably. I did say that his grip was strong.

"Okay." He let go with a mischievous smile on his face. I almost fell but I managed to grab on the counter for support. He went to sit down.

"What are you waiting for?" He asked. My pride was too big to swallow so I took my phone and stomped out of there. It was raining outside, and my car was still in Joburg. I was told it would be shipped in a few days.

I stayed on the stairs the whole night, shivering as the cold air hit my skin. The hair on my skin rose and my teeth grinded together. I stayed there until midnight then decided that my pride was not bigger than my love for my child. I could not continue putting his or her life in danger like that, I had to go upstairs and fix things with Abdul. I had to do whatever it was that would stroke his ego instead of poking it. Even if it meant going on my knees and apologising. I had to do it. I would do anything for my unborn child, even when they were born.

To my surprise, when I got back up, the door was locked. I had to knock. I knocked for a good forty-five minutes before Abdul came to open for me.

He saw that I was shivering so he pulled me into his embrace, and I instantly felt my insides warm up, followed by my skin. The whole thing gave me mixed emotions. I could not relish in the embrace while my head was filled with thoughts about what had just happened and the cause of our fight, how he seemed not to care when I brought the issue up, how he alluded to me like I was his property, and I had no rights anymore. Everything hurt. But when it came to Abdul, I was so weak that being in his arms slowly made me forget about my agony. Even when the agony was him.

"I made dinner. But maybe you should take a bath first." I nodded.

"Should I run it for you?" I nodded again. I was so speechless you would think it wasn't me that was yelling at him earlier.

"Did you learn your lesson baby?" I looked up at him with tears in my eyes, his words causing a crash in my brain.

"Stay in your lane, okay?" He whispered just before kissing the top of my head. His gentle tone scared the cold out of me.

"Why are you crying? Shouldn't you be happy that I am not mad at you for the stunt you pulled. You're like the prodigal son, I welcomed you back with open arms. Literally." He let out a soft chuckle as he wiped the tear off my face.

"I love you." He kissed the top of my head. "Sit here and try to eat and I will go run that bath for you." He helped my stiff body take a seat then disappeared into the bathroom run a bath for me.

I ate the food. I took the bath. I wore the pyjamas. I kissed the lips. He wiped the tears that would not stop flowing through all of that. I heard him tell me how much I was his world, and a bunch of other sweet nothings that my brain failed to process because it was stuck on the treatment I received earlier. The pain in my back reminding me every time I tried to move past it. What the heck were his limits?

"I was thinking we could go to Dubai in a month. I want you to meet my family."

That's all it took. Can you believe it? That's all it took to get me to forgive and forget about the incident we had. That's all it took to numb the excruciating pain in my back. That's all it took to get my heart to descend from my throat back to its rightful place in my chest. That's all it took to make it flutter again. That's all it freaking took! I repeat, when it came to Abdul, my brain cells lost their power, and I became weak. I was merely nothing. I had to accept it sooner or later.

"I'd love to. Can you tell me about them?" I was finally able to speak now that my heart was not in my throat anymore.

He told me that he had a brother, named Omar who was five years older than him, the one he mentioned when we first met. Then he had two sisters, Tia was twenty-four and Lira was twenty-two. Lira was the last born. Omar would not be home because he was married so I would meet Tia and Lira, his mom and dad. Tia was engaged to be married. I just realised that her name rhymed with mine.

"Tia and mom are strict and have a bit of an attitude, but I bet they'll love you. Lira is a sweetheart, like me and dad." He pulled me in for a kiss.

"You?" I could not help but break into laughter.

"Yes. Why is that funny?"

"I love you baby, but you are no sweetheart."

"I totally am. You should see me around them."

"Maybe around them." I continued to laugh at him, and he distracted me by kissing me. And again. And again. And that night, I feared turning him down that I did whatever he wanted me to do. I even gave it up. I was just scared that he would hurt me again. I also did not want to ruin the chances of him taking me to see his family. I had to be on my best behaviour until then.