Shalom

Chapter Five

They saw Shalom curled up on the bed, her face to the wall. She was drowned in her thoughts to the point that she didn't notice her friends come in and the light of the room on.

"Shalom!!!" Her friends screamed simultaneously.

Their scream jerked her back to reality. She turned and looked at her three angry-looking friends. They glared at her for some time.

"What?" She asked.

"Water and garri!" Faith retorted.

"Shalom, what the hell is wrong with you?" Sidney seethed as she moved towards Shalom's direction, ready to devour her.

"Huh!" Shalom sighed. "I'm sorry babes. I'm angry. My meeting with Alex went bad. I regretted ever following him in the first place."

"Really?" Faith's anger had cooled down.

"What happened?" Samantha asked as she pulled out the plastic chair in the room and sat on it. She removed her heels and wig, ready to listen to whatever Shalom had to say. She had always been like that - giving a listening ear to her friends and they liked her for that.

Faith sat down on the bed a bit distant from Shalom.

Sidney, the fierce amongst them was too angry to sit down. Her anger had not calmed down.

"Won't you sit?" Shalom asked, looking at her.

"I don't need it," Sidney replied sarcastically. "Just say whatever you want to say."

"Sidney, will you just calm down?" Faith said.

"Please, tell this babe here to say the reason why she abandoned us at the party. We called her number several times but it wasn't reachable." Sidney said in fury.

Shalom ignored Sidney.

"As I said, I had a bad time with this Alex guy. You won't believe it that this Alex guy preached Jesus to me?"

"Jesus???" Her friends screamed in response.

***

Shalom tailed Alex to the toilet. Since there was no room, she thought that was the best place to enjoy themselves.

She winked at him seductively and her hands went to the buttons of his shirt and started undoing them.

"Wait!" Alex said and held her hand which made her stop abruptly.

"What is it?" She asked. She attempted to kiss him but he dodged her.

"I said wait." He repeated firmly.

"Why?" Shalom was surprised at his action. "Don't tell me you don't want it."

"Jesus loves you," Alex said out of the blue.

Shalom was taken aback.

"What?" A mixture of shock and anger plastered on her face.

"I'm sorry. But that is it." Alex said looking at her.

"Jesus loves you. He died for you on the Cross of Calvary because of your sins. He shed His precious blood for your sake. He--"

"Shut the hell up!" Shalom screamed. "Are you out of your mind? You brought me here for you to preach Jesus to me. I never knew you had something else in mind. You came here for Bible study." Her blood boiled.

"I am sorry." He apologized.

He was truly sorry. He was not the party type. He had succumbed to his friends' pressure to follow them to the nightclub.

"Sorry for yourself!" She seethed. "I don't want to ever see you in my life again. For this thing that you have done, I hate you!" She said and stormed out of the toilet.

"Shalom! Shalom please!"

She slammed the door.

"Oh my God! What am I doing here in the first place? God, I know I have sinned against you. I am sorry for tarnishing your image here. Please, find a place in your heart to forgive me." Alex prayed and left the toilet greatly disappointed in himself.

Shalom's anger boiled to the point that she couldn't go to meet her friends, she just left the party and headed home.

***

"That was what happened," Shalom concluded her narrative.

One could see the expression of shock plastered on her friends' faces.

"Like, what the hell?" Sidney was the first to speak. She was sitting on the bed this time.

"I hate such guys!" Faith said.

"They are damn pretenders." Samantha chipped in.

"Now you can see that my sudden attitude wasn't my fault. That stupid guy caused it." Shalom said.

"We are very sorry for our outburst, babe." They apologized.

"It's fine," Shalom said. "And I hope you guys enjoyed yourselves."

"Yeah! We tried our best." Faith said.

But before Shalom could respond, Sidney stood up and brandished a package stylishly.

"Some random guys bought this for us," Sidney said.

"Really?" Shalom was wowed.

"Where is mine?" She feigned a frown.

"I don't know."

"Ehn? What do you mean you don't know?" Before Sidney knew what was happening, Shalom stood up and started chasing her in the room so much to Faith and Samantha's laughter.

To be continued.