A Searing Affair

Chapter 3

    

      "I'm getting married" he said. 
My heart stopped, and sank down to my stomach. It felt like a dream. No, a nightmare. I was silent on the line, dumbfounded, not knowing what to say or how to react. Blank, for a few minutes
   .   "Obasuyi, are u still on the line?" He asked
I was silent half a minute more
       "O... Obasuyi?"
       "Yes? Yes I'm.... I'm still on the line" I managed to get those few words out.
       "When?" I questioned in a small voice. "When what?" He asked slightly confused
        "What you just told me... when did it happen?" I croaked
         "I want to explain, please don't get pissed yet"

       "So, there's this girl in my school. My dad introduced her to me in 300lv. Told me he'd  agreed with her parents that we should get married. It wasn't something hey were going to make us do at the time. We had a choice. Both of us confessed we were in love borne relationships with other people, and our parents accepted that. But later on, my mom called to tell me that they've decided we should continue with the marriage, and my supposed fiancée agreed to it, which I didn't believe it but...here we are now" He let out a loud sigh, like a huge load had been taken off his chest.
   
      I was silent again, with no idea what to say.
"Obasuyi... Are you still there?"
I didn't respond. "Obasuyi!"
"Ye.. yes I'm still here" I said
"Aren't you going to say anything?"
I coughed out a short, dry, humourless laugh 
      "I have nothing to say. There's nothing I can do. I mean your parents barely know me" I pointed out. The silence was on both ends this time
Then the question came to me "You knew, didn't you?" I asked bitterly, my face twisting up with sudden anger
      "Knew what?"
      "That your dad would carry on with the marriage"
      "What? No, of course not!" He yelled surprised
      "He only told me about the girl and if we liked each other, and we both said we already have someone we're with. And my someone is you!" He tried, but I was already too sad and angry to listen to anything he had to say.
"Goodbye Victor, I wish you and your soon to be wife a happy married life" "Wait... Wha-" he sputtered
    "Don't ever call my number again or I'll block you. I don't want to do it, but I will. Oh and thank you for letting me fall in love with you, knowing I was just your side chick. I can't believe I bragged about you so much to everyone because you were special to me..." My voice shook  "Hurts to learn that I wasn't the same to you" A tear rolled down my cheek.

     I found it hard to breathe. My legs turned to jelly and dropped the ground. Somewhere in the back of my mind, it registered that I was feeling all these things because of a man.
     "Oba are you okay?"
     "F**k you Victor" I said. It should have been like venom, but my voice came out weak. I hung up.
     
     I almost threw my phone wherever, but somehow I remembered I wouldn't have the money for a new one, so I held on to it, squeezing a little before putting it down on the floor next to me. I heaved a sigh.
    I replayed the whole conversation in my head. It all felt like a bloody nightmare. My mind was taking a bit to process it. Sadly it was my harsh reality.
I was lost in thought when my roommate walked in. I got up, ran to her and gave her a tight hug.
      "Eyinmisan welcome back" I murmured into her
     "Yeah. Are you okay though? You looked devastated sitting on the ground" She asked with a worried look, inspecting my face with her hands cupping both sides of it.
"Oh my God, you've been crying?" She asked seeing my glossy eyes and wet cheeks.
"Yeah" I choked out. "Come and tell me everything" she said, pulling me to sit on the couch with her.
     I told her everything Victor said and how depressed it made me feel. She stayed quiet awhile, her eyes wide, short of words like I was
"I'm so sorry girl... I don't even know what to say" she said taking my hand. Her brows furrowed in sympathy
"It's okay. I mean I don't blame him", I sniffed "na me love like mumu" 

Translation:It was me who loved like a fool

    "Men are scum abeg!" Eyinmisan hissed with irritation on her face. "That's why I'm single" she smirked. I gave her the side eye. "That's why I'm single" I mocked shaking my hands at the sides of my face. "Lemme hear you complain about being single again" I hissed back.
    "Wetin dey worry you? Na me say make your man use you do side chick?" She asked incredulously.
"First of all", I said "No be my man. I just thank God I hadn't slept with the werey before all this happened"
"So no be your man again? This life na wa o" She laughed.
     "I blame you? No be me carry my matter con give you" I hissed again, annoyed at her reaction.
"Na you know ooo. I saw a plate of rice on the bed. I dey hungry, make I go chop" she got up and went to the bed
"Eyinmisan don't touch my food o!" I yelled after her
"But you don't have an appetite na" her voice rang with laughter. "Lemme help u eat it, so it won't waste". I stood up from the couch and ran to the room. We dragged the plate of rice between us a little, but then I got it. I still shared it with her, as the nice roommate I was.
   
  Translation: "What's wrong with you? Was I the one who told your man to use you as a side chick?"
"First of all, he's not my man. I just thank God I hadn't slept with the lunatic before all this happened"
"So he's no longer your man? This life is somehow"
"Do I blame you? It was me who came to share my problems with you"
"It's you who knows". 
   
         
          *.   *.      *.  *.      *.  *.
     A few days went by and I was starting to get over the news Victor told me. I hadn't been picking his calls or answering his messages since I was still angry with him. I wondered why he even messaged me at all. He should have been focusing on his soon to be wife.
     It was a Friday, and I had classes. I went to get groceries at the supermarket opposite our school. It was called 'Stop to Shop'. It stood beside a bakery called 'Nadia's bakery'. After getting what I needed for home I branched the bakery and got the family sized loaf. I was at the cashier's to pay when I received an incoming call. It was none other than Victor.
     "I'm not picking up" I said to myself and but decline. I paid for the bread and started on my way back to my apartment. I received a message from him.
     "Obasuyi, why aren't you picking my calls or replying my messages? I wouldn't intentionally hurt you. I already explained everything to you. Just please, don't leave me in the dark, I'm worried about you" the message read.
   Worried about me my ass. I rolled my eyes and continued my journey home. I got in a taxi that dropped me in front of my house gate. I got down from the car and another message popped in. This time it was from Eyinmisan
 "Hey girl, what's up? I won't be coming home today, I'm going to a coursemate's house and from there to a night class so, you won't be seeing me today at all. Will you be okay alone? And don't worry, it's a girl"
      "Yeah I'll be fine. And what's my business if it's a girl or a boy?" I laughed sending the laughing emojis.
      "But I'm not going to see you through out today? It's okay though. Have fun"
       I sighed. I hadn't seen her before she left for class in the morning. Being home alone wasn't going to be so bad.
        I carried my bag of groceries into the compound, immediately noticing a blue Toyota Camry I hadn't seen in this place before. It looked familiar. Like... Victor's car.
"Nah, it can't be him" I thought. He'd be in school busy. I walked to my apartment, and at my doorstep stood a familiar figure staring at the floor, lost in thought.
Victor.
The bag I was carrying fell from my hands. He looked up
      "Obasuyi...."