All because of love

ROOM 27

"so i guess this is goodbye..." Melisa said in a melancholic tone as she stood in the middle of Jabu's penthouse in sandton. she clutched on to her belongings with tears rolling down her face as she headed for the door, a friend that lived in braamfontein offered her a place to stay, just until she found her feet.

she couldn't believe that Jabu had cheated on her, and tears fell from both their cheeks when the situation was confronted. They loved each other more than anyone could imagine but there were times when the arguments got so bad that they both felt themselves fall a little out of love with one another each time one occurred. Melisa tried her hardest to keep their marriage alive. she held on to their spark, no matter how small it was, while Jabu was out in the world cheating with one of his colleagues.

Jabu and his mistress shared a lot of time together going on dinner dates, hotel nights and travelled together through what he described as "work trips". Each time it was a different lie.

Melisa would sometimes cook a romantic dinner but Jabu would be too tired to actually eat with his soul mate. The day before the break up, Melisa was doing the laundry when she accidentaly dropped Jabu's other phone from a jean pocket that he occasionally wore to work. she didn't know the phone and was curious at what could possibly be on it. she sat on the bed, her mind racing at all the possibilities of her husband having a second phone, a

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phone that she knew nothing about and would probably never know about has she not found it in his pants. she went through his messages and found nothing. she then went through his pictures where she came across naked pictures of Linda – "the colleague". she continued exploring his phone, unable to stop herself and she scrolled through his whole gallery, coming across pictures of a naked Linda, others her husband was in, naked as the day he was born. Her hands shook and the phone fell to the ground. she was angry. she was disappointed. she was heart-shattered. Jabu knew how much she had despised cheating but he still went along with it.

While in that state of shock, Jabu entered the bedroom with a bounce in his step stopped on his tracks as soon as he saw the phone that lay between his wife's feet. she was shaking and her eyes were red from tears that she wouldn't allow to fall. "i... i can explain." He said. she looked up at him with anger and disappointment. she stood up and asked, "Was this worth it?" He tried coming closer but she got up from her position and screamed, "Don't you dare!" He stopped. "i'm sorry, Lisa." He said. "i asked you a question." she reminded him. He took a while before answering, allowing the air in the room to settle. "she makes me happy." He uttered quietly. Melisa laughed in disbelief and walked out from the room. vv vv vv

On the night of break up, Melisa packed her clothes after an argument that had started off as a conversation. she took off her necklace, the one Jabu had bought her for her birthday and placed both the necklace and her wedding ring on the tea table. she looked at a miserable Jabu and said, "i hope she continues to make

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you happy and that maybe we'll meet one day and be good civilized people after a divorce. i guess this is goodbye." she opened the door and walked towards the exit. she then paused and turned to look at the place for the last time then took a huge sigh and left the house, slamming the door on her way out. That evening they both cried themselves to sleep thinking of what had-been, which had just turned into.

Three years later, Melisa is at the club with her friend naomi. They are celebrating naomi's job trip to the Us. she is going to be out of the country for a weekend and this is huge for her career. They drink a little bit too much and they are both too intoxicated and won't be able to drive themselves home – not that they were ready to go home either. naomi's flight is set to take off at 8am the following morning. Later, at 11pm, they want to leave but they try to call an Uber instead of using their car when Melisa's phone dies while she is dialing the Uber. naomi's phone is dead as well and they both start panicking when a guy taps Melisa on the shoulder. she turns to look, to her surprise it is Jabu. she gets lost in a moment but Jabu breaks into her bubble when he says, "Lisa, are you okay?" she then comes to her senses and says, "Yes. Uh... my friend and i need someone to drop us home." she explains. "Oh. i can take you there and maybe we can chat." Jabu says in an excited tone. He thinks this is a good opportunity. Melisa blushes and giggles, and it is obvious these two still have the spark between them that they thought burned out all those years...