The morning has never seemed more beautiful and the day has never seemed s brighter…I had fallen asleep in the attic after Madam Kofi left and now, it was morning already…my heart beat for joy as I finally figured out what I was going to do.
All through the night, I had thought of Ben and Calvin and I knew what I had to do. I didn’t want to spend my life being lonely...besides, who was I deceiving, I had been crazy about the man of my dreams right from the beginning..in fact, I had lived my life hoping Ben would be the man of my dreams but now that I met him….there was nothing stopping me , was there?
I was going to dress up and look more beautiful than have I ever been ….i love him and I couldn’t wait to tell him….
*** *** ****
When I got into the room, I didn’t see him, I had actually thought he wasn’t there until I found him on the floor, he was sitting on the floor, shirtless as always with that ridiculous band on his upper arm as always… I was still going to ask him why he always had that on…
I walked closer and knelt beside him..his head was bent and he seemed to be sleeping . I shook my head, Calvin was a chicken entirely, I thought of waking him up but I drew closer to him and hugged me,raining plenty kisses on him until he stirred and woke up….
He looked drowsy and tired and his face looked swollen…I was surprised…
“Baby, are you okay?” I asked, drawing closer to him and placing a hand on his chin to tilt his face upwards.
He looked sad for the first time…he looked, weak…I could sense that something was greatly wrong….
“Calvin, baby, please say something….”
He said nothing, even his curled hair looked so unkept
. He instead brought his hand forward to caress my chin, giving a weak smile….there were some lines deep down below his eyes…
“Calvin, I swear if you don’t tell me what is going on….”
Just then the door opened….
“Boss, the jet is ready.” Ruzo said as he opened the door.
I looked at Calvin who nodded.
“I will call you.” He said and Ruzo dispersed.
“Where are we going Cal?” I asked again but like before, he caressed my cheek again….
“You are so beautiful Sonia, so beautiful in and out….” He said weakly.
I held unto his hand as I looked at him curiously, my mind was not settled and I felt something was so wrong….
“I’m going to tell you somethings Sonia and I need you to listen to me carefully.”
“Okay.” I replied, nodding repeatedly.
Just then , he removed the band around his upper arm and I could see a symbol on his arm, it looked like a spiral, just like mine but it was turned the other way round….
I held my hand forward to touch it…it was engraved on his skin just like mine was….
“How…where…how?” I asked…
“I know you have been dreaming about me for some time, the thing is, I have actually been searching for you for many years….centuries…”
I frowned. “That wasn’t possible…”
I listened to him as he narrated everything to me. About his first love, Trister, about his brother, whom he had to kill out of jealousy and how he was doomed to walk the earth forever….this sounded so ridiculous but so was the song I had learned from one of my nightmares, the tune I had played when I first played the piano for the first time-about a banished man, who was cursed with immortality and banished forever…..that story and that song, I had learned from my dream and it was quite stupid and ridiculous…but I believed him…I had been dreaming about him….i knew it was true…maybe it was the symbol that connected everything and made sense out of it, I don’t know..
“Calvin, I don’t care if you are Cain or whosoever, you are Calvin to me, you are a good person and I love you….”
He shut his eyes as I said that and bent his head again….
“What do you mean? Everything you just said actually confirmed that we are supposed to be together. Don’t you see that Calvin?”
“Sonia, I care about you so deeply but you have to go….”
I felt like someone had stabbed me….what did he just say
“Go, Calvin, what are you saying? Go to where?”
“Go back home, to Nigeria.”
“No, Calvin, no, infact, I have a confession as well, I had been acting up for you to fall inlove with me , just like you did and now, I discovered, I am actually inlove with you and it feel so beautiful and….”
He was quiet for a while and then his countenance changed.
“You are only saying that because you are here with me and Ben is not here… I need you to leave Sonia.”
“No, Calvin ,please, wait, you are not listening to me, I had thought all these through, I don’t care, I don’t care if you are cursed or not cursed, I want to be with you…not with Ben….”
“You yourself said you acted up because….”
“We both acted up Calvin and it got real…”
“No its different.” He said, standing up and backing me. “Ruzo will come take you now, you will go back to Nigeria, go live a good life with Ben and try to forget about me.”
I couldn’t understand what was happening. I stood up, my breath coming so rapid…I felt he was trying to be mean to make me go away because of the triad or Rozi or Sody, whatever her name was… we shared something deep last night and he hasn’t even said if he actually loved me or not…
“Calvin, please, you are not thinking, please, I am not going anywhere.”
“Yes you are and you are wasting time already!” He snapped at me so sudden that I shivered….
I didn’t understand why he was doing this….
Just then the door opened and three guards stepped in….
“I love you Calvin, please we can find a way to be together and…” He turned around and held my hand, looking right at me…"Don't you even love me at all?" I screamed in frustration.
“I do not love you Sonia! It was all a plan to get you to fall for me and now that it has happened, I am done with you….you need to go and don’t bother to come back! If you do not leave, I will ask these men to bundle you up…”
By those words, I felt like a red hot coal was placed on my chest….
He wasn’t looking at me again, instead, he walked right out of the room, not looking back…
I felt my world tumbling down so fast and my heart shattering into pieces…how could he have said all that to me…?
The tears flooded so quickly and I followed the men out of the room….
CALVIN
I shouldn’t have said that….
Looking at her as she left with those guards from my window filled me with an heartache that was like an insatiable fire that burned all the oxygen in me, leaving me empty.
It was so familiar as to what I had felt with Trister but somehow different.
When Trister had chosen my brother, I felt rage….rage like an inferno, overwhelming me completely…but this time, it was not rage, it was regret, a pain that wasn’t sharp, hot, or dull, no, it was tight. It was stuck on me , as if I would never be rid of it…
When I killed my brother, I felt relieved but this has no relief….it was like a rubber filled with pain and stretched so air tight that it would burst …yes it did burst….
I could feel the tear struggling to come out and I didn’t force them to stay back….they came out…they offered no relief…instead, they were like shards in my guts…they feel so cold, like concrete drying in my chest.
I shouldn’t have said that…but I had to, to make her go away, to make her stay alive…
The jet shifted off the ground and was in the air now in a second, she didn’t look down or anything, but I watched as it disappeared.
The tears flooded down my cheeks easily now but I didn’t feel better….instead I punched the nearest mirror to me and the glass cracked….i held it firmly I cried…that moment, i knew I would never love anyone like her…while I sat on a stoo infront of the mirror, I caught a glance of my arm….the symbol had disappeared…it had worked, I had eventually broken her heart and I was certain that she indeed fell for me….but I had lost her ….
It was already a week after and Calvin buried himself in his work more than he has ever done…anyone who crossed him was in soup and he had never been so formidable to all those who worked with him….he didn’t mind creating as many enemies for himself as he could, maybe someone would eventually get pissed and come for his life, then he could spend his agony in hell but so far, no one has claimed his life yet and each moment without her was a moment of endless torture.
He kept on doing everything he could to make the pain go away but it just wasn’t, finally he settled for one thing, he needed to leave South Africa, maybe if he goes back to England or if he was lucky, someone would eventually have his life…he couldn’t commit suicide, that was too easy for him , he needed more than a simple death….
A buyer was supposed to come check out his mansion today and once they reach an agreement, he would sell the house, he was certain he wouldn’t come back here again.
He had disconnected himself from the Triad or from Sody, he could’t talk to any of them, he just wanted to be left alone and steadily, he was returning back to his shell, today, he was going to leave this mansion of torture.
He was busy packing the docs on his table when Ruzo came in….
“Boss, the jet is ready and your bags are packed.”
“Good, what about the buyer…?”
“Yes, she is here, Madam Koffi is attending to her…”
“Her?”
Ruzo nodded.
“Wow! She must be quite a wealthy woman, please bring her in to my study.” He said and Ruzo left.
Calvin was surprised that it was a woman that showed off, he had put his house on sale and had broadcast this on every auction websites for the rich but he was surprised that it was a woman…well, if she has his money, there would be no problem.
This was actually not his thing, Sodi had always managed this kind of thing for him but now that he had blocked every means of access to him, she has been blocked out of every of his accounts and any other thing that could connect them together…it was best like that else, he wouldn’t know what he could do to her….
There was a knock on the door….
“Yes please come in…” I replied, running a hand through my hair.
“Wow! This is so beneath you , even for you boss.”
I looked up to see Sody at the entrance….s
She was all suited up as always, with her hair rolled in a pony tail..in her hand.
“What the hell do you want?” I growled at her, standing up and rolling my hands into a fist…even though I swore never to lay a hand on a woman, I was going to make an exception for her… I walked towards her as the anger in me began to swell up….
“Hey, hey, please, hold on Calvin, you know we used to be friends before I started working for you…” She said, backing off as I drew closer.
I remembered of course, we were friends in Georgia, she was a psychic and a therapist that had helped me through some difficult times until she found out about who I truly was and that was when she introduced me to the Triad. I trusted her and she proved to be quite efficient, so I made her my partner, I didn’t forget, I also didn’t forget that she was one of the reasons why I couldn’t be with Sonia…
“Look, Calvin, I am here for peace,, please hear me out….”
“You made a mistake coming here…you shouldn’t have come…” I shouted at her, knocking the stool off balance so she had to jump…
“Look, Calvin, Boss, if you kill me, then you may not have a chance to get back to Sonia…”
That actually made me stop in my tracks….
“What the hell are you saying?”
Realizing I had calmed down, she took short breaths and then put the Ipad in her hand on the table…
“Sonia is getting married soon
. I did some readings about you and even though the Triads were right, there was a flaw in their solution, we can actually go around it….”
“What do you mean?” I asked again as I tried to calm down further…
“I mean, I can help you get Sonia back before its too late but first, you need to promise not to kill me…”
Sonia was busy with the pile of Invitation Cards infront of her as she kept crossing and stick a tiny sticker on the part that showed the date and the venue…she was in her pyjamas, sweating and fully engrossed…
Shortly after, Pacuto had come in from the kitchedbut she didn’t notice, later Mandy came in from the other room, both of them stayed behind to watch her each from their different angles, concerns fully showing on their faces.
They both exchanged glances and Pacuto signaled to her to check her phone…they both brought their phones out and started typing on it, having reduced the volume.
Pacuto- do you think she has gone crazy or something?
Mandy-I don’t know Pacuto(sobs) I am so worried about her.
Pacuto-she is taking this wedding far than she should
Mandy-I don’t even know why is rushing it , she just got back and has barely said anything to us
Pacuto-Did you talk to Ben?
Mandy-Not yet, he has been so busy to reach
Pacuto-do you think someone raped her and she is ashamed of it?
Mandy-No, I don’t think so, I think something happened to her wherever she went and I think it was quite huge , she can’t discuss it.
Pacuto: She said she got lost in a circus and was shipped off to some unknown places, so she couldn’t find her way back home,
Mandy-I don’t believe it, I think she actually hates us for being responsible
Pacuot-no,she said she’s forgiven us, atleast, she saw all the efforts we made to find her…there is no police station or a single tv channel that we didn’t go and….
“You guys know I can see you right?” Sonia said abruptly, startling the both of them, so they put their phones away and instead came to sit beside her.
“Sonia, are you still angry with us?”
“No, for gods sake you need to stop asking me that. I am not. Assuming I was dead, I would have probably haunted you from my grave or spirit world but I am past that, sincerely.”
Mandy sighed . “But you have been aloof since you got back, you hardly laughed, it was like you weren’t even happy to come back and now that you are here ,you rushed the wedding why…you could have atleast waited for a while, or atleast let us get a new set of Invitation cards instead of all these work you are giving yourself.”
“A new IV will require like two weeks to be delivered, I don’t want that.” Sonia replied.
Pacuto smiled and collected the market from her, holding her two hands.
“Remember when your two adopted parents died in an accident?”
Sonia nodded.
“Do you remember what you did?”
Sonia shook her head.
“You took out all their dirty cloths, and hand-washed them even though there was a laundry machine, your excuse was that you didn’t want to stress the machine.”
Sonia was quiet.
“You have this method of getting yourself involved in cumbersome works when you are trying not to think of something…Sonia, what happened to you? We are your friends.”
“Besides, you are driving me crazy babe, I keep regretting that stupid bet and I am so scared I don’t know what happened to you back then, we sought everywhere for you , even that stupid call that Ben got from one Michael…” Mandy started…
“Michael called?” Sonia asked, surprised.
“Yes, he said he got the number from you and…wait, you know him for real?”
“So Ben, heard this and didn’t do anything ?”
“He tried babe, I mean when he got back he tried using the call to do whatsoever he could but each time it was a dead end, he even asked the guy to show up but he refused, but one thing was that, the guy said you didn’t look as if you were in any trouble, that you were beautiful and all…..so it got him confused that probably you ran away, so he stopped searching for you….”
Sonia was quiet, he could have atleast wondered why she had given Michael his number….and yet, he hadn’t spoken a word to her about this.
“Didn’t he tell you?” Mandy asked.
“No, he didn’t.” Sonia replied.
The two ladies exchanged glances.
“To think I was trying to make him happy with this marriage, I thought it was what he wanted and only for me to discover that he had been hiding things…”
“You are trying to make HIM, happy with your marriage, you know that both of you are supposed to be happy right?” Pacuot pointed out
“, please, give him a chance, he thought you ran away and you know you guys haven’t spent much time together enough, as in under the same roof to perfectly understand each other…..he thought you had a cold feet and….” Mandy replied
“It’s not an excuse.” Sonia retorted. “They are all the same, those you spend time with under the same roof and those you hardly see around you are all the same.” She said angrily, standing up and was about to run out but Pacto held her arm.
“Let me go Pacuto!”
“No, you are not going anywhere!” Mandy shouted, close to tears. “Sonia please don’t shut us out, you have punished us enough.”
“This is not about you!” She screamed back at them.
“We know and we want to help you!” Pacuto shouted back.
Sonia looked at her two stubborn friends, she knew they were not going to let her be, she thought of Ben, he could have said something to her, why pretend as if everything was okay why pretend like Calvin…..why does everyone just pretend..unable to take it, she broke down.
‘It hurts so badly, it hurts!” She cried as she hasn’t cried since she got back, the pain of the heartbreak was getting to her squarely now….her friends held her close as the three embraced.
The girls were silent after Sonia narrated everything to them….no one spoke as they each tried to digest that what they just heard was a true life story and not some comic story from Disney land….
“So, all your attitude and everything was not because of what Ben did, instead it was because of what Calvin did….”Pacuto asked but Sonia didn’t give a reply.
Mandy was trying to keep calm but couldn’t later she just screamed…..
“Oh my God! Oh my Freaking God! That was the best romantic story I have ever heard! We actually thought we sent you to hell but you went to heaven instead! Oh my! That dude is so hot and so cute and oh my God! How was the sex babe?”
Pacuto and Sonia looked at her as if she was crazy….
“No, no, no, look this is a good thing, even though this can only happen in stories or Hollywood, I believe every single word because I lot hot guys and romance and happy ever after, infact I have never been more happy in my life!” Mandy shouted, hugging Sonia closely.
“Hey stupid! Didn’t you get the part about the triads and about what Calvin later told her at the end, the part where she got her heart broken?”
“No,oh my god! Do I have to spell it all out for you! Don’t you know that he was trying to protect you Sonia> He is trying to prove that he is a changed man like you have taught him to be selfless, he is looking out for you!”
“No he isn’t.” Sonia retorted.
“Look, what would you have preferred him do, you know, when we have a problem, its best if we don’t stand so close to handle the problem so we can see it in a full view as in 3D. Think, do you think he would have risked losing you while he lives forever under this damned curse?”
Sonia shook her head
. “I am not interested in whatever he has to say. He could have been more considerate about my own feelings…”
Mandy shook her head and faced Pacuto. “Sis, a little help here please. She doesn’t listen to me, maybe she can listen to you.”
Pacuot turned to Sonia. “Though I used to be the one who makes sense in any conversation amongst us but Mandy is actually making a lot of sense now. Baby, I think Calvin was looking out for you all along. I mean, it couldn’t have been easy for him too and as stubborn as he knows you are, the only thing he could do was to make it hard for you, imagine how he will feel if he actually had to say that…”
“I don’t believe him….besides, does it matter now…?” Sonia said, standing up and moving close to the TV. She wasn’t ready to deal with all these….”
Mandy stood up and rushed to her… “Yes it does because you and Ben have never actually been as close as you and Calvin were…Ben hardly has time for you, you want to marry him, have you even tried telling him you slept with some man you clearly still have feelings for?”
Sonia was quiet.
“You see, both of you are having secrets, do you really want to spend forever with secrets… or ‘what ifs’?”
“And, sincerely, you had a crush for Ben half of your life and you dreamt of Calvin all through your life, thank God your scar is gone and hopefully his is gone too, between the both of them who would you rather spend your life with?” Pacuto asked, coming forward to meet the two.
“Well..I…I don’t know, I mean, I don’t think I can see Calvin again and Ben and I …I just….its difficult to just, I slept with someone and I didn’t tell Ben and he,,,ugh….” Sonia stuttered, her head was running so wild.
“Well, I think I can make it easy for you dearest.”
The three turned around as they saw Ben at the doorway, obviously he has heard everything…..
To be continued..
0 comments:
Post a Comment