HEARTSTRINGS
CHAPTER TEN
His thoughts travelled while he washed the dishes in the sink. He liked weekends. It gave him enough time to recu-perate after a tiring week. His nights had wors£ned after his inti-mate encounter with Misi. She tormented his dreams and while he was awake, she clouded his thoughts. It had been a while since the thought of a woman had haras-sed his mind. He heard the door bell ringing. He wiped his we-t hands with a napkin, turned around and walked out of the kitchen. He hoped the person at the door wasn’t his neighbour’s daughter. She had kept him at arm’s length for the past few weeks. Many other men would have taken advantage of her, shattered her heart and rendered her b©dy useless. Far be it from him to be reduced to such level. The bell kept ringing. He marched towards the front door, wondering who it was. He peeped throu-gh the hole in the door and g@sped when he saw her. What was she doing at his place? He rested his head on the door and debated whether to ignore her or allow her in. He gritted his teeth and turned the key. He placed his hand on the door-knob and opened it slightly. His honey coloured eyes travelled over her slim curvy frame wra-pped in a sky blue long fish tail dress. She looked like a princess with her brown shoulder length hair swept backwards. He felt like tou-ching it. He lifted his eyes and met her intensed gaze.
“What are you doing here?” he sounded harsh.
The instant she saw him, her throat went dry and her de-sire for him magnified. She shouldn’t have come. Should she just turn around and return home or take the bulls by the horn and resolve the turmoil on her mind?
“What do you want?” he repeated. His heart throbbe-d at the sight of her.
She swallowed ha-rd .
God give me strength.
He could s-en-se the battle she fought within. Her eyes said it all. It was similar to the war that rage within him. She shouldn’t have come. She had just complicated things. He backed into the flat and tried to close the door.
Her eyes wi-de-ned in surprise, “Wait!” she held the door-knob.
“Go home,” his stern tone wasn’t lost to her.
“Hold on,” she pleaded. She really wanted them to sit and iron things out.
“Why?” he eyed her.
“We… we nee-d to talk.”
He shook his head, “I have got nothing to say to you,” he pushed the door, but, she held unto it.
“Bas-sey… plea-se.”
“I am not re-ady for this… this thing between us…” he gave a shake of head.
His words cut throu-gh her heart. She felt pained.
“If I allow you in, I will sleep with you,” he said plainly, his words were devoid of emption.
She let go of the knob and stepped back. She just wanted to talk. She didn’t want to get S-xually inti-mate with him.
“I will regret it, ask God for forgiveness, repent and it will significantly complicate things between us.”
She nodded with un-derstanding and blinked back the tears that burned her eyes.
“A man can give you his b©dy, but, not his heart.”
She searched his expressionless face. Why was he saying does things to her?
“I can sleep with you right now, but, it doesn’t mean that I love you, S-x is not love. They are two different things. You ladies mix them up a lot.”
She turned away. The tears c@m£. It pooled over her face, “I just… c@m£… to talk,” her voice cracked.
He snorted, “That talk won’t happen. Our bodies are alre-ady on fire. If we start to talk in here and right now, our conversation will end in the be-droom.”
She started to walk away.
“Misi…”
She ran down the stairway.
“Misi!” he hurried after her, clad in his bo-xers. He caught up with her and held her hand.
“Let me go,” she sobbe-d.
His che-st ti-ght£ñed at the sight of her sad we-t face.
“Let me go!” she snapped and yanked her hand back. She turned to leave, but he pu-ll-ed her close and embr@ced her.
“I am sorry.”
“Leave me jo…” she started to cry.
“I am so sorry,” he held her ti-ghtly. Her softness melted into him, drugging his mind.
She kept on crying. He felt bad because he knew his words had wounded her. He had no choice; he nee-ded to tell her the truth. He pu-ll-ed away and led her up the stairs and into his ap@rtment. They sat on a two settee and silence hovered over them. She brou-ght out a handkerchief from her purse and dabbe-d her face with it.
“I d@t£d a girl two years ago. We were supposed to get married, but, she called off the wedding.”
She glanced at him. His hands were clasped together and he stared at nothing in p@rticular.
“My family and I visited her parents, but she refused to see us and we were chased out of their home.”
She rested against the chair and listened to him. She was happy that he was opening up to her.
“I found out that my childhood friend, my so called best friend had lied to her about me. She believed him. She didn’t even deem it fit to confront me. They are now married and living happily ever after.”
She wanted to pat his back and console him, but thought against it.
“I have gotten over her. The wounds have healed, but, the scars have not completely faded away.”
She nodded with un-derstanding.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he glanced at her, “I don’t want to waste your time…” he took her by the hand, “I like you, I really do, but before I can pursue a relationsh!pwith you, I nee-d to sort myself out.”
She sighed with relief. All hope wasn’t lost. It would have been worse if he had rejected her completely.
“I am not going to ask you to wait for me,” he searched her eyes, “But, if you are sure that you want to get committed to me in the nearest future, plea-se, be patient.”
She exhaled and smiled.
“If you can’t wait, you can as well accept any proposal that comes your way,” he felt distressed saying those words.
She looked into his eyes. Her heart yearned for him, her b©dy craved for him; she was head over heels in love with him. She doubted if she would be able to d@t£ anyone else. She would wait for as long as it was necessary.
He stared back at her. He could see the answer in her eyes. Her feelings were out in the open. She had fallen for him. He sighed with relief and drew her close. He claimed herl-ips and trembled when she responded. She ran her hands throu-gh his short curly brown her and m0@n ed at his t©uçh.
“Bas-sey…” she c@m£ to her s-en-ses and pu-ll-ed away, creating space between them.
He exhaled loudly and got to his feet.
“I think I should go home,” she got up too and avoided looking at him.
He c@m£ up behind her and wra-pped his arms around her slim frame.
Her heart missed a beat, “What are you doing?”
He k!$$£d the nape of her n£¢k and ran his ton-gue along the smooth side.
“plea-se don’t,” her nerves were set on fire by his ca-ress.
“You c@m£ to the lion’s den; don’t you know that you might get eaten?”
“St©p…” she shook him off and hurried to the door, “Good night,” she glanced back at him and hurried out, closing the door behind her.
He ran a hand throu-gh his hair and fanned his face with the other. A satisfied grin was pasted on his face.
TBC
Have a blessed day 😇😇😇