27/28
THE PACT
-CHAPTER 27-
Unedited
‘’Her father broke her heart long before any boy had a chance to.’’
LEE
17:-00, I turn off my computer, gr-ab my bag and walk out of the office. I have had such an exhausting day, my day was filled with meetings and strategy lessons. I just want to get home, shower and spend time with Kristy. I love getting home knowing she is there, our nights together are usually fun, we talk about random stuff and share about our day. And speaking to Kristy, she has been quiet on me for the last couple of hours, she has not responded to any of my texts nor has she answered my calls. I know she must be angry with what happened earlier in the office. Even though our marriage is fake, I promised Kristy that I would not mess around with any other women during the duration of our marriage and I will keep my word.
Meira is just messed up, she is a business as-sociate I met a week ago and she instantly told me she likes me and she doesn’t mind if I am married or not. I didn’t tell Kristy about this because I didn’t think it was important. But with what happened today, I guess I will nee-d to address this issue and distance myself from Meira, I really don’t want to get Kristy upset.
On my way home, I st©p and buy flowers for Kristian just to show her that I appreciate her and I will not do anything to jeopardize the relationsh!pthat we have created the last couple of months. Walking into the house an hour later, I see Kristy sitting in the living room watching television- a bottle of wine and a box of pizza on the table beside her, I strode across the room, handing her the flowers then I k!ssher full on thel-ips but get no response from her. I withdraw and kneel in front of her.
She gr-abs her phone and starts texting away, completely ignoring me, ‘’Babe!’’ I place my hand over hers but she still doesn’t look at me. ‘’I am sorry for what happened this afternoon, you misre-ad the situation, Meira and I were just working, maybe we got too carried away with the wine but it’s not what you think it is.’’
She remains unresponsive, I sigh in a de-ep frustrated sigh, ‘’I am really, I know what the rules are and I wouldn’t do anything to break them, I am in this to the very end. I really hate seeing you like this plea-se cheer up.’’
‘’She likes you, I saw how she was looking at you.’’
‘’I know she likes me, I know she does.’’
‘’Wow! Just wow!’’ she exclaims.
‘’I told her I am married, I only tolerated her because she is an as-sociate who was recommended by my boss and we are working on a project together, I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to upset you.’’
‘’Do you know what this could do to my social media influence? Do you know what people would say about my husband dining and winning with women like that, you guys had a bottle of wine that was almost empty, what sort of business were you discussing? Look Lee, you can be with whoever you want I don’t care but for the duration of this marriage plea-se respect me.’’
‘’I am sorry.’’
She stands up, ‘’Thanks for the flowers, I have left you some slices of pizza,’’ she says.
And with that she gr-abs her car keys and exits the house, slamming the door behind her back.
KRISTY
I shouldn’t be jealous, I have no right to feel this way, he is not mine after all, this is just a game but I can’t help it. I saw how she looked at him- I also can’t deny how beautiful she is, I seriously feel threatened. My life with Lee has been beautiful, he has brou-ght a peace into my life I never realized was missing, I just want to have him all to myself for the next couple of months and when it’s time to go our separate ways all the risks I have taken would have been worth it.
I drive around in circles for some time before I decide to call Jada.
‘’Mrs. Mumbi!’’ she exclaims upon answering.
‘’Girl, how are you?’’
‘’I am fine, you don’t sound fine, is everything okay?’’
‘’Not really.’’
‘’What’s wrong?’’
‘’I had an argument with Lee.’’
‘’What happened? I thought you two were getting along fine.’’
‘’Yes we are, I took lunch to his office and I found him with a woman, they looked so cozy together, I felt angry so I left and when he got back home he confessed that the woman actually likes him though she is a business consultant.’’
She laughs, ‘’my! My! My!’’
‘’This isn’t funny Jada.’’
‘’Are you honestly telling me you don’t un-derstand what’s happening?’’
‘’What?’’
‘’You got jealous because you found him with another woman.’’
I shrug, ‘’I wouldn’t call it jealous, I just felt angry that he is fooling around with other women, what if someone from social media finds out and they start a thre-ad about how loose my husband is, I can’t handle that kind of humiliation. I have a reputation to maintain girl, he nee-ds to stick to the end of the bargain.’’
‘’Kristy, I think you are falling in love with this man.’’
‘’What?’’
‘’You are falling in love with your husband.’’
‘’That’s not true.’’
‘’I can smell love from afar and–.’’
‘’No! Jada, I don’t believe in love, love makes people weak, I can’t be in love with Lee.’’
‘’You are in love with him and the sooner you realize it, the better for you.’’
‘’No! This can’t be happening.’’
‘’You nee-d to st©p being afraid of love.’’
‘’You know my story girl, you can’t tell me that, I can’t allow myself to fall in love. I can’t give this man access to break me into pieces, you know how ha-rd it’s been for me to pick up the broken pieces of my life, I can’t go back to that life.’’
‘’Lee is not your father, you nee-d to let go babe.’’
‘’I was just a little girl when that man walked out on us, when he choose another woman over mum and I. I was very young Jada but I could tell how broken my mother was, she tried to act strong in front of me but several nights when she thought I was slee-ping, she would break down in tears, my mother went throu-gh the most because of that man. I can’t allow myself to go throu-gh that kind of kind of pain, no, I can’t.’’
‘’Lee is not your father, he is different.’’
‘’I guess my mother felt the same way when she met my mother but see how it ended.’’
‘’Let’s meet tomorrow and talk, lunch on me.’’
‘’Okay.’’
‘’I will pick you up from the office.’’
‘’I will be waiting.’’
‘’plea-se don’t panic.’’
‘’I won’t.’’
‘’Goodnight.’’
‘’Goodnight.’’
THE PACT
-CHAPTER 28-
Unedited
“For everyone who can relate to Kristy’s pain. s£nding love and hvgs your way. I pray you heal from those de-ep wounds.” Ella
Kristy
‘’Love! No! I can’t be in love,’’ a feeling similar to freaking out is beginning to fill my che-st.
I start my car a couple of minutes later and drive home, when I get home, I find Lee pacing back and forth in the be-droom.
‘’You are back!’’ He exclaims, ‘’I was worried about you, I thought something bad had happened to you.’’
I stare at him and my stomach drops out of my b©dy- I love him. More than I have ever loved anyone.
I nee-d to go back to the drawing board, I have been over excited, I shouldn’t have allowed things to get this far.
I talk to myself in the privacy of my head.
I nee-d to put an end to this, we nee-d to go back to the rules that we earlier set and keep this relationsh!pstrictly business.
‘’Are you okay?’’
I look at him again and a wave of nausea nearly knocks me over.
‘’Talk to me babe!’’
‘’plea-se don’t call me babe,’’ I breathe.
‘’I am really sorry about what happened, I didn’t mean to disrespect you, I will talk to Marie, I will set boundaries between us, I swear I will keep my end of the bargain, I will not do anything to Jeopardize what we share.’’
‘‘Do you mind if you sleep in the other room? I would like to be alone.’’
‘’Has it gotten to that?’’ he worriedly asks.
‘’I can sleep in the other room if you don’t–.’’
‘’It’s okay, I will go to the other room,’’ he cuts me short.
‘’Thank you.’’
He walks to the closet and pu-lls out some pajamas before walking back to me, he stares at me for a moment, leans in and k!sses my forehead, ‘’I am sorry about what happened, I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me. Goodnight.’’
When the door closes behind his back, tears well up in my eye and they slide down my check, down my n£¢k. My heart is breaking, I am scared of being vulnerable, I am scared of ending up like my mother. Breaking down, I cry until I fall asleep exhausted. The next morning I wake up earlier than usual, take a quic-k shower, I get dressed and leave the house before I have a chance to bu-mp into Lee, I have to try as much as possible to stay away from him.
When I get to the office I immerse myself in work, trying to forget this ~feeling at the pit of my stomach. Lee has been trying to call and text me but I have ignored his calls and I haven’t responded to any of his messages. At lunch time, Jada picks me up from the office and we drive to~ one her favorite restaurant in town. She resumed work a couple of days ago.
Upon arrival at the restaurant, we order our food and settle down at the far end of the room. I love that this place is not crowded and despite it not being too expensive, it’s quite neat and their food is amazing.
‘’Have you noticed that you have gained weight?’’ she asks. ‘’Ichupo nachikusumina.’’
‘’Uli nkonko Jada!’’ I cli-ck my ton-gue.
‘’But you have gained weight and you look really amazing.’’
‘’Thank you doll.’’
‘’Are you sure you are not pregnant?’’
Her words make my heart race and I quic-kly say, ‘’No I am not pregnant.’’
‘’You guys have been using protec-tion?’’
‘’No but he has been pu-lling out.’’
She laughs, ‘’you trust his pu-ll- out game?’’
‘’What is wrong with you?’’ I ask, getting irritated.
‘’Did you think about what we talked about last night?’’
‘’Which p@rt exactly?’’
‘’That you might be in love with this man.’’
‘’I am not in love with him.’’
Our food arrives and we dig in almost immediately, I didn’t eat anything since morning, I was too busy to even get myself some coffee. The next few minutes are nothing but a blur of taste and salt.
‘’What makes you think you are not in love with him.’’
‘’I know I am not in love with him.’’
‘’How?’’
‘’I don’t know how to explain it, I just know.’’
‘’St©p denying this feeling.’’
‘’Fine, maybe I am in love with him but I will work on it, I will distance myself from him, I will no longer share a be-d with him, I will stick to the first of rules that we set for the remaining months of our marriage and when it’s over my life will get back on track.’’
‘’And you think it will be that easy?’’
‘’I am Kristian Msizi, there’s nothing that’s too ha-rd for me to do.’’
‘’You shouldn’t do something that you will later regret. You should open up to this guy and tell him how you feel. I am more than certain he feels the same way for you, I saw how he looked at you last time–.’’
‘’But you know this was just a game and we had rules set up?’’
‘’Rules are meant to be broken.’’
‘’How are is Else?’’ I ask trying to change the subject.
‘’Baby girl is fine, I miss her almost all the time when I am at work.’’
‘’I am sure you will get used to being away from her soon.’’
‘’I don’t think I can ever get used, that little girl is my world.’’
I smile, ‘’It must be interesting to be a mother.’’
‘’It is, you should try it.’’
I laugh, ‘’you are such a fool, motherhood is not for people like me. I have nothing to offer a child.’’
‘’You were good with Joan and you are good with Else too.’’
‘’That doesn’t mean I will be good with my own child.’’
‘’You nee-d to get rid of that pain and bitterness I swear.’’
‘’Whatever.’’
She laughs, ‘’you are so weird but I love you still.’’
‘’And I love and appreciate you.
*
Tbc