[Web Series] Waiting... Episode 3

Tuesday morning, it still felt like nothing happened. I got up, got ready for work, made coffee for both of us and we went our separate ways after several kisses and I love yous. I wanted to be angry but I loved this man and I didn’t know what I was going to do about the situation. I knew what Tayo told me, I hadn’t called anyone to confirm or talk about it because I knew Tayo wouldn’t lie to me but I also didn’t want to believe it.

“Lunch this afternoon?” Lola texted Tayo and I on our group message because she didn’t know what happened. I wasn’t in the mood to talk about it or to receive unsolicited advice yet so I declined and used the excuse that I had to take a late lunch because of meetings.

Later that evening, Tayo came over and we talked about it and I cried. She showed me the pictures, we went through his fiancée’s Facebook page since Tayo added her as a friend and saw numerous pictures of her and Kola together and I cried some more. How could he do this to me?
“Have you told him you know?” Tayo was sitting across from me with a tub of ice cream like it was her heart that was broken.
“No, he doesn’t know I know yet” I lowered my head. “Tayo I don’t know what to do, like I am not angry at him yet. I’m hurt and all but I want to get mad at him so I can hurt him just as much.”
“You don’t have to be angry with him to break up with him now”. I could see her raise her eyebrow like she was trying to make sense of my statement.
“You don’t understand, I can’t just break up with him like that when I still want to be with him.” That was the beginning of the argument between Tayo and me. She couldn’t understand why I would even consider dating a man who had a fiancée. She told Lola about it two days later and they both tried to convince me to leave him and maybe even call the fiancée and expose him but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The one thing they didn’t seem to understand was that my mind wasn’t grasping the fact that my man belonged to someone else. Lola and Tayo continued to be my friend and just left me to deal with my situation since I was not listening to them and every time the topic came up it always exploded into a heated argument.

A month after I got the bad news, Kola once again explained that he needed to visit New York on business and I remember feeling like I was going to die. I didn’t argue with him, Instead, I sent him on his merry way and used my weekend to plan. I suddenly got angry, what was his plan for me, stay with me and eventually invite me to his wedding? I was livid, it was like I was just hearing all this for the first time. On Saturday morning, I went to the management office of my building to ask them to change the locks on my apartment since he had extra keys to my place. I also notified the security at my apartment complex that we had broken up but he was on the verge of stalking me because he wanted to get back together. The man I spoke to who has 5 daughters was very happy to help me inform every one of the crazy ex-boyfriend who might potentially be stalking me. I packed up his stuff that were at my place, went to his place and got in with my own extra key, dropped off his stuff and grabbed all of mine.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do to him yet but I knew I didn’t want to have anything to do with him. While at his place, I saw that his laptop was in the house, so much for going on a business trip. I logged on and obviously his email was signed in and I started to read congratulatory messages from people. With every email I read, I felt a part of me crumble to pieces and I started to cry. I left after composing an email from him to me and scheduled it to be sent at 10:28pm on Monday night.
Monday night came and I went to pick up my “boyfriend” once again. We went to his house this time around since I told him I had dinner with my friends. Once we got there, he quickly excused himself to take a quick shower and closed the bathroom door. I heard him on the phone but decided that whatever it was wasn’t worth my time that night. Since he was in the shower, I needed to complete the last part of my plan; I texted Tayo that I was on my way, I logged into his bank of America account and transferred $10,000 to my account and went to kiss him goodbye while he was still in the shower. I didn’t even think I had the guts to actually go ahead with the plan. I went out with Tayo and Lola as planned and told them what I did and they couldn’t believe it. We went to our fav restaurant and sat there for about 30 minutes and I cried and made sure that the waiter brought me plenty tissue and a glass of water before heading back to Tayo’s house.

“Are you serious? What are you going to do with the money?” Tayo asked
“What do you think I got the specific amount from, that how much it costs to buy one Marc Jacobs bag, one Ferragamo purse and they both cost $1750 each, add a first class ticket to Naija for my mum’s birthday in December and some change for compensation”
“Wow, I hope you get away with it, he deserves it. Foolish idiot” Tayo was cracking up.
“Wait so what did the email say?” Lola asked curiously.

I then delved into the plan I had come up with while I was in his apartment when he was away. I composed an email from Kola stating that he was sorry I had to find out about his fiancée and that he didn’t mean to hurt me. He also said, in the email, that he was glad we spoke that night and came to an agreement that he was willing to do anything to prevent me from going to his fiancée and telling her exactly what happened. He was willing to give me money to pay for a first class ticket to Nigeria for my mum’s birthday and also money to buy myself birthday gifts since my birthday was in 2 weeks and we would no longer be together. In the email he also stated that this was a binding contract and that if his fiancée did find out from someone connected to me I would be required to return the money and all deals would be off. He appreciates my understanding his situation because he loved me as well but in the end he was scared of losing both of us so he felt like proposing was the only way not to lose her and still keep me. He still wanted to remain friends and would appreciate the opportunity to still continue perhaps continue a friendship relationship. I had planned for the email to be sent from his computer while I was with my friends and the transfer was just around when I left his house since we had been “talking about the agreement”.

“So what is going to happen now?” We will wait and see. I’m calling to book my ticket tomorrow and I’ll probably buy the rest of the stuff next week so that when he files a claim, it’ll show that I did exactly as stated in the email with the money. I’ll be able to return the money sha even if say BOA doesn’t go for it and asks me to return it.
The next afternoon I responded to Kola’s email;


Kola,
I’m extremely angry to know that you cheated on me or cheated with me in this case. If you were not happy in your relationship, you should have broken it off before pursuing a relationship with me. What you did is unfair and selfish and I don’t think you realize how hurt I am. I thank God that I eventually found out and I am not going to forgive you for that. I can’t believe you had a girlfriend in New York the whole time we were together and you lied to me for over a year. She is obviously more important for you to be willing to give me $10,000 in order to keep me quiet. The only thing this relationship taught me is that it’s better to be alone rather than in a fake relationship.
I don’t want to use any foul language for you in my note but I’m sure you know exactly what I am thinking. I hope you can understand that this was completely your fault without any doubt. I will take the money in exchange for not telling your fiancée about us and possibly ruining that relationship as well. You paying for a first class ticket to Nigerian for my mum’s birthday is the least you could do since she was expecting to meet you then. You played with my emotions and I pray that I am able to eventually forgive you and get over it but till then, I hope you stay miserable. Please do not call or text me after this, we are not friends and I do not wish to remain friends after this painful ordeal.
Sincerely
Dara


Two hours later, I had 14 missed calls and 19 un-replied texts from Kola.

_____________

Hi, I'm Moriam. I'm curious and I love cooking. I also like to write short stories. If you haven't check out Part one and two of Love's Pain. If you love recipes, check out my blog too.