EPISODE 16.
π (UNPREDICTED LOVE) π
(C) Judytex_Stories
After a long silence, Raymond who had different thoughts running through his mind, simply buried his head in his palms.
Then with pain in his heart, he asked,
“Why Annabelle? Why did you keep such a thing from me?” he asked, trying so hard to contain his pain and anger.
“I’m sorry Raymond. I’m really sorry,” Annabelle apologized, rubbing her palms with tears running down her cheeks.
“Sorry? For what exactly? For fooling me all along? Or for not trusting me enough to tell me the truth?” he asked, still burying his head in his palms.
“No Raymond. Please, it’s not what you think,” she said amidst tears.
Hearing this, Raymond stood up fuming with anger.
“It’s not what I think? Do you even know what I’m thinking right now? Do you even understand the meaning of what you did? Annabelle You of all people shouldn’t have left me in the dark. I was beginning to trust you, Annabelle. How could you fool me? You and Deji are truly despicable. I can’t believe you two acted like you didn’t know each other the whole time. And like a fool, I was even busy preaching to him about reasons why he shouldn’t judge single mothers. What’s even more hurtful right now is the fact that he watched me address Jasper as my son, not knowing that he was Jasper’s biological father all along. Like wow! Annabelle. You both could easily win the best actor and actress with your acting skills,β Raymond raged with pain in his heart.
Hearing this, Annabelle knelt in front of him, heartbroken, pleading with tears streaming down her eyes.
“Please Raymond. I beg you to forgive me and give me a listening ear,” Annabelle pleaded amidst tears.
“What else is there to say, Annabelle? I can’t believe you could do something like this to me. You know what? I don’t want to have anything to do with you again. If you could keep something like this from me, then it means you can keep something much worse from me,β Raymond fumed.
Then, with anger in his heart, he went to the wardrobe and packed all his things in his bag. After that, he turned to Annabelle who was still kneeling on the floor crying.
“I’m leaving first thing in the morning. Help me pass this information to Roseline by morning,” he said.
And without further hesitation, he stormed out of the hotel room, slamming the door behind him.
As soon as he left the hotel room, Annabelle burst into more tears.
Meanwhile, Raymond angrily went to the reception desk and booked a separate room for himself.
Throughout that night, Annabelle couldn’t sleep. She cried until she couldn’t shed any more tears.
Raymond, on the other hand, couldn’t sleep either. When it got too much, he got out and got himself a drink to calm his nerves. That same night, he booked a flight for the next morning.
Very early the next morning, he flew back home leaving Annabelle, Roseline, and Deji behind.
When Roseline and Deji stepped out to have their breakfast that morning, they knocked on Annabelle’s door, hoping to take her and Raymond with them.
But when Annabelle opened the door, the two were so shocked to see that Annabelle looked like a ghost. Her eyes were red and swollen from the excess tears she had shed the previous night. And her hair was a total mess.
“Gosh! Annabelle, what happened to you?” Roseline asked.
She touched Annabelle’s hair and then lifted her chin with the palm of her hand.
“What really happened? Did you and Raymond fight?” Deji asked.
“No babe. That’s not possible. Raymond is so soft-hearted. He’s not the type to hit a woman,” Roseline replied.
“How do you explain this then?” Deji asked pointing at Annabelle.
Just then, Annabelle gave Deji a scary glare making him uncomfortable. And as she stared at him, tears ran down her cheeks.
“Speaking of Raymond, where is he?” Roseline asked, peeping into the room. “He is not here. Where did he go so early?β she asked now, staring at Annabelle.
“He has already left. He went back home this morning,” Annabelle finally revealed, closing her eyes in tears.
“Already? Without us? But why? What’s going on?” Roseline asked totally confused and lost.
“We had a misunderstanding last night. So right now we are no longer in a relationship. He broke up with me last night and asked me to inform you this morning about his departure,” Annabelle revealed, sobbing bitterly.
“Oh my! So fast? What actually happened?” Roseline asked.
“He found out about my past relationship with Deji and that he is the father of my son” Annabelle revealed, glaring deep into Deji’s eyes.
“Wait! What? Who is the father of your son?” Roseline asked in disbelief.
“Deji here got me pregnant five years ago before he flew out for his masters. And since he got back, he has never bothered to check on me or my son. Then, while I was out job hunting one day, I saw him drop you off at a hair salon. And then I confronted him. But he made it clear that he was done with me and wanted nothing to do with my five-year-old son. Then I had no choice but to pick up my broken pieces and get on with my life. Later on, I got a job at the company. And the day we assembled for the new employees’ orientation, I was shocked to find out that Deji also works at the company. And he was equally shocked to see me too. But since then, he kept threatening me to leave the company so as not to ruin his plans of getting married to you. Perhaps he feared that once you found out he has a son, you might change your mind about marrying him. At one point he even offered me an open check to me just so I could quit my job at the company. But I turned him down and since then, he has been making life difficult for me. You won’t believe that since I gave birth to my son, he has never met his father except for that day when he got lost and entered Deji’s office. Roseline, I have done a lot for this man standing here. My sacrifices to him cost me my parents’ lives. Because of the sacrifice I made for Deji, we went from being rich to poor. I gave him everything a woman would give her man. When he abandoned me and my son, I was gradually drowning in my past until finally, Raymond came along and helped pull me out of the pit of self-pity and low self-esteem. He naturally loved my son, and recently revealed that he has started developing feelings for me. But guess what? Deji kept threatening me to end my relationship with Raymond. On the ground that if he can’t have me, then no one else can. But I hope he will be happy now that Raymond and I are no longer together. And I will be quitting my job as soon as this month ends. So that Deji can now go to sleep in peace and stop pestering my life. I have never done anything wrong to Deji but he has never let me have peace of mind. I’m just a single mother struggling to support and raise her son on her own. So I still don’t know why Deji won’t let me be after stating countless times that he’s done with me and wants nothing to do with my son. Help me ask him why he is so keen on making my life a living hell. Did I commit a crime by loving him with all my heart in the past?” Annabelle raged at the top of her voice like a mad woman.
“Babe, please don’t listen to her, she’s lying,” Deji said, holding Roseline’s hand.
But out of anger, Roseline quickly hit off his hand. Then pointing at him with tears streaming down her cheeks, she said.
“Don’t you dare touch me ever again in your life,” she warned him with anger boiling in her heart.
Deji tried to hold her the second time, but she gave him a resounding slap.
Then Annabelle said:
“Please Roseline. Now I just want to go home. So let me know when you’re ready to go,” she said with a weak tone.
As she turned to return to her room, she stopped and said:
“One more thing, Roseline. I think it’s best you know that Deji is only with you because of the benefits that will come from marrying you. He believes you alone can change his financial status for good. So I hope you don’t make the mistake of ending up with him,” she said.
When Deji heard this, he quickly held her hand and asked with tears in his eyes.
“Why exactly are you doing this to me, Annabelle? How could you be so heartless?” he asked.
Hearing this, Annabelle angrily knocked her hand out of his grip. Then she walked up to him and said to his face:
“You call this being heartless? Deji you haven’t seen heartlessness yet. Trust me, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I tolerated and held back all this while, because I was afraid. But thanks to you, I’m not afraid anymore. And I will make sure that you feel the sizzling wrath of a miserable, and heartbroken woman. I will personally see to your end, Deji. I will make sure you return to the dungeon of poverty, where you really belong. You pushed me to the wall. And it’s only right that I bounce back to your face,” she said angrily to his face.
After that, she entered her room and closed her door. She laid back on her bed, with tears running down her cheeks.
Deji, afraid of losing everything he worked so hard for, got on his knees and begged Roseline for forgiveness.
But she ignored him and went back to her hotel room. Closing the door behind her.
She lay on her bed and burst into uncontrollable tears. While crying, she quickly booked an evening flight for the three of them.
And when evening came, they all went to the airport and boarded a plane back home. While on the plane, everyone wore a long face.
Meanwhile, Annabelle held the teddy bear Raymond got for Jasper close to her heart as she sobbed bitterly on their way home.
When they got home, Annabelle returned home weak and exhausted. She narrated her ordeal to Keturah who felt like stabbing Deji wherever he is.
“Keturah, what should I do now? Do you think Raymond will ever forgive me for hiding such a thing from him? Heaven knows I never meant to keep it from him. I just didn’t know how to bring it up. I was afraid of how he would take the whole thing. What can I do now to make him forgive me?” Annabelle asked tearfully.
“Honestly, I understand how he feels about this whole thing. He might feel like you played him. But it wasn’t on purpose. You didn’t bring Deji up because you didn’t see a need to talk about a man that is long dead to you. Honestly, it is God who will punish Deji wherever he is. Sometimes I wonder where on earth you picked that beast from. Like what did you see in him? How did you come to love such a heartless soul?” Keturah fumed.
“I guess I am not fortunate with this thing called love. Maybe my late parents put a curse on me for what I did to them. Because I can’t explain why life is cruel to me. I was in the process of overcoming my past because of my newfound happiness. But in less than 48 hours everything collapsed. I ended up hurting the one man who genuinely cares about me and my son. Why is my life like this? What exactly is my offense?” Annabelle cried bitterly.
“It’s okay Annabelle. This has nothing to do with you. It’s all Deji’s fault. And believe me, one day Raymond will come by. He’s just hurt. But in time he’ll get over it, okay?” Keturah said, comforting Annabelle who continued to cry heavily on her shoulders.
The next day, being Monday morning, Annabelle went to work not knowing what to expect or how to feel.
As she walked past the waiting room, she remembered the first day she met Raymond and it brought tears to her eyes. Then, as she walked down the hallway that led to the marketing department, she was reminded of the moment Raymond saved her from falling.
Then in her heart, she said,
“How quickly the night changes. Who would have thought that the memories that once brought me joy will someday become the cause of my tears? People and emotions are forever unpredictable because they can change at any time,” she said to herself as she walked through the hallway.
Just as she was about to enter the marketing department, she bumped into Raymond. And immediately, her heart skipped.
“Hi,” she anxiously said, waving at him.
But to her great surprise, Raymond walked past her without a word. And that broke her heart in pieces, that she couldn’t hold back her tears.
She turned quickly and went after Raymond, who was making his way out of the building. He was about to open the door of his car, when he heard Annabelle shouting out to him.
“Raymond!” she called out at the top of her voice panting.
Raymond heard his name and turned around without saying a word.
“Why are you doing this to me? How long are you going to act like I no longer exist? Yes, I was wrong. I wronged you. But shouldn’t you try to understand me? It wasn’t my intention to keep something like that from you. I only held myself back because I was scared. Even if I am to hurt everyone else, I will never hurt the man who really cares about me and my son. I never felt the need to talk about Deji because he wasn’t worth it. Why should I talk about a man who has made it clear that he wants nothing to do with me and my son? Why should I acknowledge that he is the father of my son when he said my son was just a product of my stupidity and his deceit? Why should I talk about a man who was comfortable with his son calling someone else daddy in front of him? Meeting him here after five years was pure coincidence. And it wasn’t easy working with him in the same company. And there isn’t a day that I come to work without crying my eyes out because of the things Deji usually says to me. I was so afraid to be around him. He destroyed my self-esteem and made me feel like I didn’t deserve to be loved. I almost drowned in my past before you came. And knowing you was the best thing that ever happened to me. So please, Raymond, I’m asking you to find it in your heart to forgive me. Because I have realized how much you mean to me. And I have just realized that I’m now in love with you Raymond. I want to make things right if only you give me a chance to do so” Annabelle yelled from where she stood with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Hearing this, Raymond’s heart melted immediately. But he got in his car anyway and drove away, leaving Annabelle in tears and pain.
Throughout that week, Annabelle kept trying to get closer to Raymond, who kept pushing her away. And at the end of the week, which was the end of the month, she handed in her resignation letter after receiving her first salary.
And before she left the company, she went to Raymond and said:
“I have tried everything to get you to forgive me. But it seems like your heart is already made up. I am here to inform you that I just received my first salary. And I have submitted my letter of resignation to the appropriate management. So this will be the last time we will be seeing each other. Thank you for everything you have done for me and my son. We will be forever grateful and indebted to you. Goodbye Raymond. It was nice knowing you,” she said with a sad smile.
After that, she cleared up her desk and left the office. As she stepped out of the company, she turned to look at the building one last time before she finally got into a cab and headed home.
While In the taxi, she broke into uncontrollable tears. As her heart ached in pain.
It shall be well with you Annabelle