Until You

EUNICE ANSAH-AGYEMAN

UNTIL YOU

EPISODE 11

 

The drive to The Beach Bliss was smooth but conversation between them was a bit strained.

No matter how hard they tried, they seemed to be disconnecting from each other by the day.

Nii parked his black Lexus LF-1 and got out hurriedly to Naa’s side. He opened the car door and waited for her to step out.

He felt good when Naa got down and smiled beautifully as she thanked him for the kind gesture.

For a moment, he could swear he saw her eyes soften with the love he knew she felt for him, and that gave him a glimmer of hope.

 

Her eyes, for the past weeks, had held nothing but cold embers no matter what he did or said since his betrayal with Korkor. But he was glad he saw them softening that instant even if it was just for a brief moment.

This was not the first time they had come to The Beach as it was popularly known but the place always amazed them.

The design was on a vast piece of land that stretched as far as the eye could see, with a huge stretch covered by a man-made lake.

There were scattered swimming pools at vantage points. Beautiful summer huts were also around the pools and the lake, with the ground covered by sand to simulate a real-look beach.

The establishment had two three-story buildings for accommodation, restaurant, conference and recreational activities.

Each room had an aquarium and other beautiful fittings.

 

Nii took Naa by the hand as they took a walk down the length of the beautiful lake. Things were a bit awkward between them as they moved along as each dwelt on their thoughts.

When they reached their favourite spot, where the setting sun seemed to be sitting on the lake, they stopped and took in the breathtaking sight.

Nii made Naa lean back into him as he stood behind her with his arms around her.

Tears suddenly filled Naa’s eyes as she stared at the beautiful reflection of the sun’s rays that were scattered on the surface of the lake like diamonds all around.

She would have been her usual chatterbox by now but lately being around him dragged her spirits down. It always seemed like there was a dark cloud hovering over them and waiting to just take them.

 

It was as if some light inside her went off that day and it was irreparable because, lately, anytime he was not with her and she tried picturing him, the image that dredged up in her mind was of him kneeling with his damn face splattered between Korkor’s thighs.

Try as much as she could, she simply could not get that image out of her head. It was like a permanently fixed canker, playing over each time she thought about him, and each time her heart died a little bit more, the ice solidified a shade harder, and the iron bars crept steadily towards the ceiling.

She wondered if things would ever get back to the way things were before all the confusion started.

Nii felt her tense up in his arms and knew she was just minutes away from breaking down in tears.

 

“Are you okay, love,” he asked, tightening his arms around her and trying to break the pregnant silence between them.

Fighting hard to overcome the sadness that had suddenly washed over her, Naa only nodded because she was sure she would burst into tears if she opened her mouth.

That was another recent discovery. It was beginning to look as if her happy moments were with everyone except Nii. Anytime she was around Nii, or something that reminded her of him, she felt teary and sad and her mind would be plagued with more questions about the incident. When that happened, she distracted herself with thoughts that had nothing to do with Nii, but today Korkor filled her thoughts.

 

Naa believed there could be more to what she saw and the worse of them being Nii falling in love with Korkor. She was not sure why she couldn’t shake this one off as she did in the past. And the fact that Korkor could betray her like that was something else she could not understand.

The most recurring question had been why he had chosen Korkor.

Why would Nii cheat on her with Korkor, someone he knew was close to her? And it was almost chilling to see Korkor change so much towards Naa because she found them out. She would never have suspected anything like that not in a million years.

Korkor who had stayed with her for a few weeks when school reopened and her apartment was not ready then. Naa’s parents had paid Korkor’s fees one time when she found it hard to raise the money and Naa had asked her parents to help.

 

Korkor, always the perfect actress so it seemed, had given Naa no indication that she was interested in Nii, none whatsoever. In fact, she had pinpointed course mates Naa should be wary of because of their interest in Nii, and that was the part that chilled the blood in Naa’s bones. What had changed to make Korkor behave the way she did without any remorse for her actions but rather trying to justify it.

Naa played with the question in her head for a while and before she could stop herself the question came out before she could check it.

Nii was taken aback and looked for words to explain himself but try as he did, words failed him.

He had gone over this question a million times and he felt very bad about the whole incident. His Dad had been right; it was really embarrassing to be caught pants down.

He was sure he would still be fooling around if things had not panned out the way they did. Maybe, it was time for him to take a look at his life and decide what he wanted to do with it. He knew his mother was unhappy because of the way his father treated her yet he had followed in his father’s footsteps.

 

Korkor had come to him crying over a supposed break-up a few days to the end of the previous semester. Examinations were in progress and she had been shattered. 

His initial plan was just to help her go through her exams and the heartbreak so he had ended up spending a lot of time with her. He had therefore allowed her to come to his place often and he had gone to see her on days that he did not hear from her.

Then, one day, they had kissed and she begged him to take away the painful memory of her ex by making love to her. She had told him she was stronger around him and that had gotten to his head. He never had a sexual interest in her until she offered it to him and being the fool that he was, he had granted her wish after they had agreed it was for just that one time.

 

Korkor had reneged on their agreement and wanted more and like the fool he was, he had given her more until they were caught pants down.

“You know what, forget I asked that,” Naa said and moved out of his arms.

“I know you have a lot of questions. I wish I had answers to all your questions, Naa, I really do. What I want you to know is that there’s nothing serious between us. I was just a fool. I didn’t know that until I hurt you. I’m sorry,” Nii said as he followed Naa who had taken a lead on a walk down the lake.

She picked shells and stones from the sand as she moved along and tried to skip off the surface of the lake as she moved along in a bid to stop herself from getting emotional in his presence.

 

Explanations at this stage would only make her vulnerable and that was the last thing she wanted to be.

Nii watched her burst into action like she used to and thanked his stars for making that happen. They walked hand in hand and talked about everything else except the betrayal.

Nii was happy things were falling into place and went to great lengths to make her happy.

They had lunch in the beautiful restaurant and went cruising on the lake. Nii took a lot of pictures of her smiling at him and posted them on his status on WhatsApp.

They spread a blanket on the sand and lay on it as they watched the sunset together and Nii was happy that his efforts were not in vain.

 

When they both agreed they had had enough, Nii rolled the blanket and stashed it under one arm and put the other arm around Naa’s waist.

A few paces from the car, Naa shrieked with excitement as a young man stepped out of his parked car. She ran from Nii and went into the open arms of the stranger and for the next thirty minutes those two went on and on without a care in the world.

Nii saw them taking a selfie together and then they hugged for a long time before they parted.

Nii sat morosely behind the steering wheel with his head on the wheel. He was still not used to the new Naa. He wondered who that guy could be and why in God’s name she had not introduced him.

 

Just when he thought things were okay between them, his hopes were dashed now because it was obvious whoever it was meant a lot to Naa, and now they had reconnected at a time she was vulnerable.

And as Nii drove her home, Naa was chatting an old doctor friend and making plans to go out with him.

When the Nii’s car pulled up at her residence, she hurriedly got down, exchanged pleasantries and run up the stairs to her apartment without a backward glance at him.

Nii sat in his car for a while hoping she would come back and give him a parting kiss but that never happened. He stepped on the accelerator as he moved away in anger. He knew he had to sit her down soon for a real talk about their future. This situation just couldn’t go on forever. He was aware he erred and deserved a bit of her anger but what was going on bordered on sheer disrespect and they needed to address that.

 

He was not sure why he still wanted to hang on and salvage whatever was left of the relationship. This was a feeling that was alien to him. He had never deluded himself that he felt something extra for Naa, and that was why he had dated her for so long. However, he had felt in control, the main boss, and been sure that she would always be the one in love, dotting and chasing after his continual love.

Nii had been sure that a break-up wouldn’t really affect him; he had had several break-ups previously, and had walked off unscathed. It had been the exes who had struggled to move on, with some even giving him absurd conditions to play second fiddle even if he had a new girlfriend.

 

Basically, he had always been invisible, sort of.

So, what was this? What was this acute pain that was gripping his heart now and leaving him breathless? Why did he simply want to turn back, go to her, crash on his knees with tears and beg her not to treat him this way?

Pain, pain, pain…

What was this?

He had never felt this way over any woman before!

 

Was this love, the real love they talked about and he had always kicked aside as an old wife’s tale?

If it was, why was it not enough?

Would letting go heal the pain he felt for betraying her?

Until You, Eunice A, Until You, Eunice A.  Eunice A, Until You, Eunice A, Until You . Until You, Eunice A,  Until You, Eunice A.  Eunice A, Until You, Eunice A,  Until You. Until You, Eunice A, Until You, Eunice A. Eunice A,  Until You, Eunice

 

UNTIL YOU

THE AUTHOR

Premium Story:: UNTIL YOU :: EPISODE 10

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