The Roommate Episode 7 © Eunice Ansah-Agyeman
The bed Mina was lying on seemed to be moving along with the whole room in circles. She felt lightheaded almost instantly.
And, she felt like the air in her lungs had been completely squeezed out as she struggled to breathe normally.
“Julie?… and my Sab? How? When? Why? What!!!!“ she shouted with ogled eyes and mouth opened to its elastic limit.
Then, as suddenly as everything had started, lots of questions plagued Mina’s brain, and as if the tear ducts from under her eyes were ripped off its storage facility, tears rolled freely down her eyes in gushes. The pain she felt in her heart was like a million sharp daggers striking at her heart simultaneously.
She heard an inner voice telling her to calm down, to take things easy or she might lose her mind. The shock she was feeling was not like any she had experienced before.
Mina at that point understood why people lost their minds in situations like this. The shock alone was shattering. She felt as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest after it had been sliced by the sharpest knife ever.
She needed air, she thought. She needed to get away from the source of her pain…that was the only way she knew.
Suddenly, she felt like dying and if the earth had opened at that moment to swallow her up, she would have offered it her thanks a million times and over.
Unconsciously, she got to her feet, walked on plastic legs, and found herself in front of the mirror and the sink in the washroom. She was looking in the mirror all right, but she was not seeing anything.
She still felt the hot tears rolling down her cheeks and knew this was not a dream. She shook her head vigorously in disbelief as she found it very hard to believe what she had just seen. She had been the fool and her love for Sabastian had blinded her so completely, she had not seen this coming.
Slowly, she opened the tap and splashed some good volume of water on her face as the need to get out to breathe and think straight kept gnawing her subconscious mind.
Still moving on plastic legs, she padded to the bedroom, picking up her scattered clothes as she went.
Hurriedly, she got dressed and was about to step out when Sabastian entered with a big grin on his face.
“Hey!” he said with a worried look and reached out to touch her face.
“What’s wrong? Are you crying?”
She shook her head and tried her best to look like nothing was wrong.
“No, I just splashed water on my face, and some of the water got into my eyes,” she replied, trying very hard to hide her broken heart.
“Why are you dressed anyway? Didn’t you say you were staying over because it is…?”
“Yes, that was the plan until…” she stopped and breathed heavily because she was about to tell him what she had seen on his phone.
She knew he would only brush it off with some sweet lies as always. There had been instances in the past that she had suspected his relationship with some ladies, and when she had complained, he had made it look like she was the one who did not trust him enough.
“Until what, sweetheart? Now you are making me anxious,” he said as he tried to get her to look into his eyes.
She debated with her inner self for a while, not sure whether to confront him about what she had seen or not.
“Babe, you are making me nervous. Talk to me, please.”
“Wendy called. She’s not doing too well. Seems things are getting worse. I need to go and check up on her.”
“Oh, wow. Let me take you then. It will be faster, besides it will ease my worry about whether everything is okay or not,” he offered, sighing with sweet relief.
“No, I already ordered a ride. It should be here any minute from now,” she said, trying hard to keep the pain she felt in her heart in check.
“You are acting strangely, M. I want to take you. Why do I feel you want to get away from me? It’s our anniversary, we have plans, and I want to be with you even if you must take care of your sister. I love you.”
Sabastian’s last words broke the camel’s back.
Mina turned to look at him sharply, her shock visible all over her and her resolve flew out of the window.
“You love me? Really, Sabastian?”
“And what kind of question is that, Mina? You are my world; you should know that by now.”
She knew she was rushing it, but somehow, she could not hold it in any longer. The pretense game was getting a little uncomfortable and she felt insulted hearing him talk like that.
“What’s between you and Julie-Anna?” Mina asked, very angry now.
He looked like he had been slapped by the biggest hand ever, but he fought to remain calm.
“Julie who?” he asked feigning ignorance. This was not how he planned this and now he was panicking.
Her phone dinged, indicating her ride had arrived.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Sabastian. Which other Julie-Anna do you know apart from my roommate?”
“Your roommate? What are you saying, M? Are you suggesting I’m in a relationship with that witch?”
That was the part that got to her most. Sabastian pretended he hated her roommate when he was talking to her. Calling her all kinds of names when she came up in their conversations and all the while, they were doing things behind her back?
God, Mina admitted, she had been such a big fool believing him so much. At some point she was feeling guilty she took on a roommate without talking it over with him because he always made it look like they were missing out on time together because Julie-Anna was with her.
Mina wondered if this was some kind of revenge for taking her on as a roommate.
Standing there, listening to him, Mina knew how this would end.
She needed to clear her head and leaving seemed the only option.
The driver had called twice already but she had not answered. His call came through again.
“I will be right there, damn it,” she screamed into her phone’s microphone.
“What’s wrong, Love? Talk to me,” Sabastian said, his confusion at a crescendo now. He was not sure what had happened and now he could not think straight. He wondered if Julie-Anna had said something to Mina about what had happened. And he knew he was doomed if that was the case.
He wanted Mina to hear about what happened with her roommate from him in a calm and controlled environment. Not from that evil soul who seemed to have come into their lives with a mission to destroy.
Mina walked back to the bedside table, picked up his phone, navigated to the message and showed it to him.
“What’s the meaning of this, Sabastian? Don’t play dumb with me.”
Sabastian snatched the phone from her hand and looked at the message that was ruining his night. He cursed under his breath and vowed to peel the skin off that evil lady who seemed to enjoy hurting people.
“How am I supposed to know what that creepy roommate of yours is up to now? It could be a mistake, you know. She could have sent it to the wrong number. I have eyes for only you, M,” Sabastian retorted, trying to get Mina to calm down. He was not sure she could handle the truth in her state of mind at the moment.
A big part of Mina was convinced it was not a mistake, but then, there was this part that suggested that Sabastian could be right about the message being a mistake. The more she tried to rationalize it, the more convinced she became that something was not gelling.
She was getting more confused with Sabastian trying his best to convince her.
She needed to think this through but staying was only going to make things worse. Their night together was ruined anyway. She stormed out of the room without saying a word more and ignored all of Sabastian’s pleas to stay.
…