The Roommate Episode 15 © Eunice Ansah-Agyeman
Confused by Sabastian’s reaction, Mina was still standing at the spot before Sabastian left when Wendy opened the door and stepped outside.
Hurriedly, Wendy walked to her sister when she saw her dab at her eyes and pulled her into a tight embrace. Wendy did not need a soothsayer to tell her things did not go as hoped between Sabastian and Mina. From where she sat, she knew what the two shared was just too beautiful to watch it go to waste and yet based on the evidence on the ground, she was unsure how to help her sister out of the turmoil plaguing her.
“He left angry. Can you believe that? He left without even looking back. I’m sure he loves her and can’t tell me in the face. He is in love with my roommate. That is the only explanation.”
“Stop doing this to yourself, Mina. He came here to fix things and not to break up. You should keep that in mind. I told you if you ask him those questions, he will be offended. I will be offended too but you just could not help it. Come on, let’s go inside. I’m sure he will seek you out tomorrow.”
***
Sabastian, broken and hurting badly, stopped at the beach for some fresh air. It was clear to him now that Mina did not trust him enough and that was a spot of bother for him.
He was lying on his back with his hands folded behind his head when his phone rang. With little interest, he took it out of his pocket and swiped to answer.
“Hey, you dawg us or what? Sake of some small hole you put a ring on, you shun us?” Kelvin, one of his friends said.
“Oh, naa! Tied up small. What de go on?”
“Tied up in missionary or wettin?” Kelvin continued, laughing.
“Stop fooling, Kev. What are you up to?”
“We wanted to know if we can meet up today. We are waiting to baptise you on your engagement.”
“Sorry guys. Running some errands for Mom, today is not good for me.”
“Hey, you sound a bit low today, love blues? And is that the sea I hear roaring in the background?”
“Stay in your lane, Kev. Will call you tomorrow to see if we can meet up.”
“Okay, bro. Stay safe.”
“Sure.”
Unable to take the pain and the loneliness he was feeling, Sabastian drove home and went to his mother’s wing.
His mother had just finished eating her breakfast when he walked in, and without asking, he went to the kitchen and served himself.
He brought the food to the table and sat facing his mother. He ate in silence and when he saw that his mother was casting worried glances his way, he set his fork down and sighed.
“What’s wrong, Mom? Why do you look so worried?”
“You don’t look yourself. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“We have not had time to talk about what happened the other night with that lady. It was a bit odd to me. Is there a problem?”
“I’m handling it, Mom. It’s not anything to worry about. A misunderstanding between Mina and me but I’m hoping we will be able to work it out.”
“If you say so. You know you can talk to me about anything. Also, your uncles are threatening to go to court over your father’s estate.”
“But why? Dad was very explicit in his will. Why can’t they just respect his wishes? What do they want? Why are they being such a pain?”
“They want a total of fifty per cent of your father’s estate.”
“Hmmm, he gave them thirty per cent of his estate, is that not enough?”
“No, they want half of what your father had, and in addition, they want half of what he gave me.”
“I think you should get yourself a good lawyer if they go ahead with the court action.”
“It doesn’t feel right to fight your family in court. I’ll settle for arbitration for now and see how it goes. I don’t know why they hate me so much. All I have done is to show them love. It’s really disheartening to know your husband’s family only smiled with you because he was around. Now I know that a king’s wife is the one whose husband is alive.”
Sabastian’s phone started ringing and when he saw the caller, he declined the call.
The call came again and again, and when he had had enough of the pest in the name of Julie-Anna, he switched off his phone and made a mental note to talk to the family lawyer about the restraining order.
Mrs Anderson only looked on with worry and prayed her son would be bold enough to tell her about what he was going through.
***
Breakfast at the Freeman’s that morning was one full of silence as the four adults gathered around the dining table kept to themselves, each lost in their own thoughts.
Mina was picking at the food in front of her.
Auntie Cassie raised an eyebrow and sighed. She had deduced by the way Sabastian’s car sped off and Mina coming inside with Wendy crying, that all did not go well with their little private talk.
Usually, she waited until people were ready to open up but looking at how much her niece was suffering, she wished things would be resolved quickly.
“Don’t like the food?” Auntie Cassie asked, looking straight at Mina.
“No, not that. I just don’t feel hungry. I’m sorry.”
“You know you have to try and eat something. What happened out there, do you want to talk about it? Maybe you will feel better when you talk about it?”
“What’s there to tell? He got angry when I asked if he enjoyed the sex with my roommate.”
Prosper Freeman coughed, almost choking on the sandwich in his mouth.
“And why would you ask a question like that, Girl?”
Mina was quiet for a long time. Then when she felt all eyes were on her and could not take it anymore, she set her spoon down and pushed the food a little away from her.
“I wanted to know. I just wanted to know.”
“I get that but why? What would that do? It looks like there is something you are not telling.”
“I wanted to know if that is why he has not touched me since his proposal.”
Auntie Cassie and her husband exchanged quick looks and then everything seemed to be falling into place.
“Are you saying you and Sabastian have not…I mean not…”
“Yes. We haven’t made love since the proposal and if he had sex with my roommate the same night, can I conclude that he liked it.”
“No, Mina. Stop doing this to yourself. There could be a lot of other reasons he hasn’t. Just don’t jump to that conclusion.”
Prosper Freeman sighed and emptied his cup of his favourite smoothie.
“Life, my dear, is complicated, you know. I find his resolve to abstain from any sexual relations with you honourable. I see a guy who loves you to bits. He kept away out of love.”
“Uncle Pee, why are you defending him,” Wendy asked.
“He is not defending him. He is right. That should tell you how bad Sabastian feels about the whole incident. If it were planned, I’m sure he wouldn’t feel bad about it. In this life, there are always two sides to every story. One negative and the other positive. What we tend to do most of the time is to hang on to the negative one. Sabastian might have stayed away from you sexually because he wanted to protect you from any sexually transmitted diseases.
I’m sure if you talk to him, without attacking him, you might just find the reason. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that, in communication, we should always try and put ourselves in the other person’s shoes before we speak.
If we attack, they will defend themselves and so on. And then there is the question of faith. Are you ready to believe what he tells you? You have to ponder over all these. Don’t rush things and don’t do anything that will worsen your pain.”
***
Mina was lying in bed after breakfast and playing over all that had happened that morning with Wendy sitting in front of the dressing mirror applying make-up.
“Do you think I should talk to Julie-Anna about the whole thing? I’m sure it would clear some doubts I have,” Mina said, desperate.
“I don’t think that is a good idea, M. I don’t trust that girl. I warned you from the very beginning. They don’t say good things about her. I’m sure she would take advantage of the situation if she sees how desperate you are.”
“Get up and get dressed, baby girl. I’m taking you out. You can come back here if you want but you are not going to stay cooked up in this room the whole day.”
And, an hour later, Mina and Wendy stepped out of the Freeman’s house.