It never took long for Melanie to make up her mind about the card left by her ex, she knows it’s not the right thing to do but she pockets it so well in her handbag……she sits down trying to concentrate on her work but all she thinks about is the time she used to share with him, how he would pick and drop her from from school, the places they would visit, how he introduced her to his family and defended her from his evil mother……she starts to get excited but then she remembers herself in a wedding dress, in a beautiful Church with everyone smiling at her and congratulating her, she remembers Ron smiling at her when her mum walked her to be handed to him, in her memory Trip, she sits still and had no idea she was smiling at no one in particular, she suddenly remembers the vow part, it’s one thing she has been trying to forget…… Mel holds her head supporting it like it’s too heavy or about to fall down, she’s in tears and doesn’t want to remember it she shakes her head and continues to “Melanie….” Jane calls her and she almost jumped out of her skin, Jane looks puzzled and concerned What’s going on girlfriend…. you’re acting unusual” “Sit” she asks Jane and Jane sits still not confused “I have been standing here for minutes yet you couldn’t even feel my presence” “Did you want something….. I have gone through the list of people who want to make appointments with Tobi, the list is ready” Jane just continues to get more surprised “Melanie, this isn’t you…..what’s going on, you can trust me and tell me” Mel finally fixes her gaze on Jane who is seating in front of her “I can’t….. I can’t tell you” she gets up with files in hand and Jane gets up too “Why won’t you tell me, hmmm….I’m your friend and friends are supposed to share everything” “But not this one Jane….. not this one” “Well then, I can’t force you to do or say something you don’t want to, but if ever you change your mind about it, you know where to find me and you have my number” Jane hugs her “You don’t look good and you should get rid of this face before anyone else sees you….. you know how gossip flies around here” Jane walks out and Mel walks over to the window….she looks out and she’s not dreaming but all this is indeed happening “Ron why…… why did you choose to come back at this particular time when I have moved on………I love my husband, I love Tobi not because of his money or anything but because of his personality……should I give you this call and we meet, I need to hear it all, why you did what you did because your explanation earlier wasn’t clear enough…….oh Lord what’s the right thing to do, please help me” she abandons the window and walks over to her chair and sits………. this time memory takes her back to the wedding day, the shame and embarrassment she felt that day at the alter when Ron took off, how her knees became weak and her head started spinning, she almost lost balance and fell in the church, no one came to her rescue and she took off………she had no where in mind to go to but at the back of her mind, she wanted nothing other than ending her life……….she remembers how she reached that high bridge and decided to end it all there but a savior like her mother calls him came her way, he was a perfect total stranger who would not go without her……she followed him after much effort to his home now her home, he was the first man she trusted after her horrible night, she didn’t know why but she felt and still feels safe with him..how he took care of her that night after attempting to end her life, he made her seek treatment by getting a counselor for her, she was able to heal all thanks to him and the least shecould do is to love him the way he deserves…… they have had couple arguments in the five years they have been living together but not once in all of them has he ever thrown in her face the fact that she’s a loose woman or he helped her or even saved her…….. “I don’t need to hear what I was supposed to hear five years ago now…… you abandoned me and never bothered to find out how I was doing, if I was fine or dead Ron in fact you took off at the slightest opportunity you got, I don’t want to see you…..a past should be in the past” she opens her bag and gets out the card, she looks at it for long again and rips it to pieces…..she gets up and walks out without thinking twice, she’s headed to her husband’s office, when she came out Janet could see she’s headed there and she gets excited knowing there Is going to be some shouting match, she sits down and closes her eyes imagining Mel telling Tobi she’s still in love with Ron, she smiles at her beautiful imagination “What’s up….you’re smiling to yourself and this is the first time you’re doing so, given you’re always in a foul mood” “Can’t you just mind your business busy body and let me be, you’re always on my case in this office like I’m following your Doctor” “Just like Tobi, Mac would never set his eyes on you….. he knows what he wants and can never settle for less” “Or please Jane…. between me and you, who is the less here” “In his eyes it’s you” “I don’t blame you but I will not allow you spoil my beautiful day, I love every bit of today, I’m not very religious but today I realise indeed God makes a way where there seems to be no way” Jane doesn’t understand what that means but she walks away hoping it’s nothing about Mel and Tobi………… Tobi who thought he could not cry over a woman finds himself crying over Melanie, the image of her hugging her ex and comfortably resting her head on his shoulders as he talked to her as she lets out all that she had been accumulating for years plays in her head “Mel why, why would you still love him when I’m here, I have a shoulder you can lean on everyday and cry on…. I love you more than life itself…we have been through it all for give years” he had scattered things around the office and finally sits down resting his tired head on the table, he’s not crying anymore but his heart is heavy and weeping, he doesn’t even know for how long he has been there in the same position he had told Jane he doesn’t want to see anyone so for that fact, he didn’t hear the door open …….Mel stood in the office shutting the door behind, she found her husband with his head on the table….. she wonders if he’s alright or he’s sick, she has not concentrated on the messy stuffs all over the room because her attention is only fixed on her husband….. she clear her throat and Tobi sits up “My love” he looks up her calling him her love just was enough to get him standing on his feet, he wanted to say something but before he could, Mel runs into his arms and this time she didn’t hug him right away, she had run and just claimed his lips right away, Tobi was too stunned to even respond to the kiss but it didn’t matter to Mel who could not stop, she finally stops and hugs him and he feels her hot tears on his strong chest…..he’s tall and she’s short and if there is something he enjoys doing the most, it’s hugging his wife because her head always remains buried in his chest and he would rest his cheek on her head but today, he just let her be….he’s not holding her or hugging her back “Tobi…..I love you, please don’t let go of me because I might make a mistake if you….. I love you…. only and I want to only love you and you’re my favourite person” he finally shuts his eyes not wanting to give into tears, he raises her chin up and uses his other hand to wipe her tears looking deep into her eyes searching for that love she just professed…..what he sees is fear and doubt mixed with confusion…….. “It’s OK Babe…… don’t cry……sit down because we have to talk this out before it gets out of hand” Mel’s heart skips because she’s seeing some inference in him, she knows he saw her……….
To be continued…
