MD became quiet. He was thinking long and hard. “Listen, Anita, you need to give me time to think about this. I can understand your frustrations and I assure you I will do all I can to make it up to you. But you must give me time, please….”
I was calm. I stayed quiet. I listened to him as he pleaded for more time. But to be honest, I was not impressed and I told him so.
“Listen, MD, you know I have heard you plead for time over and over again, so why do you think I will believe you this time?”
“Because I mean it…. Because I really want to make you happy,” he answered, sounding very sincere. “Just give me a bit more time, okay?”
I shrugged. “It is okay, I have heard you, I will give you time,” I said to him.
“Oh, thank you, my darling….”
“Hold on a minute, MD,” I cut in before he was done expressing gratitude. “Here is the deal: if I wait for the next couple of months and I hear nothing about the wedding from you, I will take my son and disappear! You won’t see me or your child ever again!”
His face changed. His eyes grew red. I didn’t need anyone to tell me I had got him really angry. “You will do what, Anita? You want to take my son away from me?” he snarled at me, his voice loaded with intense anger. He looked at me eye ball to eye ball and smiled wryly. Then, he leaned forward and, with palpable threat in his voice, he said,”You will not dare!”
I returned his smile. “Try me, MD, just try me first!” I said coldly, meeting his gaze.
“So, you’re actualy threatening me, Anita? This is a threat, right?” MD asked.
“No, MD, it’s not a threat, it’s actually a warning,” I shot back at him. “All I am saying is that if I find out that you actually do not have any intention to make our wedding a reality, then you will leave me no choice but to simply carry my child and walk away. I am sure that, even with a child in my arms, I will still find men who will be willing to marry me and accept to play the role of a father in my son’s life. And, to be honest with you, that’s exactly what I’m looking for right now.”
The man didn’t like the words that were coming out of my mouth one bit. From the look on his face, if he had his way, he could forcefully take Junior away from me and disappear for good. But I doubt if MD could do that sort of thing to me.
MD was quiet for a while. He was obviously thinking how he could get me to get that thought out of my head. The very thought that I could disappear with his son really didn’t sit down well with him. It scared him to death. He knows me. He knows I would do exactly as I have said if he does not do what I have asked him to do.
“Listen, Anita, you do not need to take rash decisions that you could end up regretting later,” he cautioned me. “Where do you want to go? Who do you want to go and meet?” He was not asking me the question, it was a rhetorical expression.
“Of course, I have my own family, have you forgotten? Or you think I just dropped from the sky?” I snapped at him. “And this is why I think this wedding needs to hold because it is time you meet my family and do the proper thing!”
The man was still dazed. The very thought that he could suddenly wake up one morning and find that I had disappeared with his child simply knocked the sails out of him. He just couldn’t imagine it could actually happen to him.
“Listen to me, Anita, I hope you were merely joking a while ago when you said you would walk away with my son?” he asked, his eyes filled with palpable fear.
“Joke? Why would I joke with a thing like that?” I retorted, meeting his gaze.
“But I hope you know you can’t do that, right?” he was trying to lace his voice with a little threat. But he couldn’t quite pull it off. He was too scared and too badly shaken to force any threat.
“And may I ask, MD, why are you bothered about the possibility that I could disappear with your son when all you need to do to stop that from happening is put a ring on my finger and make me your legally married wife. Or, you don’t have any such plan for us? Is that what your fear is all about?
“Of course not, Anita, why would I not have such plan? I just told you to give me some time to put things together, didn’t I?” he responded, sounding very, very desperate to convince to totally abolish the thought of running away with his son from my head. “I will make sure we do something about it, all I need is a little time.”
“Are you sure about that?” I’d thrown at him, still unconvinced.
“I swear to you, dear, why don’t you trust me anymore?” he assured me.
“Okay, then, if you’re sure the wedding will happen, the next step should be meeting my people, so when will that be? I need a date please….
…To Be Continued
