Aunty Meg was shocked, puzzled and speechless all at the same time. She couldn’t understand what the problem would be. She just held my arms and pulled me close to her, burying my head on her chest.“Calm down, Anita, calm down, my dear it’s okay,” she tried to calm me down, rubbing her hand gently on my back.
“Calm down and talk to me, what is the problem, why are you crying? Did you and MD fight or something?”I nodded while still placing my head on her chest. It felt better as I poured out my emotions and all the tears I’d bottled up inside me while MD was with me/. The tears just came running down my face.“It’s alright, dear, take it easy, talk to me, what happened between you two?” she asked as I slumped inside the seat behind me.
“I don’t think MD loves me, Aunty Meg, I don’t think that man cares a hoot about me or his son,” I lamented as I broke into another fresh bout of tears.“But why would you say that? What happened?’ she asked again.“The way that man treats me sometimes, I wonder if I mean anything to him…in fact, I am beginning to hate him!” I almost screamed at the top of my voice.“Don’t talk like that, Anita, just take it easy,” she said as she wiped the tears off my face with her handkerchief.
“But still, you haven’t told me what happened,” she asked again. Then, I cleared my throat, pulled myself together and started to explain to him slowly.“Remember I have been dragging this issue of wedding with MD,” I began as she nodded in the affirmative. “He came over to the house today and I thought he had come to finalise matters with me so we can have a clear idea of how we will go about it. But instead, MD just began to tell me stories about how he needs to be careful not to offend his wife and why we cannot do anything now because if she gets to hear, she will make sure the wedding does not happen!” I said in exasperation.
“Aunty, you can’t believe that man is not man enough to go tell his wife at home that he wants to marry the mother of his only child?” I’d continued, my voice rising slowly now. “Can you believe a man of MD’s status is actually afraid of his wife? Is that possible? The woman knows me already, she knows I have a child for him, a son for that matter, so why is he scared to tell her he wants to get married to me?” I blurted, the pain inside me seeping through every vein in my body.Aunty Meg, surprisingly, just smiled at me. “Is that all? Is that the reason why you’re crying?” she asked me, looking at me with a puzzled look on her face. “I thought it was something really, really serious.
“So, this is not really, really serious?” I’d thrown at her, totally shocked at her response.“Of course, dear, it is serious, but not really, really serious,” she answered. “At first, I thought something terribly bad had happened between you and MD, I was really scared, you know.”In my mind, I was thinking, what on earth is this woman talking about? Why is she making this issue look like child’s play for God’s sake? If she wasn’t way older than me, I could’ve slapped her hard across the face and wipe that silly smirk off her lips.
“Aunty Meg, please, don’t get me upset, you are literally making jest of me here, do you know that?” I shot at her. And I showed that I was really pissed by her nonchalance.“It’s okay, my dear, don’t mind me, I just didn’t want to make you feel really bad, okay?” she returned, sounding apologetic.“Now, let me tell you, seriously, there are ways to handle a man like MD who is reluctant to take his woman to the altar, do you want to know?”I nodded. “Stop teasing me, Aunty Meg, I am listening to you, please….tell me everything I need to know,” I said to her.
Aunty Meg was still smiling. And she just didn’t realise that the more she smiled, the more upset I became and the stronger the urge for me to slap her grew. She just wasn’t taking my matter seriously and I didn’t like it one bit.“Okay, now, Anita, listen to me, and I am very serious here, okay?” she finally wiped the stupid smile off her face and wore a more serious look. “You don’t need to get really upset about this,” she began, looking at me straight in the eye. “I know this looks pretty upsetting and calls for concern but honestly, I don’t think it’s as bad as you think, MD is not such a terrible man, he would not go out of his way to deliberately hurt you, trust me….”
”But how can you tell, Aunty Meg?” I cut in, not waiting to hear her finish what she was saying.“But I know this man, Anita, he’s not a bad person,” she continued. ”I don’t think he will want to dump you or abandon you like you’re thinking.”I smiled wryly at her. “Aunty Meg, how can you be so sure about a man you’re not the one dating?” I retorted. “I am the one dating this man, not you, and I am saying that there is a problem here and you think I don’t know what I’m talking about?”
Aunty Meg just watched and listened to me as I unburdened my heart. She was quiet, she knew I was hurting badly. “I have heard you, Anita, but I still don’t think the MD I know would just dump you and your child, he’s only child for that matter!”“Look, Aunty Meg, even if you think MD can’t do that to me, has it even occurred to you that his wife could be the reason he is acting so callously? Don’t you think she could be the real problem here?”She nodded. “Sure, I agree with you, which is why I am saying, let us not be in such a hurry to paint MD the bad person here, the problem could be deeper than that, and it could also be that you are the one that needs to slow down a bit and not choke him up with your demand for a wedding. Maybe you should just let him take things at his own pace.”
“So, I am the one choking him up now?” I shot back at her, my voice laced with anger. “So, is that the reason why he can’t make up his mind as a man and fix a date for the wedding?”She shook her head. “No, that’s not what I meant, Anita, I am just saying that you should take things easy with him. If it was that easy for him, he would’ve put a ring on your finger long ago and conclude on the wedding,” I sighed. “So, what do I do now, Aunty Meg? What are the things you think I can do to this man’s attention and love like I used to do?
Please, tell me, I am desperate for answers now!”
…To Be Continued
){kind=link}