One Night Of Fun, Lifetime Of Misery!

0
750

Besides, my birthday was coming up in a couple of days and we sure shouldn’t be quarreling on that day. I was not too surprised when she refused to pick my calls. I persisted and had to give up when I noticed she had switched off her phone. I was double sure she would not be in apartment and so, I headed straight away to hers. I wasn’t still too surprised when she refused to open her door on confirming that I was the one at the door.

“Nitty babe, I’m really sorry. Please open up,” I said, hoping the use of nickname would do the trick.

“Please leave me alone, Fred,” she said in between tears.

It suddenly broke my heart to hear her speak in such distraught tone. It was more than evident she had been crying all the while.

She did not respond, but from the door, I heard her sob to no end. The pleading continued from my end for so long that I soon lost count if time as my pleas tell on Anita’s deaf ears. In frustration, I left for my doorstep.

Somehow I believed she would calm down and come over. Meanwhile, I decided I would call her line everyday until she forgave me. To my chagrin however, she never switched on her phone and my repeated visits to her office ad her home were that with rebuffs. Finally, I decided I would give it a rest. Afterall, a man’s got to b e a man. It felt so painful however to wake up on my birthday without Anita by my side. For once, I discovered how much I loved her and missed her.

The day turned out to be rather uneventful initially as I received lots of cards, gifts and congratulatory messages from colleagues at work and friends and family members. None came from Anita though and that hurts so bad. Infact, I could feel myself getting really annoyed. What the hell was wrong with her? I wondered.

As I left my office that evening, Pascal, a colleague at work, as well as a close friend met me in the drive way.

“What’s good, Fred, he excitedly said.

“Nothing much,” I replied vaguely.

“Feels good to be a year older though.”

“Birthdays are special days, you know,” he persisted.

“Sure,” I concurred.

“So, how’s the celebration gonna be, Fred?”

I winced inwardly. Celebration? What in God’s name was he talking about?” I had my last birthday party at three, and I really didn’t see a big deal about marking birthdays.

“Anyway, we’ll give you a treat later today,” Pascal continued breaking into my thoughts, “you are up for it”.

“Well…”

“No Wells,” he cuts in, “You’re game, Fred.”

I sighed. I really had no choice. I decided I was going through hell at the moment, so why not have a little fun on my birthday.

“Alright Pascal. Pick me up at eleven.”

“Great. See you Fred.”

I watched him drove off and I could not help smiling as I imagined what sort of ‘treat’ Pascal and the boys had planned out for me. As far as I was concerned, anything to take my mind off Anita was definitely welcome. I resisted the temptation to call her line again. I wasn’t sure I could stand being made a fool of again. Maybe after the day passed. Of course I deserved all the fun. I could on this day. My little chat with Pascal had somehow built up in me a grin determination to make the best of the day.

At about eleven p.m that night, Pascal’s car breezed into my compound closely followed by the other automobiles. For an instant, I had a hard time containing my excitement and surprise. There was no doubt in my mind that I was definitely in for a ‘treat’ as they had tagged it.

“Hey, look at you,” Pascal said as he stepped out of the car and approached my front porch. I had since appeared there as soon as the flood of headlights had glorified my residence.

“What are you guys up to?” I said amidst the excitement.

“Seems to me like I’m in for some deep stuff.”

“You just wait and see, Fred,” Emeka, another colleague of mine who had decided to be a part of the deal said from behind Pascals as he approached.

“Meanwhile,” Pascal continued. “We have a big piece of meat at the backseat of the green BMW over there.” He winked at me and motioned with his head cocked to the side. “Go check it out.”

I sighed as I felt my heart beat faster. Slowly I approached the car, Pascal had pointed out and couldn’t help my admiration of the level of concern my colleagues had decided to show one of their own. Had I been a female, I would have probably been weeping, I concluded.

In no time, I reached te car and peered in.

“Hi birthday boy,” a drop-dead gorgeous girl greeted.

For a split second, I was too absorbed with her ravishing beauty to reply her greeting. Eventually, I found my voice.

“Hello,” I said in a tune I honestly found pretty hard believing was mine. “I’m Fred,”

“Yeah, I know,” she said with a smile on her face. “I’m Gina.”

For another while, I started on absolutely taken by her looks and I simply couldn’t help wondering where on earth Pascal and the boys had found me this heavenly being. I spared another second or two to think over what I was about to do and if it was really worth it. I loved Anita, my fiancée, beyond words inspite of her consistent nagging attitude and the thought that I was about cheating on her drove me a little berserk.

But, come to think of it, I really wasn’t going to cheat on her. I was only about to have a good time that would end in a matter of hours. Besides she was the major cause of the whole thing. Had it not been for the little quarrel, we would have been together enjoying the day. Stubbornly, I dismissed every inch of guilt about what I was about to do, especially after I beheld the face of the angel right before my eyes. It would definitely be fun, I decided…

To be continued…