COME WHAT MAY

CHAPTER TWENTY

Chidi woke up early the next morning to pick up his fiancé. He tried to pray for strength and wisdom but words failed him. He was perplexed and did not know what to do. To think he was a mere pawn; a tool in the hands of Desire and Lorato made his skin crawl and his blood boil. How could Desire be so evil and to have haboured such ill-feelings towards her own friend for such a long time...who then can be trusted? How was Lolita going to cope with all this? Her father who was the love of her life has turned against her too? This has to be a dream! As he drove towards Rachael's house, he contemplated on how he would pretend to still be in the dark about everything. He hoped his fiancé will come clean and not try to hide it all from him.

Lolita slept and woke up with a terrible headache that made her feel nauseous and weak. She half-heartedly took her bath and ate a slice of bread and took a cup of tea outside to sit at the Terrace. Some of the ladies were still taking turns in the bathroom while others ate their breakfast. Her head seemed to be spinning out of control. Her heart felt heavy and her soul in turmoil. There was just too much information to process all at once. She had her travelling arrangements to think about...and the reality was that she had received her admission letter to three Canadian University to do her Masters but no response yet concerning the scholarship. How was she going to pay? She barely had enough for her tickets and few days in a cheap hotel but after that nothing else. She had spent a lot bringing her "dearest" uncle hoping she would be able to get some money from her parents once he resolved the family problem but her plans had gone down the drain thanks to the revelation about him. She had received so much shock in less than three weeks that her mind could not take another. Then Desire came with her own revelations... now that was a shocker! She placed the tea cup on the floor and stood up. Her parents' marriage had taken a hit and she was not so confident it would weather through this storm. Just then Desire came out carrying her bag. She had accomplished her mission and now she was leaving.

"Now you know how it feels to be alone and rejected." Desire said icily.

Lolita closed her eyes briefly and turned to her ex-best friend. 

"I am sorry I gave up too soon on you when you had your problems Desire. I am sorry I was not a good friend and instead of weathering the storm at the time I decided to take shelter in Lorato's friendship and turned a blind eye to your feelings. I mean it." She sat back down and added,

 "You were alone because of your parent's short comings and felt even worse when your pillar in the person of Darren broke your heart. I should have been more supportive and understanding instead of undermining your love for him."

"I can't blame you because you do not know what real love meant...not then and certainly not now."

"I should have explained to Lorato that you were with Darren but she would have been confused because nobody knew about it. She was very happy and you were sad and like a child of divorced parents I was caught in between."

Desire clapped her hands together. "You finally get my point! You chose a total stranger over me! You chose that slut instead of being my pillar of strength."

"You wouldn't let anyone in Desire. I tried but gave up."

"You shouldn't have! You should have remained there by my side come rain come sunshine!" Desire shouted at the top of her voice.

"Lower your voice Desire. The others will hear you." Lolita pleaded with her.

"Lower my voice? You have not seen anything yet Lolita!" That infuriated the latter and she rolled her eyes in exasperation.