The Wall Between Us

Chapter 1 - The Wall

They say hope is a dangerous thing; I should have known, before I climbed your side of the wall. Excerpts from 'The Wall Between Us.'

Nathan

The moment she barged into my office and slammed the door, I knew something was wrong. I could only pray she hadn't found out before I got the chance to tell her myself.

She looked so pale and stressed, I wondered if it was due to days of sleepless nights or waking up so early to beat the traffic from Ikeja to Ikoyi. Her beautiful big black eyes now red and swollen, long dark hair dishevelled and wet from the August rain that pelted down since the early mornings. Her once round face and full cheeks now looked so thin. I watched her with trepidation and waited for the shell to drop but nothing came.

She moved to the opposite side of the room and glared at me like a patient who escaped from a mental institution. Scary, confused and lost. She looked so fragile in the soggy baggy sweatpants and Tees she wore. It had to be me who did this to her, the only reason she did not run into my arms for comfort.

I moved the chair I sat on out of the large Mahogany office desk and strode towards her, but she took two steps backwards and lifted her palms, urging me to stop.

"Don't come any closer. I just need to hear you say it," she finally spoke. Her hand dug into her hair and made it a bigger mess.

"Eni, why don't you sit and I'll get you something warm," I tried to pacify her.

"I did not come to see you at past seven in the morning to sit and drink tea. I just want to hear it from your mouth Nathan Adakole!" She said.

Nathan Adakole. Danger.

"I.. don't know what to say." The only sentence my mush brain could muster.

Her expression that of disbelieve.

"You don't know what to say? Won't you even try to make me understand any of this?" She asked, pointing her phone that had the news of my engagement splashed over its large screen at me. I stared at it like a strange object from space. Just how did the news get out so fast?

"I thought we had something special inspite of our differences," she continued. "After all these time together, did I not mean more than just a piece of rag to be discarded without regard?" She waited for me to speak but continued when I didn't.

"Even if I mean nothing to you, why not tell me to my face? Instead you gave me hope and made me believe it was you and I against the world!" Her voice became loud. I guessed my silence provoked her. Her hands now wiped the tears that spilled, making her face a mess, the sight made my heart shatter. She did not deserve to be hurt, at least not by me and certainly not like this.

"Am I not even worth your respect to be told this news in person? You wait to let me find out like this?" She waved her phone at me and choked on the last word.

"I tried to bring myself to tell you but this-" I said. Pointing to the both of us.
"This is more complicated than you can understand. I am left with no other lifeline Enitan. There is no way out of this!"

The words escaped my lips before I had the chance to shut my mouth. My teeth grinded so hard against each other, they threatened to crack. This conversation drove me crazy, because it made me realize I had lied to her when I called her my 'ride or die', I felt like a liar, a coward, incapable of either riding or dying. How pathetic.

I wanted to offer her something more than all I said, a good reason for my betrayal. She deserved that much but my mouth remained shut while my eyes searched her teary ones for any kind of understanding. How unfair of me, how could I expect her to understand it was me, her trusted lover who picked up the knife and stabbed her right in the heart. I didn't know where to begin. I was too ashamed to defend myself or comfort her.
So I stood there in silence and watched the tears flow.

"Fine! Don't speak. Ignore my need to make sense of all this.
You don't owe me an explanation anyways, you were never mine in the first place."

You were never mine in the first place.

Her words made my heart sink to the pit of my stomach. Because they weren't true, I was hers only, always have.
Always will be.

With that she dashed past me and headed towards the door. I wanted to grab her, hold her tight in a hug and tell her this wasn't my wish. I wanted her more than anything else in the world. I loved her so much and was ready to run away together. But all this was beyond me and my need for a woman.

So I stayed. Rooted to the ground until I heard the door close behind me.

'She is gone' I said aloud to myself. Gone. Just like my family and fiancée wanted.

Fiancée.

The word made me cringe in disgust. It made me angry. It brought the awful reminder; my wedding was in two months. Two months until my life became miserable, oh was it not already? But it was the price I had to pay for the family name and business. My legs weak and shaken from the thousand emotions coursing through my veins, I walked to my chair and sank in.

The hook of J. Cole's 'Lost ones' pealed of my phone bringing me back from my melancholic thoughts. I glanced at the caller and fell back on my seat when I saw her name. Annabelle Martins. The She-Devil. I suspected she leaked our engagement story and staged pictures to the tabloids. I did ask her to keep it out of the media or at least wait till I had a few things settled on my end.

Until I had the guts to talk to Enitan about this sham of an engagement.

But she didn't listen. Now the blogs and media houses feasted on my ill-luck and indirectly made me lose the only woman I ever truly loved. Annabelle's sick way of revenge and staking her claims in this war. A war I lost the moment Enitan walked out that door. I watched the phone ring again, this time I answered.

"Annabelle. Morning."

"Hey shuga, how was your-"

"Can we do this later?" I cut her of.

"My hands are full at the moment." I ended the call before she agitated me further.

My only thoughts were on Enitan and how she left my office bewildered.

I worried about her getting home in one piece, so I called my personal bodyguard, Everest to keep an eye on her from the moment she stepped out of the elevator. But she never did.

Hi guyyys. Hope this chapter was worth your reading time. Everything in this story is in an orderly sequence. Everything happens before the next chapter (except a flashback which I'll clearly indicate), don't get confused ❤ Just read chapter by chapter and you'll understand. Thankssss for reading.