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2024-10-29 19:42:56
Jake did not come for a booty call, like she had suspected earlier. He had so much to drink at some bar and came to her house, smelling and looking like a complete mess. He's drunk.
"Don't stand there like some moron. Help me in", he slurred.
How did she miss that? She should have spotted his drunken state over the phone. It would at least prevent her the headache of having to spend the night with a drunk man, under the same roof.
As she watched him struggle to balance himself but failed at every attempt, she wondered if she could hurriedly close the door on his face and lock the door. Would she succeed?
Or she could throw some hate speech at him and watch him leave in denial.
And she had every right to make him feel hurt. This guy meant the whole world to her, before he broke her heart a million times. She loved him with all her might but he saw her as a tool and got rid of her, when he found the tool unneeded.
"Very well. You can stay mute as long as I will be here", overenunciating the consonants and vowels he voiced out, he pushed her away from the entrance and slumped on her sofa.
Angela inhaled and exhaled. Deep down, she knew that she would not leave him outside, especially when he was totally drunk. She still loved him. She would be glad if he had come to make up. She was more than willing to forgive him.
She rushed to his side and helped him take off his shoes and socks. She tried to help him stand but he gently shoved her away.
"Go away, I did not come to be in your arms. I just needed somewhere to crash for the night".
Angela murmured a good night and went to bed, disappointed.
…
The delicious aroma of fried sausages and eggs alerted Jake senses. He stood up from the living room floor, he fell asleep last night and ended up at the kitchen entrance.
He stood quietly as he watched her work. Angela turned around to pick a bowl from the kitchen island in the middle, when she sighted him.
She turned to face him and spoke softly with a small smile on her face. "Good morning"
Jake cleared his throat like a man caught in the act and breathed, "Good morning"
"I made-. Sorry, I am making breakfast, perhaps you could join me?"Angela was flustered. It felt weird speaking to him like normal couples do, after the break up. And they were not a couple. Not anymore.
No. That was the exact word at the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Instead he said, "I would appreciate that. But I need to take a shower first, I feel like shit".
"Right. Let me prepare bathing water-"
"No, there's no need for that. I can manage on my own".
He turned around and took two steps away, only to turn back to her as his mind threw a crazy image of Angela ruining his things, he still had left in her house at him.
"By chance, huh, did you touch any of my things, like to damage them for some kind of revenge".
"Your things are intact", Angela assured.
"Okay, Thank you". He smiled as he left, relieved.
Jake came out fifteen minutes later, freshened up and dressed in his spare clothes for work. When her orbs landed on him, the beautiful memories they made flashed through her brain.
She remembered the days they would share a bath together. Those beautiful days, when Jake worshiped her body. How she would sit and watch him dress up finely. She missed her Jake. She really did.
He sat across Angela, who patiently waited for him before she broke her fast. She hurried a little prayer before filling his plate and doing the same for herself.
After the food, Jake thanked her immensely. When he was about to walk past the front door, she stopped his movements with her words.
"Jake? Uhm. My door is always open, you know, if you need someplace to spend the night".
Jake nodded with a smile on his face and walked out.
Last night, when he was clouded with the influence of Alcohol, he behaved like a dork. The least he could do now was to thank her for taking him in and not throwing him out, like he truly deserved.
…
"Babe, is something wrong? You have been spacing out all day", Sophia snapped her fingers as she broke yet another reverie Angela seemed to be trapped in.
Angela mumbled an apology and forced a forkful of salad into her mouth. Her appetite for food had left with Jake. She seemed lost in a trance as she chewed slowly.
"Earth to Angie! Babe what is going on?", Sophia asked, she was beginning to get worried.
"Sorry, it just- a lot has happened since the last time we saw each other", Angela massaged her temple.
Sophia looked at friend like she just told her that chickens now have fins and snapped, "Bitch, we had dinner together last night".
Angela let out a humorless laugh, "I know right. Before that, we went shopping together".
"Spit. It. Out", Sophia huffed as she waited for her friend to speak.
Angela swallowed the lump in her throat and looked towards the window as she stated, "Jake came around".
"The nerve of him! Now he comes begging? I trust you, you sent him away. Right?"
Angela swallowed again. At that moment, she envied her friend. The fearlessness her friend poses, the courage to shout at him and send him far away. Instead, she was more than willing to have him around.
"Right? Say something!", Sophia asked wearied.
Angela turned to face her, Sophia saw the answer she was desperate for, clearly written on her face.
"Oh my God! You let him in. You slept with him", Sophia jumped into conclusions.
"I'm not that stupid, you know. He came drunk last night. He slept on the sofa. We only had breakfast together", Angela replied in one breath.
Sophia released the breath she did not notice she was holding in.
"Next time,do not allow a dick like him into your house"
"I already invited him to come anytime he wants".
"Angela, this guy used you. He's only going to hurt you", Sophia protested, "Let him stay far away from you, that's where he belongs okay?"
Angela wiped a tear drop that rolled down her face. Sophia stood up and hugged her friend,
"It's okay dear, it's fine if you want to be at peace with him. But, I want you to always remember that he left. There's no future for the two of you".
Pecking her friend on the head, she asked, "Now, how about a girls time at my place?Tonight "
Angela nodded her head again. Sophia is a real sweetheart. She was always there for her. What would she do if Sophia was not in her life?
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Her feet felt heavy with every step she took afar, her heart was drumming wildly within her ribcage and it felt like she was nauseous. As she ran, all she thought of was Joseph, he'd definitely misunderstood. Fate was cruel. Too cruel. Things were only just beginning to look bright only for this to happen. Angela didn't even care when her legs stopped moving or when her butt cheeks found comfort on the floor. She cried as the turnout of events replayed in her head, mocking her. When Joshua had noticed her unenthusiasm in whatever he had to say, he had proceeded to physical contact and just before she could have acted on his inappropriate manner of touching her, he had forced their lips to merge and enforced a rhythm. Angela regretted her decisions, she shouldn't have acknowledged his message when he'd sent it and even if she had, she ought to have picked a cafe that was packed with customers, not to reserve the most remote seats just so they do not get distracted easily with the da
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CHAPTER SEVENTY FOUR: Grief
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CHAPTER SEVENTY THREE: The Funeral
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CHAPTER SEVENTY TWO: Horrid mistakes
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CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE: An hopeful day
Morning came, even though Joseph was sore, his whole muscles ached and he had barely even slept, he was glad that an hopeful day had come. A day, he was allowed to dream. That morning Joseph prayed. He hadn't prayed for a long time but he found himself kneeling on the floor as he prayed for a successful procedure.Omar and Fyodor, Angela and Sophia had spent the night at the hospital but Omar had to leave because he had a meeting that couldn't be postponed, he had to be there. But he promised to return as soon as he could.Joseph watched Angela quietly from his side view, he hadn't said anything to her after crying at the garage, now, they were no different from two strangers. Or that was what he thought. She was saying something to Sophia before Sophia left to take a phone call.He watched her as she rubbed her eyes sleepily and sank deeper to the seat, she raised her legs from the ground and folded them to cross one another. These past few days, he had been rough. Very rough with he
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CHAPTER SEVENTY: LAST MOMENTS
Joy. Ultimum joy. Not the kind you feel after bagging a million dollar deal or getting a scholarship but the kind you feel when a ray of sunshine graces your head and suffices your skin with vitamin D, the kind of happiness you feel when the calm breeze grazes the short hairs on your skin. That kind of joy that bubbles from within, that shows itself even when you have a straight face. And that was all the duo felt as they watched intently.Fits of laughter, though weak, rumbled from Mr James chest as he watched closely. Upon his request, his son had transformed his hospital room into a cinema room. The lights turned off, except the lights sourced from the machines attached to him, Mr James relaxed into his bed folded halfway to allow him see the screen comfortably. Joseph was surprised when his father told him where he'd kept all the video clips in his house. He had thought naturally, that clips as such would have been lost. His parents hadn't parted in good times and his mother clea
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CHAPTER SIXTY NINE: Death, the inevitable
And there he sat. Like the dutiful son that he will always be. After the little episode at the garage, under the pretense of getting some air, Joseph returned to his only reason for both his unshed and shed tears of agony. Joseph adjusted the duvet that covered his father's body a few times. Afterwards, he'd stand and walk around a few times, he'd grit his teeth a few times, sometimes, torturing his poor nails as well. Only to look outside the window again, rake his hair frustratingly and then sit again. Joseph messed up the routine a few times, willing to do everything to while away time, he only wondered when his father would wake up again. He had to try again.He had to try to convince his father again. He just had to do something. His hands raked his hair again before a sob broke out. A second followed.“Son”, though hoarse, his father’s voice called out. Joseph jerked up immediately and covered the little distance between them.“Big man! Big man!!” His voice was hoarse too. May
