Closure 10 (Finale)

When I got back to my room I picked up my phone and called Frank. "Hey, what's up?" I said casually. "Hi, I've been calling you last night and all morning." He said. I lied to him about having a splitting headache last night and that was why I went mute. "How was your date?" I asked. He giggled and said it went terrible. My heart skipped a beat. I wasn't ready to believe he was seeing someone. "Sorry I had to cancel on you because of her. Are you at home? I'm not far from your house." Frank said. I wanted to lie but I thought about what Mawuli said. It was time to find out where I stood in his life. I told Frank I was home and he planned to come over in the next hour.

I called Mawuli immediately I hung up with Frank. I told him everything."First ask him about the other woman to see if he's involved with her then take my advice." Mawuli said. His advice was to wear something nice, put on some light makeup and tell Frank I have feelings for him when he came here. According to him Frank would say it was mutual and we will be the happiest couple on earth. Someway some how I didn't think it would be as easy as he said. I accepted the challenge and dived into my wardrobe.

Frank got to my house in about 2 hours but it felt shorter than an hour. My heart was racing as I walked to the door. When I opened the door I saw Frank smiling with a cup of ice cream. "I had a feeling you aren't very happy about me because of last night so I brought ice cream to cool you down and forgive me." He said. I smiled like a sheep. Honestly I wanted to say yes I will be your girlfriend but that knew how stupid it would sound. "I'm not upset but I'll have that ice cream." I said and let him in.

"Sorry about last night. I had the job at the last minute. None of the guys was available and she's a high paying client so I had to step in." He explained. My eyes lit up immediately. "Oh Client, so you were with her for work." I said subconsciously. "Yes, wait you thought I went out with her? Oh no she's not even my type." He said staring right at me. I felt like it was a sufficient enough answer to the question I had been meaning to ask but I took advantage and asked him one. "What's your type?" I asked feeling his stare even more.

He smiled and said I already knew his type. I tried to keep a straight face but I couldn't. I guessed this was it. My window to tell him how I felt. "Are we exclusive?" I asked. When I saw the confused look on his face I knew immediately that I used the wrong words. "Do you like me?" I tried again. He moved closer to me. "Of course I do. Who wouldn't?" He said. I smiled and leaned in to kiss him. "So how come you haven't asked me out?" I finally asked with much more confidence. Frank looked at me in a funny way and I left him move back a bit. "Vanessa I'm not ready for a relationship. I'm sorry if I led you on." He said. My heart started racing.

After a brief awkward silence Frank stood up to leave. I sat on the couch with tears forming in my eyes. He took a few steps and turned around. "Vanessa, I know how Eddie hurt you. You deserve someone with less baggage." He said. I didn't understand what he meant so I asked him. He took a deep breath. "I have a child, with my ex girlfriend. Eight years ago she got pregnant. When I told her I was not ready to rush into marriage she left me and married someone else. I was young, stupid and afraid. She raised my daughter with her husband with their 2 daughters and never told her I was her father. To her I'm uncle Frank. It hurts me so much. I can't let you carry this burden." He said. My eyes dried up immediately. I walked up to him and hugged him. "I'm so sorry." I said.

Then a few words rang in my head; 8 years, 2 other daughters. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth. I wanted to tell you but I felt it would scare you away. Sorry you met them as my sister and her kids." Frank confessed. It all made sense now. Looking back I noticed how caring he was to Kafui and even the other kids. There was this connection I couldn't understand and it now made sense. "You are not scaring me away Frank. All this while I thought I was the only one who needed closure but you need some too." I said. "I know how it feels like to keep people out when you are hurting. I will be here by your side no matter what, to help you through this." I reassured. Frank looked at me surprised. Before he could say another word I leaned in and kissed him. It was just like the first time we kissed but this time I was the one telling him if will be ok.

Frank took a couple of months to get closure with his daughter. He decided with his ex to tell her the truth when she turned 13. That gave him the freedom and hope he needed and since then we've been the happiest couple alive.


The End

Closure 10 (Finale)

When I got back to my room I picked up my phone and called Frank. "Hey, what's up?" I said casually. "Hi, I've been calling you last night and all morning." He said. I lied to him about having a splitting headache last night and that was why I went mute. "How was your date?" I asked. He giggled and said it went terrible. My heart skipped a beat. I wasn't ready to believe he was seeing someone. "Sorry I had to cancel on you because of her. Are you at home? I'm not far from your house." Frank said. I wanted to lie but I thought about what Mawuli said. It was time to find out where I stood in his life. I told Frank I was home and he planned to come over in the next hour.

I called Mawuli immediately I hung up with Frank. I told him everything."First ask him about the other woman to see if he's involved with her then take my advice." Mawuli said. His advice was to wear something nice, put on some light makeup and tell Frank I have feelings for him when he came here. According to him Frank would say it was mutual and we will be the happiest couple on earth. Someway some how I didn't think it would be as easy as he said. I accepted the challenge and dived into my wardrobe.

Frank got to my house in about 2 hours but it felt shorter than an hour. My heart was racing as I walked to the door. When I opened the door I saw Frank smiling with a cup of ice cream. "I had a feeling you aren't very happy about me because of last night so I brought ice cream to cool you down and forgive me." He said. I smiled like a sheep. Honestly I wanted to say yes I will be your girlfriend but that knew how stupid it would sound. "I'm not upset but I'll have that ice cream." I said and let him in.

"Sorry about last night. I had the job at the last minute. None of the guys was available and she's a high paying client so I had to step in." He explained. My eyes lit up immediately. "Oh Client, so you were with her for work." I said subconsciously. "Yes, wait you thought I went out with her? Oh no she's not even my type." He said staring right at me. I felt like it was a sufficient enough answer to the question I had been meaning to ask but I took advantage and asked him one. "What's your type?" I asked feeling his stare even more.

He smiled and said I already knew his type. I tried to keep a straight face but I couldn't. I guessed this was it. My window to tell him how I felt. "Are we exclusive?" I asked. When I saw the confused look on his face I knew immediately that I used the wrong words. "Do you like me?" I tried again. He moved closer to me. "Of course I do. Who wouldn't?" He said. I smiled and leaned in to kiss him. "So how come you haven't asked me out?" I finally asked with much more confidence. Frank looked at me in a funny way and I left him move back a bit. "Vanessa I'm not ready for a relationship. I'm sorry if I led you on." He said. My heart started racing.

After a brief awkward silence Frank stood up to leave. I sat on the couch with tears forming in my eyes. He took a few steps and turned around. "Vanessa, I know how Eddie hurt you. You deserve someone with less baggage." He said. I didn't understand what he meant so I asked him. He took a deep breath. "I have a child, with my ex girlfriend. Eight years ago she got pregnant. When I told her I was not ready to rush into marriage she left me and married someone else. I was young, stupid and afraid. She raised my daughter with her husband with their 2 daughters and never told her I was her father. To her I'm uncle Frank. It hurts me so much. I can't let you carry this burden." He said. My eyes dried up immediately. I walked up to him and hugged him. "I'm so sorry." I said.

Then a few words rang in my head; 8 years, 2 other daughters. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth. I wanted to tell you but I felt it would scare you away. Sorry you met them as my sister and her kids." Frank confessed. It all made sense now. Looking back I noticed how caring he was to Kafui and even the other kids. There was this connection I couldn't understand and it now made sense. "You are not scaring me away Frank. All this while I thought I was the only one who needed closure but you need some too." I said. "I know how it feels like to keep people out when you are hurting. I will be here by your side no matter what, to help you through this." I reassured. Frank looked at me surprised. Before he could say another word I leaned in and kissed him. It was just like the first time we kissed but this time I was the one telling him if will be ok.

Frank took a couple of months to get closure with his daughter. He decided with his ex to tell her the truth when she turned 13. That gave him the freedom and hope he needed and since then we've been the happiest couple alive.


The End

Closure 9

"Vanessa hi, what are you doing here?" He asked but before I could reply the lady walked to him with a bottle of wine in her hand. She turned to look at me. I was honestly not sure what to do. "I just came to get some nuts but they don't have my favourite so I'm just buying a bottle of wine." I said in the most convincing tone I could master. I picked the closest bottle of wine to me then I turned around and left.

When I got back into the car I told him to drive me to the beach. Maybe if I was lucky a mad man would show up and stone my problems away. When I got to the beach and sat down on the sand, I opened the bottle of wine and drunk straight from the bottle. After a few gulps I felt my phone vibrating. I looked at it and saw it was the same number Eddie used to text me. I answered it even though I had tears in my eyes. "Nessy are you OK? You don't sound good. Where are you?" Eddie asked. He sounded just like old times. I told him I was fine but he insisted to come to me.

Eddie wasn't far away because in less than 10 minutes he was at the beach. He walked to me and  hugged me. "Leave me. Leave me alone." I said, pushing Eddie away. "You chose money, you chose fame over me. I sold my car to pay for your album. After everything I did for you!" I said. The tears were rolling down my cheeks. "I know. I did all of these things but I'm sorry. I'm choosing you now. I don't care about anything else anymore." Eddie said. He took a step closer to me. "I realised my mistake and that was breaking up with you. I do all these shows and video, make so much money but honestly I'm not happy. I miss you." He said.

Eddie leaned in and kissed me. The wind blew through my hair and we stood on the beach, lip locked. His kiss put me into a state of realisation. For so long I wanted Eddie to miss me. I wanted him to come back begging. I guess I was angry with him because he didn't come back for me. That was probably why I never dated anyone after him. Finally my wish had been answered but somehow I didn't feel anything for him. All I did was compare his kiss to Frank's. I pulled away from Eddie. "I'm sorry, I don't feel the same about you anymore. I guess this is the closure I always wanted to finally close the curtains." I said. Eddie looked confused. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I think it's time for both of us to move on. Goodnight Eddie." I said. I kissed him on the cheek and walked away.

The next morning my phone woke me up. I picked it up and saw it was Frank calling. I muted the phone and dropped it immediately. I turned over and tried to go back to sleep. I opened my eyes again and this time I could hear the doorbell. I got up growling in anger. I didn't want to wake up before noon. Unfortunately the whole world wouldn't allow me to sleep my problems away. I picked up my phone to check my notifications as I walked to the door and froze. Frank had sent me tons of messages asking if he could come over. "Shit!" I said. I turned around and went to Wendy's room. "Hey, Frank is looking for me tell him I'm not around." I said. Wendy tried to ask why but I just pushed her out.

When Wendy came back the expression on her face said it all. "It wasn't Frank was it?" I asked. She crawled into her bed. "No it's Mawuli. He's in the hall." She muttered. I giggled and went into her bathroom to freshen up. When I went to the hall I saw Mawuli sitting in the hall with the remote watching TV. "Wow did I wake you up?" He asked. I shook my head and sat on the sofa. I told him about the party and how I saw Frank with another woman.

"I always fall for the wrong guys. Frank boldly told me he didn't trust anyone enough to be in a relationship with them. Why did I do this to myself?" I said. "That's nonsense. You don't fall for the wrong guys. It's just life. Sometimes things are good other times they are not. From all the things you've told me I'm sure Frank likes you but you need to forget about Eddie and open up to him." Mawuli said. That paved the way for my next story. I told Mawuli what happened with Eddie and I. "That's excellent news!" He said with a big smile.

Mawuli wasn't exactly at my place for a visit he just came to pick up his external hard drive from me. His cousins were visiting him and he wanted to have a movie night. I gave it to him and just before he left he smiled and said, "Right now that you've let Eddie go, tell Frank how you feel about him and let's see how it goes." I nodded. It sounded like a good plan!



To be continued... 

Closure 8

The next couple of weeks were very interesting. I saw Frank after work. We sometimes met at his office, other times at a restaurant for dinner and other times at my place. I continued planning my company's event and spoke to Eddie a couple of times but Frank gave me tips on how to deal with him. Frank was very smart and funny making being with him extremely enjoyable. One Friday night he couldn't come over as planned. I waited for him all dressed up and he sent me a message to let me know he couldn't make it. I was a bit disappointed because I looked forward to our Friday nights together.

On her way out my sister saw me taking off my earrings and walked into my room. "Why, aren't you going out anymore?" She asked. "Naa, Frank called to cancel." I replied. "Ah that's annoying. The way you are slaying the dress eh you can't waste it like that?" Wendy said and I giggled. The dress was actually one of my favourites that I hadn't worn in a long time. Luckily for me it still fit like a glove. "Look, Kokui is having a party at her place. Her big sister has invited some of her friends too so don't tell me you don't want to go because my crowd is young." Wendy offered. I smiled. It's like she ready me mind. I finally agreed and we went together.

When we got to the party I went straight to sit on the couch while Wendy rushed to look for her friends. I pulled out my phone to see if Frank had replied my text but there was nothing. I sent him a text to suggest we meet up later since I was already out. "Hello" , I heard a guy say. I raised my head and saw a guy about or younger than Wendy smiling at me. "Hi." I replied and looked back down at my phone. "Is the party boring?" He asked. I nodded and faked a smile. Unfortunately my neutral responses didn't deter him.

I felt my phone vibrate and I quickly picked it up. It was a text but I didn't recognise the number. I read the first two words, hi Nessy and knew who it was immediately. Only one person called me Nessy, it was Eddie. He said he wanted to meet me and talk so I should let him know when I was free. "You've been on your phone since you came." The guy next to me said. I almost forgot about him. "Yea, I think I'm at the wrong place. That is the exit right?" I said getting up to leave. He just nodded and watched me walk off. He probably thought I was the biggest snob in the world. I stopped and turned around.

Halfway to the door I stopped and walked back to the guy. "Hi I'm Vanessa. I'm really sorry about how our conversation turned out I'm just a bit distracted." I confessed. He seemed surprised, pleasantly surprised. "No, it's fine. I'm Opoku." He said. "Nice to meet you. I'll be off now." I said shaking his hand. He smiled at me and I turned around to leave, this time with a clear conscience.

As I stood outside the house of the party trying to catch a taxi I got another text from Eddie. He said he was sorry again and wanted to meet me the next day. A taxi came by and I quickly hopped into it. The driver stopped at a fuel station not too far from the place I was. I took out my phone to see if Frank had replied and what I saw next surprised me. I saw a guy like Frank in a suit with a lady in a black dress coming out of a car, laughing and walking into the fuel station supermarket. I got out of the car immediately. I told the driver I'd be back and went to inside too. It was when he turned around and saw me that I realised it was Frank.

To be continued... 

Closure 7

Mawuli was right. Eddie was sitting next to his manager and the branch manager had some documents in front of them which I realised was a contract. "Oh Vanessa you are here. I guess I will leave you to handle the contract signing now." He said. He excused himself and walked out. My heart was pounding with anger but I couldn't let it show. When Eddie and my eyes met I instantly looked away.

"Vanessa long time no see. How are you doing?" Stanley, Eddie's manager said. I faked a smile and told him I was fine. I picked up a copy of the contract and marked the important areas with my pen. The contract wasn't very long so I was done in no time. My heart was pounding so hard my vision was a bit impaired. "So how are you, how is everything?" Eddie finally said. I stopped what I doing and was going to answer him when my phone rung. It was Frank. "One minute." I said picking up my phone and walked out.

"Hello, you called me at the right time." I said when I answered Frank's call. He giggled and asked why I said that. I explained the 'situation' in the office to him. "I really don't want to talk to him. I don't even want to see him." I complained. "This is what I tell my employees. If you don't like a situation at work tell yourself, this is purely business and the day will eventually end." Frank said. I must admit it was very good advice. I told him I was only in the meeting because my boss dropped it on me. Before I could fully explain everything I saw my boss staring at me. I rushed off the phone with Frank and walked back into the room.

"Sorry about that. Do you have any questions?" I said and sat down. Eddie smiled and nodded. He turned to Stanley and asked if he could excuse us. He claimed he wanted to discuss a few things with me in private. I wanted to object but remembered what Frank said and nodded. When Stanley was gone Eddie took off his shades. He hadn't changed much. He took a deep breath. "These past few months have made me believe in karma. I was a fool. You didn't deserve anything I did to you. You may never forgive me and I understand that but I just want you to know that no day goes by without me thinking about you." He said. I wasn't ready for what he was saying because I could feel tears about to form in my eyes.

"Eddie that's all in the past. I really don't want to talk about it." I managed to say. He nodded. "I know. I just want to let you know. I knew you wouldn't agree to see me that's why I set up this job. I told Stanley to propose to perform at this banks event just to talk to you. Nessy I'm sorry." He said. My heart started to race. If he had told me these words some months ago maybe just maybe I could have forgiven him. I put the files together and stood up. "I have heard you. Please sign the documents then. I think we are done here." I said. My eyes were teary as I walked out.

That evening Frank came to pick me up from work. He heard how gloomy I sounded over the phone and refused to let me go home alone. He took me to the beach. The same beach we went to the other time. When we sat down on the sand I told him very bluntly that I wasn't interested in playing his pebble game. He smiled and agreed we wouldn't play it. He put his arm around me and whispered. "We'll just sit here and watch the waves. If there's anything you want to say you can tell me or else we'll both just sit here and relax."

The sound of the waves was very calming. The breeze was chilly but Frank was nice and warm. After a brief moment a tear drop fell out of my eye and another followed. I could feel Frank hold me closer. I felt safe with him.

Just then I felt a sea shell hit my foot. I looked in the direction it came from and saw a man dressed in tattered clothes throwing shells at us. "Eii maame water! Papa water!" He screamed when he saw us looking at him. He looked mad. Without any warning he started throwing more than shells at us. He threw empty plastic bottles and and whole of of junk at us. "This guy is mad, let's get out of here." Frank said and  grabbed my hand to leave. As we were walking away the man noticed and started running towards us still yelling and screaming. Frank and I instantly broke into a run towards the car.

We entered Frank's car and locked the doors. Then the mad man turned around and walked away. When he was gone we looked at each other and instantly started laughing. We laughed for so long my sides hurt. When we were done laughing Frank leaned in and kissed me. His lips were a bit salty from the sea but the kiss was still amazing. "I'm sorry I just wanted to kiss you again before a mad man comes to stone me to death at the beach." Frank said and triggered our laughter again. Just like that I had forgotten all about Eddie.


To be continued...