Rift 8 (Finale)

The next day after work Steven noticed I wasn't in a good mood he took me to a nearby restaurant during lunch time to cheer me up. We placed our order and I was about to pour out to him about how I was feeling but he brought up Nina in our conversation. "Since the magic you did to my studio is done I was planning to have a grand opening. It won't be anything too fancy. Just a cocktail. What do you think?" He asked. I told him it was a brilliant idea and then he went on.

"So I was thinking about inviting Nina. I know you two aren't on good terms anymore so I want to know if you are ok with it. If you don't want her around I'll just leave her out," I wasn't expecting this at all. I told Steven it was absolutely fine to invite her even though that was a lie. He smiled excitedly and asked me to help him with the planning. I almost asked him why he wouldn't give this task to his girlfriend but I knew that would offend him. Besides I enjoyed spending time with him and just then I had a brilliant idea. If Nina was coming to the cocktail she would definitely bring her boo along to spite me. This was the perfect time to pay her back for what she did in a grand way.

The day for the studio opening came much faster than I expected. My plan seemed nice and flawless. I got to Steven's place a couple of hours early to help set up the place. Just as I was expecting, his Selina was around, finally. With her tiny jeans shorts and oversized tshirt I guessed she came the night before and slept over. Immediately she saw me she shook my hand and complimented me on the amazing job I did. Her warm smile gave me mixed feelings. A part of me was happy Steven had a very nice girlfriend but another part of me was jealous.

I saw Steven walk towards me and I prayed he wasn't going to lecture me about the amount of alcohol I was drinking. He took my hand and we walked to a quieter corner. “You won't believe it, Max T is here! Did you invite him?” he asked excitedly. I looked at him with a puzzled look and he pointed to a man standing in front of the drinks table talking to a bunch of guys. “Oh right you don't know him. He's one of the biggest managers in Ghana. He has over 20 artists his managing at the moment. You know Rickie, Akosua Soul, Lil Crack?,” He asked and I nodded. They were popular musicians. “He manages them. If he decides to use my studio eh, I go hit rough!” Steven exclaimed. I smiled at the thought of it. He was such a hard working guy he deserved a big break. Just then Nina and Fii walked in. My heart skipped a beat when I saw them.

“Steven, Afua!” Nina called and walked to us. She hugged me first and Steven next. Fii and I just nodded at each other. “Is Max T here yet?” Nina asked. Steven's eyes lit up immediately. “Wait, you invited him?” He asked and she nodded. “Come, let's go for a proper introduction. I definitely want you and him making our wedding playlist,” she replied taking his hand. As the three of them headed for the bar they turned to look at me. “Aren't you coming?” Nina and Steven asked at the same time. I quickly told them my usual lie. “You go ahead, I need to make an important phone call,” I took out my phone and walked out briskly as they left.

I wasn't at all ready for what happened. Was Nina actually announcing her wedding? What was the point telling Nina about Fii’s attempted kiss? What if he spin it around and made it look like I was the one who wanted to kiss him? My only witness was Julian and he was Fii's cousin. Things were not looking as concrete as I had planned days ago. “Stop getting cold feet!” I whispered to myself. I shook my head and gulped down another cocktail.

When I got outside I leaned on one of the pillars. I asked myself what at all I was doing. Going home at that very moment made so much sense to me. Maybe it was time to accept that I was the miserable one and just move on. I took a deep breath and and started walking towards the gate. “Afua!” I heard from behind. It was Steven. I knew exactly what he was going to say and I didn't want to hear it. I turned around reluctantly and saw the concerned look on his face. He hugged me and tears started to flow down my cheeks. I couldn't take it anymore. It's like he knew how I was feeling.

Just then I remembered how it would look if Selina came to see us. I moved back immediately trying to wipe my tears quickly. “I need to go. I don't want Selina to, I think it's a bit…” I stuttered. Steven looked at me as if he didn't understand what I was saying. “Just go, go and celebrate today with your girlfriend ok?” I finally said. I expected him to shrug and convince me to stay but instead he let out a laugh. I couldn't tell what was funny so I asked him. “Oh that's what it was,” he whispered to himself. “What?” I asked again. “Selina is not my girlfriend. I don't know where you got that from. She's my cousin. Don't you remember her from uni? She used to cook for me sometimes,” he replied. I stood there confused and embarrassed at the same time. “Oh, really? I don't quite remember. Ok,” I said feeling very silly.

“I knew inviting Nina would make you feel uncomfortable. I shouldn't have…” He started but I stopped him halfway and told him it was fine and today was about him and his studio. “So will you come back inside with me? All of this wouldn't have happened without you. You are the pillar,” Steven said. I don't know if it was the alcohol, the words or the newly acquired information. I took a step closer to him and kissed him. He kissed me back and when I saw him smiling after the kiss I was relieved. “Wow, I didn't expect that. Now I'm wondering if going going back to the party is necessary,” he said and we both laughed. He took my hand and walked back to the party giggled and whispering to each other. I realized that moving on was always the best idea. At least it brought me and Steven together.

The End

Broken 10

Kevin drove to the party and immediately I got inside the house I calmed down. The environment was very bubbly and fun. It was perfect for the plan. In less than an hour I was going to know the truth.

"Yo Kevin, who's this lovely lady?" One of his friends asked. He smiled, held me close and said, "this is Maggie. Maggie this is Kwesi." I smiled and said hello. I excused myself shortly after and walked outside. Kevin used to introduce me to his friends as his girlfriend. I guess we weren't officially together again. I knew this but it still hurt. "Maggie, what are you doing?" I whispered to myself. I took out my phone and called Pablo. There was music in the background so I guessed he was out. "Hey, how's it going?" He asked. I gave a sigh of disappointment in myself. "I don't know what I'm doing Pablo." I said. "What do you mean? Should I go over the plan with you again?" He said. Just then I heard Maxine's voice. All of a sudden I felt weird. "Oh you are at your party with Maxine. I'm sorry for interrupting." I said. Pablo quickly cut in and told me I wasn't interrupting anything. "Pablo I need to go. Kevin is in the right position now. I'll call you back." I lied and hung up. I looked for a place to sit but I heard Kevin call me. I turned around and faked a smile. He asked me to join him inside. I walked back into the house and met more of his friends.

I was ready to execute the plan after a while but Kevin had his phone in his pocket the whole time. It was almost like he knew. At a point in the night I got uncomfortable. I didn't really like his friends. They were just too loud. Then I thought about Pablo and how he was probably having a really good time. I took out my phone to text him and noticed he had called me 3 times. I walked to the washroom to call him back. Unfortunately he didn't answer so I went back to Kevin who looked like he was leaving. I was so excited when he said he was tired and so we should go. I nodded and we walked to the car.

When we got into the car Kevin put his phone into his glove compartment. "Ah I forgot to give Kwesi his money. Hang on I'll be right back." he said and walked off. This was too easy. I grabbed Kevin's phone. I called him with my phone and with the call still on I had access to his WhatsApp messages. I went through them and found Daisy.

My heart was pounding when I went through the messages. I was totally surprised. It was nothing I had ever imagined. Kevin had contacted her first telling her he was sorry about the mix up and that he needed her help to make things right again. She seemed hesitant at the beginning but later sent "fine what do you want me to do. I'm only doing this because it seems Maggie wants to give you another chance and my husband said I should be nice." Kevin then told her he wanted to ask me out again like he did when we met. The memory of that day floated into my mind. He took me to a resort out of town for the weekend and asked me to be his girlfriend.

The messages with Daisy suggested that he wanted to take me outside the country this time as a surprise. He needed my passport information and wanted Daisy to get it without me knowing. The last message from Daisy was my passport information. She sent him a photo of it and from the background I could tell it was the day I gave her the keys to my place. A smile formed on my face but I felt bad. I didn't trust my best friend and Kevin. I should have known it was nothing serious. Pablo's idea was definitely a good one. I thought of calling him and remembered he was out with Maxine. I put the phone back just in time before Kevin returned.


To be continued.... 

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Broken 9

When I got to Pablo's office I set up my laptop next to his and sat down. He sat next to me and got right to it. We were less than 5 minutes in when Daisy walked in. She said hi to Pablo and smiled at me. I shook my head and walked out to talk to her. "You guys look so cool together." She said when we left his office. "He's interested in Maxine, there's nothing going on. What's up?" I snapped. Daisy seemed shocked. She asked why I thought he liked Maxine but I ignored her question and just kept asking what she wanted. "Ei someone is in a bad rabbit mood today. I sent you messages but you didn't reply. I see you are not going home anyime soon. Wanted to borrow your hair curler." She finally said. I remember seeing her messages and ignored them. "I'm not going to be home for a while. I'll give you my keys so you pick it up. Leave them at the usual place when you are done ok? I need to go." I said. I gave her my keys and went back. Daisy was surprised but she left without saying another word.

"Did you ask her about the call?" Pablo asked when I came back. I shook my head. The tutorial took about an hour. Pablo was really good at coding and coupled with his sense of humour it was so much fun. I couldn't believe the amount I learnt in just an hour. I ordered food and made sure to buy some our security man so he wouldn't disturb us. We were the only ones left at this time. "Have you decided what you are going to do about the conversation you heard?" Pablo asked as we devoured the jollof we bought. I shook my head. "I'm not sure. I trust Daisy. I don't think she's seeing him. She's happily married. Maybe it was another Daisy." I said. Kevin and I were planning to meet over the weekend. I was planning to ask him then but I didn't tell Pablo.

"So are you dating Maxine?" I asked. Pablo almost choked on his food. "What?" He asked after drinking some water. I starred at him waiting to hear a reply. "Maxine from the marketing department? No I'm not dating her. That's a weird question." he continued. I shook my head. "No, it's not. She told me you asked her to have drinks with you." I said. Pablo nodded. "Ooh that. Yes I did. It's Kofi's birthday. The guys were planning to little hangout and I asked some girls to come. Maxine, Florence and another lady. So no we are not dating." He explained. I smiled. I looked on my phone and saw Kevin was calling me. I excused myself to take the call.

Kevin called to make plans for the weekend. He said he missed me and really wanted to see me. That sounded so unlike Kevin. He said there was a party he wanted to go to and would pick me up at about 7. I wasn't very excited about it but I agreed anyway. I was temped to ask him about his conversation with Daisy but I decided not to. When I ended the call I noticed it was getting late. I picked up my bag and packed up to leave.

When we got to the car park I stopped and turned to Pablo. "Do you think Daisy is sleeping with Kevin? I find it hard to think about that because she doesn't like him at all." I asked. Pablo looked surprised. He thought for a while and came up with a plan. He said it wasn't a good thing to do but it was my best bet to get an honest answer. His plan was brilliant! I hugged him and said I would do it. We laughed over how excited I was and parted ways.

At 7pm on Saturday I was all dressed up and ready for the party. I sat down in my couch waiting for Kevin. My heart raced a bit when I heard his car pull up in front of my place. I grabbed my bag, took a deep breath and walked to his car after locking up. "Wow you look smashing!" Kevin said when I got into the car. I smiled and he leaned in to kiss me. It didn't feel as good as it used to but I tried to play along. I didn't want him to notice anything odd. The plan would be ruined if he did.


To be continued...