FEIRE
No one would understand my fears.
No one would truly understand what I am going through and everyone might keep wondering why I couldn’t simply say yes and move on to a new chapter.
But it is not that easy.
I loved Desmond.
And I think a part of me still does.
His love also felt real. He meant every word he said to me back then. I never doubted him for once.
I never knew he was building our castle on sinking sand and now another man has arrived, ready to begin another building entirely.
I am not sure I am ready for all these again.
My heart hasn’t fully let Desmond go yet.
Fola is a good man, but I am certainly not ready for this yet.
As painful and embarrassing as it looked, trust me, I really had no choice.
“Do you think there are other people he offended?” Kike’s father asked.
“I don’t think so.” She shook her head. “I never heard of any threat whatsoever. I honestly don’t think there can be anybody else apart from Uche.”
Her mother sighed.
“Why exactly did you break up with Uche too?”
Kike frowned slightly and shrugged.
“He’s not my kind of person.”
Her mother laughed softly.
“You entered a relationship with somebody who was not your type and then left him for another man. I honestly feel you shouldn’t have gone into any relationship with him from the beginning.”
“See ehn, this is not the time for this type of discussion.” Her father interrupted. “I think our major concern now should be how to find this boy and arrest that idiot.”
“Exactly.” Kike supported immediately.
“I knew you wouldn’t let me talk. I already knew.”
“That issue is gone already, dear.” he replied. “Does it automatically mean he kidnapped Desmond? Must everything end in marriage?”
“I hope this has not been concluded yet.” her mother replied calmly. “These are still allegations.”
“Mum, who else could have done it if not that guy? Who else?”
“Like you said, you don’t know whether Desmond has issues with other people. I think it would also be wise to speak with his friends too.”
“It couldn’t have been those boys.” her father shook his head immediately.
“I never said they did it. I said they might know something or suspect someone. Friends usually know things about each other people outside won’t know.”
Kike nodded slowly.
“That actually makes sense. Let me call Bayo.”
“You have his number?”
“Yes. I collected it during the week.”
She stood up immediately.
Susan had been seriously lashing her brother, Uche, for attempting to stop the wedding over an allegation he wasn’t even sure about.
She was still venting angrily when the police arrived to arrest him.
It was already late and she didn’t want to involve their parents because their mother had high blood pressure and the news could worsen her condition badly.
She honestly didn’t know how to handle the situation, especially after the officers refused to allow her enter their vehicle.
So she quickly entered Uche’s car and followed them to the police station.
She was still upset because she strongly believed Kike’s family arranged the arrest to punish her brother for disgracing them publicly at the wedding.
Couldn’t they at least wait till morning before arresting him?
She didn’t even know any lawyer she could contact.
She simply followed the police vehicle until they got to the station where Uche was detained.
When she tried asking about bail, they mocked her lightly and advised her to sit quietly while they prepared to interrogate him.
Less than thirty minutes later, Uche was taken into the interrogation room.
“I’m sorry.” Feire finally gathered courage to speak as Fola came outside to meet her.
“I understand your current state, Feire.” he replied calmly. “I understand that you are shattered and probably just need time to gather yourself again.”
He smiled faintly.
“I’m not going to pretend my proposal didn’t come too fast. I only wanted to pull your mind away from Desmond.”
She remained quiet.
“See, many times when people say they want to heal, what they really spend that period doing is crying repeatedly and locking themselves away emotionally.”
He paused briefly.
“You cage your heart, isolate yourself and keep feeding yourself unnecessary pain. If you channel that same energy into things that bring joy instead, don’t you think that would help better?”
She lowered her eyes without replying.
“I honestly feel some of these things are overrated, Feire.” he continued softly. “Sometimes the process people call healing only destroys them further. That period becomes the time they make emotional decisions that still hurt them later.”
He exhaled slowly.
“Trust me, let me be honest with you. Even if you take two years to heal properly before giving someone your heart again, cheating will still remain a choice.”
She looked at him.
“Anybody you eventually give your heart to, whether it’s me or another person, will still choose either to protect your heart or destroy it.”
He shrugged.
“Relationships have always been risky. You hand your whole heart over to another human being and hope they handle it carefully. But the outcome doesn’t always depend on how long you spent thinking before entering it.”
He smiled gently.
“I’m not saying all these to pressure you into accepting me. But at the same time, taking many months to think still doesn’t guarantee I won’t repeat exactly what Desmond did.”
Feire sighed quietly.
“A babe?” Kike frowned immediately as Bayo accidentally exposed Desmond’s secret to her.
It suddenly felt like she was speaking to a completely different person.
Desmond never mentioned any serious lady to her before.
Not once.
And now she was hearing that the lady even attended the wedding.
She ended the call slowly, deep in thought.
Should she tell her parents?
But if she explained the full situation, they would eventually discover that the pregnancy wasn’t even Desmond’s.
She decided to remain quiet instead and refused to believe Desmond’s ex could be responsible for his disappearance.
“He mentioned someone?” her father asked.
Kike smiled faintly and nodded.
“Yes. Something like that. Bayo said they recently had issues with someone and the person even attended the wedding.”
“Really?” her mother asked. “What is wrong with you children these days? You people enter fights bigger than you and pay for them later. Who exactly is this new person again?”
“They don’t know much about the person either.” Kike lied carefully. “But honestly, I still feel it is Uche.”
Her father’s phone buzzed immediately.
“Hello sir, what’s the latest?” he asked.
There was a brief pause.
“Very good. Please make sure he confesses. We’ll be there first thing tomorrow morning.”
He ended the call.
“They’ve arrested Uche already, right?” Kike asked.
“Yes.” her father nodded. “They’ve started interrogating him already and the officer said we shouldn’t worry. The truth will soon come out.”
“Come and propose again.” Feire held Fola’s hand and slowly led him back toward the living room.
“Are you serious?” Fola brightened immediately.
She stopped and faced him properly.
“Firstly, I don’t want this to end as an embarrassment before everybody inside there.”
He listened quietly.
“Secondly, what you said actually made sense.”
“And thirdly?”
“If this would help me get over Desmond faster, then maybe I should give it a chance.”
She paused briefly.
“Lastly, Fola…”
“What is it?”
“I might act strangely sometimes. I might get scared. I might behave funny. In fact…”
He gently squeezed her hand.
“No matter how difficult you become, I’m ready to help you heal until you’re able to love me fully.”
She swallowed hard.
“Pushing you away won’t solve anything either.” he added.
“But getting frustrated because of my actions would only worsen everything.”
“That, I promise I won’t do.”
“Is that truly a promise?”
“Yes.” he winked lightly.
She sighed.
“A part of me still belongs to him.”
“You will heal, Feire.”
“Even if I mistakenly call you Desmond someday?”
He laughed softly.
“You won’t even have the chance. You’ll eventually forget him completely.”
“I’m scared.”
“This time you have Stella, Mosun and everybody inside there as witnesses. This relationship won’t be hidden.”
He smiled.
“My sister already likes you too much to even allow me look at another woman.”
Feire laughed faintly.
“But doesn’t it still sound strange? Leaving one relationship and entering another immediately?”
Fola chuckled.
“You never truly left the first one emotionally. Besides, the major reason for this is not even romance first. You need healing.”
“Your words are too sugar-coated.”
He smiled.
“The woman Desmond married today did the exact same thing to me.”
Feire looked up sharply.
“I know what it feels like being trapped emotionally for years. Loving you helped me heal too, not the period I spent angry and avoiding women.”
She hummed quietly.
“Let’s go.”
And together, they stepped back into the living room.