Running Away From Romeo Chapter 4

When we got to the man’s car, he said “my name is Emmanuel, I didn’t like what I saw. Why were those women beating you like that? Even if you were wrong, what they did to you was bad.” I was in pain so I couldn’t talk. Emmanuel left me in his car and he went to the shops and came back with some clothes. I changed into the new clothes he bought for me and I asked him to take me home but he insisted on taking me to the hospital first just to make sure that I was okay. When we reached my place, we exchanged numbers and he said “I’ll call you this evening to check up on you and please stay away from that woman’s husband.” After Emmanuel left, I called Charity, when she arrived, she laughed at me mercilessly while I was in serious pain. I tried calling Richard but his lines were off. My entire body was in serious pain, Charity massaged me then she cooked some food for me. we decided to watch a movie when we heard a knock at the door, when I peeped it was Richard standing there with bouquet of flowers. I didn’t want to talk to him so I chased him but he refused to leave. I opened the door and he knelt down and apologized for his wife’s actions. Before I could even say a word, Charity said “so ba Richard you came all the way from thornpark to just deliver a bouquet of flowers? Flowers that won’t last a week, my friend is in pain and all you could think of was flowers and a bar of chocolate. Be serious boss.” Then Richard said “I’ll make it up to you Chipo, for now just accept these flowers. I didn’t know my wife would go through my phone.” Richard pissed me off so I said “are you a baby Richard? Every man who cheats on his wife has a password on his phone so tell me why your phone had no password. Your wife and her friends stripped me naked and all you could think of was buying a bouquet of flowers when I’m in serious pain. Anyway I’m going to bed now so you can kindly leave my room.”

Immediately Richard left, I received a call from Emmanuel who said “hey Emmanuel here, I know it’s late but I wanted to check up on you. Get well soon and remember to stay away from that married man. Good night.” Charity who listened to our conversation said “hmm… he has a nice voice and I’m sure he is more handsome in person. Is that the guy that helped you today? Send him a text and invite him for lunch as a token of appreciation.” I sent Emmanuel a text inviting him for lunch and he said he was busy but he could pass through my place after work.

Three days later I still didn’t hear from Emmanuel so I deleted his number and started focusing on my studies because my final exams were approaching. One day Richard called me and asked to meet me, I told him to come to my place and when he came, he said “you are graduating in 3 months’ time which means our contract will be terminated but if you want, I can continue being your provider at least till you get married.” But I said “Richard your wife is crazy. She will end up killing me so it’s better we end this relationship now. Thank you for sponsoring me but I can’t continue seeing you. I’m scared of your wife. Those beatings she gave me were really painful.” Richard was disappointed then he said “I know my wife is a problem. I’ll always cherish the moments we spent together. But don’t delete my number, I can be of help to you in the near future.” We hugged and he left. I felt lonely and incomplete, I just realized that I actually loved him. I was with him for 4 yrs and indeed I developed feelings for him.

I graduated and Richard bought me a vitz as my graduation gift. I started searching for a job but I couldn’t find any. One day I took my papers at a private company and the secretary told me to wait for her boss. 30 minutes later her boss came and guess who her boss was… EMMANUEL. We hadn’t seen each other in 4 months so I knew he wouldn’t recognize me.