The bad boy’s backup Plan

Moving on

Getting over Wiza has been so hard.

It has been two weeks since I last saw him at the game.

Lately he has been posting photos of Gina and himself. I have been lying to myself that I will get over him but it has been hard. Watching the two of them posting photos all over social media is killing me slowly.

I am supposed to be in the photos with him and his stupid ex-girlfriend that keeps crawling back into his life. I cannot do this anymore. I will just block him on f*******:, i********: so that I do not have to subject myself to the pain of watching him happy with someone else. I will block his w******p contact from my status list as well. The posts are all over and very overwhelming for me.

Its Saturday and I am currently manning our stand, the Mart speedy stand. We are exhibiting at the Agricultural and Commercial show within show grounds. It was a suggestion I gave during one of the stand-up meetings we have very Monday morning. I suggested we exhibit during the show to grow and attract more cliental. The owner of mart speedy agreed to my random suggestion and unfortunately for me, I am manning the stand all by myself.

Hellen was excited when he agreed because then she can sneak out and wonder off to admire or buy random things for herself, but the boss said she can only come and help me when it gets very busy.  I was all alone yesterday, thank God it was not as busy as it is today. The only challenge I have is finding someone to watch the stand when I want to use the bathroom which is also not close to where the stand is.

I enter inside the gazebo to get some more of the flyers from the box to refill the flyer stand that is outside. The flyers are finishing quickly, a lot of people are stopping by our stand and recommending others to come by.

“Nandi, please come over to the front.” I hear Hellen for me.

“Just a minute, I am getting some more flyers from the boxes.” I respond.

“Hurry, someone is asking for you.” I hear Hellen say, who can be looking for me at the show? Maybe one of the clients I saw yesterday, a lot of them kept promising to come back but neither one of them did. I pick up a few more flyers and brochures then go out of the gazebo.

“Who is looking for me?” I ask as I quickly refill the flyer stand.

“That guy over there.” she points at someone who is standing a foot away giving me their back.

“He is cute I did not know you have taste,” she teases me. “If you do not want him please pass him over.” she winks at me.

Who is she referring too?

The strangers turns around to face me with both his hands deep inside his pockets.

Why is he here?

Has he come to gloat in my face?

“What are you doing here Wiza?” I asked wishing he would just vanish into thin air.

“I needed to see you. I have not been able to reach you the last couple of days.” he says.

“Wiza go away I am busy.” I try to get rid of him, but he is still standing in front of me not leaving.

“I am not leaving until I talk to you. Why have you blocked me on all your social media platforms?” he asks sounding very vexed.

People are starting to watch us argue and I do not want that. I put away the last flyers I have in my hands then pull him aside from the stand.

“Look, you cannot just show up here and start causing confusion.” I try to sound as precise as possible. I do not want to see him or make a scene.

“I did not come to cause confuse. I just wanted to see and talk to you.” he says with a straight face.

“Why? I thought I am no longer useful to you.” I fold my arms on my chest.

“You are. I miss you. I miss us Nandi.”

“Just stop there!” I snap with my hand raised in his face.

“What happened to Gina, she left you again and you remembered that I existed?” I ask and his reaction is unexpected.

He scoffs, “Funny you are saying that because it’s true. Gina did leave me for someone else actually.”

I do not understand why I am now feeling bad for saying something I did not expect to be true. I mean Brian mentioned this always happens, but I thought this time was different.

“The past weeks have been crazy, I enjoyed every moment I spent with you, but I felt something was missing and when Gina came back and apologized for leaving me, I kind of missed the old times and then we just started hanging out and I did not know what or how to tell you about Gina. Then you showed up at the game and I was not expecting you to show up. I freaked out and behaved the way I did. I am really sorry Nandi, I did not mean to hurt you the way I did.”

I am lost for words. He has just used the words I have been longing to hear. I have been waiting for him to apologies and tell me that he misses me.

“Why are you really here Wiza?” I ask.

“I am here to apologize for being stupid and breaking your heart, I am asking for another chance to be with you.” he says.

I am speechless, what do I say to him now. Should I forgive him and give him another chance?

“I need to get back to work.” I say. I cannot give him the answer he needs right now.

I turn to walk away but then he grabs my wrist pulling me back towards him. Next thing I find myself responding to the kiss. I have missed kissing him so much it feels good.

This is wrong and I should not be doing this after al the things he has put me through over the past few weeks.

I pull away, the kiss is too draining and making me doubt my decisions.

“Please Nandi” he begs.

“I will think about it.” I tell him then he lets go of me.

“Call me when you get off work, I will come pick you up.” he says then walks away before I can say anything.

My day gets busy right after he leaves. I do not even have time to think about what I want to do. I hate that I am in this dilemma and I must decide. I text both Audrey and Brian telling them that Wiza came by and all that he said to me. Audrey is still so angry with Wiza and does not want me and him getting back together. I understand her and I know she would have made sure if she were here.

Brian on the other hand says I should follow my heart and do what makes me happy. Wiza makes me happy but at the same time he has caused me the most pain and that is not how life should be. One person should not cause you so much pain and still claim to care about you.

Deep down in my soul I know I will give him another chance because I went beyond just liking him, I started to fall in love with him. I still have feelings for him.

After work I do not call Wiza because my dad is here to pick me up and I know what is on his agenda. Making me drive through the worst traffic ever. Show grounds has the worst traffic this time of the year. Everyone is leaving the show and trying to get somewhere. This is the worst punishment dad has ever bestowed on me.

“That was fun.” he says as we enter the house.

“Dad that was not fun!” I snap at him which makes him laugh.

“It was.” he insists.

“That big truck could have swept us off the road.” I say.

On the way home I came face to face with a huge truck that really scared the day lights out of me. Dad told me to keep steady and not to feel intimidated. So I stayed in my lane and focused on my driving.

“But it did not. Do you know why?” he asks.

“Why dad?”

“Because you my baby girl, are a good driver.”

“You are only saying that because you are my dad. You are supposed to say nice things about me.”

“No, I am not, if you were a bad driver, I would not continue encouraging you to drive.” he finishes his speech then plants a soft kiss on my forehead.

“How was your day darling?” my mom asks in her sweet voice.

I move closer to her and give her a hug. She is setting the table for supper. She seems to be in a good mood, and I am so sure she has prepared an amazing meal for supper.

“My day was okay, I am exhausted from the events of today.” I respond.

“I am happy to hear your day was okay.” mom says with a smile.

“But your husband,” I pause and look at my dad who is not standing too far from both of us. “decided to ambush me by showing up and giving me a forced driving session.” I say angrily. Mom chuckles and so does my dad.

“Honey, our daughter is a good driver.” dad says moving closer to mom then gives her a kiss on her cheek.

“Okay I give up, Mom do you need help with anything?” I ask.

“No, my darling, I am actually done.” she says.

“Okay, let me take a shower before supper then.” I excuse myself heading straight to my room.

I get my phone out of my pocket and anything else that is there before I change out of my clothes which are going straight into the laundry basket.

The notification light keeps flashing on my phone. I unlock it and fin messages from Wiza,

                Wiza 18:00; Hey, what happened I was waiting for your call.

                Wiza 18:15; Can I see you tomorrow after work? If tomorrow is not possible even Monday.

                Wiza 19:05; Please talk to me Nandi, I miss you.

I thought about what Brian said ‘Listen to your heart and do what makes you happy’ I am going to follow my heart and get back with Wiza but not today, I need my peace tonight. I can call him tomorrow depending on how my day goes. I connect my phone to the charger and head to take a shower.

After my shower I join my family at the dinner table. We were all enjoying my mom’s food, anything she cooks is always delicious.

“Nandi, I have not heard you talk about school. Are you not planning to go to university?” my dad asks.

“I do plan to go to university dad, just that I did not get into the school I wanted this year.” I respond to his question.

“And which school is this that did not accept my intelligent daughter?” he asks.

“The university of Malaysia dad.”

“Oh, I remember you mentioned it to me that you and Audrey had applied to that school.” mom chips in.

“Yes, we did and only Audrey got in for this year’s intake. I was told that for the program I applied for I could only start in July next year.”

“How come I am hearing this for the first time?” my dad asks.

“Do you ever listen or ask?” my mom ask him, “Nandi has been talking about going to Malaysia for the past two years now.”

“Yes dad, do you even know what I want to study?” I ask him.

“Engineering?” he guesses wrong.

“No dear, she wants to get a double major in Business & Commerce and Communication & Media studies.” mom informs dad.

Mom is always listening to what I have to say as well as know my interests. Dad never pays attention, all he does most times is try to convince me to do something that is not me. He never misses an opportunity trying to convince me into doing something a boy should be doing. Dad really wanted a male child, but God only blessed him and mom with two girls.

“Oh wow, I need to listen more to you my baby girl.” dad squeezes my hand across the table. “Although I was so sure you want to do mechanical engineering.”

Mom and I roll our eyes skywards.

Aunt Miriam and Kuzipa have not said nothing while we have been talking about school, they are having their own little conversation.

“On another note, I need to inform you all on something that has come up at work.” dad says getting all our attention.

 “I got a promotion to be Zambia’s ambassador to Madagascar.” everyone’s mouth hung open at this moment except Kuzipa who seems excited.

How can dad just drop the bomb on all of us like this?

I do not know what is going on in my mom’s head, but I am thinking about how my life is about to change. Moving to a new country aside from going to Malaysia was the only thing on my agenda. I do not want to leave my life behind and start a new one elsewhere now when I will have to do the same thing in a few months from now.

“C’mon, is anyone not going to say something?” he asks, “Anything?”

“Yeah!!!!!” Kuzipa claps her hands cheerfully, I bet she does not understand that she will have to leave all her friends behind and face all the consequences that come with us moving to a new country.

“Congratulations?” Aunt Miriam says with a fake smile and does not sound as enthusiastic as she always is.

“Dad………Madagascar is all the way…” I start before mom cuts me off.

“How could you? You said you would not take the promotion!” mom says very angry.

“I…I…” dad tries to say something, but she does not let him finish.

“We talked about this and we agreed you would not take the job!” she says then pushes her chair back and leaves the table very angry.

“Way to go brother.” Says Aunt Miriam before she leaves the table carrying Kuzipa with her.

“Are you angry with me too?” dad asks me.

I honestly do not know how to respond. Yes, I am angry that we must move but he is my dad and I trust his decision regardless of why he decided to take the job.

“I love you dad and I know you love us all. Only you know why you took that promotion. So now you need to man up and face your angry wife.” I pat his shoulder and he chuckles.

I stand up and so does he, “Thanks baby girl. I am going in now, wish me luck and if you hear me scream please come rescue me from her.” his joke makes me laugh.

“Sure, thing dad.”  

I remain clearing the table. Putting away all the leftovers and washing the dishes that are dirty.  Once I am finished, I head to my room. I change into my pajamas and get into bed. just when I close my eyes to rest, my phone starts to ring.

Who could be calling me this time? I grab it from the charger and pick the call without checking who is calling me at this ungodly time.

“Hello?”

“Hey beautiful.” I hear Wiza’s voice through the phone’s earpiece.

“Hey Wiza, how are you?” I ask.

“Sad.” he says.

“Why, what is wrong?” I ask hoping nothing bad has happened to him.

“You have not forgiven me, and you did not want to see me after you got off work.” he says

“I have forgiven you. And the reason I could not see you after work today was because my dad picked me up.” I tell him, “When I got home my phone battery had discharged so I just plugged it in and forgot to check it until now.”

“Guess I called at the right time.” he chuckles “So how was your day?”

“My day was okay.”

Wiza and I go on talking for half an hour before I finally say goodnight because I have work the next day. I agree to seeing him on Tuesday because I have a day off after working the entire weekend which is a holiday.