C5 Chapter Five

Throughout the whole night, I could not sleep.

I was so eager for the next day to come. All I wanted was for day to break so I could go to Chidi's office.

I kept checking the time every minute, every second. It was as if time had suddenly stopped moving. The more I wanted the night to end, the slower the hours seemed to pass.

I couldn't sleep. The thought of visiting Chidi kept running through my mind.

Something inside me kept telling me that going to Chidi might change everything. Maybe he could help me resolve the problem between me and Ebere. Maybe he could talk to his friend and make him understand that whatever he was doing to me was wrong.

So throughout the night, I barely slept.

Finally, day broke.

The moment I looked at my watch, it was 6 a.m.

I jumped out of bed.

I brushed my teeth, took my bath, and had breakfast. I managed to sweep my room and wash the few dishes in my kitchen. After I finished everything, it was finally time to get ready.

I opened my wardrobe and chose one of my beautiful gowns.

I made sure I looked good.

I applied soft makeup and looked at myself in the mirror.

I didn't want anyone to look at me and immediately know that I was going through a problem. I didn't want anyone to see the pain written all over my face.

I wanted to look like the Chinyere they knew.

After getting ready, I headed straight to Chidi's office.

When I arrived, I opened the door and walked inside.

Chidi was one of the most cheerful person I knew. He was funny and always loved making everyone around him happy.

The moment he saw me, his face lit up.

“Wow! What a beautiful angel! Who brought an angel into my office today? What an elegant beauty!”

He continued praising me and calling me all sorts of beautiful names.

But that wasn't why I had come.

In fact, hearing him praise me only made me feel worse.

“Chidi, please stop flattering me.”

Immediately, he looked at my face properly.

“Oh no. What is the problem? What happened? Who provoked you? Who provoked this beautiful angel? Tell me. I'm ready to fight anybody.”

I tried to hold myself together.

But I couldn't.

The tears suddenly started rushing down my face.

Immediately, Chidi rushed toward me. He brought out his white handkerchief and gently wiped my tears.

“Please, my dear, don't cry. Talk to me. What is the problem? Whoever caused these tears, I'm not going to spare that person. Tell me what is really wrong.”

He helped me sit down on a chair.

I wiped my face and finally spoke.

“It is your friend.”

“My friend?”

“Yes. Ebere. Your friend is the reason for these tears.”

His eyes widened.

“What? Ebere? What did Ebere do?”

I took a deep breath.

“Ebere left me for my roommate.”

Chidi stared at me as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.

“Your roommate? Who is your roommate?”

“Ngozi. The girl I accommodated.”

He shook his head.

“Wait. That girl? Ebere left you for that girl? How can this be possible?”

He couldn't believe it.

“The same girl you accommodated in your house? The same girl you brought into your life? How can that be possible? No. Ebere has bitten what he cannot chew. Ebere cannot do this. No way.”

He kept shaking his head.

“No way!”

The more he shouted, the more tears rushed down my face.

Chidi quickly tried to calm me down.

“Please, don't cry, my dear. I'm going to talk to Ebere. I will handle this. Just don't cry.”

He looked at me with pity.

“Oh no! This beautiful face doesn't deserve to shed this kind of tears. Please, don't cry.”

After we talked for a while, I stood up to leave.

But Chidi stopped me.

“Wait. You have to take something before you leave.”

“No, Chidi. I'm not in the mood to eat or take anything.”

“I don't care. This is your first time coming to my office. I can't just allow you to leave like that.”

He insisted until I finally agreed to sit down.

He brought me a soft drink, which I drank before leaving his office.

As I walked home that day, I held on to the promise he had made to me.

I was hoping to hear good news.

I was hoping that Chidi would talk to Ebere and make him understand that whatever was happening was wrong.

But the next morning, Chidi called me.

The moment I saw his name on my phone, I rushed to pick up.

I thought he was calling with good news.

Maybe Ebere had listened to him.

Maybe he had changed his mind.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Angel. How are you?”

“I am not fine. Any news? Any good news?”

“Angel, calm down.”

I immediately became more anxious.

“Calm down? What happened?”

“Angel, I tried my best last night to talk to Ebere. We went out for the evening to have a few drinks and talk.”

I listened carefully.

“But I was surprised. Ebere didn't listen to me. He didn't even want to talk about it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I asked him, ‘How can you choose that girl over Chinyere?’”

Chidi paused.

“Do you know that Ebere nearly fought me last night because of this issue?”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

“He nearly slapped me. He told me never to interfere in his relationship or question the woman he had chosen.”

I became even more confused.

“I have never seen Ebere in this kind of condition before. I have never seen him behave this way. The person I saw last night didn't even seem like the Ebere I know.”

The moment I heard that, all the little hope I had disappeared.

I started crying again.

“No, dear. Don't cry,” Chidi quickly said. “Please don't cry. I'm not telling you this so that you will start crying again.”

I tried to control myself.

“You know what?” he continued. “I'm going to meet him today.”

“Today?”

“Yes. We're going to play pool this evening. I want you to come there.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you to talk to him yourself. Maybe he will listen to you when he sees you there. We'll be in a public place, so maybe he won't behave the way he has been behaving.”

I was silent for a moment.

“Okay, Chidi. Thank you so much for your effort. I will definitely come.”

“Please don't cry again, okay? Crying won't solve anything. It will only hurt you. I promise you, we're going to handle this. I will find out what is actually going on.”

He paused.

“Ebere will come back to you, no matter what the enemy is doing.”

I sighed.

“Okay. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your effort.”

“Please, take care of yourself.”

“I will.”

I ended the call.

That evening, I quickly got myself ready.

I chose one of my best outfits—a pair of jeans trousers and a white top. I applied soft makeup and made sure I looked good.

I wanted Ebere to notice me the moment I arrived.

I wanted him to see the woman he had spent three years loving.

Then I headed to the exact place Chidi had told me about.

When I arrived, they were already playing pool.

Immediately Chidi saw me, his face lit up.

“Angel! You're welcome.”

“Hi, Chidi.”

He smiled at me.

But the moment Ebere turned and saw me, everything changed.

His expression changed immediately.

His face became hard, and his mood completely changed, as though he had just seen his worst enemy.

“Why are you here?” he asked angrily. “What are you doing here? Who told you that am here?

He look at chidi, and immediately chidi looks away.

"Guy you told her that am here? "

I looked at him.

“Ebere, I came here because I want you to tell me what my offense is. I want you to tell me what I have done. What have I done to you?”

I hadn't even finished speaking when Ebere suddenly cut in

“Is relationship by force? Is it by force to be in a relationship with you?”

I stared at him.

“I am no longer interested. Can't you leave me alone? Can't you move on? What is all this? Why are you following me up and down?”

My heart broke.

“I hate you. Stop bothering my presence. Your presence irritates me. I hate seeing your face. Can't you understand it?”

I couldn't hold back my tears anymore.

“So you are now tired after three good years of relationship?” I cried. “You are tired just like that? With no reason, no explanation, no fight, no quarrel—nothing?

“Just like that, you are tired?”

My voice shook.

“Is this how I wasted my time for three whole years, only for you to tell me that you are tired? This is not fair, Ebere.

“Tell me what I did. At least let me know my offense. Let me know what I really did to you that made you reject me like this.

“You can't just break up with me like this.”

But Ebere didn't care.

He turned back to the pool table and continued playing as though I wasn't even there.

I couldn't accept it.

I walked closer to him and held his hand.

He immediately turned around and raised his hand as if he wanted to slap me.

I stepped back in fear.

But before he could do anything, Chidi appeared.

“Never try that!” Chidi warned him. “Not when I'm here.”

Ebere stared at him.

“You think you can do whatever you've been doing before and nobody will interfere? If you ever try that here, I will show you that you're not the only mad person here.

“What is wrong with you? Why are you treating this girl like this? What has she done to you?

“How can you hit a woman who has done nothing to you?”

Ebere looked at Chidi angrily.

“Oh, so this is it, man? Now you want to fight me because of this girl, abi?”

Chidi frowned.

“Now I can see it. You would have tell me that something is going on between you two. You should have told me from the beginning.”

“What are you talking about?” Chidi asked.

“You have teamed up with her. So you two planned this in other to ruin my day , right?!"

Chidi shook his head.

“I don't know what you're talking about. But I have to stand for the truth. This girl has done nothing to you. She doesn't deserve this.”

Ebere scoffed.

“Anyway, I don't care. If you want to marry her, go ahead and marry her. If you want to do anything with her, go ahead. But let her never appear in my presence again.

“Any day she appears in my presence, she will not like what I will do to her.”

He dropped his pool cue and stormed out.

I couldn't hold myself back.

I immediately ran after him.

“Ebere! Wait!”

I hurried after him, trying to catch up with him.

“At least look at me! At least tell me what I did! Let me know my offense. Please, talk to me.

“Ebere, you cannot do this to me!”

I kept calling him.

“Baby! Please! This is not fair. Talk to me. Tell me what I did.”

I reached out and grabbed his hand.

He immediately pushed me away.

I lost my balance and fell hard onto the ground.

My back hit the ground painfully.

Ebere didn't even look back.

He simply walked away.

“Honey! Please!”

I cried out.

“Ebere, please look at me! It is me, your baby. It is me, your angel. What have I done?”

As I sat there crying, Chidi rushed toward me.

He helped me up and held me carefully.

“Please, Chinyere. Don't cry anymore.”

He wiped my tears with his handkerchief.

“You can't continue doing this to yourself. You need to move on.”

I shook my head.

“No, Chidi. I still love him. I still love my man.”

I wiped my face.

“And something inside me keeps telling me that whatever Ebere is doing today, he is not doing it on his own. Something is manipulating him. Somebody is manipulating him to do all these things.”

Chidi looked at me carefully.

“I don't know why, but I am convinced that something is wrong. You know your friend. You know Ebere very well. Your friend can never treat me this way. Something is not right.”

Chidi nodded slowly.

“Yes. I understand. Something is not right.”

He looked around before continuing.

“And that is exactly why you need to stay away from him for now.”

I looked at him.

“If you continue coming close to him like this and following him everywhere, he might end up seriously hurting you. He could disfigure you or even put your life in danger.”

I lowered my head.

“You need to stay away for now. Stop going after him. Let us figure out what is happening and find a way to handle this.”

I stopped crying.

After everything, I knew Chidi was right about one thing.

I couldn't continue putting myself in danger.

He helped me into his car and offered to drop me home.

I accepted.

As I sat inside the car, I looked through the window and watched the place disappear behind us.

I still loved Ebere.

I still didn't understand what had happened to him.

But one thing was certain.

The man I knew would never have treated me this way without a reason.

And deep inside my heart, I knew there was something I had not yet discovered.

To be continued.