Chapter 23

Seyi's pov What did I just do? I said as i looked up to him. It was like the spirit that possessed me sudden left and I could finally think. I got no answer from Ray but more of a look. He was definitely worried. Did I just single-handedly destroy the best thing that has ever happened to me? My head was all over the place,all I could see was her face. Her face was filled with hurt. I can't believe I did that. I hurt her first. It dawned on me. I hurt her even before they had the chance to. I'm supposed to be protecting her damit!! Now she's all alone with this mess to deal with. What was I thinking? She chose to stay with me even after seeing just how bad things were and what did I do? I pushed her away. I pushed away the only girl I have ever truly loved. Shit! Shit! Shit! My head screamed. "She went out crying man" Ray finally spoke "You said you loved her,so what did you do that for?" Ray continued I have nothing to say. Saying I wanted to protect her by hurting her was the most stupid thing I could alter. I have never been of the school of thought that if you love someone you'll let them go. So what the hell did I just pull? "You have to do something now, before things get worse" he continued Do something? What can I do? I freaking told her I cheated, out of everything I could have said,I chose the one thing I knew would break her. "There's nothing that can be done. She won't forgive me" I said weakly "How in the hell do you know that?" He shouted I didn't reply. "Answer you jerk" he said with annoyance I didn't move my lips. He was about to say something when I interrupted "Cause I can't forgive me" I said in a defeated tone. "Good thing she isn't you then" Ray replied sarcastically "Right" I said to myself. "What are you still doing on the floor!? Go after her!!" he said frustrated "I can't" I replied while staring at the floor I could feel the hard glare Ray was directing at me but I wasn't bothered. "You can't?" He said like he couldn't believe me He took a deep breathe and said "Okay fine, why not?" I looked at him and said "I can't look her in the face after what I just said to her. I just can't. I don't want to hear her say she hates me. I don't want her to end us. I can't go through that. I just can't" "Man... are you selfish,what kind of messed up reason is that?" Ray said with anger "I'm scared" I said weakly "You're scared? How do you think she's feeling right now?" I didn't reply "You don't love her Seyi. if this is what you have to say to me then you don't love her" He said "You don't love her and you don't deserve her" He continued I felt that,I really did. "I love her man,I love her so much, so freaking much,I don't want to be without her,ever!!. I have never felt so,so...freaking happy!!!. I can't lose her like this.Not like this. I just can't" "Dimwit" He said as he shaked his head He looked at me with disbelief "Why are you still here!?" "Go get her" He urged I stood up with new found determination and left the room in a hurry. I swiftly ran downstairs and hopped into my car. I realized I wasn't with my car keys. "Shit" I ran back in. I was just about to open the door when I hit someone. I looked into those eyes *Ese!!* My head screamed "Where were you running off to?" She said looking puzzled "I thought you had finally gone crazy" she added "To find you" I replied ignoring her second statement "Well that was fast" she said with sarcasm "What?" I said feeling confused She gave me a hard look and then moved to go back in. I held her hand to stop her. "Do.not.touch.me" She said in a deadly tone as she removed her hands from mine like it burned. "I'm sor---ry" I said with a weak voice She said nothing. "Please believe me.Everything I said we're lies,nothing I said in there were true" I continued "I wasn't thinking straight.I swear I didn't mean to hurt you.I'm so sorry I hurt you.I'm sorry E". "Apology accepted" "I know it will be__ Wait what? did she just say what I think she said? She stepped backwards, I quickly held her hand in an attempt to stop her. "Did you just say you accept my apology?" I said excitedly "Yea" she replied with disinterest. And my heart sank,this definitely isn't over. "Please don't leave,I'll never ever do that again,I promise.Please don't go" I said desperately "Does it look like I'm leaving?" She said in a harsh tone It sounds that way though "What did you say?" Shit I said that out loud "Nothing" "E I was stupid,I am stupid,I don't know what I was thinking" "That's the think you obviously weren't thinking" "I'm sorry.....I thought It was the right thing to do,I was trying to protect you" "Protect me?,how was that protecting me?" "I don't know E. I don't know. I just thought it would be worse for you if you stayed with me.My life just turned into a colossal mess and I didn't want you to get wrapped up in it" "I'll grovel for as long as you want me to but please don't end us. Don't leave me" There was a long pause. "I can't. Even if I wanted to. I can't leave you Seyi" she said as tears fell from her eyes. I moved towards her and she didn't resist. I touched her cheeks and wiped the tears away. "Baby don't cry" "I'm sorry E" She sniffed and wrapped her hands around me. She hugged me tightly as I kissed her head continually. "I love you E, I'll never hurt you like that again. I promise" She mumbled "You better not" and then hit me right on the chest "You know I'll kill you if this happens again" she added I smiled. My fiery goddess. After a while,she moved to go back inside,as her body left mine the feeling of emptiness invaded my body. I quickly held her hand and pulled her back into my chest. "Please let's stay like this for a while" I said to her. "You missed me that much?" She said "You have no idea. I was so scared I had lost you" "You can't. we are stuck together remember?. I gat you" I looked down at her and I felt so blessed. I felt an intense burning,before I could recollect my thoughts my lips were already mere inches away from hers. She closed the gap by linking her lips with mine. As our lips moved in sync all I could think about was how lucky I was to have such an amazing soul love me. As we ended the kiss, with her arms still wrapped around me I mouthed "You are the only one I want and need. Only you" "Seyi" someone said interrupting us. We turned to see My Dad. "Hi dear,you must be Ese?" My dad asked "Yes I am. Good evening sir" she replied "Nice to meet you dear" he responded What in the world is happening here? "I don't understand what you are doing here and much more why you are talking to my girlfriend.But let me make it clear what you have made me learn today. You don't have a Son here and as such you don't have any reason to be here. "Seyi we have to talk" He responded "I do not want to talk to you!. I just made that pretty clear." I replied "Seyi!" Ese shouted She moved closer to me and wishpered "He is your father no matter what. You are being disrespectful" I took her hand and led her in with me. I locked the door and sat down in the living room. Ray and Eni exchanged confused looks. Deciding I didn't want to answer their questions,I walked into the kitchen. I went to the refrigerator took a bottle of water and gulped down. Took a deep breath and walked back into the living room. On getting back to the living room they didn't look as confused. Ese came up to me and said "I understand your anger. I do. But we both know you still want to hear what he has to say" I didn't say a word. "You don't have to say or do anything. Just listen" she added I was struggling to understand why she wanted me to talk to him. But I looked into her eyes and decided to listen to her. Fine. If she wants me to then I will. I said to myself. Ray opened the living room door, exchanged greetings with my dad and then they all left leaving me alone with him.

"Seyi you are my son and I love you.It doesn't seem like it now but I do" I scoffed but didn't say a thing "You lived abroad all your life so you don't get how things are here, your mother wasn't accepted by my parents because they wanted a black woman from our tribe. I couldn't acknowledge you then.I just couldn't" "I accepted this bullshit excuse for years but come on dad!! They passed away years ago and still you didn't bring me home. I was still a nobody to everyone including my own relatives. I didn't say a word about that. I never did" "But to actually see that you lied about the family you had here, I can't comprehend, you made me feel like we were more important to you and I was so stupid to believe you. You fooled I and mom for years!!" "It's all pretend,the woman I'm married to doesn't love me and neither do I. We just have to keep up appearances. You belong to the most prestigious family in Nigeria. I couldn't risk such a scandal" "You are a coward dad!!,that's what you are,you shouldn't have accepted this in the first place,you let the woman you love and your child go because you were scared to go against your parents,fucking admit it damit!" "Fine I admit,I made a mistake. I'm sorry son" "And my mom. You fooled her for all these years. She didn't know you were having the time of your life with your lovely family while you kept Us away. Wow dad just wow." "It's not real,it's all a facade,I love your mom and you. I always will" "Don't give me that. Stop lying already. You invited me to that damn party only to ignore me while I watched how much you were proud of your *only son*" "I guess you were finally ready to show me just how insignificant I am" "Don't ever repeat that. You are my first seed. My first child. The heir to the Abayomi's fortune. You can never be insign.. "Wait. Invite?,What invite?" " Erh? The invite you sent through your secretary. For the event?" "I didn't tell her to send you any invites" He replied looking pulzzed "What are you talking about?" I said "Your secretary called and gave me the invites" I added "I didn't tell her to do that" He said "Wait I don't get what you are saying. I thought you were too busy that's why you didn't tell me yourself. If you didn't tell her to invite me,then who did?"