Chapter 18

"And why is he wet?"

"It's Mutiu, he kinda lost his hold on the hose I guess." She said and the gatekeeper who was standing behind them instantly placed his hands on his head in apprehension.

"I see..." The Major was skeptical but he turned partially to scold the gatekeeper. "Mutiu, you don't make such careless mistakes next time. This man represents the Nigerian army and should be shown his due respect. Careless acts like this could cost you your life!"

"I'm sorry sir! Sorry, sir!" The gatekeeper quickly began to apologize in apprehension for what he did not do. "it's a mistake, sir! Very sorry, sir!"

"We will discuss this later." The Major said to the gatekeeper then turned to Stephen. "At ease, soldier."

Stephen dropped his hand and relaxed a little now, glancing down at his soaked self. "Permission to take my leave, sir."

"Yes dear, he was just taking his leave!" Susan quickly chipped in.

"Permission granted." Major Ali hesitantly granted and Stephen saluted once again.

As he turned and started to walk out of the compound, Susan quickly said aloud: "Say me well to uncle, tell him I'll visit when I can."

To play along, Stephen simply nodded as he glanced at the major before walking through the gate. He felt humiliated but there was nothing he could do, after all, he had brought this upon himself. Thankful that he had come in his car, he got into it and began to drive away from the Major's house, winding the window down so that the breeze and mild sun could partially dry him up before he got home.

                                                                                    ★★★

As the days passed, Stephen became depressed. He had moved back to his apartment in the barracks in order to isolate himself from friends and family. He hardly stepped out of his apartment and all he did was drink and mope over his heartbreak and last humiliation. 

He still refused to take any calls from his family who were very worried and concerned about his wellbeing. Only Jerry and Rufus occasionally came to check up on him but he made them leave immediately since he wanted to be alone. 

As the days continued to slowly tick by, he realized how still very into Susan he was and how empty he was without her. Much to his chagrin, he even realized that despite how she had treated him at the Major's house, he still wanted her so bad. He was just not ready to accept the reality that she was indeed done with him. 

Each time his phone rang, he would scramble to pick it, with the hope that she was the one calling, but he always ended up disappointed. But as more days passed and became weeks, it became very obvious that Susan didn't care about him anymore and was not even hurting like he was, and even though he was still willing to forgive and take her back so that they could start afresh again, he decided to gather everything that reminded him of her and lock inside of the two rooms in his apartment.

After confining himself to his apartment for three more weeks without stepping out, one night, Stephen decided that he had had enough and was ready to go out there and have some fun if that would help him forget about Susan faster! So, he shaved the stubble that had grown over the weeks and also cleaned up real good. Putting on a clean shirt on a pair of jeans, he left his apartment without bothering to take his car.