Chapter Fifty-Three – All Good Things Must Come to an End

All good things must come to an end. That is what I have learned over the past eight weeks being newly single. It had not been in my bingo card to start third year alone but people rarely plan these things.

You think you know someone but you really don’t. I know you guys might be thinking that I was the problem, as multiple times during the relationship I had been the weapon fashioned against us, but reader, I am here to in fact confirm, that I was not the problem.

Have you ever watched those breakup videos where the person is like “I never saw it coming”? That’s me. I really did think Sly and I would make it out. I guess I thought that because he was so mature and I was all about him. I was a one-man type of girl and I was not even ashamed of it.

We were in such a good place as I said before. There was not one fight. There was no bickering. There were no more Trudys and Boatengs.

Sly came over and met my parents. It was such a lovely time. My father told him not to break my heart and he said he would never. I had also met Sly’s older sister when she came to visit him and we had a lovely time. She said she’d heard a lot about me as I had her and Sly and I were planning for me to meet his parents.

I’m a lover girl at heart and so all this made me happy. It was the precise fuel I needed to ace all my papers. Do you know that a loving relationship is enough to solve world peace? Like, when you and your man are so in sync, you become an unstoppable weapon.

After my last paper, Sly said he wanted us to talk. I was excited. He had finished his papers just the day before and we had maybe a week to just be a couple before we went home. I hopped and skipped to his room, giggling the whole way there.

When he opened the door, I threw myself in his arms, so excited. He smiled very calmly and asked if we’d go and sit on the bench. You know, the same one we had sat under when he said he wants it to be a forever thing. Reader if you remember correctly, my man is known for sweet and romantic gestures. Everyday was really a thrill with him and so I imagined today would be no exception.

We held hands as we walked to the bench and sat. The evening was especially chilly but I didn’t mind because we were snuggled up together for the first few minutes as he asked how my paper went. He pulled out a chocolate bar from his pocket and handed it to me. I gleefully accepted and started munching on the chocolate sweetness.

Then I asked a question. I wish I had never asked that question.

“So, what are your plans for after school now? Have you settled on one of the companies for your NSS?”

He stiffened. I sat up and looked at him.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I got an offer to do my masters in the UK. I’m thinking of taking it.”

“That’s fantastic!” I squealed, failing to catch onto the bodily cues. His hesitance to agree made me pause.

“Is it not a good thing?” I asked, bewildered.

“It is” he said absentmindedly. “But it set me to thinking about my future and what I want and how you, I mean we, fit into that.”

I was so confused. “What do you mean how we fit into that? Do you not think we can do long distance because I think we can? I mean we’ve worked through all our issues, haven’t we? I trust you and you trust me.”

“I do trust you. It’s just that I have to be realistic. Even if I don’t go to the UK, I’m just not sure how we can work out with me out of school now. I think I need to focus on doing my own thing and getting ahead in my career.”

By this time my head was spinning. I was convinced I was standing outside my body watching my worst fear unfold right before my eyes. I can’t even recall how the words formed or how my brain moved. In that moment I was on autopilot.

“Sly are you b…breaking up with me?” I sputtered.

He looked down.

“I just think it would be good for both of us if we went our separate ways.”

“I don’t understand. Where is this coming from? You and I have been good. I’ve done nothing but support you. Have I not? I have never been a deadweight and you know it. Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

Silence.

“So, when did you decide that this is what’s best for us? Why are you saying this now?”. My voice was tense with emotion and by this time my nose was starting to water.

“I started thinking about this a week ago, Araba. I gave it much thought. You are great and you know that. You’ve been nothing but supportive and I thank God every day for you. I just want to start this new chapter on my own. Two years from now when you are graduating, you’ll understand where I’m coming from. You know…”

“So basically, we’ve just been wasting each other’s time for the past two years and all those things you said about ‘forever thing’ and never breaking my heart were just lies?” I interrupted, my voice rising as I spoke.

“They weren’t lies. I meant that at the time.”

“And now?”

“I love you, Araba; always have and always will. It’s just something we have to do now. Maybe later when we find our feet, we can pick up where we left off.”

I was crying by this point and I hated myself for that. I wanted to be angry and slap him. I wanted to say words that would hurt him more than he was hurting me. I wanted to wring his neck. I wanted to do so many things but the one thing my mind settled on to do was to beg.

“Sly don’t do this. We can work things out. We always have. Don’t leave me.”

‘Don’t leave me’. How pathetic. How embarrassing. Looking back now I regret nothing. I was in love and I gave it everything I had but, in the weeks, and months that followed, I wish I could create a doppelganger of myself solely for the purpose of punching myself in the mouth.

Sly offered to walk me to my room. I told him to get lost. We sat on the bench while I cried for ten minutes and then I walked off.