I was back at work by the second
week of January. Just as I expected, it was boring! All the employees were back
to their usual work stations but it seemed their minds were elsewhere. Mrs.
Wright did not report to work that week. I kept on looking at the calendar each
and every day hoping January would come to an end quickly.
As days dragged on and on, end of
the month finally arrived. The accounts department started preparing salaries
for guys early and by 30th, most of us were paid. Our department
didn’t handle a lot of work since most of our work we did before we closed last
year. By this time, Mrs. Wright had already returned back to work and taken
control of the operations.
Fred and I still had our issues, a
month later. Trust seemed like a foreign word to me in our relationship these
days. I couldn’t hold on to anything he said to me. We lived like two
roommates. We had only had sex once since we came back. I seemed to repel
towards him whenever he moved his body next to mine in bed. No one thought of
bringing up the subject. We talked about the normal stuff but avoided talking
on how or relationship was bordering a silent war.
The month of February came and as
quickly as the days came, Valentines knocked on the door. That valentine’s
morning, I woke up as usual and prepared breakfast for us. I went to the
bathroom and had a shower. Fred was still struggling to wake up as I came back
to our room to dress up. He slowly dragged his body and got ready. We had
breakfast together before driving to work.
As we stepped in the office, I noticed
that the receptionist in a good mood. On her table, there was a big bouquet of
flowers. She greeted us joyfully then
handed me a rose.
“Thank you dear.” I said.
“You welcome…happy valentines.” She
shouted.
Fred suddenly banged his hands on
the table then clicked. He walked away and went to his office. I was stunned so
I followed him to find out what was wrong.
“Fred, what was all that about?” I
asked referring to him banging the table.
“Nothing really!” he replied
taking a seat.
“Fred!”
“It’s just that i forgot today was
valentines!” he mumbled.
“Huh? Is that all?” I asked.
“Yes.” He replied.
I walked back to my office. I was
angry he forgot about today but the events happening in our lives might have
caused it. I decided not to make a big fuss about it and concentrate on work.
After about thirty minutes later, I got a text from Fred. The text was asking me if I could spare time
to have lunch with him. I replied yes. It doesn’t hurt to try.
We went for lunch at a restaurant near the
office. It was a lavish hotel. After we had placed our order, Fred started off
the conversation. He apologized for the mistakes he had done. He mentioned the
calls he had been receiving during the holidays were from a bad decision he had
made and promised to change.
“We can’t go on living like this
Kate. I need you. I need you back to my life.” Fred said holding my hands.
I was silent.
“Please! I am sorry for making you
suffer from my bad actions but please forgive me so that we can move forward.”
“It’s okay.” I replied. “But
promise me you won’t repeat that.”
“I would be stupid to repeat that.”
“I hope you will remember that the
next time.” I replied.
The food was served and we started
eating.