Betrayal-A short short story

 

In the heart of Pilgrim’s Rest, where love stories unfolded like petals in a blooming garden, lived Sarah and Thabo—a couple whose romance was the envy of the town. Their laughter echoed through their cozy home, and the promise of forever seemed etched in every glance they exchanged.

 

Before their wedding, Sarah received a piece of advice from a wise friend: "Don't tell him everything about you, especially your weaknesses. One day he will use it against you." Sarah, wrapped in the warmth of love, brushed off the cautionary words, confident that the bond she shared with Thabo was unbreakable.

 

The years danced by, painting the canvas of their life with joy and shared dreams. However, destiny had a twist in store. This year, a tempest brewed in the sanctuary of their love. Sarah, faced with her most vulnerable moment, confided in Thabo, trusting that their love could weather any storm.

 

But, in an unimaginable turn of events, the storm within Thabo' heart led him to wield Sarah's deepest secret as a weapon during a heated argument. The betrayal cut through the fabric of their connection, leaving Sarah in disbelief and anguish. Her own husband, her confidant, had turned her most private pain into a blade to wound her.

 

Pilgrim’s Rest, once enchanted by the love story of Sarah and Thabo, now held its breath as the echoes of betrayal reverberated through their home. The warning words that Sarah had dismissed now haunted her, reminding her that trust, once shattered, cast a long and haunting shadow.

 

In the aftermath, Sarah faced a crossroads. The charming town, once a backdrop for their tranquil love story, now witnessed the unravelling of the tapestry they had woven together. Would they find the strength to rebuild what was broken, or would Sarah embark on a journey to rediscover herself, leaving behind the echoes of a love that had soured?

 

As the sun dipped below the hills of Pilgrim’s Rest, casting a golden glow on its cobblestone streets, Sarah stood at the crossroads, grappling with the weight of betrayal and the uncertain path that lay ahead. The town, with its odd charm, held secrets of love and loss, reminding its residents that even the most enchanting stories could take unexpected turns.

The Other Elephant in the room

Bismillah

O you who believe! Eat of the good things that We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah, if it is Him that you worship (Qur’an ch2:v172)

The one thing that you must know about my beloved husband is that he is brutally honest. He tries to be diplomatic but it fails him, he has got no sweet way of telling the truth. If you take your shoes off and your feet smell, he will let you know, while some of us will suffer in silence. Sometimes it hurts but when you sit alone and reflect on what he has said, you will find nothing but the truth staring at you, and that dear reader is something that many of us do not like hearing. One of the many truths that he tells is about the size of my waist and other people’s waists. Yes! The other elephant in the room, Weight! Body Mass! The way that Fat decides to settle in the body.

On my first birthday with my husband, he bought me a skipping rope, and as all women would react, I was upset but I tried not to show it, but in the end I decided to let him know that I was upset by this birthday gift and made him know that I did not think that this was an appropriate birthday gift. He explained that health is one of the most important things in his life and it is something that he wishes that we would always be conscious of in our marriage, and he thought that since birthdays mark age, growth, reflection and resolutions, it would be great to give me something that symbolizes fitness and I could utilize it to keep a healthy body. I understood him, really I truly got him, he can be deep like that but I was still upset. Later on during the year, one of the secretaries in the company he was working for had her fortieth birthday, so in order to stay safe he decided to take a female colleague with him to go shopping for a non-offensive, constitutionally correct,  appropriate gift. So he settled on a scale, yes, a bathroom scale, the other truth-teller that we try to avoid. I see you raising your eyebrows, shaking your head and putting up the red flags and thinking…”What was he thinking?” Well, this is what he was thinking. The scale did not mean just keeping track of body mass, but it also symbolized keeping her life in check.  He explained how he thought the scale and what it represents would remind her that she is now forty and has to constantly keep checking and weighing her life in order to live a healthy wholesome life. However, the first thought that came to mind when the secretary open her gift was “Mr Dolamo, so you think that I am fat?” typical female response. He explained to me how this gift became a terrible offensive incongruous gift.

Ladies let us women up! We need to be told when we are crossing the limit. We need to stop biting people’s heads off and face the truth. We want people to feel sorry for us when the doctor tells us that we have diabetes, hypertension, liver failure etc. but we do not feel sorry for ourselves when we eat that extra piece of cake and find all the excuses in the world not to exercise.  

Eight years later as I reflect, I have come to realize how important and appropriate a gift that skipping rope was. Out of all the gifts such as a radio, a phone, a watch, rings, the skipping rope, as simple as it is beats all of them. It represents life, vitality, health and love. . A skipping rope can help baby fat disappear after giving birth to a baby, a skipping rope can replace a 30 minute workout into a ten minutes skip. Thinking of the tier around my waist and the calories that have shrunk my clothes,This man loves me enough that he wants to see me live a long healthy quality life. I face the truth and I also pray that by now the secretary has also realized how precious and appropriate of a gift that scale was.  

So ladies before we get offended when someone who loves us comments on our extra kilos, let us remember that they may just be trying to prevent us from becoming the other elephant in the room.

What is left for me now is to face the bigger truth,  that I have to humble myself and apologize to Mr Dolamo.

Peace

Leto - part 5

By the time the second course meal reached our table, I had already heard about Leto’s entire family tree, his school antics, the teachers that hated him and the girls that he used to drive crazy but he quickly changed the focus from that topic. I used that as my cue to start searching him for answers.  “Leto!” I called out to him. “Why am I really here?” I asked. “Well to eat.” he said. “I could be eating at Res, why did you ask me out to eat with you?” I further asked. “Well we’ve known each other for a while, so I thought why not go out to eat like normal friends.” He responded. ‘Friends!?’ I asked myself. Did he dine at romantic Italian restaurants with all his ‘friends’? I breathed in deeply and let out an abysmal sigh. “Leto, I do not think that you and I are just friends”. He put his fork down and gave me a surprised look. “What do you mean we are not just friends?” he asked. I felt an invisible rope sit around my neck but I continued. “Judging by your behavior around me, I cannot say that we are just friends. You text and call me in the middle of the night, you ask me profoundly personal questions, you talk and smile at me in a manner that you do not with anyone else, just look around Leto? We are in a romantic set-up, I wouldn’t do this for friends!” I felt the invisible rope tightening around my neck and I could hardly swallow my own spittle, but I continued. “Leto, all these months that all of this has been happening I have been busy developing feelings for you that are beyond friendship, and I would genuinely like to know if I am wasting my time or is there something genuinely developing between us”. He let out a nervous cackle and looked at me then started eating again. This time he was taking smaller portions into his mouth and chewing slowly as if he was buying some time. I was becoming impatient but my inner conversations kept me calm, so I continued eating at his pace, with each bite I was internally saying to him ‘I am not going anywhere until we finish this conversation.’ We both finally finished eating. “Should we order dessert?” he asked. “Only if you are ready to be completely honest with me,” I replied. He let out a huge sigh and asked, “If I choose to be truthful do you promise to understand?” I desperately wanted to know the truth therefore I said “Yes” even though I was uncertain that I would actually understand. We ordered our dessert and after the waiter had left Leto pulled his chair towards my right side. He now looked very serious and I began to worry.

To be continued…

Leto -Part 6

“I have a girlfriend.” That rope finally tightened around my neck and I could not say a word. He continued, “We have been together since high school, I was not looking outside for anything, but when I met you I felt so drawn towards you.” I wanted to get up and leave, but my body was somehow stuck to the chair. I was forced to continue listening to him. “I tried to talk myself out of feeling this way about you, and I tried to ignore you, those are the days when you thought I was being cold, believe me I was not, I was just trying not to act upon this attraction that I feel towards you.” “I am stuck between reviving a relationship that is dying or going for a new relationship, I did not mean to seem like I was playing around, I was trying to avoid any attachments, but this is what I am honestly going through.” He dipped his head and then looked at me. “I was trying to get to know you so I could make a definite decision.” The more he talked the more I started feeling a strange pain in my chest. I was shocked and angry but I had promised to understand, however did that mean that I shouldn’t be angry? I felt my eyes fill up with salty water, my mind was blank, and my heart suddenly felt too heavy for my own chest and breathing felt like a great task. The waiter broke the tension when he brought our dessert, so I quickly excused myself and rushed to the restroom. As soon as I opened the restroom’s door, tears flooded my eyes. They say that the truth shall set you free, but this truth did not set me free. I expected a simple “Yes I dig you” or a “No, I have no such feelings for you”. I guess this is what people mean when they say ‘It is complicated’. After a good ten minutes of crying I washed my face, reached into my bag for my face cream, opened the lid and slowly applied it, I decided not to re-apply my make-up and just put on some lip-balm. When I was done, I slowly approached our table and sat down. “are you ok?” Leto asked. “May we please eat and enjoy our dessert?” I requested. He slowly nodded his head while giving me a bothered look. I think he was afraid to say anything else.

Leto had ordered a strawberry cheese cake while I had ordered a chocolate mousse. It was the best dessert that I had ever tasted, in spite of what had just happened twenty minutes ago, the dessert brought an incredible comfort to my heart while my breathing reached its Zen moment.  I did not know how Leto was feeling at that very moment, but somehow I did not care to know. We silently and slowly had our dessert while avoiding any eye contact. When we were done eating he asked me if I had anything to say, I looked at him in the eye and calmly said “No.” “May we please leave?” I requested. “Uhm…” Leto tried to say something but I quickly cut him off and asked in a commanding tone, “May we please just no longer talk?” he nodded his head in a surrendering body tone. He signaled our waiter to bring the bill and shortly thereafter we were in the car and on our way back to Res. The trip back was short and quiet, we did not bother putting the Radio on. When we reached the Res parking area, I looked at Leto and smiled at him adoringly and said “Thank you for telling me the truth and I understand, see you around. Bye Leto.”

The End.

Leto-Part 4

 The decor was made of bravura shades of red, the detailing was very romantic. Everyone in the restaurant seemed to be in some kind of intense conversations. The waiter walked towards us and seemed pretty familiar with Leto. He warmly greeted us and let us to our table. We were sitting not far from the kitchen and I could smell the exquisite food that was being prepared. The waiter left us with the menu and asked us for anything to drink, I requested for bottled water and Leto requested for a glass of white wine. As we waited for our drinks, we sat quietly looking at each other as if we were carefully planning our sentences in our minds. We looked at each other intensely then Leto broke it with a giggle. “Come on my lady, why are you so serious?” Well I was trying to be serious because I wanted answers and wished he would stop calling me ‘my lady’ but I quickly smiled and said “I’m ok, just quit calling me you lady.” “Come on I’m just teasing you, should I tease you?”, that silly feeling of excitement and euphoria came back again, I thought to myself that this night will see me with many bruises if I have to keep on pinches myself back to my composure. The menu was long with a five course style menu, I asked Leto if we could just have three courses and end the night early, he agreed to it but I would not guarantee that he would stick to it.  I ordered what he recommended and when our first course came I thought I should slowly start the interrogation. It was a creamy Chicken and Mushroom soup, that made me feel so warm and comfortable inside, and he ordered some kind of a seafood soup for himself, and gave me a spoonful of some of his soup to taste. We laughed at the silliness of him feeding me. Before I could open my mouth to ask him my 21 questions, he started telling me about himself. He grew up in a small suburb, north of Johannesburg. He has two sister and lives with both his parents and a pet Macau called Rudy.  Rudy like a typical Macau was very talkative. His face really lit up when he was busy describing all the tricks Rudy had. He told me that he is Italian, but has never been to Italy. I found myself intrigued and was gradually losing my list of 21 questions. If this was a war, I was quickly losing my ground.

To be continued…  

Leto-Part 3

When I heard a hoot outside I knew that it was him, I slightly opened the blinds to make sure, and it was him. He was here! To pick ME up! I suddenly had a rush of excitement and I quickly gave him two points in my mental scoreboard. I grabbed my purse and a thought went through my mind “What if this date ends badly?” I quickly called a friend to let her know she should be on standby, just in case I needed a lift back home. The hooter went off again, I enjoyed keeping Leto waiting, I was a woman I a beautiful dress, trying to impress and intimidate all at the same time. I laughed at my madness, how I expected Leto to be straight with me when I was just as guilty as him of sending mixed messages. I locked my room and walked down the stairs. I stepped into his car and I was immediately welcomed by a fresh, smooth and sensual scent. It was either Paco Rabanne or the new Ferrari cologne. Leto’s cologne was absorbing, and I could not resist getting caught up in that moment. He smiled slightly and then greeted me as if he knew the feelings that were going through me. I wanted to apologize for keeping him waiting, but I decided not to. His eyes were glued on me for a while, and then he asked if I was ready to go, and I slowly responded positively. I tried to pinch myself out of the excitement and euphoria. “You look beautiful,” he said. “Thank you.” I tried to complement him on something, “you smell good,” I could not believe my mouth, it was not supposed to betray me like that. “thank you, my lady.” He smiled again and turned away to slide a CD into the CD player. Enrique Iglesius, one of my favorite artists. What was Leto trying to do?  Suddenly only good memories flooded my mind in full colour. I just lost the poker face I tried to pull in the music. We hardly spoke a word until the end of the CD, I quickly pressed the repeat button before any words could be exchanged. I felt disarmed and pathetic. We finally arrived at a beautiful Italian restaurant called Amor, just a glance from the outside displayed a lovely ambiance.

To be continued…

Leto Part 2

The clock cannot tick faster nor the sun set earlier. I am just sitting here in the study area, this is the depressing dark part of the library. I cannot believe this is still part of the library, it is corrupt with the smell of cigarette smoke, cheap cologne, mint sweets and sweat. I have actually never seen the Library Guard do his rounds this side. It is best I find my way home and prepare for the night ahead. The campus bus is right on time, and the friendly driver is back on duty. I hope he has completely healed from his kidney infection. I rushed to the bus stop, stepped onto the bus, swiped my tag and greeted the bus driver with a pleasant smile and asked him how he was doing, he was not completely healthy, but his leave days were exhausted and had to get back to work. I felt sorry for him but proud that he is doing his best for the well-being of his family, such men are becoming scarce these days.

The bus ride can be thirty to forty minutes long, depending on traffic. When I sat down I felt exhausted and drained. All day long I have been thinking about Leto, he has become an absolute obsession, so I took this time to rest my mind and take a nap. I have to end this madness tonight before I have a meltdown, my head already feels heavy. The bus ride felt too short compared to other days and as soon as it stopped I was out the door. I took a brisk walk to the student residence, I thought I should burn some calories ahead of tonight’s dinner.

I rushed to the shower room as soon as I got to my room, I had already picked out a lovely blue cocktail dress the previous day, but I did not want to be too dressed up, so I toned it down with black pumps. I continued to visualize the impending date as I got ready. My questions were ready. I will ask him about our relationship, if there is any. I will ask him about our phone calls and text messages. He once said we are bonding, what bond is it?

Oh No! What was I doing? What have I been thinking?  Look at the time! There is no no turning back, Leto will be here soon.

To be continued…