“I’m ready to hear what you have to say,” Nelly said, her lips trembling as she struggled to maintain eye contact with Neuer.
“It’s because I love you, Nelly. I love you so much and it didn’t take me much time to realize this. You are awesome and cool, you are the nicest person I have ever seen.”
Nelly was stunned, she could speak for more than a minute. Even when she tried to, her tongue tangled and she ended up not being able to say a word.
“Say something to me, Nelly, your silence is driving me crazy.”
Nelly wished she could really say something to him, she tried, but she couldn’t.
“You can’t be in love with me, Neuer.” Nelly finally spoke after several minutes of silence.
“Why?” Neuer was confused.
“How can you be in love with me? With someone about to be a single mom?”
“I don’t care about all that, Nelly. All I care about is my love for you and how good you make me feel whenever I’m around you, that’s all.”
Nelly was confused to the brim, she didn’t know what to say. The next thing, there were tears gushing out her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.
“Shh! Don’t cry, you know I hate to see your tears.”
Neuer grabbed Nelly’s face and gently wiped away her tears, hushing her as he did.
“I think you might be confused, Neuer. I’m pregnant, you barely know me and now you feel you’re in love with me? How’s they even possible?”
“I don’t feel like that, Nelly. I don’t feel like I’m in love with you, I know that I am. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life as I am about this. Please Nelly, give me a chance to show you how much you mean to me.”
“Neuer, you don’t understand! You can not fall in love with someone like me, I’m not the kind of person you will love.. I’m not!”
Nelly attempted to walk away but Neuer carefully pulled her back. “I just want to know Nelly –
Don’t you feel the same way for me?”
“I can’t answer that, Neuer.”
“Why?! Why can’t you answer that, Nelly?”
“Because it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day you are going to realize that I was a mistake and you’ll leave me.”
Neuer went on to swear with his entire being that the day Nelly spoke of would never come. “There’ll never come a day where I’ll think of you as a mistake and then let you go. Never! I would rather die than ever do that to you.”
Nelly was extremely confused, she didn’t know what else to do. She knew that Neuer’s feelings for her were true but she couldn’t bring herself to accept that someone would love her the way she was.
I mean, she was beautiful, intelligent, but she was also pregnant with no one to point out as the father. How could Neuer fall in love with such a lady, a lady that he knows nothing about? This was the exact question and thought that puzzled the mind of Nelly. She couldn’t understand why he loved her so blindly, without caring about her past or wanting to know about her life before she came to Munich, Germany. She feared that one day he might demand to know one day.
“It doesn’t matter now but it will someday,” she thought to herself.
“What are you thinking of, Nelly?” Neuer had to ask after Nelly’s two minute silence streak.
“I love you too, Neuer. I love you so much!”
Nelly damned whatever thought she was having and decided to express herself. The next moment, Neuer met his lips with hers and they locked lips passionately, not wanting to let go of each other. It took the approaching footsteps of a worker to finally bring their affectionate kiss to a halt.
A month and Nelly as a character in the movie project was making waves. She played her part so well and Sandra and Neuer made sure she got whatever penny she earned from the role she played in the movie.
Nelly was able to get a new house for her and Amanda to live in. Neuer’s visit was extremely constant. He visited more than three times a week, consistently. He was also the one to drive Nelly home from work.
Amanda still worked as a cleaner but not Nelly. She was always disposed as a backup actress or handling minor acting roles. Everything seemed to be moving extremely well for Nelly.
“I want to speak with you, Nelly.” Amanda drew her attention immediately after Neuer left after dropping them off.
“What is it, Amanda? You seemed quiet throughout the drive back home.”
“I thought you don’t like it when I’m talkative,” Amanda laughed and so did Nelly.
Nelly would always complain about Amanda being too talkative and now she wanted her to speak more. The truth was that Amanda always brightened the atmosphere with her interesting and mind blowing gists.
“You seem to be a very great actress, I think you might have been wasting your talent all this while,” Amanda told her.
Nelly laughed. She was flattered but that wasn’t Amanda’s aim. Amanda didn’t mean to flatter Nelly, she maintained a straight face while talking to her.
“Or maybe, I’m wrong. You haven’t been wasting your talent all along, in fact you’ve been putting it to very good use.”
“What do you mean?” Nelly asked, looking so confused.
“You know, I have always heard that being an actress and a liar go hand in hand. I thought it was a joke but I’m beginning to realize that now.”
Nelly was getting even more confused. She felt insulted at the same time.
“Are you alright, Amanda?”
“What’s wrong, Nelly? You still want to keep using me to sharpen your acting skills?”
“Amanda!” Nelly screamed in anger.
“Yes, Nelly. Or should I say Nelly Stratford?”