“That name, how did you come to know about it?” Nelly asked in shock. She had been extremely cautious, she never thought anyone would ever get to know about it.
“Are you in shock? Are you going to accept it or are you going to keep denying who you are?” Amanda responded.
“Listen to me, Amanda. I have reasons why I acted the way I did. I didn’t mean to keep you in the dark, not anyone close to me. I was just scared, that’s all.”
Nelly tried to approach Amanda as she spoke but Amanda took double steps backward.
“You were scared?”
“Yes, I was. I still am.”
“Scared of what exactly? Tell me, Nelly. What are you scared of?”
Nelly tried to divert the discussion to another route but Amanda was so persistent on knowing why Nelly kept the truth from her. She had been Nelly’s best friend since her arrival in Germany. Other than Sandra, Amanda was the only one that got Nelly’s back from day one.
“Come on, Amanda. All of these are in the past, why do we need to dwell on them?”
“If you want me to retain the trust I have for you, you better begin telling me the truth, Nelly. It’s high time you start being sincere with me.”
“But I have been sincere with you from the onset.”
“You haven’t!”
Amanda was beginning to get irritated. She trusted Nelly so much. She told Nelly all about herself, her scars and her fears. Amanda had fed Nelly with nothing but the truth about herself. Yet, all she got was secrecy.
“You better tell me now, Nelly. What were you afraid of?”
Nelly began to sob loudly. She did not think she’ll ever be discussing this again but she had to if she wanted to prove to Amanda that she really valued the friendship to withhold any secrets.
“I was afraid of my past catching up with me. I don’t want my past to influence my present. I’m scared of everything going from good to bad again in my life.”
Nelly told Amanda everything. She told her about her acting career and how it quickly ended because of controversies. She told Amanda about Ivan Landers, how she fell in love with him, the circumstances surrounding their marriage and how he abandoned her and her child.
Nelly didn’t withhold anything from Amanda. She told her everything she knew already and didn’t know.
“Nelly,” Amanda called her softly.
Nelly took a deep breath then answered.
“Our past is always a part of us. It is a scale in which we judge our present and aim higher for the future. Our past is always with us, you should never be afraid of it.”
Nelly was in tears already, she hadn’t talked about Ivan in nine months nor the pain he made her pass through. Amanda could not stand seeing Nelly in so much pain, she hugged her gently, firmly.
“You do not need to waste your tears on what you can never change again. All you have to do is focus on your life now. You are rising Nelly, you need to leave all of this behind.”
“I know you might hate me now but I swear I didn’t mean to…”
“Hold on for a second, friend.” Amanda interrupted Nelly. “Who hates you? Me?”
“Weren’t you just upset?”
“Nah! You’re so cool, Nelly. You didn’t want to tell me how much of a superstar you are so I got offended.”
Amanda was something else. She succeeded in putting a smile on the face of Nelly. Someone who was all tears a minute ago.
“What do you think will happen if Neuer ever finds out?” Nelly asked Amanda.
“Nothing,” she confidently answered Nelly.
How could she say nothing? Neuer looked like someone who hated lies to the brim. He was strict and disciplined and this got Nelly to be very scared. She never wanted to fall in love with anyone again. Now that she did, she never wanted to lose another love.
“Neuer may be all tough and disciplined but that doesn’t apply when it comes to you. You told me before that he said your past doesn’t matter to him, I think he meant it.”
That was it. Nelly and Amanda were cool again, all smiles at each other.
Amon arrived shortly after the both ladies had made up.
“Is Nelly home?” He questioned Amanda who he met at the door.
Before Amanda could decide on the answer to give you him, Nelly showed up in the background.
“Nelly!” Amon said with so much excitement. “I really need to speak with you.”
Amanda had to excuse Nelly and Amon, to have their discussion as freely as they should.
“Why are you doing this, Nelly? Before now, it’s been more than two weeks since we last spoke or saw each other. I thought we had something, Nelly.”
Nelly had to apologize to him. She explained to him that she had been busy with work lately. Not working as a cleaner, bit a backup actress.
“Is that what stopped you from at least picking my calls? Come on, Nelly, we are this close!” He gestured by intertwining two of his fingers from different hands.
“I didn’t mean to ignore your calls, it’s just that it was Neuer who had my phone the whole time I was working.”
“I knew it! That pesky dude from the other day. I knew something was wrong, you’d never ignore my calls.”
“He’s just trying to make sure I concentrate, Amon. You can’t be casual at work.”
Amon asked Nelly to go on a date with him. He made it known to her that he has a lot to say.
“We need to be in the perfect atmosphere and environment for me to tell you all I feel towards you.”
“I’m sorry, I’ll be meeting up with Neuer this evening. Maybe we can meet up some other time.”
Amon was persistent, Nelly decided to leave him in the sitting room and go into her bedroom. He held her by the hand, then she paused, looked him in the eye, placed her hands on her stomach before letting out a cry of discomfort –
“Ahh!”
“What’s wrong, Nelly?”
“The baby is coming.”