BETH.
“He just wants you back. And what you have to do now is to show him that he lost a very special jewel. Or what do you think about what I just said, Grace?” Janet said and turned to face Grace, who nodded in agreement with what Janet had just said.
We were all gathered in Lara’s house as usual. Lara had called every one of us to tell us about the text she had received from an unknown number some days back. It was not new to any of us, and no one needed to tell us that it was Damien that sent the text to her. He sent it with his new number from the country he is in, so it was easy to find out it was him, especially with the fact that the number was registered with his name.
Lara was bothered about the text, that she felt Damien could call her fiancé, Tony and tell him that the child she was carrying belonged to him. If that happened, her whole relationship was going to be affected, and Lara wasn’t ready to go and become a mistress to Damien. That was why she had run away from him in the first place and returned to Tony. So, she decided to call this meeting with us to ask our opinion about what she had to do.
“Janet is right, Lara.” Grace started. “Why did he let you go in the first place? I mean, if he loved you, he would have made you his first and only wife.” She added and shrugged. “Now, he’s begging you to come back but doesn’t want to do that politely. That’s why he’s using a threatening text instead.”
“I don’t think that’s the case though.” Yeesha opposed. “I think he just wants his child. And that would cause a rift between Lara and Tony. If Tony finds out that the baby isn’t his, he might have to leave you.” She said, turning to face Lara.
Lara’s face shrank immediately after she heard what Yeesha said. A scornful glare appeared on her face as she stared at Yeesha. No one needed to tell us that the next words that might leave her mouth might be harsh, but Yeesha was always ready for it. We were all used to the bickers between both of them. “If you have nothing supportive you say, you can as well keep shut, Yeesha. Those words of yours weren’t helpful in any way. I don’t know when you started speaking like Beth.” She said and turned to face me. “Why aren’t you even saying anything?”
“Yeesha already said what was in my mind. I honestly think she’s right. I told you in the first place not to pin the pregnancy on someone else, but you chose to do so.” I said and shrugged. “Whatever circumstances that come with it, we’ll have to face it together.”
Lara shook her head and let out a sigh. “Many times I wonder how we became best friends when we’re so much different from each other. I mean-” She was saying when she was interrupted by the ring of her phone. She picked up the phone and picked up the call. “Hey, Tom. What’s up? Yeah, sure. I’ll be expecting you. No problems.” She hung up the call and dropped her phone on the chair. “Guess what?” She asked us.
“Tom is coming to see you, or you’re going to see him. Which one of the two?” I asked, looking uninterested.
“The former! He’s coming here.” She said, beaming with smiles.
We all groaned immediately after she said that. We called it a girls’ evening but she invited a guy over. If it was someone else in the group that did that, she wouldn’t take it lightly with the person.
“You know this is a girls-only night. Why did you invite him?” Grace asked with a confused stare on her face.
“Just what I was going to ask too.” I agreed with her.
“I didn’t invite him over, okay? You all were here when he called me. What was I supposed to do? Tell him not to come?” She said and shrugged. “So, I told him to come. I was being polite.”
“That’s not what being polite is, Lara. You could have just told him you were busy or something like that.”
“Well, he’s already on his way and there’s nothing you can do about that,” she snapped and we all didn’t say anything after.
A couple of minutes later, my mind went to Tom and Lara again. Was she still seeing other men? I didn’t want to believe that, so I asked her directly, giving her the benefit of the doubt. “Are you still seeing Tom? And you’re seeing Jerry too? Despite being with Tony?” I asked.
“Uhm, yeah. So? You only live once, so we have to live our lives to the fullest. Besides, I’m not married yet, so what’s the fuss about? This is the last time I can do stuff like this. When I’m married, I’ll be committed to one man alone.” She replied nonchalantly. I was annoyed for some reason I couldn’t explain, but I shook my head instead of arguing with her. I knew she would never listen, so there was no point in trying to make her understand or try to change her mind.
“But if we’re being honest, Tony doesn’t deserve any of the things you’re doing to him,” Janet said, making me surprised.
Janet mostly did whatever Lara told her to do, and she always says things in support of Lara. I knew she always knows the truth and that many of the things Lara does were wrong, but she just chose to be blind to it. She was telling Lara the truth now, and this made me very surprised. I’m quite sure the others would be surprised too, including Lara.
“Excuse me?” She said, raising an eyebrow at Janet. “Are you trying to reach me about what to do in my relationship?”
“No.” Janet simply replied. “I was only letting you know that Tony is being honest with you and he deserves your honesty too. I’ve seen you with other men and I haven’t been so bothered about it like this because most times, the men were never honest in the relationship. The same way you double date while dating them too, so I was never bothered. But now that you’re with someone that loves you so much and cares for you a lot, I wouldn’t want you to blow it up.”
I smiled, knowing she said the truth and the right thing. But what I wasn’t sure about was if Lara would be able to change her ways. It was part and parcel of her already, and she never listens to anyone.
“It’s my life. I choose whatever I want to do.” She said. She was about to continue speaking when she heard a knock on the door. “Oh, Tom is here!” She said with a broad smile on her face and hurried for the door. But as soon as she opened the door, her expression changed from the smile to a surprised one. “Uh… Tony?”
We all turned in the direction of the door, all surprised to see Tony there as we were not expecting him.
“What are you doing here?” She asked him.