Lack of clarity gnawed on Vanessa as she moved back and forth in her room. Last night’s conversation with Darryl felt so heavy on her that she couldn’t sleep. From last night until dawn, Darryl’s words were the only thing she could think about. Just like that, he asked her to marry him. The audacity!
Going to the office was something she wasn’t ready to do, but she would never allow Darryl to have the upper hand. She opened her closet, grabbling for what to wear to the office. After searching through her mini collection, she settled down for black pants and an emerald green blouse.
Just as her choice of outfit began to settle on her, the chirping sound of her phone distracted her. She reached for her phone to see who the caller was. The familiar name of her best friend, Carolyn, was available on the screen of her phone.
“Hey” Vanessa mumbled. Her gaze was fixed on the outfit she had chosen for the day.
“Are you okay?” Carolyn asked, her voice sounded strained.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she blurted out. Vanessa’s voice barely rose above a whisper.
“You must have been in shock because Darryl asked you to marry him.”
A jolt of electricity ran through Vanessa as she heard Carolyn over the phone. She double-checked the caller’s ID to confirm if it was still Carolyn that was speaking. Astonishment was an understatement of what Vanessa had felt. How did Carolyn know about last night when she hadn’t told anyone about it?
“How did you know that?” Vanessa questioned.
Realization hit Carolyn as she acknowledged that she had just spilled the secret she had been keeping from Vanessa. Carolyn was too worried to remember that Vanessa wasn’t aware of her relationship with Darryl. Defeat washed over her as she formed an appropriate reply to Vanessa’s question.
“I should have told you about it, but I was waiting for the right time to do so.” Carolyn began her confession.
“Told me what?” Vanessa chipped in.
“Darryl is Dawson’s best friend. I didn’t inform you immediately after your encounter with him because I thought it would be fun to pretend not to know him. But things got complicated and telling you became so hard for me.”
A bitter pang tugged Vanessa’s heart as she listened to Carolyn’s confession. She could not believe Carolyn knew Darryl even before she met Darryl. How was that even possible? She could remember how Carolyn searched the internet about Darryl when she told her about him for the first time.
“Are you there, Vani?” Carolyn’s voice laced with remorse and bitterness. She knew a day like this would eventually happen, and she didn’t know it would happen like that. Not even over the phone. Now she didn’t know what Vanessa was thinking, all she could hear was the frantic rhythm of her heartbeat.
“I don’t get it.” Vanessa broke the silence as she voiced out her confusion.
“I know everything is hard for you to take in. I’m sorry I hid the truth from you. I just couldn’t get myself to tell you.” Carolyn apologized, the fear of the consequences of her actions felt raw in her heart.
Everything happened so fast as Vanessa’s head began to spin after listening to Carolyn’s confession over the phone. Instead of retorting, she became mute. The deafening silence threatened to envelope Carolyn, who was at the other side of the phone.
“Are you still there?” Carolyn asked, hoping for a response, even if it was a one-word answer. But unfortunately for her, she was met with silence. One thing was sure, Carolyn understood the answers that dwell in a quiet response. This was more of the reasons why she was waiting for Vanessa’s reply.
After mustering the courage to talk, Vanessa finally broke the silence. “I don’t know how to take all of these.” With that she pressed the red button and the call came to an end. How would her so-called best friend play this type of game with her?
How would Carolyn listen to all her rants about Darryl and keep mute like she never knew about it before it even happened? After brainstorming for answers, she got nothing. She was only met with heartbreak because the only person she trusted was Carolyn, and she couldn’t believe Carolyn could hide something this big from her.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she began to think of all the good times she had had with Carolyn. She remembered all the time Carolyn had come through for her when she was stranded. She remembered the happy moments full of laughter and joy.
Even as she went back through memory lane, she couldn’t find any bad things about Carolyn. Everything was fine between them before now, and it hurt Vanessa like crazy because she was left perplexed about how to handle the whole situation.
The black pants and the blouse she had prepared to wear for work stared back at her like they were mocking her. As her gaze moved to the pants, and instantly, she remembered Carolyn. Carolyn had gifted her the pants because they were an extra size for her.
Vanessa’s initial courage hit a slight snag as she dropped on her bed. She didn’t know the next thing to do. Going to the office had become a difficult task for her after Carolyn’s confession.
Gripping both pants and blouse with her shaken hands, she threw them back into the closet with annoyance. She wanted to scream and at the same time she wanted to pull out her hair.
Why is she the one to go through this heartbreak again? First, it was Emmy who broke her trust. Now, Carolyn had done the same thing without blinking twice. It was as if the world was crashing on her shoulders. She didn’t realize she was crying until tears dropped on her shaking hands.
The sound of her phone interrupted her sorrowful mystery. The view had become blurry because of her tears, also her mind had become clouded. Without hesitation, she answered the phone and, to her surprise, she broke down in tears immediately she heard Darryl’s voice.
“What’s going on with you? Why are you crying?” Urgency laced in Darryl’s voice as he heard Vanessa sobbing over the phone.
Vanessa could not reply because her tears became uncontrollable, and her lips trembled as she cried.
Hearing Vanessa cries broke Darryl’s heart to pieces. He could pay a thousand bucks to disappear to wherever she was if he had a way to do that. “Where are you?” He asked. “please, do me a favor and answer at least this question. Where the fuck are you now? ”
“My house.” She replied as her lips trembled.
“Stay there. I will be there in a few minutes.” With this, he hung up on the call and left Vanessa to her crying session.