Chapter 6 Voices from the Past
“… don’t make me fall for you. I don’t want to get hurt anymore.”
I wondered what she meant by getting hurt again, when she was the one who…
Just then, a call interrupted my thoughts.
I picked up my phone and it was Mrs. Hart.
“Hello, Mom,” I said as I answered the call.
“Son, I came to tell you something important that day but you already left for work before I woke up that day,” she said.
“I wanted to wait, but I had a very urgent meeting to attend… I barely had time to call too. Hope you are good?” she added.
I knew where the conversation was heading, but I decided to act ignorant.
“I’m good, Mom. I didn’t want to wake you up, and I would have called, but I’ve been busy too,” I lied.
“I understand. So, there’s this beautiful girl, she is well-to-do and comes from a very respectable family,” she started.
“Not again,” I muttered under my breath as I rubbed my temple.
She did this every time. She had hooked me up with ten ladies since I broke up with Joan if I’m not mistaken.
“Mom… I’m not interested,” I said calmly.
“Why won’t you be interested? Is it until you turn old before you get married? Since you left that girl, you’ve been sabotaging your relationships by yourself,” she said, her voice rising over the phone.
“What? Mom… this has nothing to do with Joan… I’ve told you countless times,” I replied.
I was so angry with what she said, but I tried everything possible within me to contain my anger.
“I don’t care. I already gave her your contact information and you must see her,” she continued.
“I have to go, Mom. Work calls,” I said and hung up immediately.
Just then, Marcus entered. He sat down and scanned my face.
“Did something happen?” he asked, clearly concerned.
“It’s my mum,” I replied in a low voice.
“Let me guess… she has gotten a potential wife for you again,” Marcus said mockingly.
“I’m tired… very tired,” I replied.
“Just give in. You know how she can be when you say no to her,” he said with a mocking smile.
Marcus didn’t lie. The first and last time I said no to her when she introduced a girl to me, she threw a fit.
A very big one at that.
She just barged into my house that day.
“Alex,” she shouted.
That day, I was so shocked when I heard her voice.
“Priscilla said you left her at the restaurant. That was very rude of you,” she continued shouting.
“Mum… I told you I wasn’t interested. Must I date someone I don’t like?” I replied.
“You will have to like her,” she said, anger clear in her eyes.
“Do you think I just pick girls off the street for you? She’s a perfect match for you, your career, and your image.”
“I’m not interested, Mom. You can’t force me to like the girl,” I replied, matching her tone.
“You will have to disown me as your mother if you don’t meet with that girl again and make up with her,” she shouted, almost bringing the roof down.
The thought of having her perform that kind of drama again made my skin crawl.
“She even changed her tactic this time,” I laughed and said to Marcus.
“Operation find Alex a wife,” Marcus teased.
“It’s becoming annoying for real,” I said.
“This is just the beginning,” he laughed.
“And the thing is I don’t know where she gets those desperate girls from,” I scoffed.
“I just hope this one isn’t desperate so that I can end it with her cleanly.”
JOAN COLE’S POV
That night, after showering, I rolled my shoulders and touched my wrist out of habit, only to touch bare skin.
“Huh,” I let out a soft sound as I stared at my wrist.
I hadn’t noticed that I had lost my bracelet, until that night.
“How come I didn’t notice? Where could it be?” I thought to myself.
I turned my wrist slowly as if that would make it reappear magically.
“No,” I whispered as I rubbed my eyes.
I checked again. Then again.
But it was truly gone.
My expensive tiny silver bracelet was gone.
Reality hit me and I started searching everywhere in my room.
I turned all of my bags upside down one after the other, the contents poured out but the soft clink I was hoping to hear never came.
“Okay… calm down,” I muttered.
I stood and scanned the room with the hope that the bracelet might be lying somewhere obvious, but I didn’t see anything.
I checked the bathroom next, bending to look near the sink, and every corner that was visible.
“Where did it go?” I muttered and leaned against the door.
I’d worn it to the party.
I was sure of that.
I remembered adjusting it after dressing up that day before leaving for the party.
“It must have slipped off… at his place,” I murmured, tapping my jaw softly.
I moved to my bed and sank onto it slowly, my wrist resting in my lap as if it mourned its presence too.
The bracelet was something that mattered to me. I bought it for myself as a gift as soon as I got my first paycheck.
It was a reminder that I was a survivor.
“Should I call Alex and ask?” I asked myself.
“How am I even supposed to ask him?”
“Should I say… Did you see my bracelet?”
“No, that would sound too casual.”
“Did I leave something behind?”
“That’s not in any way better. It would sound too intimate.”
“What if it’s not even at his place?”
“Gosh,” I muttered, my voice almost loud as I stamped my feet on the ground.
I fell asleep when I was tired of thinking and talking to myself.
Then, I found myself in a field.
Alex was standing in front of me, but his back was turned.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, pain evident in his voice.
“I tried to,” I said.
“You said you were leaving,” he said, shaking his head.
“What! I didn’t… I never said that.”
Then he turned, his eyes filled with hurt and betrayal.
“She told me… she told me everything,” he said, his voice breaking.
“Who?” I asked with panic in my voice.
But before he could reply, a voice cut through.
“You were never the one for him.”
Suddenly, I woke up, my heart beating fast.
“What was that about?”