The thing about Suwi was she had a past. Once upon a time the consummate party girl. Drank. Smoked. Got into the cat fights. Racked up a few bills. Gained a bunch of weight. Got beat up by an old boyfriend.
But Suwi survived herself. And her bad decisions. And she found a place inside herself that she could go to escape from the ugliness of life. People never really knew. But Suwi knew. And God knew. People speculated. Made up their own versions. But God knew. And because God knew, she overcame.
Julius knew all her stories. The true ones and the lies. And he said he loved her anyway. And because he loved her anyway Suwi was secure. Loyal. Devoted. Understanding. Supportive. Respectful. The original ride or die. Bulletproof in the face of adversity.
So when he didn't pick up his phone, she paid for her coffee and went back to work. He was probably still in his meeting and they would talk later. No man wants a clingy woman anyway.
She never thought she would ever question whether loving him so strong had made Julius weak.
A-line floral print in the deepest red and purple, above six inch Guiseppe Zanotti sandals and a smile on her face, Suwi slid into her S Class and turned up the volume. Just another day right?
Just another day.
Julius walked into the hotel lobby three weeks later for lunch with Leleti. She was waiting on the terrace in a a black and gold shift and when he leaned in to kiss her cheek, the sweaty odor filtered past his nostrils. He frowned. Then he decided it was a hot day anyway.
And so it began.
The texts, the calls. The 'innocent' lunches and emails. The one time that he went out with "the boys" and they never showed up. See the thing about giving a man freedom, he has to be responsible for it. Or he will abuse it and betray your trust.
Funny thing about it was Leleti wasn't attractive after the first two dates. Her curves were more fat than voluptuous. Her eyes were never going to be as expressive as Suwi's doe eyes in the moonlight. She was smart and funny in her own way and different and new and that made her interesting. But there was no depth to the liaison. Julius could never let anybody in too far. So she saw what he allowed her to see and never knew the man that Suwi would later say she had helped to build.
Love does that to you. It creates a sacred grove that not even Monalisa's perfect smile and pearly ankles could ever penetrate.
But Julius was confused. So when Leleti asked him up for coffee after the seventh date, he went up and he ignored the sweaty smell in her sheets. He ignored the fact that she never offered him anything to drink. He ignored the pictures she had turned face down in the living room. He ignored the whiskey on her breath and decided that for her he wouldn't mind a woman who drank.
And when he zipped up his pants and walked into her dirty bathroom to wash up, he ignored the pessaries sitting next to the sink and the ugly claw in his chest tearing at his heart. He ignored his phone ringing, the sound of Suwi's laughter that he had always thought was the most beautiful ringtone.
Julius walked out of the bathroom and picked his jacket off the floor. Leleti asked where he was going and he mumbled something about leaving a laptop at work. He knew he would come back here. He didn't know why. But for right this minute, he wanted to throw up and flog himself and move to another country.
The seed was sown. The evil uncapped. And Suwi went to bed and dreamt of fighting and waterfalls and didn't understand why.
In the morning Julius called at 6:15 like he always did. She was praying to God to give her peace, so she didn't pick up...
To Be Continued...
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