If you haven’t read the first part of this story, here’s the link. Kindly read it before starting this one.

One day, one of the guys at the Keep fit called me aside and told me, “I can see you love Charles a lot. I look at you whenever he walks by. Your eyes keep tracking his movement. We’ve done our part and he still says no. I’m going to suggest something out of the norm. If you love him that much, do it and let’s see how that one too would go.” I listened to him carefully. After telling me what I should do next I screamed, “No, I’m not going to do that. That’s extreme. He might think I can’t even live without him. No, I’m not going to see his mother and apologize to her. She wasn’t the one I said that to.” He calmly said, “I know, that’s why I said it’s out of the norm but try, just for the sake of your own peace of mind.”

When I left Keep fit that day, I was thinking about what the guy told me; “Should I? No I won’t. What would his mother even think of me? I will never do that.” As I said previously, I was ready to exhaust all options available to me so, in the end, I would know I gave it my best shot but my best wasn’t good enough for him to forgive me. I gave it a critical thought and told myself, “I would do it. He may not listen to anyone but if he indeed loves his mother the way he claims, then he would listen to her.” The tiny voice in my head threw doubt in my mind; “What if you tell his mother what you said and she also gets angry and sacks you from the house?”

The day I was going to his parent’s house, the idea was to talk to his father first and see how things will turn out. I got to the house and his father wasn’t there. His mother was very happy to see me. I thought she wasn’t even going to recognize me but immediately she saw me, she called me by name and gave me a hug. She said, “You’ve really surprised me with this visit. Charles didn’t even say anything about it to us or you were passing through town and decided to visit us? My daughter, you’ve done very well.”

The way she related to me softened the fear in my heart so I decided to go all out and speak to her as a mother and daughter would. “Mom, all is not well between me and Charles. For several weeks now he hadn’t spoken to me because of a statement I mistakenly made to him. Mom, I’ve accepted my fault and begged him to forgive me. I’ve even sent his friends to beg on my behalf but Charles doesn’t want to listen to me. It’s the reason I’m here, to implore you to speak on my behalf.” She said, “Oh leave him to me. What can’t be forgiven? Is he always right that he would hold something against you for this long?” 

His mom didn’t even ask what I said or how I said it. She picked up her phone and called him; “Charles, your girlfriend is here. So, what in the world did she say wrong that you say you won’t forgive her? Hasn’t she apologized? When you say something wrong and you later apologize, don’t you expect to be forgiven?” I could hear him screaming on the phone asking his mother to hand over the phone to me. Immediately I collected the phone he said, “You’re a devil. Why are you tormenting my life this way? What don’t you understand? You insulted my mom and had the gut to go and repeat that insult on her face? I swear if I was there, I would have kicked your face. Leave there before I go crazy!” 

His mother heard the intensity in his voice and took the phone away from me. She told me, “My daughter, go home. Everything would be well, ok? I will speak to him. When his father comes, I’ll tell him to speak to him too. Everything  would be fine.” I was expecting his call but the call never came so I called him myself; “Charles, so you can be this heartless? When you came into my life you made a huge impression on me so I saw you as a man who can never go wrong. I wanted you in my life but the little you’ve shown me tells me that you’re not the one to forgive. It’s ok. I will never call or pursue you again. Enjoy the rest of your life.” 

I took the phone off my ears but I could hear a muffling sound coming from the phone. He was saying something but I wasn’t interested so I cut the line. I told myself, “That is it. That’s how far a girl can go. I’ve exhausted all options. It’s hard but this is where I move on with my life.”

I stopped going to the keep fit so I won’t see him again. I found a friend who introduced me to another gym. I didn’t want the pain to continue to haunt me so I invested all my lonely times into training. It was no longer about slimming down. It was all about running away from the pain I was going through. One day, I opened up to the girl about my heartbreak and she said, “I was bigger than you when I started doing this. It took one heartbreak to drive me here, now see me. It will work out this time, just keep going and just watch your diet.”

I will wake, do slight exercise, eat something and go to work. After work, I will go to the gym to exercise and meet new people. I started dropping the weight and it was visible this time. As I write this, I’m in between sizes fourteen and twelve. Fourteen looks big on me but twelve looks smaller. It’s working out. I have my feet on the ground and my head up high. I posted a photo on my status on my birthday and guess who came to comment, Charles. He said, “Happy birthday. You look like a queen. Where’s the party at?” 

I read the message and didn’t respond. It made me happy. The fact that he had seen my progress made me so happy I called my friend and told her about it; “Guess who called me a queen, my ex.” She asked, “You still haven’t blocked him?” I answered, “God said he’ll throw me a table in front of my enemies. How would he witness the feast if I block him?” I kept posting photos upon photos and he watched all of them but didn’t say anything. Somehow he was the reason I was posting those photos, to tell him I didn’t chew stones when he left me.

READ ALSO: I’m Leaving My Boyfriend Because He’s Not Sad About The Death Of My Mother

One afternoon I saw his call. When I picked up the phone he asked, “Are you in the house?” I answered, “Yeah, I’m home.” He said, “Come out, I’m in front of your door.” I stepped out and saw him in a car parked in front of the building. He stepped out and tried to shake my hands. I didn’t give my hand. He asked, “Are we still fighting?” I asked, “What brought you here?” He answered, “I was driving by and decided to say hello to you.” I said, “That’s thoughtful of you. Hello.” He stood there looking at me while my eyes were on the floor. He said, “We need to talk.” I answered, “I don’t think there’s anything to talk about. I have a visitor in there waiting for me. Thanks for passing by. You have a nice car.”

He was trying to stop me but I walked away. Since then, this guy had been on my neck every day asking for a comeback. He’s giving me the apology he didn’t take from me. He wants me to forgive him because he acted childishly. I tell him to leave me alone because I’m not ready to handle a mature man now. Funny enough, he’s using the same people I used to apologize to him to apologize to me. 

When I move on after exhausting my options, I don’t look back. It’s not even about who I’d become. It’s a value I’ve nurtured as I grow up. Before you give up, exhaust your options so you’ll know you did your best. Nothing would make me look at him. He thinks he has grown but the fact that he wants to get my attention with his new car tells me he hasn’t grown enough. 

The love I had for him doesn’t live here anymore and nothing will make me renew his rent in my heart. I tried. He’s also trying and I don’t fault him for that. At some point, he’ll give up just like I also gave up.

—Eva

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