FED UP!

(...continued)

She saw several notes left in several places; under the door, on the window space, in a flower vase, and on the floor. Her heart skipped and beat fast as she picked them one after the other. When she had all of them, she opened her door and went in. She dropped them on her bed, took a bottle of water from her fridge. She drank and lay on her bed and started going through the letter one after the other. Most of them were from her friends who came to check on her the previous day after they heard what happened. They said they had been trying to get her on phone but she was not picking. She saw one from two of her colleagues who had come earlier in the morning to check on her. They wondered why she did not come to work, saying that they were worried about her. As she read the notes, she sent text messages to the senders acknowledging receipt of the note and reassuring them that she was fine, and that they would see her very soon. Some called immediately and she picked and spoke with them.

                As she read through the notes, she saw one dropped by Coker, Segun’s close friend. It read; “Dear Mabel, I was shocked beyond what words can explain when I learnt what happened. I have tried to reach Segun but he is not responding. I went to see him and he said I should let him be. I don’t know what to say. I was here earlier to see you face to face to tell you that Segun is not acting in his right senses. For all I care, you are the best thing that happened to him. I plead with you to give us some time to iron this out. Please don’t do anything rash. -Coker”

  “Rubbish,” She said and folded the note. “His mind is made up and so is mine.”

                She sent an SMS to Coker and then managed to read the remaining notes. She folded them and put inside a magazine. Some minutes later, her phone started ringing. It was Coker. She exhaled and picked the call. He was sounding worried. They talked for a while, him doing most of the talking. She just replied in monosyllables. He reiterated what he had said in the note and then tried cheering Mabel up. He asked whether he could see her. She refused. He pleaded with her to meet with her with some other friends of Segun’s. She refused. After encouraging her for a while, he promised to stay in touch and then hung up. Tears rolled down Mabel’s eye.

  “Why am I even crying,” she suddenly said to herself.

                She went to the fridge, brought out a can of juice and began sipping it.

  “Men are heartless. They are not worth crying for.”

She flipped through the channels on her TV as she sat on her bed.

  “Cry for a man? Nonsense.”

                She was a mix of anger and bitterness. She watched TV for a while but nothing seems to interest her. Her thoughts kept going to the incident no matter how hard she tried to enjoy the TV programs. When she couldn’t watch anymore, she switched off the TV and tried sleeping. She couldn’t sleep also so she got up and went to the bathroom.

(...to be continued...)

-Chinedu Isaac