“You did it!” Blessing says. “We all did it!”

I release him. When we look back, Mark has vacated his chair. I dash outside to look for him.

“Mark?” I ask. I find him leaning against the wall.

I hug him too. “Oak Land is back where it belongs!” I grin at him.

“Alex, the President wants to talk to you,” Blessing says, handing me the phone. I stare at him in surprise. “Talk!” he urges, lifting my hand to my ear.

“Hello, Mr President…” I say in shock.

“Good morning, Ms Lubisi. I just wanted to tell you how proud we are of you. Some military people never get to serve their country the way you have. You’ve shown bravery and selflessness. As the first head of the country, I just wanted to say a big thank you. I can’t wait to shake your hand.”

“Thank you so much, sir,” I say breathlessly, “but I didn’t do it alone. I had immense help.” I can sense his smile.

“Yes, I heard,” he says, “but you are the person who spearheaded the whole thing. I will see you all next week, yes?”

“Yes, sir, of course.” I give the phone back to Blessing. I am overwhelmed with relief.

We’ve done it. We blew LG and the corrupt, dirty SAI cops out of the water, and now we get to go home.

“We did it,” I murmur, almost to myself.

“Yes, we did, and we paid a hefty price too.” The hurt in Mark’s voice reduces my joy, as if he’s punched me in the gut. He walks back into the house.

I run my hands through my short hair. He’s right: we paid a heavy price for this.

“He’ll come around, he just needs time,” Blessing says, trying to soothe me.

“I don’t know, Bless,” I say. “Mark and I may be over. I may have lost him, for the third and last time, probably as a sacrifice for this victory.”

“The two of you are going to testify for the prosecution when the trial begins, OK?” says Blessing.

“Tell me the date and time,” I say. “I will be there to put the last nails in their coffins.”

I find Mark packing the few clothes we have into a bag.

“Mark…” I call, but he ignores me.

“Mark, I’m sorry. The only people who were supposed to be hurt by all of this were LG and the bad guys, but never you. I thought you were gone forever. I thought our life together was over. You can’t imagine what I went through in those months. I thought you were dead, and as if that weren’t enough you came back, only to be shot right in front of me, again.”

“It was very hard for me too, Alex, to not know where you were, or if you were alive. To not see you all this time, but I held on to our love. I fought, only to come back to you. Now that I finally have you tell me about your escapades with another man? How am I supposed to feel about that? How would you feel if I told you that I got involved with another woman?”

“You’ve always known I was alive,” I counter.

“That does not make it any easier, you still could have died. I don’t know if we have anything left now.”

“You only asked me if I loved Blessing, but not about you. I love you. I do. So much. That has never changed, and I never stopped loving you. Please forgive me,” I urge him passionately.

He doesn’t say anything in response, so I leave him to his thoughts. It hits me how true my words are. I never stopped loving Mark. In fact, my feelings for him have been my reason to fight so hard for justice, particularly when I thought he was gone. Our love pushed me forward. This whole mess had to make sense in the end, it had to have a meaning and make an impact. Blessing was there and he helped me greatly. Without him I wouldn’t have found the strength to get back up when the thought of losing Mark crippled me to my knees.

I care deeply for Blessing, but I don’t love him in the same way that I love Mark. I am not in love with Blessing. That side of my heart has only ever been reserved for one man: Mark.

Blessing and I were caught in a sea of emotions and we saved each other from drowning. However, I doubt our bond would have kept us for a lifetime in a romantic boat. I’m grateful, in retrospect, for what a good man he is. As he predicted, I do thank him for not agreeing to have sex with me when I thought I wanted to. I only wanted to fill the void in my heart, and I was scared of the danger that faced us, but those were not the right reasons to sleep with someone.

***

Tell us what you think: Will Mark forgive Alex? Will their relationship ever recover?