We were at a cafe, sitting on the outside with big umbrellas.

“Did you see Ronnie?” Gloria winked at me.

I saw her looking in front of me. I turned myself slowly and nearly had a heart attack.

There was a beautiful girl with very radiant skin. She was more beautiful than me. I could see why he had chosen her and forgotten about me. I was shocked and paused. He kept on walking with her hand in his. He didn’t turn, I wondered if he saw me. It was like he didn’t care how I felt. He was too busy showing off his new girlfriend. Did he forget I was the woman he left? I had been waiting for him. He didn’t turn around to look at me. My stomach kept turning and tossing, hoping he would see me.

We had already eaten but I fiddled with my books. Gloria and I had our eyes fixed on the girl. Ronnie had forgotten the promise. Oh God, I hated it. He had forgotten about me and moved on. The pain drained me. A part of me wanted to confront him. I never liked noise or war, I was a peaceful person…

“I told you that he found a woman.” Gloria turned her head to the side.

I pretended to fail to breath. Gloria stood up in panic.

“Linda…are you OK?” she waved her head left and right.

I dropped onto the floor and suddenly people around me stared. I wanted attention but Ronnie didn’t care. I wanted Ronnie to ask if I was OK. I wanted him to hold my hand and tell me that girl wasn’t his. They had entered a shop. I stood up harshly like a miracle that happened. I sighed and grabbed my books.

“Are you OK? You need to breathe in and out,” Gloria said, as I shoved her and left for home.

“Hey, what about our studying session?” she called.

I was already far away but I heard her. It hurt me, I was in anguish. My heart was shattered. I felt like dying.

The whole day I kept witnessing Ronnie and his girlfriend, it kept visualising in my brain. What hurt most was that he never stuck to our promise. In my home area he never even looked back. I felt rage at the thought of it. He never told me he was back, like we never met and he didn’t know me. I cried myself to sleep. I felt hopeless.

In my sleep, I dreamt of what had happened before. I saw myself and Ronnie having a picnic. He produced a razor from his pocket and he cut our fingers and joined them together. I kept tossing and sweating. Ronnie disappeared and the scene changed. I was in a land with purple sky. I saw a woman in black, she looked scary. I could hardly see her teeth but when she opened her mouth I saw a black thing. Black was for evil people, no wonder. She stretched her hand toward me. I walked toward her, trembling.

“Your blood is joined with his,” the woman said.

I looked down confusedly, then my bangle flashed on me.

“That bangle means nothing.” She looked like she knew what I was questioning.

I saw black and started to scream. Luckily my mother heard me and woke me up. I was coughing and sweating, like something was chasing after me.

“Linda, it’s just a bad dream,” my mother whispered, rubbing my back softly. “You are safe.”

I wanted to scream. I wasn’t safe. The dream was bad and I did something reckless, I was young and foolish. My life would always be miserable. I wanted someone to tell me it would be fine but would she understand me or criticise me? I just had to keep quiet. I didn’t want to be judged. The dream already reminded me of my faults. I spend the whole week avoiding Gloria and the outside world. My mother thought it was a stomach bug.

Tell us: What do you think about the way Ronnie treated Linda?