Why did she give me the wrong number? Ntando thought to himself. This felt like pain. This dating thing is complicated. I don’t even know what I was doing anyway. Ntando was trying to convince his heart to forget about the whole thing but still it ached. But why did Mbali do this to me? She made me think that she liked me when she knew she doesn’t. It is so hard to accept that Mbali does not like me but I have to.

These kinds of thoughts made his heart ache even more. He was feeling a feeling you feel when you have been betrayed by someone you trust the most. He had never loved before, let alone like someone. These feelings were strange to him. Girls were the last things he ever thought about. His life revolved around church, his mom and church. His devotion was always something girls didn’t want to talk about. So he never bothered trying.

Maybe Mbali did him a big favour and saved him the trouble. But still his heart ached. His heart did not care about the rules of his church, his heart wanted Mbali. As long as he did not have her, his heart was going to ache. Ntando went in to the kitchen where his mother was, he took a seat.

“Why do you look so sad, what is wrong?” Ntando’s mother knew her son very well.

“Ma, I think I’m in love.” He sighed.

“That’s a good thing. I need someone who is going to cook for me, what is the problem there?”

“The problem Ma is that a girl I’m in love with is not from our church.”

“What? Are you out of your mind? You can’t do that to me Ntando you can’t, you just can’t.” Ntando’s mother started crying. Ntando felt the deepest pain when he saw his mother crying because of him, she stood by him all these years when his father was not around. She was more devoted than he was. She would never allow such a thing to happen.

“Mom please don’t cry. I was just testing my acting skills there is no girl, I’m not in love and nothing is wrong. I mean how can I do that? Come on Ma.” Ntando smiled, his mother smiled too.

“Don’t ever play about something like that again; you will give me a heart attack.” Ntando had to lie to release his mother from pain. Ntando had to say that he was not in love and that made his mother happy, but what about his happiness? Ntando was in love and deeply in love.

***

Tell us what you think: What is Ntando going to do about his feelings for Mbali, is he going to fight or is he just going to let go.