After that night I avoided him like a plague. But that didn’t stop him from calling. We would chat and laugh but when he would ask to see me again I would always have an excuse at the ready.

I really liked the guy but I was scared; my heart was on the line. I eventually agreed to see him. We talked and I told him about my fears. He said my heart was safe. He promised my heart was safe and I believed him.

It was total bliss. I gave love a chance again and I was the happiest woman alive. He was the sweetest thing I had ever come across. I was happy throughout the summer holidays. Coincidentally the track that was popular that summer was Beyonce’s Summertime love and I could relate to the song.

But then came January and I had to go back to Durban. I had to leave my love. It was not a pleasant moment at all when we had to say our goodbyes. Eventually I left and we made sure that we communicated every single day.

We always did a count down on how much time was left before we saw each other again. Months were broken down into weeks, and weeks into days, and in no time, I went home for the Easter holidays. The longest of the two months apart were the fourteen hours it took to get to Port Elizabeth.

As soon as I touched down in P.E I gave my baby a call. I got home and freshened up, spent courtesy time with my folks, then went to my boyfriend’s house. Later in the afternoon he walked me home. I’d sneak out again at night to sleep over at his house. We did that every day; it was our routine.

This one morning while we were still sleeping around five, there was a knock. It was a woman who lived in the house next door. She asked him to walk him to the taxi rank like she always did. He got dressed, gave me a kiss and told me he’d be back shortly. I just couldn’t go back to sleep.

I then noticed that he had left his cellphone behind. I found myself going through his messages. I got to this SMS that almost caused me to faint.

Gdnyt mntuwam uyathandwandim O_O

I went through all his SMSs and I got the shock of my life.

When did this happen? I was on the phone with this man three times a day and it was routine just like cough medication. My heart was beating fast and I was overwhelmed by a mix of emotions. I was a complete mess.

When he eventually he got back I was already dressed. I wanted to kill him.

“What is this?” I threw the phone at him.

He was shocked and kept quiet for a good minute or two. “I’m sorry baby,” he finally said.

“What are you sorry about, that you cheated or that you got caught?”

All he could utter was, “I’m so sorry baby”.

I looked at him with such disgust, disappointment and disbelief. This was the same guy who promised me over and over again that my heart was safe with him.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I was stupid that’s why and I’m sorry,”

I was hurting. I could feel a lump on my throat from holding back my tears. I had promised myself that I would never, ever cry over a guy again. I told him, in my calmest voice possible, I never want to see him again. I didn’t want to listen to anything he said; I just wanted to ditch his ass.

After he successfully blocked my path, by holding on to me like his life depended on it, I stopped begging for him to let me go.

Then the unexpected happened.

My heart betrayed me and let out all the pain it could no longer keep composed inside. How could my heart betray me like that? How could it humiliate me like that, more especially in front of someone who had equally betrayed me? I let the tears fall.

As if that stunt of betrayal made by my heart wasn’t enough, this man did the unthinkable. He started to cry like a little girl.

I was flabbergasted. I asked him, begged him, to stop that. Even though he had hurt me, I just couldn’t stand seeing him like that. To see a grown ass man crying is not pretty.

My whole being wanted to console him. And I did. That was the second mistakes.

***

Let’s chat: Why do people cheat on the ones they love?