She let me walk her to work the next day. Gary and I never talked again since he thought we were now enemies. He treated me as a stranger and now he would never know I never slept with his girlfriend. In the meetings he just looked away avoiding face to face. The boss told me that he could sense the feud between me and Gary. I didn’t tell him what had happened. It was embarrassing.

Gary didn’t appreciate the fact that I gave his chick a room to stay in when she was stranded. I did things against Lucy to satisfy him. He was not grateful. I did him a favour and now he accuses me. No one wanted a friend that sleeps with their partners.

I spent the more time at home, whether after work or on weekends. I spent more time with Lucy, she was very happy about that. This went on for three weeks.

On Monday on the fourth week, I was surprised to see Memory coming in my office.

“Hi, what can I do to help you?” I asked concerned. Maybe Gary did something or she wanted me to help her.

“We need to talk,” she answered sitting down.

“Is it about Gary?” I asked.

“I am pregnant,” she said.

That made me panic and hit my heart. That can’t be, was she saying it was my baby?

“But I didn’t sleep with you,” I said standing up.

I paced up and down while she stared at the ground. This will hurt Lucy. I felt as if I was struck by electricity. Memory stood up and walked out. My mind had a lot of questions. I closed the door and saw Gary standing there; he looked and shook his head. I felt guilty and decided to keep it a secret. I sent a message to memory.

Before you say it’s mine I want you to do a DNA test. Don’t tell a soul.

OK, but I am not sure if it’s yours or Gary’s.

I wished I could turn back the time, I would have never drank excessively. I also wished I had never joined them. All I wanted was to have fun and hear P Squared. My mind was clouded with questions. Lucy noticed it when she came in my office with lunch.

“Baby are you OK?” she asked.

“Oh, yes, yes, what?” I was confused.

“Did you hear what I said?” she asked.

“No, baby, I am just thinking…” I answered.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

“Work, baby sorry,” I spoke and started to type on the keyboard. I was just pretending to work. She stood up and kissed me. She whispered I should be home early and left.

After work, I went to drink. My depression was getting to me. If it was my baby then Lucy will leave me, this time for good. I drank a bottle and went home. Lucy sat by the couch staring at the television. It was 7 p.m. She dished food for me and I ate a few spoons.

“The food is not nice?” she asked calmly.

“No! It’s nice. I am just depressed,” I answered and stood up and went to sleep. I heard Lucy doing the dishes. She joined me after an hour and we slept. The next morning I left a note for Lucy.

I have to go to work early. Meeting.

I hoped Lucy would buy it. This pregnancy was stressing me. I didn’t know what to do or how to handle it. After work my foot led me to the bar. Some guys became friends with me, I was now a regular.

Lucy ignored my moods. I pretended everything was fine but it was not. I brought my friends from the bar on a Friday to watch soccer. Lucy didn’t take it lightly. They made noise and screamed. Lucy spent the night in the bedroom. She looked at me seriously and furiously.

“Your woman doesn’t like us,” Philip said.

“It’s not a problem. Let’s watch our team,” I shouted facing the television. She just stared at us.

“Who is going to clean this mess?” she asked.

“I will clean, don’t worry,” I answered.

Lucy wouldn’t allow me to touch her. I slept on the couch. She will cry, that I know. Her face was showing colours that I didn’t understand. All I knew was that she was angry. I wanted to let her dump me before she knew I impregnated Memory. What would Gary say?

Memory had told me she was now 5 months pregnant and Gary won’t give her a chance. I was a stupid friend who slept with friends’ chicks.

*****

This is all that happened as I remember it. It broke my heart. I was willing to accept it if she could leave me but now I was unsettled. Memory said the baby wasn’t mine. I had given her a sample of my DNA to test. The child was Gary’s but he had married someone else. Memory moved far away from our neighbourhood to raise the baby alone. Lucy had just left me. I asked everyone if they had seen her but none had. She had resigned at work and was nowhere to be found.

I should have treated her right and showed her I was a good man. She was gone for good. My life will never will never be the same without Lucy. I lost her.

***

Tell us what you think: How differently would you have handled things if you were Romeo?