“So what are your plans for the weekend meisie kind? What’s Mr Awesome Boyfriend going to do for you this time?”

“Barbara, Barbara, Barbara, such a nosey little mouse you are. Just to curb your enthusiastic curious mind I will tell you exactly what Mr Awesomely Perfect has planned for this evening. A hot bubble bath, dinner and wine, and probably some quiet movies while we cuddle on the bed. HAPPY?” Lindy couldn’t help but smirk at the look of envy she saw on her colleagues face.

“My, we have our own Prince Charming hey, lucky girl. They don’t make them like that anymore, do they?” Barbara stated. The sad tone in her voice gave Lindy a stab at the heart and she immediately felt bad for her.

So she quickly added “But then again, boys being boys, we may just do nothing special and he’ll just drink and play pool with his friends ignoring me totally. That is if he asks me to come with. But you know how they are, men.” She rolled her eyes and slurred the word out trying to sound annoyed.

Barbara’s spirits lifted and she went on and on complaining about how men were such emotionally unavailable creatures who cared about nothing but sport and their gadgets. Lindy knew that her William was nothing of the sort. He was kind and sweet, loyal and attentive to her every need and desire, so much so that sometimes it felt like he was suffocating her with all this love and attention. She was his only friend and he hated going out to Chillas to play pool because his insecurities really got the better of him and that’s the one thing Lindy couldn’t handle.

She loved to socialise and dance. She always had a smile on her face, which strangers found inviting and friendly. But William saw it as flirty. The fact that she was sexy and petite made matters worse. She tried to assure him every day that she loved him and him alone, she tried not to speak to any guys at the pub let alone smile at any of them when they greeted, which was hard because Will was known and loved by the community and they loved seeing him happy with her.

“Are we getting KFC today, Lindy?”

The question startled her so much that she turned and looked blankly at Barbara’s face trying to understand what the question was.

“Well, are you gonna answer me or just stare at me. Seriously meisie you are so smitten”

“Not for me thank you, I brought lunch.”

“Hubby cooked again! I swear, woman, you have got it good” – Barbara’s awe was visible in her voice.

“You have no idea.”

That was all Lindiwe could master. She was tired; she hadn’t had much sleep last night. They had gone out to celebrate Will’s new job. He had got accepted to work in New York, a government post that would set him up for the rest of his life. At 29-years-old he would be the youngest, highest-earning member in his family: an IT Guru in his own right. They had decided that she would follow him after three months just to visit and apply for work and then in another three months she would relocate to New York.

What awesome plans, what great opportunities lay ahead, it all was ready and waiting for them to grab. But Lindy was having second thoughts, she was thrilled for Will and wanted him to be a success but she didn’t see herself running after him to a foreign country. She loved him, but she couldn’t deal with his childish behaviour when he was drunk.

The night was supposed to be chilled, relax at home and have a few drinks, but Will wanted to go out. They were having fun playing pool, dancing and chatting to the regulars and the night was going so well. They went home and everything just flipped!

“You don’t own me, Lindiwe. I am not your child or some boy-toy you can control!” Will was shouting at her when they got home, and all Lindy could do was look at him open-mouthed.

“I never tried to control you, William. I simply said you’ve had enough to drink and I’m not spending another cent on alcohol. So stop acting like a spoilt brat and just go to bed!”

“You can’t tell me when to go bed! I will drink when I want to, however much I want to. I don’t need your money; in fact I don’t want it. You can shove it! If you think you’re better than me just because you work, well, you’re sadly mistaken. In just two months I’ll be off baby, I’ll be earning 10 times more than you are a month. So don’t tell me shit! You hear me? You’re nothing, Lindiwe, a nobody!”

His eyes were red as he glared at her and she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Ok, you want to drink some more and make an idiot of yourself, fine with me! Let’s go back and you can drink yourself to a stupor. You can hardly stand on your own and you want to drink some more. Fine! Drink as much as you want, grown man. Kill yourself or get into a fight and get yourself killed and see if I care. Your temper is uncontrollable and don’t you think for one minute I’ll waste my energy on you! “

“You want to kill me? I see, you want those boys you were flirting with to beat me up? Oh lady you’re more messed up than I thought! Don’t you give me that look! You think I don’t see the way you’ve been flirting and throwing yourself at every Tom, Dick and Harry that cared to look at you. You’re such a whore, cold hearted, money-hungry, controlling whore!”

He was hissing now, eyes red and hellish. Lindy couldn’t believe it. This was not her Will; this was Satan himself, glaring at her and spitting out such hurtful words in a calm voice – it was scary. She watched him shaking, tears free-falling down her face, leaving trails of lava on her cheeks.

What was happening? Where was Will? What was she listening to, where did it come from? Is this what he thought of her all along? This is not real I’m dreaming, she kept repeating the mantra hoping it’d calm her down. She stood up and walked sombrely to the bedroom. She didn’t bother turning on the lights but just crawled into bed, holding the pillows so tight, as the words kept pounding in her head. Whore, a no-body, a flirt, cold hearted.

This was not her Will. She decided right there and then to leave and never come back. She’s never felt this hurt before, this insulted, and this hateful. She wanted nothing to do him; he can go to hell as far she was concerned! He was a total jerk, how could he? She loved him but hell would freeze over before she could put up with this.

Morning came, she packed her clothes in her little suitcase, laid out the ones she would wear to work and went to take a hot bath. She was just about done fixing her hair when he woke up, saw the bag standing by the front door and jumped off the couch to look for her. “Lindy!” he called out frantically. She said nothing as she felt the anger surging back up. He found her in the bathroom in front of the mirror.

“Lindy, please don’t leave me. Whatever I said last night I didn’t mean. I’m so sorry. I was drunk and acting stupid. I’m sorry, baby, please stay”

She didn’t even turn to look at him. She was getting angrier by the second. How could he not remember what he said? How could he blame it on alcohol? Typical bloody fool, she was not going to give in to his puppy face and watery eyes. She had made up her mind and she wasn’t going to back down. She walked gracefully to the living room, picked up her suitcase and purse and headed for the door. He was now kneeling at the door, tears streaming down his face, clinging on to the suitcase trying to yank it out of her hand.

“Let go, William, you are blocking my way and I need to get to work and make a living. Or would you rather I stay home and whore the neighbourhood to put food on the table?”

She closed her eyes and fought back the tears, fought back the anger as her hands started to tremble. He just knelt there helpless, open-mouthed and crying. She couldn’t bear it, she wanted to hold him but all the awful things he said last night were unforgivable.

“William, MOVE!” – He simply let go of the bag and watched her walk out the door. He cried out as his whole world was crashing before him, “LINDY”. She walked on and didn’t look back, she let go and all the hurt ran down her face. It was over, there was no turning back. She had lost the love of her life and there was nothing left. She will move on and get over him, how she did not know, but she knew she never wanted to hurt this way again.