Eish, women and their drama were almost too much to handle sometimes. I knew that I had to think fast. Just as she opened her door, I opened mine and rushed to her side. She was so serious; it scared the hell out of me. I had no other choice but to kneel down beside her.

“Mimi please. I know I’m not perfect babe. I’m full of shit, I know, but I love you. You are the only woman for me and…”

I am never surprised by how people are always quick to jump to conclusions. The next thing I knew, a crowd of people had gathered around us, screaming “Say yes! Say yes!” I felt that I had no other choice but to propose.

“When I said I wanted this day to be special, I meant you and me babe, together, forever, against all odds. Please make me the happiest man on earth and agree to be my wife.”

I could thank all the people gathered around us, because their loud cheers really brightened up her mood. She was so shy and so beautiful, tears streaming down her cheeks, the crowd cheering her on. Even I had to admit that it was such a beautiful moment…except for the fact that I had no ring, at least for that moment.

After she said yes, and everyone around carried on with what they were doing, I thought carefully about everything. I had a card loaded with cash and I could afford to buy a ring for her, just to make the whole thing look serious. So, I took her hand in mine and our first stop at the mall was a jewellery store.

I could tell how shocked and excited she was by her body language. The woman in the store pulled out a set of diamond rings, but there was just one that took Mimi’s breath away. For a while she kept staring at it, not saying a single word until I pulled it out and slid it onto her finger. It fit her perfectly, like a glove. It was as if that ring was made just for her. She looked like a dream with that ring on her finger.

I was so mesmerized by her joy that I didn’t care how much it would cost; I would just tell Julia I bought myself a new pair of sneakers or something. I was not, however, prepared for the price of the ring. My heart sank; it was ten-thousand rands. I then thought carefully about everything. I loved Mimi with all my heart, and ten-thousand rands was nothing compared to the pain I had caused her. I bought the ring with Julia’s card and breathed a sigh of relief when the woman didn’t come back saying that there weren’t sufficient funds in the account. But just as I was trying to think of a valid excuse to feed Julia the woman asked with a smile: “And for you sir?”

Luckily my ring wasn’t very expensive, but I knew I would have a lot to explain to Julia when I got home. Even so, Julia was the last thing on my mind as I walked my baby to a ladies clothing store and asked her to pick out something nice for herself, something to change into when we went to grab something to eat later. Mimi forced me to pick out something for myself as well. And because I didn’t have many clothes at Julia’s, I was forced to do some serious shopping for myself.

While Mimi changed into her new sexy dress I thought about calling Julia, just to check up on how she was doing, but I decided against it. I even thought it best to switch my phone off.

I was very impressed with that credit card. I kept on swiping and swiping it at stores with no limits in sight. Julia must really care for me a lot to trust me with such a card. After all, I worked very hard to keep her happy. After dinner Mimi and I went to a late night movie. After that though, I knew I needed to start paying in cash. I had used too much money on that card and I was getting scared of going home, knowing that I’d have to explain all of my purchases to Julia.

I was honestly so scared of facing Julia that I kept coming up with romantic things to do with Mimi just to prolong going home. But then Mimi started to look very tired, and I had to consider the baby as well. So I thought it best that I take her home.

We left the mall at about nine at night. Mimi looked so beautiful and peaceful on the drive to her place. I imagined us going home like that to our own house, in our own car. The ring on her finger made it all seem so real and something inside me realised there was just no turning back. As I was thinking about our future together, I pulled off on the side the road, my mind buzzing with crazy ideas. I thought to myself, I have a car and a card full of money. Maybe I didn’t need to go to back to Julia…

“Okay love, I’m really tired and I need to just get home and—”

“Love, look. I know this sounds crazy but let’s not go home today, at least not today. We have a car. We have money. Baby, we can go wherever we want…together.”

“Babe! Now you are really talking crazy. I have exams coming up. I can’t go anywhere. I have to go to school. I have to go home.”

“My love, I know your education is important, but what happens when we have the baby? You will be forced to drop out anyway. Let’s go somewhere, start a new life, open our own business and then you can go to school next year. We are husband and wife now remember?” I tried to say convincingly.

“Babe, can you hear yourself? This car is not even yours. What if—”

“Shhhhhh!” I said, placing my finger on her mouth. “Let’s not think of any negative things now. Let’s just imagine ourselves driving somewhere for our honeymoon night. Let’s forget all those negative things drawing us back: forget your mom, forget Julia, forget the world babe. We love each other. Let’s do this, just the two of us.”

Mimi didn’t look sure, but she sure as hell was dangerously in love with me, just as I was with her. She had this look of fear in her eyes, but I could see that her heart was overflowing with love. With her hands shaking, and a very doubtful face she nodded in agreement to my plan.

“Are you sure baby?” I asked, kissing her.

“Just keep driving before I change my mind,” she responded with a shy smile.

Today was suddenly the happiest day of my life. I know people would call me cruel for using Julia for her money and car, then leaving her high and dry like that, but I loved Mimi with all my heart and I was sick and tired of fighting it. I was sick and tired of pretending to be in love with Julia. I had a baby on the way with the woman of my dreams. It was high time I quit pretending to be a man and actually acted like one.

***

Tell us what you think: Will Thapelo really man up this time and take responsibility for the choices he has made?